Distric 9 on Prezi

In the helicopter attack scene from Apocalypse Now, many different interesting sound methods are being used to add action and excitement to the scene. For a start, as the helicopters approach the target village, ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ by Wagner is put onto a radio in the helicopter as diegetic sound as it is being played from a radio directly in the film’s world. Later though the song changes into non-diegetic sound as it becomes more of a soundtrack to the scene rather than coming directly from the radio. Also, as the helicopters near the village, the camera changes to show the Vietnamese in the village below running around or grabbing their weapons as the Americans approach, and the song stops for this portion, later returning once the camera flicks back to the helicopters. This makes the song seem almost still diegetic as it implies that once the viewer is shown further away from the source of the music, it cannot be heard anymore, but if that is true, then we shouldn’t be able to hear it from the shots showing the outside of the choppers either, yet we still can.

I do agree with this as occasionally you see "walking stereotypes" occasionally, such as the dumb blonde or the drunk Irish man, and obviously there is always going to be some people that fall into stereotypes in real life.

I really do not agree with this, because as times change, stereotypes must as well, as again, the hamburger eating, shotgun owning American would not have been around before the popularity of hamburgers or the invention of firearms. Also, as the world becomes smaller and people can view other cultures more often, older stereotypes die out, such as the view of all Brits being posh, tea drinking, Victorian style people being less believed not among other nations.

I do not agree with this statement as no-one really stereotypes themselves, unless sarcastically such as, an Irish man saying something like, "Sorry were you expecting a drunk, ginger, beared man?" Sometimes, however some people may stereotype against themselves to make a joke or to prove a point, but they are nearly never serious about it.

I agree with this assumption as many of the world powers of today are stereotyped such as "fat, burger eating, gun totting Americans" and the rich are also stereotyped, such as wearing proper suits, top hats and sometimes monacles. This shows that minorities are definetily not the only ones that are stereotyped.

I do not agree with this assumption as even if the stereotype is positive such as Jamaican’s are really cool and easy going, the fact that it is a stereotype makes it negative, as not everyone that falls into the group being stereotyped will want to be seen as like that. They may just want some individualism.

This video from Band of Brothers shows the character Bill Guarnere, who is a stereotypical Philadelphia man, shown as strong, tough and a bit hot headed, which is positive with his job being a soldier.

This shot tilts upwards into the sky to give the viewer a better view of the parachute drop. It also shows the scale of the jump.

This shot is a whip pan as it quickly pans around to face the other way as the character throws the grenade. This again gives a scense of movement to the situation.

This shot allows the viewer to watch the character's movement without using a Track shot.

This shot is used a lot during the action scenes in Band of Brothers as it gives a documentary feel to the battles, almost like a news crew is filming it as it happens.

This shot follows the soldiers as the run down the road and is a track shot. It makes it seem as if the viewer is following them as they run.

This shot is like a rolling shot in that it shows that the character is under shock and not thinking normally after the explosion. This shot also uses sound very well to simulate the characters deafness after the blast.

Type of Shot

Denotation - The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Connotation - An idea or feeling that a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Platoon

Analysing Magazines

What Conclusions can you draw about the group's choice of films?
The majority of our class' film choices were either made by American film companies, or had connections to American film companies. This is due to the fact that American companies hold so much of the film market that any independant British films will find it hard to sell well or advertise their films without American backing. Also, I noticed that the majority of British films people did pick, were comedys. This may just be down to the fact that the British are more humour minded and prefere to watch films that make them laugh.
What are the pros and cons of watching on different mediums?
Watching a film in the cinema is good as it is cheaper than buying it on DVD, uses a bigger screen and surround sound, and is more of an experience than watching it on DVD or TV. The cons are that as there are other people watching it with you, you cannot control when they get up and obscure your view or make loud noises during the film. Watching a film on TV has the pros that nowadays, you can pause and rewind films on TV or even save it for later viewing. The main con is that there are usually ad breaks, that can sometimes not be fastforwarded, that are not in DVDs or films at the cinema. Watching a film on DVD's pros are that once you buy it, you can watch the film as much as you want without any problems. It also does not have any adverts that TV does and there is no waiting around for it to start like at the cinema. Also, it can be paused, rewinded and fastforwarded at will which some TVs can't do and that you certainly can't do in the cinema.
What are the different methods of marketing? Which is the most effective and why?
The main ways of advertising a film is in trailers on TV, before other films at the cinema and in adverts on video sharing websites such as YouTube, posters on the sides of buses and on walls or bus shelters, adverts in magazines and interviews or segments on TV chat shows. I think the most effective method of marketing is a simple trailer, as it can be shown in so many places and quickly shows a potential viewer whether or not it is their cup of tea. Also, without trailers, the only ideas about what a film is going to be like would be mostly from posters, and these sometimes don't show us much about the film or don't really help us decide whether or not we want to watch it or not.

Production - The concept of a film is developed from idea, to script, to filming to editing.

Marketing - Generating publicity for a film or product, by advertising it across the world.

Distribution - Supplying the film or product to cinemas or shops.

Exhibition - The showing of the film to audiences.

Representation in TV Drama

My name is Alex Sheldon and I'm doing AS Media. This Blog will follow my work through the year.