LO1
1. Investigation of a media institution based on:
a) ownership
b) operating model
c) products
d) market position
e) competitors
2. Analysis of a product produced by institution based on:
a) purpose
b) genre
c) form
d) style
e) content
f) meaning
g) production process
LO2
1. Analysis of target audience based on:
a) gender
b) age
c) lifestyle
d) spending power
LO3
1. Analysis of how the product reaches audiences based on:
a) distribution channels
b) advertising
LO4
1. Analysis of:
a) the product’s impact and effect on the audience
b) relevant issues of representation
c) relevant legal and/or ethical issues
d) role of relevant regulatory bodies
Monday, 23 May 2016
Friday, 17 April 2015
Notes
Convergence- when two things come together/join. e.g. two companies joining together.
Institutional convergence- when companies work together and produce a product it is called. e.g. Warp and channel 4 to produce this is England.
Distribution- how the product reaches the audience, how it is advertised and promoted.
The first definition means how the film gets to us.
Ways we can watch a film:
-Cinema
-DVD (home entertainment)
-Internet streaming. (YouTube, Netflix, Blinkbox, LoveFilm are all pay per view). Can view on TV, laptop, tablet, computer, I-pod, phone.
-TV (On demand e.g. sky, virgin, TalkTalk, BT)
-VHS
-Consoles (Can stream films)
Analogue methods-old media.
Digital methods-new media.
Technological convergence-when technologies come together and this provides new services for the audience (smartphone-phone, computer, camera, mp3 player, maps, and web)
Digital native- someone who has grown up with technology, born after 1995. (Grown up with the internet)
The internet used to be called the arpernet, used by the military. The internet is different to the world wide web. The world wide web is a service that anyone who doesn't understand computer coding can use. In 1991 Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web.
Films can be downloaded illegally.
Advertising and Promotion- marketing the film to create maximum awareness to a specific target audience.
Ways a film is marketed:
-TV advert
-cinema adverts
-billboards (film posters)
-leaflets
-magazine adverts
-film posters (star persona)
-internet adverts
-merchandise
-premiere (press conference that gets publicised in the media)
-Trailers (teaser trailers=very short trailers shown in cinemas mainly, occasionally online), (theatrical trailer=full trailer shown in cinema and online), (TV adverts/trailers= different trailer due to time, TV adverts are shorter)
-radio
-busses (film posters on the side containing the star persona)
-film reviews (empire, total film, independent, BBC-mark camode)
-Apps
-Rotten tomatoes/meta critic (film review sites)
-film festival
-promotional events (big events that gets the press' attention and these stories then sold to the media)
-in-store/citywide promotions e.g. Paddington in Paddington station.
-product placement (real companies paying the film producer to put their products in)
-websites
-web banners
-social media (actors putting pictures on instagram, film having their own accounts)
Technical convergence:
David Gauntlett 2002 discussed the rise of web 2.0.
This is the change in the internet being static, one way form of communication to a two way interactive medium. (in web 2.0 we can now comment on things, create out own blogs etc...)
UGC=user generated context
Media corporations have now taken back some power e.g. videos on YouTube can be taken down if their are copy right issues.
Monday, 16 March 2015
LO4 - Analysis of legal and ethical issues
Representation
Active and Passive
When audience theories first began in the 1930's, Theodore Adorno developed the "hypodermic syringe" theory by stating that media has a negative impact. This meant he thought the mass audience believed everything they saw or heard, and this theory assumes that the audience is passive. This means the audience in terms of media, don't think for themselves, and are very heavily influenced by the media without having their own opinions about it.
This brought up many questions like the issues of violence, sexual content and representation. If audiences were being fully influenced by the content in media, wouldn't the ideas presented in media products instantly start appearing in audiences?
Later into the 20th century, people realised the audience isn't completely influenced by the media they see. They don't believe everything they see or hear, and are able to develop their own opinion about what is portrayed in the media. This is called an active audience, and is generally the idea we use with audiences today. However, there are still ideas of the audience being influenced by media because of cases like the Jamie Bulger case, in which two young boys murder a toddler. Afterwards they stated the reason they did it was because they saw it on a film. This is an example of copycat violence, in which the media portrays violence that an audience is heavily influenced by and copies it. The copycat theory can be applied to other ideas such as body image and ethnicity.
This applies to HTTYD 2 as there are scenes of violence, where people are fighting, dragons are attacking, one kills another and there is even an on-screen death. However, no blood is shown to keep the film within the PG rating.
The BBFC regulations for HTTYD 2 state that there are moments of threat and violence.
This means that the film is rated PG - Parental Guidance - as there may be some scenes which might be upsetting for young children.
The poster, advertising a family film, obviously is appropriate for everyone. There is no violence, reference to drinking or drugs or any show of threat. It simply connotes the idea of adventure and displays the characters as exciting in their colourful, interesting setting.
HTTYD 2's effect on audiences
As it's a family film, it doesn't have any extreme graphic violence, bad morals or mature content. However, representation is still an issue in all films.
The problem with representation is mainly stereotypes. Not all stereotypes are bad, but most go on the dominant ideology of the mass audience. A dominant ideology is an idea that everyone shares.
One of the most common stereotypes is with women and their body shapes. In the majority of films, women are always represented as thin beautiful women, and any women who are overweight or not so pretty are considered gag characters like Pitch Perfect's "Fat Amy". In httyd 2, body image is also an issue, as all of the main featured women have thin waists and none are overweight or overly different in any way.
However, their face designs go against what is conventionally pretty, with unusual features and lots of variation. This goes against the stereotype which most films, and animated ones too, comply to, using overly attractive women with perfect bodies and faces.
One way httyd 2 is daring in terms of family films is how they reveal a character is gay. This came as a shock to many people, and how I see it, this is a good thing. That's because no one had any idea that he would be gay, because he isn't represented with the stereotypical characteristics of a gay person.
Another way httyd 2 represents social minorities is by portraying a disabled main character. This character isn't pitied or idolized, he is just seen how everyone else is seen, as an equal. This goes against media and society's ideologies of how disabled people should always be treated differently. Even though he's not idolized for this reason, he is still a good role model for audiences as he is the main character, with good morals and realistic, likeable qualities.
One issue httyd 2 has with representation is the lack of variations in race. All the characters are white and voiced by white people... Apart from the villain.
There are still many issues with race in today's films. Part of the reason most of the characters are white is because the film is set in the north, where it would be unlikely for there to be people of many different races. Another reason could be the fact that it is set hundreds of years ago, when there wasn't as much variation, race-wise, in any given country.
These reasons still don't target the fact that it's only the villain that's voiced by a man of a different race. This representation could influence audience ideas of ethnicity and race, especially in children, in a negative way.
Active and Passive
When audience theories first began in the 1930's, Theodore Adorno developed the "hypodermic syringe" theory by stating that media has a negative impact. This meant he thought the mass audience believed everything they saw or heard, and this theory assumes that the audience is passive. This means the audience in terms of media, don't think for themselves, and are very heavily influenced by the media without having their own opinions about it.
This brought up many questions like the issues of violence, sexual content and representation. If audiences were being fully influenced by the content in media, wouldn't the ideas presented in media products instantly start appearing in audiences?
Later into the 20th century, people realised the audience isn't completely influenced by the media they see. They don't believe everything they see or hear, and are able to develop their own opinion about what is portrayed in the media. This is called an active audience, and is generally the idea we use with audiences today. However, there are still ideas of the audience being influenced by media because of cases like the Jamie Bulger case, in which two young boys murder a toddler. Afterwards they stated the reason they did it was because they saw it on a film. This is an example of copycat violence, in which the media portrays violence that an audience is heavily influenced by and copies it. The copycat theory can be applied to other ideas such as body image and ethnicity.
This applies to HTTYD 2 as there are scenes of violence, where people are fighting, dragons are attacking, one kills another and there is even an on-screen death. However, no blood is shown to keep the film within the PG rating.
The BBFC regulations for HTTYD 2 state that there are moments of threat and violence.
This means that the film is rated PG - Parental Guidance - as there may be some scenes which might be upsetting for young children.
The poster, advertising a family film, obviously is appropriate for everyone. There is no violence, reference to drinking or drugs or any show of threat. It simply connotes the idea of adventure and displays the characters as exciting in their colourful, interesting setting.
HTTYD 2's effect on audiences
As it's a family film, it doesn't have any extreme graphic violence, bad morals or mature content. However, representation is still an issue in all films.
The problem with representation is mainly stereotypes. Not all stereotypes are bad, but most go on the dominant ideology of the mass audience. A dominant ideology is an idea that everyone shares.
One of the most common stereotypes is with women and their body shapes. In the majority of films, women are always represented as thin beautiful women, and any women who are overweight or not so pretty are considered gag characters like Pitch Perfect's "Fat Amy". In httyd 2, body image is also an issue, as all of the main featured women have thin waists and none are overweight or overly different in any way.
However, their face designs go against what is conventionally pretty, with unusual features and lots of variation. This goes against the stereotype which most films, and animated ones too, comply to, using overly attractive women with perfect bodies and faces.
One way httyd 2 is daring in terms of family films is how they reveal a character is gay. This came as a shock to many people, and how I see it, this is a good thing. That's because no one had any idea that he would be gay, because he isn't represented with the stereotypical characteristics of a gay person.
Another way httyd 2 represents social minorities is by portraying a disabled main character. This character isn't pitied or idolized, he is just seen how everyone else is seen, as an equal. This goes against media and society's ideologies of how disabled people should always be treated differently. Even though he's not idolized for this reason, he is still a good role model for audiences as he is the main character, with good morals and realistic, likeable qualities.
One issue httyd 2 has with representation is the lack of variations in race. All the characters are white and voiced by white people... Apart from the villain.
There are still many issues with race in today's films. Part of the reason most of the characters are white is because the film is set in the north, where it would be unlikely for there to be people of many different races. Another reason could be the fact that it is set hundreds of years ago, when there wasn't as much variation, race-wise, in any given country.
These reasons still don't target the fact that it's only the villain that's voiced by a man of a different race. This representation could influence audience ideas of ethnicity and race, especially in children, in a negative way.
LO3 - Advertising and Distribution
How the product reaches the audience
In this day and age, there are many more ways of viewing a film than there was 100 years ago.
In the 20th century, before advanced technology, people had to go to the cinema to watch everything: there were no televisions at all until the 1930s. As technology advanced, televisions were invented, allowing people to watch things right in their own home. By the end of the seventies we were able to watch films at home too, with video cassettes.
As technology has advanced, more and more ways of watching films have surfaced. Even though there aren't many people that watch films on video cassette any more, the amount of other methods just keeps on increasing.
Nowadays we can watch a film as a DVD on television or digitally on Netflix or Sky Movies, on our tablets, smartphones, games console, computer... the reason there are now so many different ways to watch a film is down to technological convergence. This is when all sorts of different types of media come together to create different forms. For example, now rather than having to buy a newspaper to read articles, we can find news articles online. Now we can browse the web and watch YouTube on an Xbox. We can use document apps on our tablets to write documents like we would in Microsoft Word.
Watching httyd 2 on Netflix on an Xbox is a form of converged technology. It's being watched digitally, which means we don't need a DVD to watch it as it's streaming live from the internet. This is convergence because it's using a games console, to stream something over the internet, with Netflix which is also an app in itself.
Another way we can watch httyd 2 is on a laptop or computer. There are different ways to do this, as you can also access Netflix from computers and laptops. Apart from Netflix, other ways we can watch httyd 2 include buying the DVD to put into the laptop or computer. Nowadays, most computers and laptops have disc ports that don't only install programs, but also play CD's and DVD's. This is technological convergence because only televisions used to be able to play DVD's with a DVD and video player. If a person doesn't want to buy the DVD, they can also buy the film in digital form online, from websites like Amazon and even YouTube.
HTTYD 2 earned $618.9m in the box office.
As of February 2015, 7.5 million home entertainment units have been sold worldwide.
How it is advertised and promoted
As well as having more ways for the audience to watch the film via new converging technology, the company had more ways to actually advertise the film. Ways the film has been advertised includes billboards, trailers (television and cinema), magazines, posters and on websites.
In this day and age, there are many more ways of viewing a film than there was 100 years ago.
In the 20th century, before advanced technology, people had to go to the cinema to watch everything: there were no televisions at all until the 1930s. As technology advanced, televisions were invented, allowing people to watch things right in their own home. By the end of the seventies we were able to watch films at home too, with video cassettes.
As technology has advanced, more and more ways of watching films have surfaced. Even though there aren't many people that watch films on video cassette any more, the amount of other methods just keeps on increasing.
Nowadays we can watch a film as a DVD on television or digitally on Netflix or Sky Movies, on our tablets, smartphones, games console, computer... the reason there are now so many different ways to watch a film is down to technological convergence. This is when all sorts of different types of media come together to create different forms. For example, now rather than having to buy a newspaper to read articles, we can find news articles online. Now we can browse the web and watch YouTube on an Xbox. We can use document apps on our tablets to write documents like we would in Microsoft Word.
Watching httyd 2 on Netflix on an Xbox is a form of converged technology. It's being watched digitally, which means we don't need a DVD to watch it as it's streaming live from the internet. This is convergence because it's using a games console, to stream something over the internet, with Netflix which is also an app in itself.
Another way we can watch httyd 2 is on a laptop or computer. There are different ways to do this, as you can also access Netflix from computers and laptops. Apart from Netflix, other ways we can watch httyd 2 include buying the DVD to put into the laptop or computer. Nowadays, most computers and laptops have disc ports that don't only install programs, but also play CD's and DVD's. This is technological convergence because only televisions used to be able to play DVD's with a DVD and video player. If a person doesn't want to buy the DVD, they can also buy the film in digital form online, from websites like Amazon and even YouTube.
HTTYD 2 earned $618.9m in the box office.
As of February 2015, 7.5 million home entertainment units have been sold worldwide.
How it is advertised and promoted
As well as having more ways for the audience to watch the film via new converging technology, the company had more ways to actually advertise the film. Ways the film has been advertised includes billboards, trailers (television and cinema), magazines, posters and on websites.
Notes
Convergence
In terms of media and technology, convergence is the merging of different mediums rather than them staying separate. An example is television and e-media: it's becoming more and more common for websites to be able to be accessed on a television as well as a computer.
Technological convergence is when technologies come together which provides new services for the audience, like smartphones: these can act as both a phone and a computer that can access the internet.
How the Product Reaches the Audience
This is how the film gets to us. Ways we can watch a film include:
In terms of media and technology, convergence is the merging of different mediums rather than them staying separate. An example is television and e-media: it's becoming more and more common for websites to be able to be accessed on a television as well as a computer.
Technological convergence is when technologies come together which provides new services for the audience, like smartphones: these can act as both a phone and a computer that can access the internet.
How the Product Reaches the Audience
This is how the film gets to us. Ways we can watch a film include:
- In the cinema
- On a television
- On a laptop
- On a phone
- On a tablet
Monday, 9 March 2015
LO2 - Audience analysis
This is a moodboard describing the general audience for the film How To Train Your Dragon 2:
This family would fall under B in the ABC1 classification of socio-economic groups. This means they are middle class. The father is a professional which brings the family income. In the National Readership Survey's lifestyle classification, they would come under settled suburbans. This is because they are quite well off with older children, and live in the suburbs.
There isn't really any sort of gender-bias as to the audience for this film. It's a family movie, meaning dads and sons, and mothers and daughters too. It's got aspects of genres that boys usually prefer - like the action - and a little bit of romance, too, for stereotypical girls - and also themes both genders can get excited about like adventure and fantasy. It doesn't sexualise the female characters (FAMILY film...), but also doesn't show the protagonist - the hero - to be some indestructible guy who will always be able to save the day. There are really no gender-specific preferences to this film, as its themes, characters and story can easily appeal to anyone.
In terms of age, a person could look at the poster, trailers and merchandise for this film and instantly label it as a kid's film. However, there are certain aspects of this film that lead me to think it's not so much just kids but families with older children.
Sure, it's got its light-hearted humour and pretty dragons, but there are also dark themes in this film which include death, mutilation (maybe exaggerating there) and even mind control. (NOT exaggerating there.)
These sorts of things could potentially terrify some young kids, and when it originally came out in cinemas there were even some parent complaints that they had to leave because the film was too frightening for their child.
That being said, this film seems to appeal to most other ages, with a huge fan base ranging from 10-year-olds to people in their twenties and older. It can easily keep most adults and teenagers engrossed as well as children, because of the exciting action and adventure. There are also more mature - even though not frightening - themes that could potentially click with adults more easily than children. For example, a reunion scene between a man and his wife after being apart for 20 years is just as sincerely heartfelt as any similar scene would be in live action. There's no false-feeling instant happiness, but raw emotion that animated films aimed at kids are sometimes too frightened to show. This is what I think can appeal to an adult audience properly, instead of just being some kiddie cartoon for the children.
The lifestyle of a person whom might enjoy How to Train Your Dragon 2 would obviously be someone who enjoys watching films. Maybe even that can be narrowed down further, to a person who is an avid fan of animated films. Another way we can narrow THAT down is to say said person could be a dedicated DreamWorks fan.
This person could be someone who loves to go to the cinema, and has plenty of free time to do that. Or they could have a huge DVD collection which they needed an addition to.
They could be a parent whose child desperately wanted to see it, and ended up quite enjoying it themselves. There is quite a varied idea of the stereotypical lifestyle of a person who'd enjoy this film, only that they'd have to have the free time to be able to want to watch it.
The target audience for any big film are people with enough disposable income to be able to afford to see the film in cinema, or buy it on DVD, or rent it digitally or however they would get it. If their spending power allowed them enough disposable income, their NRS (National Readership Survey) grade would be somewhere in the ABC1 category.
The NRS grading system is a socio-economic system that grades people according to their income and career. The sections go as follows:
Uses and Gratifications
The most obvious use of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is escapism. It's not real life, it's clear fantasy and adventure, and it allows the viewer to escape real life temporarily and relax.
Because it has a large fan base it can also be used for building personal relationships. (Surprisingly for some, it has a very large fan base, ranging from 12-year-olds to young adults in their twenties, both male and female.) There are fans on most social networking sites like Tumblr and Instagram. This means fans can communicate with each other and meet other people who are fans of the film and franchise, therefore building personal relationships.
For younger children, HTTYD 2 can also be used for surveillance. It's a classic tale of good against evil, like in most animated films. This means children find out information about how we have to side with the "good" people as opposed to the "bad" people. Most animated films have an aspect of surveillance as they nearly always have a moral of some sort to teach to children.
There isn't really any sort of gender-bias as to the audience for this film. It's a family movie, meaning dads and sons, and mothers and daughters too. It's got aspects of genres that boys usually prefer - like the action - and a little bit of romance, too, for stereotypical girls - and also themes both genders can get excited about like adventure and fantasy. It doesn't sexualise the female characters (FAMILY film...), but also doesn't show the protagonist - the hero - to be some indestructible guy who will always be able to save the day. There are really no gender-specific preferences to this film, as its themes, characters and story can easily appeal to anyone.
In terms of age, a person could look at the poster, trailers and merchandise for this film and instantly label it as a kid's film. However, there are certain aspects of this film that lead me to think it's not so much just kids but families with older children.
Sure, it's got its light-hearted humour and pretty dragons, but there are also dark themes in this film which include death, mutilation (maybe exaggerating there) and even mind control. (NOT exaggerating there.)
These sorts of things could potentially terrify some young kids, and when it originally came out in cinemas there were even some parent complaints that they had to leave because the film was too frightening for their child.
That being said, this film seems to appeal to most other ages, with a huge fan base ranging from 10-year-olds to people in their twenties and older. It can easily keep most adults and teenagers engrossed as well as children, because of the exciting action and adventure. There are also more mature - even though not frightening - themes that could potentially click with adults more easily than children. For example, a reunion scene between a man and his wife after being apart for 20 years is just as sincerely heartfelt as any similar scene would be in live action. There's no false-feeling instant happiness, but raw emotion that animated films aimed at kids are sometimes too frightened to show. This is what I think can appeal to an adult audience properly, instead of just being some kiddie cartoon for the children.
The lifestyle of a person whom might enjoy How to Train Your Dragon 2 would obviously be someone who enjoys watching films. Maybe even that can be narrowed down further, to a person who is an avid fan of animated films. Another way we can narrow THAT down is to say said person could be a dedicated DreamWorks fan.
This person could be someone who loves to go to the cinema, and has plenty of free time to do that. Or they could have a huge DVD collection which they needed an addition to.
They could be a parent whose child desperately wanted to see it, and ended up quite enjoying it themselves. There is quite a varied idea of the stereotypical lifestyle of a person who'd enjoy this film, only that they'd have to have the free time to be able to want to watch it.
The target audience for any big film are people with enough disposable income to be able to afford to see the film in cinema, or buy it on DVD, or rent it digitally or however they would get it. If their spending power allowed them enough disposable income, their NRS (National Readership Survey) grade would be somewhere in the ABC1 category.
The NRS grading system is a socio-economic system that grades people according to their income and career. The sections go as follows:
- A - Higher managerial, administrative and professional
- B - Intermediate managerial, administrative and professional
- C1 - Supervisory, clerical and junior managerial, administrative and professional
- C2 - Skilled manual workers
- D - Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers
- E - State pensioners, casual and lowest grade workers, unemployed with state benefits only
Uses and Gratifications
The most obvious use of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is escapism. It's not real life, it's clear fantasy and adventure, and it allows the viewer to escape real life temporarily and relax.
Because it has a large fan base it can also be used for building personal relationships. (Surprisingly for some, it has a very large fan base, ranging from 12-year-olds to young adults in their twenties, both male and female.) There are fans on most social networking sites like Tumblr and Instagram. This means fans can communicate with each other and meet other people who are fans of the film and franchise, therefore building personal relationships.
For younger children, HTTYD 2 can also be used for surveillance. It's a classic tale of good against evil, like in most animated films. This means children find out information about how we have to side with the "good" people as opposed to the "bad" people. Most animated films have an aspect of surveillance as they nearly always have a moral of some sort to teach to children.
Monday, 12 January 2015
LO1 - Analysis of How to Train Your Dragon 2
In this
vlog I'll be studying the film How to Train Your Dragon 2*, which was released
in summer 2014. I'll try to generally not reveal too much about the plot but
beware of the odd spoiler!
Purpose
The purpose of the film is to entertain. It does this by making the film as engaging as possible to its target audience. If a film does a good job of engaging and entertaining its audience it will almost always be successful.
Genre
We can work out the genre of the film from the narrative and dialogue and what actually happens, and the soundtrack and characters and the way they behave. The genre of httyd 2 is mainly fantasy, which is obvious, because there are dragons flying around everywhere. It's even in the name.
Another genre that's pretty obvious is family. The majority of
animated movies are generally for kids or at least families. We know it's for
families because it's got all the colourful exciting stuff for kids, but there
are also some jokes that maybe only older kids and adults would get. Plus, we
can tell it's not primarily for young kids because there are some pretty
frightening scenes, which were actually occasionally complained about by
parents when the film came out in the cinema.
Other genres httyd 2 fits into include action.
It can be described as action because of the thrilling battle scenes.
Form
Form
The form of httyd 2 is a feature-length animated film that was distributed in cinemas worldwide. We can tell it's a feature film because of its length, which is an hour and forty-two minutes.
Style
The style of httyd 2 is CGI animation. They used new animation programs like Apollo, Premo and Torch so the animation style is very modern. In terms of filmmaking the style of the film is very conventional, meaning there isn't any unusual shots or editing.
Content and meaning
Mise en scene
In terms of mise-en-scene, the location is denoted very clearly at the very beginning, shown by the visuals and the voiceover to be the island of Berk. It's a small island by what we see, which could connote exploration, or isolation. The sea suggests it's a cold-ish area, which connotes places in the North like Norway and Denmark, which also connotes to Vikings.
Costume consists of fur hoods, armour, gloves, studded fur skirts,
leggings, boots, parkas, helmets and a flight suit. All of this, apart from the
flight suit and especially the helmets, again connote Vikings and Viking
stereotypes with the horned helmets. The more unconventional costumes however,
like the flight suit and Valka's... dragon suit? Connote that the story isn't
completely fictional, it's fantasy, and not fully loyal to real history.
Props that are denoted include a pencil and map, swords, a fire
sword, clubs, shields, staffs, and bows and arrows. Apart from the pencil and
map, all of these props connote battle, war and violence. Again this builds on
the Viking stereotypes.
Because of some of the genres, there are lots of colours denoted
in the film. The beginning sequence denotes an array of different colours, so
does the dragon sanctuary and the end sequence, so eventually the audience can
associate the bright, saturated colours with all the different dragons featured
in these scenes. The bright colours connote fun, happiness and freedom. There are
also times in the film where it isn't as colourful, and this connotes sadness
and hopelessness. So obviously these darker, less saturated colours are used in
some of the sadder scenes.
Again, the lighting is at its brightest around the parts of the
film that feature the dragons. It's also generally more high-key that's denoted
when everything seems to be going right for Hiccup, the main character. The
light connotes happiness, peace and goodness. However, there are some darker
scenes, one especially low-key scene that's denoted is when Hiccup discovers
his long lost mother. This shot is very, very shadowy, and there's lots of
blackness, which connotes mystery and fear.
Gestures that are denoted in the film include fighting, imitating
other characters, hugging, drawing, grabbing shoulders, pointing, putting a
hand out to dragons, waving staffs, crying, fighting and flying. Lots and lots
of flying. All of these gestures connote to the genres of the film: the hugging
and drawing connotes innocence and shows us why it's a family film. Putting a
hand out to a dragon connotes gentleness and peace, like a person should be
with a real animal. Which also explains why a genre of the film is fantasy -
the dragons are obviously not real creatures, and the flying and interacting
with the dragons connotes fantasy. The fighting and waving the staffs connote
violence and the staffs especially connote control. These gestures and meanings
show another genre of the film, action.
Camerawork
There are many different shots denoted in the film. The film begins with a tilt shot, the camera tilting up and bringing Berk into view. After that, the most common shots that are denoted include panning, close-ups, follow shots (especially in flying scenes), mid-shots, very wide shots, over-the-shoulder shots and low and high-angle shots. There are also some uses of less common shots, like the point of view shot, and the extreme close-up.
The tilt, pan and very wide shots are usually
used to determine a location, and the tilt and pan are generally used to be as
if the audience were looking round. Close-ups and over-the-shoulder shots
are generally used to show emotion. Mid-shots and follow shots are there to
show the audience what the character is doing. The point-of-view shot in this
film is to show what Hiccup and Toothless are experiencing when they crash.
This engages the audience and makes the scene exciting.
There is one use of an extreme close-up at the
very end of the film. This connotes the significance of the mark on Hiccup's
forehead, and shows extreme details and emotion.
The use of low and high angles can also connote
dominance and subordinance. In times where there's danger for example, the
villain is portrayed in a low-angle shot to show that he has dominance over the
other character.
Editing
There are many editing techniques used in httyd 2, the ones used
the most include jumpcutting, shot-reverse-shot, flashbacks and cross cutting.
There are also some others like dissolves, eyeline matches and colour effects.
The main form of editing in every trailer, film and TV show you'll
watch are transitions. Every time a shot changes to a different one is a
transition, and they are there to show ellipsis, which is the passage of time.
Jumpcutting is when each shot is different, but it focuses on the
same character carrying on the same action. If the shot changed and Eret was
suddenly stood still, the continuity wouldn't look right.
Shot-reverse-shot is typical of film conversations between
characters. There's generally a few master shots in between as the characters
are talking to establish the space between them. Shot-reverse-shot can apply to
almost any editing technique, such as an eyeline match - there is a shot of the
character, then what the character is seeing, then another shot of the
character: shot, reverse, shot.
Flashbacks can give characters deeper backstories, and in this
film they have visual effects that distort the image so we can tell it's a
flashback. The transitions used for the flashbacks in this film are dissolves,
which is when one shot merges into another.
Because there are lots of characters doing lots of things in lots
of different places, there is lots of cross cutting to show the audience what
all of the significant characters are doing. Cross cutting is just when the
shot cuts from one location to another.
Another editing technique used in httyd 2 is colour effects. It's
used in a point of view shot, showing that it's affecting the characters
themselves. Using the colour in a point of view shot can create different
meanings, for example in this instance the colour is very dull and the shot is
blurry, but there's hints of red. This can connote that Toothless isn't
thinking straight, as he can't see properly, and the red suggests danger.
Sound
In every film there are two types of sound: diegetic, and non-diegetic. Diegesis basically means the story world, or the world of narrative; meaning that diegetic sound is sound that is actually going on within the story. This includes dialogue, sound effects such as footsteps, explosions etcetera etcetera. This is usually covered during production, but sometimes sound effects like animal noises or prop noises are added in post-production, especially with animated films like httyd 2.
Non-diegetic sound then is sounds that aren't actually happening
in the narrative, examples being voiceovers and the soundtrack. These are
always sorted out in post-production.
All the sound in a film is there to create meaning. Sound effects
and dialogue in particular are planned carefully during pre-production.
In httyd 2, by the time the logos at the start are finished and
the film actually begins at about 57 seconds in, the soundtrack has already
started and is beginning to engage the audience. At the very beginning we see a
dragon fly across the sea, accompanied by the first diegetic sound we hear in
the film. This sound creates meaning for the audience as it gives the audience
the impression of the dragon flying, and going quite fast, even though we only
get a quick glimpse of it. From then there are sounds which obviously denote a
location near the sea, as we hear the rushing of waves, and sea birds making
noises.
The non-diegetic soundtrack is still going when a voiceover starts
at about 1 minute and 12 seconds in, which is another example of non-diegetic
sound. Even though this voiceover is from an actual character in the film, it's
non-diegetic because it doesn't add up to what is currently happening in the
narrative, aka, we aren't seeing the character talk, as he isn't actually
there.
At about 1 minute 28 seconds in, we are hearing dragons flying
past again, and a flock of sheep are bleating, which are more diegetic sounds.
This is still accompanied by the non-diegetic voiceover and soundtrack, and all
together this gives the audience a lot of the stuff they need to know, as they
are picking up the atmosphere of what's going on from the soundtrack, they're
engaging because of the voiceover, and the sound effects are telling them
exactly what's going on in the narrative.
Production process
Every element of mise-en-scene is covered in the three stages of production; pre-production, production, and post-production. Because it's an animated film, the production process for httyd 2 is a little bit different to a live action film. With live action the production process is organized and set out, whereas in CGI animation work can be done more flexibly.
Pre-production consists of mainly storyboarding, layouts (locations and costumes) and model sheets (how a character will show expression and how they appear. Planning aspects of live action that also apply to animation are also done in pre-production, like script-writing.
It's in production that most of the work is done. Layout artists make locations and shots that storyboard artists have drawn in 2D on paper into 3D, Modelers turn 2D concept art of characters into 3D virtual models and these go on to rigging and texturing to be readied for the actual animation process. Then, the model goes on to lighting, rigging (allowing the model to move) and animation, which is where animators make the actual sequences to be in the film by moving the models. As well as moving a character frame by frame, animators can also use motion capture to animate a character. However, they still have to add the details like facial movements, because these might not be included in what's captured in motion.
In post production, the objects are finalised by bringing all the different 3D elements together to create the final image, ready to film. All the animated shots are strung together so that they make sense and run smoothly. It's here that any fully rendered and animated deleted shots or sequences are taken from. Other stages of post production include the sound editing, which is when the voices of characters are recorded and synced to the sequence.
In the end, all of the different elements of the film come together because people from all of the different stages of production can work together with each other.
*httyd 2 - will actually say the full name
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