How are representations constructed across the 3 platforms?

How are the stars/characters in the film reperesented by:

Print?
The main characters of the film (Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Amanda Michalka) are on the front of some of the posters

This can make fans and people that are familiar with the characters more eager to watch the film because they can see actors that they are familiar with or who they may like. Another reason why the actors could be on the front of the poster is for people that are not to familiar with the actors more aware of what type of movie it could be about and who are involved in the movie. So the actors on the front of the poster can tell the audience a lot about the film. This poster can be in magazines, newpapers, on buses or billboards. This can represent the audience by involving them and getting them interested in the movie that is going to get released.

Broadcast?
The actors can be represented by broadcast by having interviews on the television or over the radio. Joel Courtney was on MTV Movie Awards so this means he was on the red carpet. Interviews over on television could give the audience a good sense of who they are behind scenes so having interviews about the movie on the television (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTHM6CzPlc). Also, if there are dedicated movie film reivews like - Film 2011 on BBC 2 with Claudia Winkleman shows how the actors are represented. None of the actors in the movie have had bad publicity but if they did they will be represented on broadcast negatively. However, via DVD the actors are represented on how they behave backstage this always gives the audience a deeper understanding of who the actors are and behind stage clips can really braoden their fan base. The audience are represented with broadcast by the fact that they are able to get a better understanding of the characters.

E Media?
Over E Media, the actors are represented the same as the rest of the other platforms however with E Media, fans/audience can investigate more into the characters and find out some more of their background such as what other movies they've been in and how they started off acting. This type of information can help fans that want to be actors and could inspire them to start the same way they have. E Media is full of inseen interviews etc.. and the way the actors are represented in E Media is purely on how much information fans want to know about the character(s). So E Media can be a place where it can give away too much information, on the other hand it is a good way for fans to keep in touch with the characters over social networking sites. For Example (@Joel_Courtney). Social networking sites are a good way to represent themselves as they have an opportunity to talk to someone they like.

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Now think of how the film communicates with audiences across the 3 platforms (?)

How do audiences access the text across the 3 platforms?

Who are Super 8’s target audience(s) and how do you know?
Super 8's certain target audience is over 12s, because that's what they certified the movie as. But the type of reviews that I have read (http://www.film4.com/reviews/2011/super-8) cant give a specific target audience. So its mostly aimed at 12 and above - preferably teenagers and adults as a family movie.


Broadcast: This movie is a family movie as the rating of the film is a 12 which means its suitable for anyone over 12 but any child under that can be accompanied by an adult so it can be a family movie and whole family can watch it on cinema. Its also on DVD so it can be family movie. There isn't a main target audience with broadcast because everyone watches television and it has a wide target audience to do with broadcast. However, broadcast is not only television, its radio as well but for the radio that will be more for adults or later teenagers. It depends on what radio station it is on, for example on Radio 1 it may come on as an advert and teenagers will be listening to that it can encourage them to watch it but on talk shows on the radio it may listened more to an older audience so they can think that it will be good to take the family to go and watch. 


E media: The target audience will be pre-teens and teenagers because they know more about technology than an adult. Also on the website there are games and information that they may be interested in.They use e media to promote their movie by firstly, their website which is filled with information, games and behind scene clips ( http://www.super8-movie.com/assets/pdf/SUPER8ProductionNotes.pdf ) <How the movie got constructed. They also have a iPhone/iPod download app which relates to the audience, it keeps them interested. This can relate to them because pre-teens and teenagers are very interested in technology so this is perfect for them to get involved. E Media can keep the audience interacted with the movie by entering competitions or by posting comments on what they think about the movie either by typing or videoing themselves. They may also be interact with the audience by being online at a certain time to see the cast on ustream etc..


Print: Print could include posters and magazines that they could feature on the target audience will be pre-teens and teenagers. The move could be featured on kids magazines and the posters will encourage them to ask their parents to watch the movie so The Super 8 team need to be able to make their posters and print merchandise appealing to that type of audience. However, adults may be a target audience for print (magazines, newspapers) because adults may like to read hat they are about to watch and they want to know a lot more about the movie. The way that adults could read about the movie is if its featured on a broadsheet or a film magazine. Print can help the readers or audience engaging with the film by sending comments of what they think of the film and it can be posted into the next magazine or newspaper. Pre-teens and teenagers will get involved by entering into competitions and chances to win something to do with the film. 


super 8 promotions?

Now think of how the producers are communicating with audiences across the 3 platforms:

E media - the producers are communicating with audiences by having an official twitter (@super8movie) & facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Super8Movie) page to keep up with the latest updates "Digital Download & On Demand" for their movie. Its mostly with e media as its more diverse and free to do and it can get to a lot of people quickly and effectively. So the differences with e media and the other platforms is that e media is more effective because if they do something on the other platforms such as competitions, a chance to meet a cast member, send in pictures of their super 8 merchandise etc it will normally get referred back to emedia so they save money and do it straight on to e media. The only way they have widened their appeal to the move over the platforms is by having more than one social network and having an official website to keep their fans up to date and make it available to everybody. 


Audience theories you could research and apply to your Super 8 case study:
Gratifications: Super 8 is mostly tremendous fun and it certainly hits all of its emotional cues. Watching a likeable bunch of kids outwit the military is always a pleasure and the transformation of an average small town into an explosive war zone is a thrill. Going back to the style and structure of films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Gremlinsand The Goonies to create engaging narratives that rely on a developed build-up rather than a series of quick gratifications is an outstanding way of making engaging mainstream family entertainment (http://blog.cinemaautopsy.com/2011/06/11/film-review-super-8-2011/)

Social Demographics: C2, D, E (Working class)


mode of address?


Narrowcasting: On the internet, Super 8 producers make their website broadcasted to people to view it but they have narrowcasted things such as facebook so that people that subscribe can only have certain information and if you are not subscribed to them you are 'missing out' because they could be putting up the latest videos, pictures and competitions that the subscribers are the first to access.

How are texts in the three platforms constructed?

How is super 8 promoted through print?
Print:

A poster. These will be seen on buses, billboards and cinemas etc
The code and conventions of print media is that it will normally include a review of a new film, provide information about the cast, certificate. Just all the information about the movie so that the readers have a deeper understanding of the movie. Print may include an interview with the director or the actors. There are different type of genre codes for print. There is a tabloid, broadsheet (newspapers), specialist film, music. The type of print that super 8 may feature in is an advert in a broadsheet but it could also feature on a specialist film magazine. There are differences within the way super 8 are promoted in print. In a broadsheet it may only be a little advert at the corner of the page or maybe a little interview on on the pages in comparison to a film magazine where it will have pictures, interviews and go more into depth into what the movie is about. The similarities within the print is that they are both promoting the movie and they both will give some awareness to the audience/readers and keep them interested in the movie.

Broadcasting:

Dvd that they have and this is a tv advert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dJVotqVDok
The codes and conventions for broadcast is that they will include an interview and a clip or trailer of the film to show the audience what type of movie it is, it will give them a broader understanding of the movie. However for the DVD the codes and conventions for that would include the movie itself and include backstage information about the movie such as deleted scenes, unseen interviews and a change to see what the cast are like behind set. The genre codes for radio is: talk radio, music radio, commercial, PSB (public service broadcasting). The type of radio show that Super 8 may be featured on is talk radio and commercial as they can talk about the move and include cast to have an interview etc. The genre codes for television are the same and super 8 will be involved on commercial, PSB and talk as it gives the audience a deeper understanding. There are differences within broadcasting. With radio a lot more information needs to be given as the audience can not see them. The television needs to be able to show and keep the audience interested into what they are talking about and give the audience visuals such as trailers to keep the audience engaged. The DVD needs to be fun and packed full of things that the viewers may not have seen before. Within the cinema side of the broadcasting it just needs to live up to what people are saying about it but everyone does have different opinions. The similarities within the broadcast is that its still trying to promote the movie but instead of print there are actual moving visuals.

E Media:
http://www.super8-movie.com/# - website
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCRQQCKS7go - online trailer
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?DVDID=118873 - review
The codes and conventions of E Media is that it contains instant interactions with the audience with the use of video clips, blogs, audio, articles, competitions etc.. this keeps the audience engaged and interested. Emedia doesn't have any sub platform so they dont have any genre codes.

Similarities with the media platforms:
- They all promote super 8
- they are suitable to a wide range of people
- they are effective to promote

Differences with the media platforms:
- Emedia is more better than the others because it quicker and you can find out more information than if you were reading it or watching it on tv.
- with emedia you are able to read, watch and interact so the other platforms in some respect are irrelevant.
- emedia is the best way to promote but for other audience print and broadcast

Film media in context

Film media in context

How does the industry promote film to audiences using:
Print media?

Advantages
- It relates to a specific target audience
- life long span

Disadvantages
- It can be too expensive to keep printing
- not many people go to print meida for information
- Print media isnt as instant as E media

Super 8 promotes from print by creating posters and featuring on newpapers for interviews, etc. The problem with this that many people may be able to access them interview online. Print isn't reacting well because technology is taking over. But for print the type of audience will be the secondary audience.

Broadcast?

Advantages
- It can reach out to a wide range of people
- Coverage is flexible, so the more times its on TV the more that it can be seen by many people
- It has 3 branches - DVD, TV and Radio
- Having 3 branches can communicate to a wider range of people

Disadvantages
- broadcast is dying becuase emedia has taken over
- people can now dowload movies instead of buying DVDs
- Not everyone listens to the radio
- And now less people are watching tv (time shifting)

Super 8 uses broadcast to promote their movie:
- The movie came out in the cinemas and people may of knew about it because of the trailers that had be broadcasted on tv and they may of had trailers in the cinema so this may of encouraged the audience to go and watch the film.

- They have a DVD that came out on the 22nd of November. This is useful because the people that liked the movie can now go and purchase it and for it to be a family film means that it can be watched by the whole family.

- Talk shows may of encouraged people to know about the film, a chance to meet the characters and what their like off set. This could be a good way to promote the movie as the main characters could be recognised by 'fans' and this encourages them to watch the film. They are responding negatively to broadcast (except dvd) but because everyone can download things from the internet its harder to sell and attract people to buy dvds or watch on tv. This may relate to the secondary and younger audience

Emedia?


Advantages
- Easy, anyone can access it
- It's price, if you want to put something on the internet its mostly free
- Convenient because everything is on the internet. Easy to find

Disadvantages
-Its hard to piracy
- people are bombarded with information
- people can illegally download music, videos etc

They promote their movie by creating website and internet interviews and games for fans to play online. This keeps them interested and wanting to find out more. E-media is responding positively to the change in technology as most of the things they do are online. This relates mostly to teenagers/pre teens audience as they know more about technology

Super 8 media platforms

Print

 

One of 'Super 8' posters.

Posters like these will be seen in magazines, newspapers, billboards and on buses. There have been postive reviews from professional critics. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_8_(film). There was also people making their own reviews on the movie (http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/super-8/user-reviews/kids). There is a Sky Movies HD Review on super 8 (http://movies.sky.com/super-8/review)

Empire magazine made a review on Super 8 (http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?DVDID=118873) it includes the main characters, the certificate, the director and the running time.

Broadcast

There is three types of trailers to do with broadcast:

Tv Spot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9pZmxPzC1A . this is the type of trailer that will be shown on television. They dont last very long, approx. 30 seconds

Theatrical trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCjoXl3GfyI . this is type of trailer is appropriate for the cinema because it is longer than the tv spot and it gives that sense of tension and excitement to watch the movie.

Teaser trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9pZmxPzC1A . this is also a teaser trailer because its short and makes the audience want to know more about the movie.

Another thing that is associated with broadcast and Super 8 is the film cast interviews (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smylfYKH7Ss) where fans can get to know the characters and how they act and behave away from the film.

Super 8 was featured on the red carpet for their premier of their movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luydPefhms8) . Having premiers mean that the movie is promoting their movie to bigger companies and its also a chance to interview the cast of the movie and a chance for the fans to meet them, get autographs and pictures.

Joel Courtney is the main character for the movie and he was seen at the MTV movie awards which is shown on MTV. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3A2cqw17F4)

Shows like Film 2011 on BBC 1 gives the public/audience a sense of what movies are coming up and what they think about them. They talk to the directors, actors and get into a deeoer insight into a movie(http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x7l47) here is an example of something that the show does (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4_20M8RYt4)

J.J Abrams had an interview about the movie he created - Super 8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTtc-gjLmR0 . This is linked with emedia because its easier to find if you missed it on television then it would be there on the internet, available any time you wanted to watch it.

Super 8's DVD was released on November 22nd 2011 in th UK.
 it was released on Blu-Ray as well as DVD to relate to the people that prefer HD. You could buy the DVD/Blu-Ray in stores or you can buy it online (which links with Emedia)

E-Media

E-media helps promote movies, they use online trailers to get the audience involved (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCRQQCKS7go) . People may chose to watch it online because it quicker, easier to access then waiting for the trailer to come on television or to watch a movie and hope to expect it on the screen. E-media is more a reliable source to try and find the trailer.

The super 8 website is another way to engage the audience because the website will want the people who have alrwady seen the movie wanting to find out more about how they made it, a chance to meet the characters and play games that are simular to the movie (www.super8-movie.com) . The website can offer people that havent seen the movie to try and find out more information about who's the main characters and what the movie is about. So the people that make the website will need to make sure that they dont give away to much information to spoil the movie for people that havent seen it.

The music that is used on the movie (tracklist) can be accessed on the internet over Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_i-RgeltH0) for people that liked the song(s) in the movie.

Comments from the audience about what they felt about the movie..

The comments are mainly positive, the website that I found this from is http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/super_8/

Amblin Entertainment produced Super 8 doesnt have a main website but this is a wiki link to give more information about them : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblin_Entertainment . Steven Spielberg is one of the key people for this company.

This is a tribute website to Steven Spielberg http://www.stevenspielberg.co.uk/ made by his fans to say that hes the most successful movie director !

They also have some note about their movie on how it all got constructed http://www.super8-movie.com/assets/pdf/SUPER8ProductionNotes.pdf this is definitely a good way for people that are very interested in super 8 

Super 8 have a twitter for fans to keep up to date with the latest activities: @super8movie

Their official website which enables fans and people that may be interested in the movie to see any behind the scenes clips and a chance to meet the characters. http://www.super8-movie.com/#/video

1960 Vs 2008

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)

(5:05 - 6:50) - medium shot
The use of medium shots makes the audience focus on the characters a lot more than what happens in the background. The medium shot makes the audience focus on their facial expressions. The fact that the medium shot has lasted so long means that the audience feel as if they are apart of the shot. Medium shot invites the audience into the movie.

(11:14) - close up/ extreme close up

This shows the audience that there may be some suspense with the money, suitcase and the woman. The fact that its a close up/extreme close up means that the audience can make their own interpretation also the non diegetic creates more tension. Also there was a pan movement from the money to the suitcase which makes the audience, again, create their own interpretation.

(13:30) close up

The use of close up shows her facial expressions more clearly. It shows that she's in fear and shock which creates more tension. The non diegetic music also helps build the tension between the audience and the main character. Close up lets the audience only concentrate on the character being shown on the frame.

For the clip of Psycho, it is using a tracking shot and mostly panning camera movement.

Hancock (2005) - Peter Berg

Distinctive still image

Costumes:
Three men are wearing dark clothing to show that they are dominant and the fact that they are practically wearing the same clothing (baggy jeans, coats, hoodies) and the colour of the clothing is the same shows that they are working together. The audience can tell by the clothes that they are wearing who the victim is. The man on the floor, topless shows that he is the victim. The fact that the clothing is dark, makes it harder to identify them as they don’t want to be seen.

Lighting:
In this shot, there isn’t much light (low lighting, back lighting since the only light is coming from the headlights) . The scene is dark and the only light is from the car headlights. That gives a sense of mystery and violence also we as an audience realise that most bad things happen in darkness. The light from the headlights is mainly on the man on the floor which shows that something may happen to him.

Actors:
There are four men in this shot. All black men around mid-20s. The fact that three men are standing up, surrounding the man on the floor shows dominance and intimidation. It shows a 3 on 1 conflict. The three men’s facial expressions are very serious and may be exaggerated because of the darkness.

Make-up:
There is blood on the man’s face who is on the ground to show that he’s been beaten up.

Props:
There was a use of guns and a shovel. There is also a car that will be used as their get away car after they have finished with the man on the floor. However, there isn’t any visuals of any props but we can tell from the lighting that something dangerous and violent will take place.


Setting:
Its in a field away from people so no one can see them. The setting shows that they are isolated from the rest of the world which also creates mystery for the audience. But in the distance is a site of buildings which means they didn’t travel far but because the field is behind town suggests that not many people will find out about what they are up to. Also, the field looks abandoned.

My favourite Year 12 Production

There were a lot of very good productions at The Media Awards yesterday at Greenford High School. The energy from the crowd was great and everyone looked very sophisticated and elegant. The ladies in dresses and heels and the gentlemen in Tuxedo's. Overall, a very good night. However, the Year 12 productions were quite the same, most of the productions were based on horror and thriller and there wasn't much variety in different genres. 


The Boy Is Mine, Checkmate, The Outsider, Detention, Johnny and Enigma were all the Year 12 productions made but it was The Outsider that I believe was the best production. The Outsider was a trailer of a very quiet girl that didn't have any friends and she gets bullied which makes her the 'outsider' but she eventually gets her own back and takes revenge on the people that bullied her.

The colours used were dark and very gloomy making the audience suspect the trailer was a thriller/horror. The colours were very appropriate for the type of genre and worked very well together. They also picked the right amount of characters, they didnt have to many. The characters just consisted of the main character which was the 'outsider' and 3 people that 'bullied' her. The main character suited that role because she looked very vunerable but throughout the trailer we saw her character building up from a vunerable girl to a total psycho.

The actors had minimal make-up but at the end of the trailer 'the outsider' wore red contact lenses to emphaise the horror genre and to grab the audiences attention. The main character made it clear to the audience that she was upset or angry by her facial expressions used. They were very clear. However, with many thrillers/horrors the props are pretty much the same. The props used for the 'outsider' were knifes to show that there was going to be a murder as the end result. There wasnt much in the way of props but I don't think there should of been any more to it as I think it would of been overdone. There were 3 settings in the trailer: school, the outsiders house and the bullies house. The settings were also very appropriate and they also very clear which place was which.

On a whole, I think this production was the best because it consisted of a horror playlist and the font made it more scary for the audience. They definitely stuck to the horror genre as the fonts that they used, the music they used and the actors that were used were definetly horror specific. I want to congratulate the people that created that trailer as they did put a lot of work into it. I havent got any even better if's for this production. I believe that this production was very good for year 12 students. This trailer also won best year 12 production.They did a well good job!

Mica Maynard.