Evaluation

Evaluation Lee Cooper 3370 Kett on Prezi

This is my final Evaluation for my media products.

Focus Group - Target Audience.

focus group from Lee Cooper on Vimeo.

this is a small focus group that was helpfully recorded by my media teacher Mrs Moore. This has enabled me to workout what is needed for the animation. the feedback was exceptionally helpful. The feedback states that the animation meets its aim of being entertaining for the young audience, with all three viewers enjoying the film. During the viewing one of the children made her own sound effects. This self expression of the sound signifies that more sound effects might be needed. This could be easily achieved. Feedback given after the viewing tells me that some scenes are viewed with mixed feelings. The more slapstick scenes are sometimes viewed as repetitive, but the scene with the three red creatures was loved greatly by the target. audience.

Finished Animation

Hammerspace (unfinished) from Lee Cooper on Vimeo.

This is my finished animation. It is a "silent movie" with music composed by Veronina, and it has been prevued by my class. For a focus group I will attempt to show the animation in a school and receive feedback from the appropriate focus groups. 

Sound and Foley and Copyright

The finished animation has no sound to it, so I will have to source my music and sounds using royalty free music off of the internet or ask permission from bands. I can also create my own music using the art of Foley. Foley is creating sound effects to use in other productions; for example, in the British drama Doctor Who, the TARDIS sound effects are created by running a key up and down a piano wire to create a unquie sound. I will use this technique to create sound effects for my film. I may also have to do some voice acting, to give Jack a voice.

EDIT:
I have found a piece of music for a background track that I think could be suitable. It is called 'What a bad idea' and was created by and submitted to the website http://www.newgrounds.com/ . I have emailed him asking for his permission to use the piece. The piece can be listen to here: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/471678

EDIT 2:

 Veronina replied to my email, granting me permission to use this piece of music. 

The music provided uses Creative commons licence, this means that I can use the music as long as I give credit to the creator, do not use the ice for commercial reasons unless I gain permission from the creator, which I have. I am also legally allowed to distribute the music if I edit it, but only using an identical licence. 

http://www.creativecommons.org.uk/

Animation Complete.

After many week of animation the main film has been completed. Running at around 2:30 the final footage is slightly shorter than had been planed, however this is due to complications with filming as the technology often let me down. During the final day of filming, the camera became unresponsive to the mac-book which took two hours to resolve. this sadly reduced my final hours of animation meaning the storyline had to shortened, slightly.

I have shown my animation to my fellow classmates and they very impressed with the quality of the animation, however, they feel that the film lacks an ending and that the film ends on too large of a cliff hanger. I would resolve this problem by re-writing the end of the story and having the door vanish, sadly, I no longer possess the time to complete this task, so I have edited the film to the best of my ability to attempt to fix the ending.

Ancillary Product 2 - Magazine Review - completed Review

By looking at the Web-Magazine http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ I have been able to create a small magazine review for HammerSpace, using the Alice in Wonderland as a template. I have created a basic review of the film along with incorporating my first ancillary product, the movie poster.

This web magazine incorporates all the needed factors of a print magazine, such as;

• The title of the film- this is shown in the top third of the page and also states when the film was released. 
• A visual image- this is shown on the very left hand side and uses a minimal movie poster.
• User/Critics ratings- these are shown in the middle third of the page. The "Tomatometer" shows the professional critics ratings of the film. This is shown as a percentage for ease of use. Beneath this is a summary of the average ratings, the number of the reviews counted, and the number of positive reviews vs the number of negative reviews. The "Audience" allows the user to review the film, giving the audience a no professional point of view. 
• Readers Opinion- this allows the reader to respond to the magazine. This makes the web magazine more interactive than a print magazine. 
• Movie information- this gives an in-depth written review/plot synopsis. This can be extended for a more detailed text, or left as a slightly more minimal read which would  more suitable for a more passive audience. The details such as age rating, writer and director are also shown. 

I chose to use a web-magazine because of their growing appeal. Due to the advances of modern technology, such as wireless internet, smart phones and portable computers mean that web magazines are becoming more portable and easy to share than their paper counter parts. Digital media is also constantly being up-dated, where as print media is out of date by the time it reaches the shelves. 

Ancillary Product 2 - Magazine Review - Analysis

Ancillary Product 2 - Review - Analysis on Prezi

My review of the 'Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland' review on the web magazine "http://www.rottentomatoes.com/" The Web magazine reviews new movies through the use of professional critics and the user based reviews.

EDIT:

I have updated the prezi to include some missing factors:

Ancillary Product 2 - Review - Analysis on Prezi

Ancillary 1- distribution & exhibition

I will distribute the film poster (ancillary product 1) by placing it around in various locations. Places such as  bus stops and magazines will not target my audience directly but will advertise to the target audience's parents/guardians. This advertising uses the "two step flow" audience theory, The parents will view the advertising and then tell the actual target audience, meaning that the information is seen by more than the target audience, enticing more people to watch the animation.
the cost for bus-stop advertising is around £120 per week. This is relatively cheap compared to the amount of people who will view it compared to the cost of having it viewed.  It also means that a very wide margin of viewers, compared to the more focused audience of using a magazine, which can be extremely expensive.

This is a graphic mock up of how my poster could be used.

Ancillary Product 1 - Movie Poster - Finished Product

The poster takes inspiration form Aardman's Chicken run campaign, with the text being enticing but using a joke based teaser. "Who's there" is taken from the old "Knock Knock" jokes which link directly to the subject of the film.
The main subject of the poster is Jack, the protagonist of my short film. this poster introduces him in a friendly pose that this suitable for the target audience. The font was chosen by my focus group as a suitable font for both the genre of the film and the target audience.
This poster is part of a small campaign of two posters that work together with relaying text. The first would be the poster of the door which uses the caption "Knock, Knock" which is to be followed by the "Who's there?" shown on this current poster.

EDIT:
I have added some vital, but missing, information to the movie poster. The release date, where it can be viewed, and the producer are now visible at the bottom of the poster. A black border has also been added for aesthetics.

Ancillary Product 1 - Movie Poster - Focus Group on Fonts

Focus group on Prezi

I have added up the results of my focus group and the winning font was the first font: CreativeBB.

I am glad with this choice as it meets with all the criteria I provided my focus group. "The font must be easy to read, whilst representing its genre. The genre is Sci-Fi meets Children. It also must represent the medium in which the film has been made, which in my case is Stop-Motion Animation.

Ancillary Product 1 - Movie Poster - Planning my Posters

Looking into the style of Aardman's Chicken Runs poster campaign I will be using a similar technique.  Am plan to use a white background and show the character. This will enable the character to be known quickly and easily. In the upper left corner of the poster there will be parts of the "Knock Knock" jokes. These jokes will be easily understood by the target audience and will relate to the context of the film. I have created some primary sketches.



 

Ancillary Product 1 - Movie Poster - Research into Aardman's Chicken Run

I have been working on my movie posters alongside my ancillary products. The movie posters in question would be shown in locations most likely to attract the target audiences attention. I have designed my Poster campaign to be shown on small billboards up and around film cinemas. I am basing my campaign around a similar set of posters created and distributed for Aardman's animation "Chicken Run"

The posters composition shows the various main characters of the film on a white background. This allows the character to be easily seen and recognised as the target audiences eye is not drawn to the background. The top of the poster is taken up by a slogan advertising the film. Theses slogans are usually puns.  The use of puns insinuates that the film will be a comedy. The bottom of the poster shows the title of the film "Chicken Run" and it's release date. 

These slogans are often puns referring to either chicken or food. "She's Poultry In Motion" whilst being a pun on the expression "poetry in motion" references that the main character of the film is a chicken. 

Another pun "Escape Or Die Frying" expresses the Flocks situation and that they need to escape the chicken farm or they will be killed and eaten. 

 The bold colouring used in the poster entices the target audience which are young children, as the bright colours will attract their attention more than darker tones. 

SWOT report 2 15/01/2012

S- (internal) Animation has started and the storyline is achievable.
    (external)  All the models are holding up and are working perfectly.
W- (internal) I set myself too greater target and have had to rethink how much footage can be achieved daily.
    (external) Due to human error I have had trouble gaining access to the animating area
O- Total of 11 seconds of footage filmed.
T- complete another 10 seconds of footage of film by the end of next lesson.

Animation has started.

I have started my animation, and have spent 2 hours filming 5 seconds of footage with 24 frames per second. I am going to increase my animation speed of production over4 the next few days to create up to 15 seconds of footage per lesson.
 To evaluate myself I will be using SWOT, which stands for  Strengths, Weaknesses, Outcomes & Targets. The strengths are the good points of my progress and the weaknesses the low points. The outcome will be what I have acheived and the target will be what I wish to complete by next time.

SWOT report 1 - 10/1/2012

S- (internal) Have brought in and made all of my animation materials.
    (external) All hardware and a permanent location have been sourced.
W- (internal) The door for the animation was not strong enough and had to be repaired.
    (external) The Applemac had software problems which meant it had to be restarted and reconnected to the camera.
O- Five seconds of footage have been filmed.
T- complete another 15 seconds of footage of film by next lesson.

Story board

I have completed the basic outline for my story. Using a simple story with minimum characters and a single set I will be able to create an interesting and compelling story that will entertain my target audience whilst setting myself a more realistic goal for the time remaining.

The story board has been sketched out to represent a rough guideline for my film. The basic story is of a character who will find a strange door and by opening it will experience different effects as the door leads into hammerspace.

S.M.A.R.T Targets (week begining 21/11/11)

My S.M.A.R.T targets are:
> Re-evaluate my current posts and to improve them. [This week]
> Collect research from focus group. [Next monday]
> Create a scory board for scene one. (10 frames) [This week]

Marking Criteria on Scribd

Marking Criteria

Lip syncing in Animation.

During speech the human mouth creates a multitude of different shapes which are used to manipulate the sound into recognizable sounds. In animation the characters mouth has to represent these movements so that the audience can clearly understand who is taking at that time. Matching the correct facial/mouth expression to the sound to create accurate movement is called 'Lip Syncing' and I plan to use some in my animation. Due to the fact that it can be extremely difficult and time consuming I shall plan to use minimal speech and convey thoughts and feelings though another medium. This is why I shall be using stereotypical and exaggerated facial expressions. This will allow the target audience to understand what the character is thinking and emphasize with him. When the character does speak I will attempt to keep the speech succinct and to the point as this will be in keeping with the target audiences attention span and keep them interested with the film.

Focus Group

I have collected research through the use of surveys, so my next piece of research will be to talk to a focus group. I am going to show them clips of animation and ask them what they like and dislike. I am also going to ask them for any storylines or locations they would like to be included as this will help with the work process.

Animation and Hammer-Space theory

The animation technique of Stop-motion is rarely used in modern movies and television as 3D computer generated animation has increased in quality and has rendered Stop-motion as low quality. However, some studios such as Aardman still use this format of animation as seen in the cartoon of Shaun the sheep. This is to look into stop motion into a medium for a short film, how a plot can be explained in this short time, and the use of characters in a story. I will also be looking at the theory of hammer-space as this plays a large part in the plot for this animation. Hammer-space: "The infinite amount of space within something in which items are stored. Inventories in video games are a prime example, as the character is somehow able to hold a large number of items and objects without any sign of even a bag on him." 

http://videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=22e5ty6Qf8wY

The basic plot of Shaun the sheep Episode 14 Season 3 is that of a mouse being found on the farm and the havoc caused by the sheep (led by Shaun) in their attempts at protecting the mouse from the cat. The plot is simple however it enables the creators to have some fun with the different characters; Shaun is always shown as the hero and is of a different design to the rest of the flock, being smaller and skinnier than the rest of the sheep. The Cat is shown as a villain; with the stereotypical evil laugh and grin. The use of stereotypes for good and evil allows the audience to easily recognize who is good and who is bad. Animations conventionally manipulate the audience by using stereotyped protagonist/antagonist representations. this is because it enables the target audience whose point of view is the correct one. an effective animation clearly communicates strong character values in often very simple character; The rest of the flock are shown to have little character, however they are all shown to be good guys, if, a little simplistic and childlike. There are also a few other members of the flock who are different to the rest of the flock. There is an easily recognised mother who is represented stereotypically by her hair curlers and her relationship with her young lamb, named Timmy. This pairing of mother and child gives the audience a reference point. The final member of the flock is a massive sheep who is relatively twice the size of the other sheep.

This sheep's fleece is mainly used in story-lines for "hammer-space."There is a lot of usage of Hammer-Space in this episode, at 2:38, the mouse hides in a flock member's fleece, and trying to extract him, the cat pulls various objects out the fleece which normally would not have fitted in the wool, i.e. a large boot and a large wallet with photos. It is this theory that I wish to recreate with my animation. I am planning to exploit this idea to its limits and try to explain its use whilst entertaining an audience. This is because it is an extremely widely used idea in children's cartoons as it enables the creator to getaway with a lot more; Comedy values can be exploited and items can be easily stored without being seen.

There is no actual speech used in the animation, language is conversed through the use of music and animal grunts and squeaks. The lack of speech and the use of conveying messages through movements is another area I wish to investigate to use in my animation as it is very hard to accurately lip-sync in an animation. This is due to the fact that the human mouth, during speech, makes thousands of different shapes and each of these shapes would have to be recreated for an accurate interpretation of talking. I will submit another post about lip syncing in animation and the difficulties it can pose.

Target audience research

Media results

View more presentations from LeeKoopa

Slide one shows the ratio of my audience, With the majority being boys being at 13 and girls at 8.

Slide two shows the amount of hours watched. Statistically the majority of of boys watch between 2 to 3 hours of television per day whereas the gils watch around 1 to 2 hours. This signifies that I will have to make my animation very interesting to keep my audience's attention for this short time.

Slide three shows which channels are most popular and with which gender. with boys the most popular channels were CBBC, BBC1, Nickelodeon, or other. CBBC, BBC1, or other were the most voted by girls. This means that the majority of the chanels are aimed at childrens programs, so I will host my film on these channels as a short film.

Slides four to six are the groups reactions to three animated films; Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Coraline. Interestingly Wallace and Gromit receive the greater reviews despite being the oldest film. This is most likely due to the fact that the audience can relate more towards a human than to the birds of chicken run and Coraline was not broadly seen.

The seventh and final slide shows what kind of humour is most popular with my target audience. This information can be effectively used in the planning of my story with plenty of slapstick being used throughout the film. 

Animation routine.

Animated films are created throught a simple process that usually follows the same routine. This routine usually consists of these 11 steps:
1) Idea, brief, treatment, script, production planning.
2) Concept Design
3) Storyboarding
4) Production Design and Visual Development
5) Recording the Dialogue
6) Building the Models, Rigging
7) Layouts and Animatics
8) Animation
9) Final Backgrounds and Colouring
10) Lighting and Compositing
11) Post Production

For more information visit: http://www.skillset.org/animation/overview/article_3768_1.asp

This method is mainly for professional usage so I will not be using all of these steps in this order. My past experiences of animation have taught me to use the order of:


1) Idea, brief, treatment, script, production planning.
2) Concept Design
3) Storyboarding
4) Production Design and Visual Development
5) Recording the Dialogue
6) Creating sets and Characters

7) Layouts and Animatics
8) Animation
9) Post Production

This is because with stop motion animation the backgrounds and lighting have to be set up and created during the animation process. and cannot be easily edited afterwards. However, using green screening is one method that can be used to change the backgrounds afterwards.

Animation Industry

Animation Sector Profile. 
The global market for the animation industry is currently estimated at $50Billion. The uk is a large part of this market. However, the UK has had to change, inorder for it to secure the the greatest profits from the international market, the animation industry of the UK will have to increasingly rely on highly skilled and specialsed workforce. More than 75% of the animation workforce are graduates and the it is due to the high quality of higher education, which is a key factor in determining the long-term future of the industry.


Professions in Animation.
 Around 4,700 People are currently employed by the animation industry throughout the UK. However, around 40% are freelance or on short term contracts, with 20% Sole Traders, or self employed. The largest occupational groups are draw/stop frame animation employing around 1000 people producing (910), computer generated animation (900), and production (430). In addition, a further 1100 more people are employed in key animation roles in other audiovisual sectors. 

Information from http://www.skillset.org/animation

My questionnaire

This is the questionnaire I have created to gain my research:

Are you a boy or a girl?                                                 How old are you?

            Boy/Girl                                                           7          8          9          10

Do you like to watch television?           

Yes/No

How long do you watch television for each day? (Circle one option)

Less than 1 hour           1 to 2 hours      2 to 3 hours      4 to 5 hours      more than 6 hours.

What channels do you like to watch? (Circle all the ones you like)

BBC1                BBC2                ITV                   CBBC                CITV                 POP

            Nickelodeon                   Cartoon Network                       Boomerang      

Other: (please say) ……………………………………………………………………………………

What is your favourite programme?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Why do you like this programme?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you like animated films such as:

 Wallace and Gromit  (Hate the films) 1------ 2 ------ 3 ------ 4 ------ 5 ------ 6 ----- 7 ------ 8 ------ 9 ------ 10 (Love the films)

Chicken run               (Hate the films) 1------ 2 ------ 3 ------ 4 ------ 5 ------ 6 ----- 7 ------ 8 ------ 9 ------ 10 (Love the films)

Coraline                    (Hate the films) 1------ 2 ------ 3 ------ 4 ------ 5 ------ 6 ----- 7 ------ 8 ------ 9 ------ 10 (Love the films)

Why do you like/dislike these types of film?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

What do you find funny in an animation? (Please circle the ones you like)

Hitting each other with hammers                                     Slipping on banana skins

People falling over                                                               Funny words being said

Funny noises                                                                        Funny faces

Other: (please say) …………………………………………………………………………………..........

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Email To Target Audience.

I have emailed a head teacher at my old middle school and have requested that she hand out some questionnaires for my target market research. I will post the results here.

This is an image of the email sent to the head teacher. It has the questionnaire attached. This enabled me to hand out the Questionnaires to obtain my target research. I have chosen to use this head teacher as I know that the school in question teaches students who fall into my target audience. As an ax-student I am also known and trusted at the school which will allow me to persuade the head teacher to spend some time on this questionnaire with the children and obtain more accurate results.

This week I shall...

This week I am planning on completing my audience research, including posting the results onto my blog. I am going to email my Questionnaire to a middle school and ask them to fill it out as this will be the age of my target audience. I will collect the results, compile the results and post them onto here.

Another Person's Animation

I have found this animation from the musician Maxmaber Orkestar who uses 500 people holding more than 1,500 developed pictures all around Israel, creating a smooth music video within their hands to create a film within a film. This is an interesting concept that could only be achieved through animation. 

MyCorkboard.me Review

I have been using Corkboard.me for summarising and ordering my notes and presentations. I have been looking at how the website works and have decided that it is a good program to use as both a single user and for presentations with pros and cons with both.

Corkboard.Me is good for single use as it is extremely simple to use and allows basic images and text to be placed and stored making it both good presentation and note taking program. Other colours of post-it allow for comments or different topics.

Corkboard.Me can be a poor single use as it can be hard to show the order in which things are meant to be viewed. It can also be quite hard to control when presenting as a single click creates a new post-it note and post-its can be easily dragged by mistake.

Mr. Darlow's: Diffusion of Innovation

Looking at the diffusion of innovation theory, which is how fast an idea or product travels through the target audience. Mr. Darlow has shown us the Hype cycle, and its five stages, which most products have to go through. The stages are:

• Technology trigger 
• Peak of inflated expectations
• Trough of disillusionment 
• Slope of enlightenment 
• Plateau of productivity

There are also types of "adopters" for each new product. An adopter is someone who takes on this new idea/product and uses it. The stage of adoption is to do with how fast someone starts using this idea/product. The stages are:

• (Technologists, creators) Innovators - 2.5%
• (Visionaries, creators) Early Adopters - 13.5% 
• (Pragmatists, critics & collectors) Early Majority - 34% 
• (Conservatives, joiners & spectators) Late Majority - 34% 
• (Skeptics, inactive) Laggards -16% 

To show our knowledge of the diffusion of innovation Mr. Darlow set us the following task:
"Develop a concept for a new technological device. Consider who you are aiming the product at and develop a marketing campaign to suit the early adopters and how you would develop the marketing strategy after the 'scarcity' phase. You should make two of the following"

• TV advert (storyboard for)
• Web advert (banners, columns, webpage)
• Print advert
• Billboard
• Advertising slogan

I have chosen to create a Web Advert banner, Print advert and an Advertising slogan.
The Product is the "Black Box" which is meant to be able to perform and do everything.
I chose the slogan "It only does everything" as this will entice the Visionaries and creators to test this claim and try to beat it by buying the product.
                   The web banner simply shows the Black Box, and lets the product boast the tagline: "It only does everything. The Paper advert is simply a stationary version of the online advert.

This year...

This year I plan to follow option number 10, which is to create a short movie in its entirety, lasting approximately 5 minutes. With this movie, I will be creating a Poster, and a Film magazine review featuring the film, as this will give me the best chances of a good grade.

I have created a corkboard presentation to show this. This presentation can be found here: http://corkboard.me/uqcjP97HFB 

In this presentation I have included information about what I will be doing, what I have done in preparation, possible ideas and why I think I should choose option 10. I shall be Creating the film using stop motion animation and this is "Jack" the main character as he stands currently. I will attempt to finish creating him before the start of term.

EDIT: I was unable to complete before the start of term due to lack of funds and materials. I will BE continuing to create the character until he is complete. The character currently has eyes, and his face has been panted. 

Scott Pilgrim vs the media.

Scott Pilgrim is a series of graphic novels that have inspired a film and a video game, both of which take the name of the second graphic novel of Scott Pilgrim vs The World. When the film was released many websites were created to both advertise and admire the film and books.

The first part of the website is currently used to promote sales DVD and Blu-ray copies of the film, but before its release the website was used to show preview clips and hints about the film. A second part of the website is a lot more user interactive. It has a background soundtrack that is taken from the film and multiple menus which allow the user to navigate from everything from character biographies to download links. Using borrowed interest, the character Bios show the life stories of the actors playing the part of each of the characters, so that the fans of individual actors/actresses will find the website and the Scott Pilgrim franchise.

The website also features an "avatar"creator, which enables you to create your own character in the style of the Scott Pilgrim universe. I have created a small movie which is each step of the creation process.


Untitled from Lee Cooper on Vimeo.

The Scott Pilgrim franchise started off life as a series of digit sized novels. Each of these novels followed the life of Scott Pilgrim and his relationship with a girl named Ramona Flowers. The books were graphic novels, and were drawn in a style that combined a manga style known as "chibi" (where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads) and normal sized characters. This is to easily show emotion while giving the characters a proper "person" look. The characters are all very stylized which is probably enhanced the story for Scott pilgrim enabling it to become a huge success and create a full feature length movie for the mainstream film industry. 


A lot of revenue was made after the movie through the films sound track. The Character "Scott Pilgrim" is a member of a band (the Sex Bob-ombs) and their songs were released after the movie. a complete list of the music can be found here. Most films create their own soundtrack using one band for the entire film, however, With Scott Pilgrim a multitude of bands/artists were used to create a soundtrack that fits feel of the film. This also enabled the film to use borrowed interest as the Music fans would go to the film to hear their band play, whilst fans of scott pilgrim may look up the bands to hear the sings again after hearing them in the film. 



Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is also the name of the franchise's video game.  The video game incorporates a multitude of references and hints and spoofs of different video games, from being created as a retro game with pixilated sprites, to borrowing sound effects and power-ups from other games. This enabled it to get a wide audience through borrowing interest as it would entertain most types of gamer as it would remind them of the classic console games such as Sonic, Zelda and super Mario. For a review, Please click here. 

stereotyping & Representation

a (very) short prezi divulging the meanings of stereotypes and representation and an example.

Stereotyping. on Prezi

Denotation & Connotation

Denotation: The literal meaning of a word, image or phrase etc., as opposed to the meanings which are merely suggested or implied.

Connotation: The meanings implied or suggested by a word, image, phrase etc., as opposed to the literal meaning.

For example, in this image:

Denotation: The picture shows a man in a large fedora hat wearing a pinstripe suit with a white tie around his neck. He has a plain expression on his face and is looking directly at the camera. He has a slight stubble.

Connotation: The large fedora hat and Pinstripe suit and tie are usually signifiers of a mobster, therefore the man is shown to be part of the mafia. The plain expression and white background are extremely plain in comparison to the clothing showing that it is the clothing that is important.

signifier/signs

A signifier or sign is an image/sound/guesture that has meaning greater than itself. An important part of semiology, a signifier can change how the audience interprets the media, by connecting a meaning to the signifier.

There are many types of signifiers, for example, this STOP sign is in a red colour which signifies danger and warns you to stop. The shape is also a universal shape for STOP signs meaing that it will abe recognised by multiple cultures.

This image of a Femme Fatal, a stereotypical 

character from film noir, has multiple signifiers. The first is the hat she is wearing. It called a fedora, and the fedora is often worn by a gangster/mobster. Showing her wearing a fedora signifies that she is either a mobster, or in league with the mafia. She is also shown as smoking a cigar. This is two signifiers. The cigar is also a sign of the mafia, often shown with a Don or Mob Boss, signifying she is a powerful person. The fact that she appears to be smoking makes her seem dangerous and rebellious as smoking would not have been a normal thing for a woman at this period in time, as it is seen as a bad thing.

Semiology

Theories of semiotics.
My notes from my first lesson on semiotics, including a small summery of what semiology is.

In class we worked as pairs to look at the connotations of images of both men and women using denotations and semiology. The first sheet used images of 4 women. We looked at the colour of the background, their poses, and expressions. For example: The top right Image shows a young woman, who is known for working on the Disney channel. She appears to be smiling and the background is in primary colours. She is wearing minimal make-up and looks very natural. This could mean she is meant to be a good person and a good role model for small children, mainly girls. The bottom left woman is posing nude on a red bed, and is covered in tattoos. the red background represents lust and danger, but could also mean love. The tattoos signify that she is a rebel. Although she is not physically smiling with her mouth she is smiling with hr eyes, meaning she is very confident and happy with her body.

The images of the males had similar effect. The first image shows a well build, muscular man who is wearing his denim jeans low down. He is physically smiling and has very white teeth - most likely bleached. The fact that he is topless and showing off his body whilst smiling shows that he is very confident. he background is in very dark, masculine colours which are used to compliment his masculinity. 

My First Post.

This is my first post of A2 Media studies. This year I plan to work alone on the main project, in which I would like to make a small film using animation, mainly claymation (also known as stop motion) This blog will be the report of my research, planning, development and production of the movie, and the other projects that will support it. I will be creating at least 2 out of the 3 options that are:

1. A poster for the film - My first thoughts on this are that the poster will have to promote the film, most likely as a paper based advert.
2. A radio trailer for the film -Currently this is the least favorable option, as I  have little interest in radio, and therefore, I have no past experience with radio.
3. A film magazine review page featuring the film - This will possibly be a hard option, as I have currently not seen many articles featuring animated "shorts." I will have to research into this media.

I will post future updates on this project, as well as my theory and other relevant links, which will hopefully enable me to create the best short film from my abilities.