Presentation Pitch

As a class, we had to divide ourselves in to several groups of 4. This was so that we could do our 'Presentation Pitch' which meant that we had to create a story of a given genre. Our genre was a 'teenage romantic comedy'. To begin with we each sketched out a few ideas and presented them to each other. After that we made a decision on one final idea. We named this 'Beautiful Nightmare' about a girl who went to school in America, befriended a humourous character, found romance, and had a crazy ending. But then she wakes up and she in the comfort of her own home, with her family; and not in America at all. We came up with plenty of ideas, but chose the most appropriate for the specific genre and task, and put them on to a mind map.

Roland and Barthes Codes

Roland Barthes Theory Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic and semeotician. He explored a wide range of fields and had diverse knowledge. Barthes also influenced the development of schools. Roland Barthes once said that ‘Text’ was “A galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of signified. It has no beginning, it is reversible, we gain entrance to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one.” I think by this he meant that everyone encounters everything differently, and there is no said way of approaching anything potentially ‘correct’. And by looking at something in a specific viewpoint or angle, can create a whole meaning for a particular ‘text’. Barthes came up with the idea that there is a theory that ‘5 codes’ can be put into any narrative. The 5 codes were; Action/ Proairetic- The way the tension is built up and the audience are left in interest or suspense guessing what happens next. This code applies to any action that implies a further narrative action. For example if two people pull their trigger at the same time, the audience is left in suspense and interest questioning who is going to get killed. Semantic- This code refers to giving a cultural/ underlining, additional meaning to a basic everyday word. This is to show what is symbolises but also shows the writers skills. Cultural/ Referential- Looks at the audience’s cultural knowledge and morality. The cultural codes also points to knowledge about the way the world works as shared by a community or culture. Enigma- Also known as the ‘Hermeneutic code’, refers to plot elements of a story that are not explained. They exist as enigmas that the reader wishes to be revealed. The effect is that it makes the audience question ‘why is that there?’ ‘why does this happen?’. A detective story is a prime example because the storyline operates by a crime being exposed and solved. Symbolic- The symbolic code refers to a structure that organizes meanings by way of antitheses or sexual and psychological conflicts; this is when new meaning arises out of opposing ideas. It’s also what the audience thinks when they see/ hear it. What it symbolises in their eyes. These oppositions can be expressed through action, character and setting.

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid

I was put into a group of 4 which consisted of 2 boys, and 2 girls. We were given a clip of a film opening to watch on youtube. The opening my group had to watch was called 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'. At first watched it with the sound on to get farmiliar with the clip. But them we watched it about another 4 times in mute. This was so that all of our focus was on the shots and the reasons behind each shot shown. The task was to create a story board of the 6 most important shots shown in the opening sequence and thouroughly evaluate them. We distinguished the different type of shot by studying them before we attempted the task. The following are the different kind of camera shots I learned about; Long shot- shows the whole character.. Medium- shows the subject from waist up.. Close up- shows the subjects head and shoulders.. Aerial- birds eye view shot.. Low/High angle- a shot taken from below or above the subject.. Pan- when the camera moves horizontally.. POV- shot ideally showing the action from the characters point of view.. Zoom- when the length of the focused subject changes.. Subjective shot- intended to match exactly what the character is seeing, tends to be done with a 'binocular mask'.. Whip pan- a faster verison of 'pan shot' but used to show that the camera is just cathing up with all the action.

presentation pitch characters

Penn Badgley as 'Ollie' one of the main characters. He plays the 'musician' and one of the boys who Hope falls for, but at the end of the film, she ends up with him.

Channing Tatum as 'Mike' another main character. He is the 'Jock' so he is one of the popular boys in high school and also a heart throb. Hope falls for him too, but doesn't end up with him.

Emma Watson plays 'Hope' the main character. She has romance with both Ollie and Mike. From England and her image is edgy and seen as different and cool by the American students from her school.

Emma Roberts plays 'Brittany' the dumb blonde. she is Hopes only girlfriend at her new school. Brittany brings humour to the movie, and says alot of American clichés throughout.

Uses and Gratification Theory

Uses and Gratification Theory Uses and Gratification theory focuses on ‘what people do with media’ rather than ‘what media does to people’. It is a popular apporach to understanding mass communicaiton. The theory suggests that people use media, not only for entertainment as such; but for also to meet their needs in specific moments in their lives. This approach has implied that the media now have to compete to grab the attention of their viewers needs and gratification. This has created a theory that the media must find ways to engage the audience, whether it be through their past or current experiences/ emotions; and make it appeal to them. An example of uses and gratification would be ‘Personal Identification’, this would be linking to me, so for example a film that I find links to me in a personal aspect would be mean girls. This would be because it is a modern film, set in a high school with older teens. The plot is about girl friends; it also contains alot of humour. The reason why I chose this film is because I am still in school and spend the majority of time with my friends. Another form of uses and gratifications theory is ‘Information’ for example a film with a historical background, a reason why I would watch a film like this would be because I want to learn a bit about histotry and generations. A few examples are; Gladiator, this is set in Ancient Greek times; and focuses alot on the romans a few other films that are similar are Troy, and also One Million Years BC which is a 1966 British adventure/fantasy film; set in the time of cavemen. As well as Personal Identification and Information, a popular gratification is ‘Entertainment’ in other words, the porducers have to try and make sure that what the viewers are consuming gives them enjoyment and also enables them to forget about their current problems. A film I would watch for entertainment would be Jurrassic Park, this is because its an action film so it takes all of my attention away from anything else and I focus on the storyline. Another reason why I find it entertaining is because the actors are young so they easily relate to me. Lastly, ‘social interaction’ the kind of thing I would watch on TV to spark social interaction would be Waterloo road, or Britains got talent. This is because it produces a topic and almost a topic that everyone has in common. And also if I was watching it with someone our reactions and comments would be entertaining. And it would also start debates and opinionated conversations. A popular critisism about the Uses and Gratifications theory is that the public and their thoughts and feelings have control what the media do. Which isnt right because the media has responsibility for the influences it puts over the publics lives.

Image analysis

As soon as you look at this image of Toby and Paige, the first thing it illustrates is romance. I think the second most eye catching thing about the image is the guitar in Toby’s hand. He looks like he’s serenading her and the fact that their eyes are engaged shows that the theme is obviously love. It’s clearly set in a school or some kind of Music College. You would know this because in the back ground there are small plastic chairs, so it’s obvious it’s not in a work placement. Also the key boards give away the fact that the setting is a musical environment. The characters look like their smart students for example 6th form or college students; rather than normal school students because of the obvious fact that they’re not in school uniform; they both look smart and respectful, in dark colour’s. Toby’s shirt and tie demonstrates that he takes pride in he’s appearance and generally prefers to look smart; not forgetting his glasses which show stereotypical intelligence. Paige’s clothes show that she is also a student but her hairstyle and bracelet’s show that she isn’t as serious as Toby and maybe a bit edgy. The lighting is quite subtle; it shines gently over Paige and reflects off of Toby’s guitar. Its high key and isn’t too bold for the viewer to look at.

This image was the second idea that we came up with. This also shows the theme of love because their eyes are once again engaged and Toby looks as if he’s serenading her. Their smiles show happiness and sweet romance. Body language works well together because she has her hand on her neck which shows sexual gestures and her body is facing his. The lighting is once again low key because is pretty subtle and particularly in the top left corner. The fact that they are sitting on a step shows that they have purposely taken time out to spend some time together because it isn’t a common place to sit, maybe because they needed to talk about something in particular. The setting is in a school because the corridor shows classrooms the whole way along and also school work up on the walls behind. The fact that the corridor is empty may show that it may be after school, illustrating they have purposely met up. The camera shot is low angle and is looking up at them from below. An improvement I would suggest would be to maybe add more lighting to the lower half of the shot because it is pretty dark and boring and could take away the subject of happiness and romance.