Audience and Institutions Essay

Audience and Institutions Essay

5) In relation to the media area you have studied, discuss the ways audience consumption has changed over time.

The way audiences consume films has changed incredibly over the years. With the rise of streaming, this is especially true. Once, people would pay to go a theater and watch a single movie. Through streaming, people can now pay roughly the same price as a movie ticket and watch as many films as they want all month. This has led to a wider audience being able to watch movies at a much cheaper price.

Traditionally, audiences consume films through movie theaters. Going to the movies is relatively pricey; the average ticket price in 2019 was $9.11. Locally, I have seen prices go up to around $11. Counting the additional prices for snacks, going to see a film could cost anywhere from $15-20. Despite the somewhat high price, many people go to theaters to watch movies because of the exclusivity of being able to watch films before they are released digitally or on DVD. Releasing through theaters has clearly been successful: Jurassic World made approximately $1.67 billion through the box office. Black Panther made approximately $1.34 billion worldwide with a theater release.

On the other side of the spectrum is digital distribution- the antithesis of theater releases. The most popular and most successful form of digital distribution is streaming. With the rise of technology, we are now able to easily access whatever movies we want whenever we want by paying a monthly fee. Streaming services have massively changed the game for audience consumption. The ease and convenience of being able to easily control your movie-watching experience is seen as more tempting than having to leave your home and sit in a theater. Streaming services aside, digital distribution has allowed for audiences to even consume media through advertisements. An example of this happening is during the advertising campaign for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. On Black Friday in 2018, after a few trailers were released, Warner Bros. put the first Lego Movie in its entirety onto YouTube as an ad that played before videos.

The ability to easily watch content wherever and whenever is a game-changer for the film industry and has proved itself very successful. Wanting to throw their hats into the ring, every big player in the film industry has developed their own streaming service. Thus, streaming has become so segmented and difficult to budget and has ultimately looped back around to being just as expensive (if not more) as a trip to the movies. Paying for Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max would cost about $37 a month without any bundles. This is a big factor in the rise of piracy. Though an illegal method of consuming media, many people flock to torrenting sites to watch films for free. Piracy is becoming more accessible to the average person who doesn’t know how to download torrents. There are websites where people can easily and freely watch movies and tv shows without any fees or viruses.

In 2020, the greatest weakness of theaters was exposed: they’re physical places. When theaters are closed for extended periods of time, the film industry suffers because studios can’t release their films. This causes a domino effect that leads into heavy delays and pushed back release dates. In fact, Disney’s entire 2020 and early 2021 lineup was pushed back out of fears that releasing those films exclusively on streaming would make them lose money. However, one movie proved the film giant wrong and is sure to become a landmark case in the seemingly inevitable death of theaters: Trolls World Tour. Solely through digital distribution, the film made nearly $100 million in its first 3 weeks. The first Trolls movie made $157 million in the box office without digital distribution. While it wasn’t as successful as the first movie, Trolls World Tour is an example of how it is possible for digital distribution to be just as successful as box office releases.

In short, the way audiences consume film is ever-changing. The film industry is at a turning point for how audiences watch films. Though it seems like an inevitable battle between streaming and theaters, both have proved that they can be successful in their own ways. Ultimately, no matter how the film is distributed, the important thing is that audiences can watch films how they want, whether it be in a theater, through Netflix, or from piracy sites.

Game of Thrones Extract Essay

I think the theme of the extract is power. The characters talk about who should be in power. The camera angles and lighting complement the dialogue and show the power of certain individuals. The man with the black beard- the character with the power- is framed with a low angle to show his dominance over the others. The shot of the island makes the setting look massive, which emphasizes the power he really has.

To begin with, the extract opens with an aerial shot of a boat. On this boat, we see two characters: Stannis and Davos. The shot then zooms out into an establishing shot. This establishing shot shows how small the characters and their boat are in comparison to the island, which makes them appear weaker. The zoom out transition has a similar effect. The boat becomes increasingly smaller and the island’s size is slowly revealed, which adds to the weakness of the characters. It detracts from their strength and therefore their power.

After transitioning to a new scene with a cut, the characters are now standing in a large, empty room. This location helps establish the weakness of Davos and Stannis; they seem small when standing in it. This room is lit with low-key lighting, which makes the room dark and foreboding. The characters standing in this dark room in the center of the frame make them seem small and isolated, which are not powerful traits. A new character enters the room: a man with a black beard. He seems to be the head of the building. When he is sitting down, the camera is positioned as if it were placed on the table. This low angle puts the man with the black beard higher than the rest of the characters, which shows the power and dominance of the man in comparison. This is when the meaningful dialogue begins. The characters talk about who should be in power throughout the extract, which portrays the theme in a non-visual way. During this conversation, Davos points at Stannis and an action match is used. It follows the point and puts Stannis as the focus of the frame. The action match emphasizes the pointing, which represents a shift in power. This effect is more evident when combined with the dialogue regarding Stannis being the rightful king who should be in power. 

In conclusion, I believe the director’s vision in making this sequence was to convey the theme of power. The extract starts off by developing the weakness of Stannis and Davos. The initial establishing shot shows that the island is massive and makes their ship small in comparison. Once the characters enter the meeting room, the dialogue begins. The dialogue conveys the theme by having the characters talk about who should be in power. The new character, a man with a black beard, uses dialogue to express his power by denying the characters what they need. Camera angles, such as low angles, are used here on the bearded man to create the sense that he is the most powerful in the room. Combined, all these elements help portray the theme of power.  

"Place of Honor" CCR

This is the CCR for my final project. In my CCR, in addition to answering the required questions, I talk about the inspiration behind my film. The title of my film is Place of Honor. This is a reference to what inspired my idea. We have nuclear waste buried across the world. This waste won’t decay and will be dormant for centuries. However, people in the future won’t realize this, as everyone who was around when the nuclear waste was first buried will be dead. So, the United Nations wrote a hypothetical message to warn future generations about this danger. It’s called the long-time nuclear waste warning. It essentially simplifies the situation into a short message about how “something dangerous” is buried and that everyone should stay away. In this message, they say, “This is not a place of honor”. This line resonated with me and really inspired me to go with this idea for my final task. The inspiration is also present in the shooting script, but I wasn't able to see that idea through because of my inability to get the props in time.

"Place of Honor" Final

This is the finished version of my final task. Place of Honor is an apocalypse movie about a girl who finds out the deadly secret of a nuclear waste site and must deal with the aftermath.

With my final task done, I can reflect on my year in media studies. Overall, my time in this class has been productive. Watching myself progress from making a short, 30 second commercial to a full, 2 minute film opening has been satisfying. I think that my final task is a culmination of everything I’ve learned. Throughout the year, I learned that my favorite part of the film making process is the pre-production phase. I find conceptualizing ideas and storyboarding them out is fun. Actually having to go through with those ideas, though, is a frustrating process for me. I don't enjoy the production or post-production phases. I think having to edit my final task and its CCR was my least favorite experience in this class. Even though I didn’t enjoy the process, I’m proud of my work, especially considering the restrictions I had throughout this project, whether it be budget, time, or a pandemic. I’m glad I went with this pitch idea and I’m glad I got to create this film.

Music Video

This is the music video I worked on during Quarter 2. The song I selected was Cabinet Man by Lemon Demon. It was completed on Dec 5, 2019.

The CCR I completed for this project is embedded below.

Commercial

This is the commercial I made for Dunkin' Donuts. It was finished on November 12, 2019.

I wasn't able to embed a word doc into my blog, so the CCR I completed for this project is copy pasted under the cut.

Reshoot Blog: Quarantine

    All filming for my project has been cancelled. I can't reshoot anything because of stay at home orders. The only location I had to film at was the beach. Therefore, I have to keep all my footage as is. Thankfully, I edited everything at home so all my footage is saved to my personal computer, so I can work with everything available. The main problem I'm facing now is that I can't shoot anything to help make my story more clear. I will have to rely solely on editing to tell the story. I did all I could do while re-editing to make the story clear. Between my inability to film further and adding some edits to my film, I have decided that my final project is complete.

   Because I have nothing left to do, I'm beginning to think about the creative critical reflection. The questions I have to answer are:

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
3. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
4. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?

   I'm not sure how I will answer the first question, but I know that I will discuss working around sudden, unpredictable problems for question 2. Through the coronavirus crisis, I have developed the skill of being flexible when it comes to scheduling and planning. For question 3, I'll discuss how I had to try out multiple different editing programs and how editing from home was in general. For the second part of question 4, I would distribute my film through streaming services. I think I'll talk about how having to self-isolate further pushed my decision to release content on streaming sites.

Editing Blog: Finding New Software

     My trial period of the editing software I was using, Movavi, has ended. This isn't such a big problem because my re-edits have already been done. However, if I need to edit something after my re-shoots, I won't be able to. Additionally, because of the coronavirus pandemic, my school has been closed until April 15th. Therefore, I don't have access to the school's editing program, Pinnacle Studios. I am left without access to any editing programs that I am familiar with. I decided that I have to look online for a new one. I looked up "free editing program no watermark" and went through multiple editing programs. While all of them were free, most of them had limits, such as not being able to export, that I wouldn't be able to work around. Eventually, I found VSDC.

   VSDC's UI, at first glance, is very cluttered and overwhelming. There are a lot of different tools and icons without labels. Additionally, the preview screen is in the middle of the work space instead of in the top right corner. However, VSDC has a lot of features that weren't in Pinnacle or Movavi. For example, on the right there is a list of sliders that allow me to adjust not only the brightness and contrast, but the temperature, blurriness, and saturation of the shot. There's also a rotate tool, which I don't remember being in Movavi. There are some other features I won't need, such as a tool that creates shapes, but are interesting to have nonetheless.

   The text feature is very hard to use. Because of how many things are on the screen at once, it's difficult to figure out how to edit the font, size, and color of the text, let alone how to add animations to it. Eventually, after closing multiple unnecessary windows, I found the text editor was at the top of the screen. I added text to the intro that would help give a little more context and mystery to my film. Overall, VSDC has a steep learning curve because of the sheer amount of features it has, but once I figured out how to access what I needed, it's a very helpful program.

Re-Edit Blog: Fixing the Story

     Now that I have reflected on my peer review, I have to re-shoot and re-edit my final task before I send it to be graded. I have decided to re-edit before I re-shoot my final task. If I edit what I have first, I will be able to see what I can fix through editing and what I have to re-shoot completely. For example,  I thought the shot of the boots was a little too dark. I am going to look through Movavi's (the editing program I am using) features to see if there is a way for me to adjust the brightness without making the shot look bad. If there is one, I will not have to re-shoot that shot. If there isn't a brightness option or I don't like how it turns out, I will have to re-shoot it. I believe that this will be the most efficient way to ensure that my film is completed before the April 9th deadline.

    While editing, I kept the biggest problem I am facing in mind: the story isn't clear. I realized that I can't really fix the story problems through re-shooting without going in a wildly different direction from what I storyboarded. I have to be able to tell the story solely by making smart edits. I had the idea to make text appear during the establishing shot that helps explain the plot a little more. The opening shot now makes it explicitly clear that the setting is an abandoned area in a redacted location. I think this will not only help serve the story, but will also add a more ominous mood to my film. Because I am adding more text to the film, I had to edit the pre-existing credits to appear at different times. I don't want to have too much text on screen at a time. The credits in the beginning, such as the production studio, now disappear faster.

   I made many minor changes in addition to the more major and obvious ones. For example, the audio is louder overall. I changed the script slightly to explain the story more, which meant I had to replace the old voice over with the new one. I had to cut up the voice over to be in sync with the robotic voice. I brightened up shots that I thought were hard to see, such as the aforementioned boots scene.

volume before editing

volume after editing

Reflecting on My Peer Review

    I was not able to film this week because I had volunteer work on Saturday and I was busy on Sunday. Therefore, I decided to reflect on the review that my peers had given me. Two members of the group that reviewed me were absent, so I only received two reviews. Both reviews said that my final task was the correct length. The transitions were clean and my titles were in the correct order. The only shots I missed were a pan, a tilt, and an action match. What surprised me the most was that both reviewers thought my lighting was ok. While editing, I personally thought it was too dark and was nervous that most of my film wouldn't be able to be seen. However, both reviewers noted that they liked the mood the lighting set. I think I will try to brighten my footage slightly through editing or by filming before the sun sets. If the darker footage looks better or the mood is shifted too much, I will not replace it.

   Another comment I got that I didn't expect was that the sound was low. One of the reviewers mentioned that they couldn't hear the voice over. When I was listening to my film, it sounded fine. Only one of the two people who reviewed it mentioned that it was quiet, though, so it may have been just them. Regardless, I am going to increase the volume of everything when I do my re-edits. The biggest suggestion the reviewing group gave me was to make the story clearer. I did expect this suggestion and I'm not sure how I am going to fix it. In retrospect, the pitch is the source of this problem. I picked a time that was hard to film at and a concept even harder to successfully convey in just 2 minutes. I'm not sure how different from my pitch I'm allowed to make my final task. I am going to be putting most of my effort into figuring out how to fix the story, as everything else I do relies on the story.

One of the peer reviews I received

Peer Review Blog

    On Monday, I peer reviewed group 8's final task. Technically, it was really good. The sound was clear and consistent. I didn't have to turn up my volume to understand anything and there were no jarring, sudden noises. The lighting was, for the most part, not too intense. I could easily see what was going on in the video. However, in one scene, the back lighting was a little too strong and made the focus of the shot dark and hard to see. The transitions were clean and varied. They also had a variety of different shots which made the film visually interesting. The "directed by" credit wasn't at the very end, though. It came up a while before the film actually ended.

   What I liked most about the film was the acting. I thought the actors did a good job giving the characters personalities. I understood the relationship between the characters and how it lead to the conflict of the film. I thought about the suggestion I wrote on the paper and decided that the ending wasn't actually a problem. Not understanding the ending could just be a personal problem. Plus, it did leave me wanting to see more, so it's not entirely a bad thing. Instead, I would suggest changing the scene where the younger sister is hit by a car. The sped-up footage looks out of place compared to the footage immediately before and after it. I think this could be changed by making the shot shorter or having the actor run faster. 

Front side of peer review sheet

Back side of peer review sheet

Editing Blog: Putting Everything Together

    With all of my scenes filmed, it was time to edit them together. I dumped all the footage onto my computer rather than a school computer. I began editing at home using a program called Movavi Video Suite. While I did want to use Pinnacle Studios, I decided that using an editing program that I can access at home would be better considering the time constraints I have. The free trial is long enough for me to finish editing the opening over the weekend.

     This is the layout of Movavi. Among other features, it has a tab for filters on the left side. One of the filters is a slight static effect. I think this will be a good filter to use during the transition from scene 5 to scene 6. However, in this editing session, I'm focusing more on putting all my shots in order and cutting out what I don't need. The next editing session will be for more precise edits and extra effects.

    After selecting which clips I would use, I put them into the timeline. I cut out pieces that I didn't need and shortened the video to be less than 2 minutes. I forgot to factor in the time it takes for transitions to appear, so my film was slightly over 2 minutes. I had to remove some of the lengthier transitions and shorten the time of other ones. Once this was done, I detached and removed the audio of scenes with voice overs. While editing, I realized that I had to redo a few sections of my voice over because they had to be in unison with the robotic voice. I downloaded the fixed voice overs from my Google Drive and placed them into the scenes. With all of that out of the way, the skeleton of my opening was complete. I am planning on adding the titles and filters next.

Filming Blog: At the Beach

   On Sunday night, I filmed at Keating Beach. The beach was, as expected, fairly empty. The weather was suitable for filming. There weren't too many problems that came up initially. As time went on, though, I realized the biggest issue with filming at night: it's dark. I expected this to be an issue while planning, but I thought it wouldn't be as dark as it was. While I could see fine, the camera barely picked up anything. My faith in school provided technology was my downfall. I wouldn't let this stop me, though; at certain points, I decided to use a flashlight for lighting. This added a dramatic and tense mood, which matches the convention of an apocalypse movie. But, it went against the convention that apocalypse movies use natural lighting. I'm not sure if I'm going to re-shoot scenes that utilized a flashlight. Ultimately, I'm going to have to think about which matters more: lighting or mood.

   In addition to the lighting issues, I was not able to implement some aspects that I am planning on having in the final film. For example, I wasn't able to get the drone in time, so I couldn't film the bird's eye shot. I also couldn't get the poster board to construct the spikes props. However, this is only the first draft of the film. I will be able to re-shoot at the beach at a later date. Hopefully, by then, I will be able to get what I need. If not, I have replacements in mind. For the drone shot, I will replace it with an extreme wide shot, panning to the side. I may just simply remove the black spikes entirely, leaving only the yellow tape.

  While not something I filmed at the beach, I recorded my voice over on Sunday. I decided to change the script slightly after much deliberation to sound more ominous. 

Filming Blog: Indoor Scene

    Originally, I was planning to film at the beach on Wednesday, February 19th. I would only be filming the scenes of me holding the box and coughing. However, because of work schedules that couldn't be changed, I was unable to go to the beach. In hindsight, though, I believe this is a good thing. I think it would be more effective to film all the beach scenes in one day so I can keep better track of what I need to film. The man whose drone I'm borrowing wasn't able to deliver the drone on Wednesday, anyway. While I was initially disappointed that I was unable to film, I've realized that this will ultimately lead to an overall cleaner and more efficient filming experience.

    Because I wasn't able to film at the beach, I decided to film the indoor scene in which a man sits on his couch in front of a TV. The screen goes static and he straightens up. It's an over the shoulder shot. I got my dad to be the actor in the scene and sit down. The first major problem I faced is the layout of my living room, which I have put a picture of below. In the actual recording, the light in the back left corner was off.

   My couch is up against a wall, which makes getting a good over the shoulder shot difficult. To solve this problem, I moved the couch away from the wall enough so that I could stand behind it and film. This did help in being able to get the shot, but the part of the scene where the man straightens up as the screen goes static was still hard to film. No matter which direction or angle I filmed in, the action didn't seem clear and seemed like a mistake. So, I decided that the man would stay still and the focus of the shot would be more on the TV.
 
    An interesting process I had to go through to film this scene was connecting my phone to the TV. I wouldn't be able to make the screen go static normally without pressing a button on the side of the TV and getting in the shot. However, I have an HDMI adapter that allows me to connect my phone to a TV. I took a recording of a recent news report and added a static screen towards the end of the video on my desktop. I emailed it to myself and downloaded it onto my phone. From there, I plugged my phone into the adapter and played the video on the TV. I had to time pressing record on the camera right so I had enough footage of the screen before it went static. This was hard at first, but I was able to get used to the timing after a few takes.

picture

Planning Blog: Storyboard

    I have completed my storyboard for my final project. I have embedded it below. I put the storyboards through a picture scanner app so they appear more legible. This process reminded me that storyboarding is not one of my strengths. I am not able to draw well, which made some of the shots confusing. However, I explained some of the shots beneath them by explaining whats going on and what type of shot it is. I didn't put the dialogue in the storyboard because of how lengthy it is. I put key sound effects on the storyboard, though, as they are important parts of the shots they are in.

Planning Blog: Title Design

     I used a process of elimination to decide which font I wanted to use. After weighing out the pros and cons, EB Garamond will be the font I use for my film. It doesn’t require any special text effects to be legible. I also had to consider the timing of my titles.Each title will appear on screen for 2 seconds. The exception to this is the main title credit, which will appear for 4 seconds. Readability is also important. Because I will be filming at night, the text will be light colors so they contrast with the background. The exact color will depend on how the shots look once they are recorded, but for now, the text will be white. I have included an example of the transitions and appearance of the title in the last slide. The transitions are timed so that "Place of Honor" fades in for 3.3 seconds and fades out for 1.7 seconds. This may be changed in the final product.

Planning Blog: Locations, Participants, Safety, and Schedule

    In this powerpoint, I talk about the locations I will be filming at, the participants in my project, and safety precautions. I also outline my daily schedule while working on the project. For the location, I will be filming at Keating Beach after sunset. There will be one scene that is filmed in my living room. I am taking basic safety precautions, such as making sure all sharp points are dulled. In addition, I am taking measures to ensure that passerbys don't feel threatened by what I am doing. The participants in my film are minimal because I am doing this project alone.

 

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

        I have completed the shooting script for my final project. Overall, I'm aiming to film during dusk hours so the lighting is ominous. This will help set the mood I'm trying to achieve in my project. It is also beneficial to the filming process because I will be able to get away with doing more things later in the day when the beach is empty. Scene 1 starts with a bird's eye establishing shot of the beach. I am hoping to borrow a friend's drone to take this shot. If not, I will still have the establishing shot, but just not as a bird's eye POV. The studio name I am planning to use for the credits is "Termite Corporation". The black spikes mentioned in scene 4 will be created using black poster boards that are assembled to look like elongated pyramids. Scenes 7 and 8 are visually similar, so their slides on the script are short. The emphasis of those scenes is on the audio rather than the visuals.

 

Planning Blog: Sound Script

     I have completed the sound script for my final project. The first three scenes are almost entirely narration. The lines in scene 1 are read by a text to speech voice to make it sound as if a robot is reading it. In scene 2, the Navigator, the main character of my film, joins in and speaks in unison with the robotic voice. In scene 3, only the Navigator speaks. As the main title appears, there is a "woosh" sound effect. Scene 4 amplifies the sound of footsteps while the Navigator speaks. The non-diegetic music also begins to play in this scene, and it continues until scene 9. In scene 5, there is tv static. There is no dialogue in scenes 7 or 8, but there is the sound of a heartbeat and the Navigator coughing, which gets louder over time. All sound stops in scene 10.

Title Research: Planet of the Apes

I found the introduction to Planet of the Apes on Art of the Title.

1) How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
There were 38 titles displayed. Two credits were displayed before the main title: the main actor and the production studio. The rest appeared after the main title.

2) What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The opening sequence doesn't have many images, as it's just a montage of blue lights moving across the screen. However, in the beginning, there is a shot of an astronaut-looking man laying down.

3) What connotations do the images carry?
The image of the man laying down has somewhat of a positive connotation. It radiates a calmness, but the blue light fading in adds an element of apprehension.

4) How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
This opening sequence doesn't follow the conventions of an apocalypse movie. However, this is because the main plot twist of the film is that the audience finds out it is an apocalypse at the very end. Therefore, the choices made in the opening sequence makes sense.

5) How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The audience is immediately intrigued by the unknown man laying down and being enveloped by blue light. The spots of blue throughout the opening adds to this interest.

6) What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The film appeals to the audience's curiosity.

7) How has technology been used effectively?
The colored lighting effectively shifts the mood of the film and brings the audience into the futuristic world of Planet of the Apes.