The two documentaries I shall look at are "Just Love (A LGBT Documentary)" By Kat Fitzgerald and "Love Bravely: A Mini LGBT Documentary" By Livia Zuleta
The first documentary, "Just Love", begins with a series of youtube videos of people coming out as LGBT, with a zoom in of the play button at the very start. It then moves onto Archive footage of same sex couples kissing, proposing, and getting married. Then it introduces the documentary, using a black background and colourful text to make it stand out. During this entire 72 second sequence the music in the background is calm and inspirational with a slight hint of a build up.
The second documentary, "Love Bravely", starts off with a black screen with the title in white. The music is far more up beat and jovial while only audio is heard of people getting asked when they found out they where gay. Its cut abruptly by the question but flipped, asking when someone realised they where straight. As this is asked the music cuts and the visuals show the interview the audio is attached to. After a moment the music comes back and the visuals begin displaying Archive footage of LGBT pride marches and moments in politics and the documentary begins in full.
From this, "Love Bravely" seems a lot more lively than "Just Love" since theres a lot more going on. On the other hand, "Just love" seems a lot more serious and has a lot more build up than "Love Bravely". I personally feel like "Just Love" has a more effective opening than "Love Bravely" as it has a more serious tone and a better buildup of tension through the music. The Liveliness of "Love Bravely" ends up being rather overwhelming for the viewer. Also the cut, while does present an interesting question, makes light of the situation with how its presented almost as a joke. The way "Just Love" introduces the title is much stronger than "Love Bravely" as it uses build up and makes the text itself look better through the use of thematic colour, as opposed to it just appearing at the start in plain white. The one thing I like about "Love Bravely" is the questions at the very beginning while the screen is black. I feel like it would be more effective with a different choice of music so its more serious and less drowned out and crowded, but aside from that it seems very effective in how
Codes:
codes are simply a system of signs that when used together and used well they create meaning. there are a few types of codes that are all used in media.
Technical: anything related to the equipment and technology usage, for instance the use of camera angles, shot type, editing, lighting, and so on.
Symbolic: anything that indirectly conveys meaning by the viewers perspective of images, sound, and acting. this can be anything from the way an actor acts or talks to the music to the misc-en-scene.
Writing: this is simply things done in type to convey meaning and comes under both spoken language and written language.
(to note, music can come under both Technical and Symbolic)
Conventions:
conventions are whats generally accepted as the right way of doing something and while they can be twisted and broken, they often are not unless there's a point in doing so. there are a few conventions followed in media.
Form: form conventions are conventions connecting to the type of medium, such as a film, TV show, newspaper, radio, ect.
Story: story conventions are conventions connected to the elements of how stories work, narrative theories, and plot tropes.
Genre: genre conventions are conventions linked to the different ways films, TV, video games, and other forms of media are represented, such as horror, documentary, shooter, action, news, and so on. the conventions are specifically the stereotypical things you find in these genres.
Documentary Conventions:
Archival Footage: aka Stock Footage, this is where a documentary uses films and other pieces of media already made by another company or organisation (normally) before the documentary was conceived as evidence and context for the rest of the documentary, usually being locations, historical events, landscapes, or nature. It also can refer to News footage being used in a similar way. Said news footage
Codes and Conventions notes.
In this I looked with the class and Justin at the differences between Codes and Conventions, their definitions, and how they relate to each other.
Interview notes.
This is where we looked at what exactly an interview was, the two different types, and what they can be used for in a documentary.
Representation notes.
These are the notes I took from Luke's lesson on representation of different types of people. For me I found this especially important as i'll be representing an entire community of different and often stereotyped people.
Quoting system notes.
This is the notes I took when Justin explained the Oxford (I think, I cant remember, sorry) Referencing System that we need to use for our essays.
Reference system examples.
This was where we used the referencing system after finding quotes from books. The intention was to find something useful for our essay, but I feel like the ones we found where too inspired to be genuinely useful or meaningful, so instead these serve as examples on how to use the referencing system correctly.
More Representation notes.
This is more notes from Luke's representation lessons. These are more of a list of things that can be represented in different ways (positively or negatively) in media and a couple of peoples theory's on representation.
Final draft 1, 1452 words.
It took a long time trying to shorten my original piece, and I feel my original was far better, flowing well and containing much more related to the question, overall being a better essay. Unfortunately it wad 3008 words and thus isn't allowed. If you wish to review that version instead leave a comment or email and I shall either email the Word document or change this to the 3000+ version.
How do Creative Choices effect our Perception?
To answer the question “How do
creative choices effect our perception?” we first define it as currently it’s
too broad. Due to the nature of the assignment, the question will be broken
down as such: “Creative choices” shall be interpreted as “Decisions made by
media creators involving Macro-elements and Micro-elements”, while “our
perception” shall be interpreted as “the audience’s interpretation”. In its entirety,
the question that this essay shall answer is now “How do decisions made by
media creators involving Macro-elements and Micro-elements effect the
audience’s interpretation”.
The first example of a media
product that will be looked over shall be The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, specifically
the School
scene. This sequence of events is designed specifically to instil
suspense audience. It does this primarily using sound and editing along with
how the children are represented. The first use of sound is where the movements
of Hedren’s character become Pleonastic, allowing the audience to hear her
footfalls. The only other sound present is the sound of the children singing,
causing the audience to focus more on the quiet sounds of her steps. Next, with
camera angle, Hitchcock reveals a crow landing behind Hedren. Next the editing
cuts to a different angle including the woman, and then to the crows, of which
there are more of. This draws the audience’s attention to the crows gathering. This
is exemplified using Cut transitions to shorten the time between each shot.
This continues, building worry and suspense in the audience. Eventually it is
shown that she sees one of the crows through cuts between a crow flying and the
woman, ending on the woman seeing far more birds behind her than previously
shown. This is meant to shock the viewer as they are surprised by the amount
gathered. Also, the sound of the choir persists. As the scene gets
progressively tenser and more suspenseful it becomes Contrapuntal. The sound of
children singing becomes haunting. The final thing to note is how the children
are shown and represented. They are shown to be naïve to the gathering crows,
their singing highlighting the growing threat as the audience wants them to be
safe. Hitchcock explains through this quote: “Now, let us take a suspense
situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it… In these
conditions this same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the
public is participating in the secret.” “The conclusion is that whenever
possible the public must be informed.” (Truffaut, 1985) . Therefore, the children create strain
on the audience.
The next example of media shall
be the movie X-Men: Days Of Future Past directed by Bryan Singer. The Scene of
focus will be the ‘Kitchen’ scene, a scene in which
Quicksilver saves the characters of Wolverine, Magneto, and Professor X from
moving bullets. Singer uses this scene to demonstrate the power of Quicksilver while
showing aspects of his personality. It does this using Mise en scene and
Cinematography, inducing awe into the audience through how the scene is
displayed and interacted with. Starting with the use of Mise en scene, singer makes
the scene look like a still. Everything is placed to make the audience aware
that time is slow. Then Quicksilver moves, causing everything to interact with
his movements. When he runs any and all props close to him move with him a
short distance, showing the audience he is displacing air. He is unphased by
this, seemingly used to this current situation. He then interacts with the
environment and with people in the scene. By moving the motionless people in
the scene it turns them into props as he has complete control over them. The disparity
between the guards and Quicksilver is amplified by how casually he goes about
accomplishing everything he does. Showing no effort in dispatching them in
various comedic ways using the ‘props’ shows how powerless they are. He then
comes to the bullets which he moves them out of the way of the characters. By
doing this in such a way it displays how he was taking his time. Bruno Dumont
explains how the Mise en scene outside can represent someone inside: “I can't
shoot the inner life, all I can shoot is the exterior but I know that when I'm
filming outside, I'm filming inside. I can only really touch the inside through
the mise-en-scene.” (Dumont, 2011) . This relates to how the scene shows everyone’s
mind. To everyone else its fear and chaos, but to Quicksilver it’s frozen and
more a playground to him. His personality is chaotic and gives the audience the
impression he is comedic and childlike. The way the camera moves is used
throughout the scene. The camera is always panning, dollying and orbiting. This
gives more sense of movement to the scene and helps accent Quicksilver compared
to everyone else in the room. A lot of the angles of the shot are eyelevel,
focused on what he’s doing rather than making him look inferior or superior.
This gives the audience the illusion that he’s normal and helps to make him a
relatable character as he’s closer to everyone else.
Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson’s
Shrek is an excellent example of all three narrative theories. Examples of
Todorov’s theory are found mainly through Shrek’s journey. He starts off happy
in his swamp, content with his equilibrium. This is shown through upbeat music.
This changes when his solitude is disrupted by fairy tale creatures sent there
by Lord Farquaad. This disruption of Shrek’s equilibrium causes him to embark
on the goal of getting the creatures to move. He goes out to confront the Lord.
He makes an agreement to save the princess if the creatures are moved. Once
saving the princess Fiona, Shrek finds that he enjoys her company and they have
more in common. Shrek stops the wedding between Farquaad and Fiona, confessing
his love and kissing Fiona instead. This ends in Shrek finding a new
equilibrium in Fiona. This sequence of events gives the audience the perspective
that solitude is less desirable than love. Levi-Strauss’ theory appears through
Love vs Hate through interactions between Shrek and Fiona, as they initially
hate each other. Through the course of their time together they find more in
common and fall in love. The reveal to Shrek that Fiona is cursed to be an ogre
and subsequent confessions of love are not the only times love is displayed to
the audience. The lovers Donkey and Dragon is our first proof in the movie that
anything can love, including monsters. Finally, Propp’s eight-character theory
is everywhere within the film. Audiences would declare Farquaad the villain,
but he never tries to stop Shrek at any point. He instead fits as a False hero
as he tries to take the glory of other peoples work and marry the princess
character of Fiona. As for Dispatchers, they would be the Mythical creatures
and the Lord’s men, who end up sending Shrek on his quest. Helpers would
include Donkey and Dragon, the latter also appearing as a villain for a limited
time. It’s been mentioned that Fiona is a Princess, but she also fits as a
helper as she helps Shrek on his way back. The Donor and the Farther don’t have
clear characters in themselves. As a Hero Shrek doesn’t fit any other role, and
in fact is the most straightforward character as the other major characters
either fit two roles or almost do. Interestingly, a quote from Christopher
Vened gives insight to how Propp’s theory only partly works: “The individual
character is what makes persons different from one another; the character type
is what makes them the same or similar.” (Vened, 2000) .
A lot of the characters feel less original to the audience despite still having
original personalities. This is because most of them share a character type.
The only one who doesn’t is Shrek the Hero, who feels more original than the
others. This inspires the audience to be more authentic and unique.
There are lots of ways creators
can influence how the audience interprets a piece. Hitchcock uses sound and
editing to create suspense in the audience, making them see innocent things in
a light of fear. Singer uses Set design and Mise en scene to exarate a
character’s power while also showing their personality in their actions.
Adamson and Jenson use Narrative techniques to teach the audience morals.
Everything they have done has been to make the audience see something.
Bibliography
Dumont, B. (2011,
May 25th). Cannes 2011: Bruno Dumont. (D. Digital, Interviewer)
Truffaut, F.
(1985). Hitchcock (Revised Edition). New York: Simon & Schuster
Paperbacks.
Vened, C. (2000).
In character: an actor's workbook for character development.
Portsmouth: Heinemann Drama.
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