ProductionSlime

Hello! My name is Emily and this is my media blog which I will be using to blog about Television, Films, Radio and such. I will be reviewing and analyzing media and posting it on here, feel free to discuss your opinions with me.

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Gone Girl

Finally I have gotten around to seeing Gone Girl for the second time and once again I was left speechless. David Fincher has defiantly not let me down, his visual stylistic features have always throughout his films kept me glued to the screen, all down to the fact that there is not a moment where you could possibly get bored of what you are seeing. However, moving on to the actual narrative which has received a lot of positive attention from dozens of critics because of its griping yet original dramatic effect that it leaves on the audience. The plot follows a husband who has woke up on their anniversary, then only to go to the pub that he owns with his sister to drown his sorrows, making it evident that his relationship isn’t any fairy tale. However, when he gets home he finds that his wife is missing and this then follows on to a big crime investigation where everyone blames him for the ‘tragic disappearance’ of his wife. 

Ben Affleck who plays the husband (Nick Dunne) has been cast perfectly for this role. This is down to the fact that throughout I genuinely believed that he was involved in his wife’s disappearance because he is so emotionless and disinterested, it’s almost as if the whole situation is a hindrance to him. Although, once again that’s the result of a David Fincher film, he always leaves you guesting and right at the end, you are left to question everything you’ve just witnessed. Fincher is well known for his directing, for the fact that his style is automatically picked up through his films such as; Zodiac, Se7en, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and now Gone Girl has continued his excellent eye within film. If you are looking for a film to watch, this is it. Before I finish, I know many must be thinking ‘he didn’t create this, it’s a remake from a book’, but what you must keep in mind is that everything you see on screen is his vision of it. David Fincher in my opinion can fill any narrative with excitement and thrill, hopefully his work will continue.

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Broadchurch

BroadChurch is an ITV drama created by Chris Chibnall, it opens with the murder of a young 11 year old boy with shakes the community to its core. Surprisingly enough, I haven’t been watching a great deal of ITV programmes recently but after hearing the great recommendations for this programme I decided to give it a chance, it did not let me down. The tag line is “A town wrapped in secrets”, this a simple yet gripping way to grab their audience because of the fact that it’s an ongoing series. Through only watching the first couple of minutes it was evident that Broadchurch had a superb visual style. The cinematography reflected the obvious high budget, we get a montage of shots with end up giving the audience glimpse of the narrative to come. Throughout the episode it felt like I was with these characters and in the scene, I was able to engage with the emotions of the characters and see what they would of scene. When attempting to grasp an emotional reaction of the audience I feel that it is significant to not disconnect the audience, they must be part of the programme. The cinematography left a great impression, my favourite shot had to be the pan inside the house that showed the family of the child who was murdered. The shot shows them all in certain position that all suggested grief, however, all of these characters look dissociated from one another which brings me onto my next critic, the characters performance.

Once again, ITV have not let themselves down, the characters all have their own traits which together created this community which felt realistic but at the same time made us want to know more about them, are they hiding something? In addition, I feel that the research behind this programme has been done to a professional and successful standard as the location is fantastic and works perfectly with the narrative. This is down the fact that it’s a small community, everyone knows everyone. We can see this throughout the opening sequence when the father of the murdered boy walks through the town and greets every person through using their first name. As a result, it wraps in the drama because the villain/murderer has to have been one of these characters and we as the audience have to work that out. As a conclusion, all of this context, which was displayed in the first episode, will successfully bring the audience back for more next week, I know I will.

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How to get away with Murder

Let me just start off with saying, this is probably the bestseries that I have started so far in 2015. How to get away with Murder, created by Peter Nowalk, is likely one of the most unique take I’ve seen so far on an US detective drama programme. Firstly, it starts off with a group of overly ambitious law students and their unorthodox criminal defence professor become involved in a twisted murder of their own that changes the course of their lives. Whilst this primary plot takes over the series the narrative flashes back to before this murder, in each episode there is a new case where the group of student learn skills which will to their luck, get them away with murder. Viola Davis is an amazing actor and this lead role as Annalise Keating really does give her justice. Annalise is a portrayed as the typical strong and independent lady who has a group of young aspiring law student leaping at her feet hoping for a glimpse of approval. However, what makes this programme’s character development as amazing as I see it, is how Annalise’s weakness is the downfall for all of the characters involved. She herself, goes against the law in order to protect a person who she loves (or loved?) which results in her students getting into a sticky situation and half of them losing their mind. The programme is truly an emotional rollercoaster, Nowalks has gripped his audience right until the very end. I have to admit I watched every single one of these episodes throughout two days, which was the result of jaw dropping cliff-hanger left at the end of each episode.

Great dramas must have great mise-en-scene and this completely backs that up, the murder weapon tied to the big murder, which played out throughout the series, is continually shown on screen as a victory trophy that students could earn to get themselves out of an exam but by the end we learn that it’s actually an object that none of them could bare to look at.  Moving on to visual effect, the flash backs whole a great deal of effectiveness in forcing the audience to pay attention to the smallest of detail in order to get a hint of what happened and who was murdered. Not only that, the majority of the ‘murder scenes’ are at night, meaning that the audience can simply watch and link the scene together. The cinematography is amazing, throughout it really feels like we are in the room with these characters and we are part of their problems. Throughout the series it gets to the point where you want to grab the characters and reassure them, sometimes even hug them! The cinematography doesn’t disconnect the audience, this is incredibly important if you want your audience to engage with the character. To conclude, How to get away with Murder, has evidently earned it’s spot in my 2015’s top US dramas and I recommend everyone to give it a try.  

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American Horror Story: Coven

American Horror Story is a series that started in 2011 and now is airing its third series, it’s a unique twist to the modern horror series as directors Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy have three alternative narratives in each series. However, he keeps the same actors throughout keeping the American Horror Stories unique selling point. The most well-known stars being Jessica Lange, Evan Peters and Lily Rabe.

It's broadcasted in both the UK and US, in the UK it is aired on Thursdays at 9pm on Fox. The drama opens with a flashback, this automatically grabs the attention of the audience. Throughout watching the series it is evident that Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy have purposely used a large range of experimental cinematography to display the emotive language. An example of this is in the opening sequence when the camera is at a low tilted angle which slowly zooms in on the female character (Zoe) face to show her, fear, worry and sympathy for Evan Peters as his zombiefied body is tied to the ground, only to then pass her and show the prop of the gun she is holding behind her. What also makes American Horror Story so successful is the use of sound, it dramatically changes the atmosphere, making the audience feel diverse on whether they should feel more emotive about what they can actually see on screen or what they can hear.

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NewsBeats

 NewsBeat is a short fifteen minutes news programme broadcasted on BBC Radio 1xtra, the specific one that I have listened to this week was broadcasted on Friday 15 November at 12:45pm. It is important to recognise that this channel’s target audience is generally young people between the age of 15 to 25 years of age, and in the D to C class range. The length is specifically short to engage the audience without losing their interest, as they are known as the ‘four screen’ generation, meaning their attention must be provided fast and effectively. There are fast cuts in-between headlines that are in the press currently, then it changes to the most pressing news about Philippines after typhoon as the first story.

Additionally, they give a direct story from someone going through the disaster, this gives a larger emotional response to the younger audience so that they comprehend the real horror that is happening. Furthermore, the presenter gives the facts as- "She lost her 2 year old son", which then has the sound of the woman crying, effectively grasping emotional responses intended because the audience are anticipated to feel sympathy.

To conclude, I believe that they created an ongoing news programme which essentially supplies the context needed to engage a young audience, an important example of that is near the end of the programme when they use multi-platform text to link to the news stories, as they directly tell the audience to follow up a story on twitter.

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MasterChef

 MasterChef is a sixty minute programme broadcasted at 8pm on the 14th November on BBC Two. It is presented and judged by Michel Roux Jr, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace, all familiar faces in the BBC and to their audience. BBC Two, broadcast a variety of programmes which are aimed to inform the audience and entertain. Masterchef opens with on screen editing in the opening of programme to introduce the names to the audience, which reduces any confusion when certain characters are being discussed by the judges.

Additionally, the narrator talks through the stages they have to compete in the programme, thus preventing the audience from having to work of the on screen action alone. Furthermore, the cinematography is significantly important throughout as it displays emotions and power throughout, an example of this is how the judges are shown through a low angle- for that they hold the power over who goes through to the next level. Not only is the cinematography important though, the sound is essential also, as the emotive music allows the audience to understand to atmosphere.

Conclusively, MasteChef is evidently successful as it’s on its sixth series, this is arguably because they follow typical conventions of a contest show to keep the audience engaged. 

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The News Quiz

BBC’s Radio Four’s ongoing programme The New’s Quiz is described as- “A satirical review of the week's news”. It is presented by Sandi Toksvig with panellist Katy Brand, Miles Jupp and Bob Mills along with their regular guest Jeremy Hardy. Episode one of series 82 was broadcasted on Saturday 9th November at 12:30pm, it's a comedy/satire which fits in with its light mood midday slot. It opens with the presenter being introduced along with the programme’s name.

Additionally, there are sound effects of clapping and laughing, this fits in with the target audience of between 24-50 years old in the demographic C1 to B class, as they will recognize the style from old programmes. Conclusively, they successfully keep the audience interested by using present news with entertaining opinions from the presenter. The fast pace and jumps from topic to topic around the UK expands the mass audience, this is because they aren’t only focusing on one specific area. 

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Gogglebox

 Gogglebox is a documentary styled reality programme which displays the ‘uncut’ public reaction about what they see on television through the week. It has been produced and directed by Jon Cahn and broadcasted on Channel 4 throughout two series, this has lead me to watching it for the first time this week when it was aired on Wednesday 6th October at 10pm. Straight away the opening sequence displays people sitting in a living room, there are cuts in between different household living room’s where people are watching TV. However, there is continual simplistic cinematography, Jon Cahn stated that- “More and more documentary style shows are using rigged cameras to make them feel less produced and capture moments you couldn't normally with a crew.” This reveals the reason behind Cahn’s stylistic cinematography.

Furthermore, another successful feature was the extreme close ups that display the emotional responses of the people being filmed, an example of this is when they show the families a scene from ‘999: What's your emergency’, where an old man makes a call about his wife and soon finds out that she has died, the extreme close ups of the tears and the comforting of each other which then results in the audience who are watching Gogglebox to feel an emotional response from both the families and the elderly man in the programme they are watching. As a result, both the cinematography and the voice over narrated by Craig Cash prevent the audience from having to analyse or think in depth about anything they see as everything is being narrated and given to them in the simplest format. 

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The Vodafone Big Top 40

The Vodafone Big Top 40, is a back to back music radio programme on Key 103 which is a mix of present mainstream music, they play artist such as Maroon 5 and Ellie Goulding. Occasionally, through the music there is commentary between the presenters which gives minor information about certain artist and the latest gossip. Furthermore, there are spaces in between the music where there is a game that the presenters introduce as the top 10 ‘Ding bats’, this is where viewers can take part within the media text by using media sites such as twitter to tweet to the show telling them about something they had done throughout the week which was unintelligent yet entertaining.

Additionally, The Vodafone Big Top 40’s unique selling point is constantly repeated throughout; as it can be considered to be the tag line; “Manchester’s number one radio show”. This makes the audience have a belief that this must have the most up to date music and celebrity gossip, which will suggestively engaged them and over all create a successful programme on a Sunday evening. 

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Dracula

Dracula is the new drama on Sky Atlantis, the unique selling point of it being a historical supernatural character being broadcasting on Halloween is the reason that it gathered a rather large audience as people want to watch a programme to match the themes and convention occurring within society.  The on screen editing is also successful because it saves the audience from having to guess the time era of the setting such as "Romania 1881", the majority of night time television are aimed to be ‘non thinkers’ , the audience don’t want to have to analyse the text.

Additionally, there are expected conventions of cinematography throughout to make the drama engaging and entertaining, such as the low angles to establish certain characters dominance and high angles to make certain characters look weak, it's important to note that this is a pilot of a programme so these angles allow the audience to establish all the main characters. To conclude, with 5 million views the new television series has a proficient future ahead of it as it is bringing back a theme and remodelled it to gathered the attention of our contemporary society.

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This World: No Sex Please, We're Japanese

Throughout analysing BBC’s ‘This World’ Documentary, it is evident that they are following the conventional style they present in their other texts. The opening sequence, displays a montage of the location which is attached to a voice over of the presenter introducing the programme. BBC documentary’s gain a huge amount of their success through engaging with the audience, an example of this is that throughout, the presenter talks directly into the camera, instantly making the audience part of the text. In addition, the cinematography backs up that aspect for that throughout there is a constant use of hand held camera which makes the documentary feel realistic.

Furthermore, the non-diegetic music successfully creates an emotional response which is a main element in documentaries, the director wants the audience to feel a certain way about the message being put across, an example of this is when they are exploring an abandoned primary school, as there is soft piano layered over the sequence. To conclude, from analysing this text I have come to the conclusion that their success is created through going along with typical narrative conventions. It opens with the situation that Japan’s population is in crisis, a reducing amount of people are having children and less people have any interest in relationships, then it goes in depth about how and why there is a problem such as, the progression within technology has allowed people to escape reality. It then concludes with the ways that things will change within Japan’s cultural and economic society, this leaving a dramatic conclusion for the audience to be left with. 

-Emily Birchall

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Diary of a Teenage Virgin

The topic of sex currently captures the mass audience, Diary of a Teenage Virgin has successfully been created to collect a mass audience and please them with the simplistic layout. It is aired at 10pm, which is a prime time for teenagers and young adults between the age of 14- 25 watching Television. The Voice over introduces the program and gives a complete run through to why they are documenting these teenagers lives for the period of a year, this a successful component  within attracting an audience, because it’s simple television; the audience doesn’t have to think of question anything because it is all been said directly to them. Cuts between the teenagers talking directly into the camera allow the audience to engage with the character. It then cuts to the teenager going along with their everyday life-making it almost feels as if we are seeing inside and outside of this person and overall we have efficiently been introduced to the character.

The cinematography has been used continually to give a shock factor of the subject matter such as the close up of the three teenagers in their school shoes, this brings out the actual fact that these young people who are trying to fit in with others by having sex, are actually only children.  Additionally there is a mid-shot of the parents talking directly to the screen, this makes it successful and opens to a larger audience because parents can connect with their opinions. To conclude my analysis of ‘Diary of a Teenage Virgin’, I have come to the conclusion that Channel 4 has effectively created a program that follows all the conventions expected within documentaries from the opening sequence of introducing the character, to following the characters within their development and then to the end sequence of whether they are still a teenage virgin. 

-Emily Birchall

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Crikey DM! David Jason's tribute to Cosgrove Hall

Crikey DM! David Jason's tribute to Cosgrove Hall broadcasted on BBC Radio 4, discusses the legendary Manchester animation house behind children’s TV such as Danger Mouse. The target audience for Radio 4 is between the age of 30-50 years of age and in the social demographic of C1, these figures combined created this programs success for that Danger Mouse was aired between 1981 to 1992 which means the target audience will feel engrossed with the subject as it happen throughout the time that they was alive. Additionally, throughout the sequence it gives background facts about the animation company such as; “It beat Coronation Streets TV ratings in 1983 with 21 million viewers”. Along with that there are cuts in between the dialogue with the sounds from the actual animation.

Furthermore, the radio broadcast is in a linear narrative, this is a successful convention when documenting the tribute of a well-known subject. David Jason’s tribute has successfully described and expressed the depth of Cosgrove Hall with interest. Conclusively, through doing this, the audience can experience the emotion that fans feel about Cosgrove Hall for that they go through both the success and the failure of the company. 

-Emily Birchall

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Educating Yorkshire

Educating Yorkshire is a fly on the wall documentary, broadcasted on Channel4. The opening sequence is displayed through a montage of clips, which is repeatedly used at the start of each of the episodes. Additionally, the specific clips used are to shock the audience into watching the program in order to find out more about the teachers and students shown. Furthermore, the voice over simplifies the media text as it blatantly tells the audience everything that is happening on screen, this technique is used with the use of on screen editing too. Through the use of the fly on the wall cameras, you see the teachers and students clash against each other, the cut away to an interview shot of the character in a mid-shot frame, allows the audience to have an in-depth understanding of how they feel, successfully allowing the audience to feel engaged.   

Furthermore, the non-diegetic music is used to fit the emotion such as the fast moving keyboard expresses the urgency they feel within the topic of year 11 exams. To conclude and reflect from the analysis of Educating Yorkshire, I have to come to the conclusion that David Brindley has directed a successful and suitable documentary for Channel4, as it includes the expected simplified conventions that Channel4’s documentary typically use. 

-Emily Birchall

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The Great British Bake Off

The BBC are well known for their British Cookery Shows, presently The Great British Bake Off, with its 4.56 million viewers, has been spiralling into controversy concerning it’s gender equality as the fourth and last male departed the contest. However technically the program presents all the successful practices which are used in this genre of television. The program is opened with a low angle which alters by moving in towards the two presenters changing to a two shot, which is commonly used when opening a program; for that it establishes the scenery at the same time as introducing the presenters. The mise-en-scene of the building in the background is a classic British building and the flags correlate with the name and the theme of the program, which is specifically successful when wanting a program to stand out rather than being tangled within the numerous other Cookery Contest Programs. There are frequent cut screen between contestants and them recapping the previous episodes, this is used within reality television so that the audience can create a character surrounding this person and engages them to favor a specific person.

Additionally, when a presenter is talking directly to the audience and the contestants, it is displayed through a close up of her in centre frame focusing all attention upon what she is saying. The cinematography then cuts to each contestant and a close up shot which is used to express their facial expressions to the audience, this important to use in game shows because it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats with ranges of emotional responses being excitement, worry or even anger. The extreme close up of the hands touching the food and preparing it, successfully gives the viewer something to watch between cuts of dialogue. This feature is commonly used in reality television because if the sequence has collected valuable dialogue but the cinematography doesn’t fit, the extreme close up successfully allows the audience to engage within two different ways. Furthermore, the voice over throughout the game show narrates what is happening to the audience. This voice over allows viewers who do not have an expanded knowledge of cooking to grasp what is happening and feel involved. Also the non-diegetic music is layered over the diegetic dialogue which expresses the sentiments, for example mid-way through the program when the stress is rising, the music pace increases; this is also used towards the end where dramatic music is layered with the dialogue of "This is so stressful". To conclude the program finishes with non-diegetic soft piano melody, which is a diverse from the negative emotions from the fact that a contestant that the audience have bonded with throughout the series has to now leave. Subsequently leaving me with the opinion that The Great British Bake Off, is successful through its features of engagement with the audience allowing a mass audience to be appealed to both the contestants and the content within the text.

-Emily Birchall 

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Our Dreams Our Selves

Our Dreams Our Selves broadcasted on BBC’s Radio 4, displayed in sight within Science and Psychoanalysis: The Recurring Dream of Sigmund Frued. As expected, the program is introduced through the title of the broadcast and the name of the presenter; Lucy Powell. Additionally there is a layer of soft string music which is used to open the program. The melody is conventional to the theme of the subject as dreams, which is the major motif is commonly related to soft melodies. Lucy Powell speaks in a professional manner, expected within her position. She speak with a slow pace, yet at the same time engages the attention of the audience by frequently placing sparking facts into the dialogue, such as; “It’s now a 100 years since Freuds most famous work- Science and Psychoanalysis was published in English”. This is important to present because the targeted audience evidently have an interest within this subject area, which means these facts will allow the audience to be continuously engrossed within Powell’s dialogue.

Furthermore, additional speakers are added to the program which stops one certain voice from becoming monotonous. Not only is there that aspect to that feature, the variety within the voices articulate the discussion from different angles, resulting in a non-bias discussion. Considering it is on Radio 4, the target audience has specific expectation for what has been broadcast in order to maintain their interest. “Our Dreams Our Selves”, do this through their frequent quoting of the actual text that is being discussed. To conclude, Radio 4 have created a successful piece of text within their channel as they have followed a structured sequence, the program opens with its title and presenters name and closes equivalent features, then swiftly moves to the next program in the schedule, which result with an organized, well prepared and structured broadcast.  

-Emily Birchall

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The Chris Evans Breakfast Show

For the first time I tuned into The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Two, the show opens with the latest news in local areas and the weather, which is typical within the sequence of radio shows as it allows the audience to have the latest news straight away in the morning. The show is then introduced along with the channel and presenters. However what interested me was the upbeat cheerful opening which is an appealing factor in the radio shows success because they are waking up their audience with a positive diegetic sounds. It cuts different pieces of audio together into a montage with the shows name- “The Chris Evans Breakfast Show”.

The music played throughout the opening is mainstream; this is to attract a mass audience. Although in between the playlist, the presenter reads out text and emails they have for from their audience along with songs they request. This shows they are connecting with their listeners, engaging audience to tune into the channel and be part of the show. Furthermore throughout the show the presenters engage within discussion about humorous subjects, this in my opinion keeping the audience successfully engaged. In addition to that, this breakfast show is packed with the necessities for a mass audience as it continually cuts to another presenter who informs the audience about current traffic situations. Another feature which is beneficial about this particular breakfast radio show is that if you tune in half way through, it will still be as effective as it would have been if you tuned in from the start. The current news, traffic and weather reports are repeated several times along with the program’s line up. The Chris Evans Breakfast Show has the successful aspects any audience would need, the variety of music along with current affairs- the audience are completely connected, as the popular radio show has links to social medias sites such as Twitter which allows the presenters to continually receive their feedback whilst in mid broadcasting. 

-Emily Birchall