Audience and Institution Practice Essay

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

Over the last few centuries, the way audiences consume media has changed tremendously. Specifically in film. Back in the late 1800s, when motion pictures were beginning to be published, it would have never been thought that many years later, you would be able to access such high-quality movies on a small cellular device with the click of a single button. 

An extreme way that media consumption has changed is through the way it is streamed. Just recently, my family and I wanted to watch the movie Spiderman Homecoming. Thinking back to the technology several centuries ago, a film like this would play through a rolling motion picture presented on a screen. Only a few centuries ago, it would play through a DVD player onto a TV screen. With the technology we have today, we can go straight to our phones, laptops, tablets, and more, and find the movie on Xfinity on-demand, and watch it. The. consumption of films by audiences now more than ever is through a streaming site that we pay for monthly

Another aspect of change when it comes to audiences' consumption of media is through the technology it is streamed on. Any streaming site you can think of I can access through my phone, laptop, or TV. Over many years our technology has progressed and allowed us to view media in ways like never before. This change in consumption is not only due to the film industry, but also the technology industry. When iPhones and other devices were made, the film industry adapted. This adaptation ended up being for their benefit because it is now the number one way people access movies. 

Something that most people don't realize is that one way that consumption of media has been changed is through the time it takes to be produced and distributed to the audience. The technology that we have today allows us to finish movies and distribute them to audiences faster than ever before. In the article, "How Tech Has Shaped Film Making: The Film Vs. Digital Debate Is Put To Rest", it discusses how new cameras that allow them to get better shots, faster. In this case, two significant changes are shown. One is the quality of the shots, and two being the decreased time of making the film. In the article "How Is Digital Technology Reshaping The Film Industry," you also see that newly developed editing software and cameras have helped decreased the time needed to make films.

When you think about the many ways that media is consumed by audiences now compared to centuries ago, you see that the film industry just adapted to the newly developed technology. It is crazy to think, but the technological side of society has most of the control over how we consume our media. Who knows how we will be consuming it years from now.

24 Extract

Component II-Question I

In the extract from “24”, an intense interrogation took place. In the extract, the interrogator wants answers and will not allow himself to be manipulated. The woman being interrogated will not budge and so the interrogator takes matters into his own hands. The director wanted to portray an intense and suspense-filled scene to show the severity of the issue being discussed.

Almost immediately the first scene is set by the set design and the over the shoulder shot. The set design of the table, chair, handcuffs, and papers were used to show it was an FBI/police interrogation. This type of set design is common in shows and movies that are about the police or government when they have an interrogation or questioning. The over the shoulder shot is commonly used to film interrogations. In this extract, it was used to enhance the interrogation.   The incidental music in the first scene plays at the beginning of the interrogation to build up suspense and intensity before beginning the dialogue. 

The dialogue in the third scene is used to discuss the bomb and the plans to stop it. The dialogue shows the severity of the issue at hand. The lighting design of the dim light around everything, but their faces in this scene was used to set the mood of intensity. The dutch angle used when the interrogator flipped over the table, leaving the woman there just sitting her chair, was used to portray the scene as extreme. The actions that took place and the dutch angle used to film it take place showed how the interrogator did not like that the woman was not giving him what he wanted. 

In scene six the director used a shot-reverse-shot when he finally sat down after flipping the table to build up suspense as he seemed to become angrier with the woman. Shot reverse shots are also commonly used when filming questions. In this case, it was used to enhance the interrogation. Immediately after this build-up the interrogator violently attacks the woman.

In scene seven you see the reaction to this violence. The use of a reaction shot to the interrogator getting violently aggressive showed the extreme moment taking place.

You can see through that director’s choices of camera angles, shots, and movements, along with the sound, editing, and mis en scenes used that he wanted the audience to see the seriousness of the scenes. Each aspect had either or all intensity, severity, suspense, and/or extremity to it. The issue of the bomb itself was serious. So it was clear that the director wanted to portray that.

Music Video

Down below is our music video project.

Nike Commercial

Down below is the first project we had to do. 

Final Project

Down below is my final project.  This project may not look like it took hard work,  but as I've stated before this was done completely on my own. This took a lot of time to complete. Many other clips not shown in this project were filmed but cut due to the time limit. I really dedicated my time and effort to this project so I hope that it shows.

CCR for the Final Project

Down below is my creative-critical reflection for the final task.

The final project dilema

Whew! These past few weeks have been crazy. The experience that everyone in the world is going through right now is absolutely surreal.  There are so many issues, big and small. Fortunately, I would say, that my problems are smaller than most when compared to everyone in the world right now. Although they are small they are still real and significant. Recently my mom and I have been discussing with my AICE Media teacher about how I should go about finishing the final project for this class. My teacher has been trying, I'm sure, with everything she has going on to help direct my group members and me on what to do. And although she is trying it is not much help due to the fact that there is not much we can do. We started filming, with me as the director/editor, Derrek as the main character, and Jahzenyah as an extra/assistance to me. Due to all of our individual roles, it is almost impossible to continue with the same work that we were doing. I cannot meet up with Derrek nor Jahzenyah, we may not film in any of the public places we had intended to, and I am the only one with proper filming and editing equipment. At first, I had thought to re-do the entire film, new plot and all, and make it my own, but my teacher said no to that due to the lack of time. This frustrated me because regardless of the time I would have to refilm everything anyway. Still, my teacher said no, and I have to respect that. My second thought was to tweak the plot, due to the recommendation of my teacher. It was really hard to come to terms with this route due to the fact that my teacher had expressed to us that this final project would be a reflection of our work and progress since the exam was canceled. This had me worried because there is no way this final project will be in any way a reflection of our hard work. It will be us getting by with what we can make of it. I say this because with having a film centered around one person you cannot film in locations you may not go, how will it get done efficiently? I have worked hard in this class and I would hate to see all that work get discredited by the terrible circumstances we are in. I then realized that all I can do is try my hardest with what I have. So I reached out to both group members and am trying to plan out a tweaked plot and how to go about it with them. Unfortunately for me, I will be doing most of the work. As much as I wish this project was canceled or at least postponed, I care about not only my grade but my group members' grade so I am willing to do most of the work. We have spent highschool working for our Cambridge diploma. This is serious for all of us. So I will sacrifice time and dedication to get this project done mainly by myself. These are hard times and people all around the world are working and putting in extra effort in an attempt to fix and normalize everything, including teachers like my own. So although I know my problem is small it still is valid and I like others choose work and put in the extra effort.

The struggles of the Corona lockdown

So as you know from my last blog the issues us highschoolers are facing due to the Coronavirus, globally.  But it also is affecting us locally. My group members and I still have a lot of filming, editing, re-filming, and re-editing to do. Getting this done has become extremely hard due to this virus. The idea of self-quarantine and social distancing has been overly stressed to everyone. We have been told that going out should be done only if seriously needed. A lot of parents are not letting their children go to their friends' houses, or letting their friends come over to their own house. I and my groupmates parents fall into that category. My group member Jahzenyahs mom will not let her hang out with anyone regardless of the location. My mom is only letting family come over. And there is no hanging out with friends. As for Derek, I am not sure, but he cannot do this project on his own so as of now it is not getting done. This lockdown has put a huge dent in our project. Getting it done will be extremely hard. Depending on how long until this issue last it may not get done by the due date.  In that case, we as students would be very frustrated because we have put in a lot of hard work and we would hate to see it all go down the drain due to a virus. Our Cambridge diploma has taken a lot of hard work and this issue could easily mess up our chances of getting it. If the due date was postponed it may make this situation easier. No matter what we are doing the best we can in this time of conflict. All we can do is hope for the best outcome.

The picture above is a picture of the research I have been doing on Cambridge Aice exam updates.

WHAT is going on?!

So as you might know the world is having a huge global issue. This issue is the coronavirus.  Unfortunately, this virus is greatly affecting many of highschooler's school lives in the U.S in many negative ways. It started off as a minor issue. Not even slight worry came over us highschoolers, up until about two weeks ago. Then the havoc started. Teachers were warning us that school may be canceled. Kids were coming to school in gloves and masks, or they just weren't coming at all.  And now our school is canceled until, as of right now, April 15th. All school activities have been canceled and online work has begun. But you have to realize the timing of this all that makes it so much worse.  School got canceled right around the end of our 3rd quarter meaning we were not able to finish up our quarter. End of the year exams, including our Aice exams, is right around the corner and now this issue has caused our standardized state testing to be canceled and has caused a huge push back in preparing for our Aice exams which are very important for a lot of juniors. Us juniors were in the middle of SAT time. We were getting our college/graduation requirements done around this time. The news has been keeping us updated, but all it does is just make us more stressed. We now have the option of retaking the school year. We also have been hearing that all grades this school year no longer count. This is a  HUGE deal. And on top of all the information on the school, we have to also remain safe from this virus. Our spring break is ruined. The beach is closed.  Soon I believe almost everything will be and we must stay inside. We are in a huge part of history right now.

Peer Review and Reshoot Planning

    So you may remember me discussing in my last blog how I missed the peer review due to absence, sickness, and confusion. I then discussed how when I got to class the next day that I would speak with my teacher, which I did. When speaking to her I explained the same situation that I did to the blog. I told her that I was not here due to being confused with dates, and sick. I told her I made sure to still blog about this situation. She told me I did exactly what I should've done and that I am on track. I then asked her if there was any way to make up the review. To which she then explained that the peer review was not an assignment for her or Cambridge, rather something to help my group. She told me that if I wanted I could go find the group meant to peer review my group's project or ask a friend/family member, but it was not required. I decided that it was important to have someone else eyes watch and critique our project. So I showed my stepdad and sister the draft. They gave some good feedback that I will for sure use. The feedback is hard to understand unless you have watched the video, but basically, they expressed confusion of shots and lack of skill in acting. I'm not yet sure what feedback my other group members received,  but based on mine, I definitely think some reshooting needs to take place.  So I have started to talk with one of my group members, Jahzenyah, to plan days we can meet up, but not Derek. So she and I decided to discuss it all together in class tomorrow. Tomorrow in class we will first discuss critiques given to each other by family members. We will then discuss what needs to be changed/added. Lastly, we will discuss and schedule the days we will reshoot along with the days we will finish. I am not sure yet if we are on track with filming and getting this project done. That will be determined tomorrow when we discuss what I stated above.

In this picture above you see me stepdad discussing some acting issues with the main character.

Peer Review

    So, unfortunately, I was not able to do the peer review another group's first draft of their project, nor was anyone able to review my groups. This is the case for many reasons. To start I was confused with the dates for when everything took place. I was under the impression that we would be doing the peer review on March 5th because I had wrote that done, but I am now realizing that was just for the blog. I clearly was not thinking because I did not even have this class on March 5th, but the reason, why I was confused with the school schedule this week, will be explained later on. So when I made the decision to stay home I did not think I would be missing the peer review. The reason I decided to miss school was that for the past few weeks, I have been in and out of being extremely under the weather. I tend to have symptoms of sickness come and go randomly. Because of this, my school attendance has suffered. So the day that our class was peer-reviewing I stayed home with a migraine and sore throat. Not only is this situation complicated due to my absences and sickness, but it is also because this week we had our SAT and an early release. So the schedule has been very hectic and I still haven't gotten the chance to speak with my teacher about how to make up this peer review. This was also the reason why I was confused on which days I had this class. My plan, for now, is to continue to edit and critique things I find that need to be critiqued. This is because there is always room for improvement. I have found that if I continue to go back and watch the draft of our final project every day I will find new things I can fix. That way it can be in it's best shape by the time I show it to another group. I finally have AICE Media tomorrow so I plan on going to my teacher immediately to discuss with her what I can do.  I also have talked with my group members, but I was slightly confused on their end. Although there, the did not peer review other group's work. So I was not able to even know how the peer review took place or anything about it.

Above is a picture of just some absences due to being sick over these last few weeks.

Editing Blog: Sorting out the takes

    Today I started the editing process. I have all the editing tools at my house, so at times I just end up editing myself. Which I don't mind. Some days we as a group will work together.  Today I just started by doing simple things. First I put all our footage that we have filmed so far onto my media. Then I had to sort out many of the takes. Like I said in the last blog our group member Derek is not an amazing actor so we took many takes. So when it came to sorting out the takes it took a lot more effort than you might think. I had to watch each individual take. First, I deleted all of the bloopers. I then narrowed it down to all of the clips that could possibly work. I didn't narrow it down based on what I liked either. I narrowed it down to clips that could work in general that way my group members and I can see which clips we like best together. Now, when it comes time to actually put all the clips together we will have options to choose from. After all the sorting of takes, I imported them to "my media". After doing this I decided to stop. Thankfully we have all recovered from the flu situation and have finally got back on track. Now tomorrow in class we will start doing some more serious editing as a group. We plan to get a lot of editing done in class tomorrow that way when we film the rest of our footage we can start editing on that.

Filming Blog: The day of Many Retakes

Today, we finally were able to film. We did have one bump in the road, but it was easily solved. As I have shared in previous blogs I have my own camera so we never have to check one out. Unfortunately, that causes us to forget that we still have to check out a tri-pod. So towards the end of the school day, I realized we forgot the tripod. We thought this would be ok and that we would just be able to go to our teacher once the bell rang and pick up a tripod, but she wasn't there. I then decided just to go buy one from our local Walmart because I had always wanted one for the camera anyway. We thought this might've cut time, but it did not. We ended up having a very productive day.  As the director, I was mainly just filming and figuring out how to make the scene look its best. I would do that by trying out different ways to film the scene and by telling my group member Derek (Main Character) how to act and what to say. Derek was our only reliable actor, but he is not that experienced so it took many... many takes to get the best scene we could. We now have many scenes to look over and many scenes to delete! Overall though, I would say that today was a very efficient day of filming. We got all the scenes done needed for today. This sets us up perfectly for the next time we meet to film. Our goal is to finish filming the next time we meet. We plan to meet one day this weekend. Our goal is to meet earlier in the day so we can knock out all remaining scenes on that day. We are doing this because we want to have as much time to edit and reshoot if needed.

Filming Blog: More Like Catching the Flu Blog :/

This past weekend we had planned to film at my house on Sunday or Monday. We had everything in order. Everyone had a ride to my house and back, we knew what scenes we were going to film, and all the actors were available that day. As the days to film were slowly approaching everything was still fine. Then Saturday night one of my group members Jahzenyah informed us that she was not feeling and that she thinks she might have the flu. At first, I was worried that this might complicate things. Then I thought about it. I am the one who usually films, of course with the assistance of my group members, so technically for the scenes, we plan to film she didn't need to be there. We still decided to move the filming date to Monday just in case she was feeling better by then. So we had a slight bump in the road, but everything was still on track. Well, that was until Sunday night. I get a call from my other group member Derek, the main character of the movie, informing me he caught the flu. So at this point, we had to completely cancel our plans. We were now planning on meeting this Friday after school. Then something happened... I caught the flu. I am currently in bed with a 101.5-degree fever. It was just our luck that two out of the three members caught the flu, but now that they are no longer sick it just had to be that I caught the flu. This is just a series of unfortunate events. We are now aiming for Sunday. That is if I feel better. This is a huge setback in our plans, but I believe we as a team will make it work and catch up.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

Down below is a google slides presentation uploaded. This slide presentation is of the storyboard of our project. The storyboard is only of the first two minutes of the film. In it, we included each of the 20 scenes we have. We also included the titles and names that correspond to the titles within the scenes. For each box that was of a scene, we briefly described what was occurring in the scene. It shows the character(s) and the action(s) they will be doing in each scene. The sound present in each scene was also stated, such as diegetic or non-diegetic. This also includes any dialogue that may occur within the scenes, it was written under the boxes. Creating this storyboard is really beneficial to my group and I as it gives us an exact outline of each scene, and title sequence. When we begin to film, we will film with ease as we film the scenes with a clear plan of what to film. We will do this by continuously referring to our storyboard for guidance.

Planning Blog: Title design in details

      Uploaded below is our google slide presentation. This slide presentation entails a detailed overview of our title design. Within it, we described the fonts we chose, as well as the colors. We also discussed the spacing between the titles and the letters in the titles. Moreover, we expressed what we believe we will name the film, this far into the project. The final title of the film is subject to change but as of now, we have a pretty good general idea. In another slide, we also referred to the ways we will edit the titles entering and leaving the scenes when they appear. We agreed on simple fade-ins and fade-outs for them. Lastly, we touched on the duration that the titles will appear on the screen for when they pop up. The best amount of time would be two to three seconds for each. This will ensure that we fit every required title into the first two minutes. That concluded the overview of our title design.

Planning Blog: Location, Participants, Health, Schedule

Down below is our google slide presentation. We developed an outline of the locations of our film, the participants, how we will remain good health and safety, and the schedule for the rest of the project. For the location slide, we expressed what the two locations are going to be. One will be the home of one of our group members, and the other will be a library. We also uploaded pictures of the locations to give a visual representation of them. On the participant's slide, we listed every character that will appear in the two minutes, and who they will be played by. Next, we detailed the safety precautions we will take throughout the filming process to ensure we remain safe and healthy. A few of these include having constant adult supervision, as well as staying hydrated. Finally, the last slide was of our schedule for filming and the rest of this project. We detailed the first few days of filming and where it will take place. We also included when we will begin to edit the footage, and when we should be submitting the final piece to Cambridge for evaluation.   

Planning Blog: Sound & Dialogue Script

          Down below is our google doc presentation. We developed a sound and dialogue script for our film. In total, there are 7 slides. In this doc, there are multiple scenes combined into slides. Within the slides, we discussed the sound effects and dialogue that will occur in each scene. For scenes with dialogue, we emphasized the exact words the characters will be saying in those scenes. The most common sounds present in these scenes are diegetic and score. The purpose of this slideshow is to give a clear outline of the types of sounds that will be present in each scene. It essentially maps out of the sounds and dialogue in the scenes. Having this will make it easier for us to follow through with creating and implementing those sounds into our footage. The slides simply tell what sounds, music, and dialogue will be occurring in each scene. Nothing else is included in this presentation because every other element was included in the shooting script. 

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

       Down below is our google doc presentation. We developed a shooting script for our film. In total, there are 19 slides. Each slide represents a different scene. Within the slides, we discussed the actions and events that will be taking place in each scene. Moreover, we also expanded on certain elements in the scenes, such as camera angles and movements. The characters that appear in the scenes are also introduced. The purpose of this slideshow is to give a written representation of our storyboard. It essentially maps out of each of our scenes. Having this will make it easier for us to draw out our storyboard because we will have already planned out each scene. The slides simply tell what is going on in each scene. No sounds are included because they will be included in the sounds and dialogue script. 

Title Research: Gentlemen broncos

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

In the opening sequences of the film there were twenty three titles displayed within the first two minutes of the film.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The images prioritized in the opening sequence were many different books atop of regular household items. Many of these books happened to be science fiction books. The covers displayed images of aliens, astronauts, and other images.

What connotations do the images carry?

These images carry a connotation that the movie will most likely have something to do with aliens and space exploration considering the cover pages were of books regarding those science fiction ideas.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is reinforced  through symbolic and technical codes by displaying aspects of the genre on the cover pages of the books such as Aliens, extraterrestrial lifeforms, and mutants. The outset portrayed an ordinary home but these aspects previewed on the book foreshadow that something along those lines will emerge in the plot.


How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The outset from the film establishes enigma by displaying different scientific yet fictional images on the book covers such as the creatures, aliens, and astronauts. This foreshadows and leaves the audience pondering whether those aspects will play a key role in the plot later on.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to it's target audience?

Some strategies used to ensure the film's appeal to the target audience are the use of the images portrayed on the cover photos of the books. These catch the audience's attention along with the use of the background music by making them consider the plot having to do with what they have already been shown. The ideas shown on the covers of the books foreshadow the idea of what the movie may later consist of.

How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques.

The main camera angle in the opening scene was Ariel shot because the camera was directly above the books as they were being shown. Once every book is shown, there becomes a mid shot. The transitions between each showing of the books were effective because they were smooth and made the scenes flow well together. The same can be said for the editing techniques. The main edits used in the title sequence were fade ins and fade outs.