Media Regulation

1.     Who regulates the media?

Media Regulation is the process of control and guidance in order for Media to be shown in a suitable way. Society as a whole regulate media but most importantly TV and the newspaper press do as they persuade us to think in a way through what is printed on the newspapers and what kind of programmes are shown on TV influencing our heads

2.     Why does the media needs regulating?

·         To protect the public order

·         So that underage children are not shown certain programmes that are not suitable for them

·         The promotion of access, freedom to communicate, diversity and universal provision as well as securing communicative and cultural ends chosen by the people for themselves.

3.     Should media texts be subject to censorship?

Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet. Censorship could be done by the government and private organizations. It usually occurs in speech, books, music, film or nay other kind of media context. This is done to hold order and control, to protect children which may be even illegal in some cases.  Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law and so I personally agree and believe that some media texts should be subject to censorship just simply for our protection.

4.     Is the public protected or hindered by media regulation?

Yes the public are protected or hindered by media regulation in a way as media contexts such as social networks block you from seeing unsuitable parts of that website if they believe you are not categorised to be able to and think you are under aged protecting you. Sites such as YouTube delete your video automatically if they believe that we are in harm or danger which shows that the media is regulated.

Documentries

View more presentations from Mozghan.

Louis Theroux: Documentary

The religious 'cult' that is shown in the documentary show clear signs of extremism when carrying out all of the events. In the beginning of the documentary, Shirley Phelps is introduced as a character that seems to be acknowledged as one of those that has firm belief in all of what she takes part in. All of which is portrayed through, her general view of the larger world around her. Around 3minutes into the documentary, Shirly Phelps is questioned on why she believes Barrack Obama is the Anti-christ, all of what she says seems fairly Linear to what she thinks about her beliefs, none of what she says branches out in depth. She doesn't come to acknowledge and explain any of her beliefs with deeper meaning, this makes it all the more offensive when she and her group talks about certain groups of people or individuals.

The Westboro baptist church genuinely do not take a blind eye to anyone who seems to be against or even neutral against of their odds. They do their absolute best to make sure that the society or world that they live in, knows all of what they do. Throughout the documentary, we are told that they keep in touch with small media groups as the group has it's own sense of interest, when in touch with the outside world, they hope that those that do not follow their 'cult' will soon come to follow after witnessing what is so apparently 'predetermined' for each and every single individual that divides themselves from the WBC's beliefs.

Some of what the church does seems very contradictory in a sense as members had tend to leave even with beliefs that seem so strong. For example, one of the daughters named, 'Lauren', had been in the group before Louis had visited last, and her belief in the WBC seemed very firm and fixed. When talking about the idea of boyfriends and marriage, she seemed like she knew exactly what she was referring to when she mentioned, sin and hell. The idealism of it all makes it seems so extreme that it is almost exaggerated with what they do. Some group members seem to empathize with those that do not consist within the 'Cult', as shown at 47:00 minutes. Megan consistently talks about how 'Sorry' she felt for the guy that stayed in contact with. When with Steve, at 52:00 minutes and further, we are shown that the whole idea of making feel distraught and unworthy makes them feel somewhat replenished, as all of what he wants is for all to be set with those that love the 'king' and nothing more, however, we see a lack in empathy from this certain Character. Throughout the documentary we are given hints in where there may be doubt, when Louis interviews families after certain people had left, they seem to find it difficult to discuss any of which they feel, and answers seemed to be kept very brief.

Main Task- Inspirations

'THE CHATROOM' Opening Sequence

7.LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK (THECONTINUITY EDITING TASK), WHAT DO YOU FEELYOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM ITTO FULL PRODUCT?

I personally feel that the preliminary task as itself, was somewhat unorganized. Most of what was done in the preliminary task, didn't have a general flow to it all, as it was all about continuity and just getting use to the the equipment. Even so, the preliminary task wasn't that bad, the way in which we used the camera, and we edited was fairly rushed as it was meant to be that build up upon a brief that was assigned to us. This made it seem like, the preliminary task had it's limits in terms of it's creativity.

Even so, I also feel that with the preliminary task, we never had as much time to plan ahead and back up from what we may of missed out mad errors on. The final AS film that we shot, seemed to have more of a flow through it all, as well as it being consistent. It allowed us to take the time we had seriously and make finish on the final film. Even so, the preliminary task allowed us to develop the skills that we were told of, which were the match on action, 180 degree rule, and the shot/reverse shot. With our preliminary task, there were more problems with the general quality of filming and how we had gone about filming the task. This brought forward problems that made the image quality of the video poor, however, with the final project, we had more time, and we had time to do further research into how to use the equipment we were provided with. It allowed us to be more efficient in what we were doing by finding time to practice and learn how to use each piece of equipment properly.

In the preliminary task, we were never given much time to research. Upon the brief, we had little time to plan how things were going to be laid out during the scene and how we would shoot them. The AS film tends to make  the project seem somewhat more professional as we learnt how to use the tripod, and how to manage the handheld shots with care. With practice and research, it allowed us to generate a better image quality too. The preliminary task's focus clearly seems to be blurred out most of the and not all details are visible. The project had far more adjustments to it and was finished to greater detail.

As for time management when it came to the project, we planned efficiently and made sure that if we had a problem, we would have that second plan, if the first one didn't go as hoped for. The group also done more research into genres for the film and we then decided upon what it would be. We tried to find professional advice on how to make this more apparent in filming. As you can see, the more time and effort, along with research we put into our work, the better our results came out with urge and caution. All of what we had done made the experience more enjoyable. We developed our skills further and we also worked as a team more. It made all the filming easier as we all cooperated with one another.

To conclude, I feel that the as a whole, without the preliminary task, we probably wouldn't of felt that urge to improve upon our situation for the final AS film. I feel as if that the time we had to put the AS film together, also allowed to feel the urge and passion to perfect things upon our preliminary tasks, in other words. Our preliminary task motivated us to do that much more research into how to use equipment, software, and etc.

6. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

IMac
I'd say that I was generally new to using this piece of hardware, however, as we continued to work in our group, we slowly, but surely adapted to using the software on the Mac. We used this to finalize our project and work on our blogs.


E05 CANNON CAMERA
The camera was somewhat dilemma for my whole group, because this seemed somewhat different to a standard digital camera. To apprehend this problem, we did some checking online, and taught ourselves how to use it.

Lights

The lights were new props to us. We hadn't used them in the video before preceding to the opening scene. We found some online tutorials on how to use this piece of equipment.

SOFTWARE

EXCEL
When we had our questionnaires sent out, we used this to gather all results and implement them into a pie charts and this allowed us to make final decisions on what to do.


ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS CS5

I had learned that this program could be used to change and manipulate key frames in clips of videos. This program seemed very difficult to adjust to. Everything was had to be exact and precise. This program was very effective in our use.

Sony Vegas 11
This program was used to direct and appoint each clip for our project. The software could also be used to add audio and make some adjustment to the audio options of them.


Adobe Photoshop
We had used this to make edits to images and we also used this to make our poster for the project.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Following the whole media project. We had come up with various way in which we could attract and address our audience. The short clips taken from each scene has it's own significance along with the music we used. The music that is being played in the background seems fairly laid back. This plays with the conventional idea of a horror or thriller. Everything that is shown in the first part of the opening scene can easily be misinterpreted as it is just that beginning. Each scene is short and snappy, this leads to the awareness of somewhat enigma until it draws towards the end, the audience will only know so little and therefore it builds on that sense of enigmatic mystery. Even within each scene, a lot seems to be going on, with all the props that are used, taking note of audience being those that are 16 and over, (Especially teenagers) are be able to be selective to what is going on in each short scene.
When the everything comes forth to it's end, everything that may bring forth romance suddenly turns into the thrill and horror when the troubled looking young man takes hold off the rope.

When the final scene is unravels, everything still seems to puzzling and a mystery as the camera slowly pans around the park, nothing seems final and the audience are left in that climax until they are brought forward to the dead body of the teenage girl that hangs off the tree. The music that is adapted throughout the whole project, may force the audience to question what is going on. To finalize the project, the title 'the chatroom' is reinforced to bring back that idealism of which audience it is aimed at, presented with all the genres.

4. What would the audience be for your Product?

The audience for our movie had to be backed up with various amounts of research and particular focus groups. We had sent out questionnaires that allowed us to come up with a general idea of what types of cinema people would visit to watch movies. After sending out the questionnaires we had one set group that managed some possible changes to the movie. The genre of our movie was varied. It had been mixed with, horror, thriller, and romance. Choosing our widespread audience which were mainly set out to 16-24 year olds had come across as straight forward. This was due to the genres of our movie. We also found out that lots of young adults are those that tend to watch the horror movies. They feel somewhat thrill when watching these horror/thriller movies.
The movie is set out with young adults as the cast. This will also the accustomed audience to feel more particular towards this movie and they will feel somewhat incentive towards watching this. Sending the questionnaire in regard to difference in cinema allows us to make the movie somewhat more displayable, even so, the widespread audience will be those who are 16 or over.

3. What kind of Institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our Movie was based upon and was influenced by the movie 'Se7en' as it had been successful in targeting the mainstream target audience through its horrific scenes, similar to our film. We had decided that our film was a blockbuster, as it has a mixture of different genres such as Horror/thriller with a bit of romance to attract the older-generation too. Even so, I feel that with our film, it would depend on whether the distributors understand the opening to our film as the sequence of events may not make complete sense to them.We believe our film should be somewhat exclusive to events such film festivals, where they are played, and if things continue to progress, then we'd look further into selling to a distributor.
The unit could be sold to Dimension Films, previous releases of this distributor have been in a similar region to our film, when regarding genres. There have been movies like scream, which also is a thriller, and a horror. They play with the idea of the conventional horror movie and let the murderer be known to some extent. With this in sight, the idea of pushing it further into the market can implemented and with the right advertising, this will push into being cost effective and makes it the more easier to transmit in the market. 

2.How does your media Product represent particular social groups?

The picture to the left represents our target audience being sixteen and over, who enjoys a bit of thrill, and are adrelanine drunkies. This age is suitable for our film as some scenes would contain scenes that are only suitable for the older generation ie sex scenes, this will also attract our target audience, as it adds to the arousing thrill to the movie in itself.




Our media product uses the conventions of romantic/horror in order to show the stereotypical social groups that use social networks such as the 'chatroom'; as the majority of our target audience would be able to relate to situations  in our film. In our movie we have tried to convey the stereotype of a normal teenage girl who feels the genuine need to be loved, and a lonesome troubled young man who plays with the idea of love through chat rooms, furthermore, some may take this to some idea of paedophilia. All of which has been depicted throughout the movie in somewhat reasonable fashion. The full identity of the lonesome man is never fully revealed. The portrayal of the troubled person is reflected through the movie, the genuine setting he is placed in, and the nurture of his appearance. The murderer also tends to wear dark colours, which puts him into conventional category.


More so, the movie also looks into the idealistic insecurities of a woman that is portrayed through the general idea of her using chat rooms in itself. The way the woman is portrayed also gives off the conventional idea of a teenage girl. She seems to enjoy socialising, we see that she has interest in celebrity magazines and also tries to look at her best.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The Title of the Film

The title of our two minute film; 'the chatroom' was displayed on the last frame. The movie ends with a close of shot Melek the victim’s upper body being hanged, full with blood on her face and body. Our group was inspired by the 'Se7en' title fonts, and choose a similar style on iMovie. We wanted to create the last frame with suspense, and having the audience wanting for more, thus the reason why we chose to put the title of the movie on the last frame, to keep the audience intrigued throughout the movie acting as an enigma.

Setting/Location

The setting of our film had many locations; the murderers basement, the victims room and at the end- in a park. Our location in the park was very well suited with our genre; horror, as it was a realistic place for someone to be killed late at night where it would be hard to be caught. However, the scenes that were taken in Melek the victim’s room went against the conventions of a horror movie, due to the fact that the movie starts with the basement and her room contrasting the two different personalities’ and misbelieving the audience as they wouldn’t think it would be a horror movie. This also builds the enigma of what the film is based on.  

Costumes and Props

In every film made in the film industry props and costumes are used, which is a convention of a media product.  Our group were very inspired by ‘se7en’ as it had completed its aim in wanting us to watch more, so we wanted to create the same affect, by having shots of random products, but contrasting it with the two different people. An example would be, opening the film with a close up shot of the murderer opening a can of beer, contrasting it then with a close up shot of the victim opening her water bottle, opposing the two different characters. The iconography of the shot of the beer could symbolise the creepiness of the murderer and can foreshadow what the murderer could do as it is a an alcoholic.  

Camerawork and Editing

We used a lot of close up shots and wide shots for example the shot of the heroine, the close up shot puts emphasis on how dangerous this person may be, as they are taking drugs. This shot type is suitable for our genre being horror as there are many close up shots in horror opening scenes to build up the tension and to get the audience intrigued. Furthermore as our editing technique we used elliptical shots, where only the important scenes are on display, for example shots of the victim’s pictures being crossed and shots of the murderers match on action shot when he takes the rope with him, so that the audience do not miss it. This also foreshadows the upcoming events, as there is no dialogue but important props such as the rope.

Title font and Style

The font style we used for our movie was the ‘Papyrus’ style. We chose this style of font in particular as we as a group thought that it fitted well with the genre and it gave it a creepier look. We also wanted the white title to contrast with the dark shots, so that the writing could stand out. We were inspired by the ‘Se7en’ font styles and we thought that this particular font style fitted most with the ‘scary’ and disturbed look.

Story and how the opening sets it up

The opening of our film starts with a range of shots from both of the actors, juxtaposing both their personalities. For example a shot of the victim drinking her water, then opposed to the murder drinking his beer. This juxtaposition makes the victim look very innocent contrasting with the murder drinking his beer. These shots introduce both the characters and protagonist, and what kind of person the main actor is, foreshadowing upcoming scenes in the film.

Genre and how the opening suggests it

The beginning of our film starts with a black pitch and then closes up shot of the beer can being opened. This creates a sense of unknown and randomness, getting the audience intrigued. The opening scene has shots of both the protagonist and the victim, and how both of their personalities are being juxtaposed with each other emphasising how different the two are and highlighting the creepiness, which makes it appropriate for the horror genre, as there is no dialogue at all, which builds up the tension. In addition most horror opening scenes has no dialogue which makes it fits in with our genre.

How characters are introduced

Both characters are introduced in the same way, but emphasising on the two personalities, as they both oppose with each other, for example the shot of the yogurt opposed to the shot of the heroine. This effectively emphasises on how naïve the victim is shown to be compared to the murderer. The fact that the murderer or the ‘bad guy’ is black challenges media stereotypes as it is rare.


Special effects


The mood we were trying to create when we were editing was to create a mood full of tension and suspense but at the same time having the audience wanted to watch the whole of the movie to see whether the ‘bad guy’ gets caught or not. We were attempting to create the whole theme of creepiness and thriller, by having a romantic/creepy song-lord knows best, to set up the mood.

Music Inpirations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1npX5-CP0A

Producing our 2 minute film- 'The Chat Room'

Towards the end of 2011, our class was split into three main groups, to begin producing our main task as part of our coursework. Our main task was to make the first two minutes of a film. I was chosen to work with Ali our producer, Ezra, and Lamide, and as a group we had to choose a specific genre for our film, and our three top genres were; Horror, Comedy and Action.

This is the Script for our main task- The Chatroom


The Chatroom