Cameron Elliott A2 Media Blog

RESEARCH AND PLANNING ESSAY  Research and Planning was a staple of nearly all of my media projects during my time on the course. The vast majority of all of my projects required a lot of preparation, with that preparation coming in the form of my Research and Planning. First of all, The primary task that I completed on the A-Level Media course was the College Magazine. This task was very much a 'control' example as we attempted this task with minimal to no prior experience of creating a magazine using InDesign, and absolutely no Research or Planning. As a class, we were given a brief template to follow and that was it when it came to a formula to follow. As a result, the work was particularly ineffective and didn't look at all like a magazine you'd find on the shelves anywhere in real life. Because of the rigid structure and generic examples, we were not allowed to exhibit much creativity at all, and therefore my piece was not unique at all. In addition, I ...

What is Creativity? In essence, Creativity is the ability to think and act imaginatively, in ways that people either haven't done so before, or think and act in a unique adaptation of ways that have been done before. Creativity is pushing the boundaries of a certain field to new distances and creating a product that is not only original, but thought provoking also. I did my summer trailer alone, which gave me full 'creative control' when it came to the coursework piece that I handed in.  Technology is absolutely instrumental with regards to creativity in media. In my summer trailer, I decided to use the camera of my iPad to record the scenes for my trailer. The various lighting and focus options on the camera app itself allowed me to manipulate the picture in the way that I want. Afterwards, I edited the colours and picture quality on AVS Video Editor, further utilising modern technology to enhance the creativity of my piece. In AVS Video Editor, I made the p...

"Repetition of these signs become horror genre convention, however, overuse results in taking away the signified meaning." In horror, it's been argued many times by many different theorists that conventions are formed by repetition in the genre. For example, a 'dumb blonde' is a typical convention of a horror movie because it's a method that's been used so many times in so many different horror texts that it's become associated and grown an attachment with the genre. This idea was first really wrapped up into a theory by Daniel Chandler, who argued that genres and sub-genres were identified by the tropes and conventions they possessed. However, many argue that overuse, over time, has de-valued these conventions and signs, making them redundant and actually damaged them. I will be discussing this argument throughout this essay. The first convention that I will be analysing is the 'Scream Queen' trope, that is very (in)famously associa...

AUDIENCE THEORIES ESSAY  There are numerous narrative theories relating to audience throughout media and film. These help determine a target audience, among other things for a film. They also help segregate horror films into different sub-categories, to show and exemplify the differences between them. The theories that I'm going to speak about today relate specifically to the audience and how they react to films.  Firstly, and perhaps the most effective and empowering theory utilised in horror is the 'Catharsis' theory, penned by Greek philosopher Aristotle. Generally, the Catharsis theory involves the idea that people will watch depressing or horror-inducing media when they feel down because it stimulates a 'better' feeling in them. My trailer does very loosely make use of the catharsis theory. The constant fast cuts and worried facial expressions increase the intensity and looming danger of the film, making a viewing audience perhaps thankful that...

Application of Theories to my Trailer (EXAM QUESTION)  Cameron Elliott The 5 theorists that I researched recently, analyse characters and roles more than the actual story ir narrative of a production for the most part. As my trailer did not contain an abundance of characters, many of the following theories will not apply. However, there will be some that are relevant to my trailer, as I'll explain throughout the course of my essay.  The first theory I would like to talk about is Propp's character theory. Propp argued that there were various character types in cinema. The first example of this is 'the hero', 'the villain', 'the false hero' etc. My trailer actually reflected this theory by portraying a clear hero and villain. While it didn't contain any of the other Propp-endorsed character types, it contained enough to suitably reflect Propp's theory.  The next theory and theorist I'll be looking at is the famous Todorov theo...