Media Studies defines how we can use Media Language to make a Representation of its products to the general public. It also describes how the Institution of media producers create and maintain a relationship with the Audience who consumes the media product.
Each key concept helps build up a definition for the use of media studies:
Media Language:
Media Language describes how we use cinematography i.e camera work to achieve angles on filming scenes, how we can take both long and short distance shots, ability to zoom in or out. Etc.
Media Language also describes how Editing is done. Special effects can be added to a particular scene to improve how such clip is represented to the general public. This can either be done with Fast Pace Editing or Slow Pace Editing.
Media Language can control what sound to include in a clip. It can either make it Diegetic. i.e for the characters involved to hear themselves or Non Diegetic.
Media Language also controls, creates or adds to everything in a scene. A general word used to describe this kind of media concept is known as Mise-en-scene.
Representation:
Media builds up a portrait of different groups of people. These groups of people differ with their age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, regional identity, ability/disability and their class/social class. The general public are always the end receivers and they belong to at least one of the groups mentioned.
Representation in Media is a vital aspect to media production; as it displays the idea/ideas of the Institution behind its production. The general public are shown a clear perception as to how the producer feels about certain groups of people alike. In most cases, a movie clip Representation determines how successful that movie will be.
Audience and Institution:
The audience are an important group of people. The media focuses on these people. The audience are generally related to as the consumers of media productions.
The Institution is a set of producers who provides the audience with their ideas. This includes every aspects of film production.
The purpose of creating a media product e.g. a short movie clip, Is to (first of all) gain the audience approval and support. Then other reasons fall under. Therefore without the audience’s approval of a media product, all concepts, aims and objectives of media language comes to a halt.
One of the steps to achieving success in media production is to have a solid relationship with the audience. Know what they like, know what they want and most importantly add some value to them. I.e. make them have a reason to have watched that production, and so on.
Knowing all of these, the institution can produce a fantastic movie clip that would generally impress the audience.
Technology in media production is a vital tool to building solid relationships. The audience would be willing to see a movie clip that shows them what and how exactly the modern world looks like.
Technology has also improved the way these movies can be watched. Either at home or at a theatre room. The producers know the quality of their production and for them to deliver such quality, they introduce bits and pieces of technology including 3-dimensional views and blu-ray formats.
Technology has a good and bad side. Movie piracy is at large and has changed the way institutions really want the audience to view their productions.
Mise-en-scene for Monarch of the Glen video clip.
In the January extract of the video clip “Monarch of the Glen”, the Mise-en-Scene has varying impact on the production. I would go through each scene explaining how the Mise-en-Scene affects/contributes to the representation of AGE under the following headings:
1. Costume
2. Setting
3. Props
4. Lighting
5. Body Language
6. Make Up
The actors/actresses are elderly folks wearing work clothes. This represents a high level of maturity around their environment.
The overall setting describes a quiet country side. Old folks love the country side because there’s peace and quietness about.
This scene shows older men using tools. Relates to a fact that about 90% of the population in the area are most likely elderly people. The characters all move in a very relaxed manner. The folks loading the trucks are helping each other. No one’s being a hero; there is some communication and division of labour going on. It’s more like they all understand each other very well.
There is solar energy supplying the main lighting. It is more convenient for older folks to move around; per say, during the broad daylight hence this scene was shot outside with bright sunlight. (High-key Lighting)
There isn’t much body language involved with this scene save the fact that each man knows when the other moves into line so no one bumps into another worker.
It’s quite a sunny afternoon. Make up would only include one or two men wearing face caps to block out the sun’s ray.
The next act shows two young teenagers supposedly in the same environment as the working men, but they are putting on casual clothes. This signifies their young/youthful age. They are in the same environment but allocated with special tasks supposedly due to their age mark. The girl’s headmaster is dressed in posh-like attire. Bearing old fashioned clothing, he looks the part.
A small country side, too advanced for teenagers and youths to live in, probably not much of a place for a teenager but quiet enough for anyone to live in.
The teenage girl runs to the front door, and then she casually walks out in relaxed youthful strides. The teenage girl is quick to run into the arms of the older man in a cause of fear/intimidation. The Headmaster emphasizes his anger but his age limits him to slightly bending his shoulders and sternly fixing his eyes on the young girl; but he relaxes as soon as the older ones come into sight. The scene was shot outside with bright sunlight. (High-key Lighting)
The teenage girl comes out with a worried expression on her face, wanting to tell the young man something bothering her. She is asked if she can drive... a short hesitation there before answering. She puts on a confused look in the vehicle, a proof that she really doesn’t know how to drive. The young boy looks at her in the vehicle with uncertainty, most likely because he understood the reason for her hesitation. Here again, we see the significance of youthfulness. Not much make up in this scene. The headmaster has got an old man beard of gray colour.
The headmaster looks posh but the man who looked after the teenage girl is in a more casual outdoor wear. The woman attending to the teenage girl is also dressed in casual old fashioned outdoor clothes.
The room they are in is more of an old fashioned study or an office which looks like a reading room for an older person, as it’s surrounded with books on shelves. The next scene shows a passage way with a con-joining stair way. This gives us more insight to the fact that the characters are within a household.
The young man asks the Headmaster if he wants some brandy. Brandy is often served to older folks. Over-hearing about the teenage girl’s misdeeds, he rushes out of the room in anger to confront her. He pulls her by the shoulder and drags her to away from the woman. The young girl is frightened and pleads with the man.
There is a low-key Lighting just inside the office; which suggests a calm atmosphere.
The teenage girl portrays a child-like reaction to being scolded.
The women wear old-fashioned jackets. One of them bears a bandana on her neck. This portrays the system of fashion more in the olden days.
Men are in work clothes overall, loading a vehicle. This scene is an outdoor setting, which means that it is high key lighting.
They are all helping each other to load and unload.
They are all wearing old-fashioned work clothes with some wearing hats to block the sun rays.
Teenage girl puts on her jacket and a backpack. Possible signs of leaving the environment. The older woman comes in looking for her, but she happens to be gone already, supposedly out through the window.
On her bed lies a teddy bear, with some folded up clothes plus two notes addressed to two people with childish handwriting. This tells the audience that she is not likely to be coming back from where she’s headed to.
She starts off by dropping the notes and then a cloth for one and a teddy bear for the other, and then she moves over to grab her backpack while looking at a picture of her with her impromptu family. Older woman comes inside the room calling out to the girl, finds the teddy bear assumed to be for her, picks it up, runs to the window with a worried expression on her face, looks out , realises the girl has gone then runs back out the door. The lighting would be a High –Key Lighting:
The teenage girl puts on a sad expression as she leaves. The older woman puts on a worried expression and quick movements towards the window. The teenage girl’s hair is all set for an outing. Jacket and backpack are worn. Older woman is in more casual relaxed old-fashioned jacket.
Men wearing work clothes. Once again there is the representation of age difference in the area. Work men are outdoor setting; a very busy atmosphere.
Men are loading trucks, clearing the environment. A man comes in to complain but is ushered away. This shows the intensity of the business of the environment.
High-Key Lighting
The woman comes running to meet the man. And after she tells him the sad news, he shows so many expressions all at once: surprise, confused, worried, guilt.
Men are wearing work clothes. Older woman is wearing old-fashioned jacket.
Camera Work for Monarch of the Glen video clip
Dolly camera pan to show a group of men dressed in work clothes doing work.
A Long shot over the shoulder, plus hen a medium long shot to show the teenage girl’s costume.
Close up shot from a dolly to show her expression in the vehicle
Wide shot showing the crash; to establish a new scene/location.
Pan between characters; height difference confirms the age difference between characters.
Long shot showing the office confirms a change in location.
Mid shot over the shoulder – when the headmaster explains the teenage girl hasn’t sat any exams.
Low angle medium close up. There is also a low angle giving a sense of authority – making the audience to view the scene in the teenage girl’s shoes and feel sorry for her.
Medium close up for the scolding part.
Teenage girl’s bedroom – mid shot of a wrapped piece of cloth on her bed then the camera tilts to reveal goodbye notes. A pan to show the stuffed bear. There is no scene establishment shot in this environment. Instead the camera pans throughout the scene. a tilt to show her putting on her backpack then zooms in to show pictures.
A tilt from the window ledge to give the audience some extra information on how the teenage girl made her escape. Medium close up to appreciate that the lady is looking out of the window, close enough to catch her expression.
Dolly shot. Older woman comes to the man and tells him about the teenage girl’s disappearance. The camera does a close up shot to focus on his facial expressions.
The camera remains at his eye level to put the audience in his shoes. So the audience end up feeling his guilt, his worry, his confusion and his surprise.
Representation of Disability in the Diary of a Call Girl
Continuity Editing
When she opens the door and looks down at the boy on the wheel chair, and looks up at the boys father, perhaps not expecting him to come with the boy.
When the boy’s father searches for the money in the bag, the boy shows a slight embarrased face looking up at the girl.
When the girl comes into the room and is confused about if she should give them more time to be together.
As the father and son move in, the camera cuts from one shot to another.
As the father picks up the boy, and drops him on the bed; the camera cuts from one shot to another.
When she closes the front door, there is a shot reverse shot between the them, drawing attention to his feeling of vulnerability.
The pace of the edit brings about that feeling of anxiety and awkwardness.
There is a series of jump cuts involving the father having restless moments in the car.
The camera crosses from the car to the bedroom. This shows that both scenes are taking place at the same time.
The master shot at the end of the scene, shows her on top. This contributes to the fact that she’s the one in control.
Sound
There is an introduction of ambient music and it is very quiet at the start of the clip.
The actors hardly complete their sentences. Tells us more about the awkwardness, and anxiety in the air.
The camera does a soundbridge by cutting from the car to the apartment to establish the two scenes acting at the same time.
there is sad music playing which emphasizes an atmosphere of pity in the environment.
Representation of Gender in the Extract
Camera
The camera pans through a set of people talking about something in the first scene. There is a woman who gets impatient and the camera trails after her as she enters the car. Thereafter the camera gives a close-up shot of the other men to review their expression. It seems the woman has some sort of authority and the men show this by a shrug of their shoulders. In this case, the woman is in an authority position over the men and this clearly shows the representation of gender miss-match. There is a point of focus shot as one of the men puts down what looks like a piece of meat.
The next scene portrays a forest side. The camera pans a long shot to let the audience know what the new scene looks like. There is a long shot of a tractor. A woman is seen in the driving seat and she is effectively controlling the machine to dig a spot. Then the camera pans to show a man on the ground and at once we can see another gender miss-match. Following the sound of the sabre tooth tiger, the camera does a close-up shot to show the expression on the man’s face. During the first stages of the attack, the camera shows the man from a low angle shot, indicating the view of the tiger and this represents the authority of the animal. The camera pans a dolly shot to show the woman use the tractor fight with the tiger and the angle is sort of mid-range. There is no low or high angle shot but the camera stays at a more medium position which shows that they are both on the same scale of authority. The camera cuts back to show the man call the tiger and then run off. He is obviously drawing the tiger to what seemed to be a trap. Eventually the camera does a slow-motion shot to show just how close the man was to getting killed by the tiger but was saved by the woman, and the silence following the scene verifies a sigh of relief with the camera doing a close-up to show the expression on the man’s face.
The camera then shows the group talking about a man called “West” and a woman who might be in danger. The camera pans through this scene by cutting from one face to another to naturally build up tension about the discussion.
In the last scene, the camera uses a shot reverse shot to show a man in an argument with a woman. The man feels intimidated and he picks up a gun and throws the woman to the ground. The camera establishes this shot by letting the audience to see the woman in the man’s view, meaning that he is in authority at the moment.
Mise-en-Scene
The mise-en-scene establishes a clear description of the gender difference throughout the clip. The first scene gives us a feeling about the atmosphere. The way the actors move and how they are related to the movie set. The first scene leaves a feeling of urgency as a woman is seen hurriedly driving away.
The next scene focuses more on two people, in a jungle surrounding. A woman, in a tractor and a man, dressed in light blue plain t-shirt are digging out a spot. This shows a gender miss-match as the two actors are carrying out relatively opposite tasks. During the tiger attack, the man is in despair and it’s the woman who’s got the courage to fight off the tiger using the tractor as a weapon. The man tries to gain back his esteem by using himself as a decoy to lead the tiger away (possibly to a trap). But in the end, he is saved (once again) by the woman.
In the next scene we see a clearer picture of the group of people from the beginning. There are three men and a woman talking about the tiger attack and a discovered hand. They seem to be in a hurry and are instantly seen running away to somewhere. There is a man amongst them dressed in fashionable clothes. He looks different from the others, so he’s probably the odd one out of the group.
The next scene, we see a man dressed like a farmer, and a woman in posh clothes. There is a shot reverse shot to show their conversation. The lady seems to be at an upper hand when she blackmails the farmer, who apparently feels intimidated and tries to use a shot gun to put himself in power. He drags the lady roughly by her coat and pushes her to the floor and points the gun at her. There is a feeling of suspense at once, so the audience don’t know what happens next. Apparently the other group get there in time and collect the gun from him. The young man in fashionable cloth gets there last and is seen picking up a spade (meanwhile the other men have guns). This act labels him the funny character in the clip and the fact that he stands out clearly from the others, the audience can easily pick him out. Meanwhile, the lady who was pushed to the floor gets up and complains about her coat. This shows her woman-like manner and feelings – stereotypically, even though she seemed to be in control few minutes ago, she is still only a woman.
Editing
In the first scene, there is that feel of urgency in the atmosphere, as the woman is seen leaving the scene in a car.
The next scene shows a man and a woman who’s driving a tractor digging out a spot. This shows a gender miss-match. At the sound of the sabre tooth tiger, there is a feel of tension, and the camera establishes this by a close-up shot on the man. There is a quick cut to show a young man putting down what looks like a piece of meat. A quick eye-line match, then the camera cuts back to the man and woman again. And as the tiger attacks, there is a shot reverse shot between the tiger and the man to show their expressions. A fast-pace editing is done at this point to keep the audience at the edge of their chairs. Towards the end of the attack, the camera slows down to show just how close the man was to death and how he is saved by the woman.
In the next scene, there is a camera movement as the group of people talk, to build up tension; then cuts to show a different scene, where a man (dressed like a farmer) is in disagreement with a woman (dressed in posh clothes). These all shows gender miss-match as the women in the clip do the male tasks.
Sound/Dialogue
The soundtrack in the first scene is a soft non-diagetic sound to suggest a calm mood. But a sound-bridge later transforms the mood to a tensed one and a woman is in a state of urgency as she is seen leaving the scene in a car.
In the forest, the soundtrack is of a calm nature again. Then there is that transformation of sound to a fast pace intense track which matches the scene and imposes a feeling of tension. There is a distant roar of the tiger before we see it. This also helps to build up tension. The man in t-shirt panics and calls out to the woman, whom on the other hand remains calm and focused, not saying a word or panicking. This clearly helps to represent a gender miss-match between the two characters. There is a few seconds of silence after the attack to show a sigh of relief and a close up shot of the man to show him actually acknowledging the woman who just saved his life. The shot afterwards suggests a calm feeling as the soundtrack becomes soft once again.
In the next scene, there is another feel of urgency as the soundtrack is changed to an upbeat which again builds up more tension. Then there is a sound-bridge to sync with another scene of a man and a woman having a conversation. As soon as the man pushes the woman to the ground, the soundtrack is once again changed to an upbeat to increase the tension. And there is a bit of suspense in this scene, when the camera pans to the dogs barking, there are sounds of gunshots to throw the audience into a confused state of suspense. The fact that the dogs were shown with the sounds of gunshots shows that there is a mature manly feel about the environment. More like a “no woman zone” so to say.
When the other group arrived, it was the same woman in leather jacket who asked about the sabre tooth tiger. Once again another gender miss-match is identified here, as it should have been a man asking the question.
