Uses of Gratifications Thoeries

The uses and Gratifications theory assumes audience members are active. Developed in the 1940's by Paul Lazarfield, in response to growing criticism f the two-dimensional nature of the Bullet theory, claims that texts are open (to interpretation) and that consumers have power over the media, rather that the media having power over them. This 'bottom up' theory suggests that people re responsible for picking and choosing which media content they consume and if/in which way they may be influenced by it. Just as the name suggests, each person has the power to decide which media texts they will consume for their own self 'gratification' or satisfaction. An example of this is how many television programmes are axed even after only a few screenings of episodes, if the ratings or circulation statistics are low. Therefore, society is in control of the media they consume. Audience members may stop consuming particular media texts by simply switching the television off etc. However, the flaw of this theory is that it assumes the media has little to no influence whatsoever on the individual. 

Films are used by audiences to fulfil certain needs and desires they have. John Fiske notes that genres 'embody the crucial ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular.' Genres reflect and reinforce the hegemonic values of society. For instance, whether the film genre is horror, zombie, or rom-com the audience may like it as they may have identification with the protagonist, perhaps because they could be a love interest or a hero. Or on the other hand, if a woman watches a rom-com they may feel escapism from their 'everyday boring life' to a more utopian, a perfect world in which they live happily ever after. Although, a man may watch a action or a zombie film then it may be testing his masculinity, for instance if you scream and cover your eyes. Furthermore, rather than emotional values, physical values are also significant when it comes to the genre and individuality of a film. For example, crying at a rom com which would enable you to release built up emotions, or laughing at a comedy releasing endorphins that makes us feel good.

Technology

My Genre

The genre of my short film 'Nina' is drama. It is drama because it is about an emotional journey of a young girl that consists of flashbacks of abuse and bullying with a dramatic plot twist at the end. Although, throughout the short film it consists of dramatic moments of human conflict through the use dialogue and action drawing in the audience. My short film starts off with a girl in her late teens (Nina) showing her as she walks into a counselors office. The counselor asks her numerous questions but gets no hope in reply from Nina, when suddenly a question asked by the counselor triggers remembrances of her past leading into a flashback. The flashback starts with Nina at the age of 6 walking along a street in her school uniform, we hear a voice over of her voice, suddenly we get a happy flashback of her playing with her friends. In goes back to Nina walking along the street again but slightly older, there is another voice over that again leads into a flashback but this time her friends are longer friends and are picking on her and walking away. Again, it goes back to Nina walking along the street but older to emphasise how monotonous life is, we hear yet again another voice over using bigger words to portray her maturity. For the last time we see another flash back but this time it is more aggressive and we see her mum abusing and shouting at her, Towards the end it is set at present and we are back in the counselors office and the counselor asks for the final time what her name is, she responds with 'Nina" and then we establish that the counselor was once the bully who gave Nina misery. Overall, we can see that my genre is more of a tragedy if you condensed down the genre of drama, tragedy is brought upon us by the emotional journey of Nina and the human conflict and as it is a drama the audience can sympathise with the characters/character.

My Audience

I have researched and thought about the type of audience my drama short film would attract. I have come to a conclusion that my audience would be wiling to watch and appeal to the heightened emotions that consists in the short film. I researched why my target audience like to watch drama films and the response I got was; "I want to get all weepy over something, I’ll look at real life instead of someone’s idealised version of it." This is the ideal audience for my short film as it is about an emotional journey of a young girl who fights through the emotional pain and flashbacks of her past, therefore, it is good that people want to see real life situations rather than an idealised perspective of someone or their life. I also want my target audience to prefer to watch something different, not something that you can predict the end before it has even happened. My short film has a plot twist right at the end, on which here I have incorporated Todorov's narrative theory, here I broke the conventional narrative and ended it with disequilibrium where there is a disruption of the equilibrium; the structure. I am hoping that this keeps my audience engaged and want them to watch it again or to recommend it to family or friends. I also found feedback from a middle aged person who said, Something original, "it may have been done before but it should be unique as to not seem too cliché. It would be nice if they could relate to my own situations." As my short film may have been done before or something similar, I still want people to feel that they can relate to it if necessary. To some people it may help express their own feelings and actually help them, to also show they're not alone in their situation. Overall, my audience would be of any age in any situation as it is about a young girls life but her life situations is what attracts the older audience. My audience could be from the ages 12 to 19 and relate to the abusive and bullying that consists within the storyline, or as an older audience they may relate it to their past. 

Research Methods

I will be using different research methods for my A2 Media such as:

• Primary research

Primary research is research I will carry out myself. For example; interviews, questionnaires, surveys, textual analyses or even the internet. Advantages of using primary research are that the researcher can focus on both quantitative and qualitative issues, the researcher has control over how the information is collected and controls the search design to fit their needs. However, disadvantages of primary are that it may be very expensive carrying out research compared to secondary research as for things like questionnaires it will cost for all of the paper used and for any equipment needed for any other experiments.

• Secondary research

Secondary research is research that I use that someone else has carried out, so you're looking at existing research rather than primary research where you collect the research yourself. For example; search engine, websites, books, magazines or journals. Advantages of secondary research are things like the ease of access to many sources of secondary data and low cost. However, the disadvantages are that it may not be specific to researchers needs, the researcher may not get the full version of the research to gain the full value of the study. 

• Qualitative research 

Qualitative research is research concerned with peoples ideas, opinions, thoughts and feelings. For example interviews, observation, sampling, and questionnaires. Qualitative research is strong for;portraying perspectives and conveying feelings and experiences, the ability to embrace both verbal and non-verbal behaviour, to penetrate fronts, discover meanings and reveal the subtlety and complexity of cases or issues. However, difficulties and weaknesses can be things such as; it can take time to negotiate access, assemble a sample, develop trust and rapport, and find out what is 'going on' or what people are thinking.

• Quantitative research

Quantitative research is identification of patterns and trends, for example; more woman than men read 'vibe'. Quantitative research can also be things like  surveys and customer questionnaires to help firms improve their products and services. It's about asking people for their opinions in a structured way so that you can produce facts and statistics to guide you. To get reliable statistical results, it's important to survey people in fairly large numbers and to make sure they are a representative sample of your target market. Quantitative research is a good method of research as it can tell you things like; what type of people are your best customers, how many people are interested in buying your product or service, and the needs of your target market. A disadvantage is that a large sample of the population must be studied; the larger the sample of people researched, the more statistically accurate the results will be. 

Male Gaze

What is the male gaze?

The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented.
For feminists it can be thought of in 3 ways:

• How men look at women
• How women look at themselves
• How women look at other women

the male gaze is so pervasive in advertising and the media that it is assumed or taken for granted. Females are shown offering up their femininity for the pleasure of an absent male spectator.

Gaze and feminist theory

Laura Mulvey coined the term 'Male Gaze' in 1975. She believes that in media, the audience have to 'view' the characters from the perspective of a male. The male gaze occurs when the camera puts the audience into the prospective of a heterosexual man. For instance, it may linger over the curves of a woman's body. Laura Mulvey's essay also states that the female gaze is the same as the male gaze. This means that women look at themselves through the eyes of man. For example, if a celebrity or model is shown and has a good, healthy body that they show off, women may look up to them as a role model, inspiration, or jealousy. However, alternatively, if a woman is not happy with her body it is almost cruel for her to think and to desire to be beautiful just to be satisfied or appreciated by men/a man. This is a common occurrence as it is seen in a lot of films where there is a slight camera shot or angle where it outlines the beauty of a woman or women, this sight is enjoyed by both men and women, and the same thing can occur when a man is presented and a man himself looks upon him in terms of inspiration or even jealousy.

However, male gaze or the feminist theory will not be used be used within my short film as the genre really doesn't suit it. My short film is about a realisation of how some people live their life's and what they have to go through, it is also about the desperate strive for escapism from certain feelings and thoughts through the protagonist of a young girl. Clearly, we can see that the male gaze will not be happening.

Textual Analysis of Short Film - Cargo

Stranded in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, a man sets in motion an unlikely plan to protect the precious cargo; his infant daughter. The storyline is very effective as we normally don't see babies and zombies put together in films, but here it is done very well. The fathers tactics to ensure that his daughter will be safe is very clever and heartwarming. The storyline is very unusual but works really well. The plot is a simple equilibrium, then something dramatic happens (disequilibrium) and then is left to a new equilibrium at the end. This theory process was brought upon by Todorov creating a convention for short films where any potentially opposing forces are in balance. I want to try and keep this convention so it helps my short film become more recognisable making people want to watch it and to be engaged within the storyline. However, I don't want it too similar as i feel that it would make by short film too basic.

Firstly, looking at the camera work and the use of different shots and angles that we can see that it is at a very high level making it look very professional. There are several close ups used, for instance, at the very beginning there is a close up of a wound on someones arm helping establish that they have been involved in some sort of car accident. After establishing that his wife/girlfriend has turned into a zombie, we have another important close up of a bite mark on his (the fathers) arm, this is dramatic irony creating a tense and dramatic atmosphere as we know that because he has been bitten by a zombie, he will eventually turn into a zombie. These close ups are bitterly important as they help the audience discover a crucial aspect of the short film. Furthermore, there is also a meaningful shot that starts with a shot of the mans face to then slightly zoom out to reveal him holding a baby who begins crying. Here the cargo is the baby because she is so precious, this zoom out shot reveals the baby for the first time creating a big impact on the audience as babies and zombies are not typically or usually put together in the same genre/film. Also, we can see that there is a use of a shallow focus when the baby is holding the map and looks up at her father who is out of focus and blurred, but we can just about make out that he is staring into the distance. The shallow focus shot emphasises on the baby looking up at her father, which creates a sense of innocence and fear we feel for the baby. More toward the end there is a similar shot but a racking focus shot when the baby makes a noise and the father turns around, just as it focuses on him it reveals his eyes that appear to be white making it obvious that he has turned into a zombie. This shot almost makes the audience 'gasp' as it is very dramatic and sympathetic when it reveals him as a zombie with his daughter behind him on his back. Lastly, there is a wide angle shot towards the end just before he gets shot. This shots is almost like taking a last breath and the use of the wide shot revealing the scenery and the balloon he has, it brings together a sense of sadness and empathy. 

On the other hand, the characters involved we can see stick with the conventions of short films, for instance, there is only two main characters, the father and baby, and then other small characters that helps establish the storyline, for example, the mother seen right at the beginning. This small cast would have helped keep the budget very low and also helps keep the plot and storyline simple and not confusing. 

Secondly, both diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used within 'Cargo' helping with it's professional look. In 'Cargo' there is tense music that would have perhaps been composed to fit the short film, for instance, the music builds up and up when the man is fighting trying to escape from the car with the zombie trying to attack him. This music helps set the mood and atmosphere as without it, it would sound rather boring. The music suddenly stops when he finally escapes from the car, this is done as if to let the audience know that he is safe and free from the zombie. In this example of non-diegetic sound the music sets the mood and is very essential in order to keep any film looking professional and realistic. On the other hand, diegetic sound was also used, for example, the baby's cry, the zombie noises, and the sound of blowing up the balloon. These diegetic sounds may have been recorded separately or with a sound boom whilst filming. Diegetic sounds are a must when making any kind of films as it is just natural to hear them, unless it is a silent film. The sounds of the baby's cry and the zombie noises bring a sense of realism to the short film. Therefore, when filming and editing my short film I will ensure that I will definitely use both non-diegetic and diegetic sounds to help my short film to look professional and realistic. Furthermore, in my short film I am also going to be having a voiceover of a young girl. To ensure that it will sound professional and clear, I am going to record her voice on my iPhone 6 as to me it is the best equipment I have available. 

Thirdly, although it may not be noticeable but lighting is essential when filmmaking. Through experience of filmmaking whilst being on set for a feature length film (On A Prayer) and a short film (The Marauders)I have noticed that lighting is used in almost every scene, even then when lighting is not used, the natural light is (to create shadows). it is hard to tell what lighting they have used as we are not able to see what is going on behind the scenes. However, from what I have learnt from Darron S Cook and experience from being on set, I have realised that the more light the better (unless a dark set is the aim) as it brings out the colours more, especially in peoples faces. As it being quite difficult to find the equipment to create this lighting effect I will try by best with the natural light resources I have got to ensure my short film looks as professional as can be.

When you watch a film or short film you don't realise how much effort goes into it, for instance, you don't realise that the producers, directors... etc, would have had discussions and/or meetings about the costumes, props, location...etc. The location would have been picked to suit the storyline and the costumes and props would've been allocated to them and the actors might have been asked to bring specific things. In my short film, I will have in mind of what I want my actors to wear and I will inform them with further notice of what I want them to wear/bring to help bring my thoughts and creations to life. 

lastly, editing is the last stage of filmmaking. In 'Cargo' it is mainly jump cuts that are used, however, there is also uses of blurs. For instance, at the beginning when the father is waking up after the accident the blur is used to imply he is waking up and it is to show his eyes adjusting to the light. In this case, I will intend to use mostly jump cuts as it appears to be the most easiest and professional option, as I do want to do all that I can to ensure that my short film will look as professional as it can.