News Values

News values

News values are the criteria which help to explain why photographs and events are selected

as newsworthy. Galtung and Ruge were among the first media theorists to define news values.

The list of news values below is adapted from their work. Use this list whenever you are

analysing news stories.

• Immediacy: Has it happened recently?
• Familiarity/Cultural Proximity: Is it culturally close to us in Britain?
• Amplitude: Is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
• Frequency: Does the event happen often?
• Unambiguity: Is it clear and definite?
• Predictability: Did we expect it to happen?
• Surprise: Is it a rare or unexpected event?
• Continuity: Has this story already been defined as news?
• Elite nations and people: Which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people, such as celebrities?
• Personalisation: Is it a human-interest story?
• Negativity: Is it bad news?
• Balance/Composition: The story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death.

                  Jeremy Tunstall adapted Galtung and Ruge’s model to TV News. He argued that in TV News:

1. The visual is given more pre-eminence. If footage is available the story may be given more prominence – the visual imperative.
2. News stories with ‘our own reporters’ conducting interviews or commentating on a story are preferred.
3. TV News covers far fewer stories than newspapers. Even the top stories are short in comparison with newspaper coverage
4. Hard news or actuality is preferred.

       Dennis McShane (1979) identified five criteria used by journalists in their seletion of news stories.

         Conflict/Hardship and danger to community/The unusual/Scandal/Individualism

Note

News Values are a theoretical concept used to analyse and evaluate how journalists and editors decide which stories they should choose for their Newspaper/bulletin/broadcast etc. Journalists themselves would not refer to ‘cultural proximity' or 'amplitude'. Journalists are more likely to argue they have an innate kind of ‘news sense’. What of course shapes this news sense is reference to how previous stories have been selected and treated. Intertextual references shape the way the encoder encodes and the way the decoder decodes.

A2 Film Studies Observational Documentary

Observational documentary

An observational mode of representation allowed the film maker to record unobtrusively what people did when they were not explicitly addressing the camera. ... But the observational mode limited the film maker to the present moment and required a disciplined detachment from the events themselves.

Bill Nichols, Representing Reality, p.33

The observational mode of documentary is characterised by the non­intervention of the film maker in the filmed events. The observational mode is more notable for what it does not contain: there is no voice of god commentary, no intertitles and no interviews.

The emphasis is to present a slice of life, or direct representation of the filmed events. The film maker attempts to be completely invisible, that is, an uninvolved bystander.

The observational documentary film maker therefore aims to simply observe unfolding events. For this reason, emphasis is placed on recording events as they unfold in real time. This is why observational documentary is also called direct cinema.

In technical terms, the observational documentary tends on occasions to use long takes (where the camera is filming continuously)

Sound is also direct and was simply recorded while the camera was rolling. These techniques are evident in the work of one of the most famous film makers of observational documentaries - Frederick Wiseman.

The observational mode establishes an intimate' relation to the filmed events and establishes a sense of place by refusing to manipulate or distort the events. The observational documentary is therefore attempting to persuade the spectator that the film is an accurate slice of life; that what is filmed is a transparent record of what took place in front of the camera. In other words, it is meant to be neutral and nonjudgemental.

These, at least, represent the ideal of observational cinema. In practice, it is possible to discern a number of strategies that illustrate the director's intervention in the filmed events in the observational documentary - both within scenes and between scenes. Yet this intervention is played down in the observational documentary. It is possible to detect an implicit agenda at work in a number of observational documentaries.

Consider why Observational Documentary is sometimes referred to as the Fly-on-the-wall style of Documentary making.

What critical comment could you make about the ratio between filmed footage to footage shown in the final film (30:1)

A2 Film Studies Interactive Documentary

Interactive documentary

Interactive documentary ... arose from the ... desire to make the

film maker's perspective more evident. Interview styles and interventionist tactics arose, allowing the film maker to participate more actively in present events.

In other words, all interactive documentaries by definition draw the filmed people and events into direct contact with the film maker.

The content of the interactive documentary is based primarily on interviews, which draw out specific comments and responses from those who are filmed.

An interactive documentary that is made well will allow the filmed people to express their opinions and views, and the film maker may juxtapose one opinion with a contrary opinion, therefore offering the spectator a balanced view.

Sometimes the film maker is the main person on screen, which may serve to hold the documentary together.

There are a number of ways in which the film maker may interact with the people he or she is filming. The film maker may appear on screen and will, formally or informally, ask the interviewee questions. Here, both film maker and interviewee share the same space and the spectator can see them interacting with one another.

The film maker therefore clearly acts as a mediator between the interviewee and the spectator.

Or the film maker may remain off screen, in which case we may or may not hear the questions. All we see is the interviewee addressing answers to someone just beyond the frame.

Furthermore, if the film maker remains off screen, he or she has the choice of allowing the questions to be heard by the spectator, or may decide to edit out the questions altogether.

Although in these examples the film maker is not seen and may not be heard, he or she still shares the same space as the interviewee, and still plays the role of mediator, but his or her presence is less evident.

Interactive documentaries show the process of interaction taking place.

The act of gathering information by means of interviews is clearly shown including the negotiation of the terms and conditions under which the interview is to take place.

The result is that the spectator can see what effect the interview is having on the interviewee.

The interactive documentary shows the process by which it is made.

We must remember that in all documentaries, there is a power relation involved, between the film makers and those who are filmed.

The ethical question about filming someone is made apparent in the interactive documentary. But the film maker can, nonetheless, simply use the interviews for his or her own purposes.

Interaction and juxtaposition of shots and scenes, together with the use of archival footage, constitute the main tools of the interactive documentary film maker.

The film maker uses these tools in order to present an argument.

What is important from an ethical perspective is the manner in which the film maker presents the interviewees.

Consider these questions when watching Bowling for Columbine

How does the film maker prompt the interviewee?

Is the film maker provocative?

Or does the film maker allow interviewees to put their case fully?

How are the interviews used in the final film?

A2 Film Studies Documentary Introduction

Introduction to Documentary

 Tales we label fiction offer imaginative answers; those we label nonfiction suggest possibly authentic ones.

Bill Nichols, Blurred Boundaries, p. ix

What makes a film a documentary? We can begin to answer this question by identifying some of the basic premises film spectators normally hold about documentaries:

· Firstly, the events filmed must be unstaged; that is, the events must exist above and beyond the activity of filming them. In fiction films, by contrast, events are staged for the express purpose of being filmed. The unstaged nature of the events in documentaries therefore suggest that the events have an existence independent of the cinema. This is what gives them their authenticity.

· Secondly, documentaries are conventionally understood to be non-fiction films. In other words, they must be sharply distinguished from fiction films. The world depicted in the documentary is real, not imaginary.

· Thirdly, it is often assumed that the documentary filmmaker simply observes and makes an objective record of real events.

In recent times, all three assumptions have come under attack. Today I shall question in particular the third point. It is now commonplace to argue that the very presence of the camera influences the filmed events.

Moreover, documentary film makers employ a wide variety of techniques in putting their films together; they do not simply point the camera towards their subject and let the camera roll.

The documentary film maker cannot simply observe and objectively record because he or she makes technical choices – What to Shoot, How to Shoot and How to present the Shot

This seems to make the documentary personal and subjective. The selection and emphasis ( montage, mise en scene) of particular events by means of film techniques seem to betray the documentary film maker's particular perspective on the filmed events.

What is valorised by the auteur critics in relation to Hollywood fiction films is condemned in documentary films.

But by what standard of objectivity are documentary films being judged? All films necessarily involve selection and editing. No film is therefore purely objective - if by objectivity we mean that the events are seen from no particular perspective. This is an unreasonable standard by which to judge documentary films.

The issue is not so much whether they are based on selection but: How do the selections made by the documentary film maker manipulate the events?

Because all documentary films 'manipulate' events, then it may be better to use a more neutral term, such as 'shape' events. We can reserve the term 'manipulation' for documentaries that can be categorised as propaganda - those that hide from the spectator the processes they use in shaping events.

In the following sections, we shall see how Bill Nichols has divided up the documentary cake into five slices. Each type of documentary is defined and distinguished according to how it shapes the events being filmed by means of particular techniques selected by the film maker.

Whereas particular genres are defined in terms of their invariant iconic and narrative attributes, types of documentary are identified according to the particular techniques they use.

I shall follow Bill Nichols' theoretical discussion of the five types of documentary, although I have endeavoured to summarise and simplify his conceptual discussion and have added case studies to give substance to each category.

The five categories Nichols identifies are: the expository, observational, interactive, reflexive and the performative documentary. I shall illustrate each respective category with the following: Coalface (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1935). High School (Frederick Wiseman, 1968), Roger and Me (Michael Moore. 1989), Man wit/i a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1928) and The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1998).

AS Film Studies Micro Elements of Film

The micro features of film

Mise-en-scène includes setting, props, staging, costume and makeup, figure expression and movement and off-screen space.

Performance includes physical expression, vocal delivery and interaction between performers (with reference to issues of staging/choreography where relevant).

Cinematography includes photographic elements (e.g. camera position, colour, lens, depth of focus), lighting, framing and composition and special effects.

Editing includes the organisation of time, both within a sequence and across sections of the narrative and the organisation of space, especially in creating coherence for the spectator. The principal conventions of continuity editing, such as shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule, will be studied. The uses of montage editing will also be considered.

Sound includes diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound and the variety of ways in which aural elements (e.g. speech, music and noise) are used in relation to visuals. It is recognised that it is often difficult to separate micro and macro features of film, although macro features – narrative and genre – will be the basis for FM2.

A2 Film Expository Documentary

Expository documentary

Voice-of-God commentary and poetic perspectives sought to disclose information about the historical world itself and to see that world afresh, even if these views came to seem romantic and didactic.

Bill Nichols' definition of expository documentary emphasises its typical characteristics:

·       a disembodied (separate or free) and authoritative voiceover commentary

·       combined with a series of images that aim to be descriptive and informative.

The aim of the expository documentary is to be descriptive and informative, or to provide a particular argument.

For example, it may celebrate a set of common values, or a particular lifestyle. Coalface celebrates a day in the life of the miner.

Expository documentary is the 'classic' mode of documentary, which is now more commonly used in TV documentaries, where abstract information is conveyed via the voiceover commentary.

The British documentary film movement (1927-39), founded by John Grierson, made expository documentaries that were also poetic and aesthetic, rather than simply descriptive and informative.

The most prestigious films of the movement include Alberto Cavalcanti's Coalface (1935), John Grierson's Drifters (1929), Humphrey Jennings' Spare Time (1939), Harry Watt's North Sea (1938), Basil Wright's Song of Ceylon (1939) and Watt and Wright's Night Mail (1936).

The aim of all these documentaries was to function as a public service.

The middle-class bias is particularly evident in the way the movement represented the working classes, the film makers are glorifying the working classes, exalting them by presenting them as heroic labourers, rather than exploited, degraded and poorly paid workers, living with extreme social hardships.

Why are they considered poetic.

But others go far beyond the aim of being descriptive and informative. In a sequence depicting the miners underground, a montage of shots contrasts the half-naked bodies of the miners with the coal and the machinery. The close-ups of the miners' bodies in particular aim to represent their work as a heroic struggle against nature.

This reading is strongly reinforced by the soundtrack, which consists of singing (the 'Colliers' chant' by W.H. Auden) and orchestral sound effects (the musical score was written by Benjamin Britten).

AS Film Approaching the Film

Approaching the text:

Questions to be asked:

1. What are the main subject areas of interest in this film? What are the main themes and ideas being addressed?

2. Is this film typical of any particular genre? ~ what ways is it typical and in what ways is it not typical?

3. Do any extracts from the dialogue seem to be especially important? In what ways might these lines be seen to be significant?

4~ What is the significance of the music in particular scenes? Is it diegetic, or non-diegetic? Are there any other interesting ~elements in the use of sound?

5. What is the significance of the lighting in particular scenes?

6. Are there any scenes/sequences/shots you feel work particularly well? How? Why? Significance?

7. What about the characters? Are they complex or simple to understand? Is their motivation clear? Are they rounded, or flat and stereotypical?

8. What is the significance of costume in particular scenes? Does it help to convey character and/or oppositions?

9. Are there any significant uses of props? Are there any props used in such a way as to become recurring images?

10.       How are men and women represented in the film? Do they comply with stereotypical role models, or do they defy the conventional?

A2 Media Representation Notes

Representation

No representation can ever be completely true to the ‘real’.

All representations go through a process of Mediation

Event                           Process of Mediation                                     Representation                               

The Mediation Process

Media Producers (Encoders) are influenced in a variety of ways; some explicitly (i.e. they are told what to do) some implicitly (i.e. their own preconceived ideas shape the texts they make).

Consider how the three areas of Media Studies each offer their own pressures upon the mediation process.

               INSTITUTION                                     CONTENT                                            RECEPTION 

                Budget                                                 Narrative                                             Potential Effects

                Scheduling                                          Genre                                                   Medium

                PSB/ Commercial                             Conventions                                      context of viewing

This is not an exhaustive list of considerations

The Power of Representation

The vast experience we have of the world is mediated – increasingly our very interaction with one another is mediated via electronic mediums. How much personal communication takes place via, phone, social networking etc.

If representations are repeatedly used – (media texts become intertextually linked) the representation increases in power and influence. Each repeated representations adds authenticity to the previous one. Then the representation becomes seen as ‘true’ or ‘real’.

Consider our example of News reporting in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Acceptance of representations can lead to stereotypes – stereotypes are a short cut sign that signify a lot of information based upon an assumed cultural knowledge. They are very useful in some Media Texts – e.g. a short tv advert – consider stereotypical representations of ‘the family’.

Kernel of Truth debate.

Some theorists argue that stereotypes emerge from a kernel of truth – meaning that there is something inherent truth within the representation. This can be a very dangerous concept especially when we make stereotypical judgements about people based on ethnicity.

Hyper-reality

This is a concept associated with Baudrillard. Essentially media representations become more real than the real. For example an iconic image of Nicole Kidman is more real than she herself is. The real Nicole could never look as good as the airbrushed hyper-real image we might see in the movies or front of a magazine.

Typology

Theorists will often measure representation by using a typology. They attempt to identify certain types of representation and then see how often they occur. A Famous example was Stuart Hall’s work on the representation of black people in film and on television. (see details below)

AS Media Representation Notes

Representation

No representation can ever be completely true to the ‘real’.

All representations go through a process of Mediation

Event                           Process of Mediation                                     Representation                               

The Mediation Process

Media Producers (Encoders) are influenced in a variety of ways; some explicitly (i.e. they are told what to do) some implicitly (i.e. their own preconceived ideas shape the texts they make).

Consider how the three areas of Media Studies each offer their own pressures upon the mediation process.

               INSTITUTION                                     CONTENT                                            RECEPTION 

                Budget                                                 Narrative                                             Potential Effects

                Scheduling                                          Genre                                                   Medium

                PSB/ Commercial                             Conventions                                      context of viewing

This is not an exhaustive list of considerations

The Power of Representation

The vast experience we have of the world is mediated – increasingly our very interaction with one another is mediated via electronic mediums. How much personal communication takes place via, phone, social networking etc.

If representations are repeatedly used – (media texts become intertextually linked) the representation increases in power and influence. Each repeated representations adds authenticity to the previous one. Then the representation becomes seen as ‘true’ or ‘real’.

Consider our example of News reporting in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Acceptance of representations can lead to stereotypes – stereotypes are a short cut sign that signify a lot of information based upon an assumed cultural knowledge. They are very useful in some Media Texts – e.g. a short tv advert – consider stereotypical representations of ‘the family’.

Kernel of Truth debate.

Some theorists argue that stereotypes emerge from a kernel of truth – meaning that there is something inherent truth within the representation. This can be a very dangerous concept especially when we make stereotypical judgements about people based on ethnicity.

Hyper-reality

This is a concept associated with Baudrillard. Essentially media representations become more real than the real. For example an iconic image of Nicole Kidman is more real than she herself is. The real Nicole could never look as good as the airbrushed hyper-real image we might see in the movies or front of a magazine.

Typology

Theorists will often measure representation by using a typology. They attempt to identify certain types of representation and then see how often they occur. A Famous example was Stuart Hall’s work on the representation of black people in film and on television. (see details below)

AS Film Unit 2 Content

Content


Section A: Producers and Audiences

For section A of this unit, candidates will study the UK and US film industry, the

audiences for films produced by these industries and their interrelationship.

(a) The Film Industry

The study of the Film Industry requires a focus on basic aspects of the working of:

• the American film industry - specifically contemporary Hollywood, including its impact on UK audiences;

• the British film industry - specifically the contemporary industry, including issues of independence, distinctiveness and profitability.

Aspects of finance, organisation, production, distribution (including marketing) and exhibition will be studied, particularly through case studies.

(b) The Film Audience

The Film Audience requires a focus on:

• film demand and supply, specifically in the UK today

• the consumption of film, including cinema-going and the importance of home cinema and the internet, together with the significance of digital technologies in delivering different kinds of film experience.

A study of the importance of genre and stars, both for producers and for audiences will provide a useful bridge between this section and sections B and C.

(c) The Interrelationship between Producers and Audiences: case studies

It is recommended that case studies are used as the basis for study in this unit. Case studies should be selected to explore the interrelationship between producers and audiences – sometimes appearing to be supply-led, sometimes demand-led. The significance of the convergence of different media (mobile phone, internet, games console, etc.) in changing the nature of the producer – audience relationship could also be explored. Contemporary case studies may cover the following areas:

• Hollywood film producers and the institutional frameworks within which they operate (for example as part of large conglomerate business corporations).

• UK film producers and the institutional frameworks within which they operate (for example in relation to support from the UK Film Council and through co-production deals).

GCE AS/A FILM STUDIES 14

• the importance of genre and stars for US/UK producers and for audiences

• film marketing (including specific marketing materials such as posters, dvd covers and 'official' internet sites)

• film reviews – both those produced by critics for circulation in other  media and those produced by fans

• film exhibition, including multiplexes and independent cinemas, as well as other types of venue, and online exhibition, including consideration of different kinds of film viewing experience

• the availability of independent low budget films, and foreign language films in the UK, including Bollywood films

• the social practice of participation in contemporary 'film culture' which includes cinema-going, online viewing, and home cinema – as well as ways in which the film experience is amplified through media
convergence.

• star images – both those put into circulation by the industry and by fans.

Section B: British Film Topics

One or more of the following topics will be offered. Each topic requires the study of at

least two films with a focus on how macro elements of film, particularly narrative,

construct meanings and raise issues.

The following options within each topic are available for first examination

in Winter 2009 examination and last examination in Winter 2012.

(a) British Film and Genre

This topic looks at some of the distinctive characteristics of one of the

prescribed genres (see below) with a particular focus on narrative

development and themes. There may be some specific focus on context and

on issues of representation of character, situation and place. The principal

emphasis, however, is on engaging with the chosen films. The candidate

must show a detailed knowledge of a minimum of two films.

Genres for examination up to and including Winter 2012 are:

Horror

Comedy

(
GCE AS/A FILM STUDIES 16

(f) British Film: Identity Study:

Prescribed study for examination up to and including Winter 2012: 'Borders

and Belonging'.

This topic is concerned with basic questions of identity and belonging in

relation to a place which is called the United Kingdom but in which "British" is

an increasingly contested term. The focus may be on films in which the

narrative deals with the experience of migrants and asylum seekers – or in

which characters question their attachment to or alienation from the idea of

being "British". Films could focus on migrant and minority experiences in for

example Last Resort, Dirty Pretty Things, Yasmin, Ghosts and Gypo.

Alternatively the focus could be on national and regional identity which sets

itself in opposition to a 'united kingdom' – such as Trainspotting, A Way of Life

or In the Name of the Father.

Section C: US Film – Comparative Study

Two films must be chosen from a specific genre or dealing with a specific theme.

Since this is a comparative study, the two films selected should enable sufficient

comparison and contrast to be made. One way of ensuring this is to select films

made at different historical moments.

There are no prescribed films for this section. A list of examples is available in the

Notes for Guidance. The following are indicative if a historical approach is adopted:

Double Indemnity and The Last Seduction

42nd Street and Chicago

My Darling Clementine and Unforgiven.

It is also possible to study remakes such as:

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and 1978)

King Kong (1933 and 2005)

A thematic approach is also possible. For example, two films dealing with personal

identity: Imitation of Life and Boys Don't Cry.

AS Film Unit 1 Content

FM1: EXPLORING FILM FORM




Focus of the unit

This unit focuses on the micro features of film and the construction of meaning and emotion. Understanding will be fostered through:



• studying micro features of film: mise-en-scène, performance, cinematography, editing and sound

• identifying how these construct meanings and contribute to the sensory impact of film

• reflecting on individual response to micro features of film as a means of exploring the relationship between film and spectator

• creating a sequence to demonstrate how micro features produce meaningsand responses.



Throughout this unit, the emphasis will be on the interaction of film and spectator.

Content

(a) The micro features of film

This unit requires the study of the micro features of film.

• Mise-en-scène includes setting, props, staging, costume and makeup,

figure expression and movement and off-screen space.

• Performance includes physical expression, vocal delivery and interaction between performers (with reference to issues of staging/choreography where relevant).

• Cinematography includes photographic elements (e.g. camera

position, colour, lens, depth of focus), lighting, framing and composition and special effects.

• Editing includes the organisation of time, both within a sequence and across sections of the narrative and the organisation of space,

especially in creating coherence for the spectator. The principal conventions of continuity editing, such as shot/reverse shot and the

180 degree rule, will be studied. The uses of montage editing will also be considered.

• Sound includes diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound and the variety of ways in which aural elements (e.g. speech, music and noise) are used in relation to visuals.



It is recognised that it is often difficult to separate micro and macro features offilm, although macro features – narrative and genre – will be the basis for

FM2.

(b) Spectators

The unit encourages candidates to develop an awareness of their active role as spectators in working with the way the micro features of film construct meanings and contribute to the sensory impact of film. The extent to which responses derive from the micro features of film and the extent to which they derive from personal and/or cultural identity will begin to be explored.



(c) Producers

This unit also encourages candidates to develop their analytical and creative skills, reflecting their growing understanding and appreciation of the micro features of film and the ways in which these can be deployed in order to create meaning and produce response.

A2 Media Film Distribution

Film Distribution



What is Film Distribution

Film Distribution is the conduit between Film Production and Film Exhibition. The Distribution process markets the film and organises the kind of release the film has.



Acquiring the Rights

Distributors acquire the rights to a film; they generally do this in 3 ways.

1. Investing in it

2. Buying the rights after it’s made (often applies to independent films). Some independent films will pre-sell the film rights (before production) as a way of raising production finance.

3. By being part of a multinational corporation in the first place. Some of the big distributors remain (such as 20th Century Fox) part of a larger corporation. To a certain extent the Studio System still exists.



Test Screenings

All major films (Hollywood!) are test screened before release. Small audiences, probably representative of the target audience, will watch a film and then be asked for their response to the film.

• Did they understand the film?

• Did they like the star?

• Would they recommend the film to a friend?

The last point is crucial as word of mouth is one of the best ways of increasing box office success.

There are many examples of Films being changed, scenes cut or new scenes filmed, based on the reaction to a test screening. My Best Friends Wedding and Fatal Attraction would be just 2 examples.

There are pros and cons of responding to a test audience. If film is art then surely the director should make the film as she/he feels they want it to look, but if film is a profit motivated product then changes will be made to maximise revenue.



Marketing

This is about building expectation about a film. The concept of genre is very important here. Distributors spend a great deal of money (perhaps 30% of the total budget of the film) on Marketing.

Sometimes Studios and distributors can pull in opposite directions. For example if the studio has made a quirky film using mainstream stars the distributors may hook on to a small element of the film for their marketing purposes. The problem here is that audiences arrive at the cinema expecting one thing and end up getting something else. As we said in class if you go to a restaurant wanting pizza and you end up getting Chinese, no matter how good the Chinese meal you will come away disappointed.



Merchandising

This is a key element often associated with High Concept films (see lesson 2 notes). Increases interest in the film and develops extra revenue streams. Star Wars is often said to be the first High Concept film.



Classification

Films in this country are classifies by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) the classifications are U PG 12 12A 15 18 R.

If a film gets given a stricter classification than the distributors were expecting they may ask the studio to cut certain scenes in order that they can market the film to the target audience.



Publicity

Making a Trailer

Genre Elements

Selling the Star

Identifying Target audience

Use of interextuality. Consider high concept films that often take elements of other successful films. Publicity material may well draw upon this.

USP unique selling points

Advertising Buses, Telephone boxes TV Print Billboards

Below the line publicity such as reviews, stars appearing on chat shows etc to promote the film.

A premier – supposedly for charity but really it is about building awareness.



Releasing the Film



Distributors will decide how to release a film as well as when. Chick flicks are likely to be released during the world cup when it is assumed the male audience will be watching football.



How many screens will be used in the opening weekend? It is likely to cost £1000 for each print.

Distributors may Frontload the film. The opening weekend is crucial. A big advertising campaign followed by a nationwide release could ensure the film makes a profit on its first weekend.

AS Media Semiotics Reference Sheet

Semiotic Reference Sheet

Introduction to semiotics

There are five semiotic systems in total:

1. Linguistic: comprising aspects such as vocabulary, generic structure and the grammar of oral and written language
2. Visual: comprising aspects such as colour, vectors and viewpoint in still and moving images
3. Audio: comprising aspects such as volume, pitch and rhythm of music and sound effects
4. Gestural: comprising aspects such as movement, speed and stillness in facial expression and body language
5. Spatial: comprising aspects such as proximity, direction, position of layout and organisation of objects in space.

Metalanguange

Metalanguage refers to the specialised terminology that describes how a texts works. For example, the grammar for each of the five semiotic systems provides a metalanguage for discussing how they convey meaning.




Semiotics The study of Signs

Sign A sign is anything that conveys meaning. A sign is made up of two parts; the signifier and the signified.



Signifier Is the sign itself. A picture, words, music whatever.

Signified Is the meaning taken from the sign.

Denotation Is the first order meaning – the obvious meaning of the sign.

Connotation Is a deeper less obvious meaning – often implied through convention.

Intertextuality refers to the relationship between texts, where texts reference one another. For example all texts from one particular genre are intertextually linked. A Music Magazine will be intertextually linked to a song that the magazine reviews/features.

Polysemic Literally means many meanings. All signs have multiple meanings. This might refer more to connotative meaning more than denotative meaning. The meaning we take from a sign might be influenced by our, age, gender, ethnicity or the context of viewing amongst other things.

Didactic Didactic texts are more likely to have denotative obvious meaning and are less open to interpretation.

Syntagmatic Syntagmatic connotation refers to the meaning signs make when they work together. For example a caption under a photograph.

Anchorage Media Producers use anchorage to prevent signs from being polysemic. They anchor the meaning of a text by using a supporting to sign. There fore signs work together syntagmatically to anchor the meaning and prevent polysemic readings.

Types of sign



iconic signs, the signifier is connected to the signified through the principle of resemblance. Iconic signs are obviously important for images, since many images resemble what they refer to – but not always. Consider image on a male/female toilet.

Indexical signs, the signifier makes you think of the signified because the two are frequently physically connected in the real world (the principle of contiguity). Cause-and-effect links are good examples of indexical signs: smoke is caused by fire and contiguous with it, and therefore the smell of smoke (signifier) makes you think of fire (signified).

Symbolic signs are purely artificial: the signifier is linked to the signified only by an arbitrary, human-imposed convention. There is no physical connection or natural resemblance between the English word “dog” and the concept *dog*. Any other signifier could just as plausibly be used to convey that concept, provided a group of people agree to do so, and indeed in German, “Hund” ➞ *dog*; in Spanish, “perro” ➞ *dog*; in French, “chien” ➞ *dog*, and so on.