Representation of Law - Criminal Justice Extract

We were all put into groups and each of group had to analyse different parts of the Criminal Justice extract, focusing on the representation of law. Within the group, we separated up each of the main scenes so that each person analysed their specific scene. I analysed the first scene. As a group we then presented out analysis to the rest of the class and we each explained what we had discovered.

Sound in The Skins Extract

 

The music that accompanies the dance routine:

The music that accompanies the dance routine is fast paced and loud. There is also a strong beat to the music, which emphasise Maxxie’s and the other dancer’s strong physicality and their ability to keep up momentum and pace with the music. This however contrasts to Tony’s disability as Tony appears to be quite confused and therefore the pace of his speech is very slow and his ability to concentrate and keep up the pace of the music is lacking, an obvious result of his accident. The music also, provides Maxxie and the dancers with a vibrant and excited mood, one which is not evident in Tony. This is suggested when Maxxie approached Tony, who is situated in the dark part of the church. It seems like the darkness of the place where he is sitting, is cutting him off from the positive and energetic atmosphere that the music has created.

The music that runs from the end of scene 1, through scene 2 and into scene 3:

The music that runs from the end of scene 1, through scene 2 and into scene 3, is very sombre and suggests that Tony is in turmoil and is perhaps distressed. The instrumentation is quite sad and depressing in these scenes and it is apparent that the music represents Tony’s negative emotions and his loneliness. It is evident from the choice of music that Tony is seeking comfort and escapism from his hectic, confused mind. The slow tempo of the music accentuates Tony’s inert posture and stance. The sound bridge from the transition into the different scenes, also suggests the extended pain and discomfort that Tony has to endure and this is emphasised by the length of time that the sombre music is being played.

The sound of the bus passing close to Tony and Maxxie:

The sound of the bus passing close to Tony and Maxxie is used to create shock and distress in the scene for Tony. The noise used shows Tony’s sensitivity to loud noises and suggests his paranoia about buses and perhaps his worry about being hit by a bus. The editing in this scene shows the power and force of the bus, corroborated by the crescendo of the bus coming towards Tony and Maxxie. The sound causes Tony to jerk and jump up; suggesting Tony’s return to consciousness only occurs when there is a loud noise or a sudden shock, which disturbs his confused state of mind. His normal state of oblivion is traumatised by this use of an intense and powerful sound.

The music the runs from the end of scene 4 and into scene 5:

The music that runs from the end of scene 4 and into scene 5 is a very sad and depressing piece of music. The use of the musical equipment, a triangle, shows the fragility of Tony and his family in these scenes. The tune is repeated over and over, perhaps showing how Tony and his family are going to have to carry on with their everyday lives despite the fact that Tony has to continually endure the suffering caused by the accident. The repeated tune could also represent the forthcoming hardships within the family and the never ending torment of the outcome of the accident that Tony had.
 

Opening organ music:

 In the establishing shot, Maxxie is posing on top of the organ in front of the stained glass windows of the church, suggesting a Christ-like representation. The fact that the dance scene is set in a church, suggests that it is a hymn of physical perfection and creates imagery of Maxxie’s body being like the ‘body of a temple’. The juxtaposition between the organ music and suddenly into the dance music is emphatic and assertive and shows off Maxxie’s strong physicality. As Maxxie jumps down, key lighting is used to show Maxxie’s strength and the fast tempo of the music affirms this.

 

Following the definitions of sound, we then had to write about the music/sounds used in the Skin's extract, that we had previously analysed.

Sound

·       Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Sound:

Diegetic - The sound which should logically be there in the diegesis (the ‘world’) of the text (e.g. applause in a sports award show.)

Non diegetic sound - Sound which would not logically be there in the diegesis (most music, voice overs.)

·       Synchronous and asynchronous sound:

Synchronous sounds are those sounds which are synchronized or matched with what is viewed.

Asynchronous sound effects are not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen. Such sounds are included so as to provide an appropriate emotional nuance, and they may also add to the realism of the film.

 

·       Sound perspective - A sound’s position in space as perceived by the viewer given by volume, timbre, and pitch.

·       Sound effects - A sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a play, movie, or other broadcast production.

·       Sound motif - A sound effect or combination of sound effects that are associated with a particular character, setting, situation or idea through the film. 

·       Sound bridge - At the beginning of one scene, the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins.

·       Dialogue - Conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie.

·       Voiceover - Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative.

·       Mode of address - The way a media product ‘speaks’ to its audience.

·       Direct address - The vocative case (abbreviated) is the case used for a noun identifying the person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed.

·       Sound mixing - The process during the post-production stage of a film or a television program in which the collection of recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels along with adjusting the many attributes of the sounds such as the source signals’ level.

 

Soundtrack

·       Score - A musical composition's written format.

·       Incidental music - It is original music written specifically to accompany a film.

·       Themes, stings and motifs –

Themes - melodic subject of a musical composition.

Stings - A sting is a short musical phrase, primarily used in broadcasting and films as a form of punctuation.

Motifs - a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music.

·       Ambient sound – The normal sound which exists in a particular scene or location e.g. Traffic noise, bird song and crowd chatter.

 

We were given different words linked with sound, to define. I researched the words on the internet and found the definitions for each of the words.

Skin's Extract: In Maxxie's Flat - Model Answer

The scene in Maxxie’s flat, presents the characters as very sombre and depressed and particular editing is used in this scene to show this. This scene also helps to show the disabilities and confusion that Tony carries. The camera angles and shots are a massive contribution to the portrayal of his state of mind. There are obviously a lot of shot reverse shots because there is a lot of conversation and the use of facial expressions to set the mood. In the sequence of shots, a shot/reverse shot is used to show contrast between Maxxie and Tony. The ‘dirty over’ used in this shot/reverse shot also provides emphasis on Tony, who is very reserved and quiet.

 

One of the shots that aid the effects of the disabilities is where the camera focus's on the food that tony is eating. The close up shot of Tony’s food and then a medium shot of him holding the fork awkwardly emphasises his disability. The reason it does this is because his brain injuries are so severe, that he has forgotten the correct way to eat his food. In this shot, Tony’s face also portrays angst and annoyance at his inability to eat properly and it is clearly evident that Tony is unable to complete simple tasks. The camera is really drawn to this, to represent his disorder. The juxtaposition of Maxxie and Tony is again shown when Maxxie is cutting up Tony’s food easily and appears to have no struggle in this task. When Maxxie’s mum wipes food from Tony’s face, she is portrayed as quite patronising towards Tony. This again highlights Tony’s disability and also, how other people perceive him to behave and act. Maxxie’s mum perhaps sees Tony as incapable and stupid in this scene. Also, the camera is mainly focused on Tony’s face, even when Maxxie’s mum is talking to him; this allows us to monitor Tony's reactions to Maxxie’s mum when he can't remember who she is or previous events that she recalls before Tony’s accident.

The scene in Maxxie’s flat, presents Tony as a confused and a mentally ill person. He is presented like this through the use of mise-en-scene. The scene is set in a very dark room, suggesting a sad and depressing atmosphere. This atmosphere reflects Tony’s gloomy mood and gives the watchers an insight into his emotions and his mind. The shot/reverse shot is used to create a contrast in colours between Tony and Maxxie, as Tony is wearing drab, dull clothing, whilst Maxxie is wearing bright and vibrant clothing. Rosettes that are placed behind Tony’s head in this scene show the difference in ability between Maxxie and Tony. This again emphasises Tony’s disability and creates an atmosphere of pity for him, as it is clearly evident that he will never be able to partake in sporting activities like Maxxie. There is also, an awkward atmosphere created as Maxxie’s mum is trying to cheer Tony up but fails, as Tony remains quiet and gloomy. Tony fails to recognise Maxxie’s mum and doesn’t appear to know what to say to her. The confusion on Tony’s face throughout this scene suggests a distortion from reality, as if he can’t connect with the other characters, Maxxie and Maxxie’s mum.

We had to watch an extract from the TV Series, Skins. We were placed in groups and each assigned a specific scene from the extract. My group made notes on the scene from Maxxie's flat and then we collaborated our ideas and created a model exam answer.

Third Bauer Media Product

This is a powerpoint that I made, including information on another magazine that Bauer Media publishes. I had to present this to the class, explaining the magazine's target audience and demographic, content that targets this audience, the magazine's use of technology, the magazine's circulation and readership figures, where and how the magazine advertises themself, and an analysis of one of the magazine's front covers.

Magazine Presentations

 Everybody in the class made presentations on another magazine of their choice. We then made notes on their presentations, including specific information from the presentations.

 

      Closer:

 

·       British women’s magazine.

·       Specialises in celebrity news, gossip, fashion, television/entertainment and real life stories.

·       Women aged between 16 and 40.

·       Weekly circulation 539,991.

·       Sold for £1.30.

·       They sold 467,048 copies at the end of December.

·       They have a website, app and magazine. The website and app is aimed at the younger generation as they tend to use more technology nowadays.

Match:

 

·       Weekly British football magazine.

·       Published in 1979.

·       Aimed at the teenage and pre-teenage market.

·       Main audience is 7-19 years old.

·       The readership figure is 46,233. – The figures are quite low compared to other magazines that Bauer owns. – Mainly rely on parents to buy the magazines for the child.

·       Features free gift, which would appeal to a younger audience.

·       Focuses on advertising online on a wide range of footballing sites.


Spirit and Destiny:

·       A magazine concerning the spiritual wellbeing of its readers.

·       Demographic – ABC1 women from ages 25-44.

·       Circulation – 46,580.

·       Readership – 121,108.

·       Advertises spiritual books on their website.


Empire:

·       Britain’s leading monthly film magazine.

·       Published by Emap, however Bauer bought Emap consumer media in 2008.

·       ABC1 demographic of 15-34 year olds.

·       Circulation – 167,096.

·       Readership – 734,000.

·       It features in depth reviews, film previews.

·       It has monthly competitions for prizes from its sponsor


Q:

·       25+ year old music buyers.

·       Aimed at male and females.

·       Reviews of new music releases, films.

·       It is published monthly.

·       Readership of 77,522 – However the readership is declining and has had a 16.7% decline in just one year.

·       The technology that it uses includes TV, radio, website, magazine and a newsletter.

·       40/166 pages are advertisements.


Car:

·       The magazine is aimed at ‘car lovers’.

·       Circulation – 54,171 (Jan-June 2012).

·       Readership – 160,000.

·       Aimed at 15-55 year olds.

·       Demographic - A, B, C1.

·       Advertises different car models and manufacturers.

·       Reviews different cars that have just been released.

·       The magazine has a website and a Facebook and Twitter page.

·       They include a newsletter on the website for which readers can subscribe.


Heat:

·       Audience is ABC1 women, aged 16-35.

·       It comes 11^th within all magazine sales in the UK.

·       It is £1.65 per issue.

·       Circulation of 500,000.

·       Features celebrity gossip and information about reality TV shows.

·       It is published weekly.

Take a Break Documentary

We watched a documentary in class about Take a Break Magaine and how the people who work for the magazine, find their stories and create the magazine every week. We had to address these particular questions:
 

·       Where do their stories come from?
 

Discovered by ‘true story’ journalists or sent in by readers.

·       Who writes them?

The true story journalists/writers at the magazines interview the people that they are trying to buy the real life stories from.

·       What different types of stories do they include?

‘Womb tremblers’ – aimed predominantly at women, ‘Triumph over tragedy’, escapism.

·       Are all the people who send in stories happy with the final piece?

A lot of the people who send in the stories are not happy with the final piece, as the story tends to be manipulated and exaggerated to create a more interesting story, which is not the actual truth.

·       How much do people get paid for the stories?

It ranges from £100 - £1000 or more.

 

·       Why do people read them?

People read them as it makes them feel better about their lives and gives them more of a reason to get up in the morning, knowing that there are people who have been raped, lost a child or even lost a leg.

Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences within a media area which you have studied.

The institution Bauer Media is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations. H Bauer brands include women's weekly and TV listings magazines; namely Bella, Take a Break, that's life! TV Choice and Total TV Guide as well as a number of puzzle magazines. Bauer Media also owns the two magazines, Grazia and Take a Break and it publishes the magazines for consumers to buy. However, there are issues that are raised by the institution’s need to target their specific audience for Grazia magazine.

 

The media products we have studied are Grazia and Take a Break. Grazia is a fashion magazine aimed at upper-middle class women aged between 20 and 45 years old (A, B, C1). Bauer, market Grazia by praising the magazine and writing things such as, it ‘remains the market-leader’ and ‘GRAZIA transformed the women’s magazine market’. However, Take a Break is a real life magazine aimed at lower-middle class women aged between 25 and 55 years old (C1, C2). The difference in the target audience between the two magazines means that they are distributed differently to fit the lifestyle of the buyers.

Grazia magazine is very reliant on stories that are up to date and current such as, the magazine must keep up to the date with the current trends of shops like Oasis, whereas Take a Break is not as reliant on the latest stories and can feature older stories such as, someone who lost weight a few years ago. Also, Grazia features articles about fashion, celebrities and desirable goods, such as perfume and handbags. Grazia also places images on the front cover of the magazine that are celebrities of a high class and status, evident from the number of Grazia magazines that I have looked at. However, Take a Break features human interest stories, useful articles, reader generated content and ‘weekly shop’ adverts. Also, Take a Break features lots of gossip, horoscopes, dating articles and ‘bizarre’ stories. The images on the front cover also feature celebrities who may have a high celebrity status but may have a bad reputation or are known for the wrong reasons. This is again evident from the number of Take a Break magazines that I have looked at.

The two magazines, Grazia and Take a Break advertise themselves using many different types of technology. They widely use the internet, by posting different adverts on the internet for their magazine and also, with their websites, which are created for the purpose of attracting new consumers. The magazines use twitter and Facebook as well to advertise themselves. The two magazines rely a lot on these forms of technology as they are extremely useful for the advertisement of the magazines.

These different magazines are distributed by following the distribution chain. The magazine will begin at the magazine publisher and then will be sent to the distributor where it will be separated, sent to different wholesalers and then distributed to different shops where it will be sold to consumers.

One of the media products that I have studied in particular is Grazia. Grazia targets its specific audience by running stories about high street fashion, current trends, designer fashion shows and collections and style tips for the readers.

Issues that are raised by the media institution, compromise their ability to target their specific target audience. Although, forty two people work at Grazia and they produce 100 pages a week, Grazia struggle to get enough stories to publish every week in the magazine and have to work to try and find good stories to publish. Also, Grazia struggle to get the exclusive story from designers. They have to use their existing contacts and go out to events, to get more contacts, so that they can get the exclusive stories and gossip. Grazia have to compete with other magazines, such as, Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire to get the stories first. This means that they do things, such as, getting tip offs from people on the street and by phoning contacts to find out all the gossip about celebrities. Grazia have a network of people all around the world, yet it still can be a struggle to find out the gossip. Grazia also, have to contact the lawyers of celebrities to get their approval to run a particular story. This can slow down the publishing process and could also reduce the amount of pages printed in the magazine, if the story is not allowed to be run.

Grazia tries it’s best to overcome these issues and try different things to produce the best outcome. In the Grazia documentary, Grazia are shown to have a professional relationship with designers, such as, Giorgio Armani and they report on his collections and shows, to provide him with the best media coverage. In return he gives Grazia the inside scoop on the major gossip about celebrities and their outfits and also on any details on fashion and collections. 

This is my response to the practice exam question that we were set. I have written an essay discussing the ways in which Grazia and Take a Break are produced and distributed to particular audiences of magazines.