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EDITING
Some important edits are called: continuity (or ‘Hollywood’) edits; MTV (’music television’) edits; cross-cuts; follow-cuts; match-cuts; jump cuts; eye-line matches; dissolves; fades; montages; bridging; flashbacks…

SHOT TYPES

Establishing shot / long-shot / mid-shot / close-up / point-of view shot / soft-focus…

Semiotics is the name given to the study of the way by which meaning is created in the world, especially in the mass media. It is based upon the Idea of ’signs’ and ‘codes’, ‘denotation’ and ‘connotation’.

A sign is the basic unit of meaning in semiotics. A sign is any individual thing that signifies meaning; for example, your clothes are a group of ‘fashion signs’ which signify meaning (perhaps you are trying to look ‘cool’?). There are two ways that signs create meaning: all signs have a literal meaning, which is called their denotation; but, depending on the context, many signs also suggest other ‘layers’ of meaning, which is called their connotation. For example, an image of a girl dressed all in white denotes just that, I.e. this is what you ’see’; but it may also connote innocence or purity (and all that this means in our society and culture), i.e. this is what you ‘think’.
Connotation, therefore, is always more than the denotation. Signs rarely work alone. They are most often combined with other signs to form a code.

A code is a group of signs that we recognise as going ‘naturally together’ to signify meaning (e.g. a rose is a sign; but being handed to a girl by a boy could create a ‘romance code’ and suggest love).

Film and TV codes are often called technical codes because technical equipment is used to create them.

There are three ways through which codes and signs can signify meaning: Iconicity: an iconic sign or code looks just like the thing it seems to represent, e.g. an image of a cowboy seems to be just that; but it is called iconic because it suggests far more than it should: for example, our culture tends to associate extra meanings with the idea of ‘cowboy’, such as toughness, heroism, masculinity, etc. Iconic signs are never reality: they are a representation of reality.

Indexicality (an indexical sign or code) in a sign directly suggests meaning because what it shows seems to be the result of something we associate with the thing it represents, e.g. smoke suggests fire, sweat suggests exercise, appearance can suggest wealth, etc. This can be a short-cut way for a film director to create meaning.

Symbolism (a symbolic sign or code) suggests meaning because we have learned this meaning in our culture; a symbol, in itself, has no association with what it means, e.g. a red heart shape suggests love; letters combine to make words, etc. The meaning we gain from codes is said to be culturally determined which .means that our culture ‘taught’ us that particular way to interpret the meaning. For example, when we see our national flag, the Union Jack, we see more than what it simply denotes – a piece of coloured cloth: patriotism and pride, etc.

An important code is an enigma code. These codes put a fascinating question in the mind of the audience that only watching the movie will answer. They tempt the audience to watch and are often used in trailers. A convention is simply a way of doing something that we are so used to we usually fail to notice it; conventions can seem ‘perfectly natural’ or ‘realistic’ yet are anything but. So: women in cowboys tend conventionally to be either ‘very good’ or ‘very bad’ – and this seems ‘normal’ within the genre of cowboy movies; the wheels of a car always screech; guns always kill outright; a punch always knocks a person out cold.

Genre and narrative are important media conventions that are covered later, as are editing techniques and-the use of certain shot types (such as an establishing shot sequence or montage – see later).

Cinema and TV codes are created within an area bounded by the edges of a screen. By controlling what objects and action are in this frame, a film director creates what is called a mise-en-scene.

Asking questions such as ‘who, what and where’ of the characters and objects and their relative positions, expressions, appearance, costume, make-up, scenery, props, lighting, sounds, etc. in a mise-en-scene will help you analyse it.

Try to consider what effects are created in a mise-en-scene’, what meaning they have (their denotation and, most importantly, connotation), how they have been created and why they were created (which will be the director’s purpose – perhaps to develop a character, a mood, the storyline or plot and sometimes to explore a deeper meaning or idea, i.e. a theme).

Editing is the placing of separate shots together. This allows a director to manipulate space and time hundreds of miles or weeks of time can be reduced to a few scenes that appear perfectly natural and believable to the audience. A montage is a most important editing technique. It is a series of shots that are edited together to create a kind of ‘individual unit’ of meaning.

Continuity edits – especially matched cuts – are called ‘Hollywood editing’. This creates a sequence that seems to flow naturally on from the previous one, and in which the edits are ‘invisible’. These have the effect of creating a realistic and seamless flow to a story or narrative (see below) where one event leads naturally onto the next.

Jump-cuts are dramatic edits; MTV edits are rapid sequences of fast jump cuts used to create a conscious effect as used first in pop-videos;

cross-cuts/parallel editing follow different actions such as two people talking; follow-cuts follow an action to its consequence, e.g. a character looking edits to what they look at

eye-line matches are a kind of follow cut).

A sound-bridge is a sound edit that allows sound from one shot to cross into the next to create continuity.

An establishing shot is usually the opening shot of a sequence; it ’sets the scene’ and locates the action. It is often followed by a mid-shot followed by a close-up shot.

A subjective point-of-view shot (POV) is at eye-level and appears as if you are viewing the scene from the character’s perspective (as in ‘Blair Witch’).

An objective point-of-view shot acts as if you are an observer secretly looking into a scene.

CAMERA ANGLE Eye-line match / high / low

CAMERA MOVEMENT Zooming / tracking / panning / hand-held

LIGHTING High key, neutral, low key

‘DIEGESIS’ AND SOUND

VISUAL EFFECTS / SFX

NARRATIVE

GENRE

ICONOGRAPHY

THE ‘STAR SYSTEM’

REALISM

‘Verisimilitude’

‘Generic verisimilitude’

‘Cultural verisimilitude’

Camera angles can signify meaning, e.g. a subjective POV high angle shot can crate a superior feel. Different camera movements can create significant meaning – a zoom or tracking shot into a close-up of a face can create emotion, a pan across a war scene can suggest violence; POV tracking shots and POV hand-held camera shot can create tension and involvement by making you feel as if you are a part of the action.

Lighting can create atmosphere and mood as well as signify meaning, e.g. in a horror movie, light and shade are important codes of meaning. High-key lighting is harsh; soft-key lighting creates a romantic atmosphere, spotlighting picks out a character from a group, etc.

Diegesis means the ‘world of the film’: if something seems to be a part of the ‘world of the film’, it is called ‘diegetic’. So, sound that is a part of the action is diegetic sound, e.g. wind noise, screeching cars, etc; but sound that is added’ to create, most often, mood or atmosphere is called non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sounds may also be added in after filming, or may be exaggerated for effect (e.g. loud footsteps).

SFX (special effects’) often use computer-generated graphics to create compelling realism and meaning.

The use of a narrative structure is a major convention of cinema and TV. We are all immersed in narratives and have been since childhood as we tell of or hear about the complex events of the world not in the form of long-winded complex details or bald information but as absorbing and interesting stories. Yet this way of explaining real as opposed to fictional events greatly oversimplifies reality whilst at the same time; paradoxically, appearing very realistic and believable. For instance, real events are rarely clearly ‘connected’ by such simple ’cause and effect’ relationships as in stories (i.e. this leads to that because…). Yet in narrative they always are. And in the real world people are not either good (i.e. ‘heroes’) or evil (i.e. ‘villains’); but in narrative they always are to some degree at least. And so on. For better or worse, we tell and hear of world events as narratives and media producers know this and use it to create media texts that rely on narrative structures and forms to be absorbing, compelling and convincingly realistic. Because of this, filmed narratives can easily trick us into thinking we are viewing a real ‘window on the world’.

Genre means the type/kind of narrative being told, e.g. detective, sci-fi, horror, etc. Genre defines a text by its similarities to other texts. Importantly, when we watch a genre film we have many pre-existing expectations of the types of characters, setting and events we want to see (prediction is a major aspect of our enjoyment of a film, and genre helps this). Genre conventions are an important way a director can create believable ‘versions of reality’ because we fail to see that what is shown is not reality at, all, but a media convention that we have become accustomed to seeing in that kind of film. So… we don’t mind the owner of a casino being horribly killed because we see him, in the gangster genre as naturally a ‘villain’. Film companies use genre to sell and make films: a popular genre creates a greater chance of commercial success; and genre can be cost effective, making it cheaper to write new stories and reducing the need for entirely new sets. Iconography is an important aspect of genre. We come to expect to see certain objects within the mise-en-scene of a particular genre, for example, in a Western, we expect to see dusty lonely roads, saloon bars, cowboy hats and horses, jails, sheriffs badges, etc.; in a modern horror film, we expect lonely girls, ‘normal’ objects, use of dark and light, etc. These ‘genre indicators’ are called the iconography of the genre. Celebrities and film stars are an important part of the iconography of cinema and TV.

Different stars can be important signifiers of meaning. They can create expectations of character and action, help identify genre, and create powerful iconic representation of such as masculinity and femininity. Cinema and TV are able to offer high levels of ‘realism’: the bright screen, the clear and powerful Dolby sound, darkened room, etc. are highly compelling and persuasive. Such ‘appearance of reality’ is given the odd name of verisimilitude. This is yet another convention of course – there is nothing ‘realistic’ about an image on a flat screen.

There are two kinds of verisimilitude: generic verisimilitude is the ‘realism’ that convinces us because of the genre we are watching (in the horror genres it seems highly realistic for a vampire to sink his teeth into a person’s neck); cultural verisimilitude is the kind of reality that convinces us because it looks like the way things are or should

518. Parts of a PRESS KIT

April 2, 2009 reniermedia Leave a comment

WHAT’S INSIDE A PRESS KIT?
As far as its contents, no two press kits are alike. However, most press kits will contain a few \”staple\” items.
These may include:
AD SHEETS/SLICKS An ad sheet (also called an ad slick) is a page or pages of camera-ready ads of varying sizes that are used in print media such as newspapers and magazines. They are prepared by the movie studios and sent to theatres and/or promotional companies.
PRESS STILLS – Press stills are standard 8\” x 10\” glossy photographs, normally black & white. They can be the film\’s stars and/or crew either from scenes in the movie or on the movie set during the production of the film. There is usually some type of descriptive information included on the press still that explains who is in the photo and what the photo represents. Sometimes the studios will type the description on a separate sheet of paper and staple it to the back side of the still. The press still also have a studio still number which is normally printed into the still itself which identifies the still. Quite often they will include the NSS number (reference number showing year and number of film) and studio information on the bottom right… but not always. Every presskit is different with a varying number of press stills from 1 (especially in the mini press kit) to over 30.
PRESSBOOKS The term pressbook is used generically, but has come to mean the flyer, pamphlet, booklet or book (released as part of a press kit which contains certain information about a particular film. Pressbooks and related press materials date back to 1910\’s. Movie studios release certain information about a film, its stars, crew, etc. that the theatres and/or film exhibitors can disseminate to the press. Recognizing that many theatre managers do not have an advertising background, the major studios design and distribute advertising and press materials to the theatres to help in the overall promotion of a film. The pressbook contains whatever information a studio chooses to release on a particular film. Most include background information about the film, the actors, the crew and other tidbits about the film\’s history. Some contain news articles about the stars\’ lives outside of the film. Some press books contain a breakdown of the advertising materials and merchandising tie-in products that are available to the theatres. Press books can contain ideas for promotions, radio and TV advertising, newspaper and magazine advertising, contests and games.
Posters: ONE-SHEET and Mini Sheet – The most widely used movie art is the one sheet. Up until approximately 1984, the one sheet measured 27\” x 41\” (normally with a border). Since the mid 1980’s, some one-sheets measure 27\” x 40\” (normally without a border). They are normally printed on paper and displayed in a marquee case.

Mini sheets are often the same image but smaller (see below). Since it is the centre of the advertising movie paper, some studios offer many versions of the one sheet for a particular movie. These include
ADVANCE/TEASER In order to create an early \”buzz\” around a new film, many movie studios will issue what is known as an \”advance\” or \”teaser\” movie poster. These advertising materials are distributed to theatres and film distributors well in advance of the film\’s projected release. When discussing advances with older collectors, you need to remember that there is a difference between an Advance and a Teaser. Even though both are used to promote the film before the release, a Teaser has no credit information at all, so teasers are advances BUT not all advances are teasers.
Depending on the film’s promotional plan, the advance sheet may be identical or may differ significantly from the regular issue one-sheet (the one issued with the release of the film). In some cases, the studio may choose to put out a series of advance sheets – each giving a little more information about a film. In some cases, the artwork may be completely different and not include the normal credit information. In other cases, the artwork is identical to the regular issue except that it will contain the projected release date. While there is no set standard for an advance one-sheet, it will normally have one of these distinctions:
The word \”Advance\” or \”Teaser\” in the lower bottom corner. The abbreviation \”Adv\” in the lower bottom corner. Words like \”Coming Soon\” or \”In Theatres This Summer\” somewhere on the poster, usually on the bottom.The projected date of release. No or limited credit information. On films with smaller budgets, only one poster is issued which is used as both the advance and the regular. Awards poster Lenticular is like a hologram the poster needs to be moved to make it change
PREMIERE: Movie studios will sometimes present a special premiere screening of a film at a specific theatre or at limited theatres. In these cases, studios will sometimes release a special movie one sheet promoting the premiere. Many times, the movie poster will contain similar artwork to the regular poster, but also include the marquee or some other indicator of the place where the premiere is held. When Star Wars premiered, it was shown at four specific theatres, and only two posters for each theatre were made. These are extremely rare and very expensive. As its name implies, the \”mini-sheet\” is simply a small poster, printed on poster paper. They come in a variety of sizes, depending on the studio and the film. In many cases, the mini sheet is an exact duplicate of the one-sheet, only smaller. The size of mini sheets can range from that of a half sheet down to almost that of a herald, depending on the purposes outlined by the studio. Quite often, mini sheets are printed as advances to help generate interest in the film. Buttons to be distributed to movie patrons or at outside marketing events.
Premiums- Hats, T-shirts, stickers, cards, etc. – used as giveaways or special promotions. Special screening passes to be a

Categories: A-level Media, A2 Film studies, Advanced Portfolio Production, Film Studies, FM1, FM3 FM4, FM4, FM5, Self-marketing

517. WHAT IS A PRESS KIT?

April 2, 2009 reniermedia Leave a comment

The term \”press kit\” is a generic term which has come to mean a specific group of materials distributed to movie theatres or film exchanges to help advertise and promote a film. The main purpose of a press kit was to give movie theatres and exhibitors \”tools\” or \”ideas\” that could be used for press releases, promotions, contests, advertising suggestions, etc.
In other words, a press kit was provided to help the theatre or film distributor with ideas on how to create a successful film campaign, i.e., – how to get movie goers into their theatres.

Categories: A-level Media, Advanced Portfolio Production

516. Production Task Producing a Press Kit

April 2, 2009 reniermedia Leave a comment

Your task is (in groups of no more than 4) to devise a press kit for a new film to be shown at a film festival. Your press kit must include:
A press book
At least one poster
At least 3 film stills with captions
You should also include:
Advertising other than posters such as film merchandise
Press packs are often produced in hard copies but it is becoming increasingly popular to produce digital press kits or include
film trailers or crew information on bluray or dvd in the kits. You could attempt this if all the above is completed.
You will also be expected to produce individual production plans, research and evaluations.

Research
In your research you should find the answer to these questions: What is a press kit?
What is included in a press kit?
With explanations of anything you do not understand.
Research can be in note form and you must also include annotated examples of press kits we will study.
1
2
3

Categories: A-level Media, Advanced Portfolio Production

512. The Parts of a newspaper. Parts of a magazine

April 2, 2009 reniermedia 1 comment

Parts of a Newspaper
Layout, typical features and technical terms Some or all of these may be found on the front pages of newspapers.

! Box-out – A small part of the page, shaded in a different colour.

! By-line – the name of the reporter, if they are important is often included at the beginning of the feature, rather than at the end, or not at all.

! Caption – typed text under photographs explaining the image.

! Credits – the author of a feature may be given credit in the form of a beeline. Photographs may have the name of the person who took them or the agency that supplied them alongside them.

! Crosshead – this is a subheading that appears in the body of the text and is centred above the column of text. If it is se to one side then it is called a side-head.

! Exclusive – this means that newspaper and no one else solely cover the story. The paper will pay their interviewees, buying the story so it cannot be used by another paper.

! Feature – not necessarily a ‘news’ item (current affairs), but usually with a human-interest angle presented as a spread.

! Headline – this is the main statement, usually in the largest and boldest font, describing the main story. A banner headline spans the full width of the page.

! Kicker – this is a story designed to stand out from the rest of the page by the use of a different font (typeface) and layout.

! Lead Story – the main story on the front page, usually a splash.

! Lure – a word or phrase directing the reader to look inside the paper at a particular story or feature.

! Masthead – the masthead is the title block or logo identifying the newspaper at the top of the front-page. Sometimes an emblem or a motto is also placed within the masthead. The masthead is often set into a block of black or red print or boxed with a border; the ‘Red-tops’ (The Sun, The Mirror, The News of the World) are categorised by style and the use of a red background in the masthead.

! Menu – the list of contents inside the paper.

! Pugs – these are at the top left and right-hand corners of the paper and are known as the ‘ears’ of the page. The prices of the paper, the logo or a promotion are positioned there. They are well placed to catch the reader’s eye.

! Secondary Lead – this is usually only a picture and headline, it gives a sneak preview of a story that you might find inside the paper.

! Sidebar – when a main feature has an additional box or tinted panel along side of it.

! Splash – the splash is the main story on the front of the paper. The largest headline will accompany this, along with a photograph.

! Spread – a story that covers more than one page.

! Standfirst – this is an introductory paragraph before the start of the feature. Sometimes it may be in bold.

! Strapline – this is an introductory headline below the headline.

! Tag – a word or phrase used to engage a reader’s interest in a story by categorising it e.g. ‘Exclusive’, ‘Sensational’.

!Tip-on. a promotional item, such as a magnet or game piece, affixed to the cover of a publication.

462. Media terms for revision

February 28, 2009 reniermedia 2 comments

AUDIENCE
http://www.robertsmyth.co.uk/media/audience.htm
http://www.stevewlb.zen.co.uk/Frame.htm
http://www.mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/audience.html
http://www.mediaed.org.uk/posted_documents/Audience.html

INSTITUTION

http://www.robertsmyth.co.uk/media/institution.htm
http://www.mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/Institution.html

GENRE
http://www.robertsmyth.co.uk/media/genre.htm
http://www.mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/genre.html

REPRESENTATION

http://www.robertsmyth.co.uk/media/representation.htm
http://www.mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/representation.html
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MC30820/represent.html

NARRATIVE

http://www.robertsmyth.co.uk/media/narrative.html
http://www.mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/narrative.html

SEMIOTICS
http://www.robertsmyth.co.uk/media/semiotics.htm

IDEOLOGY
http://www.mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/ideology.html

Categories: A-level Media, Advanced Portfolio Production, AS Media, Audiences and Institutions, Coursework help, Critical Research Study, Evaluation, Foundation Portfolio, G 321 Unit 1 – Foundation Portfolio, G322/3 Unit 2 - Key Media Concepts, Media Issues and Debates, Media Key Concepts, Research, Revision, Revision AS Media, Small scale research project, Textual Analysis

459. Film Noir Links

February 28, 2009 reniermedia Leave a comment

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950130/COMMENTARY/11010314/1023

http://www.filmnoirstudies.com/timeline/index.asp

http://www.filmsinreview.com/Main_Archives.html

http://filmsnoir.net/2007/11

http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/

Categories: A-level Media, A2 Film studies, Advanced Portfolio Production, film noir, Film Studies, FM1, FM2, FM4, FM5

407. Parts of a newspaper – part 2

December 10, 2008 reniermedia Leave a comment

Ad-abbreviation for advertisement
Advance (advance story)-news of an event to occur in the future
All caps-a word or word written in all capital letters
AP-abbreviations for Associated Press, a news-gathering service
Banner-type of headline stretching full width, usually at the top of a page; also called a streamer
Beat-news source that a reporter is assigned to cover regularly
Box-material enclosed, either completely or partially, by a printed rule
Byline-the name and identification of a story’s author
Caption-the heading placed above a photograph; sometimes used to refer to the descriptive copy below a photo
Center of visual interest (CVI)-the dominate item on a page – usually a photo, graphic or headline
Classified advertising-ads run in small type in a separate section, which is often classed into different categories, such as “Help wanted” or “Lost and found”
Column (1)-a type of feature that is regularly run in a paper, featuring a single writer
Column (2)-the vertical sections of type, which may have varying widths to story on a page
Column width-the actual measurement in picas or inches; also measured in character count as a way to determine the character count of the entire story
Copy-a story or article written for a newspaper; also used to describe a page or block to text
Copyreading-checking copy for errors before it is entered into computer or receives its final rewrite
Crop-to eliminate unwanted portions of a photo to emphasize its center of interest
Cut-term for a newspaper photo or art, taken from engraving parlance
Cutoff test-reporter’s check that final-paragraphs are not essential to story
Cutline-the descriptive copy below a photo
Dateline-line at beginning of news story giving point of origin, if not local, and date, if significant
Deadline-time at which job must be handed in or completed to make issue date of publication
Deck-each part of a headline in a single font, whether one or more lines (once used to define a single line of a headline)
Direct quote-the reproduction of a speaker’s exact words, set within quotation marks and correctly attributed
Downstyle-the use of a minimum number of capital letters in headlines and body copy, where good usage permits an option
Editorial-an article that represents the paper’s opinion
Editorial column-an article representing the opinion of a individual writer
Editorializing-inserting the writer’s opinion into a news story, which should be written objectively
Euphemism-a milder word used instead of another word, possibly offensive – not an acceptable way to soften a quote from a news source
Feature story-an article of special interest with a quality other than its timeliness as main attraction
5 W’s and an H-the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How – the key questions answered by a summary lead
Folio line-the heading of inside pages, indicating section, school name, issue date and page number
Follow-up-a news story written after an event has occurred
Graph-short for a paragraph (sometimes spelled graf)
Hammerhead-a large headline of only one or two words, followed by a longer and smaller head underneath – the reverse of a kicker
Headline-lines of display type printed above a newspaper story, calling attention to relative importance and attracting readers to the story’s content
Headline schedule-list of styles and sizes, often with counts, for use in a newspaper
In-depth report-a story that goes beyond the surface to discover the news behind the news; also called an investigative report
Indirect quote-using a version of a speaker’s words without quotation marks. Example: He said that he expected to reject the plan.
Infograph-a chart, diagram or graph presenting statistical information, such as survey results and enrollment figures, in easy-to-grasp form
Inverted pyramid-a method of writing a story using a summary lead and facts in diminishing order of importance
Kicker-short, lead-in phrase above main head
Label head-a headline without a verb; to be avoided
Lead (leed)-the first paragraph of a story (see also, under Desktop publishing)
Libel-untrue statement or material that damages a person’s reputation
Masthead-list of the paper’s vital statistics, including school name and address, staff members and other pertinent data, such as editorial policy; usually found on editorial pages
Menu-in newspaper terminology, a front-page box or boxes announcing a paper’s inside contents, sometimes called teaser (see also, under Desktop publishing)
Nutgraph-paragraph giving the key details of a news story – the 5 W’s and H – when a variation on the summary lead in used
Objectivity-an attempt to write a story without showing bias or injecting the writer’s opinion
Photo release-a permission form used by photographers for persons in photos not taken at news events, granting the right to print the photo
Plagiarism-unauthorized copying of another’s work. Reproducing copyrighted material without permission – whether words or art – is a crime
Profile-feature story about a person; personality piece
Pull quote-quote from a story or news source that is “pulled out” and set as a graph in a distinctive format and type to attract readers to a story and add visual interest
Retraction-a printed correction of an earlier error in the paper
Slug-one or two words that specifically identify a story, typed in the upper left-hand corner of work to be edited or processed; also includes reporter’s last name, plus date/time from edit menu
Stet-a term meaning “let it stand” – or disregard a change that was previously marked or indicated
Style-rules regarding punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation, etc.
Style book, style manual-compilation of style rules for a newspaper
Summary lead-a first paragraph that contains the essential 5 W’s and H of a news story
Teaser-a front-page box or boxes announcing a paper’s inside contents, sometimes called a menu
Trademark-the legal, registered name of a product or business. Be sure to use capital letters when using such trademarked names as Kleenex and Coke, which are sometimes used generically