TV Drama - Narrative

The regulations of the film industry in the UK & the US

United Kingdom:

The BBFC was established in 1912 as the British Board of Film Censors by members of the film industry. It began operating on 1 January 1913. Its legal basis was the Cinematograph Act 1909, which required cinemas to have licenses from local authorities. The Act was introduced for safety reasons after a number of nitrate film fires in unsuitable venues (fairgrounds and shops that had been hastily converted into cinemas) but the following year a court ruling determined that the criteria for granting or refusing a license did not have to be restricted to issues of health and safety.

In order to protect children from unsuitable and even harmful content in films and videos and to give consumers information they might need about a particular film or video before deciding whether or not to view it, BBFC examines and age rates films and videos before they are released. This ensures the highest possible level of protection and empowerment.

U- suitable for all                                              15- sutiable for 15 years and older

PG- parent guidence                                        18- adults

12- suitable or 12 years and over                  R18- adults work for licensed premises only

 America:

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is an American trade association that represents the six major Hollywood studios. It was founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) to advance the business interests of its members. In its formative years it took on the role of devising guidelines for film content which resulted in the creation of the Production Code, and currently administers the MPAA film rating system

1968:  G- general audience

            M- mature audiences (changed to PG)

            R- restricted audiences (no-one under 16, then changed to 17)

1980’s/1990’s:

           G- general audiences                                                 R- restricted audiences (under 17)

           PG- parental guidance                                       X- adults only (changed to NC-17 in 1990)

           PG-13- between PG and R                              X- added to the pornography industry 1980

 Comparisons:

·         US rating system is voluntary, film makers aren’t being forced to submit their films to the board for ratings. People signed to the MPAA agreed to submit all of their theatrical releases for rating.

·         Both of the film ratings follow the main theme of keeping a gap of five between each categories.

·         Both were set up by their respective film industries, but operate independently of these bodies. The full time examiners in both countries (around 16 people in the UK and 12 in the US) are not required to have any specific qualifications to train for the role, but are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, in an attempt to provide as wide a selection of views as possible, and represent the diversity of their nations. The BBFC is based in London, and CARA in Los Angeles – both national centres of film production.

·       In the UK, the BBFC has been classifying videos/DVDs since the passing of the Video Recordings Act in 1984. Even if a film has already been given a category for cinematic viewing, the BBFC will separately classify the DVD version of it, to be sold or rented. It is possible for a DVD of a film to have a different classification to the version shown in the cinema.

Audience Theory

‘Vertical Integration actively stifles creativity in the movie industry’

 

Vertical Integration is Production, Distribution and Exhibition. This means that the studio had total control over the movie stars and the people who worked there. Something that was also used was ‘Block Booking’ this was important to the studios because the company would sell multiple films to theatres as a unit. It would typically include one attractive A-Budget movie and the rest would be a mix of A-Budget movies and then B-Budget movies. Typically film studios would own their own theatres and this way they would be taking control of the whole studio process. By doing this it gave the studios more power ‘owning’ their stars. 

Vertical Integration stopped creativity because it didn’t allow actors and actresses to express themselves and branch out into other movies because they were ‘owned’. This way external studios couldn’t express themselves and this way they couldn’t expanded, but also actresses and actors couldn’t go to other movies that were picked just for them so the creativity of other films that were ‘perfectly’ right for one actor couldn’t be used due to the ‘star theory’. ‘Star Owning’ this was something that the studios did and they would control everything that they would do. Make them change their look and date other stars to make their studio look better. If a director wrote a film for someone that was controlled by another studio they wouldn’t be allowed to par take in the making of that film. Paramount had a star called Paulette Goddard and when she first joined Paramount this was a turning point in her careers, before she joined Paramount she was controlled by Charlie Chaplin and his studio called 'Charlie Chaplin Studios' she also dated him so when he hired her she soon became controlled by him.  She was put in his next box office hit, Modern Times in 1936. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (1938) because she wanted to be known because after 'Modern Times' she didn't have any up coming films. Before this Selznick loaned her to MGM to appear in two films but Selznick was worried about legal issues by signing her to a contract that might conflict with her pre-existing contracts with the Chaplin studio.

Paramount studios owned a chain of theatres the first theatre they owned was called ‘The Barn’ and the first film they showed was in Utah America and their studios were located in Hollywood America. Paramount ran two studios one in New York and one in Hollywood this made Paramount one of the big five because they owned two, they would have owned twice the amount of stars.

Paramount’s owner and founder Zukor built the ‘The Public Theatres Corporation’ which nearly had 2,000 screens this way they were producing a lot of money, there were 106m people compare to the UK they had about 44m. This meant that they were producing a lot more money than the UK theatres and during the 1920 in America there were a lot of immigrants coming over and the theatre was a ‘new’ place for them to visit. Also during this time it was the ‘silent ear’ so the films were easy to follow. Alfred Hitchcock was a famous director of manipulating sound he was one of the first to play with the sound to create tension and suspense. Richard Dyer said that ‘Stars as an image are constructed in all kinds of media texts other than films, but none the less films remain privileged instances of the stars image’. This shows that the films made the ‘stars’ that weren’t recognised for being them because they were opened by the studio they were only noticed for that.

Sia- Chandelier; Music Video Analysis

 

During this music video, they use a lot of wide-angle shots this way they are showing the background. Showing the fact that there is only one person in the music video. The music video is set in an abandoned house and this gives the music video lots more depth because the lyrics ‘Keep my glass full until morning light, 'cos I'm just holding on for tonight’ is reflected throughout the house, all of the furniture is ruined or is covered in graffiti this is therefore shown through the background. During the music video it follows a dance routine that is performed by Maddie Ziegler, she performs movements that correspond to the lyrics her movements are very quick and sharp, which relates to the theme of the song which is about having an alcohol problem. During the video the camera zooms into the girls face (reaction shot) this is showing her facial expressions to the lyrics, she repeats the lyrics ‘Keep my glass full until morning light, cos I’m just holding on for tonight’ and she is looking up and waves her hand while facing the sky. This is very effective because the actions are portraying the lyrics and is bringing the song alive by showing the actions an alcoholic would act.

The lighting at the start of the music video it is very bright, they use very high key lighting. This is a contrast with the out side of the world because the bright lights are coming into the old broken window. Also when they do the zooms onto the girls face its very bright and you can see all her features. This way all of her movements are on show and the key light helps highlight this. Halfway way through the song the camera follows the girl through the house and at the end of an corridor she is visible, the corridor is all black and then the tiny spot light at the end is highlighting her and this is very signified because it links back to theme and its showing that she is fighting her demons because throughout the song she is contently dancing around herself and ‘hurting’ herself and this is showing that she is in an constantly battle with herself. After she has done this she runs away and runs to the window and traps herself in the curtains and she is surrounded by light and this showing the contrast between her feelings or thoughts. ‘Won’t look down, won’t open my eyes’ this is sang while she is by the bright lights, which is a contrast between the actions and the lyrics because she is feeling like giving up or she is going somewhere where she doesn’t want to go but actually she isn't going somewhere bad she is by the light and is surrounded by it.

During the video the girl ‘Maddie’ is wearing a white wig and just a skin coloured leotard which could be portrayed as ‘Sia’. This links to the theme of the music video because its closely linked to alcoholism or the thoughts of a ‘party girl’. Her costume could be showing what a ‘party girl’ looks like before he goes out, that fact that she couldn't be wearing anything and he hasn’t started changing herself yet and that all she is thinking about is having a drink. ‘Sun is up, I'm a mess, Gotta get out now, gotta run from this, Here comes the shame, here comes the shame’ This is showing that she is upset with what happened to her and then she needs to sort herself out, she needs to ‘run’ form this situation which she cant run from because she can’t. When she sings the lyrics ‘123,123 drink’ Maddie dances in a very robotic manner this could be showing the actions the ‘Party Girl’ is taken she doesn’t understand why she is doing it, its like she has been told to perform all of these movements and she can’t do anything to stop herself so she just carries on.

The video has been taken in one very long take, everything is combined with each other and its looks like you are watching a story at the start you see the girl come home and then at the end of the music video she is waving goodbye. During the music video the main focus is always the girl, they don’t swap to photos or someone else this could show that she is in control. They are always following her around showing all the key movements she makes, by doing this you are seeing a different person throughout the music video the girls actions and you see her character changing showing what the ‘Party Girl’ goes through when she is left alone. The camera isn’t always showing close-ups of the facial expressions it also shows how she looks in the house, at one point in the music video she is dancing in the main room and the camera pans away leaving a long shot of the room and in the corner Maddie is dancing facing the wall this could show how her thoughts and feelings are taking over her actions that due to all the drinking she is forcing herself to feel and act in a certain manner.

How did Paramount Pictures use Vertical Integration & Star Theory

Class Notes

Vertical Integration:
- Production,  Distribution, Exhibition

Block Booking:

• -It's an important part of the studio system (was a practise).
• -Studios would sell multiple films to theatres as a unit.
• -Typically include only one attractive A-Budget movie that the theatre really wanted and then the rest would be a mixture of A-Budget films and B-Budget films.

This way Block Booking gave people a freedom of choose on what films they could watch

• -The Big Five owned the cinemas.
• -Sometimes one studio would own all the cinema chains in the city.
• -in 1945, 17% of the theatres in America were owned by the studios. Actors, Producers and  Directors were under control, the hand a contract.
• -Studios were also infamous for 'owning' their stars, this was something called the 'star system'.

United States vs. Paramount Pictures- Court Case

Paramount Pictures was a major film studios and they owned theatres were there films were only shown, this was through partnerships. Everyone including directors, producers and actors and staff owned the film process and they also created the prints and then distributed them throughout some theatres that thy owned. The issue that the studios had unfair trade practices was one of the reasons that they got sued in 1938 by the U.S Department of Justice. The society of Independent Motion Picture Producers also filed a lawsuit against Paramount Theatres in 1942, this became the first major lawsuit.

The federal government case in 1938 settled with a consent decree in 1940 this allowed the government to reinstate the lawsuit. The consent decree included some conditions;
·        The ‘big five’ studios couldn’t block-book short films.

·        The ‘big five’ could block-book features but they could only apply this to the maximum of five films.

·        Buying films without seeing the film beforehand would be outlawed and replaced with ‘trade showing’ special screenings every two weeks.

·        An administration board was formed to enforce these requirements.

The film industry didn’t meet the requirements of the consent decree, this therefore forces the government to reinstate the lawsuit. In 1943 the case went to trial and they reached Supreme Court in 1948 and they wanted them to get to get rid of their movie chains. The defendants in court were Paramount, RKO Radio Pictures, Loew’s, 20^th Century-Fox, Columbia, Universal International and Warner Bros. This made a dip in the movie business until 1972 when ‘The Godfather’- the first modern blockbuster. Paramount spilt into two companies: Paramount Pictures and the theatre chain United Paramount Theatres they then merged in 1953 with American Broadcasting Company, consequences of the decision include;

·        More independent producers and studios to produce their film product free of major studio interference.
·        The beginning of the end of the old Hollywood studio system and its golden age.

Their film libraries, especially with the rise of television- that then result of these libraries being sold to other entities. Paramount itself sold off a majority of its films to MCA, which then created EMKA.

Narrative in the Media.

·         Media Texts present different versions of the world through the ‘packaging’ of events and characters into stories sometimes stories are extended and developed and also they can be continuous. Narrative ‘snapshots’ or single narrative events can leave the viewers to make their own narrative, this is very effective for television.

·         Different narratives e.g. thrillers, ghost stories, dreams, jokes. Have certain common elements and different characteristics. And this shows the ‘blurred boundary’ between ‘fact’ and ‘fiction’.

·         The difference between ‘story’ and ‘narration’ is that stories are told, in an order and a point of view. Same series will produce the same events also the characters will help produce different narratives if told to the codes and conventions for example a ‘joke, news’.

·         Stories need a narrator this helps organise and comment on the events taking place, this helps involves a point of view from which the characters are presented. It implies a listener or an audience helping the audience respond. It helps bring an order (start, middle, end) also a basic decision of type of story that’s being shown. Codes are also shown so they can perform certain distinctive functions (create suspense, provide setting to further the plot) different elements ‘mediate’ the construction or presentation of ‘reality’ in the film of television.

·         Narratives rely on the presentation of an initial state of order which is in some way disturbed, order and disequilibrium in relation to a particular problem or set of problems.  ‘Establishing a Problem à Elaboration of Problem à Resolution of the Problem’.

·         Nature of the problem and how it is resolved depends on what type of genre of the narrative, whether it involves a mystery for example. This can be applied to News Papers also it helps to present the News beginning with an initial order, through the disrupting or disrupted ‘other word’ of violence and death to the ‘end’ which promises some kind of authoritative explanation or satisfying sense of resolution. 

·         In Films and Television its seen that there isn’t a real narrator however the camera shots provide us, shot by shot a ordered sequence of images, which the viewers will ‘read’. Images may ‘denote’ one thing but in combination with others it will connote other things. This involves considering the role in which the viewers are ‘reading’ or ‘decoding’ the narrative.

Everything within a narrative has a particular function or serves a purpose- nothing is ever superfluous.

My Presentation on Universal and Columbia Studios

 

 

 

The Jazz Singer (1927)

The Jazz Singer

Produced by Warner Bros Pictures, Inc.; black and white, 35mm, silent with synchronized musical numbers; running time: 89 minutes. Released October 1927, New York.

The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer garden he is punished by his father, a cantor, prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer. He attempts to build a career as an entertainer but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage.
This film became very popular due to the fact that it was one of the films that came out of the silent era and was a ‘talkie’, it was also produced by the Warner Bro’s. When the film was first aired the reaction from the public was very positive they enjoyed the singing and speech during the film, the marketing team really helped produce the film into a really big hit. This film soon began to turn into one of the Warner Bro’s biggest blockbuster for the very first ‘talkies’. It engrossed $3.9 million (US$126 million in 2005 dollars) at the domestic box office. The film The Jazz Singer helped end the silent film era.

The Jazz Singer, has ‘blackfaced’ imagery and this is one of the films core themes, it touches on the exploration of the ethnic culture during the American identity. Lots of other 1920’s films have this theme in their films, but The Jazz Singer was more powerful because it’s central to narrative and development and expression.  This was to show that the character ‘Jakie’ was trying to find himself in the mass American culture and become a famous singer, the film was trying to that the Jewish Immigrant still has the same rights and privileges as any other American.  It also won a Special Academy Award to Warner Bros. production Chief Darryl F. Zanuck "for producing The Jazz Singer, the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZATUZ66EKaA

Task Seven

Watch a UK-Based Drama and consider how young people are represented?

The programme ‘Common’ is about a young teen getting caught into a murder that he didn’t commit. The character Johnjo gets asked by three mates if he will drive them to the pizza shop, where the fatal murder of Tommy takes place. Johnjo unknowingly took place in the murder under the ‘law of joint enterprise’. The programme explores the contentious issues brought by ‘joint enterprise’.

· Use of costume;
The four main characters are wearing quite simple clothes, showing that they are just normal person. They aren’t really rich and wear designer clothes. Also the parents and friends are also wearing common clothes, showing that they are just an average family and they are just like everyone else. I think this is very effective because it shows that something like this could happen to anyone that it doesn’t just happen to certain people. That it an effect everyone it could be someone you walk past or someone that lives down your street.

· Use of actor;
The four main characters are played by young actors, they use language and act in the way for ‘typical’ teenage lads would act. When they find out the trouble that they could get into they all start to blame one another and bicker about who needs to take the blame. By using a young actor it helps the audience connect with the feelings that he would be going through, the actor that plays Johnjo takes on the role well and shows the real emotion that a young teenager would go through, making a good connection with the audience.

·  The character’s actions;
The main character Johnjo gets caught in a murder he didn’t commit, he drives the getaway car and doesn’t understand that one of his friends has killed another boy ‘Tommy’. After the murder has been committed the boy that committed the murder threated Johnjo to not be ‘grass’. But after Johnjo’s parents find out his position in this murder case, Johnjo walks to the police station and hands himself in. Telling the truth hoping that they would see that he isn’t guilty of murder, he only gives the name of one of other boys involved he never revels the rest, he only thinks that they need the killer to sort the case out. But with the new law all the boys need to be named because they were all involved.

After he has been sent to jail Johnjo writes a letter to Tommy’s mother Margaret explaining that he never wanted Tommy to be hurt. That he hopes he can forgive her for what has been done, he then explains that he understands that he is guilty for what had taken place. The two mothers then embrace and that gives people the understanding of both sides of the ‘joint enterprise’ and how they cope with it.

Task Six

Choose a director and watch as many films directed by them as you can.

Steven Spielberg; Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Jaws and ET

Do they tend to direct a specific genre of film?
Steven Spielberg, doesn’t have one specific genre. He has movies that are non- fiction like Jurassic Park and he also had made sci-fi films then his films began expressing issues such as the Holocaust, the slave trade, war, and terrorism. So he doesn’t stick with just one genre of film, he is very experienced in lots of genres. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Are the storylines/ themes of the films similar?
Steven Spielberg has made movies like Schindler’s list this is very specific to the Holocaust and shows the effect the Holocaust had on everyone and that one man’s actions can help save people’s lives. Also he has made Jurassic Park which is completely different it’s a non-fiction and is about a childhood dream coming true and everything goes wrong. The storylines for most of the films are very different and have very different storylines e.g. Jaws and Schindler’s List they both focus very different subjects.

Is lighting/colour used in a similar way in your director’s films?
The lighting and colour is different in most of films, this is to help portray an image and for dramatic effect. In Schindler’s List they don’t use any colour it’s a black and white film, apart from a young girl who is in a red coat. The colour red shows that the little girl is being effected by the war without even knowing what’s going on, showing the deeper side of colour and how that’s effective. Jaws and Jurassic Park use similar lighting when the film grows more dramatic the lighting becomes duller and darker creating more drama and suspense. 

Are the films edited in similar ways?
The sci-fi films and the horror films are edited in the same way, they have very fast pact scenes and that is followed by a cut into another part of the film. By using the fast cutting editing it helps the film create drama showing that during the film there is much distress and drama going. They also use a lot of Action editing showing that there is more action making it more interesting, like in Jaws when the shark starts attacking everything is so manic and water splashing everywhere the cuts are short and sharp. They use dissolve out when a character dies this way it’s slowing the film down letting the drama disappear and the attention be focused on that character before rushing straight back into the drama.
 
Does the director tend to use the same actors?
No he doesn’t use the same characters, in every film he uses different characters. I think this is a better than using the same characters because the audience will connect with that character, also by using different actors they will take on the roll differently. Tim Burton always uses Jonny Depp, but he is quite a versatile actor and if you don’t have an actor like that then it’s always better to use an actor that will perform its best.
 
 Which production company distributes your director’s films? What other sort of films do they distribute? Are there links?
Steven Spielberg’s main films like E.T, Jurassic Park and Jaws are produced by Universal Pictures they all achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film at the time. Universal Pictures doesn’t really produce on genre of films, they produce different types e.g. Fast and Furious, The Mummy, American Pie and Les Miserables. The links could be that he uses Universal Pictures because he knows that they will help make his movies popular and also they are very well known and recognized.  

Task Five

 

Choose and advertisement from a magazine of any genre and analyse the following aspects, in terms of what it tells you about the product and the audience it’s targeting?

I’ve chosen an advertisement for make-up, from ‘Glamour Magazine’.

Use of image;
The main image is of the model, showing off the make-up and the effect that gives. She isn’t focused on the camera, she is looking away also the image has been taken in quite a soft light which doesn’t make her standout. The sharper image is in the bottom right-hand corner, it shows the make-up that the model is wearing making the make-up stand out more than the model, making the reader focus more the product. This makes the image very effective because it’s showing people that’s they can look like a model with just a simple touch of make-up.

Use of colour;

The image doesn’t use much bright colours, it uses neutral colours and black, the black border gives the image quite a sophisticated and formal look. Also the main image gives quite a dusty effect, showing that the model is in the background and the bolder colours standout. The three main colours used are pink, white and black this gives the advert quite a simple effect not making everything overcrowded or too in your face. The simple colours gives the advert a calm scene.

Use of font;

The advert doesn’t use too much words, the use of the font is very simple and effective. The font is bold and in white, this is very powerful against the simple pinks and stands out on top of the black. Also the use of the simple font really shows that the make-up is simple and easy to use. The font doesn’t standout over the picture, but also the advert isn’t full of words and uneasy to understand, the little use of font is more effective.

Choice of words;

The text is bold and simple and main points are in bold, ‘Max Factor’ is in bold and at the top, sowing straight away that the image is all about that. Also they don’t waffle about their make-up, they use intriguing words like ‘voluminous lashes’ and ‘perfect smoky eye’. This is drawing the readers in making them want to get that look also the word ‘Now’ is in capital letters, which gives the sense that this make-up is only available for a limited time making the readers buy their products. ‘#MAKEGLAMOURHAPPEN’ they use a hashtag this is connecting with the social media and drawing a bigger target audience for their products.

Task Four

My Media consumption over the period of a week

Week One		Television	Radio	Social Media	Magazine
Monday		1h	0h	4h	30mins
Tuesday		0h	1h	3h	1h
Wednesday		2h	2h	1h	0h
Thursday		3h	0h	0h	2h
Friday		0h	1h	1h	1h
Saturday		1h	30mins	0h	30mins
Sunday		30mins	2h	2h	1h

Week Two		Television	Radio	Social Media	Magazine
Monday		2h	1h	30mins	30mins
Tuesday		1h	0h	2h	1h
Wednesday		0h	30mins	1h	2h
Thursday		2h	0h	1h	0h
Friday		30mins	1h	0h	1h
Saturday		1h	0h	30mins	30mins
Sunday		0h	1h	1h	1h

What do you consume the most?

Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

What do you consume the least?

Radio and Magazines

Three texts that will help bring my media up to speed.

Media Week Magazine, Media.Edusites.co.uk, The Daily Mail.