Classwork - A Level Media Studies

 This blog post, written by me (Beatrice), details the resources of the materials I studied in class and outside of class that will be beneficial for our music video project. This will include the technical elements, theories, and additional information regarding media studies.

TECHNICAL ELEMENTS

Camera Angles and Movements

Camera angles and movements are essential for visual storytelling, as it helps to shape how audience perceive the scenes, emotions, and theme of the narrative in a music video.

Camera angle is a specific view point from which a camera captures the subject or scene. This will impact how the audience interprets it. (e.g., higher camera angle makes the subject appears small / weak). It also influences the mise-en-scène, which guides the audiences' perspective and response to what is shown in the scenes. 

Here is the list of some camera angles that I've studied, along with the image of the notes I took in class : 

Effects 

Close-ups : focusing on a specific part of the subject / object in detail, used to intensify emotions and highlight details.

Extreme close-up : an even tighter version of close-up, focusing on very small details. It intensifies atmosphere and draw audiences' attention to details.

Medium shot : frames subject from the waist up, providing a balance between detail and context, as it offers a balanced view of the subject while still allowing some context or background to be visible.

Long shot : shows the subject from a distance, with the full body of the person visible but still focused on them within their surroundings. (noticeable environments, but the subject remains as the key focus)

Extreme long shot : the subject appears to be very small within the large environment, used to emphasize the vastness of the surroundings. (focuses more to the setting than subject)

High angle : the camera is placed above the subject, facing downwards. It makes the subject appear small, vulnerable, or powerless. 

Low angle : the camera is placed below the subject, facing upwards. It makes the subject appear large, powerful, or dominant.

Dutch angle : tilted sideways to create feelings of disorientation and imbalance. It can also create a surreal atmosphere.

POV : shows the scene from a character's perspective, making audiences see what the character would see if they were in the scenes themselves. It creates a sense of emotional engagement and immersion, as it allows audiences to experience the narrative firsthand.

Over the shoulder : positioned behind a character, slightly showing their back or shoulder. It gives the audience a sense of being part of the scene, as it typically focus on what they're looking at. 

Cowboy shot : frames the subject from the knees up to the head, often capturing action or preparation for intense moments. Often used to emphasize on confidence and power, as it highlights both the character's body and environment.

Establishing shot : serves to set the context of the environment, typically shown at the beginning of a scene. It provides clear understanding of where the action is taking place, as it establishes the location, mood, and relationship between characters or their surroundings.

Camera movement is the intentional movement of a camera during a shot to influence audiences' engagement with a subject and enhances the narrative. It also shapes how the audience interprets the visual content. 

Effects

Static : staying still, making the scene feels calm, peace, and normal.

Pan : moves horizontally, revealing information while mirroring the natural head movement of the audience.

Tilt : same as pan, except, it moves vertically.

Push in : moves closer to the subject, making the audience more involved and getting more serious. 

Pull out : moves further from the subject to detach from it.

Zoom in / out : using camera lens to get closer / further away from the subject. It draws our attention to it.

Tracking : following the subject from behind.

Trucking : following the subject from the side.

Boom : moves up and down, usually uses drones, cane or helicopter for the shot.

Crane : reveals the epic size of the setting / landscape.

Random : it gives a , raw, high energy, and natural feel to it, as it is usually shakey / handheld.

Mise-en-Scène

Mise-en-scène is every visual elements that appear in front of the camera and contribute to the overall look, feel, and meaning of the scene. It shapes the audiences' interpretation of characters, themes, and atmosphere. This is essential for encoding meaning, as it helps to communicate the themes and emotions visually. Additionally, each of these elements contributes to the preferred reading by shaping audiences' understanding without relying on dialogue.

The list above was made by my teacher, Mr. Nick.

Some mostly used mise-en-scène includes : 

Props : objects that the subjects interact with within the setting. It can be symbolic or functional.

Setting : physical location / environment where the scene takes place (can be realistic or stylized). It immediately informs the audiences about the context and time.

Costume, hair, and makeup : define subject's appearance. It helps to establish personality, social status, time period, or emotional state. 

Colour : contributes to the emotional feel of the scene, usually by colour grading and colour temperature (e.g., warm tone connote feelings of happiness and comfort, while cool tone connote feelings of sadness and melancholy).

Lighting : sets the mood and tone of the scene. (e.g., high-key lighting are often used in lighthearted scenes, while low-key lighting are often used in thriller scenes) 

Sound

Sound includes all audio element within a media text, such as music videos (the project that my team and I are currently working on), films, and television. It plays an important role in evoking emotions and creating the atmosphere. Sounds are categorized into three; diegetic, non-diegetic, and trans-diegetic. 

Diegetic sounds are sounds that can be heard by characters within the media text. It is used to add a sense of realism and immersion, revealing information to characters, then the audience.

Examples : footsteps, rain, voices.

This was also made by Mr. Nick.

Non-diegetic sounds are sounds that can only be heard by the audience. It enhances meaning, creating an emotional response in the audience. 

Examples : sound track, sound effects.

Trans-diegetic sounds are sounds that transitions from one to the other. It creates a link between the audience and world, making it more immersive.

Edit

Editing is the process of selecting, arranging, and manipulating footage to create a cohesive and engaging narrative. It is an important part of the post-production process, as it shapes the pacing and overall flow of the scene. The two main types of edits are continuity and non-continuity. 

Here is the note I created regarding editing, which outlines the different types of edits, brief descriptions of each, and short explanations of how they are used in media production ↓ 

THEORIES

Media theories are frameworks developed by theorists to understand, analyze, and explain how media texts influence and are interpreted by audiences. It reveals how different elements contributes to shape the meaning and social effects of media.

Although we've learned quite a lot of theories in media studies,

Here are some theories that are often used in this project : 

Uses and Gratification Theory - Blumler and Katz

Based on this theory, it is assumed that audiences actively choose media content to fulfill specific needs such as :

This theory makes us consider what audiences will seek in our music video and how our video will fulfill these expectations. 

Theory of Stardom - Richard Dyer

This theory focuses on the concept of stardom and how stars are constructed through the media. He believes that stars are constructed to represent 'real people' with real emotions, allowing audiences to connect with them and promote their products. Additionally, he argues that their personality is often crafted and influenced by the media, producers, and public relations. This theory makes us think about how we will present our star in our music video, the type of image and persona we're constructing, and how it ties into their broader public image. We can also use this theory by exploring their 'real' and 'reel' persona in both the music video and social media. 

Here is the link to the classwork my team and I have created regarding this theory → Classwork ; Theory of Stardom

Identity Theory - David Gauntlett

According to this theory, he suggests that media provides audiences with resources to construct their personal and social identities. People use media to understand who they are, what they value, and how they fit into the world. He also argues that in the past, media offered fixed representations of identity (such as rigid gender roles or stereotypes), but in modern media, audiences are given more diverse representations. This theory is useful, as it helps me understand how music videos can represent identity through narrative, visual, and characters. 

Representation Theory - Stuart Hall

Stuart Hall argued that "Media doesn't reflect meaning, media creates meaning". This theory explores how media represents social groups, identities, and issues. He argued that representations is not just about reflecting reality, but also about constructing the meaning of it through language, visuals, and cultural symbols. He also argued that events/people/groups don't have fixed meanings; instead, the media actively shapes and assigns meaning to them after they occur.

This theory is useful to analyze how social identities (such as race, gender, class) are portrayed in music videos, as music videos are where different individuals or groups are represented in various ways. It often use visual codes and symbols that either conform or subvert stereotypes.

Genre Theory - Steve Neale

'Similarity and Difference' ; the idea of this theory where Steve Neale stated that "A text must be similar enough to be recognize as a particular genre but also be different enough to be new and exciting". This theory explores the ways genres are constructed and evolve over time. This helps me to understand how audiences identify with certain conventions and expectations of a particular genre and how these genres can be conformed or subverted through media texts. 

This theory will be useful, as it will help to shape the overall style and message for our music video project while engaging with the expectations of our audiences.

TERMINOLOGIES

Genres

Genre is the categorization of different types of media content based on their shared conventions, themes, and styles. It helps audiences and what to expect from a particular media text. By understanding genres, it helps me to analyze and deconstruct media texts, which allows me to  identify the specific elements that define them. 

• Sub genre is a more specific category within a genre. It usually shares core elements of the broader genre but it has its own unique features to it. 

• Hybrid genre is a mix of two or more genres / sub-genres. It blends the characteristics from different genres to create something more unique, which makes it appeal to a broader, or more specific audience. This allows audiences who typically enjoy one genre to explore others they may not usually consider, thus attracting a wider range of audience. In music videos, this type of genres are surprisingly common, as artists often experiment with various visual and musical styles to create innovative and engaging content.

Conventions

Conventions expected patterns and practices that a particular genre, or media type follows. These help audiences identify the genre or type of media they are engaging with, as they are familiar and often predictable. They act as a standard for how media texts are structured and presented.

• Conform : Conforming means to follow established conventions, norms, and expectations within a certain genre, narrative structure, or media type. When a media text conforms, it follows the typical patterns or codes that are commonly recognized by the audience to make it predictable or familiar. Furthermore, it often serves to meet the expectations of the audience and ensure familiarity, which helps build a connection with the audience, as they know what they’re going to experience based on the genre.

• Subvert : Subversion refers to the act of challenging or reversing traditional expectations, conventions, or norms, essentially the opposite of conforming. It occurs when a media text deliberately breaks away from the standard codes and conventions typically associated with a particular genre. Subversion is often used to create surprise, critique social norms, or make a statement. Additionally, it helps to distinguish a work from others within the same genre and challenges the audience's expectations, which encourages them to reflect on the content in a deeper way.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONS

Storyboard

A storyboard is a visual representation that consists of a series of sketches that represents the key scenes of a music video or other media texts, and are arranged in the order they will appeal. It is used to plan and visualize the order of events to ensure that the narrative, camera angles, and other aspects are well thought out. Furthermore, it ensures that all visual components of our music video are planned and coordinated in advance, which will make the production process smoother and more efficient.

Here is the example of a storyboard made by Mr. Nick, along with my notes below it ↓

Storyboard's Key Elements :

- Frames : shows key moments, movements, and transitions.

- Shot number : orders of each scene.

- Shot duration : the amount of time each shot would take.

- Camera directions : how the shot would be captured through camera angles and movements.

- Transitions : shows the edit / cut type after each scenes.

- Shot descriptions : a short description of the action happening within the shot.

Here are some examples of the storyboards I created for various class projects we've completed : 

This is a storyboard I created for an ad promoting Miss Dior’s Eau de Parfum 2021. As shown above, it includes detailed descriptions of all the key elements I envisioned using. 

The storyboard above is another one I created. This time, it's for a documentary project we completed prior to this one. Unlike the previous storyboard, this one is less detailed and lacks written descriptions, as I felt the drawings alone effectively conveyed the necessary elements. Additionally, we had a script with detailed scene numbers that I followed thoroughly, so adding more details to the storyboard didn’t seem necessary.

 

Clapperboard

Clapperboard is a tool used in video production to assist with organizing shots and syncing audio and video during the filming process. I think this will be very useful during the post-production phase, as it allows editors to easily identify the footage that corresponds to the intended shot. Moreover, it helps the editor to know which scene they should work with.

Multi-cam Editing

Multi-cam editing is the process of combining footage from multiple cameras, each capturing different camera angles, into a single sequence. Our teacher introduced this technique to us, as he believed it would enhance the overall visual quality of our music video. I am interested in using this technique to our project, as I find it highly beneficial in making the final product appear more dynamic and visually diverse. In my opinion, by presenting the narrative from multiple points of view, multi-cam editing could help prevent the music video from feeling repetitive or monotonous. However, I am unsure if we will be able to implement this technique, as our team only consists of three members, with my two other teammates acting as the stars in the video.

The result of our multi-cam editing is shared through this blog post → Multi-cam Editing Blog Post

Colour Theory 

Colour theory is the study of how different colours work together to create a visually appealing and balanced result. It also acts as a set of guidelines used by designers, filmmakers, and media producers to convey meaning and evoke specific emotions through the use of colour. In media products like music videos and digipaks, colours are carefully selected to create mood,  influence audience’s emotional response, and highlight certain themes. 

• Warm colours such as red, orange, and yellow often connote warmth, happiness, and passion. However, it can also connote danger depending on the context. 
• Cool colours such as blue, green, and purple tend to connote fresh, relaxation, calmness, and peace. However it can also connote sadness and isolation at times.

Saturation also plays an important role in shaping the mood. Often times, images with desaturated / muted colours connotes feelings of nostalgia, while also creating a sense of melancholy or somber. In contrast, high saturation tends to create a more energetic and lively atmosphere, which can evoke feelings of excitement and positivity. This will encourage the audience to align with the preferred reading, as suggested by Stuart Hall's Reception theory. 

Below are examples of two images placed side by side, each using a different colour approach ↓

This research has helped me develop a clearer understanding of how colours can influence audience perception. I applied this knowledge when selecting the visual style for our media products (music video, digipak, and social media). This ensures that the colours I chose will reflect the intended mood and themes for each product. 

Typography

Typography is the style, appearance, and arrangement of text to make it clear and visually appealing for readers. It involves choices such as font type (serif, san-serif, etc), weight (bold, thin, light), size, spacing, and alignment. This is important when creating a media product, as it helps to communicate meaning beyond the words themselves. Producers use typography to direct audience's attention, establosh brand identity, and reinforce certain mood or genre of the product they're making. Moreover, consistent typography choices can strengthen the star's brand identity, as it makes it easier for audiences to recognize the star.

Fonts

Fonts are a crucial part of typography, as they refer to the style and design of text in any media product. Fonts can help to shape the meaning of the text and guide how audience perceive them, so they will follow the producer's preferred meaning. 

• Bold and sharp fonts usually connotes seriousness or strength.
• Light and thin fonts connotes elegance and simplicity.

Below are examples of how different fonts can create different moods. ↓

Apricots : Handwritten, brush-style script font. 

This font creates a sense of authenticity and closeness. Fonts like this are tipically associated with indie music, romance, and lifestyle, as they mimic the personal and informal feel of handwriting. When it's applied to a music video or digipak, it often suggests themes related to personal stories, relationships, or nostalgia, as it helps to  establish a more intimate connection with the audience.

The Seasons : Classical, formal-looking font.

This is a type of serif font. Since it looks formal, serif fonts are tipically linked to timelessness, elegance, as it suggests a more poetic and sophisticated tone. The refined and structured appearance makes it suitable for media products that aims for an artistic or literary aesthetic.

Poppins Bold : Clean, modern font.

This is a type of sans-serif font with strong visual weight. The bold structure looks confident and direct, which allows the text to stand out easily and attract audience's attention. Sans-serif fonts like this are often associated with contemporary design and are often used in social media platforms and digital branding. This type of font is effective for products targeted at younger audience, as it connotes simplicity and modernity. 

Reflection : Although creating this blog was time-consuming, particularly as I had to revisit certain aspects of my research, I believe it will be highly beneficial in the long run since I can easily refer back to it if I need to recall specific information or want a quick reference. Additionally, it helps me to review and strengthen the classwork I have completed, which enables me to refresh my memory on topics I may have almost forgotten. Overall, I enjoyed working on this blog, although I didn’t anticipate the amount of time I would spend on it.