Week 10 – Task 26 – Recap on TV drama terms – final home learning task

We will be revisiting how to analyse TV drama next week and looking at using a variety of terms you have already come across in a textual analysis.

You need to revisit the terms from Mise En Scene, Camera, Editing and Sound to ensure that you understand the majority of them and can recognise their use and appearance in the moving image i.e the TV drama clip.

Here is the glossary.  It will also be on classroom if you want your own copy. Remember to make a folder for TV drama in google so that you can keep all your resources there.

Make sure you read it, see if you can remember a good number of them and then we can start to use them in a more focused way next week.

If you still have outstanding posts then make sure you complete them before next week and also collate as much as you can onto your Music Industry page to create a one stop shop for revision and reference when we come back to it later this year.

Well done for tackling Sound on your own.

See you on Monday – we are so looking forward to getting back to face to face teaching.

 

 

TV Drama – recap Mise-en-Scene and Camera

Textual Analysis

Task 1

Review these two slide shows on:

1. Mise-en-Scene

2. Camera

Practice Textual Analysis

Analyse the following TV Drama clip in class and discussing how the mise-en-scene & camera communicates meaning. First of all after watching it, summarise what the clip is mainly focused on in terms of what themes, issues, social groups are represented.

In pairs, you should aim to find 3 moments when camera is used to represent a theme, issue, social group and 3 moments when MES is used to represent a theme, issue, social group.

Glossaries & Analytical Verbs

The assessment for this essay will be looking for your accurate use of terminology to describe the specific examples you are analysing. You will also be evaluating what meaning those examples communicate about the representation of the person, place or event; this means you need a range of synonyms for ‘represent’. Please use the resources below to develop your technical and analytical vocabulary:

  1. Camera terms
  2. MES terms
  3. Synonyms for Represent

Dr Who – Textual analysis

Here is a clip for your next analysis:

Analyse how Camera and Mise-en-scene are used to represent characters, themes and events in Dr Who?

You should include:

  • 3 examples of mise-en-scene and…
  • 3 of camera (angles, framing and movement).

Remember: T (terms), E (examples – descriptions), A (analysis – meaning communicated) and S (significance to the representation of themes and characters in the sequence).

Use this sheet for taking  notes. on the sequence.

Submission

Turn/hand in your essay to Classroom.  A template is available there.

Camera, Framing and Distance – all make meaning

TASK 1

In groups of @ 3, you must take at least 50 photos around school that attempt to tell a story – use distance, angle and framing to show how the camera can make meaning.  Use each other as models or props that are easily obtainable. Think too about MES – particular body language, facial expression, posture, proxemics and gesture but the camera work is your main story telling tool.

For example:

  • an extreme close up of a tear stained eyes could underline a character’s sadness and vulnerability.
  • an extreme long shot of a man standing alone on a deserted beach might portray his isolation and solitude.
  • a two shot of a two people, with one in the foreground looking away from the camera and the other slightly out of focus in the background could add an enigmatic, mysterious feel to the scene as well.

Remember to consider:

  • Angle – high, low, canted x 3, aerial
  • Distance – ECU, MS, LS, ELS x 3
  • Composition – rule of thirds, lead space and Depth of Field x 3

TASK 2 –

KEY TERMS:  DISTANCE, ANGLE, FRAMING, COMPOSITION, NARRATIVE, REPRESENT

Technical Camera Terms (blog post)

Upload the contact sheet to your blog and reflect on how you coped with the DSLR functions and how you achieved your goal of telling stories using a camera.  Always focus forward too – how will this approach to taking photographs help you with your own music magazine production?


TASK 3 –

KEY TERMS:  TECHNICAL TERM, DENOTATION, CONNOTATION, REPRESENT, NARRATIVE, IMAGE AND AN IDEA

The Camera Talks (blog post)

Each photo should then be uploaded to a moodboard of your choice (see suggestions below). You will then

  • #the technical term (#longshot#lowangle)
  • #the example/denotation (#manalone#teacherlookingcross)
  • #the analysis/connotation (#lonely#excited#leaving)

Try and get some special FX in too i.e. motion speed blur or DOF?

Use locations around the school (but be respectful and safe) i.e. from a high angle at the top of the stairs looking down at your subjects or a low angle looking up at your subject/frames/point of views, lead space looking wistfully out of a window at the sky?

MOODBOARD SUGGESTIONS:

  • google slide but this is a bit over used now so why not branch out?
  • gomoodboard.co (snip tool the board and save as jpeg, save and publish and copy the URL, link this URL to the jpeg in the post and ask the examiner to click on the image to see the analysis/hashtags).
  • canva.com
  • spark.adobe.com
  • goboard.com
DISTANCE
Image result for close up of tear stained eye
The close up of the tear stained eyes conveys a sense of sadness and vulnerability of the model.
ANGLE
Image result for high angle shot of a small child
The high angle shot of the small children  helps represent their weakness by reinforcing their small stature. The composition using the rule of 3rds also draws attention to their isolation as they sit firmly in the middle of the shot surrounded by foliage and no other humans.
COMPOSITION 
Image result for depth of field
The yellow snooker ball  is clearly the important object in this frame. Using depth of field, the other snooker ball is out of focus, present and yet not as important as the yellow one that signifying that the important focus of the photograph is the yellow number 1 ball.

Please click on the moodboard below to see how the comments on the meaning and composition of the shots have been compiled. Good luck. HAVE FUN!

Essential Rules of Composition

Good shots do not just rely on using the focal length and shutter speed well or even just getting something in focus.  You must always try and work out how and where to place  the objects/subjects in your frame so as to draw attention to the main focus of your ‘story’ (picture).

Composition

Remember, this is all about story telling so make sure the signs, symbols and messages you want to convey are placed and highlighted correctly in the frame.

There are a number of rules relating to formal composition:

  • The Rule of Thirds
  • Depth of Field
  • Contrast & Texture
  • Lead Room

These are rules which can be followed or subverted to effect in film making.

 

Every Picture Tells a Story

Just as MES can be used to convey a mood, represent a character, convey a genre or help tell a story, CAMERA too can be used to create meaning in a media text.

Here is a glossary of camera terms you will need to learn and know.

How many different types of camera angle, framing, distance and movement can you spot in the Chicken Run clip and how do they help tell the story?