Category: Media Language

The Camera Talks – #moodboard

Media Language, Music Magazine, Year 12 Coursework 
KEY TERMS

DISTANCE, ANGLE, FRAMING, COMPOSITION, NARRATIVE, REPRESENT, DENOTATION, CONNOTATION, NARRATIVE, IMAGE AND AN IDEA

This post has three elements to it.

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

Upload the photos to a folder.

Task 2

Choose 9 shots that show different framing, angles, composition, distance to help represent different narratives.

Using Canva – embed the 9 different shots.

Annotate each photo with:

  • #denotation/#technical term/#connotation i.e.
  • #manaloneincarpark#longshot#lonliness

Task 3

Reflect on how you have used a camera angles, composition, distance, framing and MES of proxemics, facial expressions, body language and props to help convey a narrative and represent an idea.  Use the key terms from the start of this post.

 

My image that uses MES to communicate meaning

Exam Paper 1, Key Media Concepts, Media Language, Music Magazine, Representation, Textual Analysis, Year 12 Coursework 
KEY TERMS

MISE EN SCENE, CONVENTIONS, GENRE, CONNOTATIONS, REPRESENTATION

Remember for this post on costuming and dressing a model for your allocated genre of music performer,  you should include the following 4 elements in this particular post:

1) MOODBOARD

Explain how you were allocated a genre to research and what you found – refer to the moodboard findings.  Create a ‘padlet’ and share it with your group and all contribute to it in terms of images, ideas, costumes, settings, fonts, colour palettes etc that fit with your genre.

Embed the moodboard with images of ideas for how a performer from your allocated genre could be represented in terms of costume, facial expressions, hair, make-up, body language, gestures, props etc. Use adjectives AND describe and pick out some of the most important MES conventions for the genre.

Add in some relevant adjectives as to how that genre is generally represented – edgy, anarchic, produced, synthetic, friendly etc. Use terms Mise En Scene, Genre and Star Image (how are they represented/presented to the audience). If you can get the term ‘CONVENTIONS’ in too that would be great – those expectations, commonalities of the genre.

Before next lesson, arrange with your group to bring in any relevant costumes, props that you might have at home – we will have lots here but you never know you might have that ‘punk rock mohican wig’ under the bed!

2) POST IT NOTE PHOTO

You then used all the research and findings to dress, encode your model as a star from that genre. Include a photo with the ‘post-its’ from the class in your test outfit with the comments and adjectives that the class suggested as to how your character was represented.  Reflect on how you, as a producer, used all the conventions from the genre to encode your model with the appropriate MES and the audience decoded them correctly (or not).  Did they read the star image correctly? What were their responses? List and reflect.

3) CHOSEN PHOTO and any others you like

Download the photos to one folder and share with your group. Then individually, choose one photo of your artist in costume with a commentary on how they are represented/portrayed with plenty of relevant adjectives.

Reflect on how and why that image seems to work better than the other ones from the shoot.

4) REFLECT AND FOCUS FORWARD 

Overall, reflect on the importance of using MES to convey meaning – tell a story – an image and an idea and HOW WILL THIS NOW IMPACT ON YOUR OWN PLANNING/RESEARCH FOR YOUR MAGAZINE PRODUCTION?

A textual analysis of a Tour Poster

Exam Paper 1, Key Media Concepts, Media Language, Music Magazine, Textual Analysis, Year 12 Coursework 
KEY TERMS

CONNOTATIONS, DENOTATIONS, REPRESENT, SIGNIFY, CONNOTE, AN IMAGE AND AN IDEA, DECODE, DECONSTRUCT, NARRATIVE, MEDIA TEXT.

Remember, what is it ‘saying’?  The denotations (things) all have connotations (meanings).  Use terms like these in your introduction to the post along with decoding, deconstructing, signs, symbols etc to show that you are getting to grips with how to analyse a media text.  You can use synonyms for represent too – portray, suggests, infers, implies, indicates etc.

Use Call Outs on your slide to evidence the comments…

You will find your own copy of various posters in classroom. Choose one and delete the surplus slides.

Here is an example from last year:

 

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