Context Essay

Burning Issues

What is the brief?
How does your idea meet the brief?

I have been given a brief to create a product that represents a burning issue; I need to make a creative media product that connects with the audience and make awareness of a burning issue.

My main idea would be having a celebrity pop up on social media and get a bunch of praise for defending themselves and how they got harassed accused by a woman by abuse. But when it goes to the police point of view, they have some evidence but get paid to hide it. They close the case and talk about how her bruises show attack marks, but they would keep it hidden because the celebrity has such a large audience and influence that the media can’t risk it getting out.

With my idea it is to give the message “do not believe everything you see or hear on the internet”

My target audience would be in the mainstream category due to it being the largest group in the 4Cs and it is more common. This would also be people that are more aware of known brands and social media. I would also say the younger generation could also be affect more than the older generations.

I want to get the message across that not everything is what it seems in the media and that people this day and age spend so much time on devices that it is almost like the media controls people’s opinions and views.

This should interest them because the mainstream audience would be on their phones a lot and nowadays, they would be going to their parents talking about something they saw on the media that they believe is real. This movie will tell every mainstream person that it is not always real and not everything on the media is real.

This is an issue because it is not just celebrities and royals that are covering / twisting topics up. It is also politicians and how some of their actions that affect the world are hidden up; COVID hasn’t been talked about much since Boris Johnson got caught being at parties and then the war; It is to make awareness that if everyone starts believing everything in the media it will end up with a corrupt world and no one will have their opinions. They will just believe whatever they see or hear from people with power or the general public.

It is like the media have some type of control over the public and the younger generation definitely as they are now growing up with it, with those social media platforms and kids thinking it is the main focus in the world. You rarely see younger people off their phones, and it is also got into the older generations partly in the mainstream target audience.
This all links to the brief because the burning issue is that people are starting to believe things on the internet when they shouldn’t be.

Context Research

I need to watch short movies and see what I could use from then. How they portray emotions, what kind of shots they use and how the location and camera work help the audience feel connected and see the emotion it’s trying to portray.

This is because I want to have a subject that is an issue which is a global issue. Not just a personal issue, for a broader target audience and I can also learn about how they look and are formatted and how things like gradients are used and how much effect they have.

I will watch these on YouTube because it has loads of variety and a lot of subjects. I could also watch some movies and see some angles and storyline angles to see how they make the audience feel involved. I have been advised to watch Wag the Dog which is about a president abusing his power.

Because I want to find things that are like my idea or something about a burning issue that could be relatable and personal to a lot of people and how they make people feel involved which could increase interest from lots of people.

I also need to learn more about greenscreens and how to make it look cleaner and neater. I need to learn more about how I should edit the story to go smoothly together and need to know how to create a phone text effect for the group chat moment in the short film.

This is so I can use the greenscreen and make it work much better when I do the shots that I plan to do and also learn more technical understanding of how it works.

I need to research news reports, media reports of celebrity, political, royal media information that was covered up or coated over. For example, when Michael Jackson was alive the rumors of him doing things with children were covered up or almost silenced. The family was paid off to stay silent because he had such a large influence on the world and majority of people that day and age loved his music.
But after he died the family spoke up about it again. Almost like because he wasn’t alive, he couldn’t pay them, so they had their freedom to speak.

Also need to research about media stories that got cut off quite quickly or never got enough “hype” or noticeability in the media due to the person involved.
This is so I can analyze similar stories and include ideas in my project to add a bit of realism to it.

Need to make a storyboard so I can support my shots planned and plan it all out. Also need to take some practice time in the TV studio and book it out so I know what to do when I start recording.
I need to research script outline so i can start my script and character profiles with organised scenes and shots.
This is so I can inform the actors of what they need to learn, and I can also practice the shots that I plan to see which look better and I know what to do.
I also need to create a survey and try get it to project out into the world more, so I get a range of responses. This would give me more of a stronger answer of the question.

Subject Research

My message is about how people believe the media when not everything is real.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/mar/04/the-michael-jackson-accusers-the-abuse-didnt-feel-strange-because-he-was-like-a-god

This article is all about the Michael Jackson case of him sexually abusing children. In this article it explains the whole story about the situation from the boys’ side which they claim that Jackson has done a lot to them but at the time they didn’t seem to be bothered at a young age for what Jackson had “told them”.
It also explains that the families were bought to be silenced when Jackson was alive for $23M but when he died the children who are were adults at the time tried to sue Jacksons corporation but because it was too late and Jackson had died the Judges ruled it out.

This shows that when he was alive the amount of power n money, he had he could silence them which probably barely effected Jacksons pay-check.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/17/steven-pinker-media-negative-news

What I found interesting about this website is that it explained why the news exaggerates things for the audience and how they most likely do it to distort people’s views of the world.
Which is what the message I was getting through. That not everything on the news is 100% real.
With this example as well, I can talk first-hand about how I have seen people worry because of the news. With COVID and with the war currently going well I know someone personally who would have to go fight it if we got involved and therefore it stresses out a more personal area of my life.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-34408467

This is an article about Caitlyn Jenner and how they tried to clear her of all charges and didn’t get any effect of killing someone due to a car accident although she was going at an unsafe speed.
Her Attorney stated he found it an inappropriate charge their intentions are to clear the investigation and clear any criminal “wrong doing”

I am going to have the message of how media exaggerates or over does informing the public. Also, how the media effect the newer generations and how they cover up certain stories or sugar coat them due to the influence the one involved provides.

Existing Media Products

This short film has 3.8 million views, and it is used to make awareness of a global issue.
What I liked about this short film is that the gradients really set the tone for the emotion throughout; you can tell as it all seems partly saturated and drained of colour as If she is tired of feeling this way.
It also includes a part in the short film where it informs the character of all the issues but in a way, it is still fully involved in the story, and it informs the audience of the issue and why it is an issue.

I also like the shot at the end getting the character into the main frame and the sound really goes well with the story and it shows the audience her overcoming her issue and how it will make her feel better.

I would like to have close shots. Side view shots. It also is always on that girl most the time showing that she is the focus point, and I would like to include this with the celebrity being involved in mainly all the shots just to show he is the main story line, and I would also like to include the darkness into some frames to show what the super fan feels or how conflicted and confused she is.

Durning the shot that lasted from 1:37 – 2:10 they had a close up shot of the girl looking at herself in the mirror and the camera is just above her shoulder as it is almost putting her in a position to the viewer to focus on her face and how her emotion is the focal point of that clip. The camera shaking also makes it feel as if we were in her position, that she has so many nerves that it’s almost a struggle to look at herself. Reflecting off of her to the audience.

The Mise En Scene in that medium shot at 3:19 – 3:31 also reflects so much on how the girl feels. The place is very quiet and lonely. This is also where the gradient comes in and it makes it all look saturated and drained which can also link to the girl being tired of feeling the way she does, and she feels saturated.

The script used between 3:00 – 3:30 would also be quite a good example of how she is lonely and in her head. They talk about a model show which shows that she is thinking of how “perfect” the women are represented in modelling agencies. This has been a global issue in society for a while and girls of a young age are very susceptible to believing that comparing their body to a model makes them feel much uglier in themself. Although that most pictures of models and celebrities are edited and even some celebrities have admitted to noticing edits in their pictures that they didn’t approve of. This shows that the agency itself have made the decision to edit the image to make the celebrity look better; This would affect the celebrity on how she views herself and how public girls view themselves as everyone wants to be “pretty”.
Furthermore, in the video at 4:20 – 4:55 it is a clear explanation of the issue, and it is the main message of the movie. They made the script make the girl look and sound like she knows what she’s doing is wrong but how it’s a good thing for her. So, she thinks.
During this clip the girl’s “friend” also smiled a tiny bit when she talks about feeling disgusting about herself. Showing that that she is evil.

At 5:19 – 5:41 The therapist talks almost towards the camera, and she becomes the focal point. This is because it is telling younger women and girls that they shouldn’t feel the way they should. This would show that the target audience would be the younger audience and generically females.

6:18 – 7:05 This is a scene where it is almost the disorder fighting the girl and how she gets over it is to fight it and overcome it.

What I find quite interesting about this short film is that the beginning is the end. It gives us the main characters and all you must go off of is the title and you see the explosion happen and almost feel bad for them and don’t understand why she did it and then the news report makes us feel like the mother is a bad person. It then goes into the story and lets us understand the story and explains the whole issue and changes our perspective very quickly.

The shot is 3:06 – 3:42 Gives us the point of view of the bullies and what they see. It shows the audience that how they act is purely wrong and how tough the girl had it. It also had almost a static kind of aesthetic to it like it was one of the bullies’ phones. This shows that it was a time that didn’t have good phone cameras and also could show that the location could be poor or not a good environment.
Another thing with this scene that caught my attention was the Mise En Scene; what caught my eye was the graffiti and the housing. This tells the audience that it could be more of a rough area and not a safe space. Could also tell the audience that the horrible conditions also link to the horrible bullies.

This gives a good location that also helps with emphasizing the emotions to connect with the audience. The colours of the houses and the gradients when recording in the location is faded which also emphasizes the emotion of loneliness and sadness to make the audience feel for the people due to their location and circumstances.

What I would take from this video is that I would like to include my choice of location to also add onto the story and include gradients to emphasize onto my emotion I want to project. I also want some shots such as a phone shot of the celebrity like it would be the fans point of view and it would show a different side to the celebrity to the public.

They also have moments where they are both laughing, and it shows that they are happy together until the bullies show up. All the laughter stops and then they start screaming. This script idea and the sounds show that the bullies are the reason for their sadness and that they are happy together but can’t live in peace. This makes the audience feel bad for them and helpless as they can’t do anything.

The target audience in this video I would say is for all the general public due to bullying to mental ill people has always been an issue and lots of people, mix of gender and age can both discriminate the mentally ill but, in this case, I would say maybe the teenage years or education years. Because bullies are more common in education locations and people get their bullying characteristics from school or similar surroundings. More because they probably assume it is “cool” or they want to impress their friends when in reality, they are damaging someone’s life and this is probably to show the very bad consequences that came out of their actions.

With this video I would like to include this effect for the super fan when she is scrolling through pages and Instagram feeds so that the audience feels more involved and isn’t just looking at someone stare at a phone.

Judgement and Concepts

With this I would say that I have talked about what I would like to use under the videos themselves, but the concept of my media product is to show that not everything on the media is real or true.
I am mainly targeting the mainstream audience that use social media and their phones for information and people that have twisted opinions due to something they found on the internet. People tend to believe a lot on the media even when it is not necessarily true but because the media has so much power to the general public people believe what they want to. This is the issue of nowadays generations.

Aims, Ambitions and Purpose

My ambition for this project is to create a short movie that represents my wanted subject well and to be able to complete the movie with a clear message and demonstration. I want to be able to learn how to edit and film a movie and learn more technical skills and editing skills for the future projects I create.

I can see it giving ideas for future projects that people may be interested in a similar subject. I can see it being used in schools if it turns out well developed to make people aware that not everything on the media is real and true. This would be good for the younger generations due to them being more susceptible to believing a lot more on the internet due to the use of the internet in younger generations.

From making this project it can help me improve my future skills such as editing skills and camera work, lighting, gradients etc. It will give me more of an understanding of those skills for when I create future projects.

It will develop my skills by letting me learn a more practical hands-on method. So, I can learn how to control a camera, to be able to create some effects that are used in professional movies and tv shows. I can also use my lighting skills to make more projects for the future such as if I choose to make a movie again, I can make it with the experience and understanding I learn from this.

It will help me make better improvements on my editing with the new skills I will try and also help me advance to the next level of the course.

I will be editing it on adobe premiere pro and uploading it on YouTube. This is so it will be easily accessible. It will also be on my WordPress Blog due to it being my main focus and main website for my project.

How will the presentation medium of your product affect your production in terms of technical requirements, creative ideas and presentation? For example, a short film for Vimeo will look and feel different to a series of Instagram adverts (consider aspect ratio for example and playback devices)

My target audience would be the mainstream audience due to the fact it is more of an awareness that everything in the media isn’t real or true. This would be aimed at more teenage years because they would most likely consume more social media and false information and believe it more easily, but it can also apply to older generations as well because the media itself is not an excluded thing.

This target audience would be interested in things like social media and Instagram posts and possibly gossip magazines which create an update of celebrities mostly and share twisted or false information about celebrities to cause drama. This may interest some people to be involved in celebrity drama. Because the mainstream audience would like to be involved in the mainstream move. This would include social media which is mainstream and used across the world and some older age groups would use magazines because maybe they are used to reading a magazine from their generation and therefore still enjoy the drama just in a more readable state.

My product will make my target audience aware that not everything they read or see in the media is true. This would probably have more of an impact on younger generations due to older people who could possibly already have their opinions structured for themselves from their impressions and information they have consumed in the past.
Furthermore, the project will meet the needs of making them aware that the media isn’t always a trusted source and that a lot of things could be overexaggerated to make more headlines and to catch attention to the public eye.

I am hoping they will like it because it gives them an understanding or even a reminder that everything, they read isn’t true and that they should be careful about what they consume before their opinions get corrupted to the way the media want it to be or they become reliable of false sources for false information.

Choose specific elements of content that will fit with your proposed target audience profile.

The audience feedback would probably give me more of a range of what I need to include in the project to make it better. Or if I want to include statistics in my presentation and my edit near the end for more of an informative side to the project. It could also help me find better ways to edit my project to how it fits my target audience and to help emphasise the emotions I want to project.