Assignment 1: Magazine Cover key conventions

Typography

Learner Response: Summer Research Project

Sensational start to life in GCSE Media Hardeka - well done.

WWW: Your summer research project, like all of your work so far is thorough and clearly the product of a great investment of time and effort. The formatting and content of the written work is very strong. 

EBI: I would like to see clearer ideas about target audience for LUCY

LR - in a new blog post answer the following...who was it aimed at? was there more than one audience for it? What gender were they? What other films will they watch? What media will they access? How much do they earn? What education have they had? Think of some similar questions and answer them too!

In my opinion, I think that Lucy is aimed for teenagers 15 and over as there are scenes that are quite inappropriate for younger children. I think this will attract more males than females especially since the main character is a female and can therefore be more intriguing for them to watch. They may also want to watch movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and Avengers: Age of Ultron as they both have fight scenes as well as the fictional story line- mutation, super powers etc. It's more likely for this movie to be accessed by male iPhone users between the ages of 15-22 who may be students or even the working class who may be interested in drugs and fighting as well as the science behind it.

Camerawork: Minority Report shot-by-shot analysis

This is a medium close up shot of the antagonists lined up next to each other perhaps to seem more threatening and dangerous. This shot has enough background to show the audience this is set at a train station. The medium close-up also shows us that these people are wearing some sort of uniform, perhaps to convey they are the police. The fact that they are all looking in the same direction may suggest they have found what they were looking for.

This shows a long shot of the change in the scene to an alleyway where you can see Tom Cruise in the background running away from the police (as seen in the first picture). This hints that some action is about to take place, making the audience feel more tense. The main focus when you first look at this shot is the rusty car, perhaps to signify that this next scene is set in a dark, isolated place, adding to the tension.

The close up of Tom Cruise's face allows us to see the emotion in his face. This shows that he may be ready to surprise the audience to create a fast-paced scene, maybe to even create juxtaposition due to the differences in the scenes. However, just looking at the protagonist's face, he seems almost scared or weak and makes the audience feel sorry for him. 

Camera Shots: Photo Storyboard

Establishing shot- to show where this scene is located.

Long shot, high angle- to introduce the first character. A high angle suggests how this character may be vulnerable and weak.

Long shot, low angle- to introduce the second character who is portrayed as the villain/bully that is more strong and powerful.











Medium shot- to show the conversation happening between two students. The character on the left seems more confident than the character on the right as he looks like he is backing away out of fear.








Medium shot- this shot shows the action happening between the two characters. The bully is seen as a threat to the other student who is trying to defend himself and get away.

 

Extreme close up- to show the audience that the character is pulling out a "gun", hinting that something bad is about to happen.

 

Medium close up- to show the emotion in the character's face and his actions with a slight 'over-the-shoulder' shot as you can see the "gun" facing the character.

Medium close up- to show the character's facial expressions after the alarming scene. This shows that he seems pleased with himself as he got his revenge, perhaps due to some disagreement.

Long shot- this shows the aftermath of the traumatic scene, leaving the audience feeling more affected by what has happened.

Earth Colour Palette

Key Concepts Blog Tasks

X-Men: Days of the Future Past (2014)

Language: This film poster shows that it is a science fiction film because of its editing. The edits on the poster shows how each character have different characteristics. There are two characters that really stand out perhaps to convey that they are the main characters who may be more important that the rest of the characters. They also have a release date at the bottom of the poster, signifying that it's a new movie that will soon be out. The key conventions is perhaps the use of futuristic elements shown in the background. The poster may also suggest some sort of conflict between good and evil as it is usually cliché in classic superhero movies.

Institution: The film was produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and directed by Byran Singer (for 20th Century Fox). The box office of this movie was $748.1 million, making it the 6th highest grossing film of 2014.

Audience: The movie has a 12+ rating and I'd say this movie is more suitable for males than females within the age range between 12-30. However, as Jennifer Lawrence is one of the main characters, it may attract more women to watch this type of movie without the stereotype that superheros are more suitable for more males than females?

Representation: The use of costumes may suggest they may be superheroes with powers. It also looks like it is set in an alternative world that may include dystopia due to the explosions occurring in the background of the poster. If you look closely, you can also see humans flying which could suggest that the movie is set in the future representing scientific advancement.

Summer Research Project: Lucy

Key information about the film

Sub-genre:
The main sub-genre of Lucy is mutation as Lucy, the main character, experiences slight changes in her body and senses her growth in her physical and mental abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel, and to not be able to feel pain or other discomforts. 

Brief summary:
The film starts off with Lucy's boyfriend who tricks her into delivering a briefcase to an apparent business contact but is then kidnapped by thugs who intend to turn her into a drug mule. She is surgically implanted with a package containing a powerful chemical but is tortured and the chemical leaks into her bloodstream, giving her these superhuman abilities such as telepathy and telekinesis. Lucy then turns the tables at her captors and transforms into an unforgiving warrior evolved beyond human capabilities. 

Setting:
The movie is set on earth. To be more specific, the film was shot in Taipei, Paris and New York City- not in an abnormal or different setting as it is almost seen as an undercover mission that no one knows about. However, it is linked to the sci-fi genre as during the end of the movie, Lucy begins a space time journey into the past and reaches the oldest discovery of mankind.

Characters:
The main character, Lucy, links to the science fiction genre as once the chemical has leaked into her system, she has heightened senses and abilities to manipulate electronics. This, perhaps, shows the development of new technology- but not with gadgets- within the human body.

Themes:
The movie consists of the development/application of new technology and new scientific principles such as being able to time travel and control things.

Trailer:

The institution behind the film

Production company:

EuropaCorp.

The cast:
Scarlett Johansson as Lucy, Morgan Freeman as Professor Samuel Norman, Choi Min-sik as Mr. Jang, Amr Waked as Pierre Del Rio.

What year the production company was released:
EuropaCorp was founded in 2000. 

Who runs/ owns the production company: 
EuropaCorp was founded by Luc Besson and Christopher Lambert, the CEO. 

What the production company is famous for:
EuropaCorp has also produced Taken, Taken 2 and Taken 3- another well-known movie.

Budget and box office information: 

The budget was estimated at $40 million. Opening Weekend (USA): $43 million. Gross (USA): $126 million.

Critic Reviews: 

Lucy was nominated for the Saturn Award for the Best Action/Adventure Movie, the MTV Movie Awards for the Best Female Performance, The Jupiter Awards for the Best International Actress, came in 2nd place for the Village Voice Film Poll and 3rd place for the National Society of Film Critics Awards. According to the film website Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of the audience liked the movie. The average rating was 3.2 out of 5 and on IMDb, the average rating was 6.4 out of 10.

The Target Audience

I'd say that the audience would be for more older teenagers and adults. It's definitely not a family friendly movie as it includes violence that gets fairly graphic with lots of blood. There are also some flashback scenes of sex and the main character sometimes wears objectifying outfits. This movie also includes some inappropriate language. After acknowledging this, I'd recommend this movie to teenagers who are 16+ and adults up to the age of 25. This film is more on the action/adventure side so the percentage comparison between male and female would probably be 55% male and 45% female.