Anna Karenina

In chronological order as the film starts.

There is digetic sound in the background of a moving crowd. This comes in quietly and as the film progresses this sound gets louder. The scene opens to a theatre stage, this being a wide angled shot. At this point the lighting is at low key as the music changes to a non-digetic sound. The music is that of something you would find recognisable in a French culture. The first approach of character is upon a man sitting in a chair, with a barber circling him. The camera shoots a close up of two touching knives, having the digetic sound of their scrapping over the faded non-digetic sound. Next the camera pans around the seated male figure, and proposes a close up shot of the males disposed facial hair.
Next, the scene changes. A mid shot is taken of children lining up, before approaching the elder character.
During another change of scene, an extreme close up captures a ring upon a wedding finger, this represents the importance of ownership of the female character. As the female stands upon a podium in the middle third of the scene, the camera arcs around the lady. A close up of the letter the female is holding is captured, emphasizing unknown importance to the audience. In one particular scene, the set is incredibly busy with vast movements and a lot of content, such as dancers and moving sets.
When the female character is seen to be with the two young boys, a low angle shot in used as the women stands up to her full capacity of body. Zooming into the scene, emphasis is put onto the toy train, used as a representative to children. A tracking shot is also used, along with a close up of the train, showing significance to the later storyline. Later on, an over the shoulder shot is used within the conversation of the mother and son, acting as a point of view from both characters. Finally, the locket is seen to be shot close up, relating the closeness of the pictures inside the locket the the women herself.
Shadowing in the scenes could relate to the secrets within the storyline. The story is also dominated in the masculine form, set in a wealthy upper class family showing affluence.

Audiences and Institutions

1) Do you agree with Stuart's point regarding self-determination of audiences?
Stuart's point is that it has grown increasingly clear that audiences are in fact capable of high degree self-determination in the nature of he responses that they have made to the products offered to them. When considering this from my own point of view, I would agree with Stuart's point due to myself having my own self-determination when contemplating films. From the BFI website it is clear that the audience sometimes go and see films depending on their social economic background, known as either being in the AB or DE social grading category. This therefore shows that individuals are able to self-determine in the nature of their response to a film, categorising themselves as either wealthy or not so. Also, with thanks to sites such as Rotten Tomatoes or social networking sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, these audiences are able to post their own personal views of films online showing that they are able to self-determine an interpretation of a film.

2) Hall's idea about audience positioning identifies three ways that audiences can respond to texts.
Preferred: A preferred or dominant reading is where the audience interprets the text "as closely to the way in which the producer of the text is presented". In my 'Les Miserables' case study this can be seen on the website. Upon of which, the movie is not just advertised but instead the Les Miserables broadway. This allows the audience to view the film as the producers wanted by selling Les Mis through multiple media aspects.
Negotiated: A negotiated reading is when the audience goes through some type of negotiation with themselves to allow them to accepted the way in which the text is presented. This is seen in my own case stude of the film 'SkyFall' due to the audience possibly disagreeing with the violent themes present but enabling themselves to adjust their views, allowing them to get the most out of their viewing.
Oppositional: An oppositional or resistant reading is where the reader of the text finds themselves in conflict with the text itself due to their beliefs or experiences. Personally, amongst my case studies I dont think an oppositional reading can be seen. An example of this although, might be within a soap opera where a women may be having an affair with a man. This is adultery and therefore will conflict with individuals views on the subject.

3) Audiences can respond to texts in a variety of ways. Gender, situated culture and cultural experiences can all affect how we consume a text. 
a) How can your gender affect how you respond to a text?
Essentially, the fact that I am a female can alter how I respond to a text rapidly. Tradition and stereotypes mean that women are often perceived as being more emotive towards certain themes and topics such as death and narratives involving children and being in favours to genres such a romance. When considering these stereotypes, females may be more emotive towards a film rather than a male who is experiencing the same film at the same time and place. Conversely, it can also mean that a film that is gender biased towards males (where females are irrelevantly sexualised), would evoke a more annoyed, jealous and angry response from women because they feel that women should fit into the stereotypical mould that society has built for them.
b) Why would  you choose to go to a cinema (situated culture) as opposed to watching a film at home?
A cinema can offer an experience to a viewer such as an event or a trip out. This is appealing to many audience members because it means they are able to get out of their house and do something different rather than witnessing a film from their own home entertainment system. It has been said that the atmosphere in an auditorium full of people who are experiencing the same emotions during a film, is enough to make people choose to go to a cinema. Despite an advance in technology meaning that people are able to get the 'cinema feel' at home with surround sound and wide screen TVs, the event-feeling isn't felt because they know that they're in their own home. What's more, it can often be cheaper for an individual or group of people to view a film in the cinema than pay for all the DVD equipment and DVDs at home, especially that of Blue Ray discs.

c) Can you think of a text where you gained 'cultural knowledge' which shaped your expectations? Was that part of the reason why you chose and enjoyed that text?
One text that I gained 'cultural knowledge' from is 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas'. This allowed me to witness the culture in Nazi Germany during WWII and allowed me to perceive the country as it were like at the time. 

4) How do converged websites apply to Gauntlett's idea of a 'pick and mix' audience?
A 'pick and mix' audience is where the audiences use the text by ignoring some aspects and choosing the aspects that suit them at the time. Each time the audience play or search on the internet they might 'pick and mix' a different menu which is aided by the flexibility of the various formats to do this.

5) To what extent do you believe in the effects model and the uses and gratifications model?
The uses and gratifications model assumes an active audience and emphasises what the audience does with media texts as opposed to what the media does to the audience. Blumler and Katz disagreed with the earlier theories which placed the audience as a passive, easily influenced mass - this is why this theory suggests individuals and social groups use the texts in different ways (no longer making them a passive receiver).
Personally, I believe this model is correct to an extent. It is clear that different groups and individuals will respond to media texts in differing ways due to their set or individual beliefs and ideals. However, I do believe that the majority of the audience are easily influenced because advancing distribution and promotion techniques allow the film to be instantly publicised to the world through the use of converging media. Similarly, in the film itself it is easier to influence the audience due to aspects such as the cultural, gender, age (etc.) references.

6) McQuail believes audiences use texts for 4 different reasons. Can you identify these features in the marketing materials from your case studies?
Entertainment and diversion : as a form of escape from the pressures of everyday life. An example of this from the marketing materials in my case study of 'SkyFall' would be the games section on the website. It would enable the audience to download the game through PlayStation, Xbox and PC opening the opportunity up to a wide range of audiences. Being based on the film, this allows the audience to put themselves as a character within the movie to relieve tension and escape from the pressures of everyday life.
Personal Relationships: identification with characters and being able to discuss media texts with others. My case study of 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2' would be an example of this. The characters art section of the website allows the audience to identify themselves with the characters through visuals and information about each individual character.
Personal Identity: the ability to compare your life with that of characters and situations presented in media texts. Again, I believe this would link to the case study on 'SkyFall' because the audience members are able to place themselves in the shoes of relevant characters through playing the game.
Information/Education: to find out and learn what is going on in the world. I think my case study of 'Les Miserables' presents this because the film informs the audience of the culture background throughout the period of the French Revolution, the time in which this film is set. This gives the audience hirostoric knowledge, educating individuals.

7) What is audience fragmentation? How has it changed the composition of audiences and the texts that are available to them? Has the internet influenced this in any way?
Audience fragmentation is the term used to describe the ways in which people engage with media and it shows how the idea of audience in the digital era is changing. The ways that convergence, user-created content and social networking have transformed the audience. The composition of the audience is the demographic (age, gender, education level, ect) characteristics and geographic location of the audience members. So audience fragmentation has changed the composition of audiences by allowing all sorts of people to engage with media through convergence, user-created content and social networking. This is all due to the development of technology and the advance in social networking usage. It has changed the texts that are available to the audience because they are able to view a lot more films digitally (through satellite TV, online streaming and downloads) Hence why texts are more readily available nowadays than they used to be. The internet has influenced this by producing rolling entertainment and gossip sites that 'break up' the potential audience group.

8) What is 'push' and 'pull' media? How has the internet shaped audience behaviour in relation to 'pull' media?
'Push' media is where producers push films at the audience, who then receive and consume them passively. Oppositely, 'pull' media is where the audience decide what they want to do with the media and access it in ways that suit them. In relation to 'pull' media, the internet has shaped the audience behaviour massively. When big companies like Google and News Corporation purchased DIY media institutions, the sites became more 'corporate' and illegally posted material was removed from sites like Youtube and MySpace. So, illegally downloaded and pirated films have been largely removed from the internet which has shaped the audience to a better behaviour in terms of not breaking the copyright laws.

Audience Construction

When looking at cinema audiences within the UK, there is an established trend of cinema goers. When looking at age, the majority of cinema goers are in the age range of 15-24. Though, from the year of 1997 to 2008, the percentage of younger cinema goers decreased to the expense of an increasing older audience.


Additionally, when considering the most popular gender recorded going to the cinema this is seen to be dependent on the film being shown. For example when looking at both genders, there was a high percentage of female cinema goers when the film 'Bridesmaids' was showing within the industry. This was contrasted with only a small proportion of males visiting the cinema.  This would be so, due to weddings appealing more to the female audience and also the casting of the film being mainly female actresses.  In opposition to this, there was seen to be a high attendance male audience when the film 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' was released. Again, this is due to the genre and subject of the film being both action packed and based upon cars, something generally associated with the male sex.


Again, the social group of the most popular cinema goers depends on the social class of the film. A more sophisticated film such as 'The King's Speech' saw a high percentage of the social group falling into the AB category whereas, only a small audience of these were seen viewing, 'Johnny English Reborn' when a high DE audience were present. This is due to the genre of the film being less formal, being more on a comical level.



How have the audience been constructed for three films? 

Firstly, I will be analysing the audience for the film, 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2'. This film was recently released in sequel in November 2012.  Typically, I would assume this film to appeal to a young teenage audience. The main reason for my assumption is due to the casting of the film. The main cast are seen to be young actors and actresses, fitting the storyline of a teenage girl falling in love with a vampire.
When considering gender preferences, I would think females to be the majority of the audience. Firstly, this is due to the perspective of the film being shown from a females point of view. Additionally this film contains areas of the romance genre. Romance is generally associated with the female audience due to the assumption that the male sex do not show emotions. Finally, my assumption is evidential due to the actor, Robert Pattinson being seen as a teenage girl 'heart throbe', increasing the female, teenage audience.
The NRS social grade of the film is hard to distinguish. Though, I would say this film would appeal to both AB and DE social class grouping. My reason for this choice is due to the advertising material of this film. When looking at two dimensional advertising materials such as posters, these are seen to be of high quality being professionally photographed showing quality. This would suggest a replication of quality within the film and therefore appealing to the AB social class. In opposition to this, the majority of the posters are seen to show exposed figures, with the male sex being projected topless to reel in the female target audience although, this may be seen too unsophisticated for the upper social grouping but instead appealing more to the DE audience.
Finally, when considering the characteristics and values of the audience, I believe that the audience are interested in symbolism and possibly mythological creatures. I believe their is a lot of symbolism in this film with the wolves representing companionship and leadership, in contrast to vampires representing life after death. With the audience believing in mythological creatures this would mean that the audience are interested in the fantasy genre. With the fantasy genre this means that the audience are imaginative, connecting and intervening with super natural events.

For my second film choice I will be analysing 'Les Miserables'.  This film was recently released last month on 11th January 2013. Firstly, when considering the age category seen to be viewing this film, I would depict the main age group to be that of an older audience, ranging from middle aged to the 'baby boom' audience. My reasoning for this is due to the film being released on the 25th anniversary concert of Les Miserables. This would almost immediately rule out the young to teenage audience due to issues in relating to the context of the film. Whereas, to an older audience, the film could be considered as part of a sequel to what they have already seen. This therefore, may influence the audience to experience a 'classic' in a different media platform.
The predominant gender audience, I feel would be female. This is because the film falls into the musical genre, specifically encompassing that of opera. Relating back to historic times, opera was popular within the female audience, from then constructing films such as 'The Sound Of Music' and 'Moulin Rouge' to particularly target the female audience. Not only this but, a sub genre to this film is romance. Romance is generally associated with females due to it implicating the desires of which women hold and hope.
I would assume the NRS social grading of this film to apply to the AB audience. My assumption is held because firstly, the film is highly historically based, being set in the time period of the French Revolution. This would mean that the audience would have to be fairly educated, allowing them to understand the context within the film. Also, if you were to look at the advertising material this is seen to be professionally constructed, capturing the emotional aspects behind the film. From looking at the two dimensional advertising, you can retrieve the sophisticated manner of the film due to the bold serif font and the simple but effective phrases such as 'I am the law'. This is a powerful statement, suggesting this film is something audiences must follow by.
Finally, the audience carry certain characteristics and values. I think the audience must fall into the value of working class citizens due to their potentially high AB social class. I would think the characteristics of this audience would be individuals who are interested in the theatre relating to the musical genre of the film. They maybe also be interested in culture due to my assumption that they will be an older, more mature audience.

For my third and final film, I will be analyising the film 'SkyFall'. This film was released on 26th October 2012.  Skyfall is Columbia Picture's 23rd James Bond film to be released. Firstly, I would predict the age range for this film would be the large 15-44 age category. It wouldn't be lower than this as much because the film is rated a 12A therefore, meaning parents would have to accompany their child to the film seen as they are too young to screen the film by themselves. You are able to distinguish this audience age catergory for many reasons; the first being the monochromatic colour scheme on the website.

The black, white and grey colours are more sophisticated which aid the more adult themes in the film. Similarly, the language used on this site such as "consideration", "theatres" and "corporation"  are all fairly complex in their denotations. "Theatres" isn't a common word used nowadays for the cinema but older generations of adults might tend to use this word as opposed to "cinema". Therefore, the film is clearly made for an older audience. What's more the logo of the film (007) has the image of a gun on it. This symbol is repeated in the film poster where James Bond is holding a gun. One could suggest that the use of violence and action in this film would deter many younger cinema-goers (and their parents/guardians) from allowing them to go and see it but also influence the male gender. 

Following this, Immediately one would assume that this film is predominantly for a male audience due to the action genre, gun shaped logo and James Bond's "cool" character appealing to males. Traditionally, the females that appear in his films are overly sexualised to appeal to men, usually revealing large amounts of flesh. This therefore, wouldn't appeal to women due to the possible negative emotions that they might feel towards the model-like actresses along with a sense of disrespect towards the female sex. From an early age boys are taught that action scenes and action characters are "cool" and that they should look up to them,  hence why this film would appeal more to a male audience. When referring back to the Statistical Yearbook, one notices that action films such as Mission Impossible and Fast and Furious were popular amongst males - 77% and 67% of these film's audiences were males. Crucially, these films are of a very similar genre to Skyfall so it could be fair to say that it can be compared to them in terms of audience.

When considering the social classing, I believe that this film leans more towards the AB category  because the website's first tab is the Awards. Essentially, a cinema-goer with a higher regarded socio-economic status would be more interested in the Awards the film has won due to it being a prestigious film. Therefore, the web designers have placed the Awards tab first on the navigation bar in order for the AB audience member to be able to navigate more easily to that page. Not only this but two dimensional advertising is seen to be professionally photographed, showing a simple but effective image, enabling the audience to be withdrawn. 
Finally, I find it hard to determine what the audience's characteristics and values might be for this film due to the wide age range of people who it is made for. It could be said that the audience are interested in genres of film including action, adventure and crime or are instead interested by the exaggeration of ones everyday lifestyle. One might suggest that they have an interest in plots, schemes and violence because James Bond is based on these concepts. However, some might interpret this interest in a negative light, when in reality most audience members will find this interesting because it is in contrast to their personality and lifestyle. 

Representation

Define 'representation' -

Representation refers to the construction in any media (especially mass media) of aspects of 'reality' such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech and writing as well as in still or moving pictures. 

The Male Gaze: Laura Mulvey -

The Gaze is a feminist theory developed to highlight the power imbalance between men and women analysing the way men see and portray women, as well as the way women view both themselves and other women. Mulvey argues that in classic hollywood films in particular women are merely represented to provide visual pleasure to men , and the audience is constructed in a manner where they are all expected to be men. 
This male gaze is both voyeuristic and fetishistic. Her concept of "to-be-looked-at-ness", exemplifies that women were merley shown on screen in classic hollyowod in order to provide men with visual pleasure and have an erotic impact. Mulvey argued that the typical key protagonist within a classic hollywood film was male and the audience members where similarly typically expected to be men. This therefore, means the audience member gains narcissistic pleasure from identifying with the films protagonist,placing themselves "in the shoes" of the films hero. 

Convergence Media

What is convergence media?

Convergence media is the blending of multiple media forms into one platform so that consumers have choice allowing price transparency. Convergence media also allows mass media productions to present information and entertainment through a variety of different media's. Below, I will be exploring two different websites and ways in which they have used different convergent media's.

The Hobbit website

When looking at 'The Hobbit' website a variety of convergence media has been used. Firstly when looking at the predominant home screen, this instantly allows you to connect to a variety of different media's including; Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. This allows the audience to engage more in an insight of facts and statistics. These, also ensure a medium of advertising, attracting a wider audience to the film. Additionally, these accounts can produce further media, such as photos, videos and games. An example from 'The Hobbit' website would be their trailers and behind the scenes footage. The predominant purpose of this is to  attract people to watch the film that may not have been so interested otherwise. Not only this, but the audience are also given the chance to produce their own trailer in the style of 'The Hobbit' which will extend their experience and get individuals more engaged and interested in the film.

Next, looking at the soundtrack feature of the website. This allows you to experience short clips of each individual song within the full movie.  Though, seen as only small sections are projected, the viewers therefore have an incentive to purchase a full length song or possibly even the entire album. In this situation the audience are given the choice of either purchasing from either Amazon or itunes. By doing this the audience are given price transparency. This allows them to find the cheapest option and purchase the cheapest alternative. Price transparency is positive for the consumers because this witnesses competition and therefore, averaging lower prices. Fundamentally, this also means that the film is benefiting financially from fans downloading the soundtrack. This is an example of how mixed media has been merged together by the media industry. Other areas of 'downloads' include; wallpapers, Facebook banners, icons and posters. These are all free meaning that the distributors are trying to promote the film, giving it a recognisable logo rather than trying to benefit financially.

Not only does this website use convergence media to promote the film, 'The Hobbit' but also there is a section where the audience are able to share. Sharing takes place on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter allowing the audience a sense of social awareness of the film. This is good for the media industry because a wider audience will result in higher attendance at the cinema and potentially higher figures in the first three opening days, determining the success of the film from a financial prospective.


The Impossible website

Looking at another website, 'The Impossible', this has also uses convergence media in a number of ways. Instantly, as soon as you enter the website the trailer of the film starts playing. This immediately alerts the viewer of what they will be seeing or potentially missing out on.
Likewise to 'The Hobbit' website, 'The Impossible' website gives the opportunity to direct to social networking sites, seen to be the same as those of 'The Hobbit'. This form of convergence media is used so that the films communication is presented and also helps aid the distribution of the film. Additionally to this, 'The Impossible' website also offers and provides places for the audience to buy tickets, ensuring that no one is disappointed if they are unable to get seats in the cinema. Again,  a variety of possible options have been given allowing customers price transparency when considering ticket prices. This shows an example of how convergence media has been used to merge together online ticket booking schemes with interactive websites.

Likewise to 'The Hobbit' website their is a section on the website giving the audience the possibility to download the film soundtrack from either Amazon or itunes. This means that the film will benefit financially from fans downloading the soundtrack at a price. This was also seen on 'The Hobbit' website although, this allowed you to listen to small chunk of an individual track. The video  component of the website conveys convergence because areas such as trailers are being merged with the interactivity of the website, meaning that the website is directly targeting the audience, allowing them to engage within the website. A choice of five different videos have been given including that of the trailer and the pivotal scene. This enables the audience to participate in the narrative, evoking emotion through an individuals interest. Additionally, the pivotal scene would have been chosen so that the attention of the audience could be captured and then potentially pulling the them into watching the entirety of the film.

Finally, a 'share' link allows the film to be distributed free of charge to varies social media platforms. This will result in the promotion of the film, also increasing audience awareness.  With the sharing aspect, distributors will hope for higher cinema attendances due to the word of the consumer, having hopefully a good reputation shared amongst friends, encouraging individuals to see the film.