Camera Sim

Cool Camera Sim

http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator/

Use this to help you get to grips with the basics

Typography

Some useful links

What fonts work well together

http://www.will-harris.com/typepairs.htm

Typography

http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/typography-articles/a-beginners-guide-to-pairing-fonts/

Font Finder

http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

Perspective

PERSPECTIVE

Perspective refers to the relationship of imaged objects in a photograph. This includes their relative positions and sizes and the space between them. In other words, perspective in the composition of a photograph is the way real three-dimensional objects are pictured in a photograph that has a two-dimensional plane. In photography, perspective is another illusion you use to produce photographs of quality composition. When you are making pictures, the camera always creates perspective. Because a camera automatically produces perspective, many novice photographers believe there is no need to know much about it. This attitude is far from correct. When you know the principles of perspective and skillfully apply them, the photographs you produce show a good rendition of the subject's form and shape, and the viewer is given the sensation of volume, space, depth, and distance. Additionally, the photographer can manipulate perspective to change the illusion of space and distance by either expanding or compressing these factors, therefore providing a sense of scale within the picture.

Trailers

Trailers

Trailers were originally shown at the end of films which is where they got their name from – they trailed after the film. That didn’t work because everyone got up and walked out the cinema before they were shown, so they were moved to being shown before the film.

Pre-trailer screens include  MPAA rating card – Motion Picture Association of America, Production company screen and Distribution company screen.

Audience Research

Research

• First familiarize yourself with the existing media in order to plan your research

Now read this powerpoint...

Audience Research

Focus Groups

What are focus groups and how to run them
Conducting a focus group
A guide to using focus groups for research
An example of a student's analysis of her focus group findings (it would be better to include a video link as well, though)

A few examples of mood boards - useful prompts for focus groups 

http://catherinebaker-as.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/moodboard.html
http://brianair.wordpress.com/as-film-studies/moodboard/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTY8vueiYSM - a multimedia example!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajzeu8cgj-0&feature=related - a student talking about her mood board and how it will influence her new music magazine

Using your blog to gather information

Check out these very simple instructions which explain how to include a survey using blogger. The drawback is, you can only ask one question, so choose carefully! But remember you could update it at different points in your research. E.g. Which of these music magazines do you read? Then, later in your coursework, you could upload your magazine and ask your audience questions such as whether they think you have successfully followed the conventions of your chosen genre; would they buy the magazine; do they think it represents the star image in 'X' way, etc. etc.

Alternatively, if you'd like to be able to ask more questions, you can sign up for a freeSurvey Monkey account to create a whole survey online.

Audience Theory

All media texts are made for a particular audience. Most of the time we take this for granted – we know that we are likely to enjoy some texts but be very uninterested in other texts.

Analysing a media text is much easier once you have identified the target audience, because then you can start to look for particular features of the text which appeal to that audience

Presentation - Introduction to Audience

Presentation - Audience Reception Theory

Presentation - More on the Hypodermic Syringe Theory

Solid Granite

Any media text is made up of GRANITE.  Confused?

• Okay, Every media text belongs to a Genre or group (a horror film, dance track, teen magazine)
• Within that text, a person, place or object is being Represented in some way, shape or form.
• The Audience for that media text will make sense of it using their personal and shared experiences
• The text also contains a Narrative, be it a photograph of war or some bad gangsta lyrics about pimping your uncle
• The text didn't evolve from bacteria, it was constructed by a media Institution for financial purposes and has elements of their Ideology embedded within the text.
• It was produced using some Technology, be it DTP (Desk Top Publishing software) or hardware
• The Evidence is the product itself which you can then reference against other Experiences you've had with similar Media
• Get it?!