Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Atonement - Industry

Country Origio - France/UK
Certificate - 15
Production companies - Working title/studio Canal
Distribution Company - Focus Features/united international pictures
Budget - 30M
Total Gross - 129,266,061 ($)
Awards - Won Best original Score and was up for & nominations in the Oscars
14 nominations for Baftas, won two, Best Film and Best Production Design.

owned by Vivendi universal Conglomerate.

Atonement - Audience

The audience is mainly active/ passive, they work to create an already diplayed meaning.

Audience responses:
Gender
Culture
Situation

Stuart Hall's theory ('73)
oppositional
negotiated
preferred

Cutural Experience:
Ethinicity - white audience - relvant to the context of the film
Sexuality - more in relation to attitudes towards sex opposed to actual sexuality
Age - young stars attract audiences
Religeon - Patriachal Christian Britain

situated culture
-When audience is 'forced' to watch, outcome is usaully good, however a large audience is put off by tradtional elemnets in the film.

Uses & gratifications

Atonement - Narrative

Narrative is a series of elements which are organised in a way to make sense of a story.

Atonement has non-linear elements to the narrative - for example The use of flashbacks.

Todorov's theory works well with Atonement's narrative
- Equilibrium - the beginning of the film
- Disruption - The rape and persecution
- Recognition - Bryony realises what she has done and begins to feel guilt
- Repair -she writes a book so Robbie and Cecelia's characters can be together forever
- New Equilibrium - Bryony no longer feels guilt and can die peacefully

Propp's theory isn't applicable to Atonement, many of the characters hold different roles and its difficult to apply as Atonement is a story inside a story.

Atonement - Genre

Genre - Is a system of classification where by texts are categorised by the attributes they share.
Atonement is mostly classified as a 'period drama'.
It has also been called a Romance.
Genre Conventions:

-Narratvie events
Diivorce ( the cousin's parents) this is unconventional to a period drama, Tension between lovers, this is conventional, party preporations and teen rivalry.
-Audio / technical codes
Typewriter, classical music, soundFX under water - or the bee is louder than usual
slow moving and establishing shots.
-Characterisation
Formal conversation, class differences, money, unconventionally, Cecealia - a woman is a dominant character
-Setting
big country house, beautiful garden, wooden interior
-Iconography
The font used for typewriting, Cecealia's haircut (same throughout all stages of film) cigarettes - v 1930s, the vase and Doll's house - being the same as the big house.
-Themes
Social class, binary opposition, love, war and social mobility.
-Mise-En-Scene
Clothing & costume, natural lighting - almost over exposed, stereotpyes within class, carefully constructed frames.

Thursday, 10 February 2011

Audience Classifications

Last week we realised the content of The Big Issue is (by estimate) 60% advertising.

This Week we looked at forms of Audience Classifications.

The NRS audience classification:

A - Upper Middle class
B - Middle Class
C1 - Lower Middle Class
C2 - Skilled Working Class
D - Working Class
E - Under Class

The Family Nest:

Singles
Newly Weds
Full nest 1 (youngest child under 6)
Full nest 2 (youngest child over 6)
Full nest 3 (Older Married couple with dependant children)
Empty nest 1 (Older Married couple still working)
Empty nest 2 (Older married couple, retired)
Working Survivor
retired survivor

Some say these classifications are out-dated.

Psychographics:
This was developed during the digital convergence where more individual factors could be focused on, including:
Personality
Values
Attitudes
Interests
Lifestyle

This is more specific toward the audience and has become prevalent since 'mass media' (newspapers/tv/radio) has began to be replaced by the Internet. an example of psychographics could be Facebook using specific information you have posted and a relevant advertisement appearing in your sidebar.

Applying this to magazines we have studied.

The Big Issue - tendency to be aimed at a younger, but educated audience.
Typically people in the 'c' categorise and singles/full nest 3

Radio Times - More likely to apply to Full nest+ and ABC1.

Magazines are more likely to classify using the older methods as they do not have an interactive relationship with the audience, like the internet does.