Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

Types of advertisements that the advertising standards authority (ASA) regulate on various platforms, include; radio, TV, magazine, newspaper and banner and display adverts. The ASA regulates adverts so that they are not offensive or misleading in any way to the viewing public. For example if an advert is racist, sexist, includes false claims, is untruthful or if an advert influences children in a bad way. The ASA also ensure that all aired advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful.

Three things that food and drink adverts cannot include, is if the advert encourages unhealthy eating in children. They also can't include the encouragement of excessive eating of the adverts specific food or drink item. The last example that they cannot do is include misleading information of the nutritional aspects of their product, as this would be seen as being dishonest to the public and this is something the ASA regulates to make sure that advertisements are honest and truthful.

Three examples that children featuring adverts cannot include, is encouraging children to do activities that are considered unsafe or dangerous for children to perform. Another example would be to not include children in adverts in a sexual way, as this is inappropriate. Finally adverts should not include the idea of encouraging children to be a nuisance to their parents or others, as this can influence children to act in a certain way which is wrong and could lead to children being misled.

The case study that I have chose to describe is the American Apparel advertisement that was banned in 2012. It was banned because people complained that fact that the model on the image looked quite young and this was an issue as it was seen as sexualising a child, which is offensive and irresponsible. The advert showed a young looking girl led on an armchair, wearing only a baggy jumper, knickers and knee length socks. Here is the advertisement:

Comparison on Directorial Styles

I have picked three directors that have directed different types/genres of films that I have watched. Here I have compared the styles at which they create and identifies the similarities and differences between each one.

The first director I have chosen is Steven Spielberg who is a very well known director and has directed many popular films. A few examples are Jurassic Par, Jaws, ET and Indiana Jones. Although he has directed a fair variety of film genres, his most famous films are quite adventurous and intense.

His directing techniques include a lot of dramatic over the shoulder shots and another example would be when the character approaches the camera to be framed in a close up. This increases the powerfulness of the scene and is very gripping and intriguing for the target audience.

The second director I have chosen is James Cameron and although again, he has directed a variety of film genres, his best are also very well known. Some of his films include; Titanic, Avatar, Aliens and The Terminator.

The most famous probably being Titanic, is a romantic film and a lot of his other films are in the science fiction genre. His first known technique is the use of music, this really sets the mood of the scene and can really make the audience emotions flow. For example in Titanic the song 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion throughout the whole film, this is represented as very meaningful and deep and is often associated with this romantic genre.

This in comparison to Steven Spielberg is quite different because Cameron is quite subtle and pulls on the audiences heart strings, whereas Spielberg approach is much more intense but still as effective.

Finally, the last director I have decided to compare is Harold Ramis. His most popular films include; Ghost Busters, Groundhog Day and some more older films as well.

Ramis' style is often used in humorous films in the comedy genre, but also included action within his selection of films he directed. The difference between the previous two directors I have analysed and Ramis' style, is the fact that he uses effective flash backs which is quite an unusual technique, yet still manages to keep the audience engaged and excited to watch on. He is also quite subtle in his comedy techniques, similar to Cameron, but also sometimes includes dramatic scenes to increase the intensity just like Spielberg.

Primary and Secondary Research for Short Film

Primary research:

The primary research that I have done is my location recce on the (lab) I am going to use for my short film. Here is the link to my blog post including my recce.

When is my short film set?

My film is set in the present as I want it to be very realistic and relatable to today's times. Although because my story is based around science, there are going to be very modern technologies that might come across quite futuristic, however this is the case even now in the present day. Also I think the formula discovery would come across more incredible, as this could happen in real life with the advanced equipment and technologies that we now how. Whereas in the future it might not be that fantastic, as they may already have alternative to fossil fuels.

Secondary research:

Within the scenario for my short film, a scientist discovers a formula that could change the world. This could be the answer to making renewable energy and would no longer need the use of fossil fuels. However, this could cause a lot of problems for other countries who depend on selling their fossil fuels to other countries like England and would cause them to miss out on a lot of money. This could then result in their country losing their main source of income and could severely effect the countries way of living and could even make their government go bankrupt.

I have done some research into cold fusion to help me understand the topic further. I have watched a few videos on Youtube explaining what cold fusion is, and a short definition is a nuclear fusion usually occurring at room temperature. Here is a link to the clip I watched on cold fusion.

Filming Location- (Lab) Recce

Here is my location that I think is suitable for my short film. This is in the college and is used as an art room, although I think this would work well because it has high tables, science stools and a large sink, all of which you would find in a real science lab. Here are the pictures I took of this room:

For my short film there is only one location, all my scenes and shots are all in one room, here are the advantages and disadvantages of this space.

The advantages of this space is that there is a lot of room to set up the camera equipment and will not be short of space. It also fits in with the plot of my short film because there are a few desks and stools that can be used, it is also quite messy on the walls which looks like a messy science lab as lots of experiments would have taken place here.

The disadvantages of this area is that it does still look like an art room at the moment, however I would put up some science goggles and warning posters that I can print online, to make the space more suitable for my short film.

The possible dangers that I might come across working in this area, could be potential trips over the equipment and I would need to make sure to move the easels to ensure that they are not damaged during the film making process.

This recce is part of my primary research for my short film. This is because I have gathered this information first hand and have not used websites or books, as this would be secondary research.

Christmas Clip Notes

Sainsbury's Clip

Mum was dreaming of an affair.
Everything keeps going wrong for the cat.
House is ruined and the family are sad.
Everyone comes together, all the neighbours go round to help celebrate christmas with them.
The cat is declared a hero.

This advert could suggest that women are represented to be the cheaters in the relationship and is shown as a dream of what she wanted to be happy, whereas the dad just wants to win a sports game to be happy. The difference is supposed to be comical, however some audiences could find this offensive. This clip's moral is that at christmas everyone comes together to enjoy the company of friends and family and how generous we all should be during christmas time.

Walt Disney Santa's Workshop

Christmas elves getting ready for christmas day.
Making all the christmas gifts to deliver.
There were a few racial stereotypes within this clip, including the chinamen and the marching band who were all black.

This clip included some racial stereotypes which probably wouldn't have been considered as offensive back in the olden days, however in today's modern society, companies can not get away with publishing clips like this, as many would consider this to be racist. A lot of the toys were different and used offensive stereotypes, for example the chinamen wore kimono type clothing and the black marching band were shown as loud and mischievous.

Student Film Clip Santa Claus is Coming

Small girl trying to catch Santa giving presents.
She sees a giant bug, who gave the presents from his bottom.
The young girl is shocked at who Santa actually is.
She is now very frightened.

This was a very abstract and almost dark take on the idea of Santa Claus. It was also quite humorous as the presents came out of the giant bug's bottom. I think that the whole idea was very random and extremely unexpected, the girl then became scared of Santa and the last image shown, was her shaking in her bed out of fright.

Christmas Comes But Once A Year

Children all gets presents from their stocking.
All the gifts break and the children cry.
Santa saves the day by making all the children new presents from the household objects.
Makes a christmas tree from umbrellas.

This video clip in my opinion was very creative as the all the new presents was made out of the already owned household objects. During the middle of the clip, there was a lot of crying and sadness from the children after all their presents broke, however this was to create a more dramatic effect for when Father Christmas appears to save the day. The next clips shown was the creation of all the christmas gifts and the christmas tree made out of umbrella's, this made all the children happy again and

Paddy Power Advert

This advert involves a game of blind football being played and also shows a man accidentally kicking a cat instead of a football. Here is a screenshot of this TV advertisement:

I think this advert can be seen as offensive, because some people might be shocked by the concept of this advert. Also I think the fact that children can see this, can be quite off putting for parents. This is because it can be seen as influencing children and could come across as setting a bad example or could cause young children into being misled into thinking it;s ok or funny to do this, however this is not the case. The cat being kicked id used as a comical element of the advert, although this does not link into the advert in anyway and therefore is quite unnecessary.

Flash Popcorn Button

In today's lesson I learnt how kernels popped into popcorn, how to make a simple button on Flash and how to create a button of a kernel popping into popcorn when it is pressed, I did this on Adobe Flash.

First I had to create a new Flash file and the type was called AIR for Android, shown in the screenshot below.

Next I clicked on 'Insert' and pressed 'new symbol'. A box came up which gave me the chance to name the new symbol, I made sure to click the drop down menu and click 'button' to ensure that I would be making the button in the correct format. Here are the screenshots to demonstrate this.

From this point, I actually started creating my button, I started off really simple and chose a circle that would squash when it was pressed. The buttons I created was made in four stges, however the middle two can stay the same.

This is what the three stages looked like on my first ever button:

However for something a bit more challenging, I made a second button and here are the screenshots of the three stages of my new, more complex idea.

I added a sound effect to my button, I chose to put this on the last stage when the popcorn actually popped. I did this by simply finding the effect I wanted and dragged it onto the Flash Symbol that I had created.

After that I learnt how to add motion to the button, which is where there are more stages the symbol, which makes it look more interesting and exciting.

My Board Game, Cards and Logo

Since researching the style of board game that I was interested in, I created my own board based on the template I made last week. I included icons that I have hand drawn myself and made them all flat colours with no gradient or texture, to make the overall appearance quite modern. This was also to stay within the theme. However on the card spaces in the centre, I did put a black outline on the icons to make them stand out in front of the blue boxes, otherwise this could have blended into the background and could make the board look unclear and therefore unprofessional.

Here is my updated board game:

I still chose the black and white theme for my board game, however I added small pops of colour to add interest and to make the specific icons stand out. I think this works well because it is still classic looking but with a modern twist, which is considered quite exciting and appropriate for the target audience. The main target audience is teenagers and young adults aged 13-21, who are interested in media.

I also created the cards to go with the game:

For the cards, I used bright colours because when these are placed on the board, they will stand out amongst an otherwise dull colour scheme. These will also go with the target audience because if the game was purely black and white, it could be seen as being a more adult game, whereas adding bright colour here and there will make the board game more teenager friendly. I used the same font throughout the board game production process, to stay within the theme and the make it look put together and professional.

I will also put an updated card design screenshot, which actually has the main body of the text on, so the style will become more clear. I will insert this image here: 

Finally, I created a logo to make the audience aware of my brand image:

I decided to hand draw my logo, as usually it is quite unconventional for a brand to use this. This would make my logo stand out amongst others because it looks quite unique yet simple. I drew this on a piece of paper then I scanned it through on the printer so it will send to my email. I then used Adobe Photoshop to increase the intensity of the lines and to add star icons for the dots of the 'I's' to make it a little bit more interesting.

Guidelines for my Boardgame

The primary font that I have used on my board game and cards is:

Helvetica Bold-

 Example:

I have chosen this font because it stands out as a sub title against the other fonts and makes the card very clear, so that the audience know straight away if they have picked up a skill or a bad habit.

The secondary font I have used is:

Microsoft Sans Serif-

Example:

I chose this font because it is very simple and easy to read, it also works well with the Helvetica Bold font, which stands out slightly more.

This is my brand logo:

This font can only be changed so that the words are together on the same line, however the style and the star colour cannot be changed. Also with the actual font colour, this has to remain black (c-0, m-0, y-0, k-100).

For example the logo can look like this:

The colour scheme I have chosen includes:

#2 Reflective Media Theory

A few of the topics that we have covered so far are; YouGov profiles, gender signifiers, Leveson inquiry, representation of men in TV, representation of women in film and debating whether anyone can be a journalist or not.

Firstly we looked at the YouGov profiles. This is a website where you can type in anything you want and it generates a majority audience to that specific text. For example there are a few magazines and newspapers that I searched and these are the profiles that it generated.

Next we discussed gender signifiers and how different products/objects are represented in a certain way, either for men or women. For example a lot of beer/alcohol products are targeted towards the male audiences because on their advertisements there tends to be an attractive women in revealing clothes to attract the male consumer. Whereas beauty products are aimed towards women and oddly yoghurt also seems to be aimed towards women.

I also looked into the phone hacking scandal and the Leveson inquiry. I found out that employees of the News of the World and other British newspapers were accused of phone hacking and the most notable arrest was former News of the World managing editor Andy Coulson.

In our debate, my team had to argue that not everyone can be journalists. Some of the point we came up with were;

• You have to be professional.
• Has to be trained/taught how to be a journalist.
• Members of the publish trust what is being written so has to be truthful and factual.
• Needs to be able to use suitable grammar for the situation and have the necessary writing skills which you would also need to be trained for.
• Why is it that journalism is a paid job and would need to have certain qualifications to succeed career wise.
• Companies would not just hire 'anyone' would have to have experience and be trained.
• There are different type of journalism including citizen, community and civic.

The Bechdel test.

Sensationalism

A presentation of ideas that are used to get the public's attention, that might not necessarily be true. For example a sensationalist newspaper would be the Daily Mirror, as a lot of their stories are often quite exaggerated to seem more interesting for the readers of the specific paper.

This also links into hyperboles which are often extreme exaggerations, used to make a statement and to spike the publics attention.

An example of an hyperbolic statement: "I've told you the answer a thousand times!"

Here is a screenshot of an example I found in the news today on the Ok! gossip magazine website:

The fact that this story uses the word 'embraces' suggests that it is an exaggeration to make the readers think more of what the actual story is telling. Also this makes the story sound more engaging, although it is just an image of Kate Middleton's hair blowing back.

Media Wise is a trust and a voluntary organisation that provides advise for the public that have been affected by incorrect media coverage. They also deliver training on ethical issues for media professionals, as well as conducting research on media law, policy and practise.

3 Act Structure

I researched a 3 minute short film on YouTube and chose "Different Paths" to analyse the 3 act structure.

Here is the short film:

Act 1- in this act it shows the one actress that is featured in this film. It shows her as the first character and is represented as a well educated, intelligent girl, who is overall represented as being a typical, innocent girl.

First Tipping Point- when the girl pulls out the photo of her father.

Act 2-  here, it shows the character missing her father, this is shown in the photo that she is holding. It shows the fact that she does not blame him and still loves him because of the messages on the back of the picture. It also introduces the same actress and character, but with a different mind-set, hence the title 'Different Paths'.

Second Tipping Point- the appearance of the second character who has a more edgy, rebellious look.

Act 3- finally, it shows the character with the more negative mind-set, where the character is more anger and hurt by her fathers disappearance rather than just sadness. This is also represented by on the back of the picture and when she starts to get angry/annoyed.

Six Word Story

She was told, never grow old.

The Forest

I thought that this animation was quite confusing and therefore not as powerful as the makers probably hoped. I think that the main purpose of this animation was to show how the world has changed from then and now. However, there are different views on this topic as some would think that the world is worse now, which is the opposite message of this short film. The hidden meaning behind the animation was quite unclear and could have been made more simply, which I think would come across more meaningful and overall more understandable.

Here is my shape animation that I created on Adobe Flash:

I used a circle as my starting shape and slowly transformed it into something more abstract. I did this by inserting key frames into various points of my animation, making the shape automatically transform into the next frame. I then experimented with stretching the shape and varied the use of colour, to make the effect more interesting and unique.

Here is my second flash animation actually using my six word story:

Flash Animation

Here is my first attempt at making a short animation using Adobe Flash. I used the starting point idea of a bouncy ball, then adapted the idea into something more unique and abstract. Firstly I set a stage colour and started with the ball at the top, I then took each frame after every slight movement that was made. This ensured that the animation ran smoothly, although I did have to decrease the amount of frames per second to 12 instead of 24 because this would have taken too long.