How was Englishness represented in Midsomer Murders?

(N.B. I had this ready for the day it was due but I thougt we were handing it in not blogging it as I thought it was part of a test).

Midsomer Murders has recently been reprimanded for its lack of ethnical diversity in its cast resulting in the suspension of one of the main producers. This has drawn to light how obvious the ways are that the show tries to show Englishness.
Camera:
For our clip of Midsomer Murders we chose the very first part of the first episode and series. This could arguably be the most “English” part with it being in more of an era where it was less normal to have a ethnically widespread cast. The first significant shot is a wide panning shot which shows you the cottages and the surrounding area. This is utilised because it gives you a sense of where you are (in this case the countryside). This view is after a view of a sign which reads “Best Kept Village”. This is quintessentially English as it’s often what’s done in many villages in England. There are several close ups after this, these show the different types of people that live in these sorts of village and the variety that are there. Another shot shows two older women talking together which although is not just limited to England is one of the things that people think of when they hear village.
One of the next camera shots to be mentioned is the shot of the old woman locking up her bike. The shot is seen from a low angle giving it the appearance of a voyeur shot, meaning that you’re not supposed to be there. This is replicated in the next shot which is a long shot of the woman walking through the forest. This also gives the idea that she is being watched unknowingly. More shots follow in the same manner, also the way in which the shot looks like it’s being filmed with a handycam makes it seem as if you are seeing this as a P.O.V. (Point Of View) shot.
Mise en Scene:
The first shot is of a woman riding her bicycle through a village, the bicycle in this sense tends to be a very English method of transportation especially through the road with cottages, also a very English image. The next clip features an obviously old car which looks to be very “English”. You also see horses which in the English countryside it’s a very common sight to see horses sharing the road with cars and tractors.
You also see the “Post Office” which has always been a traditionally English thing with the red sign being recognised throughout the country. Also seen are the fly screen which are usually seen in English butchers shops. Also featured is a Walls ice cream sign which is another quintessentially English brand. The clothing of the characters seen is also English in appearance with bright summer colours worn along with the bandanas worn in the style of the working women posters from the war. Also seen is a garishly patterned cardigan which has always been a fault of the English wearing those but they do represent us as a nation.
Props seen that are very English include the wicker baskets that all of the women carry in this clip at one point or another. Also included are the old style English camera that the woman uses to take a photo of the flower. Next the idea of the “Peeping Tom” of the neighbour out of the window, which in itself make her look like she’s trapped behind bars. Also English is the idea of the “Beehive Cottage” all of the cottages being given names.
The combination of the old style telephone which has been used for years in Britain and is also very English, also with the cup of tea which has always been English, just as the coffee has been to the French and also alcohol to the Scottish.
Sound:
Throughout almost the entire clip there is non-diegetic sound playing in the background. This follows the mood of the clip as it goes along. For instance, at first when everything is calm and the old lady is cycling down the line of cottages the sound is calm and happy, this carries on for about a minute and a half, in which time there is also diegetic sound playing, this includes the car as it comes around the corner, but most noticeably the village dweller’s voices which for the most part are very upper class English, in other words posh. Also the sound of the horse’s hooves on the road which is heard around many parts of England.
When it gets to the scene where the woman is in the woods the non-diegetic background music fades out which helps the audience focus more on what’s going on in the show and also hints that the content may be beginning to get slightly darker. All you can hear is the rustling of the leaves underfoot and in the wind and also the birds in the trees, all examples of diegetic sound. The next sound you can hear is of a man panting in the background, (thankfully) we cannot see what he is doing, the birds begin to flap distracting the man long enough to stop. The non-diegetic background music comes back but this time it is much deeper and slow in a way. Immediately giving the idea of trouble but then again nothing particularly English about it.

Research on: Issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media. 2) The importance of cross media convergance and synergy in production, distribution and marketing. 3) The technologies that have come out in recet years.

1) The idea of comparing illegal music downloads and to purchasing songs to buying bottled water when we can still get it free is very clever and easy to understand.
Victor Keegan said "If music executives sold bottled water, they'd be calling for a ban on tap water downloads. But their industry is proving resilient" this point truly reflects his opinion and makes a lot of sense.

Young people and especially teenagers do download illegal music although are prepared to pay £3 for a ring tone of their phone. Keegan stated that the reason for this is because it was an easier payment option and if companies had spent more time thinking of easier ways to pay then more people would pay for the songs.

He also said that people these days tend to download in single tracks rather than downloading the album as they may not want other songs they don't like or don't want.
However money can still be gained as this particular audience are prepared to spend a large amount of money on going to their favourite artists gigs and on merchandise.

Keegans point truly highlights where the big music companies have gone wrong and the ways in which they could have stopped illegal downloading or reduced it. "If the big music companies had spent their energies dreaming up a payments mechanism for web downloads instead of suing their customers they could have swept all before them. Instead they were like the crew of a sinking boat that blames the sea instead of trying to mend the leak."

Also to purchase on itunes you have to have an itunes account which could be inconvenient for some people so they seem to resort in getting the music for free. Surely if the music companies focused on creating other and easier ways to pay people may decide to purchase it.

Researched from Media Blogging Websites

2) James Cameron plans another innovation for his next "Avatar" installment: shooting at double or more the film speed that has been Hollywood's standard since the 1920s, a move he says will greatly improve 3-D images.Cameron, whose 2009 sci-fi blockbuster raised the bar for digital imagery and put the 3-D craze on the fast track, said Thursday that "Avatar 2" would be shot at 48 or 60 frames a second to reduce an effect called "strobing" that can blur moving images, particularly those in 3-D. For more than 80 years, the norm has been 24 frames a second.

In a demonstration for theater owners at their CinemaCon convention, Cameron played 3-D footage he recently shot at 24, 48 and 60 frames a second to show the better quality of high-speed filming.

The footage of medieval dinner and fight sequences shot at 48 and 60 frames a second were noticeably superior.At 24 frames, blurriness was very evident when the camera panned or dollied along the dinner table and when two knights dueled with swords. The fuzzy images greatly diminished at 48 frames and virtually vanished at 60 frames.

"I was stunned when I saw it, at how clear and crisp it was," Cameron said. "If 3-D is like looking at reality through a window, we've taken the glass out of the window."

New digital projectors rapidly being installed in theaters can handle the higher frame speeds with no more than a software upgrade, said Cameron, who wants faster filming rates to become the standard for 2-D and 3-D movies.

Reasearch from: hitfix.com

Working Title Questions

How do you decide what film projects to start production and which not to?

If a film that you have invested in does not make the return you were expecting, how would you normally attempt to regain your investment?

What are your thoughts and possible ideas about the new wave of 3D movies being released?

Guardian Article

Hollyoaks Scene Evaluations

Serious
Camera:
The shots in the more serious scene are very un-dramatic and very slow moving. They are mid shots of four people sitting on two sofas. These shots could be used to represent the two sides of the argument that is being had, with on one side the two sisters who are needed by the long lost dad on the other side with their other sister. This obviously is made less complicated if you watched or have watched this program before.
The angles of the camera never changes except from the penultimate shot where on of the sisters walks out of the house and the shot looks as if its been taken from a camera set in the corner of the room , this gives the impression that you’re spying on them and are not supposed to be there.
There is no actual camera movement in the clip except from when the first shot is taken and the camera moves up from behind one of the sofas to face the other one, this is also tied into and over the shoulder shot of the father also giving you the impression that you’re there.Editing:
One of the mentionable aspects is about how the shots between the light-hearted and serious scene were bridged, the only noticeable thing was that immediately with the sound of the slamming door the shot changed to the man in the wheelchair wheeling himself across the grounds of the school.Sound:
For this particular scene there are no sound effects or music which works well I think works well in keeping the tone serious.
Most of that sounds that you can hear are just sounds of traffic in the background. Also the sound of a kettle boiling, this could signify the way in which the conversation is about to “heat up” into an argument. This keeps it serious but also engaging.Mise en scene:
The way in which the actors portray themselves in the scene is a much more calm but also in a much more “concentrated” way, the characters are very quiet but you can tell they are in no way timid about showing their feelings.
The lighting in the serious scene is obviously much darker than in the light-hearted scene.
This gives the effects that it’s a much darker time for the family.
The colour looks much more toned down in the serious scene than in the light-hearted one as well.Light-hearted
Camera:
In this scene the shots change more frequently which means that the scene seems to be much more lively and you get to see more of what’s going on.
The main opening shot is of the man wheeling his chair across the playground and the girl standing by the windows, this is a long shot which also give you a better idea of what’s going on around them.
The shots are mainly over the shoulder which is interesting given the height difference between the pupil and teacher and the feelings of power or fear.Editing:
There are only very basic amounts of editing in this scene as there are no transitions which are more than just a split second switch from one shot to the other. Sound:
There is only one noticeable sound effects used in this that isn’t something like children running about or cars on the road.
This is when the pupil sees a set of speakers through a window in which a yodelling sound is played, this probably has some sort of link towards something that she does later in the show.
Most of the sound is just the pupil and the child talking, you can also tell it’s a more light-hearted scene from the way that jokes are made.
　Mise en scene:
The way that the people act and deliver their lines definitely supports this being a less serious scene to follow the other obviously more serious scene.
The lighting of the scene is much more bright than the serious scene which helps keep it from being serious.The colour of the scene is also much brighter which travels well when you look at it across from the less serious scene.

TV Drama : BBC

What do the following reveal about the importance of TV drama for terrestrial broadcasters in Britain?

BBC trailers like "The One For Drama" (Now "The One To Watch")
- The changing of the title suggests that the channel is trying to open itself up to a much wider audience, this is done by not just sticking itself to one paticular genre but making it available to more of an audience, for people who like comedy or horror and thriller.

Promotion of Autumn schedules
- People may be more likely to watch television in the autum as it's cold and nobody wants to go outside, so watching TV may seem like a better idea.

I'd like to point out that I didn't get as far as I could have was it not for HANNAH WINTER TURNING OFF MY COMPUTER!!!!

Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 can be defined as a new 'wave' of websites that are designed far more with the user in mind, The users are farmore inergrated into the running of the website. User can now add t he websites or share their views on it. They have become 'Procumers'.

There are several examples of websites wit the new 2.0 style. One of these is 'Digg'. Digg is a website that hosts many of what the user considers he bet news stories and articles across the web. The way in which the user orreader is involved is a simple idea. There is a link under certain pieces of the internet which you can click. Thi is known as a 'Digg', possibly referencing to whether you "dig" the story or not.

This is Firebox.com. Under it's products it has a variety of options to share this page, including Digg, this is the main example of sharing on Digg.

The next example is arguably the most popular Web 2.0. designand it's Facebook. Almost all of the content is user generated. The only parts that aren't is the advertisments. Which interetingly are also tailored to the users internet and Facebook viewing habits.

Facebook allows the user to share videos that they themselves have made, or that they have found on such other websites as YouTube. They can share news articles, products (as above the firebox product) but they can also comment on statuses and pictures that people have uploaded. They created within themselves their own online community. Some more examples of Web 2.0:

How does the skins promo trailer create representation for young people?

How does the skins promo trailer create representation for young people?

  When it comes to the editing of the trailer it fits in really well with the idea of being out of control. It cuts sharply from shot to shot giving the impression that it's much more fast paced than other shows. But it also fits in with the music which is also very fast paced (Standing In The Way Of Control – Gossip). This also agrees with the main idea of teenagers at this age being wild and rebellious. The whole trailer was filmed over what was supposed to be one night of the same party. The way it is put together from start to finish shows how at the beginning everyone is having a good time and enjoying themselves, but as the night goes on it gets worse. People start breaking things and the main couple starts to argue. This is a good way of showing how things can change so quickly when kids are let loose with themselves when they are causing chaos.

 The main thing to talk about with the camera angles is that all of the shots are made by using an unsupported camera to walk about the party. This gives a really good effect that you are a person at the party, helping you understand how and why the kids are behaving as they are. From what I saw most of the camera shots nearer the beginning were from a lower angle making them look bigger, more powerful and like they're having a great time.

 But, as the night and trailer goes on the characters are starting to be viewed from a higher angle making them look smaller, so for when the scenes of throwing up are happening it makes them look smaller and more insignificant. Helping with the idea of the end of the night being “messier” than the beginning.

 

When it comes to things inside the mise-en-scene such as the costume, all the costumes denote that they are from a similar are an social standing. This is deceiving as it is a very different situation in the actual TV show. But this also means that it may be deceiving in the way that it shows teenagers. Especially if we compare it to the extract we have watched. Again when it comes to the mise-en-scene and we think about the location, the party is set in just a normal house which adds to the realism of the program as it is a normal "house party". Not a club in a VIP area which would be much less realistic.

When it comes to props there is a very large variation of types of props from bear suits to bongs. This is supposed to help it be beleiveable that these kids are normal people. A lot of the pictures show them engaging in recreational drug use and sexual activities which ignores the usual "taboos" of these subjects again showing that they are normal teenagers.