Analysis of Screenshots –Evaluation 1

George McKillop

Shot 1:

Classroom Shot – Educating Corby:This shot is used within the documentary show. It features within the website and is used because of the fact that it highlights a classroom environment that allows the audience to engage with the surroundings of a school day. The shot is a long which highlights the teacher at the forefront of the classroom in order to assert dominance, with the pupils sitting down because this appears as a conventional setting in a classroom. Moreover, this shot was used as part of the trailer for the show itself and involved the teacher shouting at one of the pupils. This involves the realism theory and also indicates the sense of disequilibrium of Todorov’s narrative structure, due to the way in which realistically, a teacher at times will have to raise their voice in order to assert their control – and also because of the way that this shows that there is a lack of tranquillity within the school life. The mise-en-scene of the shots involves the students using pens, with books present and the room was a classroom itself so it gives an extremely realistic feel to the entire situation.

Shot 2:

Medium Shot – Educating Corby:This shot is also used within the documentary show. It features within the website and is also used within the newspaper advertisement –thus forming part of a cohesive and consistent marketing campaign by Ignite. This shot was used because we wanted to depict the head teacher of the secondary school, because this was the overall basis of the show. Within the website, the news section discusses quotes and information from the head, and within the double page spread – the magazine states further information about the head teacher for consistency and therefore we decided that it was integral to have shots of him speaking. The medium close up shot pauses at the exact time where the teacher uses hand gestures in order to give him a sense of power and dominance, thus showing the importance of assertion yet again within this documentary.

Shots 3 and 4:

Close up Shot - #CorbyLife:Medium Shot – #CorbyLife:These shots are used within the reality television show. They feature within the website, and they are used because they give specific connotations towards not only the characters, but also towards their genders within the show. Shot 3 is a close up shot of the main female character within the reality television show, whereas Shot 4 is a medium shot of the dominant male character. Shot 4 is also represented within the magazine, though both shots are used within the trailer for the show. The male character within Shot 4 is represented to be a villain through the choice of shot, due to the way in which the facial expression does not reveal anything specific, it is equivocal and it requires the audience to make their own decisions. The female character is depicted within the beginning of the advertisement, with a close up shot providing an example of objectification of woman through the camera work. The purpose of this was to make the character appear as attractive and to focus upon the facial features, thus acting as allowing the male audience to objectify the character easily. Moreover, this shot of the female character is soon followed by a shot of the dominant male character, with the male character looking directly at the camera – in order to follow aspects of Mulvey’s representation theory. We followed this theory because it gives the male character a sense of dominance, whereas the female is objectified because this signifies a lesser sense of power. Suspense is created through the combination of shots between the female character who is initially shown with a close up, rather than a male character who is shown with his entire body – hence showing a sense of power within that character’s representation.These aspects also relate to the fact that we have opposed Janice Winship’s notion of complicity, as we have not given a sense of idealism for the female character, whereas the male character has the dominance within the trailer. Furthermore, this also indicates the fact that we have contrasted David Gauntlett’s empowered female theory, because we have denoted that the male has more power, and the female acts alike how a heterosexual male would perceive them.

Shots 5 and 6:

Over the shoulder Shot – Oakley Vale: Medium Shot – Oakley Vale:These shots are used within the soap opera. They feature within the website, but are also included within the trailers for the show. The first shot is used because it allows the audience to interpret the way that the discussion between the two characters is going – hence why we decided to choose an over the shoulder shot in comparison to a close up. The male character’s face is still extremely visible and his expression is clear, and we have done this because of the fact that it allows the disequilibrium to be prevalent within the advertisement and within the website itself. By giving a sense of misbalance and confusion through the use of expression, we have followed Freytag’s dramatic structure, as well as Barthes’ hermeneutic code theory. We have ended our advertisements without a denouement – which therefore will engage the audience and entice them to find out what ultimately happens.Shot 6 is used because it does the opposite essentially, due to the fact that is shows a sense of equilibrium and balance within the show – with this being a convention of soap operas. We have been able to follow the convention of showing the calmness initially, before ultimately highlighting the dysfunction that is concurrent within the programme. This means that the audience are subsequently drawn in towards the show, as they will wish to become an active audience in order to find out the reasoning for the malfunction within the soap opera. Moreover, within Shot 6, the female character has a smile on her face – with her expression being of paramount importance because of the fact that is denotes her to be surreptitious, and as we found out from our research, villains are essential for the interest in soap operas. We have used this shot to give her a clandestine nature, something that is very effective for conveying a sense of disequilibrium, but without revealing an entire plot.

Shot 7:

Medium Shot - #CorbyLife:This shot features within the website, with this being included in the trailer in order to show a sense of confrontation between characters for a further enhancement of maelstrom within the show. This shot is used because it connotes the events that are occurring between the male characters, with the purpose being to use stereotypes in order to create aspects of frenzy in order to subsequently interest the audience. We have been able to convey the negative characters within programming, with this being the male character within reality television, and this is shown because of the fact that a new male character has now started a fight with the character that has been represented as villainous – as aforementioned in Shot 4. This therefore denotes the fact that we have adhered to the villains within entertainment programming, due to the way in which the villain is receiving his comeuppance, and the audience are given a character that they can essentially dislike.

Shot 8:

Medium Shot - #CorbyLife:This shot features within the website and then also the trailer for the reality television show. This acts as a further representation for the disequilibrium involved, though it involves another character who appears to be taking a more passive role when the action is occurring. The character on the left is shown to look down and does not wish to become involved in the confrontation, whereas the main male character is depicted with a facial expression of appearing as stern and rather angry. We have been able to set a contrast between the positive and negative characters within the programming, and this is shown with the facial expression and close up shots of the male character within ‘#CorbyLife’ – with this therefore signifying a villainous character within the programme. Moreover, the entire mise-en-scene of the shot is placed within a pub/restaurant, which subverts against the entire glamorous lifestyle that is conventional within these types of shows. This is shown with the restaurant menus that are conveyed within the entire trailer – with the purpose being to depict realism –as the audience will be able to relate not only to the traits of the characters – but also the environment of which they live in.

Shot 9:

High angle Shot – This is England:This high angle shot features within our textual analysis of a newspaper advertisement. The high angle shot is used in order to highlight all of the characters within the show, but it also signifies these characters to be weak, thus creating a sense of disequilibrium because the reasoning for this danger is never explained. This therefore follows the hermeneutic code, due to the way in which there is no full explanation as to what could potentially happen – hence drawing the audience towards the show. We have followed this convention within our own programming and use of images between our products, due to the way that we did not ever denote a denouement – and have instead left the audience to make their own decision. This means that they are able to become an active audience, due to the way in which we have followed the conventions of this advertisement.

Shot 10:

Over the shoulder Shot – Holby City:This over the shoulder shot features within our textual analysis of a double page spread. The over the shoulder shot is used in order to create suspense for the audience because of the unfolding events within the show. The characters appear to be discussing an important event and because of the fact that the female appears to be concerned, it elicits a response of sympathy for her character. However, when the image is put into context and the discourse of a double page spread magazine – it is revealed that she is withholding a secret – and therefore she should not be receiving sympathy due to her furtive nature. We have also adhered to this type of image with our representation of the conversation within the soap opera, as a result of the way that the female character is surreptitiously deceiving the male character. The female character is used in order to elicit an initial response of empathy, though not everything is at it appears at face value, and the purpose of this magazine and then our image in comparison is to allow the audience to understand the reasoning for the deceit that occurs.

Shot 11:

Medium Shot – The Voice:This medium shot features within our textual analysis of a double page spread. The medium shot is used to objectify the female character, without giving her a specific sense of power over the over male characters. We have recreated this with our presentation of the female character within the reality television show – due to the way in which we have tried to objectify the female character initially within the advertisement. By using Laura Mulvey’s representation theory, the female character is able to be objectified in a manner that will be admired by the heterosexual male – but then the female audience are able to see her in an aspiring manner. We have attempted to follow this convention within our own camera shots of the female character in the reality television show, purely due to the fact that Ignite has an audience of both male and female genders and we wanted both genders to engage with the programming that is available within the brand.

Shot 12:

Medium Shot –Britain’s Got Talent:This medium shot features within our textual analysis of the ITV website. This medium shot is used to depict the dominance and assertive aspects of the celebrities Ant & Dec. This shot is used by the website because they are looking directly at the camera because of the fact that they wish to increase their rapport with the audience, hence why they are smiling and have open body language to denote their friendliness. They are extremely well-known and this is why they are shown in such a positive manner, because they have a reputations and tendency for being extremely friendly and are also very well-liked by the audience. We have taken this shot in mind for the presentation of the villainous character within the reality television show, due to the fact that we wanted to use a similar shot – though with subverting connotations. The medium shot of the male character within #CorbyLife is framed in the exact same way, in order to give a sense of assertiveness and to give the character domination within the show, although the body expression appears as much more introvert and facial expression appears as villainous due to the stern appearance. We have therefore used the conventions effectively in terms of the framing of the shot, and have taken a key interest in how to depict emotion and assertiveness of a main character – but have instead juxtaposed in a sense because this male character is not well-liked.

Shot 13:

Medium Shot – Eastenders:This medium shot was used within the textual analysis of the BBC website. This medium shot is used to highlight the emotion of the female character within the show, in order to convey that something is clearly wrong – thus suggesting a sense of dysfunction within the shot. The medium shot is not entirely framed to shot her full body, thus meaning that isolation is depicted for this character within the context because of the fact that there is evidently a problem that she must overcome. This relates to Propp’s narrative theory in terms of a character showing distress, hence meaning that she must solve these issues in order to progress. We have depicted a similar shot within our camerawork and products, though we decided to use an over the shoulder shot for purposes that have been aforementioned. Within Shot 5, the male character is able to depict a sense of isolation and confusion because of the way that news has shocked him. This means that we have followed this convention in a sense by depicting isolation, but have subverted from the type of shot used, as we wanted to signify the clandestine nature of the female character within the soap opera – rather than simply have one character alone within the composition of the shot.