Thursday 12 May 2016

Section B LR: Profit Driven Institutions

LR: Talk about how these platforms would gain profit in detail

Ill Manors would attempt to gain profit from the advertisement as it would be able to try and promote the film. Since this may increase awareness, this might end up giving the film some revenue which may soon end up to profit. As well as that, the branding would also help with development of profit. Since Ben Drew already has a following, this would give Ill Manors a chance to gain sales. This could then make the film appeal to an audience since this might be another selling point of the film as this would be Ben Drew's first film. This would therefore support the Auter as the print material mainly uses Plan B's branding which links with the Ill Manors logo. A Field in England also attempts to gain a profit by trying to mass distribute the film making it accessible to a wide audience. Since this is the case, it might help that Ben Wheatly's name is also being used like the Auter Theory suggests to try and sell the film as he might also have a following quite simillar to Ill Manors. However unlike Ill manors or A Field in England which are low budget films, Spectre has a high budget. This means that Spectre can try to make a profit with their advertisements which could try and entice an audience into watching the latest Bond Film. This would be advantageous for Spectre as it would include memortable and recognisable actors like Daniel Craig who has been featured in previous Bond installments. Since this is a franchise, this would also mean that the 007 franchise would have a following quite like Ben Drew. Since this would be the case, it could be one of the factors that would sell the film as it would help with sales. As wel as that, Spectre is also advantageous with its marketing as it could promote the film in various platforms unlike Ill Manors or A Field in England which may not be able to air trailers on TV like Spectre.

Sunday 8 May 2016

MEST1 Mock exam: learner reponse

1) This was feedback for Section B. There wasn't any form of feedback on Section A besides not using headings and using paragraphs.

Section B 
WWW: Uses all three platforms and includes examples from all three texts.
LR: Doesn't really answer the question and no introduction + conclusion. Please write this.

2) I haven't met my target grade overall as I was off by one mark. However individually I had met my target grade on Section A but failed to do so in Section B. 

3) Section A answering the question.
For Media Forms I had mentioned points such as Shot Types and had talked about how this had "fast paced action" to excite the audience for Call of Duty Ghosts. As well as tht i had also included how it would follow the four protagonists. This answer was mainly about answering the excitement segment of the question and had slightly disregarded the camerawork segment of the question.

For institution I had talked about the branding that was presented in the trailer. This had included the Call of Duty Title and featuring Megan Fox. And after that I had applied theory which had related to the point such as the lines of appeal.

Audiences was answered with points such as how the audience can relate to the characters. In addition to this I had talked about the ownership of a dog can also be related to the audience. This was linked with the Uses and Gratification Theory and with the Public Relations as the main one. The most obvious point that was covered was the action which would entice the male audience.

And finally representation was answered with the violence represented in a glorified manor and had gone against the representation that the news would have on gun violence. This was also supported with a desensitised male audience as well as theories such as Stuart Hall.

4) My strongest question would have to be representation. Although Forms had the same marks, i had previously mentioned that it did only mention one faction of the question more that the main point. Another reason why this may have had more of a response would be since it would be focused on the main point for the question on how gun violence in portrayed.

5) My weakest question can be argued between two since I had 7 marks for both Institution and audience. However with past mocks and this one i would say that Institutions was done quite badly. 

6) Q: How are links with other brands and media products used in the trailer to promote ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’?

Links with brands and media products are done quite well with the "Epic Night Out" trailer for Call of Duty Ghosts. This advert had included brands such as Las Vegas which would also link with films such as Ocean's 11 due to the setting of a casino. Another link that this trailer has is the link with heist films due to the casino setting and the action which is mainly taking place in a casino. Films like Res Dog could be an example of how this would link in with the genre of action which is what the general branding of Call of Duty is as it would mainly feature action games. This can link in with lines of appeal as experts. Since they would be familiar with the general action that Call of Duty would include the branding could also link with previous iterations or instalments in the past. 

Another way that branding was used to promote Call of Duty Ghosts would be the feature of Megan Fox. Since she has been featured in other action films such as the Transformers franchise, fans of Call of Duty would recognise her and might be enticed into purchasing the game as this could link into the lines of appeal of nostalgia as she has been in previous Transformers films and most recently in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot. Also since they would feature Megan Fox this would make the brand seem more like they are promoting it with a style of Hollywood since it would feature actresses which can associate the brand with Hollywood.

And finally this would also link with the general action genre due to the action codes that are present in the film. Most notably the action is heavily featured to further promote the action of the film. As well as the genre, institutions such as Activision and Infinity Ward are featured at the end and they can also be associated with action films as infinity ward has developed previous Call of Duty titles and Activision is known for publishing these games as well as the Transformers games which can represent synergy with the Transformers franchise and Call of Duty. In addition to this, it would also have the feel of a buddy movie like The Hangover as it would represent a male cast who are having fun. And finally the space segments of the trailer can relate to films like gravity and this would relate to the uses and gratification of diversion as this brand would tend to be based on audiences enjoying themselves with unique experiences. 

Other ways that this would 

7) I had covered all the platforms and media texts that were required. However I made a bad mistake answering the question on convergence since I wouldn't have much theory going with convergence. The other option which the majority had chosen was narrative and this was essential for me to at least gain my target grade.

8) I didn't have much question focus or knowledge considering that my answer wasn't good enough to talk about convergence. I should have picked the narrative question because at least that way i could've talked about narrative for the films and applied theories such as Todorov's Equilibrium, Barthes Action/enigma codes, Propp's Character theory and other theories which would've benefited me as a whole.

9) My Media Forms had partially answered this however close ups for reactions was something that I didn't consider which had made this one of the things that i would need to do in the future. Also as previously mentioned I didn't frequently talk about camerawork which should be worked on.

Institutions was another question which had opportunities that I had missed. I didn't talk about the brand and its association. And I've also forgotten to talk about media products that were featured which would be one of the other factors that I had missed. And i had also missed out on answering the question by missing out on mentioning Megan Fox's association with her other films most notably the Transformers Franchise.

Audience didn't cover things such as the male gaze which would've been used perfectly for a question about a male audience. I also didn't talk about the uses gratification and the diversion that Call of Duty had to offer its audience since they would be facing off in fictional battles. However I could also talk more about the audience.

Representation was also not covered as well as i had hoped as it had talked no feature of the death of an enemy which could suggest the no consequence world that Call of Duty offers. besides that it was answered and followed what the examiner had to say but briefly.

10) In future I will:

  • Include Introductions and Conclusions to Section B
  • Separate for paragraphs to organise points.
  • Ensure that I am focused on the question. Especially for Section B