Mitre 10 Dream Home

Close Reading.
Editing Pace - The editing pace in this programme is quite fast. At the start of the programme it is cut from different shots/scenes at a fast speed, showing what the teams have done to their houses and what happened in the last episode/what is going to happen. This captures the audiences attention right from the start of the programme.
Lighting - The lighting in this programme is quite bright. For example, when the host is interviewing the teams the light is bright which captures the audiences attention. Also when people go into the houses, they are bright. This shows that it is positive, and shows the audience that it is more of a happy programme. When the team members are talking to the camera, alone in a room, the background in the room has a black background, this makes the team member/the person talking stand out to the audience.
Costume - The clothes that they wear are casual (the host and the teams/helpers) stand out. They mostly wear yellow and blue, because those are the team names. The host wears red so she also stands out when standing with the teams. This makes it easier for the audience to see the different teams. Their clothing is casual, and mostly dirty from the DIY.
Music – The music changes with the feelings of the team members. When the houses are going well the music is happy and exciting. It has a fast tempo. When something goes wrong, or the team members are worried about something then the music changes to a slow tempo, less exciting but more tension building. The music adds to the atmosphere of the scene, helping the audience to get more involved. The also music plays in the background when people are being interviewed/talking to the camera and when the audience is being shown what has been achieved in the houses.
Naration – Throughout the programme the host is talking (a voice-over) while the audience is being shown what has been achieved in the houses and what is happening at the moment. The naration is only every so often, not constantly. This helps the audience understand more about what is happening and how the teams are feeling.
Angles/Shots – Mid shots are used when the team members are talking to the camera about what they have done and how they are feeling. I think they use a mid shot for these scenes because then the audience can see some of the team members t-shirt, showing what team they are in (blue or yellow) and the audience can also see what their facial expressions are like. Long shots are sometimes used when the team members are talking amongst eachother. This helps the audiences see more of the body language being used in the scene. Close ups and long shots are used when the judges go through the houses at the end of each episode and look in depth at the houses. They use close ups when the judges see something that isn’t very good, the camera zooms up on it, so that the audience get a better idea of what is wrong with what the judges have seen. The long shots are used when the judges are walking from room to room. This shows the audience how much room is in the house.

Audience.
Mitre 10 Dream Home is a New Zealand reality programme, about a competition between two couples(two teams) who are building different houses (DIY). One couple gets the house for free if they win, the other has to buy it. The house that loses is also available for the public to buy, so the losing couple have to bid in the auction that takes place to buy their house.The audience that it is aimed at is young couples (VAL), older people (VAL), young struggling families (VAL). Mitre 10 Dream Home is aimed at young couples because it helps them find out what to do in their house and because it is mostly young couples that are on this programme competing for their houses they can relate. Older people may watch it because they have worked hard for what they have in life and like to see young people/couples doing the same. It is not a negative programme, its positive and good natured, so it will help them have a positive attitude. It is also aimed at Achievers (TAG), because achievers are people ‘motivated by a desire to succeed’. When the team members keep pushing themselves to achieve their final goal of completing their houses and their smaller goals of completing the different rooms, the audience can tell that they are motivated to achieve.

Mamma Mia review

Mamma Mia is a romantic comedy, and also a musical.This film was mostly aimed at women, but partly men aswell. I thought that Mamma Mia was fantastic. The actors, songs, dialogue and costume all fit together perfectly.

Lots of the actors in this film are very well known, e.g. Collin Firth, Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, and there were lots of actors that are just becoming famous in it aswell, e.g. Amanda Seyfried, Stellen Skarsgård, Dominic Copper. I thought that all the actors in Mamma Mia seemed to work really well together. They all got into their characters really well, and seemed to enjoy themselves while doing it.

The songs in this film were performed well. I thought it was good how when they were performing the songs all the actors were still in their characters. I also liked the fact that the songs fit in well with what was happening in the film. The songs seem to help the viewers understand more about what is happening. For example, when the main character, Sophie, has her hen night all three of her possible fathers turn up, when Sophie is feeling overwhelmed and confused the song being sung by the other actors speeds up to portray the way Sophie is feeling. The songs also add humour to the film, and help the viewers understand how different characters feel towards eachother.

The dialogue in this film is very important. The dialogue tells us a lot about what is happening. The dialogue, also, entertains the viewers even more when jokes are included between the different characters. There is a lot of sarcasum in this film which adds to the understanding of the characters and the humour. The dialogue also helps the viewers understand the characters relationships with eachother.

The costume in this film is also important. The main character and her mother live on the island where they run a hotel, they dress casually and don’t wear much make-up at all, their hair is usually messy or natural looking throughout the film. So when their friends come over for Sophie’s wedding, you can see the difference between them immediately, because their friends live on the main land. They have quite a bit of make-up on, nice hair, in-fashion clothing and high heels. Even at the wedding there characters are still the same, Sophie is not as dressed up as a bride would be on the mainland and the dresses are quite casual.

Overall, i thought Mamma Mia was really well filmed, directed and put together. I would recommend it to girls or women, who want to have a laugh and watch a romantic film.

9/10

Charter

Charter - Definition.
A document that states the rights and privileges of the organisation (e.g. the television) and what the conditions are.

Charter - What we thought.
- No ‘adult ads’ during children viewing times.
- Children shouldn’t watch violent/sex related programmes, e.g. CSI, or movies.
What needs to be on t.v
- Current events (news).
- Educational programmes for kids (Zip & Mac).
- Entertainment (e.g. Two and A Half Men).


Charter.

·TVNZ must inform, entertain and educate. E.g, Good Morning, Sunday, Two and A Half Men, Shortland Street, Home and Away.

It must provide shared experiences, which contribute to citizenship and national identity. E.g, Mitre 10 Dream Home, Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune, Country Calendar, Close Up, Breakfast

·It must reflect Maori Language and culture. E.g, Te Karere (news), Te Pa, Tagata Pasifika.

·It must serve the varied interests and informational needs, minority and age groups including tastes and interest not generally catered for by other TV broadcasters.
In Touch, Country Calendar, Spongebob Squarepants, 20/20, Coronation Street, Family Guy.

·It must strike a balance between programmes of general appeal and those that are of interest to special-interest audiences. E.g, Queer Nation, Intrepid Journeys.

·It must promote the talents and creative resources of New Zealanders. E.g, NZ House and Garden, Mitre10 Dream Home, NZ’s Next Top Model, Top Town, NZ Idol, New Zealand’s Brainiest Kid.

·It must promote programmes that reflect the regions and also the diversity of New Zealand cultures. E.g, Shortland Street, Country Calendar, Inside New Zealand, Queer Nation.

·It must feature New Zealand films, drama and documentary programmes. E.g, Go Girls, Inside New Zealand, Whale Rider.

·It must feature programmes about the country's history and heritage and environment. E.g, Waitangi Day09, Billy Connolly’s World Tour of New Zealand, Coming Home: Te Hokinga Mai 90th Anniversary Of The End Of World War I.

·It must feature programmes that provide for the informational and entertainment needs of children and young people and allow for their participation. E.g, Zip and Mac, The Go Show.

·It must support the arts and reflect the role that sporting and other interests play in New Zealand life. E.g, Small Blacks.

·It must also feature programming of an educational nature that supports learning and personal development. E.g, Zip & Mac.

Audience

1. What do you think of when you hear audience? A group of people watching something that entertains them, e.g a movie, performance, television.
2. Why do you think audience is relative to media? Audience is relative to media because the audience helps to fund the media (partly). The media relates to audience because media is made to entertain the audience.
3. Who and how is audience measured? Surveys (?)
4. What are your ideas with regard to audience? Different programs are made for different target audiences, if the target audience isn’t reached then it has failed.
5. Who and what does audience relate to? People who make things to do with the media, e.g. Film makers/producers, television programmes, adverts,etc.

The Dark Knight - Close Reading

Q1. Visual Element.
Lighting – He (the Joker, played Heath Ledger) has light shining on him making thewhite he was wearing stand out more to the viewers of The Dark Knight, this shows the viewers that he is an importand person. This also might make the viewers concerntrate more on the Joker because of the way he stands out against the darkness of the room. The lighting in the room where the patient is, is quite dark, but the sun comes through the window and shines onto the Joker making him and his face make-up, once again, stand out. This hints to the viewers to concertrate on the Joker.
Q2. Aural Elements.
Sound Effects – There are a number of sound effects in this scene. One of is while the Joker is threatening/scaring the patient/victim, they emphasise the breathing and whispers of the Joker to make him stand out and seem more threatening to the viewers. Another example of the sound effects used in this scene would be when the Joker blows up the hospital and the explosion and sound of falling bricks and other objects are made more powerful and noticable when they hit the ground showing the power of the guns. This helps the viewers have a better understand of the fact that the Joker has blown up a big building and chaos is created in the by what he has done and he walks away, not caring/bothered about it. If the sound effects weren’t used in this scene the explosion of the hospital wouldn’t appear to be a big deal.
Q3. Editing and Production Design.
Setting – Most of this scene is set in a hospital, the viewers can tell this by the cleaness of it and the clothes they are wearing. This scene starts in a storage room/some kind of small room, but the main bit in this scene takes place in a patients room (in the hospital), this is shown by the patient bed and doctors tools, showing the viewers the Joker will do anything to get this patient (e.g. posing as a nurse). After the Joker threatens the patient in the hospital in this scene he walks out into the city as the hospital blows up, the city is full of people and cars, it is a typical American city. The tall buildings and cars everywhere shows the viewers that it was chaotic at the time.
Q4 & 5. Character.
Sound – When the Joker is in the patients room the sound of the scene is quite quiet, this causes the viewers to focus on what the Joker is saying, as the film makers have made his voice stand out on purpose. When the Joker walks out of the hospital and blows it up with the remote the sound of the scene becomes loud. The explosion and the sound of all the people and chaos going on around the Joker makes the viewers pay attention to him because he is the only person in the scene not caring about what has happened and while most people are going towards the explosion he is walking away.

Shot Size, Angle, Movement and Framing – The angles in this scene are very important to show the Joker’s power over the victim/patient. For example, when the patient/victim is lying in the hospital bed at the start the camera angle makes him and the Joker look like they are at the same level. This shows the viewers that the Joker is confident. Later on in the scene (still in the hospital room) the Joker is shot from the patients point of view (him looking up at the Joker). This shows the viewers that the Joker is more powerful than the patient. In the hospital room there isnt much movement, there is movement when the hospital has been blown up, as everyone is running around in the chaos and there are cars everywhere, and the Joker is walking away. But in the hospital room, it is quite still, the only movement is when the Joker moves to get the gun, or moves to the other side of the bed. The framing in this scene is also important, the framing cuts out the rest of the Joker’s body, making the audience concerntrate on the Joker’s face and what he is saying.
Q6, 7 & 8. Atmosphere.
Costume – The Joker is posing as a nurse so that he can get to the patient, so he is wearing a nurse’s dress. This outfit is completely different to the Joker’s character, because nurse’s help people and the Joker is the opposite to a nurse, e.g. not caring about other people. This shows the viewer’s another sign of the Joker’s madness. The patient/victim is just wearing a normal patients gown showing that he is sick. This could show that he is weaker than the Joker, physically as well as emotionally. The Joker’s make-up is very strange/different to what u would usually see in movies. His make-up is kind of like a clown’s face, hense the name ‘The Joker’. Although, not a normal clown u would see at a children’s birthday party. His face is painted white, with black all around his eyes and on his eyelids. His lips are painted big and red, although the lips are not painted in a smile (like a normal party clown), they are painted in a straight thick line. His hair is greesy/oily, adding more effect to the Joker’s crazy character.

Music – The music in this scene starts off tense and building suspense for the viewers. This shows the viewers that something big/terrible is going to happen. The music builds up a lot as the policeman/security guard is shot by the Joker (who is posing as a nurse). It then decreases in volume and the bass (drums) slow down and get softer. The music is now high pitch with a regular soft anf also fast bass. The music stops slowly as the patient/victim realises that he is in trouble and he starts to groan frantically and try to get away. The bass of the music is there throughout most of the scene while in the hospital room; always builind tention.

Editing Pace/Rythm – This scene wasn’t edited very quickly, there were a lot of shots that needed to be quite long so the viewers got the full effect of the character’s facial expressions. Some shots however were cut quite quickly. For example when the policemen/security guard is shot by the Joker. It cuts quickly from the policemen/security guard to the Joker and back again, causing the viewers to really get into the scene, as they need to pay more attention to catch what is happening. This scene also cuts quickly to and from a number of different characters, showing the audience how many people are involved.
Q9. What other element of film language not used in this scene could have been used to create suspense?
I think they could have used more editing. E.g cut the shots more quickly. I think this would create more suspense because the viewers would have to pay more attention to what is going on, so that they don’t miss anything.