The representation issue in this clip of ER was age, this can be seen the most pronounced in the young boy in the first scene.

The shot starts with two doctors one that seems to be reading out tests and another who seems to be older, she praises the younger male doctor on the tests and suggests another test, this age is the typical stereotype where with age you gain knowledge and authority. This is then confronted once the younger doctor opens the door to the young boys room, the second the door opens the boy says “Did it work?” the fact that he started the conversation with a question shows that he isn’t your typical young boy, once the doctor takes about 2 steps into the room the sound from the lobby instantly stops, however it seems to perfect to be from the door closing as a ringing telephone stops at the end of the ring rather than midway, this suggests to me that this sound is non diegetic and it was dubbed onto the shot.  When the doctor is closer and asks how did he know this the boy closed a book, as a member of the audience i would have suspected it to be a comic book or possibly a drawing book however it was a Sudoku book, this dilemma really helps to shock the viewers into a state of distress this can also be seen with the doctor later in the dialogue. The boy seems to be of very high intellect as he seems to know all the correct vocabulary and even says he persuaded a grad student to do a muscle biopsy, as said previously the doctor doesn’t feel comfortable with his knowledge so he tried to re apply the typical doctor patient roles which could also be seen as parent and child, another example of a conflict between age. The lack of sound in this room also is conflicts the stereotypical child as children never like to be left on their own or in silence, you would expect him to be listening to a ipod or watching a film. During the convocation there is plenty of shot reverse shot, however the boy seems to be interrupted by the editing, whereas the shot are edited in a way where the doctor is never cut the boy is, he starts a sentence then another shot is used this is most likely used to show the doctors distress over the young boys knowledge.

Going from this sick boy back to the emergency room we see another young boy, this boy is approximately the same age however he is with his mother and the doctors appear the get down to their knees to be less intimidating, this never happened with the ill boy, the doctor which was much older than the ill boy remained standing the whole time. The audience is then taken from the extremes of age, from a young boy around 12 to a lady in her 70’s, she is much calmer and appears to be smiling, this is against the idea that with age you gain knowledge, she says she is in the hospital to breath the air, this could possibly be a comical way in commenting on how old people are always at the hospital, the younger female doctor that speaks to her seems to be nice but rude when she says “Knock yourself out”. The next scene in which we see a conflict with age is in a side room where they are trying to save a man’s life, the older bald male doctor seems to be belittling the female doctor who thought the man was a drunk; this is another sign of the gain of authority with age. In this room there is the most common sound associated with a hospital, the heart monitor beep, once the man is stable the heart monitor quietens to show relief in the female doctor.  the next scene is cut to by matching the female doctor on the right an a nurse leaving frame on the left, these line up with the two young doctors in the next scene, the dialogue used suggests immaturity of a level thought to be below their age.  With these younger doctors there seems to be no markers of importance except the tracking shot, this can be seen when there is multiple people that walk between the camera and its target, the two doctors.  The doctor that came out of theatre also seems to be immature as he risks jail when a bullet was “lost” this is not very professional, and is another sign that with age you don’t get more professional/mature.

With all these representations of age i think that it is clear that the message of this clip is that age doesn’t matter, it isn’t a solid sign of maturity nor knowledge, the characters used to portray this have been highly exaggerated however this works to their benefit,

Cross media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences to what extent do you agree?

I agree to some extent, some films have used synergy allot and not had box offices figures to back the idea that it is vital, some small independent films have had a very little budget and not been able to afford these expensive marketing techniques and have still had amazing box office figures.

Firstly ill be looking at the pre production phase, my case study “The Hunger Games” (2012 Gary Ross), this was produced by Lionsgate and Color Force. Color force being the smaller company was entered into an agreement with Lionsgate to produce the film.  Its main role was to provide the finance and supplying equipment. Lionsgate uses Synergy as it own 19 media companies, this means it has the ability to provide equipment, music, distribution and exhibition on one of the tv channels it owns. This ability makes a company seems much more enticing for a smaller company to work with on a production as having all this in-house technology and expertise means it is cheaper. The rights of the story where bought for around $200,000. However it wasn’t this simple, Suzanne Collins the author of the book series had received many offers for the rights and she had declined them, however Gary Ross the man that later went on to direct the film won her over by promising her that the story would be kept as close to the original story as possible. Again this is synergy and convergence, this is the coming together of screen writers and authors to convert a piece of old media, the book into a newer format a film. The inbetweeners was previously a TV series it then was then made into a film, to keep costs low the original tv production company Bwark productions was also used to create the film with the financial backing of channel 4. This is another example of synergy in the successful production of a film. 

The distribution phase is where synergy and convergence is its most prolific, Lionsgate distributed the film, due to them owning a distribution company it would be easy to say that the price was reduced, however my second case study “The Inbetweeners” had a tiny production company called Bwark production, it didn’t need much of a distribution campaign, it had most of its advertising via word of mouth. The convergence of technology’s allowed a TV series like The inbetweeners to be converted into a film to be shown in a cinema. Many a distributor would love this to happen to their film as most of their job is being done by the audience meaning there job will be easier and cheaper. However The Hunger Games didn’t have as large word of mouth, it relied on a large advertisement campaign. This included old methods like: Billboards, posters on bus stops, posters on the buses, trailers in cinemas and on tv. It also included techniques which are becoming more relevant to the youth audience of this production, this involved things like facebook pages, twitter accounts and blogs for the characters. One of the best examples of synergy and convergence in this case study is from the use of twitter, Out of the 20+ people in the distribution team only one was picked to run the blogs. This person then decided that they should cut up the new poster and send it to 100 different twitter accounts, these twitter accounts where owned by film magazines, critics and cinemas, next is where the synergy comes in, all these people posted their part of the image and The Hunger Games twiter hunt started.  The internet had be used to promote a film on level never seen before, the best part about it is cost, Nothing.

In my opinion synergy and convergence is one of the most important processes in the successful marketing of a film, using synergy means that you can use separate companies which specialise in their area, giving an overall better experience to the audience, and in the case of the distributor information. As technology improves and new mediums for media are created i think convergence will become increasingly more important aspect, as films are shown on a large variety of platforms, looking back a year or two, some film consumption medium like Xbox, PS3, blu ray and 3d where un thought off, the programs for xbox and ps3 didnt exist, Blu ray and 3d was seen as to expensive to use in terms of the technology needed. Just looking at the future i think convergence of technologies will become more and more important as we evolve to consume media in different ways.

Clip

Portrayal of ethnicity through mise en scene/actors

At the start of this clip we are presented with a very strong black stereotype  the actor chosen is covered in expensive bling like big diamond earrings a big silver chain and tattoos, whereas Ben a gay black man is dressed very professionally in a black suit and tries not to make eye contact, he also changes the words he used to be some "cooler" words. Next the audience is shown two maids, due to their ethnicity they associated with this job, this is already negative portrayal , the fact that are also stripping for extra money degrades them more. The male asian man seems to be coated in stereotypes  the old thick glasses the age and the idea that they are rich also perverted. The actor doesnt even speak he seems to make very primitive grunting sound suggesting that he is a negative portrayal of a Asian man. How ever when the younger maid walks out she shows how she is a regular person, not this very isolated lump of meat as portrayed with the older maid. The higher members of staff seen in the corridor scene are both white British  suggesting a time locked establishment. The main chief is also a stereotypical europium.

Essay plan

Media production is dominated by global institution which sell their products and services to rational audiences  to what extent do you agree.

This question is looking at big global companies mostly Hollywood.

1. List some large "global" production/distribution companies use the hunger games (Lionsgate) and some statistics
2. through hunger games say how they used the large " global" power to their advantage
3. Confront large and small production companies
4.china being closed and only several 3d/IMAX films being allowed in giving larger companies the upper hand to 1billion people
5.  use film4 as a British interdependent production company
6. problems that they might run into being small
7. the advantages ( ability to produce some controversial material)
8. conclusion sum up my feelings and say how Hollywood is starting to get competition from some other parts of the world mainly India with the number of films being produced. the idea that it will always be a problem and how its unfair that smaller companies don't have as much money to spend on their productions

The inbetweeners movie

The hunger games