Media Language - Use Of A Camera

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Basic Camera Shots

Extreme Long Shot

An extreme long shot or also known as an establishing shot is a photo of a setting normally outside and of a location, not of people. It is used to establish the scene and convey to the viewer where the characters are and the overall setting. 

Long Shot

A long shot is a shot of a character or person, and includes the whole body, (head to toe) in the frame. The purpose of this shot is to help the viewer understand the relationship between the character and the environment they are in.

Mid Shot

The mid shot is a shot that includes the waist and up in the frame. The use of the mid shot is to allow the viewer to begin to create a connection with the character and understand them and their motivations.

Two Shot

The two shot is a shot that includes two people. The purpose of this shot is to show and express the relationship that the two characters have between each other.

Close Up

The close up shot is a shot that is taken with the character from the shoulders up, without a clear shot of the background. The point being that the director wants to focus the viewers attention on the character and be ore in tune with their emotions. The close up can also be used to show an object that is of some importance to the narrative.

Point Of View
The point of view shot shows what the character themselves would see during an action or something else. The purpose being to keep the viewer in check with the characters motives and enable them to understand what the character wants to do.

Extreme Close Up

The extreme close up is a shot of exclusively their face and can be even more specific areas such as the eyes. The point of this is to bring the viewer even further into the emotions of the character. The extreme close up can also be used to show an object that is of importance to the narrative again.

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Basic Camera Movements                                                                                                           *Dolly

Tracking*
Tracking is the moment into or out from the character. Tracking in is used to draw the viewer into the action and tracking out is used to signify the end of the scene and that the narrative is moving on.

Sideways Tracking*
Sideways tracking or the crab shot is where a shot is filmed whilst the camera is moving sideways on a dolly. The purpose being to follow the movement of a character or object, to keep the audience in check with the pace of the action.

Tilt
A tilt is filmed by either moving the camera up or down on an axis. The purpose of tilting up being to create a sense of power and superiority from the character. Tilting down would be the opposite effect and make the character seem small and less significant or powerless.

Zoom
Zooming is the changing in focal length of the camera zooming in or out. This creates a similar effect to the tracking. Tracking in is used to draw the viewer into the action and tracking out is used to signify the end of the scene and that the narrative is moving on.

Arc
The arc is when the camera which is focused on a character or an object and semicircles or full circles around them. The purpose being to allow the viewer to see the reaction of the characters and can also build the intensity of the narrative.

Crane
The crane shot, as it sounds is where the camera is attached to a crane and lifts up to give a birds eye view. This allows the viewer to follow the action from a different perspective.

Panning
A panning shot is a shot that is taken by a camera mounted on a tripod and it can also be paired with

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Basic Camera Angles

Over The Shoulder Shot

The over the shoulder shot is a shot that is taken from over the shoulder and is mainly used during conversations that occur between two people.

High Angle Shot
The high angle shot is a shot where the camera is placed above the character and points on an angle downwards. This angle can give a feeling of vulnerability to the characters and make the viewer feel superior.

Low Angle Shot
A low angle shot is a shot taken by a camera that is in a low position and therefore points at an upward angle. As opposed to the high angle shot the low angle shot does the opposite, it makes the characters look superior and make the reader perhaps feel vulnerable.

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The Media And Me

The Internet
The internet has always been in my life even when we were first born. I didn't start to use the internet until later into my life during my early teenage years, the internet had always been around me as my dad used it, however, the internet was never actually used by me as a source of information, instead I was pushed towards books and other ways of getting information, but never the internet. This was due to the old fashioned nature of my family. Towards my early teenage life, around the age of 13. I began to rely on the internet more as a source of information. As on the use of the internet nowadays I'm extreemely reliant on the internet, its a source of information for almost everything I do, whether its informing me of how to do something or maybe even a source of entertainment.  I use the internet all the time and is a large part of my life.

Video Games
I grew up alongside video games. They had just started to be created and being used. During my childhood the Nintendo DS' and specifically the DSi's which I was an owner of myself was a big part of my childhood. Today, this is no longer a part of my life as I have moved towards other video games. I currently own a PC owner and play once or twice a week, on and off (not obsessively).

Television
Television as a child was never used by myself. My parents did but this never influenced me and it was not something that I did, unless it was something such as "i'm a celeb" or tv programs that I rarely watched with my family.. As I've got older and very recently I have begun to watch more television, however its almost exclusively sport television (UFC) I watch.

Film
I have always watched films especially as a kid. I would get very involved in them too, I enjoyed them and this has relatively stayed the same. However, I have become much more cynical of films and I also find have less time for them due to being busy.

Advertising
Advertising has always been in my life but it has never had an effect on me. Im always seeing advertisements everywhere for all types of things however unless its something thats specifically interesting to me then I will most of the time ignore it and or forget it regardless if I'm interested or not.

Music Video
Music videos are not a source of media that I use much either. The reason for this is because I've never had a reason to watch them. With the use of music streaming apps such as Spotify you don't have to and is easier and more appropriate, so I never have really watched music videos unless it was recommended by a friend for humour reasons.

Radio
My parents have always listened to the radio, when I was younger kid I would listen too. Specifically BBC Radio One, BBC Radio Two and Classical FM. I didn't like the latter two and only listened too radio one, however, this was only for the music and would always tune myself out when they talked because I wasn't interested at that age. Nowadays I will always opt for music I play through the AUX cable over the radio. The only purpose the radio serves now is to wake me up with ambient music in the morning. I use it almost as an alarm.

Magazines
Magazines were used by my mum when I was younger, she would use clothing magazines for specific brands to buy some of her clothing and sometimes still does, however, this is a very rare occasion. I myself have never used clothing magazines or any type of magazines because I do all of my clothing shopping online or in store, never in a magazine.

Newspapers
Newspapers were never a big influence on my life. I have never really used them or read them for entertainment or news. Neither did my family, and we never had them in the house unless it was to kindle our open fire in the winter. The reason for this is because most news can be accessed online nowadays and id rather watch a short concise video informing me of what the current headlines are over reading a newspaper.

Learning New Skills

I can type in my blog.

I can add an image to my blog.

I can add a video from Youtube by embedding it in my blog.

I can add a hyperlink to my blog.

CLICK HERE to go directly to Cody Garbrandt's website.

Media Studies Induction Task

Why study the media?

The media is everywhere! Almost every one of us uses it every day. It’s something we might not necessarily think about consciously but is all around us, and we’re always using it. It’s exciting and evolving, no longer is the media limited to a black and white sheet of paper. It’s on our phones… we carry the media around with us almost everywhere we go.

Media. Communicating a message to many people. This comes in many different forms…

Print media

Newspapers are perhaps one of the oldest forms of media, dating back 353 years from current day, the first documented newspaper was published, the “Oxford Gazette” . they’ve been there from the beginning, informing people of the latest news. The national daily newspapers are newspapers that like they sound, report on national news every single day. “The Daily Courant”, the first daily newspaper began in March 1702. According to (agilitypr.com) the bestselling newspaper by circulation today is “The Sun”, a tabloid newspaper, which started in 1964. However The Sun and many of its competitors have moved towards the online approach, as newspapers are in circulation less and less as technology advances.

Books may not appear to many as a form of “media” however they entertain, communicate, encourage people to form certain opinions and can change people’s views. Books are also like most forms of media, evolving with the introduction of technology. This means many people now prefer to read an eBook.  One of most successful writers, famous for her Harry Potter series of books, sold more than 400 million copies worldwide, so clearly books are still relevant!

Magazines, another form of print media. Which instead of reporting news events like the newspaper. Are specifically targeted towards a certain audience with different magazines having their own niche or subject. The first magazine published in the UK was in 1731 and was called “The Gentlemen’s Magazine”. Today according to (betterretailing.com) TV Choice is the UKs top selling magazine, with a current circulation of 1,219,107 per week. It’s quite interesting that the top selling magazine happens to be a magazine about Television, another form of media. 

Broadcast media

Television is a form of broadcast media that unlike most reaches 95.5% of the UK, this is a large proportion and is still currently the most popular form of mass media. Our TVs broadcast the news 24 hours a day, there are also factual documentaries, sport, children’s TV programmes, and entertainment channels and even films are included in this spectrum. In 1936 The British Broadcasting Corporation began broadcasting, this at the time was the only channel available, and only transmitted in a small area. So now there is up to 600 different channels available to certain Sky TV users (package dependant).

Television has been used to broadcast the biggest events in history.  In 1969, when man first set foot on the moon, an estimated 530 million people worldwide watched this giant leap for mankind, which is an incredible feat in my opinion.

The Radio, invented in 1920 by Guglielmo Marconi Marconi is an audio only form of media. Today radio is still popular, with 9 out of 10 adults listening at least once per week, in fact according to (bbc.co.uk) BBC music radio’s reach to all ages has grown since 2009/10. The number of radio stations in the UK currently stands at 290.

The internet

Perhaps the most relevant form of the media currently is the internet. This is particularly the most relevant to the younger generation where it has made a huge difference our lives, in both positive and negative ways. 

Social media is huge. It is basically communicating and sharing online with other people. Starting in the early 2000s with websites such as Myspace (which has nearly 1 billion active and inactive users) and LinkedIn (half a billion users) which brought along the idea of connecting with friends and family via the internet, allowing them to communicate via a system unlike telephone. YouTube started in 2005 introducing the concept of video sharing. Today 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Facebook and Twitter came along in 2006 which elaborated on the original idea that was introduced by Myspace and LinkedIn. It snowballed from there on, and for our current generation it would be hard to imagine a world without social media.

One of the unattractive sides to social media is how it is slowly decreasing our social skills and abilities. For example, choosing a Facetime call over a face-to-face interaction. It can have a detrimental effect to mental health, with depression being a problem when people compare themselves and their lives to others, being cyberbullied, associating the number of followers someone has with their popularity.  All these things can lead to a feeling of loneliness and isolation.

Video games, yes part of entertainment media. I particularly wanted to mention this as I have personally spent many hours playing them! Although they can be played alone, online gaming allows for mass communication in certain situations, allowing contact with others from all over the world, and effectively puts this firmly into the media category. There is an estimated 2.2-2.6 billion gamers worldwide which shows how big of a media platform this is.

Conclusion

To sum up the question of “why study the media”.  Media has always been part of my life without me really knowing it, from watching films and TV, listening to music, or even playing video games. From Instagram and Snapchat, which is definitely a large part of my social life – it is relevant, exciting, constantly evolving and quite simply media is the future.

Resources

Statista.com

Wikipedia

Study.com

999inks.co.uk

Throughfullearning.com

Quora.com

Fortune.com

Smallbiztrends.com

Ukie.org.uk