Production Proposal - original poster idea

The poster: 

The poster will consist of a white room and a girl walking through the room with her hand on the wall. On the wall in black paint it will say 'Who will survive?' Along the wall will be hand prints in blood. Limbo will be written in the bottom right corner. Light will be shining towards the girl but the exit is not shown.

This photo is also a possibility because it is a white room with lights leading to an exit. However blood would have to be added on the walls.

Development of pre-production

How can you enrich your narrative?
I will enrich my narrative by making it obvious to the audience what my narrative is and by creating obstacles that my protagonists must overcome so that Todrov's narrative theory is included and that the equilibrium is disrupted. I will also enhance my characters so that people can 'get to know them' in a way that they can create their own opinions on them.

What elements can you add to bring your characters alive?
I could make each of my characters different using different personality traits that people may like and some may dislike. Relationships will be known e.g. whether or not they get along will people, relationships with parents. This will cause the audience to feel closer to the characters. I would also give my characters backgrounds and past experiences that the audience will find out that have shaped them into the person they are now. The personalities may also change throughout depending on the experiences they go through now.

How will you actively seek to serve your chosen audience?
I will include factors in my series that teenagers can relate to and understand. My audience is teenagers who enjoy things that include supernatural creatures so to ensure they are entertained I will make sure to include these creatures and different aspects that they will enjoy. Although the arena is completely fictional some obstacles that are included (except the the supernatural) may be relatable.

Todrov's Narrative theory

Todrov's narrative theory is a theory that consists of five stages that create the common narrative structure.

1.A state of Equilibrium (stability)
2.A Disruption of the equilibrium
3.A Recognition that there has been a disruption
4.An attempt to Repair the disruption
5.A Return of the equiibrium

An example of a film that uses Todrov's narrative structure is Anchorman:The legend of Ron Burgundy.

1.Equilbrium: Ron Burgundy is the famous anchorman for a local San Diego television station. he works happily alongside his news team lead field reporter Brian Fantana, Sportscaster Champ Kind and chief meteorologist Brick Tamland. 

2.Disruption: Station Director Ed Harken informs the team they have been forced to hire Veronica Corningstone. After a series of attempts to seduce her, she finally agrees to go on a date with Ron. Ron is late too work due to a dispute with another man over his dog, Veronica fills in for Ron and becomes Co-anchor to the disgust of the team. Ron and veronica break up.

3.Recognition: After insults constantly being thrown at each other Veronica changes Ron's closing line on the teleprompter. This provokes an angry mob outside the studio and Ed has to fire Ron. Veronica realizes she went too far and tries apologizing, Ron dismisses her.

4.Repair: When a panda is about to give birth, all the news teams in San Diego head to the zoo to cover the story. In an attempt to sabotage Veronica, rival news anchor pushes Veronica into a Kodiak bear enclosure. When Ed can't find Veronica he recruits Ron. Once at the zoo, Ron jumps in the bear pen to save Veronica.

5.Return: The news team jump in too save them, after both Ron and Veronica are saved they reconcile and become co-anchors. 

Christmas, Consumerism and the role of the Media

Christmas is the perfect time to sell many products through persuasion. It's the perfect time to construct your advertisements in a way that people will get emotionally attached too making them more likely to buy your products. It's the perfect time to create a soppy advert about family, happiness and coming together. Many companies create a story through their adverts to persuade people why they should buy from them, sometimes without even advertising a product, but if the advert is heart warming and sweet people will involuntarily go to that store and buy a product. These companies sure know how to make money.

John Lewis came out again this year with yet another cute advert featuring an innocent little boy Sam and his penguin Monty. John Lewis were very clever when it came too the two characters in their advert. A little boy and a penguin. We all know people can easily get emotionally attached to children and then they throw in a penguin, they really know how to catch people's attention. The penguin throughout the advert was looking at couples in the street so what did Sam get Monty? His own female penguin Mabel. Then Monty turned into a toy and at the end of the advert it says '#MontyThePenguin' and then it became obvious why they put this there because they are selling Monty the penguin and so many other products including a pillow, mugs, pyjamas and even a tie.

Watch the advert below:

Sainsbury's however took a different route. They focused on the war by creating the advert to highlight remembrance day earlier in the month. This advert was aimed more at adults rather than children because many children will not know much about the war. They made sure to show the loving side of the men fighting in the war. They took the story of all the men coming out to play football at Christmas to show the love and togetherness they had. I did think this advert was really good because even though i am not an adult I know about the horrors of the war so it was nice to be able to see the innocence of the soldiers, both British and German. Two men one British and one German gave each other a secret gift. A chocolate bar and a biscuit. Although about war Sainsbury's managed to make it a friendly advert and I was moved. It wouldn't however be a surprise if they started selling the chocolate and the biscuit.



Boots was the last Christmas advert we looked at. Boots took the route of being there for family at Christmas, showing them you care. The boots advert featured many different people all travelling somewhere, we later realise they are all travelling to the same house to surprise someone on a very early Boxing day morning because she's always working late. I think their advert was very realistic and some people can relate. They even managed to get their store into the heart-warming story of a family coming together and even showing off one the products they are selling. They really highlighted the generosity as a young girl came from the airport to come and see who was presumably her mum. But they were also trying to get us attached to the advert by showing the mum and her generosity staying for hours at the hospital to help the patients. Merry Christmas mum was the only thing that was spoken persuading us to buy form their store for our mum's.

Coursework idea Development - Limbo

Name: Limbo

Genre: Thriller/Horror Supernatural

Themes: Friendship, survival, determination, teamwork, hope

Audience: Teenagers from 15-19 years old who are interested in the thriller or horror genre and perhaps have watched TV series such as the walking dead or teen wolf so they are familiar with the supernatural creatures.

Setting: The series starts on an isolated, country road in Britain in 2014 before the crash happens. When they are in the gameshow it is set in a fictional arena, they leave a empty building that is completely white on the inside with black writing in paint on the wall with either "Who will survive?" "Hunt or be Hunted". When the first character leaves the building the area of the arena looks like a destroyed city.

Music: When the teenagers are in the car, pop music will be played at a very high volume causing a distraction. However when they are in the empty building classical music will play to create a eerie different tone to the tone that was in the car.

Comparables: The Hunger games - Both are set in an arena where they have to try and be the last person to survive.
The Walking dead - When the protagonist leaves in the first series he wakes up in a hospital and when he leaves he notices the city is destroyed and abandoned.
Flatliners - In this film the narrative is that they die and find out where they go and what they see when they die. This is similar to mine because when my characters die they find out what they have to go through in the attempt to return.

 

Character Development: 5 school friends
David - 17 years old, he is sporty and confident, his sister is Katherine, he is driving the car at the time of the crash
Zak - 16 year old, Joker, sociable, energetic
George - 17 years old, nerdy, Charismatic
Natasha - 16 years old, girly, dumb, sensitive
Katherine - 16 years old, reliable, practical, her brother is David - she is the first character to be featured within the gameshow.

All the characters are fictional and although other teenagers feature during the gameshow, they are not protagonists and will not necessarily be featured much.

Episodes: The first episode will be called 'The beginning of the end' and in this episode the car crash will take place. The 5 teenagers will be shown joking about and laughing in the car, they all get distracted and they are hit by a car/truck that crosses their path. Katherine will be shown waking up in a completely white room. As she gets closer to the exit of the building black writing in paint can be seen on the wall. It reads 'Who will Survive?'. When she leaves the building she can only see huge trees standing in front of her. There is a tape recording that explains where she is and what she has to do. The game show has now started. She starts off in the area with zombies, she only has one weapon to help her survive and the fight for survival has begun.

In other episodes each of the 5 characters are shown in their starting area of the arena with the setting and supernatural creature. Along the way other teenagers are met who are in the same gameshow through a different situation. All their difficulties and challenges are shown along the way. The final episode will be the winner and their return to earth. They will not remember anything that happened and the rest of the teenagers except them will still be in the fatal accident.

If another series were created then another group of teenagers will be in a different tragic accident to put them into the gameshow. The arena would have changed with more supernatural fictional creatures and different  challenges in order to survive.

Coursework - initial idea for a teen horror/supernatural tv series

For my media television series I have decided to create a series called Limbo. It will be a teen supernatural horror/thriller. The series is about the space in-between life and death which is Limbo but in this situation when you are in Limbo you are in a game show. The plot is about 5 teenagers who are in a car crash and end up in limbo. There will be more teenagers in the show who will be met throughout.
The game show is set in an arena which is split into different sections. Each section has a different environment and supernatural creature in it. The environments and creature in each section will change every day. For example: one section may be set in a forest environment with vampires. They must all try and survive both the supernatural and the harsh environments. When they first enter the arena they will each be given one weapon that they can use to defend themselves with. It’s survival of the fittest. Only one can survive and gets to return back to earth before the accident and does not get into the fatal situation that put them in limbo in the first place. The rest however will face their fate; death.

Grayson Perry: Who Are You?

Grayson Perry: Who Are You is a three part documentary about identity. In class we watched the first part of the documentary.

Executive producer: Dinah Lord
Director: Neil Crombie
Camera: Louis Caulfield, Marcus Plowright

During the documentary Grayson Perry meets 4 individuals who are struggling with their identity. Perry meets Chris Huhne, Rylan Clark, Kayleigh and Jazz. Perry gets to know all of these individuals and gets an insight into their lives. The aim of this was so Perry could create a piece of art that represents each person, that will be put into the National portrait Gallery in London.

The Ashford Hijab

This piece was made for Kayleigh. It explores her journey as she makes the decision to convert to a muslim.

The Earl Of Essex

This piece was made for Rylan Clark, a TV presenter. It was made because Rylan spoke about how he deliberately acted fake on TV so that people would like him, so the fact that Perry made Rylan 'The Earl Of Essex' it also shows a false representation of him. I shows Rylan as he see's himself.

I Am A Man

This piece was made for Jazz, who was born a female but wanted to be male. The piece takes the shape of Peter Pan, a character who Jazz was very fond of. The fact that the statue is blowing a horn may represent Jazz sharing and being proud that he is a man.

The Chris Huhne Vase

'The Chris Huhne Vase' was a piece of art created for Chris Huhne a politician. Huhne was sent to prison at some point but declared he didn't care. This is why the vase has been smashed and put back together to show how he has cracks but he fails to show them.

This program shows how we may see ourselves differently to how others perceive us. It shows that we may deliberately represent ourselves differently in order for people to like us. The documentary represents a range of very different people and shows the struggles they have trying to find their identity or in Rylan Clark and Chris Huhne's case, hiding their identity.

I enjoyed this documentary because it gave you an insight into the lives of other people and what they go through in order to find their true identity. It was also good because it showed you how some people felt they needed to change and others didn't. This was especially obvious when it came to Chris Huhne; Politician and Rylan Clark; TV presenter because Chris did not feel that he needed to change himself in any way although he committed a crime worthy of a jail sentence. Rylan however felt he needed to act fake on TV so people will like him. Each portrait was very different because they all had very different issues regarding identity.

Representation of gender in the media

Representation of Race in the Media