Magazine contents page analysis

Analysing contents pages from Kyle150

Script formatting

Presenting your work appropriately suggests a professional approach and an understanding of the medium and format for which you are writing.

Deciding which format to use will be determined by the type of script you are writing. Formats are dictated by technology, and there are good reasons for using them. A correctly formatted script makes an executive's life easier and a writer's life simpler - especially during the long process of rewriting.

Front Page

 SCREENPLAY FORMAT 

by 

Matt Carless 1. 

"SCREENPLAY FORMAT" 

Every script should have a title page with one contact address only in the left hand corner. 

Always include a phone number and an e-mail address if you  have one spec script.

If you have an agent, the address and number  can go here. left hand corner. 

A draft number or date is not required on a spec script. 

Page 1

FADE IN: 

EXT. LOCATION #1 - DAY 

This is how to begin your film or television screenplay. Scene headings are typed in capitals and must indicate: interior or exterior, the location, and day or night. 

Scene action is double-spaced under the heading in upper and lower case text with double-spacing between paragraphs. 

Scene action should only deal with what is happening on the screen and must never stray into superfluous novelistic text related to character thoughts or back-story. 

A general rule of thumb is to limit a paragraph of scene action to four or five lines. Consider each paragraph as a significant beat of action within your scene. 

INT. LOCATION #2 - NIGHT 

Begin a new scene with the heading triple-spaced from the preceding scene. Always follow a scene heading with a line of scene action. 

CHARACTER #1 

Character cues appear in capitals indented to around the middle of the page, but not centred. The first letter of each cue is always in alignment. 

CHARACTER #2 

A character is designated by either their first or last name, but a role designation may be used instead with personal titles abbreviated. The designated name should remain consistent throughout the script. 

CHARACTER #1 

Dialogue appears directly under the character name in normal upper and lower case text. Similarly, it is not centred. 

(pause) 

Split dialogue between pages only if at least two lines appear on the first page, and only after a sentence. 

(MORE) 2. 

CHARACTER #1 (CONT'D) 

Begin the following page with a new character cue like this. 

CHARACTER #2 

(beat) 

Parenthetical instructions appear in lower case text enclosed within brackets on a separate line in the body of the dialogue. 

(pause) 

Never leave a parenthetical hanging at the bottom of a page when breaking a character's speech. Move it to the top of the next page under the character name. 

If scene action interrupts a character's speech on the same page... 

CHARACTER #2 (CONT'D) 

Then you must begin a new character cue when continuing the dialogue, but including (CONT'D) isn't essential. Dialogue must always be preceded by a character name and never appear on its own. 

INT. LOCATION #1 - DAY 

On occasions, it may be necessary to indicate two characters speaking simultaneously. This should be used sparingly, but if you need to do it this is how. CHARACTER #1  Show your first character speaking on the left.

CHARACTER #2  While the character on the right tries to get a word in edgeways.

The Role of Media, Marxist perspective.

Capitalism. A definition:

An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Marxism. A definition:

The political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in which the concept of class struggle plays a central role in understanding society's allegedly inevitable development from bourgeois oppression under capitalism to a socialist and ultimately classless society.

While Karl Marx only knew the press before it was a mass medium, it is still possible to analyse modern media according to his ideas. Even though Marxism is widely thought to have failed as a guide to social change.
The media as an industry conforms to a general capitalist type through its factors of production. 

These are likely to be in the monopolistic ownership of the capital owning class and be organised to serve the interest of that class. This is done through the exploitation of workers (ignoring the true value of labour) and consumers (making excess profits).

Media works ideologically by disseminating the ideas and world views of the ruling class, denying access to alternative ideas that might lead to change or to a growing consciousness of the working classes with regards to its interests.

The main contribution of the media is to stimulate and then satisfy false needs. This leads to the assimilation of groups who have no real material interest in common into a 'one dimensional' society.

False consciousness

1.

A Marxist theory that people are unable to see things, especially 

exploitation, oppression, and social relations, as they really are; the 

inability of the human mind to develop a sophisticated awareness of how it is developed and shaped by circumstances.

2.

Any belief or view that prevents a person from being able to understand 

the true nature of a situation.

Marxist theory of media:

• Mass media is owned by the bourgeois class
• Media is operated in their interest
• Media promotes working class false consciousness
• Media access denied to political opposition.

Task:

Bearing in mind the Marxist theory of media;

Watch the video clip below and analyse with consideration given to the representation of Britain (National Identity).
List the visual codes, Audio codes and geographical markers.
Write 200 words describing what the opening ceremony is saying about being British. What would other nationalities think about this?

Intertextuality, definition.

Relating to or deriving meaning from the interdependent ways in which texts stand in relation to each other.

BBC 1 News

Fox News

The Olympic Opening Ceremony

• 
  

• Directed by Danny Boyle who is English.

Visual Codes

• James Bond (intertextual reference) Daniel Craig is a British actor and James Bond is a prolific film that is well knows for being British.
• Gold colours signify wealth. Red and Gold are 'royal colours'.
• Queens guards are used.
• Black Hackney cab
• Police officers
• Throne room
• Suits
• Famous Corgi dogs
• The Queen
• British flags
• Flags from other nations sugessts that Britian is accepting of others and multi-cultural nation.
• Close up of the words 'Happy and Glorious' sums up the British nation.
• People from all ethnicities and class. Again suggesting is accepting and 'one country'.

Audio Codes

• Speech - Received Pronunciation by characters and commentator.
• Classical music used which signifies Britain as being sophisticated and an upper class nation It also reminds the audience of the historical nature of the country and reminds them of royalty.
• Chimes of the clock which signifies tradition and a reminder of the Big Ben.
• Dam Busters music is used. The Dam Busters was about world war II and the British attacking the German Dams - This is a reminder to the world that Britain is a superior nation as they 'go into battle' in the helicopter. The music was composed by British composer Eric Coates.
• Crowds cheering which suggests that the public are proud to be be British and that they are celebrating the culture.

There are various landmarks (geographical markers) that are used:

• Buckingham Palace
• Big Ben
• London Eye
• River Thames
• Lion statue in Trafalgar Square
• Churchill statue
• London Bridge
• Houses of Parliament.

Other important points about the representation of Britain (National Identity)

• Brazilian Children being shown around - They are in awe of the country and everything around them is so much better than their country. Could also suggest that Britian is a multi-cultural society and an acepting nation.

Production Tasks

The production tasks must enable candidates to demonstrate competent technical
skills.
It is essential they have access to appropriate technical equipment and that
they have been taught how to use it prior to undertaking their productions.

(a) Pre-production
Pre-production tasks must be undertaken individually but may be set on a
whole class basis. Pre-production work will focus on the research and
planning skills needed to create media productions.

Pre-productions may, for example, involve research into comparable products, key aspects of the
appropriate industry relevant to the pre-production as well as research into
the target audience.

(b) Production
The production must develop out of the pre-production planning.
Audio-visual productions can be produced individually or by a group
(maximum of four). For group tasks the candidates will need to select one of
their pre-productions to develop into a production.

There must be appropriate opportunities for a significant and definable contribution to be made by each
candidate. Audio-visual productions should be up to 3 minutes in length,
depending on the nature of the production and the number of candidates.

Interactive media (other than audio-visual productions) and print-based
productions must be produced individually and must contain at least two
pages of original material.
The majority of the images within the production should be originated by the candidate.

(c) Report
The pre-production and production must be accompanied by a report of 1200
– 1600 words. This report must be completed individually and will include:
a discussion of the most significant research findings which informed the
pre-production
a brief justification of the target audience for the production
an evaluation of the production which highlights its strengths and
weaknesses through, for example, a comparison with existing media
products.
The report may be submitted in one of the following formats:

• an illustrated report
• an essay
• a suitably edited blog.

Assessment:
This unit will be internally assessed and externally moderated, assessing A02, A03
and A04, with the following mark allocations:

• Pre-production (20)
• Production (40)
• Report of 1200-1600 words (40)

Each of the three pieces of work will be assessed separately and then combined to
achieve a total mark.

Levi Strauss - Binary Opposition

Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908 – 2009) was a French narrative theorist and anthropologist. He argued in his 1962 work La Pensée sauvage 'that the "savage" mind has the same structures (untamed human thought) as the "civilized" mind and that human characteristics are the same everywhere. 
BINARY OPPOSITION’S THEORY
His theory was that the way we understand certain words doesn’t depend on the meaning it creates but more on our understanding of the difference between the word and its opposite, the binary oppositions.
He realised that words purely act as symbols for the ideas of society and the meaning of words, therefore, he believed that there was a relationship between opposing ideas.
Binary oppositions can be found in a range of media products such as a film trailers.

EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS:
Binary oppositions can be found in a range of media products such as a film trailers.

We easily understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL.
Levi-Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged in
the plot or the narrative.
This theory again ties in with dominant ideology.

Below is an image that represents a happy family as set out in dominant British ideologies.
Handsome, healthy and perfect smiles on the faces of the young family.





Dominant ideology is the set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society, framing how the majority think about a range of topics.

The items on the left hand side of the list below are what media texts set out as ideological in the West.

Male > Female
White > Black
Happy > Unhappy
Family > Single
Rich > Poor
Clever > Stupid
Ability > Disability

Savage thought, Lévi-Strauss argues, continually gathers and applies structures wherever they can be used.

These observations culminated in his famous book ‘Tristes Tropiques’, which positioned him as one of the central figures in the structuralist school of thought.

Structuralism

This can be said to be a set of ideas which emphasise two positions..

Marx and Freud interpreted the social world in this structured way.
Freud argued that the human psyche makes us act in ways that we may not be aware of or don't know why.
For example, structural anthropology might study how a culture organises its rules on say, food using different sets of rules: 

Exclusion, English see eating frogs and snails as a barbaric French custom.

Opposition, savoury and sweet courses are not usually eaten together.

Association, Steak and chips followed by ice cream are OK but steak and ice cream followed by chips???

Only within such sets of rules would certain combinations be valued or seen as wrong/rebellious/eccentric.

• Good vs evil, this is shown in genres such as action and thrillers in a protagonist and antagonist role.

• Dark vs light, this is again shown in action/thriller/horror films.

• Past vs future, this can be shown in action and history genres,

• Feminine vs masculine this is particularly seen in horror/ thriller films as females are generally seen as being victims and males are seen to be killers.

Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. 

An example would be GOOD and EVIL.

He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. 

French linguist Ferdinand Sassure pioneered the study of language as a system of signs, codes and structures. By defining terms as being opposite to other terms; black/white, hot/cold.
Woman is almost always defined as the opposite to man. We define feminity in relation to masculinity. The moment we are born we reach for pink or blue baby clothes.

Genre is an inseperable part of understanding how meanings are encountered in practice and this blend of repetition and difference is key to us making sense of the information we are given.

Task 1: Titanic.

The narrative of the Titanic (US 1997) works partly through differences.

How many of the structuring oppositions of the film are visible here?

Task 2: Below are some links to trailers.
Watch them and identify any binary opposites that have been put in place to reveal the structure of the text.


Fright Night

Schindler's List

The Amazing Spiderman




Role Models



P.S. I Love You

NARRATIVE THEORY_TODOROV and EQUILIBRIUM

Todorov theory from Matt Senior

NARRATIVE THEORY BARTHES.

Barthes codes theory from alexdabriel

The name Calvin Smith is not writ large in Olympic history, but perhaps it should be. The American sprinter finished fourth in the men’s 100m final in Seoul in 1988 — but as the three runners before him, Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie, all tested positive for a banned substance, either at the time or in subsequent years, he now declares that “I should have won.” In fact, if you discount all the runners in that race with doping offences on their record, the Brazilian Robson da Silva (who finished sixth) should have picked up silver, and nobody deserved bronze.

How do you read the picture? 
What is it saying in Barthes terms, what is it's underlying message?

One possible message relates to their racial identity. These athletes are all from a racially defined group, one often discriminated against on the grounds of their race and skin colour, a group that is usually depicted as losers or victims in terms of their achievement.
Yet here they are winning!

The picture was anchored by the headline 'Heroes and Villains' when it was published in the Sunday Times magazine in 1988 as part of an article about drug taking in athletics.

Which of the following statements in your view comes closest to the message of the image?

This is the greatest moment of my life, a triumph for me (Linford Christie).

This is a moment of triumph for me and a celebration for black people everywhere

This is a moment of triumph for me and a celebration for the British Olympic team and the British People.

This is a moment of triumph for me and a celebration for black people and the British Olympic team. It shows you can be black and British!

What is this image saying? What is it's message? How does it say it?