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Ideology & Cultural Identity

YOUR TASK: 1) Watch the Media in Minutes video below.

https://youtu.be/deY4sapO0fM

2) In your own words, why do you believe ideology is an important part of storytelling?

Ideology is a shared system of belief among viewers. The ideologies in society frame the form, nature and structure of media narratives. These stories are created by people who exist in a society. The films and TV programs they create are shaped and influenced by their specific ideologies. Discourses within a society are represented through construction, distribution, reception and consumption of narratives that implicitly or explicitly choose to comment on, reflect on, develop reject or ignore other ideologies. Topics that hold high value based on ones ideology could be racism, feminism, sexist or classism. Media codes and conventions hold an important role in audience engagement, consumption and reading of the narrative. Ideology is important because  differing views are inevitable in our world. Ideologies bring diversity and conversation to specific topics into film and new media. If everyone held the same values and ideology, there would be no *spice*, everything would be the same, there would be no conversation or debate because everyone believes the same thing as being correct. Ideology allows different society's to uncover new perspectives and views on worldly issues.

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Different Media Platforms & Contexts

TASK: 1) Select a platform as the one you believe to be the most effective with engaging the audience in story. Explain why. - I believe digital gaming platforms are the most effective at engaging with the audience in the story. This is because you become fully emerged into the story when you participate and must make the main characters decisions. The kinaesthetic involvement activates both the brain and the body into the game/story.

2) Which do you believe to be the most ineffective - Justify why - I think mobile phones and tablets are the least effective at immersing the viewer into the story simply because the screens are so small. I think when engaging with a story, the visuals of each scene pull the whole thing together and on a small screen, it is hard to notice all of the important details. Posture when using a tablet can become very uncomfortable over long periods of sitting, distracting the viewer from the story and instead to their physical discomfort.

3) Which demographic (specific group of people - women 35-45, young families etc.) is most likely to engage with each of the platforms?

not a one-size-fits-all

• Cinema (young families) • Drive In Theatre (16-26) • Television (older demographic, 45+) • Mobile Phone & Digital Tablet storytelling (9-19) • Digital/Video Gaming (14-24) • Online or Smart TV streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu & Amazon Prime (middle ages families, teenage children)

4) In your own words, explain why audience reception is an important part of storytelling. Audience reception holds high significance when storytelling because it controls the way the audience members interpret the message of the film. It is important when writing a story line and creating the production itself that no matter what each individual audience member is going through in that current moment, they will understand what is going on in the story. With no acknowledgment of the audience reception, the viewers may not be able to relate or properly immerse themselves in the form of media.

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Audience Expectations & Engagement

YOUR TASKS:

1. Construct a list of the benefits that audience receive by engaging with narratives, and then construct a parallel list of television show, films or video games that provide this benefit. List of benefits: - The audience gains a better understanding of the plot - Less confusion - More personal and memorable experience - Emotional responses - Intellectual judgments - Attachment to characters - Safe in home

List of narratives: - The Simpsons - American horror story - How to Get Away With Murder - Lego Indiana Jones - Grand Theft Auto

2. Explain the reasons why you have identified particular narratives to match the benefits, to demonstrate you understand the connections. - Of the examples up there, I chose 'How to Get Away With Murder' as it frequently reiterates the past narrative whilst uncovering the unfolding drama. There were occasional jumps back and forth in time to portray to the viewers the truth and depth of the current event. The events that occur are very extraordinary at times and highlight society's values and beliefs through the choices made by the characters.

3. With a partner, discuss occasions when you have found yourself actively refusing to suspend disbelief. These could be occasions when you told yourself "it's ok, it's only a movie" or occasions when you were unable to get into the story right from the start. Explain why you think your disbelief could not be suspended. - I think it was one of the insidious movies but I had a lot of trouble being able to go along with the story because a lot of the things that the main character did were just unbelievably stupid and destined to get herself into a dangerous situation. My brain often has trouble with these types of horror movies because I think about how easy it would be to just avoid all of the obvious traps.

4. Think about the last film, television show or game you watched/played. How "transported" were you? Answer using Green and Brock's transportation scale - Transport Narrative Questionnaire. Explain why this was the case.

5. Analyse and explain how gaming media has both similarities and differences to films and television shows in terms of audience engagement, identity role play Similarities: - Set beginning and end - Set characters - Set key events

Differences: - Players in games feel way more in control because they get to participate - When you're watching a film, it's easier for your eyes and brain to get distracted whereas in a game, you are required to put your full attention forward or there will be consequences (death in game)

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Propp’s Theory

YOUR TASK: 1. How does Propp's theory compare to the other narrative and story theories we have looked at so far? - Propp's theory focuses more on the fact that there are only 7-8 basic character roles than the storyline itself. Propp's narrative theory calls these roles spheres of action. One character, with all their individual personality traits, can be involved in more than one sphere.

2. What differences can you see between Campbell's Character Archetypes and Propp's? - Campbell's character archetypes are far more specific than Propp's. - Campbell's does not have a false hero character like Propp's. although Campbell's 'false hero' could be similar to the shapeshifter. - Propp's lacks the comedic value of a trickster type character - Campbell's theory does not objectify a character as a 'reward' to the hero 3. Evaluate these similarities and differences and explain how you see them in the films and television series you watch today. - With the subtle differences used between the two theories, their roles could cause a different character analysis of the same movie. For example, Shrek. Propp's theory would say that Donkey is the Helper, however, Campbell's would refer to him as the ally or the trickster. Propp's theory would identify Fiona as the Princess and just as an award gifted by the Princesses' father, however Campbell's theory would see her as an ally.

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Character Archetypes

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The Hero’s Journey - Ratatouille

Act 1 Ordinary world Remy's rat home in an old lady's roof, lives on the outskirts of Paris but doesn't know it.

Call to adventure Cooking documentary on the old lady's TV, inspires him to become a chef

Initial refusal to call and later acceptance Remy's father is not supportive of his cooking career because he is a rat, but Remy finds a cookbook and continues to practice his skills despite his fathers' prejudice

Meeting the mentor Remy met his mentor in the cooking sows, he never truly met him in the flesh but he used him as guidance.

Crossing the first threshold into the changed world When Remy leaves the storm drain that he got flushed into when escaping the rat poisoning old lady, he realises that he has ended up in Paris and discovers that he is right above his favourite chiefs restaurant.  

Act 2 Tests, allies and enemies Remy enters the restaurant but falls into a pot and must overcome a bunch of obstacles such as overs, people stepping on/seeing him, sinks of water, and the temptation to get distracted by food. He meets a young garbage boy chef who he befriends as they have a symbiotic relationship that they both benefit from, Remy can cook, the boy can't but is living under the impression of others that he can. His enemy is the owner of the restaurant who despises rodents like Remy.

Approach to the innermost cave and facing the ordeal Remy finds out his mentor is dead, he must choose between his rodent family or his human friend, he is kidnapped.

Reward The rodents and chiefs come together and cook for the food critic

Act 3 The road back The food critic loves the food and gives them a Michelin star

Resurrection The old owner who was' taken care of' by the rats comes back and shuts the restaurant down on the grounds of a rat infestation.

Returns with elixir, boons, gifts, or newfound place in the world Remy and his human open a new restaurant after the old one was shut down. Remy lives with his human now but still feeds and takes care of his family at his humans' new restaurant.

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Week 1 Activity

1) Create a movie flow chart of systematically arranged scenes

Inserted above, Ratatouille (2007)

2) Explain the effect that the ending of each act had on the characters at that point

At the end of Act 1, Remy is left with a sense of lonesomeness as he has lost his entire family and is very culnerable, yet he also has comfort in meeting his new human friend.

In the remaining moments of Act 2, Remy has learnt his lesson about not being too trusting of even his family as they betrayed their promise to not loot the kitchen. At the end off this act, Remy has sorted his troubles out with both his human friend and his family, whilst also managing to impress the food critique, which is one of his main aspirating goals in life.

Finally, in the conclusion of Act 3, Remy has found a sense of belonging in both the human and rodent world, which is what he always needed in order to pursue his culinary dreams. 

3) List the causal agents applicable to the film, what type?

Due to the mix of both animals and humans having roles in this film, the causal agents are;

- Human

- Non-human

- Society

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Roly Poly

Description: A biomimicry themed animation showing the similarities between BB-8 and a pill bug.

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Animation Synthesis

Name: Angelina Kovacs 

Software Used: Animation Desk

Subject: FTV Media

Production Title: Roly Poly

What software did you choose and why?

I chose to use the software Animation Desk because I personally find cell animations more interesting and enjoyable to do than the other programs or styles that were offered. I wanted to use Animation Desk because I really enjoy creating things through drawing them myself. I found that being able to draw out what I was thinking or imagining certainly helped bring my animation to life without having any barriers in the way.

How your animation idea includes the theme of Biomimicry? Were there any changes or addition to incorporate the theme more? How well did you include it?

My animation included biomimicry as I showed the similarities between a Star Wars droid BB8 and a pill bug. The actual biomimicry of these two objects is the spherical shape that they both share, which helps them with movement. To help bring out the differences between the two, I created two different backgrounds. One of them, for the droid, has a dry, outer space look. Whereas the second background, for the beetle, is very lively and lush.  This is to help show the vast difference between two things, yet they can still relate to each other due to biomimicry.

Describe the creative process of creating the animation. What worked, what didn’t? How did you overcome issues?

During the timely process of creating this animation, there were obviously things that did and didn’t work. I originally started out my creation by drawing a skeleton of each character repeatedly, this was until I realised there was a copy and paste button. Using this feature was very helpful and quite a time saver. I also found the layer feature on Animation Desk to be very helpful when creating finer details to my creation. Is for the creation of the animation, I used three different layers. The first one had a basic outline and block colour. The second had more colour-based details to give the characters their well-known features. The final layer was for fine details such as shading. Originally, I had my animation speed at 10 frames per second, I decided that this was too slow and that it would be better to up the speed to 14 frames per second. As Animation Desk does not allow the backgrounds to be changed in one file, I needed to create two different files. Once the animation was completed, I placed both animations into premiere pro and inserted background music.

What do you think did you personally did well?

Personally, I think my technique of creating the characters in my animation was done well. I put a lot of time and detail into each frame to show the small details of movements to give a very realistic effect. I also believe I did a fair amount of research into the characters as well as the theme.

What could you have improved?

I believe I could have drastically improved my animation if I had used my time more wisely. I often spent one whole lesson trying to perfect each frame, and only to gain a small benefit from doing so. This was because I wanted the quality of this animation to be as admirable as possible, but I think it would be fair to say that I didn’t consider the time limit of this assignment. This does not mean that my next assignment will lack effort and quality, but I will need to find a more stable balance between quality and time.

 On a scale from 1-10 how complex is your animation? Why?

I would rate the complexity of my animation a 6.5 out of 10. This is because although my biomimicry idea was quite complex, my style of animation was basic. Everything shown was hand drawn. Due to the limitations of Animation Desk, such as pen options and effects, it was more difficult to make the animation look as realistic as others that had images sourced off the internet.

 Are you proud of the work you have produced? Explain why or why not?

I am proud of the animation that I have created over the past term. I have put a lot of time and effort into it and I am pleased with the outcome. However, there is always room for improvements, as mentioned earlier. If I were to follow these recommendations mentioned earlier, I think I would be more proud of the work I produced.

References:

Space gun SFX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE3oqkcm10A

Desert wind SFX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CixDyo4OYHE

Rainforest SFX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=998KzMrrTXQ

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This is the audio used as an extra sound effect when a spaceship flies past in my animation.

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This is the sound backing that I have used for the first half of my media animation. 

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An idea of what the spaceship in my animation will look like.

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Made with Adobe Illustrator

A brief explanation about BB-8, made as research for assessment animation.

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Made with Adobe Illustrator 

A basic explanation of the pill bug I created for this assignment.

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made with adobe illustrator

biomimicry research examples

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Design Questions/Checklist

What is the title of your animation?

Roly Poly (ro-lee po-lee)

Which software are you using and why?

I will be using Animation Desk to make my animation for this assessment. I really enjoy drawing things because it allows my imagination to not be restricted as I can draw out whatever I’m thinking of. I also find that animation desk is easier to operate and create on, but that just a personal opinion.

How does your animation fit within the theme of biomimicry?

My idea fits the theme of biomimicry because my two characters in this animation are both similar to each other yet one is natural and the other is a artificially man made. One of the characters, BB-8, will transform into a pill bug. This is an example of biomimicry because the design of the robot has been copied from something that is natural.

What is going to happen?

close up:

BB-8 will be rolling through what appears to be a dusty planet. A space ship will fly across the top of the screen and shoot out a couple laser beams. BB-8 will be rolling over a couple little bumps on the ground, to make it look more compelling. 

zoom out:

When BB-8 will come across a large rock that it doesn’t due to distraction by a spaceship flying past. BB-8 will trip over this rock and begin to spin out of control. 

Close up: 

As it begins to roll, it’s colouring will slowly change into a dark grey. It will then be seen transforming into a pill beetle. As this all happens the background will change into a forest or something similar. It will then walk off the screen. 

How is it going to happen?

For each movement, I will need to re-draw the main character but in a slightly different position. This is to give the effect of movement over time. I will need to have a set background layer, but it needs to change when BB-8 transforms. As for the design of the characters, a number of layers will be used. I will start with an outline layer, and then have another layer for block colours, and the final layer will be for adding extra details

What sounds will be played?

Planet scene: White noise, windy, space style gun zap, rolling or crunching noise.

Purpose: These noises will be used to give an outer Earth type of feeling or experience. This is to show how different this star wars theme is from our natural world.

Forest scene: Trees swaying, chirping birds, water moving, little scuffles (bug movement)

Purpose: These noises add a very natural and earthy feeling to the animation. This will remind the viewers that this is what BB-8 came from. 

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shape snake, 3D animation, made using Blender

apologies for the short stall at the beginning of the video.

Evaluation

description:

This 3D animation shows three colourful shapes connected together by a set bones that cannot be seen. The shapes slowly move side to side as if they are living, or swaying.

What was done well?

This animation successfully shows the connected, steady movement of the 3D shapes. They are also colourful so they look more interesting to the eye, this is important in animation as you don’t want the viewer to loose interest!

What could have been done better?

To have made this animation even better, adding a colourful background to the video would have made it look more interesting. Another way this animation could be improved is by adding more shapes with more movements of the bones. Doing this would have made the animation longer and more complex