Essay rewrite




I believe a successful media product is to achieved b distributing a film at a good time of the year, usually the best time to release a film is around the summer or Christmas because people are usually off work and have time to go to the cinema, for example Star Wars is coming out this Christmas of 2015. Also having the correct equipment to make a film, advertising the film well and using well known stars to promote the film in a good way. If a film does these elements well, and has the budget to do them, it can be successful. Mad Max Fury Road and Ex Machina are both successful films in different ways. Mad Max is seen to be more successful at it was made by the American film industry and films made by them seem to do better, the American Film Industry makes $88.3 billion a year.


The production of Mad Max took a total of 15 years to film (green lighted) whereas Ex Machina only took 6 years to make, it is seen to be better and more well thought out as it had more time to plan a successful film. However, some people would disagree because the studio was worried that the film would not be made in time, and that George Miller was breaking the rules of production. Ex Machina only took 6 weeks as it didn't have a lot of action in like most blockbuster films do. Ex Machina had a smaller budget ($15 million) than Mad Max ($150 million). This was because Ex Machina was made by the British Film Industry and in Britain we don't the studio system to make bigger budget films.


However, Ex Machina was successful for the budget it had. It made $37 million at the box office. This is an achievement seeing ass it was distributed at the same time as The Avengers film was released on the 21st January 2015. This meant Ex Machina had competition from a sequel action film. Mad Max was released in May the 7th 2015 in the summer. Films released around this time seem to be more successful as people are on holiday and off work. So people have more time to visit cinema.


Mad Max is a film with a lot of action in it. There are many scenes which have explosions in, one of the biggest scenes took 138 days to film. Mad Max also had big stars in it such as Tom Hardy, Charlize Thereon and Nicholas Hoult. These stars are well known and quite famous so this would make a film more successful having big named actors in it, because people like to see there idols and well known block buster actors. Whereas, Ex Machina didn't have a large cast of actors, the two main actors were Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander. They aren't well known but since the film, the stars are set to be characters in the new Star Wars film.


Another way films can be successful like Mad Max and Ex Machina is from the script, sets, costume and camera's used. Mad Max was written and directed by George Miller who has made successful films in the past. Ex Machina was written and directed by Alex Garland who didn't have the right foundations to make a film as good as Mad Max. Special effects can make a film look realistic. Mad Max's special effects were 80% real, this means they were done in camera. The last scene had 3000 frames per second to have the effect of the war rig crashing into the rocks. In another scene, a special piece of equipment called an edge arm was used to film big scenes like the car chase's. ad Max also used equipment like the Pole Cats, these were borrowed from the circus so they could film people jumping to and from different cars.  Ex Machina also used special effects when the character Ava pulled the skin off the arm. Also, Ex Machina didn't have enough funds to have similar special effects to Mad Max, in one scene, Ava had to  put clothes on as this would bring the costs down instead of spending them on special effects. There were also more boring scenes when characters were sat down and talking, this is seen as it having little action. In Ex Machina there is also a scene when Ava stabs Nathan and there is blood and violence. This meant that the film would now have a smaller market because they couldn't rate it as a PG anymore.


Marketing and distribution is key to making a good film and to make money at the box office. Mad Max made $374.7 million and Ex Machina made $37 million at the box office. It is clear that Mad Max was more successful as it made more money. Mad Max was well advertised, it was advertised in cinemas, TV adverts, YouTube, Posters and Magazines. Overall, Mad Max spent $43 million on marketing, $7 million of this was spent on TV advertising. Ex Machina didn't have enough money to do advertisement as well as Mad Max. Ex Machina advertised using an Instagram and Tinder account, which allowed people to speak to Ava online and interact with her, they did this at the XXSW film festival. This is recognised as good because a lot of people use social media. Ex Machina was put on 15 screens only in the US as the Avengers dominated most cinema, but after the Avengers had been seen by the public, they put the film on more screens 2000 this is called piggy backing.


Mad Max was put on 16,700 screens in 68 countries. This is more successful because the more screens it was shown on, meant more money was made. Films are only successful if the right target audience is met. Ex Machina targeted film buffs and geeks because the film is a sci-fi film. It was distributed by universal studios and Mad Max distributed by Warner Bros. Universal is seen as more successful company but with Ex Machina, it was released at the same time as the Avengers so it would be hard to compete with them. Mad Max's target audience was mainly men as it was an action film. It also would have been advertised at cinemas in action film, where men will mostly likely see it.


Overall, I would agree that successful media product do depend on marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices. This is clearly shown that Mad Max is a lot more successful than Ex Machina because the production process was a lot more well thought out. Mad Max also promoted the film with better advertisement. However, Ex Machina did use good advertising techniques like through the power of social media. Mad Max is also a sequel so more people would want to see the upcoming film. I think from what we have learnt, in the next 5 years, the cinemas will be dominated with sci-fi action films. There is set to be 3 new Star Wars films and up to 50 new Marvel films. I think this isn't good as people will start to get bored of watching the same genre of film. Marketing of media products will become more advanced in the next 5 years through social media like YouTube. I think media products won't depend as much on Television and cinema adverts as technology will be more widely used. Overall, to make a film a success, the key is to try and make as much profit as it can.

Representation of Ethnicity

Black people

Clip from British drama Top Boy
The drama is about black gangs in London. They are represented as drug dealers and people who steal. A lot of people have this representation of black people as they live in ruff estates and are seen as scary to other people as their lives are very different. In this clip, DuShane is having a conversation about drug dealing and look like gangsters as they have a big pimped out black car. The teenagers are seen to be trouble makers and this clip shows them stealing and the boy gets arrested.

Clip from British drama Skins.
In this clip, the black character Thomas who is from Africa is a migrant. He is stereotyped by the type of music he listens to and for being an immigrant to the UK.

Clip from British drama Misfits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUltPHWUnO4
The character Curtis is an athlete and a lot of black people are stereotyped to be fast runners. He is also stereotyped as he is doing community service for drug dealing which is what people stereotype black people to be doing.

Asian People

Clip from British drama Skins
In this clip, Anwar who is an Asian Muslim is stopped at the airport for the colour of his skin. A lot of people have the representation of Muslims to be terrorists and that they bring in bombs through airport security. This clip highlights this stereotype as Anwar is stopped by the Russian police and taken to be searched. People have this representation of Muslims because of past incidents like 9/11.

Clip from American drama Pretty Little Liars
In this clip, Emily is an Asian character. She is a hardworking girl who comes from a typical Asian family who obey rules and do well at school. However, Emily is a countertype of this because she is gay, many Asian families would frown upon this as it is seen wrong in the Asian community.

Clip from American drama Glee.
In this clip, Mike is an Asian character from Japan. He is a dancer in Glee and is very good. Him and his parents follow the Christian faith which countertypes the stereotypical faith other Asians follow, e.g. Hindu, Muslim, Buddhists.


Clip from American drama Heroes
In this clip, Masi Oka who is a Chinese character in Heroes, he can time travel, that is his power in the drama. The Chinese are stereotyped to be clever and hard working.

Clip from British drama Skins
In this clip, Abigail who is girl from a private school is at a choir concert. She is stereotyped to be posh and a snob. A lot of people from private school are seen to be rich and well off as they can afford private education. Abigail is seen as being quite rude to Michelle and a lot of posh people are seen to be rude.

Narrative Codes

Roland Barthes developed a concept that every narrative is interwoven with five codes that drive one to maintain interest in a story. The first two codes involve ways of creating suspense in narrative, the first by unanswered questions, the second by anticipation of an action's resolution. These two codes are essentially connected to the temporal order of the narrative.

The Hermeneutic Code

The hermeneutic code refers to plot elements of a story that are not explained. They exist as enigmas that the reader wishes to be resolved. A detective story, for example, is a narrative that operates primarily by the hermeneutic code. A crime is exposed or postulated and the rest of the narrative is devoted to answering questions raised by the initial event.

The Proairetic Code

The proairetic code refers to plot events that imply further narrative action. For example, a story character confronts an adversary and the reader wonders what the resolution of this action will be. Suspense is created by action rather than by a reader's wish to have mysteries explained. The final three codes are related to how the reader comprehends and interprets the narrative discourse.

The Semic Code

A seme is a unit of meaning or a sign that express cultural stereotypes. These signs allow the author to describe characters, settings and events. The semic code focuses upon information that the narration provides in order to suggest abstract concepts. Any element in a narrative can suggest a particular, often additional, meaning by way of connotation through a correlation found in the narrative. The semic code allows the text to 'show' instead of 'tell' by describing material things.

The Symbolic Code

The symbolic code refers to a structural structure that organizes meanings by way of antitheses, binary oppositions or sexual and psychological conflicts. These oppositions can be expressed through action, character and setting.

The Cultural Code

The cultural code designates any element in a narrative that refers to common bodies of knowledge such as historical, mythological or scientific. The cultural codes point to knowledge about the way the world works as shared by a community or culture.

Together, these five codes function like a 'weaving of voices'. Barthes assigns to the hermeneutic the Voice of Truth; to the proairetic code the voice of Empirics ; to the semic the Voice of the Person; to the cultural the Voice of Science; and to the symbolic the Voice of Symbol. According to Barthes, they allowing the reader to see a work not just as a single narrative line but as a braiding of meanings that give a story its complexity and richness.

TV drama- Generic convections
Characters – even particular kinds of characters: eg, at its most simple, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters.

Stories – they all tell stories, whether those stories involve adventure, crime or romance and they often, but not always, end happily.

The stories are told against familiar backdrops: – eg, homes, police stations and offices (for crime dramas), hospitals (for medical dramas) – most of which are created in studios. However, most dramas also use outside locations to create particular effects.

Camerawork – particular kinds of shots are used: eg, sequences involving establishing shots followed by mid-shots of characters, shot/reverse shots to show character interaction and, in particular,close-ups to show the characters’ emotions.

Stories use dialogue to tell the stories. Occasionally, monologues are built in (as voiceovers, a character telling a story).

Music is used to punctuate the action, create effects (suspense, tension) and underline emotional moments.

Particular subgenres tend to have items which make them immediately identifiable – police cars, blue lights, operating theatres and scalpels, triage/reception areas in hospitals. Icons of the genre, they symbolise the (sub)genre.

In this clip, it is clear that there is a teacher and a student because the teacher is wearing professional clothing, she is wearing a fitted dress and blazer with heels. Her hair is neat and tidy. Tariq who is the disabled character is in a wheelchair and is wearing his school uniform. He is also wearing gloves, this will be because it makes it easier for him to move his wheelchair as the gloves give him more grip. The setting in the clip is in the school grounds and garden area, there is a lot of greenery with trees and plants in the frame. There is also the school building in the right hand side of the frame. There is a wheelchair ramp to show that the disabled character can access places easily. The clip shows a tracking shot of both characters moving from right to the middle of the frame. The clip starts with a long shot where you can see both characters full height, to then a mid shot of the teachers waist and above Tariq's shoulders. The shot has been zoomed so both characters can be seen in more detail. Sound during the clip includes birds singing which brings a calming atmosphere and due to the little noise in the background it makes it easier to hear the conversation between the two characters.

e emmett13_05-11-2015_13-36-07 by Ellie Emmett

1. Camera's used in the film were  ARRI Alexa cameras and capture with Codex Onboard Recorders to film intense action scenes and include many visual effects
2. Originally, Fury Road was intended to be shot near Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia.
3. This was because in the desert there was unusual amounts of heavy rainfall causing the desert to blossom flowers.
4. Originally slated for a 2003 shoot in Namibia, the film had to be delayed after the beginning of the Iraq War caused trouble with shipping and security in Namibia. Production began again in 2009.
5. Mad max fury road was released 30 years after the last film,.
6. Charlize Theron shaved her head for her role of Furiosa
7. Charlize and Tom Hardy did not get on on set.
8. The film experienced many weather and location problems causing the film to be delayed many times.
9. The film was shot in sequence and story boards were completed before the script.
10. 80% of the films effects were real practical effects, stunts and makeup and sets.
11. The film was expected to be released in 2013
12. The film had to deal with many production delays, financial trouble and travel & shipping restrictions, this put them into "development hell".
13. Started shooting in Namibia in July
14. Had a budget of $100-$125 million
15. Warner Bro's had concerns that the film on going production was slow so they set a deadline for November.
16.