Disney Trailer Analysis: The Lion King

At the start of the trailer the song in the background to the Disney ident is "The Circle of Life" which instantly displays to the audience that the Film will be a musical which then moves onto a shot of the rising shot which introduces a desert setting. The rest of the trailer uses other tracks from the film in order to present the wide range of songs that the film has. The first line of dialogue is from Mufasa saying that "we are all connected in the great circle of life" This ties in with the background music we creates the sense that he is an important character, this is emphasised by his low soft voice which will make the audience feel a sense of comfort. secondly his high position over the desert which connotes that he is in charge. As baby Simba is lifted up the voice over states that the film is called "The Lion King" This infers that Simba will also play a massive role as he is introduced with the title. This is reinforced through the the voice over saying that " he was born to rule" This will appeal to the target audience of children as the protagonist is shown to be a cub and therefore the children can relate with the him. The voice over then announces the antagonist by saying that "A shadow falls over the kingdom" followed by the antagonist Scar who introduces the dilemma by saying that he wants to be king. This layout of the trailer was used in order to make it easy for the films target audience of children to follow in order for them to want to see the film. Timon and Pumbaa are then introduced and they use many jokes in order to contrast the scary scenes before it. Meanwhile Simba is very upset which will create enigma for the viewers as they want to find out why he is upset. This is followed by a montage that shows a change in time as Simba walks along a log. It is then revealed that Simbas father died earlier on in the movie which creates further enigma on how and when he died. n contrast to this the following shots have cheerful music with jokes made by many characters. In order to appeal to a wider audience of adults, it is stated in the voice over that all the songs are made by Elton John.The trailer then ends with the song "Circle of life" which creates a sense of fulfilment for the audience and therefore entices them more to watch the full film

Reflection On Practicle TV Drama Still

1. Provide a brief summary of how you planned your photography practical.
Before the shoot, I drew a rough picture of what my shot would contain; the actors and any props. I also thought about what type of shot my still would be and which would be most effective i.e CU or MCU.

2. Analyse your chosen shot and identify in what ways it could be described as signifying your chosen TV drama genre/subgenre.
My chosen subgenre was thriller and i chose to signify this by the dark lighting and mysterious, hooded figure with a gassmask. The hidden face and girl in a headlock connote a threatening image and creates unease for the audience. The Mid shot of my character shows the emotion , but also shows enough of the figure in the background.

3. How did you intend the audience to interpret your still? What narrative moment were you attempting to create? What meanings were you attempting to communicate?  (BARTHES NARRATIVE CODES?
I wanted the audience to feel tense as they try to anticipate what was going to happen next. The lack of information of the story creates enigma for the audience as they don't know what's going to happen next.

4. Identify what is successful about your shot.
I captured sophia's helplessness by having her in a headlock, and I'm happy about the angle of the shot as the audience is unable to see sophia's face - which was my intention.

5. What would you do differently if you were to repeat this activity?
I would plan the location of my shot and how the lighting will be. If i need it to be a very lit shot, i would do it outside.

TV Drama Still Analysis

For my TV drama, I have chosen a still from the series 'Arrow'. The still denotes the green arrow in a dark green suit being strangled my Malcolm Merlin who is wearing a black suit on a rooftop. Arrow is on his knees and both characters are facing away from the camera. There are dark high-rises in the background with small lights shining through the windows, which creates a setting that resembles a high class financial district in America. the location of a city in America may suggest an action  genre since cities like New York are usual setting for action films and TV shows. In addition, Arrow is wearing a typical hero outfit, with leather and armor, which reinforces the genre. The central position of Arrow and Malcolm portrays them as the protagonist and antagonist,fighting. This in addition to the lack of address to the camera, suggests that they are in the middle of a fight and are in the climax of the episode.