LESSON 120152: MOVE ON UP

We will be introducing the course and the changed approaches to A2 – the case of the enigmatic ‘WHY’ questions But first… Let’s go back to that exam task and see what we learned last year

The task was very much focused on issues we have explored previously in AS – representations, ideas of gender tropes such as masculinity, the gratuitous appeal of violence and impact of media products on their intended audiences [the effects debate]. So we’ll begin by looking at what issues you might have addressed and how you might have constructed a response to satisfy your examiners.
To begin with, the product is a familiar one, a game franchise that you have all grown up with so it will have some cultural resonance for each of you. For some, games like this and the representations and ideologies [values] contained in them are part of your constructed identity so their appeal is both very well known to you but also might be difficult to step away from to allow the distance necessary for deep evaluation and analysis.
So, we will begin by looking at media context as a stepping off point. This will be a key part of our work in A2 and also for those of you opting for the AS Film Course.

What; Who; Why
One of the key ideas we looked at last year [AS] was always starting our analysis of a media product by being clear what it is. In this case, a You Tube advert for a computer game franchise, specifically a first person shooting game that has become one of the most famous and profitable media icons.
From here we can then establish who it is aimed at. in doing this, we need to think about not just the demographics [though this is pretty important and relevant to our analysis] but the needs that such an audience has of this media product.
Once we understand this need we can consider the expectations the target audience will have of such a product and the extent to which the product fulfills such needs.
When we have all this, we might be able to consider how and why the product is successful.
in this manner, we can see that the media forms task – how camera-work is used to show the excitement of playing the game – depends on knowing who the product is aimed at and their expectations [the needs they see it fulfilling]. if we understand that the average gamer is not the stereotypical teenage boy sitting alone in a darkened room listening to thrash metal but is, in fact, a male aged  31 according to ESA statistics published in 2014:

The average age of someone who plays games is 31 years old. In fact, more gamers are over the age of 36 than between the ages of 18 to 35 or under the age of 18. They are also mostly men, but by a slimming margin. Men make up 52 percent. From 2012 to 2013, the number of women gamers over the age of 50 grew by 32 percent.

We might then start to consider that the camera work is not just about a simple listing of the type of camera-work used but the genre factors in the choice of shot and editing that have a resonance with the 30 year old gamer. It will also have some relevance to the choice of music and some of the elements in the question about brands [institutions task], representation of guns and also the audience task of exploring the appeal of the product to a male audience.

So, we need to consider how camera work shows the excitement of the game. We might begin by considering our foreknowledge of the reasons why certain camera choices are made in the first place - wide-shots allow understanding of context or might suggest the epic scope of the product [the Vegas city with its iconic landscape; the fountains at the end etc]; the close-up is all about emotion and awareness of character's feelings [the shots of the characters faces both straining -its a tough game - but also having fun]; the pan shots for location [the Vegas sign]; the angle for both the power of the characters themselves but also the threat of the helicopter and the taking it down. We have tracking shots that follow the characters through the events stressing the manner of playing [it has a strong narrative for game-players] but also involvement as we follow the journey. We have first person point of view shots that mimic the game-play. We also have some use of slow motion [emphasis] and we might consider the syntagmatic choices of which shot follows which thought these last two are not truly camera work but post production effects and decisions.