Sound Analysis

SOUND ANALYSIS 

Diegetic sound - is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world. Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound Diegesis is a Greek word for "recounted story".

Diegetic sound - Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: voices of characters. sounds made by objects in the story. music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)

 Synchronous sound - is sound that is matched to certain movements occurring in the scene e.g when footsteps correspond to feet walking. Synchronous sound: Synchronous sound can be recorded on a tape or magnetic film.

Hardware and Software Essay

The proliferation of hardware and software in the music industry has led to improvements in production practices.

I agree with this statement for the most part. The proliferation of hardware and software in the music industry has led to improvements in production in practices in many ways. The fact that people can now produce music on laptops at home makes producing music so much faster and easier. Instead of making a point of going out to a studio, people can sit at home and produce music easily, meaning that people can do it in their spare time or as hobby. Due to rapidly advancing technologies, producing music is now quicker and easier than ever before. Like everything else in the world, the proliferation of software and hardware has had both positive and negative effects on the production practices. Whilst one could say that there are mostly positives for this argument, I will demonstrate both sides in my essay.

For starters, perhaps the most obvious factor, hardware and software have made music production easier and faster. These days, people can sit at home in their living room or maybe even their very own make-shift studio, and create a whole new track from scratch. People can sit all day and work on a song from the comfort of their own home, rather than having the trouble of going to a studio and worrying about how much time and money it's costing them. This makes the overall experience faster, cheaper, and worry free. The very fact that we can now sit at home and create a brand new song due to the proliferation of hardware and software, makes the whole overall experience much easier, accessible and universal. It means that for people living in the country in the middle of no where, they no longer have to travel to the closest big town to locate a studio. It means for the people with very busy, hectic lives, who only have an hour to spare here and there, can actually sit at home and do exactly what they love without worrying about whether or not it will fit into their schedule. It means people can whip out their laptop on the train and edit a bit more of their new song on their daily commute to work. The proliferation hardware and software in the music industry has made all of this possible, and I feel like that is remarkable.

The increase of options and technological advancements may not always be a good thing however.
Sander Klienenberg, electronic producer and performer says "Technological advancements have opened doors but it has also made it difficult for producers because there are so many options thrown at you" These days there are so many options and paths to go down its almost overwhelming and in more ways that one, simply confusing. All these new advancements in technologies have complicated the industry and made it hard for producers to decide what path to go down.

The internet has been a huge contributing factor to the advancements of hardware's and software's as the internet is the birth place for all the latest gadgets. The internet is used my billions of people worldwide every day and the more people that use the internet to discover new music production technologies, the more this industry will grow. The creation of programmes such as MIDI has led to a further increase in this particular industry. MIDI, which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, is a protocol designed for recording and playing back music on digital synthesizers that is supported by many makes of personal computer sound cards. It was originally intended to control one keyboard from another, it was quickly adopted for the personal computer. Rather than representing musical sound directly, it transmits information about how music is produced. The command set includes note-ons, note-offs, key velocity, pitch bend and other methods of controlling a synthesizer. The sound waves produced are those already stored in a wavelength in the receiving instrument or sound card.

In conclusion, the proliferation of hardware and software has had both negative and positive effects on the music industry. Whilst the proliferation of music software and hardware has also led to the ability to improve the quality of production, there has also been some bad consequences of the advancement of technologies, which I have highlighted many above.

Image and Sound research

What is meant by transition of image and sound?

A transition of sound is generally used to maintain the flow of the film into the next scene. This is usually done by removing all sound from a scene, perhaps inserting background music, and then fading in the sound from the next scene as it appears.

An image transition is important in good production. It is the moving from one scene to another. There are many different ways of carrying this out, perhaps fading a scene to black and then having the next scene fade from black. Although there are many different ways to do this and often more complex transitions are needed at dramatic moments in the film. 

Explain in your own words, why editing is so important.

Editing or post production is crucial to smoothly including all the elements of a good movie.  Some of those elements include;

Cutting or the "dicing and slicing" of a movie.  A good movie will change cuts every 10 to 12 seconds and that is why editing is very important.   The cut of a frame can make or break a movie.  Is there a dutch pan? Is the movie an action or horror movie, does its use of jump cuts effectively drive the show or are they in the way or superfluous, does the cut list work or is more footage needed? Are the frames out of focus and muddy to form a cacophony number of cuts to indicate a point of view of a fight scene?  

Shot - In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of frames, that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect of a movie where angles, transitions and cuts are used to further express emotion, ideas and movement. 


Eye-line match - An eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that an audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. 

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Composition and Framing

COMPOSITION AND FRAMING

FRAMING 

In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a film frame or video frame is one of the many still images which compose the complete moving picture.

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guide lines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section. 

Depth of field (deep and shallow focus)

In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field (DOF), also called focus range or effective focus range, is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.

Deep focus is a style or technique of cinematography and staging with great depth of field, using relatively wide-angle lenses and small lens apertures to render in sharp focus near and distant planes simultaneously. A deep-focus shot includes foreground, middle-ground, and extreme-background objects, all in focus. 

Shallow focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique incorporating a small depth of field. In shallow focus one plane of the image is in focus while the rest is out of focus. Shallow focus is typically used to emphasise one part of the image over another.

Focus pulls

The focus pull  is a creative camera technique in which you change focus during a shot. Usually this means adjusting the focus from one subject to another. The shot below begins focused on the plant in the foreground, then adjusts focus until the girl is sharp.

Angles and Movements

Angles and Movements

ANGLES 

High Angle -A high-angle shot is a cinematic technique where the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often gets "swallowed up." High-angle shots can make the subject seem vulnerable or chicken when applied with the correct mood, setting, and effects. 

Low Angle - in cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. ... Psychologically, the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful.




Canted angle - a type of camera shot where the camera is set at an angle on its roll axis so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame, or so that the horizon line of the shot is not parallel with the bottom of the camera frame. 

Movement

Panning - In cinematography, panning refers to rotating or pivoting a motion picture or video camera horizontally from a fixed position 

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Tilt - a vertical camera movement in which the camera points up or down from a stationary location. ... The tilt should not be confused with the Dutch Tilt which means a deliberately slanted camera angle.

Tracking Shot - A movie shot made by a camera moving steadily on a track or dolly.

Crane shot - a shot taken by a camera on a crane or jib. The most obvious uses are to view the actors from above or to move up and away from them, a common way of ending a movie. Camera cranes go back to the dawn of movie-making, and were frequently used in silent films to enhance the epic nature of large sets and massive crowds.

 Steadicam - a brand of camera stabilizer mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface.

Handheld - The technique of shooting a scene without the use of an artificial mechanism for camera support; holding a camera by hand or with a harness when shooting.

Zoom - Common in television commercials, but also in film noir. Zoom. A shot using a lens whose focal length is adjusted during the shot. Zooms are sometimes used in place of tracking shots, but the differences between the two are significant.

Reversed Zoom -  a cinematic technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject while simultaneously adjusting the zoom angle to keep the subject the same size in the frame. The effect is that the subject appears stationary while the background size changes

Shot types

SHOT TYPES

Extreme long shot - is a view from an even greater distance, in which people appear as small dots in the landscape if at all (eg. a shot of New York's skyline). 

Close Up - A photograph or film image taken at close range and showing the subject on a large scale. 

Medium Shot - mid shot (MS), or waist shot is a camera angle shot from a medium distance. 

Long Shot Definition - In photography, filmmaking and video production, a long shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or a wide shot) typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. A long shot is often used to set the scene in a film. 
( Example at 3:35 - 4:22)

Wide Shot - In the wide shot, the subject takes up the full frame. 

Two shot - a type of shot in which the frame encompasses a view of two people.






Aerial shot - A shot taken from an airborne device, generally while moving. Backlighting (lighting design) The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera.






A point of view shot (also known as POV shot, First-person shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera)  







Over the shoulder shot - a shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person.

Music Consumption Essay

"The internet has entirely been a force of good in the transformation of audience's music consumption habits."

The internet has had a very large effect on the music industry over the years and I for one believe the music industry would not be where it is today if it weren't for the internet. Years ago you would have to go out and buy the hardcopy of the music if you wished to consume it but thanks to the advancement of technology we have the access to millions of songs with just one click of a button. In some ways the internet has been the best thing to happen to the music industry and in other ways it's the complete opposite. No one would dispute the fact that the Internet has changed the music industry drastically over the past couple of decades. Some of these changes have aided the music industry tremendously, others not so much. In fact, things continue to change at a rapid rate, and the music business is still struggling to keep up. From early issues like illegal downloading and music sharing sites to current disputes over music streaming services and how much the artists/labels should be paid in royalties, the Internet still seems to be raising more questions than it is answering.

However, in other ways, the internet has aided the music industry in more ways than one. For one, the Internet has made music more accessible to the public, and it has also been an incredible tool that enables independent musicians to find a global audience without the help and backing of a major label. In short, the Internet has changed the music industry in both positive and negative ways.

Due to the internet artists can spread their sound and their brand across social media to gain thousands of followers and fans. An upcoming artist from America can spread their influence to the UK through a quick Instagram or tweet, gaining fans from across the pond almost  instantly; whereas without the internet it would take new artists years to get their name spread around the world. In cases like this, the internet has been a great addition to the music industry. An example of this would be the world famous boy band, One Direction. One Direction was born on the UK X Factor in 2010, yet by January 2012, they were on a sell out tour travelling across Europe, where they played 24 shows, Oceania, where they played 5 shows, and North America, where they played 25 shows. How could one band gain so much attention and fame from all around the world when they were created on a TV show that only aired in the UK and Ireland? The answer? The internet. The internet essentially made one direction into the A-list multi-millionaire celebrities that we know today. In cases like this, the internet is a massive aid to the music industry.

As well as this, apps such as Spotify make listening to music so much easier and make certain songs and albums a lot more accessible to people all over the world. If a highly anticipated CD was finally released, chances are it will sell out very quickly, meaning you would have to wait another week or so for it to finally come back in stock. Apps such as Spotify allow us to listen to music immediately and essentially take us right to the front of the que. Certain albums or songs may only be available in certain parts of the world and so yet again this makes listening to music so much easier and accessible. A feature often used on Spotify is 'discover weekly' where we can discover new music and artists every week, which is handy for both producers and consumers.

The Internet allows people to connect with others all around the world. This enables certain smart musicians who are otherwise unknown to find their own audience without the aid or backing of a major label, virtually eliminating the need to be “discovered” by talent scouts or A&R reps. In some cases, this can result in attention from the labels themselves.  Justin Beiber is an example of this. Justin beiber began his career by sitting at home, recording himself singing and posting the videos online.  It just so happened that he was discovered by Scooter Braun, and later Usher. Justin Beiber is now a hugely successful star, and this is purely down to the Internet. In other cases, it simply means they can market and sell their own music to their audience without the need for label or radio promotion. The audience might not be as large as it would be otherwise but this also means that the artist does not have to share profits with the record label.  The result is that music fans now have access to a lot of music they’d never hear otherwise, and many new musicians have used the Internet to carve out nice incomes for themselves without ever courting a record label.

Purchasing music online is so much cheaper than buying the hard copy in a shop. For example; Spotify will cost you £10 every month, granting you access to thousands of songs and artists, whereas you could walk into Tesco and spend £10 simply on a album holding just 12 tracks. This makes people more inclined to use apps such as Spotify, because it's such great value. The Internet is what draws us towards Spotify, without the constant adds and pop ups, how would we ever discover the app itself? And if we didn't discover Spotify, would we still of discovered half of the songs we know and love? In this sense, the Internet is a very good thing in regarding music, as I'm sure most people would agree. However, while there are many positives to the Internet, there are of course a few negatives. One of them being illegally downloading music, meaning artists don't get paid for our consumption. Due to the advancement of technology, illegally downloading music is becoming easier and more common every day. Why pay for music when you have it for free?

The down side to the public having the ability to essentially steal music is that the business side of music is struggling to generate enough revenue because of the new technology. Most of the people who are part of making a record are paid in royalties, and anytime music changes hands without money being involved, those royalties can’t be paid which is why so much has been done in recent years to try and reduce music piracy. Some progress has been made to curb this trend by offering easy, cheap downloads through outlets like iTunes; this has helped because consumers can now purchase and download specific songs they like, rather than buy the whole album for just one song. A more recent development has been the emergence of Internet radio and streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, who offer either ad-based or paid subscription streaming of their music libraries.  However, this new solution is currently still disputed by artists and labels because the current pay structures are still far less than if a consumer buys the music outright. These issues are far from being resolved.

In this perspective, the Internet has been a bad thing for the music industry, as there is so much work that goes into each track, not just on the artists part but the team working behind the scenes also, is it really morally right to essentially be stealing money straight out of people's pockets? We wouldn't get away with picking various items from a shop and walking away without paying for them, so why do people think its ok to do this with music?

These are just a few of the many ways the Internet has contributed to the music industry, both negatively and positively. One thing is for certain: the Internet isn’t going away anytime soon, so the music industry will have to find a way to adapt to it, rather than to fight it.  All in all I would say the Internet has been a good thing for the music industry we the music industry wouldn't be half as big as it is today if it weren't for the Internet.