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Task 1
Documentary – The Virus Called Fear
The purpose of documentary is to inform and educate the audience about the chosen topic. The
attempts may vary depending on the documentary, it may attempt to change or improve society. It
may educate and inform about certain topics, history or psychology and etc. Some documentaries
may even demand the change for example by making a controversial documentaries about a
political issue that will result in audiences disapproval in which the audience my act as a key for the
change of the issue. Documentaries also use voiceovers for observational use , where they show an
image of something and the voiceover explains what it is. ‘The Virus called fear’ is a documentary
that is filmed in a black and white, which films the psychologists discussing the human tendency to
fear and explains the reasons why the human brain develops the emotion of fear. Its purpose is to
educate the audience about the psychological view on fear and why people have fear in the first
place, this may change audiences perspective on fear and how the deal with their own fear.
It have been set in the dark place where the main focus is on the psychologist who is speaking and
it, the second set is in the theatre stage where we see two psychologists discussing the topic. From
the overview of the scene I can say that the props that have been used are a chair, hand free
microphone, a sofa and a projector screen. Make-up that have been used is a natural make up, it is
difficult to say if any makeup have been used as the screening is in black and white. The
psychologists are wearing smart clothing, which may be used in order to show their importance
within the scene and emphasise their professionalismwhereas the initiators of the documentary
who have introduced the documentary within the first seconds wear casual clothing and are
showed in a shadow, which may have been used to show their curiosity as they are not the people
who know some reasons of the tendency of fear which was researched over the thousands of
years, additionally it represents them as the audience as well as the purpose of the product is to
find out the tendency of fear. Which additionally may show that psychologists who wear smart
clothing are there to educate the audience and to bring them to acknowledging.
The camera is stable on each person going back and forth to each one who is speaking. Close-ups
and a range of media shots are mainly used but in some cases we see the two-shot in which in this
case in used to show that more than one person is present in the room. Also the very wide shot is
used to establish the location of the auditory and the amount of audience it has which will bring out
the importance of an event. The transition between the shots is dissolve which makes the montage
and overall video smooth. The main angles that have been used is an eye level which is used for the
audience to feel that the spoke person is having a conversation with them which makes the
audience feel engaged. Visual effects haven’t been used, and this was done in order to emphasise
the professionalismof the psychologists, and to emphasise the realismof the topic which will make
audience feel that the product is reliable and trustworthy.
The sound that have been used is low tempo but fast beat which is used to emphasise the topic of
fear and engage the audience. This kind of music would have been used in sci-fi genre to represent
mystery of the topic which also makes the audience get engaged with the product. The sound
bridge have been used to represent continues mystery which shows continuity and connection
between the scenes. The dialogue of the psychologists are clear and loud which makes their
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communication skills more professional , which makes them look more reliable and makes the
audience want to listen to them because their voice is pleasant to them. There is a good fidelity as
the image and the sound matches perfectly with each other, which makes the product more
reliable. The product shows the diegetic sound and this is the voices of the spoke people, sound
that are made by the objects in the story. Diegetic sound have been mainly used within the screen
which showed clarity of image and the sound. Non-diegetic sound was also used within the product
which are background music that doesn’t come from within the scene, it comes outside the story
space. Within this product, the sound have been used to express mystery and complication of the
sociological topic of fear, which makes the audience more engaged with the product. The product
mostly consists of fade in /fade out transitions, which are used to make continuity between the
scenes.
Music Video – Taylor swift – Blank Space
The purpose of a music video is to entertain and promote the artists product and to expose and
expand an artist’s profile. Music video gives a better understanding of the song if the music video
uses the narrative the understanding of the lyrics is better. A new music video also promotes one of
the songs that is on the album. All of the above purposes were included in Tylor’s Swifts music
video as the narrative of the music video helps to understand the song, to promote her connected
products such as CD’s and Concert tickets and lastly to expand her profile
The music video have been set in a classical mansion, it have been done in order to show the artists
status and importance in the narrative. The props that have been used were the car, dining table,
chairs, food, flowers, a bed, horses, golf equipment and etc. Costumes that mainly have been used
are high-end designer dresses and male costumes, it have been used to blend the status of the both
characters in the music video. Make up that have been used on Taylor Swift is natural, in some
scenes we can see hear wearing a red lipstick and in the end we can see her wearing really heavy
eye makeup, her makeup contains slightly smoky eyes with an eyeliner. Her makeup may suggest
the stages that a she goes through in a relationship. Her natural make up may suggest the stability
and simplicity of a relationship that everyone goes through when everything is how it supposed to
be. The red lipstick and a heavier eye makeup may suggest that there’s a stage of suspicion, in the
music video we can see this when Taylor finds out that the male character is cheating on her. For
example the colour red suggests warning, and it have been used to show that a female character
becomes dangerous and fearless, you may later see Taylor going jealous where she destroys the
belongings of the male character.
The beginning of the music video gives out the location of by having an establishing shot of
mansion, where the car drives in. There is also a lot of close ups, this may have been used in order
to show facial expressions and set the mood within the scene. The music video also has long shots,
this is done to show body language and expressions, this will provide the audience a better
knowledge and understanding of the attitude that the character has. There is also an over shoulder
shot and also an eye view shot, this shows what one of the characters sees and sets the scene
mood from one characters perspective. This may affect the audience to feel involved in the scene
and makes this more reflective. The big close up have been used to even more emphasise the facial
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expressions of the character and their emotions which sets the mood to the scene. Shots are
focused, it may have been used in order to emphasise the realismof the product. The transition
that have been used is mainly straight cut, it shows the continuity of narrative.
A song is the main product that the artist wants to promote and distribute. Diegetic sound have
been used when Taylor Swift sings the song, it is diegetic because the voice sound in within the
screen and the audience can see the source of the sound and background music is a non-diegetic
sound because you cannot see the source of the sound.
Reality TV Show – Keeping up with the Kardashians
The purpose of a reality show is the show in which members of the public or celebrities are filmed
living in their daily lives or undertaking specific challenges. Is to expose the members of the show to
the public. Its purpose is to entertain the audience by showing the everyday life a celebrity goes
through. It documents unscripted life event of a person or a group of people which usually are the
celebrities.
Keeping up with the Kardashians is a reality show showing unscripted everyday life events that
Kardashian family lives through. The settings of this reality TV are residence houses of the family
members, their cars. And a camera man to follow the family members around the locations the
members are appointed to. There are no specific mise en scene within the reality show as it cannot
be predicted. There are behind scenes setting where members express their thoughts and feelings
on certain situation, an event or an individual mentioned. The visual effects that take place are
subheadings and the logo pop up of the KUWTK. There are variety of camera angled and
movements depending on the setting. And the sound is mostly diegetic as the audience can see the
source of the sound (family members talking), the non-diegetic sound will be the background sound
that audience hears when the setting changes and we see the overview of the location (Kris
Jenner’s house).
