Key Assessment 1 Mock Exam

Media Studies Key Assessment One

Explore how media language combines to create meaning in the It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Waitrose advert you have been shown. [15]

•        Mise-en-scene
• ·         Bright colours used to symbolise summer
• ·         Warm colours used to give Christmas a more personal feel
• ·         Different locations used throughout the summer scenes, one location for togetherness in the winter scene
• ·         Use of different weather scenes allows the audience to
• Xmas lights, wreath, Christmas tree --? All symbolic of Christmas
• Manual labour jobs à all com e together to create a happy Christmas
• Old England scene (gate opening)
• Kindness offering a pig in blanket
• Use of old Christmas song attracts to an older audience à TA
• Montage of clips
• 2 farmers comparing tan lines is comedic
• Little kid crying over not having any pigs in blankets, relatable?, makes them admirable
• AUDIENCE FEEL PERSUADED TO GO AND BUY FROM WAITROSE
• ADVERT IS SELLING A HAPPY LIFESTYLE à ADMIRABLE FROM THEIR TARGET AUDIENJCE

 

Throughout the Waitrose ‘It’s Beginning to Look A Lot like Christmas’ advertisement, the producers sell a luxury and admirable lifestyle to the audience, creating meaning and enticing the audience to want to buy from them.

 

The producers have used many forms of mise-en-scene throughout the advertisement to give the advert meaning, including the choice of colours. As the advert opens, we see a dark yet warm colour scheme and combined with the sight of a Christmas wreath and Christmas lights, the audience understand that the advertisement is set around Christmas time. However, a montage of clips edited together later in the advert use much brighter colours and feature the actors wearing ‘summer clothes’, such as shorts; we even see 2 farmers comparing their t-shirt tan lines, which creates a comedic ‘break’ from the otherwise serious advert by making the audience chuckle to themselves. The choice of colour schemes is appealing to the audience as, just by looking at the advert, we can idolize and aspire to have a warm Christmas like the family in the advert are having. The main purpose of a media product is to make money, and the producers persuade the audience to buy from them, without even realising the producers are doing it. The producers have successfully created meaning through the use of colour schemes and the themes of Christmas within the mise-en-scene.

To continue with the point of mise-en-scene, the directors have put a compilation of summer clips and winter clips featuring manual labour jobs (such as farming, agriculture, baking, etc) and places them with features such as bad weather so they can then contrast those scenes with the warm, winter scenes. The effect of this is to show how buying from Waitrose creates an idyllic winter, and creates a deeper meaning for the audience, making them want to buy from Waitrose. Further, all of the agricultural jobs feature items traditionally associated with Christmas (such as brussel sprouts, cake and many others) and these are shown to be mildly chaotic, but as soon as the dinner is all laid on the table the chaos is a clear example of binary opposition with peace and happiness. This connotes Christmas is a time for leaving all of your worries and troubles behind, and just enjoy peace. A commendable lifestyle is sold to the audience through this advert, and creates meaning for the audience.

The directors of the advert use the older song ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas’ which is used to appeal to their target audience. As Waitrose is a higher-end brand who sell more luxury items, they are clearly seen to target a retired (possibly female) wealthy audience. As their target audience are a lot older, using songs from their childhood, such as It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas’ allows them to remember their Christmas memories. Further, the scene of the barn door opening to snow falling on the ground is a hegemonic association of Christmas and allows the older generations to once again be bought back to their childhood. The effect of having the advertisement resonate with their target audience means that they are more likely to buy from Waitrose as it reminds them of their youth and this creates a deeper meaning.

 

Briefly explain what is meant by an independent film [2]

An independent film is a film created by a smaller film production company, and is made on a much smaller scale than monopolies such as Disney.

Briefly explain what you understand by horizontal integration [2]

Horizontal integration is when 2 companies (one of a higher status and one of a lower status) work together, possibly as a merger. A well-known example of this would be Disney buying out Pixar.

Explain two features of independent film production? Refer to I Daniel Blake to support your points [6]

One feature of an independent film production would be a smaller budget. An example of an independent film I have studied is ‘I, Daniel Blake’ which is a social realist film directed by socialist and film director Ken Loach. ‘I, Daniel Blake’ was only made on a budget of £2 million, and this is typical of independent film productions. Ken Loach’s films do not often breakeven, but he reforms the view that all media products exist to make money; instead, Loach sets out to enact social change.

Another feature of an independent film is simplistic editing and restricted locations. Due to the budget not being as high, production companies cannot afford top film in multiple locations, have fancy editing add-ins (such as CGI). In ‘I, Daniel Blake’, the film has a few recurring locations and only uses simplistic editing of piecing the clips together and have few clips having sound playing over.

 

Explain how mainstream films are shaped by the means of their production. Refer to Black Panther to support your answer. [10]

One way mainstream films are shaped by the means of their production is through the celebrity actors used. One mainstream film I have studied is Black Panther – a sci-fi/superhero blockbuster released in 2018 starring Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan, to name a few. By having well-known actors featuring in a famous movie brand’s film, a large audience is instantly attracted to the film due to their trust for the actors/franchise.

Another way mainstream films are shaped by the means of their production is through the marketing campaigns used to advertise the film. As Walt Disney Production Studios is an incredibly wealthy monopoly in the film market, they have a lot of money to invest in advertising campaigns, such as promoting the film on billboards, trailers on TV/cinema and having trending social media hastags.

Finally, Black Panther has a lot of CGI and fancy editing techniques which is only be used by mainstream film production companies due to the expense and skills needed.