Media Script - Alex
This is the initial script for our social realist short film. It isn't complete yet, but the group wanted to see the current progress on it.

Initial Ideas

We have started planning the base idea for our film, around the social realist genre. We have decided on this because of how accessible it is to us, no special props or costumes will be needed and we won't need to find a special location for filming as most social realist films are shot in big cities or densely populated area. Especially since we don't need many actors for the idea we have been focussing on.


Initially we had other ideas, such as a parkour short, we have the resources to do it, but we decided that it would difficult to present a story within the allocated time and also to film it would be difficult... not too mention how dangerous it could potentially be.


We have centred around the theme of drugs, as we believe it is a big issue currently in the UK and should be addressed. Throughout our film, we plan to place a moral within the story, which follows the standard format of most short films.

Theories of the Media

There are several theories concerning the Media and its audience:

The Hypodermic Syringe theory

Dating from  the 1920s, its based on the idea that the Media is like a syringe, it injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs onto the audience and as a powerless mass, the audience has no choice but to be influenced by it.

The Culmination Theory

After the audience has watched the same thing repeatedly they become de-sensitised to it. For instance, if the audience is constantly watching violence, eventually they will feel less sensitive to the subject.

The Two-step flow Theory

The theory that states that the audience won't actually affected by the media text itself, but only by the discussions that the audience has on it

The Encoding/Decoding theory

This theory come in two parts:

Encoding is the process where the producers construct the text

Decoding is the process where the audience reads, understands and interprets the text.

This theory also states that different media text will be interpreted differently depending on the viewers' identity, culture and opinions.

Future Project Discussions

I have established a group for my future project with Alex Puplett, and we have discussed what type of project we would be interested in doing. We have agreed on doing the short film project, which must have a run-time of five minutes.

Review of Skills

For my A2 Media project there will be several skills I will need to develop while there are several skills I believe I have already worked on and developed.

Skills I have developed

These are several skills I believe I have already developed and worked on:

• Identifying uses of technology


• Use of editing software


• Use of camera and handling

Since working on my last media product I have learnt how to identify the use of Digital technolgy used withing the media, such as the use of Digital Cameras which create a good quality image on a reasonable budget, for instance, how many films are shot digitally over film reel.

Also the use of application software such as editing programs like iMovie 09 on a Mac computer, which allows the public to use simple editing software that previously wasn't available. By identifying these I can now tell how this technology will benefit me and how I can use them properly in my project. This particular skill is one I made sure I was comfortable with as I felt it was quite important in the production process we undertook while producing our film opening in the AS course.

Being able to use a camera was a big part of the project last year so I made sure that I knew the device we would be using, the Canon MD205. Also I learnt the names and definitions of the different camera shots and angles so I could construct a sequence that felt fluent without breaking certain rules of cinematography, such as the 180 degree rule. Also lighting played a big part as the location we chose was very dark, so by setting up the correct lighting we could improve the quality of the shot. So by thinking of all these factors I believe I have shown that I am capable of using these skills to my advantage.

Skills I need to develop

These are the skills I believe I need to work on:

• Research and planning

• Time management

After working on my preliminary and main task last year in the AS course, I believe I didn't do enough research into the genres our group was looking at, which resulted in making a lot of last minute decisions which could have been avoided. Also by not researching into the character development early enough, it resulted in having wrong costumes and certain props looked out of place. So by improving my research for the A2 course, I believe mistakes such as that won't happen again.

Also, I believe I overlooked the planning stage of the production which resulted in last minute filming which in places put us in a rough position. By doing last minute filming, this also set us back on time when we needed to edit the current footage, setting us back entirely. So by improving the planning, we will have more room in case something doesn't completely go to plan.

Time management also ties in with the lack of planning, which both resulted in last minute decisions and wasted a lot of time when we could have been working on improving the final product instead of having to do last minute filming. So by improving all of these skills, I believe my next production will turn much better and the pre and post production won't be as difficult as before.

A2 Blog

This is the blog where all my A2 Media Studies work will be posted to.