Weekly news

Italy Earth quake forces thousands to spend night in temporary accommodation

Thousands of people in central Italy have spent the night in cars, tents and shelters due to the forth earthquake in three months, the quake measured a magnitude of 6.6 which is Italy's strongest on in a long time. In fact it struck very close to were nearly 300 people died in August.

Fortunately this earthquake no-one has been reported to have died but about 20 people have been injured, and a reported 15,000 people are in temporary accommodation, an evacuation of several vulnerable buildings was permitted, and the evacuation has saved many lives, however many historical sites were hit including a 14th Century Cathedral.

I choose this article as it is a problem in Italy and not many people pay much attention to stories like this, however it is devastating as the story is from a foreign country and some people in the UK don't really care and don't realise that a disaster could happen anywhere in the world, therefore people take the things they have for granted whilst people living in Italy don't have anything due to this disaster.

Coursework Report:

The topic of the coursework i have been set is Teen Thriller films, the 'teen' being the audience, the 'Thriller' being the genre and Film being the type of media. For my production i had choices to choose from including print based or visual/audio production, In the end i decided to go for print based which is a DVD cover front and back and also a film poster, both being on the topic set.


The Research i have been doing on Thriller film posters and DVD covers  have given me a greater understanding of what to do for  my production, an example i have looked at when getting ideas for my Poster was Inceptions poster. This poster has dark and dull colours mainly consisting of black and blue and grey, however the title which is in red is made to stand out, so when i create my poster i could use dull colours and a title which stands out to add an affect, and another thing that poster and DVD covers do is put names of the character running along the top of the cover, this is done to take up less space on the cover whilst standing out. to sum up briefly Thriller posters are meant to create suspicion and mystery to lure in people to watch the film, so the poster i create must be exciting and create suspense.


When researching the target audience this was fairly easy as i am the target audience and i already know what teenagers are into when it comes to thriller films. When it comes to thriller films for teenagers, it will normally be a sub genre of a thriller, and a sub genre is almost a split between two or more genres, and in this case for teens it is usually a horror thriller or and action thriller. The research that i did was for a horror thriller. Silence of the lambs is an old thriller/horror film that could be aimed at teenagers as the horror gives teenagers a sense of thrill and this horror comes with gore and most teenagers think of gore to be in most thriller films to date. The difference between a thriller and horror can be very easily mistaken, however from the two poster 'Inception' and 'Silence of the lambs' you can tell that a thriller isn't as dark and uses more than three or four colours, and horrors stick to a simple yet effective two colours one for the background and one for the main image as shown in the poster above, however both thriller and horror posters have an effective title this is that when the targeted audience see the poster they can remember the films name from its effective colour scheme. To briefly sum up the teen target audience for a thriller it is usually gore and jump scares that intrigue teenagers to watching horror thrillers, or lots of action, guns and crime that attract action thrillers. There are obviously other different types of sub-genres but these are the main to that teenagers are into.

To conclude, i think that when creating my print based spread i will need to take into mind the research that i have undertaken and also need to bear in mind my target audience and how my production should mainly be aimed at teenagers, and also what teenagers like to see in a thriller DVD cover or poster and how it lures them into watching the film other movie posters do. The definition of a thriller is 'extraordinary things happening to ordinary people'.

Mosul (islamic state), could be using civilians as human shields.

 

People living in the islamic state, Mosul could be trapped and used as human shield by IS. and refugee camps are starting to house people fleeing fighting around Mosul. The organisation chief of mission in Iraq, said that "they could be using the human shields to recapture the city ".

Mr Weiss also went onto say that the IS might be using chemical weapons as well and the children, elderly and disabled were vulnerable to this.

The military operation for the UN to recapture Mosul could leave 200,000-1 million homeless on estimate. Iraqi forces will not find it easy to drive them out of the city also stating that '"it will not be a quick operation, and the Daesh will fight hard".

This story caught my attention as it is a story that shows what the media should be prioritising, as people are losing lives and loved ones to the IS, also it shows comparison between the way people have to live there lives here in England and in Iraq, people here more importantly children, take the things they have for granted whereas people in Iraq are trying to stay alive, and taking every bit of help from refugee camps. to briefly sum this up stories like these ones should be published more often for people to see the horror that goes on inside Iraq.

Weekly news

US sprinter Tyson Gay's daughter, 15, shot dead in Kentucky

Former world champion sprinter Tyson Gay's 15-year-old daughter has been killed in a shooting in the US state of Kentucky. 

Police in Lexington said Trinity Gay was hit in the neck during an exchange of fire between two vehicles in a restaurant car park. She was taken to hospital where she later died, local media reported.

Mr Gay, who is from Lexington, confirmed her death to local TV station Lex 18.

"She didn't make it. I'm so confused. She was just here last week for fall break. It's so crazy. I have no idea what happened," Quoted By Tyson Gay.

Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37672758

I picked this story as not only is it shocking, and the fact that a relative of a highly recognised athlete was shot dead, but i chose it as it shows how things like this happen in USA and not England, also this wouldn't have happened if there were better policing and stricter rules on firearms in the US. Overall this source could be used as a comparison on the types of standards and government polices across different countries. 

Character profile from the film 'Inside man'

Detective Keith Frazer

Detective Keith Frazer in the film 'Inside man' plays the main protagonist or the 'Hero', throughout the film he is constantly projected as the good guy, with his goals being to protect the hostages inside the bank, and also to get back home to his wife, however he had certain things in the way of him reaching his end goal. Firstly the heist crew were his first obstacle as they posed a threat to him and his job on the line as if he failed to keep the hostages alive, he would get all the blame, not only were the bank robbers obstacles he had to overcome, but so were the people around him, for example Madeline White who seemed to be a side distraction that he had to deal with for the majority of the film.

Arthur Case

Arthur Case was the owner of the bank and the surrounding branches, when he was introduced to the audience he seemed to be a caring man, who wanted to make sure that the hostages in the bank were ok and unharmed, however it quickly change and we started to see the shocking truth behind his character, and the fact that he only cared for his secrets hidden inside his safety deposit box. his end goal in the film was to either make sure the contents in the box stayed there or make sure the heist crew left the bank with the box and did not expose the content. his obstacles in the film were firstly the bank robbers, and making sure that they didnt publicly release his box, and secondly the police finding out the secrets and them not exposing them.

Dalton Russell

 

Dalton Russell played the main antagonist in the film however he was not antagonist to Keith Frazer, as we find out at the end of the film. he had a plan to rob the bank, and made the audience think that it was going to be a normal robbery, however as the film progresses we find out he wasn't after the money he want after a deposit box with content inside that was confidential. This was what the audience went on to think until it turned out he was after the money after all and was always one step ahead of the Detective. His goals were obviously to  get out of the bank with the diamonds alive. and had no obstacles doing so as everything that happened aided him and his pursuit to getting out of the bank with the diamonds and alive.

Todorov theory

Equilibrium: this is often the start of the story when you see the main character living out his everyday life


destruction: this is when something disturbs the equilibrium


Recognition: this is when the character in the story realises that there is something wrong.


Attempt of repair: this is when the character starts to do something to fix the situation that they are in.


New equilibrium: this is often the end of the story when the character gets everything back to normal and finds a new equilibrium.

Propp theory

these are the examples of character that almost every film includes.


Hero- often the main character.
Helper- the main characters friend of companion/ companion's.
Villain- often the antagonist. ( the person the Hero and helper are against)








Prize/princess- the goal at the end of the story/ the hero's lover.
Donor- often the person who aids the hero's quest
Blocker- often the person who isn't the villain but is the person who stops the hero from completing his/ her quest, this could also be a thing that stops the hero completing the quest.

Binary opposites

two things in a story that are morally against each other or things that contradict.
good vs evil
young vs old
innocence vs corrupted
protagonist vs antagonist
etc.

Examples of all three for the film Inception.

Todorov theory;
Equilibrium- his equilibrium is his job which is being a thief.
Destruction- this is when he realizes that he could do one last job, and it would give him back his life.
realization- when he meets 'The mark' which is often the victim to the theft.
attempt of repair- this is when he is inside the dream and now has to find a way to wake up out of it.
New equilibrium- this is when he finally makes it back home to his children.














Propps theory:


Hero- Dom Cobb
Helpers- the who team of expert thief's.
Villain- Mal (Dom's wife)
Prize/princess- to get back home to his children and live out his life.
Donor- in a way it is the victim to the theft as by stealing from him he can get back home to his family.
Block- also the wife as she wants to keep him inside the dream so they can life together there forever.


Binary opposites:
Bad vs good
reality vs imagination.

Weekly news

The real cost of giving birth: '$40 to hold my newborn baby'

Holding your newborn baby for the first time is said to be one of life's most precious moments. But how would you feel if you were charged for the privilege?

That was the experience of Lidia and Ryan Grassley, whose baby Samuel was delivered by Caesarean section at a hospital in Utah in the US on 4 September. When they received their hospital bill for more than $13,000, proud new father Ryan was surprised to find it included a $39.35 charge for "skin to skin", or holding the baby, immediately after the delivery.

Amused rather than annoyed, he posted a photo of the Bill on Imgur with the caption "I had to pay $39.35 to hold my baby after he was born."

"I was able to hold the baby on my wife's chest," Grassley wrote in the post, that has been viewed more than six million times.

"Her arms were tied to the table and the nurse was there to remind me not to let go so the baby didn't fall. She actually took my camera from me and started snapping pictures for me. It was a positive experience for sure. We just got a chuckle out of seeing that on the bill."

Whatever Ryan's intentions the image resulted in a heated, often strongly worded, debate about the cost of US healthcare.

This story caught my eye as it was rather bizarre and crazy to think that a hospital would charge for a mother/father to hold there son/daughter for the first time, personally that would annoy me, however they took quite a light hearted approach to it which is quite nice to see and the fact that they didn't complain makes this story quite a good one.

Thriller Research

Posters:

Inception: This thriller film poster creates suspense, as you can't tell what the film is about by the poster however there are hints to it being a thriller as the lighting in the poster suggests that it is mysterious and thrilling. it also suggests to it being an action as well as they are holding guns.

Jaws: This iconic movie poster and thriller film is mostly mistaken for a horror, however it is a thriller. The red text displaying "Jaws" points out blood gore and also danger. the poster excites the audience as they want to find out what happens next to the swimmer. In the poster the shark is comparatively bigger than the swimmer automatically showing who the antagonist is through the poster giving you an idea of the plot.

DVD covers:

Dark knight: this is distinctly a thriller just by looking at the cover. In the centre of the front cover stands batman and behind a building that has been imprinted with the batman symbol. overall the cover has really dark lighting suggesting it to be a film with a dark mood that creates suspense. The back cover shows Bruce Wayne which means that it is something extraordinary happening to an ordinary person as that is almost the definition of a thriller.

Silence of the lambs: this dvd cover is very simple and effective, the title font is quite scary, which might suggest that this is a thriller horror genre, there are very little words bar the title making more room for audience to see the background behind it and will create more suspense. in the centre of the cover there is a pale white face, this follows most of the thriller dvd cover themes of the colours only being black and white, this is done to create the mood and give an understanding of the film.

Overall thriller films DVD covers and posters are made to create suspense and drama before the audience watch the films, this gives me an understanding of when I create my DVD cover and poster to make the mood quite dark and feature the colours black and white primarily. also to make sure that the font I use stands out from the background.

Weekly news

The rise and fall of the 

Blackberry in popular culture

Blackberry has announced its no longer going to design its own phones, 14 years after the first one came out.

It could still put out handsets but they won't be designed in-house.

Over the years Blackberry's image has shifted from a businessman's assistant, to a celebrity accessory, to the organisational tool behind the London riots.

Recently, though, its popularity has waned in the face of competition from iPhone and Android.

Here, then, is the evolution of the Blackberry in popular culture.

Blackberry released its first two-way pager in 1999 - the Blackberry 850.

But it wasn't until three years later in 2002 that we saw the first model which could properly be called a phone.

The 5810 could handle emails, web browsing and, amazingly, it could even take calls if it was connected to a headset.

Back then, though, things were all business. Mobile phones were the territory of people in smart suits with important meetings to get to.

"We had a very, very successful recipe of what Blackberry was all about," former chief executive Thorsten Heins told CIO magazine in 2010.

Although the Blackberry has dropped in popularity over the last few years it was a sensation and more people had these than iPhone and android. this is why this story really stood out to me as it is a big shock to see such a big company stop in production.

Weekly news

The rise and fall of the 

Blackberry in popular culture

Blackberry has announced its no longer going to design its own phones, 14 years after the first one came out.

It could still put out handsets but they won't be designed in-house.

Over the years Blackberry's image has shifted from a businessman's assistant, to a celebrity accessory, to the organisational tool behind the London riots.

Recently, though, its popularity has waned in the face of competition from iPhone and Android.

Here, then, is the evolution of the Blackberry in popular culture.

Blackberry released its first two-way pager in 1999 - the Blackberry 850.

But it wasn't until three years later in 2002 that we saw the first model which could properly be called a phone.

The 5810 could handle emails, web browsing and, amazingly, it could even take calls if it was connected to a headset.

Back then, though, things were all business. Mobile phones were the territory of people in smart suits with important meetings to get to.

"We had a very, very successful recipe of what Blackberry was all about," former chief executive Thorsten Heins told CIO magazine in 2010.

Although the Blackberry has dropped in popularity over the last few years it was a sensation and more people had these than iPhone and android. this is why this story really stood out to me as it is a big shock to see such a big company stop in production.