AO1 Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding

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Media codes and conventions are like the building blocks of all the media around us. Media codes generally have an agreed meaning, or connotation, to their audience. There are three types of media codes: symbolic codes, technical codes and written codes.

• Symbolic codes include setting, mise en scene and colour.
• Technical codes include camerawork, editing, sound and lighting.
• Written codes include printed language which is text you can see within the frame, and also spoken language.

Conventions are expected ways in which codes are organised and are closely connected to the audience expectations. Different types of conventions include form conventions, story conventions and genre conventions.

• Form conventions are the certain ways we expect types of codes to be arranged. For instance an audience expects to have a title of the film at the beginning and then credits at the end.
• Story conventions are common narrative structures and understandings that are common in story telling media products.
• Genre conventions point to the common use of tropes, characters, settings or themes in a particular type of medium. Genre conventions are closely linked with audience expectations. Genre conventions can be formal or thematic.

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) ANALYSIS

(Maya Deren & Alexander Hackenschmied)

The photographer Diane Arbus wrote ‘A picture is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.’ This could equally refer to Maya Deren’s and Alexander Hackenschmied’s 1943 film Meshes of the Afternoon, which used innovative techniques such as slow motion, repetition and jump cuts to build a sense of a dream interacting with reality. In the film objects seem to have a mysterious and secret significance, known only to the dreamer. It has influenced other filmmakers such as David Lynch in Twin Peaks (1990 TV Series). Dreams and surreal imagery have also inspired other photographers and filmmakers such as Jerry Uelsmann, Madame Yevonde, Lara Zankoul, Wes Anderson and Matthew Barney. 

SURREALISM:

• 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.
• Surrealist cinema is a modernist approach to film theory, criticism, and production with origins in Paris in the 1920s. The movement used shocking, irrational, or absurd imagery and Freudian dream symbolism to challenge the traditional function of art to represent reality.
• Surrealism allows us to see art in it’s purest form because it stems from imagination rather than rational thought. Because of this, artists are able to better express their emotions and thoughts through this art form.

TASK

• How does this experimental Surrealist film fit the theme of secrets, codes or conventions?
• Watch the following clip (6.57 – 8.45) and make notes on the four areas of analysis. Pick out key examples (camera, editing, narrative, etc.) to discuss in your analysis. You may want to collect still images using screen shots to focus in on specific details.
• Research the film to develop your contextual and conceptual analysis. Write up as a blog post.

Technical & Visual 

Lighting,  Camera Settings, Camera Angles, Camera Movement, Distances, Framing, Editing (Montage, Jump Cuts, Slow Motion), Narrative (Structure, Linear, Non-Linear), Mise-En-Scene.

Contextual & Conceptual 

Historical/Cultural/Social/Political (when?), Personal (why?), Conceptual (what? Inspirations, art styles, etc.), MEANING.

Moving Image Analysis Aids

CAMERA ANGLES & MEANING

Straight / Eye Level - Shows the object or person straight on or looking directly at you, this shows that they have the same amount of power as the viewer. Often used in portraits / print media.

Low Angle - This angle looks up making the person or object look bigger than it really is. Used to give the impression of size and power. It is the opposite of a high angle.

High Angle - This angle looks down making the person or object seem small and inferior. Used to show vulnerability and lack of power.

Canted Angle - Shows an object or person from an unnatural point of view. Can feel disorientating. Very common in surrealist art and music videos.

Bird's Eye View / Ariel Shot - A view from above. It could be a place or a scene. Used to show everything that is happening at once. A crane shot is often used to achieve this type of shot.

Worm's Eye View - A view from below. It can be used to look up to something to make an object look tall, strong, and mighty while the viewer feels powerless.

Point of View (subjective/objective) -  Shows what a person is looking at, represented through the camera. Gives a perspective.

HITCHCOCK DEMONSTRATES MONTAGE / THE KULESHOV EFFECT