The Ring

The Ring was a popular horror film made in 2002. it is a horror / mystery / thriller movie about a mysterious videotape which causes the death of everyone who watches it exactly a week after they watch it.
The mise en scene of the movie is set in a girls bedroom with two girls talking assumably having a sleepover. the weather is raining with great use of sound effects and emphasis of the rain colliding with the window. The audience are then told about a mysterious video tape which kills you 7 days after you watch it through conversation between the two girls. One of the girls confesses that she watched the tape 7 days ago and pretends to die playing a practical joke on her friend. the girl that watched the tape in named katie but the audience are not aware of this information just yet. Katie tells her friend that she went to the "Lake" last weekend and that she also had sex. Any horror movie fan knows that one of the rules in horror movies is that "If you have sex you die" immediately after we are told this, the phone rings. This is a huge reference to the movie "Scream" we find out that on the other end of the phone is her mum and there is nothing to worry about at all which is a referance to the "Luton bus technique". after the phone call has finished the TV turns on by itself when only katie is down stairs. She turns it off but it turns on again so she unplugs the TV and walks away. Katie goes upstairs and sees water on the landing, walks into her bedroom then sees the movie on her TV, screams and the scene ends with a very fast montage of images and an image of the ring just before she dies.
we are later in the film introduced to aden whom is Katies cousin. Aden has been acting strangely and drawing pictures of rings and his cousin being killed a week before her death. Adens mum investergates the situation and the death of Katie and finds a camera with photos from last week on that have not been developed yet. the relationship between Aden and his Mum is close as she is a single parent however Adens Mum works alot and "dosent have enough time for Aden"
After the photagraphs are developed

Shropshire Star SA

Introduction


The Shropshire Star is a regional newspaper. It has been the main local newspaper in Shropshire since 1964. It is owned by the Midlands News Association with 171,837 adults reading on average every night, 57% of these (98,458) read no other daily paper.
The shropshire Star is published 6 days a week Monday to Saturday with a current cover price of 42p. it is sold inside all good news-agents in Shropshire and delivery is available depending on the location of which you live costing £2.34 a week. The circulation area of the Shropshire star is huge covered by 3 different editions, County, South and Border. As seen in the image below, the circulation (Areas covered) are Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Shrewsbury Rural, Market Drayton and Wem are covered by County Editions. Cleobury Mortimer Rural Area, Knighton, Church Stretton, Ludlow and Bridgnorth are covered by the South Edition and Llanfyllin, Oswestry, Newtown and Welshpool are covered by the Border Edition

The Shropshire Star is known for having the most Impressive circulation performances of any UK regional newspaper.
The Midlands News Association owns many newspapers in the Midlands also including the Express and Star newspaper, Also the North Shropshire Chronicle.
News statistics show that the Shropshire Star is the fastest growing newspaper website in the UK

analysis of the shropshire star

1. the shropshire star is published Monday to Saturday and not on sundays
2. the cover price of the shropshire star is 42p
3. it is sold in all good news agents in the whole of shropshire and in most other shops, it can also be delivered to your house for £2.34 per week
4. There are six editions of the paper, Midday, Powys, Oswestry, North Shropshire, South/Bridgnorth, and Shrewsbury.
5. The Shropshire Star is owned by the Midland News Association (MNA) which also owns the Express and Star newspaper. Also the north shropshire chronicle
6. Within the circulation area which is the whole of shropshire, the Shropshire Star has an average issue readership of 223,000 adults, which represents 54% of the total adult population.
7. The shropshire star has a good full color print quality with a basic sans-serif font which is the same as the Sun's.
8. Their are 40 adverts (not including the advertising section which is full of them) in the issue of the shropshire star I am reading which is dated Wednesday 22 Februrary 2012
9.The vast majority of news is Local news in this news paper with very little national and international news unless they are big stories.
10. Local news is included in the paper such as council news, crime, medical (e.g. shrewsbury hospital) sport and properties
11.
12. photographs are used frequently throughout the whole paper including captions on every image. their is at-least one photograph per page.
13. By looking at the vocabulary used throughout the paper the target audience tends to be aimed towards the vast majority of shropshire to teens and onwards mainly being adults and pensioners
14. Social groups as a whole are not represented in an unfair way and news stories of any social group are never biased and un-accurate. 
15. elements that make this paper are obviously news but also their is a television section.
16.
17. http://www.shropshirestar.com/ is the shropshire star website. here holds information about local news, videos, blogs and all other resources found in a shropshire star paper. 
18. a good digital example of the Shropshire Star is the brand new app 




Notes from lessons


The shropshire Star is a Regional newspaper. Broadcast news must hold a balanced argument however printed news maybe biased but must be accurate.
News papers are read by the vast majority of people in England and considered to be the most trusted. There are 1,200 regional and local newspapers which is lower than it was five years ago. 1,600 associated websites and 33 million people per week read local press, 42 million read local online news per month and 6,100 local papers are sold in the UK every minute.
Local newspapers are oftenly the first thing people turn to to raise awareness of a locale issue. Local media employs over 30,000 people including 10,000 journalists (which is more people than the BBC)
85% of local newspaper readers in Great Britian say its important that their Local paper keeps them informed about council issues.
over 60% of people act on the advertisements in Local newspapers.
the regional press structure states that their are 89 paid daily papers, 11 free daily papers, 4 paid with pickups, 1 combined daily, 10 paid sundays and 5 free sundays. their are also 487 paid weekly and 17 paid weekly with free pickup.
the regional press owns tv stations, radio stations and over 1600 websites.
the readership percentage (also known as the magic figure) is 71% of adults who read regional newspapers however this figure used to be 84%
by age - 
61.1% of 15 - 24 year oldsread a regional newspaper
66.6% of 25 - 34
68% of 35 - 44
71.9% of 45 - 54
75% of 55 - 64
and 79.9% 0f 65+


coverage of all social class groups is also high but down 10 - 12% in 5 years
70.4% professional + skilled
71.1% skilled, semi skilled + un-skilled 
Regional press has a high solus readership, 26.7% of those who read regional papers do not read national daily
due to the fact of 3/4 of the UK work force work within 10 miles of home, media is moving from global to local.
the top 20 publishers of newspapers own approximately 90% of all regional and local papers. and 95% of the total weekly circulation.
Local newspapers must appeal to local audeince in order for it to sell.


New ways of attracting audiences - websites, podcasts, mobile phones and e-editions are new ways of attracting audiences also blogging by enabling readers to get directly involved with the paper and video streaming to provide news, sport and local information online.


The shropshire star is owned by the midlands news association.


History of the shropshire star notes
The shropshire star's first edition was published post-war on October 5th 1964.
the shropshire star invented / started a new printing technology Web Ofset Printing, the old printing method was metal printing which is a very manual type of printing.
web ofset printing + Photocomposition is when the file (in this case newspaper) is printed onto a big rubber like roll and then onto paper speeding up the proccess.
the circulation began to grow for the shropshire star to 19,000 nightly.
by the mid 80s sales were publishing 100,000 mark and expanded from two editions to eight.
it was a pioneer of colour and front page colour and this was an early selling point. the first time use of colour in the shropshire star was a picture of Sir Winston Churchill on the day of his funeral.
the 1980s was the computer revolution. huge computers were used to create the newspaper moving from the "double keying" process to the "keying" process.
in 1998 shropshire star was one of the first newspapers to have an online website www.shropshire-online.com and employed their first internet editor in 1999.


Nearly 172,00 adults read the shropshire star every night and 82% of these have them home delivered. the website has a whopping 1,000,000 page views per month.

Newspapers

Newspapers

There are 5 main different types of newspapers, theese are regional newspapers such as the Shropshire Star, Local newspapers such as Market Drayton Advertiser, Tabloid such as The Sun, Broadsheet such as the old Telegraph and finally berliner such as the Guardian.

Broadcast news must include balanced arguements on every newspaper however Print news (such as newspapers) may be very bias but must be accurate.

the PCC is the regulating company named Press Complaints Commission

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

The Devil Rides Out (known as The Devils Bride in America) was produced by Hammer Films in 1968 in full color and is another horror film which is based on a novel written  in 1934 by Dennis Wheatley. The movie is set in 1930s London and the South of England and directed by Terence Fifsher who worked for Hammer Films and the first film he ever directed was The Curse Of Frankenstein 1957 which was

the start of the top British Hammer stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, Christopher Lee plays the role of Duc in "The Devil  Rides out" who is seen to the left.
The Devil Rides Out opens with what I personally believe is poor Mise En Scene of a open field. Set in beautiful countryside where the birds are singing to add to a really calm atmosphere ontop of sound orchestra, we see a plane landing. Rex leaves the plane and greets Nicholas. Straight away the story starts and we are told that simon (their brother) has been missing for quite some time and this is "unusual" Simon is quickly found within the first 5 minutes of the film. Simon is found in a meeting hall with Tamith and Mr McCarter. in the meeting hall we are given clues to what is to happen such as "This isnt a normal meeting" said by rex and Tamith says "When did you join this group" and "Surely we are not ment to be more than 13" from this line of narrative it looks as though Duc is immediately aware what is going on by the shock on his face and the

way that he quickly turns towards Tanith once she says this. Unlike Frankenstein and other old horror movies there is no hand held shots throughout the film.
We are first told that Simon has been meddling with magic, in fact just under 10 minutes into the film. Duc hears rustling noises inside the meeting room, the sound orchestra start to build up pace to increase tension and Duc quickly opens a box inside a wardrobe. Simon pounces on the box with a good camera angle from inside the wardrobe to stop Duc from looking inside. Duc forces simon of the box then opens it finding 2 chickens which we later find out are the ......... Simon is punched in the face by Duc which knocks him out then carried out of the house and home safely.
Hypnosis occurs very oftenly during the film, by both Duc Nicholas and Mr Mcarther. During Hypnosis alot of extreme close ups are shot of the actors eye's. My favorite hypnosis
 scene throughout the whole film is when Mr Mcarther hypnotizes Mrs Eden in her house which is below



This is my favorite hypnosis scene due to the use of camera angles, the narrative (dialogue) and sound and the ways of which they work so well together and with the scene. Synth sound effects are used throughout the scene which has brilliant effect on the scene being very quiet and barely noticeable they make the dialogue seem clearer and louder. tracking shots are used tracking very slowly towards the eyes of the actor almost making the audience move to the edge of there seat. The acting by both actors is also tremendous throughout this scene as well as fine editing to make it seem very real. when Mr Mcarther starts to hypnotize Tanith from downstairs during this scene the camera sweeps from a high angle (from upstairs) down to Mr Mcarther almost symbolizing the movement of Tanith's eyes.
the film finishes ironically "twice". 20 minutes before the ending the Duc says its all over and we hear birds singing and soft orchestral music. the audience believe everything is now okay and the movie is finishing however Mr Mcarther has stolen peggy (the young girl) and has taken her to his house among with other devil worshipers to sacrifice her for Tanith back. Tanith however saves the girl in the form of a spirit and tells peggy to read out the last two lines of the ritual which destroys everything bad in the room. a big lightning bolt hits the room with special effects.

A02 - Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein was released in the USA on the 21st of November 1931 with a budget of $291,000. It was produced by Universal Pictures and based on the novel written by Mary Shelly. The story is centered around an enthusiastic and passionate doctor called Henry Frankenstein who is trying to discover a way to make the dead come back to life. He succeeds and creates a monster that has to deal with living again. Frankenstein ideas are still used in the media today.


At the very beginning of the film a warning is given to the audience, the warning is given by a man (Edward Van Sloan) in a smart suit in front of a stage almost symbolizing a narrator. This opening sequence adds meaning to the scene by use of stars. Edward Van Sloan is known for starring in top horror films so the audience know immediately after Edward walks onto the set that this is going to be a good film. The opening credits of the film last just under one minute and the monster who is played by Boris Carloff is not named in the opening title sequence. However is in the end.
The film starts in a graveyard with great mise en scene, the audience are immediately aware that the location is a graveyard due to alot of panning shots and a funeral is occurring. Alot of sound is used in the opening scene to create a tense atmosphere, people are crying around a coffin which signifys the audience about the funeral, the church bell is ringing and the audience can hear the dirt hitting the coffin. This scene has very little lighting to make it "scarier" and abit of low key lighting to make shadows. The lighting may also be
dark as part of symbolism as Henry Frankenstein is about to steal the dead body. In Frankenstein there is alot of representation of the "class system" the rich and the poor. also stereotypes women slightly such as when all the men hunt for the monster leaving all females at home.
Universal produced the movie Frankenstein who were big producers of the horror genre in the 1930's also producing "Dracula" "The Invisible Man" "The Bride Of Frankenstein" and "The Son Of Frankenstein" however now universal tend to produce other genres of film.


James Whale the director of Frankenstien is most known for Directing this Frankenstien movie which was the 4th movie he has ever directed even after directing 20 movies between 1930 and 1940. between the 1930's and 1940's (and onwards) where the "Great Depression" was occurring which was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II . Here is a graph showing how

bad the Great Depression was and how it effected movies as well as everything else at the time.
Alot of meaning is created in Frankenstein through Image and sound, the sound orchestra plays a huge part in the film making a more tense atmosphere when needed and works well with low key lighting. Borris Carloff played Frankenstein very well throughout the film and was a great use of star by universal as he is now known for playing Frankenstein on a numerous occasions.
I believe that Henry Frankenstein is represented throughout the opening of the film as a "Bad Doctor" or "Mad scientist" who was taught by Dr. Waldman Represented with a positive effect almost like a role model to Henry. The audience are first aware that Henry was taught by Dr. Waldman when Victor and Elizabeth were talking about Henry's mysterious experiments Victor says "dont worry ill go to Dr. Waldman, Henrys old proffessor in medical school, perhaps he can come in more about all this"
Frankenstien was distributed during the time of the "Studio System" by Universal studios which was not a top studio at the time, However MGM Stuidos, Paramount and Fox were. Frankenstien would of been distributed mainly in america in 1931 playing in cinemas and obviously was not released on dvd due to it being so long ago.
During the middle of the film while the "monster" is alive, he meets a young girl in quite a shocking scene, the young girl is innocentley playing on her own next to a lake with flowers, she sees Frankenstien, takes him by the hand and walks down towards the lake with him to play. The little girl throws a head of a flower into the lake to watch it float off. Frankenstein stats to throw the heads of flowers into the lake until their is none left. he then looks at the small girl and picks her up, horrifying the audience he then throws the small girl who cant swim into the lake which leads to her death. due to censorship of the Hays office at the time this scene was cut out and in all american prints of the movie the scene ends befor the little girl is thrown into the lake because the censors objected to the violent end of the girl. However, the scene was restored in the dvd re-issue 

History of Horror

The development of Horror


The horror genre has been a top genre of film for almost a hundred years, through its time it has developed in key aspects such as make-up, effects, sound and mainly to do with gore and sexual content. which is due to the fact of strict censorship changing in the 1930s by the Motion Picture ProductionCode

(Hays Code). The Motion Picture Production Code where the censorship guidelines that governed the vas majority of united states pictures from 1930 to 1968 when it was replaced by the Motion Picture Association of America Film Rating System

Frankenstien (1910) made by 'Edison' studios, and written by J. Searle Dawley. Where a young medical student trying to create a perfect human being creates a monster, which turned out to be one of the most famous monsters ever made. Frankenstein (1910) is known as the 'holy grail' of horror movies with a run-time of only 16 minutes. lacked on special effects and quality due to the time period it was made, in fact the film went missing and no copies were found until the mid 1970s. ten years later in 1920 the movie "The Cabinet of Dr Caligary" was made directed by Robert Wiene lasting 52 minutes long which could be classed as the first full length horror movie lasting one hour allthough films can last around 2 hours. In 1925 Lon Chainey played the phantom in 'The Phantom of the opera' and designed all of his own makeup and even put egg membrane on his eyeballs to give them a more cloudy look.

In 1931 the horror film genre took a massive leap with director James Whale's version of Frankenstein known to many as the original. Frankenstein opened in New York City at the Mayfair Theater on the 4th of December 1931 and grossed $53,000 in its first week. The plot being the same as the original novel by Mary Shelley Where a young medical student trying to create a perfect human being creates a monster. Borris Karloff played Frankenstein in this film very well and is best remembered for playing in Frankenstien films yet to come.
In one scene, Frankenstien walks through a forest and comes upon a little girl, Maria, who is throwing flowers into a pond. The monster joins her in the activity but soon runs out of flowers. At a loss for something to throw into the water, he looks at Maria and moves toward her. In all American prints of the movie, the scene ends here. But as originally filmed, the action continues to show the monster grabbing Maria, hurling her into the lake, then departing in confusion when Maria fails to float as the flowers did. This bit was deleted because the censors objected to the violent end of the little girl. This scene is restored in the DVD reissue.
At the time of its release Universal Studies were well known for releasing horror movies, others including Dracula (1930), the first horror movie with speech which was filmed also in spanish and "son of Frankenstien". James Whale went on to be classed as the first horror auteur directing classic films such as "Dark House" "bride of Frankenstein" and "Freaks"

During the 1940s RKO Studios grew with their picture "Cat People" produced by Van Luton this was the film that started the Luton Bus Technique which is the shock of something not scary which is still commonly used today.
It is now the Late 1940s and the horror genre has already pushed forward with makeup, filming equipment to produce better quality films and big directors and actors. During the late 1940s sub genres were first introduced and frankenstien was classed as a horror - sci fi along with lots of other films.
The 1950s came and a new sub-genre was made, Hammer films which included more 'gore' with films such as the curse of frankenstein where frankenstein is shot in the eye from close range with a shot gun, the audience see blood gush from frankensteins eye socket and feel un-settled. Dracula and also the mummy were created in what s known as the time period of "The birth of Hammer Horror" 1955 - 1959. Hammer films generally tried to push the boundaries and produce x rated movies that really scare the audience. At the same time Warner Brothers Studios released House Of Wax (1953) which was  the first 3-D color feature from a major American studio. 'House of wax' was a remake of 'Mystery of the wax museum' from 1933.

In the 1960's Alfred Hitchcock (one of the greatest movie directors ever) directed pshyco, most famous for the shower scene which features 77 different camera angle cuts and running for 3 minutes long Most of the shots are extreme close-ups, except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. Psycho had a budget of $806,948 and made a Box Office sum of $32,000,000. Psycho pushed the strict censorship boundaries at the time and is most definitely known as an auteur. The 60s was a great decade of horror after Alfred Hitchcock started pushing the censorship boundries and set records such as first american movie to show a toilet. Another good movie even with such a low budget from the 60's was "Night of the Living Dead" which was a very violent film reflecting political worries in this age of atomic power and children turning against their parents. In the 1960 Ed Gein's cerial killer story inspired Texas Chainsaw Masacre which was a big movie released in 1974. between the 1960 and 70 period Hammer films started producing big sequels to movies such as Frankenstien and Dracula (till 1974 to be exact)