How can creative choices affect our perceptions?
Creative choices within media can change our perception in many ways. Things like camera movements can completely change a scene from something exciting and fast paced, to something slow and dull with little movement. In order to make a piece of media interesting for an audience, there are things that media producers need to think about and be aware of in order to separate their work from others. This essay will go into depth about the ways in which creative choices can change the way we view a certain piece of media through films, games and TV shows.
The film Jaws, which is about a shark in a small town who is killing people and it’s up to the local sheriff, Officer Brody, to stop it once and for all, uses many creative choices to give a better overall effect for the audience. One good example of this would be the scene where officer Brody is sat on the beach and someone gets attacked by the shark. A dolly zoom is used here to show Brody’s confusion and show how he’s reacting to what’s just happened; the world around him is changing whilst he is sat there processing what’s just happened. The use of the dolly zoom shows exactly what Brody is going though in that moment of time, whereas if a normal shot had been used it would not give the same effect and therefore, not portray to the audience what the dolly zoom does. By using this technique the director is able to convey a message that they probably couldn’t do with another angle, therefore affecting our perception of the scene as the way in which it has been presented, has made the audience feel a certain way, therefore giving the desired effect and allowing the audience to know how the character is reacting to the situation.
Another example in Jaws would be the iconic theme tune that is used whenever the shark is approaching. This allows the audience to know when to expect the shark as it’s not shown in its entirety much during the film itself, as the director said that whilst he had made around 300 storyboard for Jaws, but ended up scrapping most of them as he believed the shark was shown too much and ruined the film, and even said “I think the film would have made half the money had the shark worked.” as the sharks they had made for the film (3 were made in total costing about $150,000 each to make) didn’t work in the water, so most of the film was shot without the shark and just used the dramatic music and the barrels that were attached to the shark in the film, to create the effect that the shark was there lurking, but couldn’t actually be seen which made the film more unpredictable to the audience and more suspenseful. By not seeing the shark often the audience was left to wonder when they would eventually see it again, and whether or not something bad would happen when they did.
Games also use certain ideas and do certain things to change the way the audience views the product. An example of this would be in the game Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a game set in the American West and focuses on the life of Arthur Morgan and the gang he’s in, and what hardships he goes through etc. Throughout the game there are different routes that your character, Arthur Morgan, can take in order to have good or bad honour. If you have good honour throughout the game, it changes the way it ends for you; there are 4 possible endings so depending on what you choose to do and what honour level you have, decides which ending you will see once the game is over. This is also very relevant throughout the game as if your honour is good, people are a lot nicer to you and are more willing to help, whereas if it’s bad people will refuse to help/be nice to you and bounty hunters will always be looking out for you and can appear randomly. By doing this, the game producers are allowing the player to pick their own destiny and are therefore making the game seem more personal and is if the player is actually living within the game. Everything that they do matters in the end, and that is only apparent when you reach the ending and must choose what you want to do.
Another example would be the use of the cinematic mode within the game. This allows the players to view the game in a more cinematic way so it looks like a film; they can play as normal, but it just gives it the feeling that it’s a film, not a game. It also allows the player to focus more on the story as this mode can be used whilst traveling to missions with the characters within the game; rather than focusing on riding the horse, you can shift all the attention on listening to the dialogue and fully understand what’s going on. This means that, from a creative point of view, you can fully see the world that has been created and appreciate the art work, as well as concentrating on the story.
Television shows also use creative choices to affect a person's perception. An example of this would be the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is a comedic police show set around a group of detectives in New York. The show itself has a very diverse cast and is a good representation for people watching it. The captain is gay and black, and there are also 2 Latina women in it, which is very rare for any show. They portray these people well and aren’t over the top about it like you would expect or assume they would be. For example, the audience may think that they gay man may be very “over the top gay” and be a stereotypical gay person, like is shown every day in the media. But, in fact, he’s a very straight faced non-humorous person who is known for being very serious and committed to his job. This is refreshing for people to see, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community as this is a rare representation of a gay person in the media and shows them for who they actually are; a normal, everyday person, which is hardly shown in the media now. They are normally shown as over the top and very feminine and flamboyant, and whilst many gay people are like this, they shouldn’t be the only ones who are shown. This normalizes gay people within media and allows people to see a side to this that they may not have seen before, and this choice has been deliberately made to make the show more interesting to viewers and more inclusive to those watching who may relate to the character.
Another point to make would be the ongoing backstories throughout the series. Each episode is separate and doesn’t directly follow on from the last, but there are topics that are covered regularly, such as a relationship between 2 of the main characters, that whilst they play a big part in the series, doesn’t really matter if you watch the episodes out of order as they are always different and have different story lines. This allows the audience to pick up and watch whenever they want, from where ever they want. The ongoing backstory also allows the audience to get to know the characters better and keep them watching to see what will happen next. As I said before, each episode is different in terms of story as very few episodes follow on directly from each other, unless otherwise stated, which keeps the stories short and sweet, but whilst also keeping he audience knowing what’s happening almost behind the scenes of the main story of the episode. It keeps the viewer invested as they are following the overall story, as well as seeing what each episode will present to them.
Overall, there are many ways of using creative choices to affect the way an audience perceives a piece of media. All the points listed above, plus more, all change the way an audience sees and interprets, for example, a film, as the media producer wants them to see it that way, hence why they chose to do things in a certain way. Without realizing it, audiences are being brainwashed, in a way, into thinking and viewing pieces of media in a certain way based on how it’s been created, and how it was intended to be viewed.
Bibliography:
https://www.tested.com/art/movies/456576-robot-shark-technology-jaws/
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