P1: Understanding how sound elements are used in media products

First media product:
 Movie name: Drive

• Purpose (educate, entertain, inform, selling products)

The main purpose of this opening scene of 'Drive' is to entertain the viewer by having all these different sound effects going through the whole opening scene (car chase). It starts off with the dialogue of two of the characters which helps set the rest of the scene. It is suitable for both genders as there is a male lead (Ryan Gosling) and action (the car chase), these both attract many viewers straight away as the lead actor has a huge fan base who are mainly female based. However with the different actors/actresses, genres, and story lines it will manage to entertain most viewers. 

The selling product for this movie is the male lead (Ryan Gosling). This is due to his fan base who will pay to see the movie which will then bring in revenue for the business. I guess the action/drama genre will draw in an audience too.

• Elements (wild tracks, atmospheric sounds, sound effects, dialogue/speech, music including theme tunes and incidental music)

There are several different elements in this scene. There are sound effects going on during the whole scene with sirens, helicopters, engine running, tiers skidding across the tarmac, leather going across the steering wheel, and an alarm going off, etc. The dialogue/speech is mainly at the beginning when one of the man in the back seat grunts, "run, come on, come on get in get in... woo". The other is off the radio with the cop radar and basket ball game which could mix in with sound effects.   
The wild track goes with the crickets that you can hear at the beginning layered in with the alarms and sirens.   

• Meaning (how does it enhance audience understanding? Create tension, reinforce genre/conventions, establishes mood, helps to establish time/location, enhances characterisation, use of silence, impact on audience)

As it has hardly any speech but more of sounds it can easily enhance the audiences understand of what is going on in this scene. The mix of sounds and actions helps show what is going on without actually telling us. It has moments that create tension, for example when the men are packed opposite the cop car at the red light, it makes you wait to see what is going to happen at the short pause. This clip does establish the mood, time, and location as it keeps a tense mood throughout the whole scene, however it doesn't tell the precise time but you know that it's late at night and in the Los Angeles area in America. The use of silence helps with the tension and how the characters are feeling which gives the audience a sense of what is going on. 

Second media product:
Radio 4: Fags, Mags, and Bags

• Purpose (educate, entertain, inform, selling products)

The main purpose of this radio series is to entertain the listeners by having a comedy that is set in a corner shop in Glasgow. It is lighthearted and relatable at times through out  the 5 series. The comedy is the selling product as many people enjoy comedies more so then the other genres. 

• Elements (wild tracks, atmospheric sounds, sound effects, dialogue/speech, music including theme tunes and incidental music)

At the beginning there is a theme tune with a presenter speaking over the top telling the listener what the series is and which episode. This helps with informing the listener as to what they are listening to. There are many sound effects through out the podcast, for example, crisp packets,camera clicking, baby sounds,  heels clicking, in a hall/meeting area (echos),and  Draws closing, etc.

The atmospheric sounds includes cars driving past outside , footsteps, door opening with bell,and  chatter within a few people. 

There is dialogue/speech through the whole podcast as that's the point of it. It is a comedy about a group of people that are friendly towards on another. The speech is constant.  

Meaning (how does it enhance audience understanding? Create tension, reinforce genre/conventions, establishes mood, helps to establish time/location, enhances characterisation, use of silence, impact on audience)

It enhances audience understanding by adding sounds that are normally in certain places and the dialogue tells you where they are and what they are doing. It reinforces the genre with quick funny one liners or funny topics which are discussed between characters. The accents/tone of  enhances each character which helps the audience understand who is talking. It doesn't exactly establish time/location too much but you get that it's during the day as they are travelling to several places and the people are awake and fully awake and shops/restaurants are open.

Third media product 

Video game: Cry Plays: Bio-shock Infinite

• Purpose (educate, entertain, inform, selling products)

This Video game clip is solely to entertain the viewer and maybe to sell the video game to hundreds of viewers as the male that is playing the game has a large amount of followers who watch his videos everyday time he posts on YouTube. He informs the viewer as to what the game consists of and what he is doing when playing. 

• Elements (wild tracks, atmospheric sounds, sound effects, dialogue/speech, music including theme tunes and incidental music)

There is speech/dialogue throughout the whole 38 minutes, this is including the male playing the game and the voices of the characters on the game. There are many sound effects in the video game, some of them are, creaking of wood on the boat, money shaking, foot steps against wet and dry surfaces, hand banging on door, background singing, and metal, etc. 

The atmospheric sounds  are the rushing of the sea currents, thunder, and rain pouring down. 

There is incidental music at times, for example, at the beginning of 4:20 minutes there is a record playing of a old song as the background noise but it doesn't last long as the character plays on. 

• Meaning (how does it enhance audience understanding? Create tension, reinforce genre/conventions, establishes mood, helps to establish time/location, enhances characterisation, use of silence, impact on audience)

It enhances the audiences understanding of the game by there being a walk through of the game. There is use of silence from the player when the characters are speaking so the audience can hear what they are saying and understand the game better. The game establishes the time of day as there is sunlight so it's during the day.