Gangster Article

Guns, drugs, money, sex and scandal, all things that on would find conventional in a gangster movie. Men; ruthless, hardened organised criminals, the main characters of Gangster films. That is highly conventional. There have been a few films where the female is the Gangster but that is a highly unconventional factor. For example in the film Rolling With The Nines. Directors and film creators use conventions to uncover the genres of films. In Gangster films sexual content, violence, drugs, money and foul language are some of the obvious things that make this genre. How else can one tell a gangster from another film? By using characters and props. Film makers are able to portray a distilled image of a gangster way of life. Films like Scarface, American Gangster and the Godfather showcase imagery heavily featuring Fancy cars and well pressed suits. In Scarface as Tony Montana's journey to the top of the food chain progressed so did his sense of style and he literally went from rags to riches. Guns are the weapon of choice. Ninja's have their blades and gangsters have their bullets. Having a gun in a gangster movie connotes power and respect. Tony Montana used a gun to kill his boss and seal his place on top. After giving the runts the guns to fight in a war they had no part in, the runts killed Lil Ze and began to make a hit list. Laying amongst corpses he was not responsible for, Tom is spotted by Big Chris, a ruthless gangster but is respected because of the scenery he is in.

Time is an effortless factor in film but can be altered in anyway using flashbacks, flash forwards, memories and even cutaways. Films often use inter titles in order to show the audience when the movie is taking place. Scarface skips a various number of time frames in order to derive the important events happening in the film, this is a technique used mostly by mainstream Hollywood. City of God however takes a more unconventional route by starting at the end of the film and then reverting a decade into the past to tell a story. A technique like this is often used in stories based on true events the beginning of a movie sets up the audience with a question of "how did we get here?" And the rest of the films objective is set out to answer that question. This is why the film peals to a niche category of audience because it has a complex story line.

The story of Scarface is singlehandedly about the life of Tony Montana. His rise to success and his fall to death. A Single strand narrative, is the appropriate term for such a narrative. The audience focuses on the protagonist and his story, his thirst to get more out of life, his accomplishments and then his down fall. Cause and effect is the reaction of a single strand narrative. Multistrand narratives however break down events per character. Usually the characters with the story, besides the main protagonist are called  stock characters. This is quite unconventional of Gangster films but is very effective in the sense of telling a story. It's a technique that often appeals to an Alternative or a Niche audience because it is an orthodox. This technique was used in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as well as City of God. Each of the films had little sub stories which were intertwined with the main narrative.

Predominantly about men, Gangster films initial target audience is male. Scarface and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are about the goings on in male gangsters lives over a period of time. They are portrayed as ambitious, money oriented, clever, hardworking and loyal beings despite the fact that there way of life is illegal. Also, Gangsters are a loyal people, who respect the rules of the game and those above them, unless they want to be on top. Like Tony Montana who killed his boss in order to take over his empire. But he did have respect for his mother. Women in Gangster films are portrayed in a different manner. To appeal to the better nature of the initial male audience, females are sexually objectified, for example in City of God, as much as they were respectful,  Angelica and Bernice used sex to control the boys. There was numerous graphical content in the film. In order to segment the audience they must portray women in a strong independent manner, for example Mama Montana, was a very strong individual, she respected her self and the law, she didn't want anything to do with Tony if he was breaking the law. As well as the Black Jack dealer in Lock, Stock; she was very up tight and respectful, she showed her authority using dialogue.

Gangster films are known for their extreme violent content, which is highly conventional of them. What is unconventional of a gangster film, is to use children to play the role of a gangster. In City of God there were barely any adults in the film and the ones that were included didn't play a significant role. The majority of the cast were children and teenagers and it is unconventional because it is based on actual events, you wouldn't expect one to get entertained by children, hurting each other or other people. The mass slaughter committed by Lil Dice, included point of view shots from the victims in the Motel. Another extreme scene which was highly unorthodox, was Lil Ze ordering a child to kill his friends. Such scenes are very harmful to the audience and they can take a negative toll on them, but not all films are about entertainment. some times, people need to be educated.

USES AND GRATIFICATION

The Uses and gratification Theory suggests that the audience have a tendency to use the film for other purposes besides it's general purpose which is overall entertainment. It is apparent that the audience responds to films actively rather than passively, by engaging in it. Some of the purposes which active audiences use the film for include the following:
Escape: To find an outlet in a different world other than their own, for example video games and music.
Social interaction: People create personal relationships with the characters in a media text. More so if the text is fictional.
Identify: People often find them selves in a character that they feel that they can relate to or they have something in common with. For example hair styles, trend, life style or ambition.
Inform and Educate: Especially for real life events the audience gains an understanding of whats going on in the world around them. 
Entertain: This what I believe to be the overall purpose of media texts, to entertain with out any other gratifications.

I think that this theory can be used in gangster films because, the gangster genre is an active one, to understand the gangster genre you must be able to engage in the film. This is because majority of the gangster movies are put out to the public as a message inform of entertainment. The message is "conform or else." At the end of every gangster movie we see the gangster either dying or changing his ways. This can be a form of Informing and educating the audience.
The target audience for gangster films is initially males. The way in which the Gangster genre represents males tends to allow some of them to identify them selves in the characters, for example; in Scarface, people felt that they could relate to Tony Montana and his struggles and the way he strived for what he wanted. Some people idolise him and have developed a relationship with his character, these are forms of social interaction. Even though his character is completely fictional.
To conclude I feel that watching a Gangster film is a passive activity, and it is possible that when one watches a gangster film that they may find other uses for it other than pure entertainment.

Escape
Scarface: The world of the film scarface is very different, we see someone who starts with nothing rise to everything and get everything they have ever wanted. People that have a similar motive in life tend to loose themselves in the film, they get to see their own ambitions come to life inside the film. For example in the film, during the montage after Tony killed his boss Frank the montage that followed included him getting married and building a new lavish life for him self.
City of God: Unless you are from Rio and have seen what it is like to live there, or you have experienced a life style similar to that of the characters of the City of God  the movie takes you to a whole different paradigm and you have a glance at what other people have endured especially since it is based on factual events.

Social Interaction
Scarface: People often develop a relationship with the character of Tony Montana and try to put themselves in his shoes. As he is the protagonist they see the movie through his point of view and how everything around him is making him who he is.
City of God: The fact that the film is based on true events people often find them selves wondering what if life was like that for them in their own country. They start to feel sorry for those who are suffering and angry at the people who are causing them pain.

Identify
Scarface: A lot of people see them selves in Tony Montana, and if not most who watch the film aspire to be like him, tough, ruthless, ambitious, and rich. He came from nothing and made something of him self, people ignore his downfall and set there own goals of success they way he did and set out to achieve them. Trying to make someone' fictional life, their own life in reality.
City of God: Rocket the protagonist is the character that most people would relate to, he is educated, set in his ways and trying to make something of him self. He is independent and has a mature style of thinking and is more civilised compared to the others in the film. People find this relatable.

Inform and Educate
Scarface: Even though the entire movie is fictional it's story line is deep and people can take either a positive of negative message from it. The message that the film makers set out for the audience is that crime never pays. Even though Tony found success and riches, he lost every one he loved and his life was taken in the end. The messages other people may receive is that, one should set goals and do everything they can to achieve them, to never loose sight of their goals.
City of God: Considering the fact the movie is based on actual events people are able to gain a sense of understanding of what is going on in the world around them.

GANGSTER STUDY JOURNAL: CITY OF GOD

The City of God is a Gangster film this is evident through the conventions which it contains. Guns, love interests, gangs, drugs, explicit language and vulgar sexual content. However there are certain factors in the film which are unconventional such as; infants handling drugs and guns, children killing other people. The film contains a sense of realism as it was based on actual events.

The film takes place in Rio de Janeiro in a slum called Cidade de Deus which is directly translated from Portuguese to English as City of God. The story is narrated by the main protagonist Rocket. The son of a fish monger an aspiring photographer. It is based on a true story and it depicts the trials and tribulations the citizens of Rio face in the slums such as drug abuse, violent crime, and over all Rockets struggle to break away from the manner which his friends and family have been accustomed to and make something of himself.

The film begins with a chase sequence, children are chasing a chicken which they have been told to catch by a man. The group is clearly a gang as they are armed and they go about the chase not caring about anyone in their way. The chicken is in the middle of the street beneath the feet of the protagonist rocket and the gang leader points a gun at him and tells him to grab the chicken. Rocket begins to narrate the story and the film flashes back to almost a decade ago to show the audience how exactly he got into the predicament.

The story of "The Tender Trio" is told. One of its member is Rockets elder brother Goose. The Tender Trio weren't your average gang the didn't kill or harm innocent people, the instead committed small crimes for the benefit of others and people close to them. Lil Dice, a young child set in his ways convinces the gang to rob a motel and the people staying there. The gang agree to his proposal but they leave him out of the heist. Clearly this was not part of his plan but the group were convinced they were looking out for him. Angered and how The Tender Trio have belittled him, he fires a warning shot, convinces the gang the police are after them and commits a mass slaughter of all the residents of the motel. The film jumps ahead, showing Lil Dice become Lil Ze through the help of a witch and become the top Drug Lord. 

Lil Ze is then identified as the antagonist in the film, the cause  of all the chaos and destruction in every ones lives. After the death of his best friend Benny Lil Ze lost his way and Raped the girl friend of a peaceful bus conductor named knock out Ned. This began the downward spiral of Lil Ze. He failed to kill Knock Out Ned as he had intended and went back for him at his home, killing his brother and his uncle in the process. Ned looses his patience with Lil Ze and seeks vengeance for his family. He teams up with Carrot on of the other Drug Lords in the City of God but then looses sight of his goal to avenge his family and ends up becoming a gang member. Ned ends up on the newspapers for a raid he committed with Carrot, angered by this Lil Ze starts to quench fame. He finds Rocket, returns the camera he stole from him and asks for him to take pictures, unfortunately the pictures were accidently printed in the papers. Rocket fears for his life thinking that Lil Ze will come after him for exposing him like that, but Lil Ze appreciates the recognition.

Going back to where the film began, (the chicken chase) Rocket tries to catch the chicken but is shaken by Lil Ze's request to have his picture taken, before he can get the shot a gun fight breaks out between Lil Ze's gang and Carrot and Knockout Ned's gang. A boy who is in Lil Ze's gang kills Knockout Ned, a flashback shows the biys father being killed at the bank by Knockout Ned before his very eyes. Lil Ze and Carrot are arrested and taken away by the police. Lil Ze gives the police officers all the money that he had and they demanded more. After the police leave him the very children e handed guns to, to help him fight his war saw him at his weakest and took advantage of the situation and killed him. Rocket was in the background hidden away taking pictures of all the goings on to take back to his news agency.

The film is told by the protagonist but split into three main segments; The Tender Trio, Lil Dice aka Lil Ze and Knockout Ned. All these stories are intertwined and they have an effect on the protagonist and an effect on the ending. There are other short stories included in the film such as The killing of Otto's father by Knockout Ned, Benny's fare well; this is the story of the coolest hood in the slum. Benny was Lil Ze's bestfriend but he was not as ruthless as Lil Ze, however he stuck by his loyalties to his friend. Once he got a taste of the life of the hippy's (Rockets friends) it became the life he was accustomed too and he chose it over the hood life. This decision was made because he fell in love. Which was a sign of history repeating itself. One of the members of The Tender Trio fell in love and choose love over the hood life but was killed for it.

The use of a multistrand narrative and the realism of the events of the film are what the audience is most likely to find captivating.

The main characters in the film are Rocket, the protagonist, Lil Ze the Antagonist, Benny a secondary protagonist and Knockout Ned even though he is just a stock character his role in the film is great.

Women are portrayed primarily as victims, such as Shorty's wife. She wasn't getting much out of her marriage and took to a lover and was brutally murdered and her body inconsiderably discarded. The strongest women in the film were Angelica and Bernice, the attempted to reverse the power equation by using there sexual hold over men, encouraging them to leave the gangs and make something better of themselves. Both of them ended up loosing the man they love as a result of the escape attempts, making them both indirect victims of violence and indirectly responsible for it.
Teenagers and children lack morals in the City of God. If they are not committing crimes and selling drugs, they are drug abusers which is not morally acceptable in any society, but because of the life that they are accustomed to they are subjected to all these morally degrading factors.
The adults do not cater to their children. It is the responsibility if a parent to lead their child down a morally upright life, but the parents of the children don't take it upon themselves to do so, they just complain once the children and teenagers are out of order ergo, miscreants and hoodlums run the city.
One can see that Rocket is the opposite of Lil Ze, they are the same age and both set in there ways but while Rocket aspiring to get out of the slums and make something better of him self. Lil Ze wants to run the hood, and have everyone fear him. This is the epitome of rivalry and war in films the good vs the evil.

The target audience in terms of age is Primarily 18+ this is because of the explicit nature of some of the film conventions such as sex, language, violence and substance abuse. All of these conventions were evident throughout the entire film. In terms of gender the film is appealing to all. For males it is due to the over all content of the film. Research shows that for males the most appealing genre is gangster due to the conventions which it contains. Furthermore, the way by which males are represented in the film, as strong fearless ambitious individuals may also strike them as appealing.
For females the story line of the film is interesting, especially the love interests. Some women may find it relatable to have a bad boy boyfriend whom they are trying to save just like Angelica and Bernice in the City of God. The audiences main interests could be foreign films, as City of God is written and dictated in Portuguese and contains subtitles. Most people fine foreign films and subtitles off putting. The gangster genre, true life stories and violence are also other primary interests. The audience is most likely to find the story line and the multistrand narrative appealing and entertaining as well as the content. They may also relate to the characters in the film.
In conclusion City of God is a Niche film that appeals to a specific type of audience based on age and mutual interest.

Gangster Genre Study Journal

Cynthia Helen Ankunda

Gangster Genre Study Journal

SCARFACE (1983)

Scarface is a 1980's Gangster Film about an ambitious Cuban immigrant named Tony Montana whose aim is to be the richest drug-lord in Miami. In order to do so Montana must leave Cuba and start out as a rookie underdog and the crawl his way up to the top to get everything he has ever wanted that it, Money and power.

Narrative:

In May of 1980 Tony Montana seeks asylum in Miami. He is then detained and question by three INS-officials who detained him in a camp called Freedom town. The content in this scene helped to establish the fact that Tony Montana is the protagonist that the audience needs to relate and connect with him. With the help of his best friend and brother figure Manny, Tony received word that he could attain a green card by killing a former aid to the boss of a drug cartel in Miami. In doing this Tony paved way for himself and Manny to leave the camp and start making their journey to the top.

They start a new life working as dishwashers in a taco shop, but we see that Tony clearly is not comfortable and he wants more. He feels like he wants more and this is symbolic of his goal to achieve the ultimate American dream. The leader of the Drug cartel later recruits him, to pick up a delivery of cocaine from a dealer called Hector the toad. He goes with Manny and two other men in his crew, Angel and Chichi. Manny and Chichi wait in the car as Tony and Angel go to pick up the cocaine. It is evident that Hector doesn’t intent to sell the cocaine that he has but to rather steal the money off of the rookie gangsters. The operation takes a turn for the worst and Angel is tied to the shower rod and gagged as Tony is forced to watch Hector brutally decapitate his arm and leg. Sensing something is wrong Manny and Chichi come to the aid of their partners. Manny is shot in the shoulder but Tony confronts Hector in the street and avenges his friend by killing him.

Having killed Hector, Tony makes a good impression on Frank, the leader of the Drug cartel by returning with both the money and the cocaine. We see Tony and Manny making their mark in the drug world, now that they have gained the trust and the respect of Frank. In this scene we are introduced to the love interest Elvira Hancock. Franks wife. She is one of the main causes of tension between Frank and Tony because Tony is smitten with her the minute he meets her. Tony and Manny are introduced to a lavish lifestyle through being taken out to The Babylon Club where Frank usually visits.

Three months later Tony tries to make amends with his mother and little sister Gina. Who are glad to see him at first but once he offers them money, Mama Montana is taken a back and doesn’t want herself of Gina a part of Tony’s dirty money. However Gina is willing to take a chance on her brother. Manny makes a remark about how beautiful Gina is and Tony threatens him. We see that Tony is very over protective of his little sister. He angrily warns Manny to restrain from having relations with his sister.

While on business in Bolivia, Tony feels that Frank is soft and begins to defy him. He does this by trying to negotiate with Alejandro Sosa, another ruthless and powerful drug lord. Sosa discovers that Omar was an informant for the police and has him hung from a helicopter to show Montana how he deals with traitors. Tony gets into trouble when he returns to Florida, Frank finds out about his proposal to Elvira and decides to take him out.

At the night club, Tony sees his little sister Gina going in to the toilets with a strange man and he is not amused he follows them in with Manny by his side and punches the man. He gets into a row with his sister and slaps her. Manny comforts Gina. It becomes evident to the audience that Manny has a soft spot for Gina and could possibly be in love with her.

Later on Tony is attacked three gunmen in the club who were sent to take him out by Frank he kills them and escapes with a bullet to shoulder. He has Manny kill Frank and he begins his rise to power. He goes outside and sees a blimp that displays the words “the world is yours” He marries Elvira and takes over Frank’s drug-empire but it is evident that it is still not enough for him.

Eventually his rise to power becomes his downfall he becomes paranoid, he ends up taking too much of his own cocaine.

His marriage also took a toll as he and Elvira got into a heated argument in a public restaurant. He insulted her for being barren, she was non to happy about this and insulted Tony back and left him. Tony was offended but believed that she would come back to him.  

When Sosa called on Montana shortly after giving him a job to assassinate a minister in New York. Tony told Manny that he was leaving for a few weeks before he went. He was to work with a ruthless assassin that Sosa had hired to do the job but needed Tony to follow up on the kill. The ministers’ car that they were meant to blow up had his wife and children inside it as well. Tony felt that this was too much, the ministers’ wife and children didn’t deserve to die and he didn’t want to be a part of that crime. Tony took out the assassin and returned to Florida without completing the task.

Upon his return, Tony wanted and needed Manny to comfort him, but received word that Manny was missing, no one had seen him since he had left. He also wondered where Elvira was and told one of his guards to tell her he loves her if they ever heard from her. He tries to seek refuge in his family, he goes to his mothers’ home to find Gina who is also missing. Mama Montana argues with Tony saying that he destroys everything in his path he can never let anyone be happy. She tells him that ever since he got back Gina began to change her ways and loose her morals. She told him that it was the money that he was giving her, but Tony told her he had only given her money once and he put the pieces of the puzzle together. He asked for Manny’s address and went to his place. Tony knew that it was Manny who was giving his sister money. When he reached Manny’s home, he saw Gina in a gown he didn’t think about his actions he killed his best friend Gina told him that they had just gotten married the night before and that they were going to surprise him. Tony takes her back to his mansion.

Back at his mansion, Sosa’s men were coming for him. Gina came into his study and tried to seduce him, but then she reveals her intentions are to kill the man that killed her husband.

Sosa’s men by this time were on their way to kill Tony, there was a massive gun fight Gina was killed and once that happened it was clear he had lost everything that ever loved. His wife left him, his mother shunned him and his best friend and sister where dead. Sosa’s main hit man shot Tony in the back and he fell to his demise. The closing scene, a globe with “the world is yours” sprawled across it.

GENRE

This film is predominantly a film of the GANGSTER GENRE. This is made evident through the conventions which is contains with in it. These conventions are what dominate the narrative of the film to enrol it among the gangster genre. The conventions in this film include the follow. The use of a male lead. Gangster films often appeal to a male audience because they are conventionally about men, casting an underdog as the lead and watching him rise and fall. Money and Power; most gangster films are centred around ones desire to obtain either money or power. In this film money was the equivalent to power. Montanas objective was to take out the man with the most money in order to inherit his power. Another convention includes violence; This is accompanied by props such as guns and knives, but in Scarface it was mostly guns. He who holds the gun usually holds the power to give and take. In the beginning a knife was a means that Montana and Manny used to begin their ascension into power, after that they used a gun. And a gun was also the demise of Tony Montana. Family is also another convention used in gangster films. In this film the main family that was used where the Montanas, entailing Mama Montana, Tony and his younger sister.

REPRESENTATION

MEN: Conventionally in Gangster Films, Men are the more dominant characters, holding the world in the palm of their hands and controlling everything around them. This is why the audience for gangster films is men. They are seen as ruthless criminals who would do anything to get what they want. But they are also seen as loyal people respecting the rules of the "game" that they play, abiding by the rules put in play by the men before them. Also loyal to their family and true friends, blood is thicker than water, they intend to protect their family and provide them with what they need by any means, and respect it if the refuse.

WOMEN: Women may not be the predominant gender in gangster films but they also have their place to balance the equation of the Gangster genre. In gangster films there are three types of women. The strong independent woman: This is she who has seen what men are capable of and isn't afraid because she is strong in morals and beliefs. In Scarface she is represented by Mama Montana. Who shunned her own son when she learnt of his ways. The other type is The Damsel in distress: She is the one who is aware of everything, and is caught up in it because she is too close to the main gangsters, played by either wife, daughter, or sister. In Scarface she was played by both Tina, Montana's sister and Alvera Montana's wife. They were too close to Tony and that pushed them away and led to Tinas demise when she eloped with his best friend. And finally there is the sex object. This type of woman is either seen in a stripper or dancer or female that portrays herself in a demoralizing manner. In order to split there intentions apart, Manny was the one who was seen objectifying many women as sexual objects and that made Tony question where his loyalties lie.

TARGET AUDIENCE

The target audience for gangster movies can be broken down and categorised as follows:

GENDER:

PRIMARILY: Male. This is because the leads are always portrayed by ambitious males which men like to see them selves as. The use of money, power and violence appeals to the selfish and savage nature of the male species.

SECONDARY: Female. Although, there are many types of females represented in the film, this film is capable of appealing to them but the ration of gender appeal is less than that of the males.

AGE: The age rating for this film is 18+ which makes that the age group that it is targeted towards due to the level of violence, fowl language and sexual innuendo.

DEMOGRAPHIC: This film is for the average man with desires to rise to success, It is for the working class who are trying to make something of themselves and see a little bit of the main cast inside them selves.

INTERESTS: The range of things that the audience may be into include. Violent video games, Film, The Gangster Genre. etc.  

 

WORKSHOP DUBBING DIALOGUE EVALUATION

For this particular workshop, we were working in pairs I worked with Hari Jayarajan. David had set up short clips of dialogue between two characters the scene that we chose was from the matrix, the scene included a conversation between Morpheus and Neo when Morpheus was asking Neo if he wants to know what the Matrix is. The objective of this work shop was to add dialogue to the clip by muting all the sound effects and dialogue and adding our own in there. The method we chose to use seemed simple. 
We booked a private room and recorded the dialogue via garage band. Since both of the voices were male my voice was filtered and lowered a few tones to sound masculine to match Morpheus. 
The recording went really well but the timing was bad. Unfortunately, the task of editing fell to me and I am not really good at editing via Garage band. some of the dialogue was out of synch and the words didn't all fall in the correct place. But the point of the task was to understand Foley recording and re dubbing audio which had already been recorded which we did. 

Work Shop Adding Diegetic music.

For this task we were to add diegetic music into a one minute clip from a film of television programme. Ideally the diegetic music that was chosen was music that came from a radio of a television or otherwise in the scene.

There were a number of scenes that came to mind when this topic was introduced, but my original choice was a clip from the famous television series The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The clip involved actor and protagonist Will Smith mouthing the lyrics to Jennifer Holliday's "And I am Telling You." to his uncle and guardian Phillip Banks. The scene was approximately one minute and forty seconds long and the music that accompanied him was introduced via a stereo system in the scene.

After choosing this video, David converted it so that it was available for me to edit and I downloaded the original song from youtube and converted it to an Mp3 format so that it too could be edited.

I used the application reaper in order to edit the audio. I have experience using this application as it was what we used in order to edit dialogue used in off scene phone call conversations. Before editing the sound my intention was to cut down the length of the song to match the scene, but it would have it that the song in the actual clip had already been edited alternating to the original song and finding the correct placement of the various parts of the song was difficult, so I opted to try another video. The video which a choose was a scene from the famous comedy film Napoleon Dynamite. The scene contained Napoleon and some females from his class signing the lyrics of a song which was played over the radio. 

This scene took place in a classroom, from previous dubbing workshops on thing I learnt is that no room has absolute silence. Even in a silent classroom there will be some background ambience. Even though it was not part of the assignment i took it upon my self to add sound effect to the scene, after i muted all the original sound as part of the assignment. I downloaded a two minute ambience sound effect. This was ideal because i could shorten it to match the length of the clip which was approximately one minute long. The sound effect which followed was the button click of a portable radio of which and finally a male sighing. All these sound effect i downloaded where edited to match the clip via premiere which is ideal for editing sound effects to match a video clip because you can view the clip at the same time. After matching the sound effects to the clip, I downloaded the song used in the film and edited it via reaper so that it sounded that it came from a radio. I put all the footage together via premiere. 

Workshop: Phone Call Dubbing

The objective of this task was to work in pairs; I paired up with Bradley Westall, we were to choose from a selection of clips from films with a phone call on them to do professional looping and editing. This task included script writing, recording and editing. The clip Bradley and I chose was off a scene in anchorman, well known as "The Glass Case Of Emotion." I typed out the script and after a long wait (which was a major inconvenience for us) we began recording. 
We first recorded on the studio recording system using Reaper, but that was a waste of time because the system was damaged. Plan B involved us recording the audio via Garage band. I am quite new to garage band, but in the past I had used it to record an original non diegetic soundtrack for a previous Dubbing exercise. It took a numerous number of takes because we were trying to record the audio while watching the clip muted and follow our scripts at the same time so that we could be synchronised with the clip but we kept having interruptions or we would miss our cue. So to render the situation we decided to record each of our lines separately, render the audio and edit it via Reaper. It didn't take a long time to edit all the audio. One key point of this task was to isolate audio from the clip which was recorded non synchronous to the image. This is when someone is speaking but the audience cannot see them. It is used in voice overs as well as phone conversations. In this particular exercise the task was to edit the audio of the non synchronous sound so that it sounded as though the person was being heard over the phone. In the scene we chose only two lines from on of the characters was recorded over the phone, I isolated the audio over reaper and edited it to sound like it was over the phone.
The final process of the task was to combine the audio and the video together. This process was done via premiere. I find premiere the easiest when it comes to mixing audio this is because I have a lot of experience using it. I first uploaded the clip onto premiere, then I edited it from there so that the audio matches the clip.
in conclusion I can say I relatively understand the concept of editing audio to sound non diegetic for example via phone calls and radios etc

WORKSHOP: ADDING AND COMPARING MUSIC

For this task the objective of this task was to find a clip form a movie or a television series and add music to it. We were to use two different ways which were; Garage Band (the music application) and to collect a sound clip with or without lyrics from youtube or from sound library and add them to the video clip you have chosen.
METHOD 1
The clip I chose was from the wire, the scene is called "How to play Chess." I chose it because I am familiar with the scene so I gad a rough ides of what I wanted to do to it. The scene involves two African American teenage boys playing checkers on a chess board using chess pieces and a man coming to them and teaching them how to play the correct game.
On garage band I decided to use the Hip Hop drum kit, I used a prolonged symbol noise to introduce the beat. The symbols are good to introduce any beat because its a prolonged sound that gradually gets loud and fades out on its own. The following beat was a cliche Hip hop beat which can be affiliated with any African American genre of media products (films, series' and music) I put in a base beat in the first beat and then ended it with the symbols once again to introduce another beat. I didn't want the beat to run to long so i used the symbols to separate the beats and prepare the audience for another beat, conveniently it was too in place with the dialogue whenever the elder gentleman would talk about another chess piece. This added on to the mood and meaning and made the scene a bit more enjoyable and light hearted, because the beat was simple and on tune with the scene. I think that the way i composed the audio was suitable because the scene contained a lot of dialogue, it would not be effective if i created an over exaggerated music piece because the challenge would be finding away for the audience to listen to both the music and the audio of the clip at the same time. I used the music to add more meaning to the clip this is because the music is mellow, and it is accompanying the explanation of the game of chess.

METHOD TWO
Since the clip is of African American decent I figured that it would be suitable to have an African American song as the back ground music. I chose a song that has a mellow tone to it. I picked my music off of youtube I converted it to an Mp4 and edited it via reaper. The track didn't need a lot of editing t it only needed to be shortened. I put the audio and the track together via, premiere. this was much simpler than using garage band.