Hebdidge - A subculture is a group of like minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and who develop a sense of identity which differs to the dominant on to which they belong.
Acland - Media representations of youth maintain social order/hegemony (the ones in control have the
most influence) 1995
- Ideology of protection
Giroux - Youth becomes an empty category in representation and reflects adult concerns 1997
Deviancy Amplification (Wilkins 1964)
Althusser - Ideological State Apparatus. Dominant ideology reinforced through different groups including media.
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Homework
Attack the Block 2011
In this clip, the main characters that are shown are a group of youths who are assumably friends living on a council estate in London. Throughout the sequence, the youth are represented in many ways, mostly negatively. They are portrayed as being deceitful, such as when they lie to their parents, violent, such as when they instinctively get weapons and prioritise fights, and discourteous from their use of expletives and vulgarisms.
These portrayals of youth are common or stereotypical in society, particularly when an age groups such as this are portrayed in an urban, working class location such as what appears to be East London. This representation is common and considerably accepted, in my opinion due to the identity that is created for this demographic by the media. In the modern day, the majority of media coverage of youth is negative and highlights their wrong-doing as opposed to their achievements. This had led to society accepting these as characteristics of youth and therefore generalising the demographic as a whole to possess these same attributes.
In this clip, the main characters that are shown are a group of youths who are assumably friends living on a council estate in London. Throughout the sequence, the youth are represented in many ways, mostly negatively. They are portrayed as being deceitful, such as when they lie to their parents, violent, such as when they instinctively get weapons and prioritise fights, and discourteous from their use of expletives and vulgarisms.
These portrayals of youth are common or stereotypical in society, particularly when an age groups such as this are portrayed in an urban, working class location such as what appears to be East London. This representation is common and considerably accepted, in my opinion due to the identity that is created for this demographic by the media. In the modern day, the majority of media coverage of youth is negative and highlights their wrong-doing as opposed to their achievements. This had led to society accepting these as characteristics of youth and therefore generalising the demographic as a whole to possess these same attributes.
Contrasting to the Attack The Block Trailer, released in 2011, The Young Ones, produced in 1961 provides a very different outlook and representation of the Youth. In this clip, the youth are mostly portrayed as being community activists as well as responsibly social. We can gather this from the places that they are shown associating with and socialising in 'The Youth Club' and the way that they are trying to passionately save it from its closure. This contrasts significantly to the modern day representation of youth as previously shown, as the characters appeared to have less of a sense of identity due them having no signifying or collective place of social activity. In addition, the characters are shown to be well-presented, wearing fairly formal clothing. The way that the characters are characterised in a positive light is likely due to the media representations at the time, when generally, less negative stories were being circulated as they are today as poor behaviour could be considered less acceptable.
Theorist Anthony Giddens states "There is a social structure that which shapes our lives (traditions, institutions, moral codes, established ways of doing things), but it relies on individuals following these structures". This can be applied to the two contexts of the texts above, as they way that the identity of youths is represented shows that they have all been subjected to similar societal influences in order to become similar products. In addition, David Buckingham suggests that "Identity is complicated and complex". This is also reinforced in these clips as although the characters involved appear to be similar in the way the dress and in their belonging to a community, their identity cannot be derived completely from this, as there are many other factors that define it.
Theorist Anthony Giddens states "There is a social structure that which shapes our lives (traditions, institutions, moral codes, established ways of doing things), but it relies on individuals following these structures". This can be applied to the two contexts of the texts above, as they way that the identity of youths is represented shows that they have all been subjected to similar societal influences in order to become similar products. In addition, David Buckingham suggests that "Identity is complicated and complex". This is also reinforced in these clips as although the characters involved appear to be similar in the way the dress and in their belonging to a community, their identity cannot be derived completely from this, as there are many other factors that define it.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Identity: Indentity can be argued to be something unique to each of us that we assume is more or less consistent (and hence the same) over time… Our identity is something we uniquely possess: it is what distinguishes us from others.
David Buckingham (2008) argues identity is complicated/complex.
Collective Identity: The individual sense of belonging to a group who share a set of traditions of traditions and values (part of identity)
- Not just representation of the mainstream media but also from the self-representations of media users.
"A focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups" - David Buckingham
Representation: Any consideration of a 'collective identity' must take into account the role that representation plays within the constructions of a media text.
David Gauntlett - "Identity is now consciously constructed and the media provides some of the tools to help us construct our identities. The media contains a huge number of messaged about identity and acceptable lifestyles.
At the same time the public have their own set of feelings. The media and media consumers are in a dialogue in which neither over powers the other"
Anthony Giddens - "There is a social structure that which shapes our lives (traditions, institutions, moral codes, established ways of doing things), but it relies on individuals following these structures" - Changing social structure over time
"When they act differently, the social structure can change. Structuration is the process where human agency and social structure are in a constant relationship and the social structure is reproduced by the repetition of acts by individual people (and therefore can change).
Items representing youth:
Fast Food
Phones/New Technology
Social Media
Alcohol
Swegways
Popular Music - 1D, Justin Bieber
Parties/Clubs
Fashion - Brands
Football/Competitive Sports
Moped
Small Cars
David Buckingham (2008) argues identity is complicated/complex.
Collective Identity: The individual sense of belonging to a group who share a set of traditions of traditions and values (part of identity)
- Not just representation of the mainstream media but also from the self-representations of media users.
"A focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups" - David Buckingham
Representation: Any consideration of a 'collective identity' must take into account the role that representation plays within the constructions of a media text.
David Gauntlett - "Identity is now consciously constructed and the media provides some of the tools to help us construct our identities. The media contains a huge number of messaged about identity and acceptable lifestyles.
At the same time the public have their own set of feelings. The media and media consumers are in a dialogue in which neither over powers the other"
Anthony Giddens - "There is a social structure that which shapes our lives (traditions, institutions, moral codes, established ways of doing things), but it relies on individuals following these structures" - Changing social structure over time
"When they act differently, the social structure can change. Structuration is the process where human agency and social structure are in a constant relationship and the social structure is reproduced by the repetition of acts by individual people (and therefore can change).
Items representing youth:
Fast Food
Phones/New Technology
Social Media
Alcohol
Swegways
Popular Music - 1D, Justin Bieber
Parties/Clubs
Fashion - Brands
Football/Competitive Sports
Moped
Small Cars
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Homework
If both religions share a similar belief system, why are media representations in the West so different?
The fundamental belief of the muslim religion is that God sent a number of prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to his law. Jesus, Moses and Abraham are respected as prophets of God, and the final prophet was Mohammed. Similarly, christians believe that Jesus was the son of God and that he was sent to earth to save humanity from the consequences of its sins.
Media representations of Islam have changed dramatically since the start of the millennium. Prior to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, islam received little media coverage. However, this event caused a significant increase of media coverage on the people of this religion, whilst framing it in a negative light. The US-led "War on Terrorism" following these attacks caused a huge increase in Islamophobia, as the media began to create a stigma against the religion, causing stereotypes and generalisations to take place all over the western world, due to its vast influence. The most common stereotypes are that muslims are jihadis (millitants) and that the religion condones and promotes violence.
The media often focusses on things with of small relation to the religion, and then links them with one another to create a negative representation. These representations are often significantly mediated as well as bias, as they do not consider the points of view of the innocent and peaceful people of the religion. Because 9/11 had such a vast effect on the US, it received lots of media coverage, whilst the positives about the majority of the religion are not highlighted. Because the terrorists responsible for the attack that affected so many Westerners claimed to be muslim, the religion is now generalised based on this minority. This is true for all types of radicalised groups that claim to be linked to the religion.
The situation can be compared to Toderov's theory of disequilibrium. Prior to the organisation of islamic terrorist groups and attacks, the situation could be said to be in a state of equilibrium, as the relationship between the western world and islam was considerably peaceful and relaxed. The disruption occurred when the terrorist acts were carried out, leaving the relationship in a state of disequilibrium. This is ongoing, so the situation has not been resolved and a new equilibrium is yet to be reached.
The fundamental belief of the muslim religion is that God sent a number of prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to his law. Jesus, Moses and Abraham are respected as prophets of God, and the final prophet was Mohammed. Similarly, christians believe that Jesus was the son of God and that he was sent to earth to save humanity from the consequences of its sins.
Media representations of Islam have changed dramatically since the start of the millennium. Prior to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, islam received little media coverage. However, this event caused a significant increase of media coverage on the people of this religion, whilst framing it in a negative light. The US-led "War on Terrorism" following these attacks caused a huge increase in Islamophobia, as the media began to create a stigma against the religion, causing stereotypes and generalisations to take place all over the western world, due to its vast influence. The most common stereotypes are that muslims are jihadis (millitants) and that the religion condones and promotes violence.
The media often focusses on things with of small relation to the religion, and then links them with one another to create a negative representation. These representations are often significantly mediated as well as bias, as they do not consider the points of view of the innocent and peaceful people of the religion. Because 9/11 had such a vast effect on the US, it received lots of media coverage, whilst the positives about the majority of the religion are not highlighted. Because the terrorists responsible for the attack that affected so many Westerners claimed to be muslim, the religion is now generalised based on this minority. This is true for all types of radicalised groups that claim to be linked to the religion.
The situation can be compared to Toderov's theory of disequilibrium. Prior to the organisation of islamic terrorist groups and attacks, the situation could be said to be in a state of equilibrium, as the relationship between the western world and islam was considerably peaceful and relaxed. The disruption occurred when the terrorist acts were carried out, leaving the relationship in a state of disequilibrium. This is ongoing, so the situation has not been resolved and a new equilibrium is yet to be reached.
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Mediation
Mediation - The process of electing and shaping, creating meaning from an original event. An event which is mediated within the systems of values of an institution e.g. (News of the World, CH4 News). Their view is represented to the public.
“media do not just offer us a transparent
‘window on the world’ but a mediated version of the world. They
don’t just present reality, they re-present it – David Buckingham…”
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Representations in the Media
Muslim Representation
In this clip, a Government Official Luitenant featured on popular American news channel Fox News. In his appearance, he suggests that 18-28 year old muslim males should be profiled and then strip searched, as he believes that they are more likely to be carrying dangerous weapons or explosives. This is an example of a generalisation in the media where a whole ideology/religion is being generalised and stereotyped based on a small minority, likely to have stemmed from the 2001 attacks.
In this video, also from Fox News, the news reporter once again makes a generalisation about refugees of muslim religion. They have done this by showing a video of a small group of muslims chanting similarly to that of terrorist groups. Not only does this appear to be Fox News creating a negative representation of muslims a whole, comparing the entire religion to this small group, but the footage used was inaccurate, as it was from 5 years prior.
Gender
In this news report from American channel CNN, females are negatively represented. This clip focusses on binge alcoholism amongst adolescent females, creating the impression that all females condone this behaviour. The narrator puts particular stress and emphasis on negative words such as 'celebrates promiscuity', 'raunchy sex talk' and 'love of alcohol'. The report has been mediated extensively, this is evident in the interview section, where an interviewee is chosen who shares the same view on the matter as channel/news report, although the location gives us the impression that the question is spontaneous and unplanned.
This newspaper column form The Daily Mirror also represents females negatively. It does this by suggesting that women's football is inferior to men's football, by saying things such as 'A women's place is in the wrong' and 'women already cost me enough'. These phrases could be argued to be sexist generalisations, as the impression is created that the columnist is referring to all women in this inferior manner.
Age
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150187/Under-18s-commit-quarter-crimes-Young-offenders-responsible-million-crimes-just-year.html
Figures show more than half of the stories about teenage boys in national and regional newspapers in the past year (4,374 out of 8,629) were about crime. The word most commonly used to describe them was "yobs" (591 times), followed by "thugs" (254 times), "sick" (119 times) and "feral" (96 times).
This online newspaper article is about the crime committed by youths in the UK. This report focusses extensively upon the negative characteristics of a proportionately small amount of this demographic, using statistical data to reinforce this. For example, "A quarter of all crimes are committed by under 18's, an official report suggests". Although the data used is likely to be valid and accurate, there is no mention in the article of any positivity relating to this age bracket, meaning that the majority of youths (which are not criminals and are generally good people) are not highlighted.
This notice on a shop window openly discriminates against youths. It does this by stating that the number of youths allowed in the shop is limited. This has been done because of negative portrayals of youth, representing them as criminals. This sign does not consider the youth as a whole and instead focusses on 'the 1%', most likely due to representations of youth in the media, where success is highlighted little in comparison to failure.
In this clip, a Government Official Luitenant featured on popular American news channel Fox News. In his appearance, he suggests that 18-28 year old muslim males should be profiled and then strip searched, as he believes that they are more likely to be carrying dangerous weapons or explosives. This is an example of a generalisation in the media where a whole ideology/religion is being generalised and stereotyped based on a small minority, likely to have stemmed from the 2001 attacks.
In this video, also from Fox News, the news reporter once again makes a generalisation about refugees of muslim religion. They have done this by showing a video of a small group of muslims chanting similarly to that of terrorist groups. Not only does this appear to be Fox News creating a negative representation of muslims a whole, comparing the entire religion to this small group, but the footage used was inaccurate, as it was from 5 years prior.
Gender
In this news report from American channel CNN, females are negatively represented. This clip focusses on binge alcoholism amongst adolescent females, creating the impression that all females condone this behaviour. The narrator puts particular stress and emphasis on negative words such as 'celebrates promiscuity', 'raunchy sex talk' and 'love of alcohol'. The report has been mediated extensively, this is evident in the interview section, where an interviewee is chosen who shares the same view on the matter as channel/news report, although the location gives us the impression that the question is spontaneous and unplanned.
This newspaper column form The Daily Mirror also represents females negatively. It does this by suggesting that women's football is inferior to men's football, by saying things such as 'A women's place is in the wrong' and 'women already cost me enough'. These phrases could be argued to be sexist generalisations, as the impression is created that the columnist is referring to all women in this inferior manner.
Age
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150187/Under-18s-commit-quarter-crimes-Young-offenders-responsible-million-crimes-just-year.html
Figures show more than half of the stories about teenage boys in national and regional newspapers in the past year (4,374 out of 8,629) were about crime. The word most commonly used to describe them was "yobs" (591 times), followed by "thugs" (254 times), "sick" (119 times) and "feral" (96 times).
At the same time a survey of nearly 1,000 teenage boys found 85 per cent believed newspapers portray them in a bad light.
As a result of the negative press, 80 per cent felt adults were more wary of them now than they had been a year ago..
The most popular reason for their wariness, cited by 51 per cent was 'media stories about teen boys' compared with 40 per cent who said their wariness was based on their own or friends' bad experiences of other teens."
This online newspaper article is about the crime committed by youths in the UK. This report focusses extensively upon the negative characteristics of a proportionately small amount of this demographic, using statistical data to reinforce this. For example, "A quarter of all crimes are committed by under 18's, an official report suggests". Although the data used is likely to be valid and accurate, there is no mention in the article of any positivity relating to this age bracket, meaning that the majority of youths (which are not criminals and are generally good people) are not highlighted.
This notice on a shop window openly discriminates against youths. It does this by stating that the number of youths allowed in the shop is limited. This has been done because of negative portrayals of youth, representing them as criminals. This sign does not consider the youth as a whole and instead focusses on 'the 1%', most likely due to representations of youth in the media, where success is highlighted little in comparison to failure.
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Friday, 19 June 2015
Semiotics - The study of sign and symbols
There is a sign, an object that is called the signifier
The meaning that is given to that is called the signified. This is nor fixed and can change with time or the society or culture that it is shown to.
Denotation is what you see and connotation is the meaning that you give when you see it.
Codes and Conventions
There is so much that happens at a conscious level, or even unconscious level that you are already aware of in your work , such as genre conventions , narrative conventions, codes about camera angles and lighting etc.
It is not just about what you are going through those and saying how you used them, what you denoted (the signifier) to create meaning, the connotation that you hope your audience will attribute to them.
Theorists
Fiske (1982) - "denotation is filmed, connotation is how its filmed"
Saussure (1983) - "Audience can look at a media text fro a syntactic point of view, just describing what they see, or from a representational or symbolic point of view where the attribute meaning to what they see"
Barthes (1967) - An audience's understanding of media texts comes from their understanding and knowledge of frequently told myths or stories. He argues that the organisation of signs encodes particular messages and ideologies
Chandler (2005) - Says that semiotics is important because it helps us not to take 'reality' for granted as something that can exist without human interpretation.
Stuart Hall - Argued that meaning is not fixed by the producer, and the audience is not passive, gave us different readings, the preferred reading is where the audience reads it the way you wanted them to.
Answer Plan
So the media language you use is trying to construct a meaning that you wish the audience to read, and if you are talking about this years work, the language should be consistent across all three products so there to be a sense of branding and one campaign.
So using the four micro elements, mise en scene, camerawork, editing and sound, pick three examples for each where this helps you create meaning and construct the whole representation thing.
You can also talk about the micro elements, genre, narrative, representation, and use them as a source of theorists, as they all are relevant.
There is a sign, an object that is called the signifier
The meaning that is given to that is called the signified. This is nor fixed and can change with time or the society or culture that it is shown to.
Denotation is what you see and connotation is the meaning that you give when you see it.
Codes and Conventions
There is so much that happens at a conscious level, or even unconscious level that you are already aware of in your work , such as genre conventions , narrative conventions, codes about camera angles and lighting etc.
It is not just about what you are going through those and saying how you used them, what you denoted (the signifier) to create meaning, the connotation that you hope your audience will attribute to them.
Theorists
Fiske (1982) - "denotation is filmed, connotation is how its filmed"
Saussure (1983) - "Audience can look at a media text fro a syntactic point of view, just describing what they see, or from a representational or symbolic point of view where the attribute meaning to what they see"
Barthes (1967) - An audience's understanding of media texts comes from their understanding and knowledge of frequently told myths or stories. He argues that the organisation of signs encodes particular messages and ideologies
Chandler (2005) - Says that semiotics is important because it helps us not to take 'reality' for granted as something that can exist without human interpretation.
Stuart Hall - Argued that meaning is not fixed by the producer, and the audience is not passive, gave us different readings, the preferred reading is where the audience reads it the way you wanted them to.
Answer Plan
So the media language you use is trying to construct a meaning that you wish the audience to read, and if you are talking about this years work, the language should be consistent across all three products so there to be a sense of branding and one campaign.
So using the four micro elements, mise en scene, camerawork, editing and sound, pick three examples for each where this helps you create meaning and construct the whole representation thing.
You can also talk about the micro elements, genre, narrative, representation, and use them as a source of theorists, as they all are relevant.
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Typing - used in media (often films) to allow the audience to quickly familiarise with the character.
- Archetype - familiar character who has emerged from hundreds of years of fairytales and storytelling
- Stereotype - Ways of grouping people based on limited characteristics
- Generic type - a character familiar through use in a particular genre
Effects Theory
The Hypodermic Needle Model - Suggests that people just take in media passively (believing everything)
Two-Step Flow Theory - Being influenced by opinion leaders
Uses & Gratifications Theory - Audience are active individuals rather than passive ones. They will select what they watch, will consume in different ways and believe different things.
- Blumler and Katz Diversion - Escape from everyday problems and routine Personal Relationships - Using the media for emotional and other interaction, e.g substituting soap operas for family life Personal Identity - Finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviours and values from texts Surveillance - Information from which could be useful for living e.g news.
Reception Theory - Based on Stuart Halls encoding/decoding theory
the text is encoded by the producer and decoded by the reader. There may be a differences between two readings of a text based on different audiences
Narrative Theory:
Meaning : Roland Barthes - texts may be open (unravelled in a lot of different ways) or 'closed' (there is only one obvious thread to pull on). The threads that you pull on try to unravel meaning and are called narrative codes. (enigma code)
Structure: Toderov - Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, New equilibrium
Character: Vladimir Propp - Produced a typography of characters and their actions (31 character types in total)
Conflict and Resolution: Claude Levi-Strauss - recognised the constant creation of conflict/opposition propels narrative. Narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict. (Binary Oppositions)
Representation of Youth
London Riots 2011
Stan Cohen (1972)
Stan Cohen (1972)
- Moral Panics - Leads from deviant behaviour
- Deviance Amplification - A cycle of increasing numbers of reports on a category of undesirable behaviour, leading to a moral panic. Police/Politician involvement etc.
- Folk Devils - groups of people who can be seen as a threat to society
Gerbner - Cultivation Theory. People who watch a lot of TV over estimate the amount of crime in the real world (Mean World Syndrome). One text has little effect whilst when the media show the same thing again and again it has a large effect.
David Gauntlett - "Identities are not 'given' but constructed and negotiated."
David Buckingham - "A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and their consequences for both individuals and for social groups."
Gramsci - Marxist - Society (and the media) is run by an elite who just want to make sure they keep their position. (hegemony - the political predominance of the running of a state)
If young people feel they are being misrepresented and feel that they don't have a voice then they can feel disengaged in society. Social media can give them that voice. Steve Anderson (creative director of debate show 'Free Speech': "Younger people are becoming a lot more empowered because of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Blogging"
Quadrophenia 1979
Both the mods and rockers are represented stereotypically of youth; being portrayed as having a strong interest in females, being involved in violence, drink and drugs and there is a strong sense of them belonging to a cultural subgroup. Males are the dominant gender and women are frequently objectified
Quadrophenia 1979
Both the mods and rockers are represented stereotypically of youth; being portrayed as having a strong interest in females, being involved in violence, drink and drugs and there is a strong sense of them belonging to a cultural subgroup. Males are the dominant gender and women are frequently objectified
Friday, 12 June 2015
This Is England (2006) Representation
Heavily contextualised (particularly the introduction) through the use of montage/real life events, attempting to blur the lines between reality and fiction, making the viewer feel that this is an accurate reflection of the time period.
Woody's gang mostly challenge the stereotypes of the skinhead culture. They do this by acting inclusive towards people around them and are much more accepting of society, however, they take great care of what they look like, in true skinhead fashion. In contrast, Combo's skinhead gang are much more far right-wing in their political beliefs, believing that immigrants are to blame for the problems associated with England. They are very patriotic and have the strong belief that the Falklands War was one that was fought without reason. Their political views may be considered a more naive approach, as they have less consideration for other influences. Combo clearly is mentally unstable due to his sharp change of mood during his attack on Milky.
Woody's gang mostly challenge the stereotypes of the skinhead culture. They do this by acting inclusive towards people around them and are much more accepting of society, however, they take great care of what they look like, in true skinhead fashion. In contrast, Combo's skinhead gang are much more far right-wing in their political beliefs, believing that immigrants are to blame for the problems associated with England. They are very patriotic and have the strong belief that the Falklands War was one that was fought without reason. Their political views may be considered a more naive approach, as they have less consideration for other influences. Combo clearly is mentally unstable due to his sharp change of mood during his attack on Milky.
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Collective Identity Terms/Theories
Collective Identity - Collective identity refers to a person's sense of belonging to a group. The identity of the group, or the 'collective,' becomes a part of the person's individual identity. The idea here is that by participating in social activities, a person can develop a sense of belonging and an identity that goes beyond the person.
Henry Jenkins - Audiences are becoming participatorial rather than spectatorial largely due to the availability of technology and society.
Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze Theory - Audiences are positioned to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male, such as through the extensive use of focussing particularly on the curvature of the female body. - Leads to the objectification of women. Women viewers are made to view the product SECONDARILY, from the point of view of a male.
Mediation - The ways that the media represent and reconstruct reality, sometimes creating an idea that is not truly representative of the real subject.
Henry Jenkins - Audiences are becoming participatorial rather than spectatorial largely due to the availability of technology and society.
Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze Theory - Audiences are positioned to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male, such as through the extensive use of focussing particularly on the curvature of the female body. - Leads to the objectification of women. Women viewers are made to view the product SECONDARILY, from the point of view of a male.
- Objectification - To view something as an object rather than a being
- Jonathon Schroader (1998) - "To gaze implies more than just to look at. It signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of gaze"
Baudrillard - The media presents a simulation of the world that is artificial and 'hyperreal'
- Some audiences consider this hyperreality to be reality - leading to hypersexuality etc
- The representation of media is mediated through the media (War reporting e.g)
Mediation - The ways that the media represent and reconstruct reality, sometimes creating an idea that is not truly representative of the real subject.
- Selection vs Rejection, Focussing, Organisation
- Link to Post Modernism/Global Village?
Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.
- Link to Post Modernism/Global Village?
Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.
Genre
GENRE THEORY
Steve Neale
It is easy to underplay the differences within a genre. Steve Neale declares that:
There are a repertoire of elements that work together to suggest genre, which are a useful framework to use for analysis
Setting
Character
Narrative
Iconography
Style
Gledhill
"There are no rules of inclusion and exclusion" (Gledhill, 1985)
"Genres are not discrete systems consisting of a fixed number of listable items (Gledhill, 1985)
Chandler
It is difficult to make clear cut distinctions between one genre and another: genres overlap, and there are 'mixed genres' such as comedy thrillers (Chandler 2000)
Burton
Each text in a given genre shares particular key elements to make up the generic formula:
Protagonists
Stock characters
Plots/Stock Situations
Icons
Background and Décor
Themes
Katie Wales - Genre is an intertextual concept
David Buckingham - "Genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change"
Nicholas Abercrombie - "Producers set out to exploit genre conventions. It makes sound economic sense. Sets, properties and costumes can be used over and over again. Teams of starts, writers, directors and technicians can be built up, giving economies of scale.
Gunther Kress - Genre is "a kind of text that derives its form from the structure of a (frequently repeated) social occasion, with its characteristic participants and their purposes"
Christian Metz - Stages of genres: Experimental - conventions being established etc. /Classic - genre established but experiments with different scenes and scenarios/Parody - comedic effect watering down the expectations of the film/Deconstruction - hybrids
Apply the concept of genre to your media product
The product that i will be applying the concept of genre to will be a short film opening that i created in my first year of media studies. This piece was titled 'Captive' and was based around a disorientated and confused young male protagonist, who wakes up tied down to a chair in an abandoned setting, before realising that he is being watched by a higher entity. The genre of this was horror.
In many ways, this product conformed to Steve Neale's genre theory, where he suggested that "genres are instances of repetition and difference". In my product, I ensured to adhere to many conventions that would regularly be associated with the horror genre, in order to for it to be recognised by the target audience. For example, we used the a variety of atmospheric diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, using a suspenseful and minor soundtrack throughout. In addition, we conformed to many other elements such as the use of props, where a chair, rope and blood was used in the scene. However, we also conformed to the latter part of Neale'es theory by challenging certain conventions, also adhering to another of his theories "difference is absolutely essential to the economy of a genre". Doing this allowed us to use our creativity, and therefore ensure that our product was set apart from existing products, in order to engage the audience. Ways that we done this was by opposing Toderov's theory of equilibrium, by starting with a scene of extreme disequilibrium rather than equilibrium. In addition to this, we also used a young female antagonist character. Although this is becoming more popular in the modern day, traditionally doing this would be uncommon.
DNF
Steve Neale
It is easy to underplay the differences within a genre. Steve Neale declares that:
- "Genres are instances of repetition and difference" (Neale 1980, 48)
- "Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre" (Neale 1980)
Toderov
"Any instances of genre will be necessarily different" (Toderov - cited in Gledhell, 1985, 60)
Lacey
There are a repertoire of elements that work together to suggest genre, which are a useful framework to use for analysis
Setting
Character
Narrative
Iconography
Style
Gledhill
"There are no rules of inclusion and exclusion" (Gledhill, 1985)
"Genres are not discrete systems consisting of a fixed number of listable items (Gledhill, 1985)
Chandler
It is difficult to make clear cut distinctions between one genre and another: genres overlap, and there are 'mixed genres' such as comedy thrillers (Chandler 2000)
Burton
Each text in a given genre shares particular key elements to make up the generic formula:
Protagonists
Stock characters
Plots/Stock Situations
Icons
Background and Décor
Themes
Katie Wales - Genre is an intertextual concept
David Buckingham - "Genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change"
Nicholas Abercrombie - "Producers set out to exploit genre conventions. It makes sound economic sense. Sets, properties and costumes can be used over and over again. Teams of starts, writers, directors and technicians can be built up, giving economies of scale.
Gunther Kress - Genre is "a kind of text that derives its form from the structure of a (frequently repeated) social occasion, with its characteristic participants and their purposes"
Christian Metz - Stages of genres: Experimental - conventions being established etc. /Classic - genre established but experiments with different scenes and scenarios/Parody - comedic effect watering down the expectations of the film/Deconstruction - hybrids
Apply the concept of genre to your media product
The product that i will be applying the concept of genre to will be a short film opening that i created in my first year of media studies. This piece was titled 'Captive' and was based around a disorientated and confused young male protagonist, who wakes up tied down to a chair in an abandoned setting, before realising that he is being watched by a higher entity. The genre of this was horror.
In many ways, this product conformed to Steve Neale's genre theory, where he suggested that "genres are instances of repetition and difference". In my product, I ensured to adhere to many conventions that would regularly be associated with the horror genre, in order to for it to be recognised by the target audience. For example, we used the a variety of atmospheric diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, using a suspenseful and minor soundtrack throughout. In addition, we conformed to many other elements such as the use of props, where a chair, rope and blood was used in the scene. However, we also conformed to the latter part of Neale'es theory by challenging certain conventions, also adhering to another of his theories "difference is absolutely essential to the economy of a genre". Doing this allowed us to use our creativity, and therefore ensure that our product was set apart from existing products, in order to engage the audience. Ways that we done this was by opposing Toderov's theory of equilibrium, by starting with a scene of extreme disequilibrium rather than equilibrium. In addition to this, we also used a young female antagonist character. Although this is becoming more popular in the modern day, traditionally doing this would be uncommon.
DNF
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