Apply the concept of representation to one of your coursework productions

Philip Rayner defines representation as "The process by which the media represent the real world". The concept of representation can be applied to my foundation portfolio film opening task, titled Captive. This text of the horror genre is based around the kidnapping of a youth who is found trespassing in a derelict area by a young demonic female who resides in the area. The ways in which their gender and youth is represented can be analysed.

Firstly, the protagonist, a male, was created with the intention to to depict a regular youth, which is reinforced by his typical clothing and seemingly regular appearance. It could be said that this character conforms to as well as challenge various stereotypes. Anne Gould (1999) suggests that there are six predominant stereotypes of youths in the media: "nihilistic, self destructive, rebellious, sexual, belonging to artificial tribes and violent". It could be argued that some of these representations can be found within our text. For example, this character could be viewed as rebellious, due to him trespassing, and using strong expletives such as in the final line "where the fuck am I". Giroux argues that media causes "youth to become an empty category in representation and reflects adults concerns" and this could be applied to our text due to these negative connotations of his actions, which do not necessarily provide a true representation of youth as a collective. On the other hand however, semantic codes (Roland Barthes) can be analysed in order to see that the teen is seen to carry a camera with him showing his creative desires, and it could be suggested that he is willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve artistic outcomes - which could be seen as a positive representation, as this defies the idea of youth being nihilistic, and instead plays on a more positive stereotype of youth that is widely thought of the youth - that they are curious. This reinforces Tessa Perkins' ideology that stereotyping is not always a simple process, and that stereotyping is not always negative (1979).

The representation of this character can also be analysed in terms of his gender. I believe that gender stereotypes are generally challenged within Captive, due to the position of power that the male is being held in, which challenge the idea of a patriarchal society and social ideas that males hold a position of power that is superior to that of the female. This is challenged heavily in the text, as the male is presented as helpless and weak where they are traditionally represented as strong and powerful. This representation of weakness is reinforced regularly through the use of high angle shots, looking over the character and portraying him as submissive. The use of props such as rope symbolise his inability to overcome his circumstances, regardless of his gender - reinforcing this further.

Typically, in horror films such as Scream, females are victimised as males are often portrayed as deviant. In Captive however, it is a female that is seen as the source of pain and as the character to be feared. Again, this challenges typical gender stereotypes the flips the idea of a patriarchal society, whilst also subverting common ideologies regarding females in the media, such as Laura Mulvey's male gaze, as the female in our text shows is presented as conservatively dressed and is not sexualised to any extent. The age of this character can also be considered, the fact that she is a young girl, aged in her young teens would traditionally cause the audience to carry some pre-conceived ideas that they be innocent and pure. When considering Barthes' symbolic code further, we can see that the child wears a long white dress, further carrying the connotations of purity and carries dolls suggesting normality. However, this is juxtaposed heavily by the way that she is represented as demonic, through the presence of blood and the way in which she appears content in her derelict environment, carrying our sadistic behaviour. Again, this challenges typical media representations of young children, who are normally portrayed as innocent as they are in 'Prisoners.'


Barthes' semantic codes suggest representations

Captive

Representation of Protagonist

• Normal clothes to allow audience to familiarise
• Trespassing - suggests deviance but also curiosity - Anne Gould's stereotypes of youth 1999 (rebellious) but photography disproves some aspects such as Nihilistic, and shows artistic and creativity
• Expletives used 'where the fuck am I' - Anne Gould
• Male is placed in a position of no power - confined to chair, ropes symbolise this

Representation of antagonist

• Evil/Demonic - Challenging traditional representations of females in that she not represented in conformance to traditional gender roles
• Powerful - not conforming to patriarchic society 
• Age - children usually victimised and seen as innocent, however, the opposite is suggested

Collective Identity Essay Structure

Introduction

• Define Collective Identity
• Media influence on identity - Identity is consciously constructed
• Define Mediation + Quotes - Buckingham/Merrin
• Hegemony
• Hypodermic/Uses+Grats

Youth

• Youth Typical Representations - Ann Gould
• Statistics
• London Riots (2011) - Recent news event reinforcing these - BBC Site 2011- 'Englands Rioters: Less Educated, Younger, Poorer'- Deviancy Amplification, created a moral panic
• Attack The Block/Ill Manors -
• Quadrophenia -
• The Young Ones

Gender

• Typical Representations
• Ovaltine/Fairy Liquid
• Robin Thicke
• Diet Coke
• This Girl Can/Argument of tokenism

Conclusion 

Hypodermic Needle Model vs Uses and Gratifications - Its up to the audience to decide.
Talk about the future!!!!!

Apply the concept of audience to one of your coursework productions

Intro of text
Explanation of the fluid concept/ difficulty of conceiving audience - (McDougall) but the importance of establishing one

1) How we found our audience - sigur listeners, questionnaires, IMDB, Hartley Classification
2) Ien Ang - psychographics, Young and Rubicam, Uses and Grats (Katz and Blamer 1974), Maslows Hierarchy
3) Focus groups/Stuart Hall/Reception Theory

 Conclusion

The concept of audience can be applied to my Advanced Portfolio music video task. This was a narrative and performance based project concerning a man fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world, who battles his fears and anxieties by discovering a form of escape - drumming. The soundtrack used for this was 'Festival' by Icelandic post-rock band  Sigur Rós. Although the concept of a target audience can be relatively fluid, and it is important to recognise that the actual audience may differ slightly from those that are implied, it is beneficial for a producer to recognise their target audience as it allows them to adapt their production to a certain group, which is more likely to ensure economic success.

When carrying out research to find out our target audience prior to carrying out the production, we considered it to be necessary to gather a base demographic, in order to find who will be most likely to watch our music video. Due to the nature of the music video genre, our primary research questionnaires suggested that generally, audiences that watch music videos do so most frequently because they are attracted by the music rather than the visual content. Put simply, fans of music artists watch their music videos. Following obtaining this information, we set out to discover Sigur Rós' typical audience demographic. In order to do this, we carried out secondary research, by setting out to find which types of audience enjoy experimental post-rock music (Sigur Rós' genre). From doing this, we found that generally more mature listeners enjoy this genre, due to its ambience and thought-provoking content. Furthermore we analysed the demographic of viewers who watched Sigur Ros' documentary "Heima". We did this using IMDB's rating statistics, which tells users the demographic of IMDB raters for the documentary. From doing this, we found that users who rated the documentary tended to be between 18 and 26, and mostly male. Although this method of data collection may not have been entirely accurate as other viewers will have consumed the text but not reviewed it, we considered this to be a fairly reliable foundation to build upon - reinforcing our other research.

Ien Ang suggests however that "Audiencehood is becoming an even more multi faced, fragmented and diversified repertoire of practices and experiences", meaning that psychographic and behavioural factors should also be factored as well as demographic factors when it comes to considering audience. This meant that it was necessary to scrutinise our target audience in more depth in relation to the narrative of our product, rather than just considering factors such as Age and Gender from the Hartley Classification. Young and Rubricam suggested 7 psychographic characteristics of people that can be considered when analysing audience (Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation
 )- mainstreamers, aspirers, succeeders, resigned, explorers, strugglers and reformers. Given that the narrative of our music video was based around escapism and giving the audience an immersive experience (which we found to be an important factor in an audience's viewing experience from a primary research questionnaire given to our target audience pre-production), we decided to aim our product at 'explorers', as the music video provides them with an opportunity to suspend disbelief and escape. The Uses and Gratifications theory, theorised by Blumler  and Katz, which suggests that audiences are active rather than passive individuals and consume media for different reasons, can be applied similarly, as we can target an audience that would seek diversion, again due to the escapist and immersive nature of the narrative.

We ensured to accommodate the audience of the text throughout the production and planning by ensuring the narrative suited their preferences. We done this by carrying out various focus groups consisting of members of our target demographic, which allowed us to ensure that the desires and needs of our target audience were being achieved in our production. We also used online polls, carried out throughout the production process to do this, which enabled us to gauge a stronger understanding of the audience's preferences in terms of narrative and the audience's overall experience. These proved particularly useful and allowed us to adjust the products before their completion so that they were best received by our audience. Although we strived to ensure that our production suited the audience's preferences, it could be argued, as it is outlined in Stuart Hall's reception theory, that different audiences will decode texts differently, so viewers within my target audience could take different meanings from the text given the fluid nature of 'audience' and that viewers will still differ on an individual level, although they may still be a part of a similar demographic.

In conclusion, we considered it imperative to consider a target audience for our production in order to ensure its satisfies the needs and wants of Sigur Rós listeners, and to ensure its economic success (which would be a necessity in a live brief). We also made sure that a sample of the audience were consulted regularly in the production of the project to confirm that it would be well received by the wider audience. However, we also noted that although we had an idea of the types of viewers that would be consuming our music video, the audience is not fixed and there is opportunity for individuals to interpret and decode the text in different ways - which was complimented by the fact that our music video provided scope for this - through an extensive use of symbolic and enigma codes.

Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to Media Language

Media language is the producer's way of creating meaning within a certain medium. A producer can chose to do this in a number of ways, such as through the inclusion of signs.

Saussure - Audiences can look at texts from a syntactic point of view, just describing what they see, or from a symbolic and representational point of view attributing meaning to what they see. This reinforces Stuart Hall's theory that audiences decode a text that is encoded by a producer, each of them perhaps reading it differently to suggest different meaning.

The media language in a text can be categorised into different micro-elements such as mies-en-scene, camera work, sound and editing using Semiotics. This can be applied to my A2 coursework production, the music video 'festival' .....

Incorporate throughout
Roland Barthes - Semiotics / Symbolic codes- the organisation of signs encodes particular signs and ideologies can

Semantic Codes = suggests meaning by connotation
Symbolic Codes = Acts at a wider level - symbolism (bigger picture) ra


In terms of camera work...

• use of aerial shots allow the audience to contextualise his relative size and suggest isolation
• Frequent use of high angle shots vs low angle shots (positioning himself on a hill after rescue)/ low angle shots when he finds the drums to show empowerment

Editing

• Fast pace (signifier) during climax to express the characters passion and mental state as he escapes through music (signified)
• Slow motion, (shooting in 60fps, slowing to 40% speed) also reflects this and shows his immersion

Mise en scene

• Location - desolate - reflecting context of a post apocalyptic world, no signs of human activity, implying lack of human presence
• Props - presence of bones and fire suggest he is now animalistic and working with nature to survive, blood - working to the bone - reinforcing the theme of a post-apocalyptic world
• Costume - Dirty suggests poverty, lack of substitutes
• purple smoke - connotations of empowerment 

Sound

• Talk about how the song climaxes, with its sombre tone at the start suggesting characters feeling
• Use of non-diegetic asynchronous sound (helicopter) and silence (utilised heavily by acclaimed directors such as Scorsese) when he shouts (representing) his lack of influence and the power of the rescuer
• can't hear his breath after drumming, suggesting he is still powerless 

Narrative

• Narrative driven on music (medium of escape), drums as an instrument of passion 

Apply the concept of narrative to one of your coursework productions

Narrative is the coherence/organisation of a series of facts. In everything, we seek a beginning, middle and end. This can be applied to Captive, a film opening .....The film conforms to Peter Wollen's theory of Alternative narrative....

Todorov - Theory of equilibrium, our narrative does not conform in the it begins at a disequilibrium in order to disorientate the viewer in the way that the character is, and to represent the way that the character is thrown into his situation albeit being unaware of how it happened. Similarly, Barthes's Narrative structure which .... was not conformed to due to this.

This also utilises Roland Barthe's narrative codes, as the plot is not resolved at the end and would be (later on in the film). In relation to Barthes' narrative structure, the film ends at his third stage 'an increase in tension', aiming to leave the viewer asking questions. Aristotle suggests that the most important aspect of narrative is plot, the ordering of events, and the way that the text utilises an open narrative allows the audience to make sense of what has happened and ask what happens next.

In terms of character, the narrative conforms to propp's character theory through the use of a hero and a villain which Berger combined with Levi Strauss's theory of binary oppositions to show how the two could be shown as conflicting within the narrative. However, it could be argued that the character's are not necessarily stereotypical, as a female villain was used whilst the male was victimised.

Time manipulation devices are used in the form of flashbacks, which are another important aspect of the narrative... They are used to...

1a Theories!

Creativity

Gauntlet: 'Creativity is something new that communicates something to someone"
Bentley: 'Creativity is making of the new, rearranging of the old'
Jones (1993): 'A process needed for problem solving... not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by most people'
Csikszentmihalyi (1996): "Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation"

Example:
Bentley's "The making of the new, the rearranging of the old" could be applied to Festival through the way it begins to develop conventions by merging media with film, such as by using film-style colour correction and a widescreen aspect ratio, whilst attempting to use forms that are unique from the modern music video genre such as the strong focus on the incorporation of the performance within the narrative of the video.

Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqVkxZRnGn0 - Audience/1b

Apply the concept of Genre to one of your productions

Remember to examine how different genre theories can be applied to the text


Introduction

 Genre can be defined as the way a text can be categorised with other texts based on reoccurring elements and similarities. Genres are usually employed by producers because markets are already established, companies can become specialised and reuse things/be skilled in the practice. Gledhill, 1985, suggests, "genres are not discrete systems consisting of a fixed number of listable items". This means that the idea of genre is fluid, open to interpretation and that it is sometimes difficult to categorise texts into a genre, as there are no 'rules' which attribute a text to a particular genre. My AS film opening Captive can be analysed in terms of the conventions it uses in order to suggest a genre. Chandler suggests that genres can overlap, as is evident in our film, a horror-thriller. Lacey states that "there are repertoires of elements that work together to suggest a genre", these can provide a useful framework for analysis, and are as follows: setting, character, iconography, narrative and style.

• Setting

Abandoned WW2 site, isolation... Compared to Cabin in the woods e.g. (isolation)

• Character

Use of young male protagonist (Stock Character) and young child female antagonist . Challenges Propp's theory of stock characters - Steve Neale - Difference is absolutely essential in the economy of genre but trend in modern horror films such as the ring, juxtaposition of a child form (frequent connotations if innocence) against an evil character....BINARY oppositions - Levi Strauss - Good/Evil

• Narrative

Enigma code (Barthes) - Build in tension, influenced by the rising soundtrack and leaving on a cliff hanger. Challenging Todorov's equilibrium theory and genre conventions generally, reinforcing an above quote. Use of time manipulation devices - flashbacks

• Iconography

Props - dolls, blood, rope, Cameras 

• Style

Colour correction, editing fast cuts, disorientated camera work with POVs

Practice Paper

6) Discuss how one or more groups of people are represented through the media

PLAN

Intro

• Mediation - Process of a media outlet using focussing and selection vs rejection in order to create a false or representation of a particular group or issue - often conforming to stereotypes. David Buckingham - "The media do not just offer a transparent window of the world, but a mediated one. They don't just present reality, they represent it." 
• It could be argued that mediation is a processed used that it imperative to the economy of the industry - Merrin (2005) - "The media do not reflect and represent the reality of the public, but produce it, employing this simulation to justify their own continuing existence"
• Mediation to maintain hegemony (Gramsci). - Dyer (1979) "Stereotypes are all about power, those who have power stereotype those without power" - Media corporations are powerful, and are controlled by those with wealth and influence

Youth 

Contemporary

• Youth are an identity group that are often misrepresented in the media in the present day.
• Youth Media Agency - 76% of the reporting of young people in the media is negative.
• In contemporary media, youths are often portrayed as: rebellious, violent, part of an artificial tribe (in line with Ann Gould's 6 youth stereotypes) Attack the block conforms to this.
• E.g Attack the Block (2011), Joe Cornish - a group of youths in East London whose estate becomes under attack from aliens. Throughout we are presented with themes of murder and drugs (when The gang and Sam decide to go to Ron's safe room on the top floor and hide out there, but are shot at by Hi-Hatz, a drug dealer) as well as theft and general deviance, such as in the opening scene when the gang attempt a mugging on a young, white female in the estate
• Ill Manors (2012), directed by Plan B also reinforces these stereotypes by using similar archetype characters, and themes of drug use, murder and sexual abuse throughout.
• The portrayal of youth in this product could create the a negative impression of youths, especially when considering Gerber's Cultivation Theory - people who consume lots of media tend to overestimate the amount of crime. This could lead to them being considered Folk Devils (Stan Cohen), and lead to a Moral Panic. 

• Active viewers (Uses and Gratifications theory) vs. Passive audience (Hypodermic Needle model)
• Youths become an empty category in representation and represents adults concerns, (Giroux) in order to maintain social order (Acland)
• 
  

Historical

• Historical texts both reinforce and contrast with modern representations of youth.
• The Young Ones Musical (1961), Disney J Furie contrasts with this, presenting youths as :

- Active in community - actively trying to save the Simkins Youth Club from the takeover of a property owner by the members decide to put on a show to raise the money needed to buy a lease renewal

- Inclusive/inspirational to younger generations - beach scene where children surround Nicky (Cliff Richard) as he sings

- Polite and caring/helpful asset to community - Nicky, played by Cliff Richard helps young child into boat at harbour area. Social but responsible, socialising in a dedicated space.

• Social norms and structures that make up the structuration process (Anthony Giddens) have changed from one point to another, leading to a change in representation over time.

• In contrast Quadrophenia, (1979) directed by Franc Roddam shows a similar representation to the contemporary text. 
• The film stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a young 1960s London-based Mod who escapes from his dead-end job as a mailroom boy by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines, riding his scooter and brawling with the motorcycle-riding Rockers.
• 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."
• -  Drug taking - Violent - Sex orientated - Link to Ann Gould's stereotype
• Even though the type of violence used by youths in modern films such as Attack the Block or Ill Manors seems much more extreme, the youth in Quadrophenia are still portrayed as having the same aims and destructive behaviour which at the time, created a massive moral panic in society.
• Hegemony reinforced, policing and parental force used

Gender

• Females are a second group that often suffer misrepresentation in the media, many arguing that that the patriarchic nature of society and large media institutions is responsible for this - reflected by the fact that whilst 23% of news reporters are female, 77% are male.
• It may be argued that there has been a significant change in the ways that females are represented in the media over time, with historical media texts often presenting characters using traditional binary gender roles, such as by domesticating the female whilst placing her male counter part in a more powerful, working position.
• EG Fairy Liquid Ad 1966, shows the female washing up (domestic role) appearing to teach child as she does it, assuming that she will have the same role one day. Paying attention to ensure hands kept in good condition - representation of beauty, and presenting as object of male.
• I believe that in the modern day there is more of an effort, albeit sometimes a tokenistic one, to counter these stereotypes, such as through modern adverts such as the ARIEL liqui-tabs advert of 2012, which shows the male to be in a housekeeping role, doing his own washing, whereas historically, media representations of females may suggest that this would be their duty.
• The way that she is presented as an object of the male however still takes place in contemporary media. Laura Mulvey (1975) suggests that audiences are made to view texts from the perspective of a heterosexual male, in her Male Gaze theory, reinforcing this. 
• Robin Thicke Blurred Lines
• Effort to counter gender stereotyping: Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino, starring a female protagonist in a powerful role - however, still sexualised through the latex outfits
• However, Miriam Hanson's Theory of the Female Gaze (1984) suggests that the positioning of the audience to view a text from a females perspective is also common - Diet Coke Ad 2013.

FEMALE GAZE IS HANSON 1984 NOT STUDLAR

FEMALE GAZE IS HANSON 1984 NOT STUDLAR. STUDLAR IS MASOCHISM