Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Discuss the audience appeal of our 3 main texts
The three texts which I have studied are Lost, Mad Men and Peaky Blinders. Each show attracts different types of audiences. Sky ones Lost is an American serial drama which follows the lives of survivors of a plane crash. Losts director is called JJ Abrams. Mad Men is a period drama produced by Matthew Weiner. The drama is shown on AMC and focuses on an advertising business in the 1960s. Finally the BBC2 drama Peaky Blinders, produced by Steven Knight is a drama set in Post-war Birmingham and follows a criminal organisation of former soldiers.
Lost mainly attracts a mainstream and passive audience type. One convention which is used in Lost to appeal to a mainstream and passive audience is the use of stereotypical character roles.
The three texts which I have studied are Lost, Mad Men and Peaky Blinders. Each show attracts different types of audiences. Sky ones Lost is an American serial drama which follows the lives of survivors of a plane crash. Losts director is called JJ Abrams. Mad Men is a period drama produced by Matthew Weiner. The drama is shown on AMC and focuses on an advertising business in the 1960s. Finally the BBC2 drama Peaky Blinders, produced by Steven Knight is a drama set in Post-war Birmingham and follows a criminal organisation of former soldiers.
Lost mainly attracts a mainstream and passive audience type. One convention which is used in Lost to appeal to a mainstream and passive audience is the use of stereotypical character roles.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Uses and gratifications of my chosen texts.
Peaky Blinders-
- Finding out about relevant events in society and the world - Peaky Blinders informs us about a lot of events which were occurring in 1919, this is evident when tommy is confronting CI Chester Campbell and mentions 'The IRA' who were a terrorist group which was well known at the time. This enables the audience to learn about how society use to be and informs them about events which were occurring then.
- Gaining insight to circumstances of others - Peaky Blinders follows Tommy Shelby who lives in Post-World war Birmingham. The audience therefore sees how life was for people in Birmingham at that time. In one scene Tommy is shown taking heroin on his own in a dark room, this allows the audience to see the dark and deprived state society was after the war. This also helps the audience see how life as a soldier coming back from war was as Tommy was taking heroin so that he could forget his miserable and gruesome past of the war.
- Finding reinforcement for personal values - Peaky Blinders
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Peaky Blinders- Audience Targeting
Peaky Blinders - Episode 2
Peaky Blinders is a BBC two crime drama set in post-world war 1 Birmingham. The programme follows a group of former soldiers who have returned home and formed a criminal gang. BBC two screening targets arts, culture, drama and some comedies. The channel aims to appeal to those who are not already served by the more popular BBC one. Over the first 30 or so years, the channel developed a reputation of screening highly praised and prestigious 'High Brow' drama series. As Peaky Blinders was shown on this channel it helped attract its intended 'High Brow' audience.
As Peaky Blinders has very complex character roles and a high quality script, The show is able to attract well known actors and actresses. This is because their reputation can be increased by critical acclaim. Cillian Murphy is very well known actor who had appeared in films such as Batman, he plays the role of the main character Tom Shelby. Another popular actor who appears in Peaky Blinders is Sam Neil who played a role in the well known film Jurassic Park. By the show having well known film stars playing roles with in the text,
Peaky Blinders is a BBC two crime drama set in post-world war 1 Birmingham. The programme follows a group of former soldiers who have returned home and formed a criminal gang. BBC two screening targets arts, culture, drama and some comedies. The channel aims to appeal to those who are not already served by the more popular BBC one. Over the first 30 or so years, the channel developed a reputation of screening highly praised and prestigious 'High Brow' drama series. As Peaky Blinders was shown on this channel it helped attract its intended 'High Brow' audience.
As Peaky Blinders has very complex character roles and a high quality script, The show is able to attract well known actors and actresses. This is because their reputation can be increased by critical acclaim. Cillian Murphy is very well known actor who had appeared in films such as Batman, he plays the role of the main character Tom Shelby. Another popular actor who appears in Peaky Blinders is Sam Neil who played a role in the well known film Jurassic Park. By the show having well known film stars playing roles with in the text,
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Explore the different ways in which audiences and/or users respond to your chosen text
"Explore the different ways in which audiences and/or users respond to your chosen text"
The AMC niche drama Mad Men has had many different audience responses since it has been released. The different responses include been nominated for awards, good reviews from critics and discussions on social media blogs.
Mad Men has been nominated for 206 awards in total and has won 62 of them (15 of them being EMMYs). Showing the positive reaction to the television show from both famous critics and general viewers.
With the increasing popularity of using social media to interact with people around the world, A lot of blogs were formed to discuss Mad Men. An example of a blog that was set up because of the AMC drama was The Guardians Mad Men blog. This popular blog involved episodes of the show, recaps and discussions on different characters and so on.
Mad Mens reviews also showed the positive audience reaction, achieveing a 4 and a half star rating on IMBD
The AMC niche drama Mad Men has had many different audience responses since it has been released. The different responses include been nominated for awards, good reviews from critics and discussions on social media blogs.
Mad Men has been nominated for 206 awards in total and has won 62 of them (15 of them being EMMYs). Showing the positive reaction to the television show from both famous critics and general viewers.
With the increasing popularity of using social media to interact with people around the world, A lot of blogs were formed to discuss Mad Men. An example of a blog that was set up because of the AMC drama was The Guardians Mad Men blog. This popular blog involved episodes of the show, recaps and discussions on different characters and so on.
Mad Mens reviews also showed the positive audience reaction, achieveing a 4 and a half star rating on IMBD
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Lost
Identify who is the intended audience of your chosen text.
Lost is a popular sky 1 drama directed by J.J Abrams. The dramas target audience is passive and mainstream audiences. The director of the show uses many conventions to appeal to the intended target audience.
The first example of a convention used which justifies that Lost is a mainstream text is the use of a non-linear narrative. This is when the narrative is not shown in chronalogical order. This is present in the text when we see Charly in the jungle after the crash has taken place, we then see him have a flashback of when he was on the plane. This is a popular convention used in drama, as lots of other texts from with in the genre use non-linear narratives.
Identify who is the intended audience of your chosen text.
Lost is a popular sky 1 drama directed by J.J Abrams. The dramas target audience is passive and mainstream audiences. The director of the show uses many conventions to appeal to the intended target audience.
The first example of a convention used which justifies that Lost is a mainstream text is the use of a non-linear narrative. This is when the narrative is not shown in chronalogical order. This is present in the text when we see Charly in the jungle after the crash has taken place, we then see him have a flashback of when he was on the plane. This is a popular convention used in drama, as lots of other texts from with in the genre use non-linear narratives.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
How typical is your chosen text to its genre?
How typical is your chosen text to its genre?
The British film "Fishtank" is a social realist film, directed by Andrea Arnold. The film focuses on Mia, an aggressive fifteen-year-old girl, who lives on an Essex estate with her mother, Joanne, and little sister Tyler. She spends most of her days aimlessly. She begins an uneasy friendship with her mothers boyfriend, Connor, who encourages her one interest, dancing. The film is full of many conventions which are typical to the social realist genre.
In the scene where Mia is about to leave her family to go to Wales, her mother is dancing to music while having a cigarette. This scene is very typical to its genre as the music being played is coming from a stereo present in the scene which means the director is using diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is commonly used in social realist films because they want the audience to feel part of the text and create a feel of realism. The song which is being played repeats the lyrics of "life's a bitch and then you die", this reflects the situation which Mia has found herself in as her life has been troubled and hard. This theme is common in most social realist films as they focus on the under represented - the underclass, who find themselves in a very difficult and troubled life. Also Joanne, Mias mum is shown smoking, this is typical iconography of its genre. Alcohol, drugs and cigarettes are very common within the social realist genre as most characters tend to turn their frustration of being trapped in an underclass society to such things.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Identify 3 sci-fi conventions that are present in the narrative and note down scene/narrative descriptions. Try to also identify one genre convention which is not present.
The hunger games is a mixture of many different film genres; sic-fi, action and adventure conventions are all present in the film. An example of a typical sic-fi narrative theme present in The hunger games is the anti establishment ideology, this is projected to the audience in a polysemic narrative device. We see the difference in two societies, we see the rich and beauty of the higher society and the
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
What noir conventions are present in the film 'Drive
Technical conventions - A common convention present in the noir genre is the shadow caused from light shining through venetian blinds, this is shown in the scene when Blanche is in the bathroom after a confrontation with Ryan Gosling, the shadow from the blinds is shown across the back of the bathroom. Another common convention used in the noir genre is the use of low key lighting. Directors use the lighting to show the morales of a character. Ryan Goslings character is shown regularly in the film with half of his face in the light and the other half shadowed, this shows how he has elements of bad about him but also has good intentions. Also this is shown in the scene where the assassin is shown walking towards the lift, he is shown in total darkness which represents his evil side and that he has bad morales. Also in the scene where Standard, Irene, Ryan Gosling and the young boy are at the table, the young boy is shown in full lighting, this shows his innocence and how he is yet to develop a bad side.
Character roles - Typical noir films include a cynical protagonist, a femme fatale, and an authoritative figure who is corrupt. These character roles are evident in the film. Ryan Goslings character acts as the cynical protagonist, we know this as he is the character who is focused on throughout the film, he also has a flaw which is his mental state as he seems depressed at all times and rarely smiles, his main aim is to please the femme fatale and to protect her. Irene acts as the femme fatale as Ryan Goslings attraction to her leads to him attempting to protect both herself and her family. Irene is Ryan Goslings constant motivation and by trying to protect her Ryan Gosling finds himself in very dangerous situations. Blanche is shown as a corrupt character in the film, this is shown when Ryan Gosling finds that she knows that Standard is going to
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
First draft, Introduction
First draft, Introduction
How does the representation of young
people vary in todays media, looking specifically at the BBC 1 reality
television program 'The Junior Apprentice' and the BBC 3 documentary 'Sun, Sex
and Suspicious parents'?
The representation of young
people varies in different television programmes, some media texts view young
people in a stereotypical way and attach youth with a negative label
- "Youth are often portrayed by news media as a social problem, as
immoral or anti-authority and consequently constructed as folk devils as part
of a moral panic" (1), other
texts represent young people in a more positive limelight "We
found some news coverage where teen boys were described in glowing terms –
'model student', 'angel', 'altar boy' or 'every mother's perfect
son',"(2). I will question whether the representation of young people does
vary by analysing the BBC 1 reality television show 'The Junior Apprentice' and
the BBC 3 television documentary 'Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents'. My first
aim is to identify common and reoccurring representations of young people in
mainstream British programmes, and to see whether the representation varies or
conforms to stereotypes. The other aim of my investigation is to find out
whether the way in which youth are represented in some of today’s media
actually affects their behaviour and acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy. I
intend to use different media theories during my investigation to support my
study; one of these theories will be the uses and gratification theory, which
questions why people find certain texts engaging? I will also use the
hypodermic needle theory, which suggests, “media content is injected with a
hypodermic needle” (10). I will also use active and passive audience theories
and the cultivation theory – how the media injects ideologies in to passive
audiences.
The two media texts I have
chosen to compare are both broadcasted on the BBC which is the most popular
British broadcasting company therefore most shows viewed on their channels have
a high amount of viewers making most of their texts mainstream. The first media
text I have chosen to analyse is "Sun, sex and
suspicious parents". This documentary is broadcasted on BBC3,
whose main target audience is young people of ages from about 14 to 25. The
show involves two groups of friends going on holiday to popular party
destinations such as Magaluf, Zante and Malia. The show regularly represents
teens getting drunk, partying and abusing their independence. In the show,
1 young person from each friendship group is focused on the most and followed
throughout their holiday. The programme has a twist though; the young lads/
girls do not know that their parents are watching their every move. The
episode which I have analysed follows Joe Major and Millie Butler, both 18
years old and on a holiday to Malia with their respective groups of friends.
The other media text I will
be analysing will be the BBC1 reality show “The junior apprentice”. This
narrative involves a group of young entrepreneurs who have a big business idea,
each of them take part in competetive tasks and try to show off their business
skills to Lord Sugar, who will then finally decide which candidate he feels is
the strongest and invest in his/her business idea. The episode, which I have
chosen to analyse, is the first episode of a series, which concentrates on a
big group of youngsters at the beginning of their journey.
The media often represents
youth with limited variety and complexity. Youth are often
represented as irresponsible, lethargic and disrespectful.
"Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and
impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self-control." (3)
This is a very generic statement as it assumes that all young people are the
same. The negative stereotype of youth evolves from extreme incidents
involving young people, such as the 2011 London riots. "The image of young
people in Britain was severely tarnished by what happened last August and the
stream of court cases and convictions that followed were equally damning"
(5). Such events cause moral panics – “The majority
of moral panics since the 1950s have been manufactured around concerns about
young people’s behaviour, such as their membership of specific ‘deviant’
sub-cultures”,(11) society is then affected as audiences consume
the ideologies of the media and assumes that the representations are true
this then leads to people labelling the demographic stereotypically,
which has been represented poorly in the media. Young people are represented in
a negative and sterotypical manner on "Sun, sex and suspicious
parents", this is shown when Joe is talking about his hotel room, the
camera shows the audience Joes untidy room with unmade beds, and clothes
scattered around the room, while Joes says how “there is pants everywhere and
there is rubbish everywhere”. This shows Joe’s lack of respect for the room, it
also shows his laziness, as he has not bothered to tidy the room. During this
scene a high angle shot is used, this shows how his behavior is wrong as the
camera angle used makes us look down on him. Joe then goes on to say “but we
don’t care”, this supports the stereotypical representation of youth, proving
young peoples lack of responsibility. However "The junior
apprentice" does not represent young people in the same light. Young
people are much more polite in this show, they are all hardworking and mature.
This is shown when all of the contestants are having their first meeting with
Lord Sugar, the contestants do not talk while others are talking and respect
each person. Most contestants are well spoken and really polite. This goes
against the common stereotype. The majority of the audience will believe the
representations that are shown in each text. Most audiences are passive, this
type of audience presumes that the different representations of youth are true
as they do not interact with the media text and believe all of the information,
the media ideologies are injected in to their minds, on the other hand the
minority of the audience would be active audiences who question the
representations and are much more involved with the text.
The majority of the media
focus on other negative stereotypes attached with youth, such as ‘drunkens and
troublemakers’ “Underage drinking in Britain is among the worst in the world”
(6) Many people say that the recent generation of young people are growing up
to quickly, “Experts feared that young people were growing up too quickly” (12)
and that this is proven by the alcohol in which many young people do consume
and the way in which they dress as well. Sun sex and suspicious parents shows
many scenes where this is evident, in a specific scene Joe is shown playing
drinking games with his friend, the game involves Joe spinning round after
having a considerable amount of shots, this shows how young people abuse the
privilege of buying alcohol. The show proves that young people enjoy getting
drunk and having a good time. In another scene, Joes friend Chidgey is shown
with blood over his face after being involved in a fight, this shows the
violence of young people and how alcohol can affect them. On the other hand the
junior apprentice does not show any scenes which support this stereotype,
throughout the show there are no violent scenes, and there is no alcohol
consumed by any of the contestants.
Some media texts give a
varied representation of young people and do not just focus on the common
negative stereotype. Some media texts represent young people
as intelligent, mature and promising "21.3% of students
received A*/A grades this year". This is quite a rare representation in
the media, as many types of media like to focus on the negatives and usually
ignore the positives. The positive representations are shown in the opening
sequence of the junior apprentice when the narrator is introducing the
contestant and he says “Britain’s brightest and youngest business minds” this
shows how there is bright young people being represented in the media. At times
sun sex and suspicious parents contradicts this representation, one scene shows
Joe with an injured foot and a bleeding mouth after a ‘play fight’ with one of
his friends, this shows the immaturity of youth and how there is two sides of
youth, the mature grown up side – of going on holiday without their parents and
drinking alcohol, and the childish and immature side of them – fighting with
their friends and playing games.
Other representations in the
media of youth include “fun and energetic”. Sun sex and suspicious parents uses
this representation as the show includes many scenes showing the young people
dancing, joking and having a good time, this is shown in the scene where Joe
and Millie are in a night club on a night out and are seen together dancing and
laughing, this is a positive representation as it shows young people as
innocent and having a good time. Audiences could interpret this differently,
younger audiences may watch this to entertain themselves or to personally
identify with the fun that Joe and Millie are having. However older audiences
may be watching the show for information on young peoples holidays, and may see
the behavior shown by Joe and Millie as immature or rowdy. The junior
apprentice also represents young people as energetic and fun, this is shown in
the scene where the candidates are exploring the house that they are going to
live in, the contestants are shown running around the house, deciding what bed
is theirs and playing table tennis. This shows that although the main
representation of youth in the reality show is intelligent and bright, there is
proof that they have a more childish and energetic side to them
The majority of the media
represents youth in a negative way, but does the way in which they are being
represented in the media, mirror the way they behave in reality? One side
suggests that young people’s behavior is effected by their representation in
the media and that it acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy, the independent
carried out a study on young people and found that because of the negative
portrayal of young people that other youths feared each other “Nearly
three-quarters said they had changed their behaviour as a result of this” (2)
“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. (2) With all of the negative press surrounding
young people there is no doubt that they will change their behaviour because of
it, whether they are becoming more aware/scared of other young people,
conforming with the negative stereotypes as they see them as reality and want
to settle in, or fighting the negative stereotype and wanting to change the
perception of young people. Theories such as the hypodermic needle suggest that
the media injects their ideologies in to audiences and depending on the type of
audience that they are they will react differently, passive – the audiences
that just take in the information that the media gives out and instantly
believes it. And active audiences are more involved with the text and question
it. Passive audiences are more likely to conform to the stereotype as they
presume that the representations are reality.
The other side of this
argument is that the portrayal does not affect the behaviour of today’s youth
and that in fact the behavior of young people effects how media represents
them. Many argue that young people are as bad as the media make out and that
the representations aren’t over exaggerated. Others argue that the representation
is fair and that there is a suitable amount of positive stories about young
people as well. The cultivation theory says that because of the huge increase
in media consumed on a day to day basis by the majority of the population, that
any ideologies of media texts are likely to be believed as they are being
exposed to it at all times. The cultivation theory suggests, “that television is responsible for shaping, or ‘cultivating’ viewers’
conceptions of social reality” (9)
In conclusion, different programmes
offer a variety of representations of youth, although there is negative
representations of youth in the media, there is also positive representations,
but the negative representations are much more common within media texts. The
national youth agency found in one of their investigations that “the media produces both positive and negative stories about young
people however overall the media as a whole tends to report more negative news
stories.”(7) The negative
representations do effect young people’s behaviour and this is because of the
amount of media which they consume (the cultivation theory). Theories such as
the hypodermic needle also explain why young people’s behavior changes. The
National youth agency also found that “The
young people taking part in the research felt that the way the media portrays
them and other young people can have an impact on the way they view themselves”. Overall media does offer a variety of
representations of young people and the young people’s behavior is effected when
they are exposed to it
Bibliography-
(1) http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/media-representations-age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-and-disability
(2) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hoodies-louts-scum-how-media-demonises-teenagers-1643964.html
(3)http://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/mar/17/ephebiphobia-young-people-mosquito
(4) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hoodies-louts-scum-how-media-demonises-teenagers-1643964.html
(5) http://metro.co.uk/2012/07/02/young-britons-will-do-something-to-change-image-after-last-years-riots-488826/
(6)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10484563/British-girls-have-almost-worst-drinking-habits-in-Western-world.html
(7) http://www.participationworks.org.uk/news/young-people-publish-research-how-negative-media-portrayal-affects-their-lives
(8) http://www.participationworks.org.uk/news/young-people-publish-research-how-negative-media-portrayal-affects-their-lives
(9)http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzic/Levels%20of%20theories/macro/Cultivation%20Theory/
(10) Key ideas in media
(book)
(11) http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/media-representations-age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-and-disability
(12) The coming
of age in America – The transition to adulthood in the 21st century
(book)
How does the representation of young
people vary in todays media, looking specifically at the BBC 1 reality
television program 'The Junior Apprentice' and the BBC 3 documentary 'Sun, Sex
and Suspicious parents'?
The representation of young
people varies in different television programmes, some media texts view young
people in a stereotypical way and attach youth with a negative label
- "Youth are often portrayed by news media as a social problem, as
immoral or anti-authority and consequently constructed as folk devils as part
of a moral panic" (1), other
texts represent young people in a more positive limelight "We
found some news coverage where teen boys were described in glowing terms –
'model student', 'angel', 'altar boy' or 'every mother's perfect
son',"(2). I will question whether the representation of young people does
vary by analysing the BBC 1 reality television show 'The Junior Apprentice' and
the BBC 3 television documentary 'Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents'. My first
aim is to identify common and reoccurring representations of young people in
mainstream British programmes, and to see whether the representation varies or
conforms to stereotypes. The other aim of my investigation is to find out
whether the way in which youth are represented in some of today’s media
actually affects their behaviour and acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy. I
intend to use different media theories during my investigation to support my
study; one of these theories will be the uses and gratification theory, which
questions why people find certain texts engaging? I will also use the
hypodermic needle theory, which suggests, “media content is injected with a
hypodermic needle” (10). I will also use active and passive audience theories
and the cultivation theory – how the media injects ideologies in to passive
audiences.
The two media texts I have
chosen to compare are both broadcasted on the BBC which is the most popular
British broadcasting company therefore most shows viewed on their channels have
a high amount of viewers making most of their texts mainstream. The first media
text I have chosen to analyse is "Sun, sex and
suspicious parents". This documentary is broadcasted on BBC3,
whose main target audience is young people of ages from about 14 to 25. The
show involves two groups of friends going on holiday to popular party
destinations such as Magaluf, Zante and Malia. The show regularly represents
teens getting drunk, partying and abusing their independence. In the show,
1 young person from each friendship group is focused on the most and followed
throughout their holiday. The programme has a twist though; the young lads/
girls do not know that their parents are watching their every move. The
episode which I have analysed follows Joe Major and Millie Butler, both 18
years old and on a holiday to Malia with their respective groups of friends.
The other media text I will
be analysing will be the BBC1 reality show “The junior apprentice”. This
narrative involves a group of young entrepreneurs who have a big business idea,
each of them take part in competetive tasks and try to show off their business
skills to Lord Sugar, who will then finally decide which candidate he feels is
the strongest and invest in his/her business idea. The episode, which I have
chosen to analyse, is the first episode of a series, which concentrates on a
big group of youngsters at the beginning of their journey.
The media often represents
youth with limited variety and complexity. Youth are often
represented as irresponsible, lethargic and disrespectful.
"Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and
impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self-control." (3)
This is a very generic statement as it assumes that all young people are the
same. The negative stereotype of youth evolves from extreme incidents
involving young people, such as the 2011 London riots. "The image of young
people in Britain was severely tarnished by what happened last August and the
stream of court cases and convictions that followed were equally damning"
(5). Such events cause moral panics – “The majority
of moral panics since the 1950s have been manufactured around concerns about
young people’s behaviour, such as their membership of specific ‘deviant’
sub-cultures”,(11) society is then affected as audiences consume
the ideologies of the media and assumes that the representations are true
this then leads to people labelling the demographic stereotypically,
which has been represented poorly in the media. Young people are represented in
a negative and sterotypical manner on "Sun, sex and suspicious
parents", this is shown when Joe is talking about his hotel room, the
camera shows the audience Joes untidy room with unmade beds, and clothes
scattered around the room, while Joes says how “there is pants everywhere and
there is rubbish everywhere”. This shows Joe’s lack of respect for the room, it
also shows his laziness, as he has not bothered to tidy the room. During this
scene a high angle shot is used, this shows how his behavior is wrong as the
camera angle used makes us look down on him. Joe then goes on to say “but we
don’t care”, this supports the stereotypical representation of youth, proving
young peoples lack of responsibility. However "The junior
apprentice" does not represent young people in the same light. Young
people are much more polite in this show, they are all hardworking and mature.
This is shown when all of the contestants are having their first meeting with
Lord Sugar, the contestants do not talk while others are talking and respect
each person. Most contestants are well spoken and really polite. This goes
against the common stereotype. The majority of the audience will believe the
representations that are shown in each text. Most audiences are passive, this
type of audience presumes that the different representations of youth are true
as they do not interact with the media text and believe all of the information,
the media ideologies are injected in to their minds, on the other hand the
minority of the audience would be active audiences who question the
representations and are much more involved with the text.
The majority of the media
focus on other negative stereotypes attached with youth, such as ‘drunkens and
troublemakers’ “Underage drinking in Britain is among the worst in the world”
(6) Many people say that the recent generation of young people are growing up
to quickly, “Experts feared that young people were growing up too quickly” (12)
and that this is proven by the alcohol in which many young people do consume
and the way in which they dress as well. Sun sex and suspicious parents shows
many scenes where this is evident, in a specific scene Joe is shown playing
drinking games with his friend, the game involves Joe spinning round after
having a considerable amount of shots, this shows how young people abuse the
privilege of buying alcohol. The show proves that young people enjoy getting
drunk and having a good time. In another scene, Joes friend Chidgey is shown
with blood over his face after being involved in a fight, this shows the
violence of young people and how alcohol can affect them. On the other hand the
junior apprentice does not show any scenes which support this stereotype,
throughout the show there are no violent scenes, and there is no alcohol
consumed by any of the contestants.
Some media texts give a
varied representation of young people and do not just focus on the common
negative stereotype. Some media texts represent young people
as intelligent, mature and promising "21.3% of students
received A*/A grades this year". This is quite a rare representation in
the media, as many types of media like to focus on the negatives and usually
ignore the positives. The positive representations are shown in the opening
sequence of the junior apprentice when the narrator is introducing the
contestant and he says “Britain’s brightest and youngest business minds” this
shows how there is bright young people being represented in the media. At times
sun sex and suspicious parents contradicts this representation, one scene shows
Joe with an injured foot and a bleeding mouth after a ‘play fight’ with one of
his friends, this shows the immaturity of youth and how there is two sides of
youth, the mature grown up side – of going on holiday without their parents and
drinking alcohol, and the childish and immature side of them – fighting with
their friends and playing games.
Other representations in the
media of youth include “fun and energetic”. Sun sex and suspicious parents uses
this representation as the show includes many scenes showing the young people
dancing, joking and having a good time, this is shown in the scene where Joe
and Millie are in a night club on a night out and are seen together dancing and
laughing, this is a positive representation as it shows young people as
innocent and having a good time. Audiences could interpret this differently,
younger audiences may watch this to entertain themselves or to personally
identify with the fun that Joe and Millie are having. However older audiences
may be watching the show for information on young peoples holidays, and may see
the behavior shown by Joe and Millie as immature or rowdy. The junior
apprentice also represents young people as energetic and fun, this is shown in
the scene where the candidates are exploring the house that they are going to
live in, the contestants are shown running around the house, deciding what bed
is theirs and playing table tennis. This shows that although the main
representation of youth in the reality show is intelligent and bright, there is
proof that they have a more childish and energetic side to them
The majority of the media
represents youth in a negative way, but does the way in which they are being
represented in the media, mirror the way they behave in reality? One side
suggests that young people’s behavior is effected by their representation in
the media and that it acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy, the independent
carried out a study on young people and found that because of the negative
portrayal of young people that other youths feared each other “Nearly
three-quarters said they had changed their behaviour as a result of this” (2)
“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. (2) With all of the negative press surrounding
young people there is no doubt that they will change their behaviour because of
it, whether they are becoming more aware/scared of other young people,
conforming with the negative stereotypes as they see them as reality and want
to settle in, or fighting the negative stereotype and wanting to change the
perception of young people. Theories such as the hypodermic needle suggest that
the media injects their ideologies in to audiences and depending on the type of
audience that they are they will react differently, passive – the audiences
that just take in the information that the media gives out and instantly
believes it. And active audiences are more involved with the text and question
it. Passive audiences are more likely to conform to the stereotype as they
presume that the representations are reality.
The other side of this
argument is that the portrayal does not affect the behaviour of today’s youth
and that in fact the behavior of young people effects how media represents
them. Many argue that young people are as bad as the media make out and that
the representations aren’t over exaggerated. Others argue that the representation
is fair and that there is a suitable amount of positive stories about young
people as well. The cultivation theory says that because of the huge increase
in media consumed on a day to day basis by the majority of the population, that
any ideologies of media texts are likely to be believed as they are being
exposed to it at all times. The cultivation theory suggests, “that television is responsible for shaping, or ‘cultivating’ viewers’
conceptions of social reality” (9)
In conclusion, different programmes
offer a variety of representations of youth, although there is negative
representations of youth in the media, there is also positive representations,
but the negative representations are much more common within media texts. The
national youth agency found in one of their investigations that “the media produces both positive and negative stories about young
people however overall the media as a whole tends to report more negative news
stories.”(7) The negative
representations do effect young people’s behaviour and this is because of the
amount of media which they consume (the cultivation theory). Theories such as
the hypodermic needle also explain why young people’s behavior changes. The
National youth agency also found that “The
young people taking part in the research felt that the way the media portrays
them and other young people can have an impact on the way they view themselves”. Overall media does offer a variety of
representations of young people and the young people’s behavior is effected when
they are exposed to it
Bibliography-
(1) http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/media-representations-age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-and-disability
(2) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hoodies-louts-scum-how-media-demonises-teenagers-1643964.html
(3)http://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/mar/17/ephebiphobia-young-people-mosquito
(4) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hoodies-louts-scum-how-media-demonises-teenagers-1643964.html
(5) http://metro.co.uk/2012/07/02/young-britons-will-do-something-to-change-image-after-last-years-riots-488826/
(6)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10484563/British-girls-have-almost-worst-drinking-habits-in-Western-world.html
(7) http://www.participationworks.org.uk/news/young-people-publish-research-how-negative-media-portrayal-affects-their-lives
(8) http://www.participationworks.org.uk/news/young-people-publish-research-how-negative-media-portrayal-affects-their-lives
(9)http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzic/Levels%20of%20theories/macro/Cultivation%20Theory/
(10) Key ideas in media
(book)
(11) http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/media-representations-age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-and-disability
(12) The coming
of age in America – The transition to adulthood in the 21st century
(book)
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Further research -
"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)" http://www.independent.co.uk
Investigation Question (temporary)
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Fish tank - Exam question 1
A1 - To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre? [30]
The British film 'Fish tank' fits in to the social realism genre. Social realism is a way of representing real life and real problems which occur in peoples lives through a media text. Films that fit in to this genre are usually gritty, urban dramas which represent the struggle of everyday life.
The film 'Fish tank' is very typical to its genre and this is proven in different scenes. Fish tank represents females from the under class, as its main character Mia, is brought up in a rough area of London with her poor excuse of a mother. This makes it typical to its genre as social realism films represent those who are under represented in media. The majority of films focus on the celebrity lifestyle with the main characters being male. Fish tank is completely opposite to that.
In the scene where Connor leaves Mia and her family, Mia is shown running
The British film 'Fish tank' fits in to the social realism genre. Social realism is a way of representing real life and real problems which occur in peoples lives through a media text. Films that fit in to this genre are usually gritty, urban dramas which represent the struggle of everyday life.
The film 'Fish tank' is very typical to its genre and this is proven in different scenes. Fish tank represents females from the under class, as its main character Mia, is brought up in a rough area of London with her poor excuse of a mother. This makes it typical to its genre as social realism films represent those who are under represented in media. The majority of films focus on the celebrity lifestyle with the main characters being male. Fish tank is completely opposite to that.
In the scene where Connor leaves Mia and her family, Mia is shown running
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Narrative - Insidious
Narrative - Insidious
Narrative is a way of organising various spatial and worldy data into a cause and effect, chain of effects, with a beginning, middle and end. Narrative contains judgments about the nature of various events as well as demonstrates how it is is possible to know, and hence to narrate the events. Narative does this in 3 ways; structure, roles and codes.
Todorov looked at structure, and found 5 key stages of narrative, he carried out his research on russian tales in 1930, so his theory may be outdated. I have compared these 5 stages to a modern horror film (Insidious), to see how realistic Todorovs theory is in todays world.
1 - State of equilibrium
One day Dalton hears a noise in the attic and he decides to go and check it out. When investigating the noise, he falls and bangs his head. That night Dalton goes to bed as normal but in the morning he does not wake. Dalton goes into a coma, His parents think this is down to the incident which happen the night before. The equilibrium has now been distorted.
3. A recognition that the order has been distrupted
The family then decides to call Elise and her two assistants to help deal with the ghosts who are haunting the Lambert family. Elise (who previously helped Daltons father when he experienced a similar problem when he was younger) helps dalton by sending his Dad into 'The further' to guide dalton back to his body so that he will then wake up and all of the unexplainable things will stop occurring.
5. A state of new equilibrium is restored
Dalton then wakes up, as his dad has saved him from 'The Further'. Everything seems o have resumed back to normal. The family, who are still extremely cautious and aware begin to try and live normally again.
This example shows that Todorovs theory is still very much apparent in todays media.
Narrative is a way of organising various spatial and worldy data into a cause and effect, chain of effects, with a beginning, middle and end. Narrative contains judgments about the nature of various events as well as demonstrates how it is is possible to know, and hence to narrate the events. Narative does this in 3 ways; structure, roles and codes.
Todorov looked at structure, and found 5 key stages of narrative, he carried out his research on russian tales in 1930, so his theory may be outdated. I have compared these 5 stages to a modern horror film (Insidious), to see how realistic Todorovs theory is in todays world.
1 - State of equilibrium
Insidious begins in a normal manner. Everything is calm, and Dalton and his family have just moved into a new house. Everything seems normal meaning there is a state of equilibrium.
2. A disruption of that order
3. A recognition that the order has been distrupted
Dalton returns home, still in a coma. He is kept in his room, where he is constantly monitored by medical equipment. His family begin to notice a few strange things occurring in the family house, these include blood prints on Daltons cover, weird noises from other rooms and noises coming from the baby monitor. The family then think that the house is haunted and decide to move house to getaway from the weird and spooky house. It is then when they notice that the haunted atmosphere and the unnatural things are following them. They then realise that it is not the house that it is haunted but it is Dalton that is haunted. This means that they have now noticed that something not right is happening.
4. An attempt to repair the damage begins
5. A state of new equilibrium is restored
Dalton then wakes up, as his dad has saved him from 'The Further'. Everything seems o have resumed back to normal. The family, who are still extremely cautious and aware begin to try and live normally again.
This example shows that Todorovs theory is still very much apparent in todays media.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Genre - The good the bad and the ugly.
The film 'The good, the bad and the ugly' is typical to its genre by using generic conventions and codes. The genre of the film is western. We know this because the iconography, representation, narrative and ideology used, all fits in with this specific genre.
Iconography - during a clip from this film, many close ups of guns are used. This is typical icon used in western films, as many of them include scenes where characters shoot at others with guns. Also at the time period that the film is set in, guns showed power and control. Also two of the characters shown are wearing cowboy hats. This icon also represents western films, as many characters involved have their stereotypical look, of wearing a cowboy hat, scruffy clothes and a gun holster. Many people would suggest that is a typical looking person in a western film.
Narrative - The storyline of the clip I viewed is also very typical to the genre. The scene is a shoot-out scene which is always seen in western films. Also in western films, it is usually the good who defeat the bad, and this is shown in the scene as the individual who is considered 'good' kills the individual who is considered 'bad', making it very typical to the genre.
Representation - in the scene I watched, not one women was shown. In a typical western film, the main character are men, as in the time the scene was set, the world was very patriarchal meaning the representation of gender is also very typical to the genre used.
Iconography - during a clip from this film, many close ups of guns are used. This is typical icon used in western films, as many of them include scenes where characters shoot at others with guns. Also at the time period that the film is set in, guns showed power and control. Also two of the characters shown are wearing cowboy hats. This icon also represents western films, as many characters involved have their stereotypical look, of wearing a cowboy hat, scruffy clothes and a gun holster. Many people would suggest that is a typical looking person in a western film.
Narrative - The storyline of the clip I viewed is also very typical to the genre. The scene is a shoot-out scene which is always seen in western films. Also in western films, it is usually the good who defeat the bad, and this is shown in the scene as the individual who is considered 'good' kills the individual who is considered 'bad', making it very typical to the genre.
Representation - in the scene I watched, not one women was shown. In a typical western film, the main character are men, as in the time the scene was set, the world was very patriarchal meaning the representation of gender is also very typical to the genre used.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
The male gaze - James Bond 'Die another day'
The James Bond franchise is a clear example of a film objectifying females and forcing the audience to view females via the male gaze. The scene within "Die Another Day" when James Bond meets the character Jinx demonstrates my previous statement by objectifying Jinx for the pleasure of both James Bond and also for the audience. The scene begins with a view from Bonds perspective. This instantly has the audience viewing the text through a males eyes, meaning even females are viewing other women through the eye of a man. Also when Bond sees Jinx the scene is showed in slow motion, showing how the presence of the female has slowed down the text, giving the audience time to appreciate and focus on Jinx. When Jinx begins to walk on the beach towards Bond, she walks unnaturally, over exaggerating the movement of her hips, which catches the viewers eye and also highlights that area of body meaning she is not actually being looked at as a women but as an object. When bond and Jinx meet, Bond says "magnificent view" this is clearly aimed towards Jinx, showing how he has judged her by her appearance. This then feeds in to the audience who will then solely judge other women on how they look. Also in that section of the scene Jinx is always looking up to Bond which represents the patriarchal society that we live in as Bond is in a position of power as he is being looked up to, and then Jinx is not in a position of power as she is being looked down on. Finally once Jinx has left the sea and is drying herself with the towel, a close up of her face is used, showing that she is wearing make up and it hasn't been ruined by the sea that she is was just swimming in. This then gives a false representation of women. Women will look at this scene and think that they have look like that all the time, increasing self consciousness and the use of make up. Also males will look at this thinking that all females should look like that at all times. This is then called a hyper reality, this is because the film is not representing reality and is instead reflecting a fake reality.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Audience Types
Audience Types
There are two different types of audiences in media. One of these is called a mainstream audience and the other is known as a niche audience. these two different audience types are completely different.A mainstream audience is when a media text appeals to a whole range of different people. A media text with a mainstream audience would be popular with the majority. Television programmes with a mainstream audience would be scheduled at prime time as that is when most viewers are available. They would also be on popular channels which the majority of people have access to, such as BBC1 and ITV. A media text with a mainstream audience usually has lots of uses and gratifications as there is lots of different reasons as to why people would use that media text. An example of a mainstream TV programme would be the Eastenders as it is a very popular TV show which is shown on BBC 1 at around 7 o'clock. Eastenders is a very popular show because it uses many different story lines which many different people may either relate to or enjoy to watch.
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