E Skeates Media

 social realist films  -deals with big social issues -depict working class people -small and fragmentary audiences i, daniel blake - ken loach  What makes this an independent film? Specific target audience - northern, working class/ underclass people looking for a job /people unwell looking for jobs "tv ugly" actors - normal looking people, no makeup? regional accents What issues does this film focus on? homelessness/ job benefit, health issues e.g heart attack, loss,   In what ways are working class people shown to be heroic? strong and independent, fighting against the system -not shot in a studio - filmed on location and cheaper basic and straightforward narrative  -explain the ways in which social and political contexts may influence independent movies not a focus on making money for indies capitalist society - based on profit acquisition how can a film that challenges capitalist ideology exist within a capitalist structure? marketed by stunts - slogans...

KEY THEORY 13 – REGULATION – SONIA LIVINGSTONE AND PETER LUNT The increasing power of global media corporations, together with the rise of convergent media technologies and transformations in the production, distribution and marketing of digital media, have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk Home alone 2 - received a PG rating Glamorisation of throwing bricks at people Moderate violence but probably not justified by context? Promotion of dangerous behaviour - "if that behaviour is presented as safe or fun." 15 "Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury." Home Alone 2 would be better suited to a 12, if not a 15 rating due to the violence, though within context - comedic, goofy and unrealistic, may be imitable by young children as it as portrayed as fun and just. Issues raised with the ratings are that sometimes some movies cannot be put into the specific categories as they have a lot of overlap.

U –  Potentially dangerous or anti-social behaviour which young children may copy must be clearly disapproved of. Discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be infrequent and innocuous, or have a clear educational purpose or anti-drug message suitable for young children. Infrequent use only of very mild bad language Occasional nudity, with no sexual context. Scary or potentially unsettling sequences should be mild, brief and unlikely to cause undue anxiety to young children. The outcome should be reassuring. Violence will generally be very mild. Mild violence may be acceptable if it is justified by context PG – No detail of potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy, if that behaviour is presented as safe or fun. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons such as knives. No focus on anti-social behaviour which young children are likely to...

 economic factors marketing black cinema blacksploitation films tended to focus on a winning formula -  a black protagonist lots of sex and violence  themes of drugs and crime an inner city setting a white antagonist themes of subjugation, racism and political corruption funk/soul/r&b soundtracks, featuring prominent black artists  broadly produced by white film makers and financers  as a way of reaching a previously unreachable audience  - they were motivated by profit and power (curran and seaton) Black Panther fact file production history: ownership: director and actors: Critical reception : 97% Tomatometer and 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes 88 on metacritic The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 97% with an average score of 8.3/10, based on 515 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Black Panther elevates superhero cinema to thrilling new heights while telling one of the MCU's most absorbing st...

 difference between big budget / independent movies - an emphasis on computer generated special effects in major movies - more well known and recognisable actors in major movies - slower paced narrative in indie / major has fast paced action packed editing - wider range of setting and locations for major movies  / everyday relatable settings for indie films -certain genres are favoured e.g fantasy, superhero, sci-fi, action vs less apparent genre for indie  - indie has hard hitting relatable issues / exciting yet relatable major movies - major movies more dramatic, kinetic cinematography / static cinematography in indie - major movies emphasis on simple narratives - classic hollywood narratives  - indie films focus on a niche audience / major films have a wider, mainstream audience - Emphasis on extravagant set design  producer - the company that makes a media product  distributor - the company that puts a media product out distribution - the process where ...

 introduction to the film industry  what is the purpose of any media product - to make money film is a specialised institution - one thing and it does it well roundhay garden scene from 1888 is the earliest surviving film cinemas didnt exist - first opened in 1907 (1895) lumiere brothers film single take operating like a factory hollywood films were made and still made in warehouses and offices. make using industrialised labour of a variety of specialised production techniques - occurs on a both narrative and industrial level director, producer, editor, stuntdouble, costume designer,  Hollywood- lots of space, had little rain and lots of hours of sun everyday classical hollywood cinema- cinema as a production line many early films were pornographic  classical hollywood narrative - a standard hollywood story classical narrative cinema -bordwell 1985 emphasis of spatial continuity - audience know where they are at any time temporal continuity -  always knows in wh...

 stuart hall - reception theory active theory of audience theory - audience is active with how they decode media preferred reading - the 'right' reading of a text, which can be enforced by positioning - this concept has to be approached carefully: often texts intentionally have multiple meanings/reading  - agreement with ideology negotiated reading - the audience generally agrees with what they see, but may disagree with certain aspects oppositional reading  - the audience completely disagrees with what they see, and rejects the dominant reading  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUn05hdkhjM - guardians of the galaxy v2 ideology - friends are like family - teamwork mainly negotiated reading disagreement with guns and violence, but agree with "saving the universe" and family/friend values https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysjwg-MnZao - sorry we missed you ideology - the struggles of a family - aimed more for working class, multiple mentions of money/getting paid, rebellio...

 primary audience - audience whom the media product is aimed at secondary audience -  encoding - where the producer puts meaning into the media product decoding- where the audience takes meaning from the media product gender age location class too much media: addicted bored of it buying more albert bandura - media effects hypodermic needle model - passive model of audience theory - passive people let stuff happen to us - monkey see monkey do - not always 100% correct as people react to media in different ways george gerbner - cultivation theory  the idea that prolonged and heavy expose to [tv] cultivates - as in grows or develops in audiences "a view of the world consistent with the dominant or majority view expounded by television television present a mainstream view of culture, ignoring everything else -in doing to, television "distorts reality" heavy television users are therefore more likely to accept this edited and distorted view of reality  issue is that not e...

 diesel advert  mise-en-scene of clothing is used in an atypical and non conventional way Upbeat and sophisticated nature of the soundtrack contrasts with the working class and run down characters featured in the advert  Contrapuntal - where one element, for example the soundtrack, goes against another element, for example, the visuals - e.g the use of contrapuntal sound positions the audience in a highly confusing mode of address use of low key lighting creates a dark, depressing and edgy atmosphere editing makes heavy use of cross cutting draws in the audience with a range of exciting locations  a binary opposition is formed through the juxtaposition between the high key natural lighting of the bridge and the grungy, low key, harsh lighting of the jail scene - representation of gender highly atypical/subversive throughout the advert, for example the short boyish haircuts of many of the female models  positioning of women in a jail setting creates a binary oppo...

 narrative - the way in which a story is told  plot and story are largely meaningless concepts. we see the same basic plots being repeated over and over. what is fundamentally interesting in the study of media is not what the plot is, but how it is constructed  stories are not told through dialog -  they are told through costume, mise en scene, colour etc which makes up the narrative  ophelia - classic archetype - type of character which keeps coming back again and again  tragic character  Christopher booker - seven types of story -  few stories but infinite narratives  overcoming the monster rags to riches the quest voyage and return comedy tragedy rebirth  tzvetan todorov - narratology  theory of narrative equilibrium (revised version) narrative triad  equilibrium - state of balance  1 - establishment of equilibrium  2 - disequilibrium ---- the liminal period - point between two different points 3 - partial restorat...

 our understanding of media products comes from other media products - intertextuality  intertextually is the shaping of the media product's meaning through referencing another product. products provide context within which other products can be created or interpreted - reflecting the fluid boundaries of genre convention  intertextuality allows us to see the media in a different perspective  example of a double mode of address - simpsons has many rude jokes but primary TA is young teens - allows media products to adopt a double mode of address - secondary TA of adults  provides audience with a funnier meaning  allows the audience to feel pleasure through feeling smart from getting a reference  without intertextuality we would view each media product as completely new, struggling to interpret it on its own terms both audiences and producers make use of intertextual references

 differentiate genres production values structure sound, tune, melody different styles and features historical context   generic paradigms genre paradigms are aspects of a media text - editing, mise-en-scene, sound- that demonstrate to the audience what genre a media product - also known as a genre convention hybrid genres and subgenres  - traditional genres are arguably both less important and less useful a frame of reference than ever -hybrid genre is a combination of 2+ genres -subgenres - a genre within a genre generic fluidity - the way in which genres change over time Steve Neale - theories around genre  -to differentiate different types of media products  -allows media product to appeal to a larger audience - hybrid can target larger audiences  -genre helps audience to identify and understand the structure of the film -Neale believes that genre is essentially instances of repetition and difference.  He suggested that texts need to conform to som...

 berger suggests that an advert functions by selling the audience a lifestyle the lifestyle offered by the wateraid advert is helping people by donating - philamprothist  -being able to help people like claudia  being positioned as kind, helpful, philamprothist - assumes we are from richer countries (with the scene first set in the uk) positioned as british when we donate, if we help people, we can brag about it paul gilroy  - in his book 'ain't no black in the union jack' - 1987 - he explored the anxiety and uncertainty left in th euk following the death of colonialism  -though the british empire has collapsed gilroy argues that we still uphold many subtle racial prejudices with are ideologically encoded in media products - for gilroy, we are now living in a postcolonial era where black and white represent a blunt and ideologically manipulative binary we still see hints of colonial attitudes - white considered to better than other races the secret of england's ...

 genre  -  a type of media product .. governed by implicit rules that are shared by the makers of the product and the audience for it

  Explore how meaning is created through the combination of media language in this advert for Gap.   You may wish to make reference to: Polysemy - multiple meanings  Semiotics (Barthes)  Structuralist approaches (Levi-Strauss) binary opposition  The conventions of print adverts (eg lexis, layout, Z-line rule etc) [15 marks, 30 minutes] constructs friendly and inclusive atmosphere for TA compare with dolce + cabanna ad / gucci ad? USE MISE-EN-SCENE AND TERMS childlike colours - perhaps a large TA aiming for children too, or "the inner child" (polysemy) binary opposition of the focus on one model // multiple people in the next page mise en scene of the combination of white shirt and colourful jeans brings contrast - attention brought to the product  Compare and contrast the representation of gender in the  Persil Ultimate Powergems [Extraordinary Powers]  TV spot advert with the representation of gender in the  Tide  advert you have studie...

  Explore how meaning is created through the combination of media language in this advert for Gap. The mise-en-scene of the colours in the advert - bright and saturated colours - create a friendly and inclusive atmosphere for the target audience. These bright colours are polysemic - suggesting that the advert is aimed at a broad range of age groups, as the colours are symbolic with child-like wonder, or it could suggest to the audience to embrace their inner child. The lexis used "Be you, be true, be bright" also suggests this - to embrace their more colourful and childlike side. The advert follows the Z line rule, working downwards on the first page and then being drawn to the top of the second page. This linear layout of the advert is easy to follow and has very few words at all, making the product itself, the jeans, be the focal point of the ad. This furthers the inclusive nature of this advert, as it is easy to follow for anyone from any age group. The sans serif font of ...

 wateraid ad: binary opposition - shot of the uk vs africa - stereotypically rainy uk vs stereotypically hot and dry africa representation - young women represented at working people - buckets on their head (opposition of what they are doing vs the sweet song just her singing - catchy song and people will donate - because they can sing stereotypical representation of africa - poor and dry advert represents girls as strong physically and mentally - strong to carry buckets and strong because they get on with it, and happy - gender expectations  proairetic code: mise-en-scene of the bucket functions as pa suggests she is on her way to collect water shot of legs - effective hermenutic code - who is this, does she have access to clean water? mise-en-scene - stereotype of africa not to have clean water (we know it is set in africa because weather, scenery) women representated as hard working and working class atypical representation of women - not glamourous as women in the tide adv...