Using the ethnographic model (try and separate it into the three areas highlighted) evaluate your own text. Have you inadvertently prevented certain 'audiences' from accessing your text?
My media has prevented various audiences concerned by 'stress one and three'. This is that due to the domestic enviroment that structures the media as currently it is not possible for every household to have access to the internet because of financial issues. This rules out those in society who are labeled as information-poor, these people may not be exposed to the media ......
Showing posts with label G325. Show all posts
Showing posts with label G325. Show all posts
Friday, 5 February 2010
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Monday, 26 October 2009
Post modern media
Postmodernism - Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of post modern media.
His great influence by Jean Luc Godard who concentrated on creating parodies and subverted film conventions to create lighthearted humor and recognisable elements.
For example a deliberately bad back drop was used in the car journey scene below:
The following points taken from Pulp fiction highlighting their link to other well known icons/films.
- Mia's hair cut was originally seen in Pandorais box by GW Pabst in 1928, Louise Brooks was the actress this refers to.
- Butch is waiting in his car at some crossroads as he has his path crossed by Marcellus Wallace - his boss. In Alfred Hitchcock Psycho, this same scenario hapened to Marion Crane and her boss.
- Jules reciting the bible links to Robert Mitchum's character in The Night of the Hunter by Charles Laughton in 1955.
Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of post modern media.
His great influence by Jean Luc Godard who concentrated on creating parodies and subverted film conventions to create lighthearted humor and recognisable elements.
For example a deliberately bad back drop was used in the car journey scene below:
The following points taken from Pulp fiction highlighting their link to other well known icons/films.
- Mia's hair cut was originally seen in Pandorais box by GW Pabst in 1928, Louise Brooks was the actress this refers to.
- Butch is waiting in his car at some crossroads as he has his path crossed by Marcellus Wallace - his boss. In Alfred Hitchcock Psycho, this same scenario hapened to Marion Crane and her boss.
- Jules reciting the bible links to Robert Mitchum's character in The Night of the Hunter by Charles Laughton in 1955.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
'The Male Gaze'
In class we discussed the male gaze theory for the benefit of students creating representations of females. In 1975 Laura Mulvey published her theory 'the male gaze', this is a theory exploring the visual pleasure of narrative cinema and the concept deals with how the audience views how people are presented.
There are three ways in which feminists are thought of:
-how men look at women
-how women look at themselves
-how women look at other women
A feature of this theory is when a camera lingers on the curves of a female body for example a slow pann up from the feet to a woman's face; these shots are often presented in the context of a mans reaction to the event. However this feature relegates women as objects and are forced to view the narrative secondarily because of the identification of the male.
Although this theory does carry criticisms:
-some women like to be looked at in a sexual manor as they enjoy the attention
-some women rely on the interest of men as they may sell their image as a living such as modeling
Along with this theory other theorist read into it concentrating on selling media through facial expressions.
In 1980 Marjorie Ferguson researched female expressions and came up with four different categories:
-the chocolate box
-invitational
-super-smiler
-romantic/sexual
And in 1975 Trevor Millum researched male expressions and produced five categories:
-carefree
-practical
-seductive
-comic
-categorical
Additional insight into this theory come from theorist Johnathan Schoeder in 1998, he believed that 'to gaze' implied more than to look at something/someone. He said that it signifies a psychological relationship of power, where the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze. An example of this may be when a parent tells off a child and they stare bluntly at the for a period of time, because they hold the stare and dominate the situation they have to power.
I feel this won't apply hugely to my project as the storyboard present the male lead with the power, however this theory may affect my choice of casting as i will want the lead female to stand out from any other and stereotypically the female lead is more than likely the most attractive.
There are three ways in which feminists are thought of:
-how men look at women
-how women look at themselves
-how women look at other women
A feature of this theory is when a camera lingers on the curves of a female body for example a slow pann up from the feet to a woman's face; these shots are often presented in the context of a mans reaction to the event. However this feature relegates women as objects and are forced to view the narrative secondarily because of the identification of the male.
Although this theory does carry criticisms:
-some women like to be looked at in a sexual manor as they enjoy the attention
-some women rely on the interest of men as they may sell their image as a living such as modeling
Along with this theory other theorist read into it concentrating on selling media through facial expressions.
In 1980 Marjorie Ferguson researched female expressions and came up with four different categories:
-the chocolate box
-invitational
-super-smiler
-romantic/sexual
And in 1975 Trevor Millum researched male expressions and produced five categories:
-carefree
-practical
-seductive
-comic
-categorical
Additional insight into this theory come from theorist Johnathan Schoeder in 1998, he believed that 'to gaze' implied more than to look at something/someone. He said that it signifies a psychological relationship of power, where the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze. An example of this may be when a parent tells off a child and they stare bluntly at the for a period of time, because they hold the stare and dominate the situation they have to power.
I feel this won't apply hugely to my project as the storyboard present the male lead with the power, however this theory may affect my choice of casting as i will want the lead female to stand out from any other and stereotypically the female lead is more than likely the most attractive.
Post modern media
It is becoming clearer every day that media is becoming a large element of power throughout the world; it is through the media that the most important messages are communicated from anywhere in the world, such as the news and less importantly 'gossip' about celebrities, although the media intelligently adapts this information and conveys messages via different methods which conserquently produce a false world.
Post modernists claim that in a media saturated world that we are exposed to media 24/7 and because of this the difference between reality and the media representations becomes invisable to society, therefore media reality becomes the new reality.
From an artists point of view value judgement is blurred and everything within the industry becomes down to taste. This outcome of this is that anything can be labeled as art and deserves the right to be viewed by an audience.
Because of the distinction between media and reality has collapsed reality is made up of images and representations. This idea relates to Plato's theory of forms; he believed that there werte two worlds, the world of forms and the material word. These were to accomodate his thinking that for every for of a true ojbect in the material world there was a duplicate in the world of forms however this world includes only the concept. Therefore media has created these two worlds of reality and media reality.
I feel that this will apply to the narrative throughout my music video because it portrays a typical relationship where 'boy meets girl' and they fall for each other. Currently in the media relationships are always made to look negative as people are always breaking up/divorcing, being unfaithfull, using people etc. This has formed a negative stereotype for modern relationship and sadly it has produced a 'new reality' proven by only 50% of marriages surviving. As my audience have grown up in this generation along with these stories in the media they can relate to the broken relationship that is revealed towards the end of the video.
Post modernists claim that in a media saturated world that we are exposed to media 24/7 and because of this the difference between reality and the media representations becomes invisable to society, therefore media reality becomes the new reality.
From an artists point of view value judgement is blurred and everything within the industry becomes down to taste. This outcome of this is that anything can be labeled as art and deserves the right to be viewed by an audience.
Because of the distinction between media and reality has collapsed reality is made up of images and representations. This idea relates to Plato's theory of forms; he believed that there werte two worlds, the world of forms and the material word. These were to accomodate his thinking that for every for of a true ojbect in the material world there was a duplicate in the world of forms however this world includes only the concept. Therefore media has created these two worlds of reality and media reality.
I feel that this will apply to the narrative throughout my music video because it portrays a typical relationship where 'boy meets girl' and they fall for each other. Currently in the media relationships are always made to look negative as people are always breaking up/divorcing, being unfaithfull, using people etc. This has formed a negative stereotype for modern relationship and sadly it has produced a 'new reality' proven by only 50% of marriages surviving. As my audience have grown up in this generation along with these stories in the media they can relate to the broken relationship that is revealed towards the end of the video.
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Stereotyping
Today in Mr Smiths 'theory Tuesday' lesson i have learnt about theories based on stereotyping and some theorist that relate to this. The importance of stereotypes in texts is to represent individual people as belonging to something within society that a specific audience can relate to therefore presenting the Roland Barthes cultural code. Tessa Perkins studied stereotypes in 1997 and defines them as group concepts, she came up with nine of these.
1. They are not always false: e.g. cowboys do wear cowboy hats. The interesting question is to what extent social groups consciously adopt stereotypical signs in order to identify themselves, and to what extent the mass media orchestrate or amplify these deliberate social acts of communication.
2. Stereotypes can, at least in part, be positive: Germans are stereotypically efficient, the French great lovers, black people good at sport etc. However, these are always backhanded compliments - the Germans may be seen as ruthlessly efficient.
3. They can be held about one's own social groups: The English several stereotypical images of themselves.
4. They are not always concerned with oppressed groups: There are stereotypes of aristocrats as arrogant, Americans as loud and brash.
5. They are not always about minority groups of which we have little direct experience: stereotypes of women and men, with whom we all have experience, are widespread.
6. They can be simple and complex at the same time: the 'dumb blond' stereotype, of which Marilyn Monroe was the most famous representative, paradoxically combines lack of intelligence and wit; child-like innocence, and sexuality;p naivety with the power to manipulate, an exploited subordinate position and cult status.
7. They are not rigid or unchanging - stereotypes evolve and adapt since they relate to struggles around power, which may differ in scale and change over time.
8. We do not simply 'believe' or 'disbelieve' in stereotypes: they can 'work' for us or communicate to us without our necessarily 'agreeing' with them.
9. They do not necessarily influence our behaviour and attitudes: it is possible to 'hold' a stereotype without believing it to be true. The reaction of the viewer to a stereotype will depend on a complex set of social, historical and individual experiences.
In 1979 five assumptions of stereotyping were made however then are open to be challenged:
-not always negative
-not always about minority groups or the less powerful
-they can be held about one's own group
-not rigid or unchanging
-not always false.
(example of representation through stereotypes) - sigur ros - hoppipolla
This music video contains an interesting narrative throughout which is presented through the several characters. They producer has deliberately chosen an elderly populated cast and dressed them in youthful clothing. The presentation used around these characters is typical of a role reversal, the stereotype that is typically given to the older generation is that they are slow, quiet, lack of mobility, blank expressions; however this video replaces this stereotype with a youthful stereotype which is shown throughout the actions or the characters and events they take part in. In conclusion it cleverly presents ordinary scenes that any age group can relate to however this is demonstrated in the bodies of grandparents, the effect of this grips the audience as it is such an unusual sight, though this is only because of the stereotypes that we as an audience are lead to believe.
1. They are not always false: e.g. cowboys do wear cowboy hats. The interesting question is to what extent social groups consciously adopt stereotypical signs in order to identify themselves, and to what extent the mass media orchestrate or amplify these deliberate social acts of communication.
2. Stereotypes can, at least in part, be positive: Germans are stereotypically efficient, the French great lovers, black people good at sport etc. However, these are always backhanded compliments - the Germans may be seen as ruthlessly efficient.
3. They can be held about one's own social groups: The English several stereotypical images of themselves.
4. They are not always concerned with oppressed groups: There are stereotypes of aristocrats as arrogant, Americans as loud and brash.
5. They are not always about minority groups of which we have little direct experience: stereotypes of women and men, with whom we all have experience, are widespread.
6. They can be simple and complex at the same time: the 'dumb blond' stereotype, of which Marilyn Monroe was the most famous representative, paradoxically combines lack of intelligence and wit; child-like innocence, and sexuality;p naivety with the power to manipulate, an exploited subordinate position and cult status.
7. They are not rigid or unchanging - stereotypes evolve and adapt since they relate to struggles around power, which may differ in scale and change over time.
8. We do not simply 'believe' or 'disbelieve' in stereotypes: they can 'work' for us or communicate to us without our necessarily 'agreeing' with them.
9. They do not necessarily influence our behaviour and attitudes: it is possible to 'hold' a stereotype without believing it to be true. The reaction of the viewer to a stereotype will depend on a complex set of social, historical and individual experiences.
In 1979 five assumptions of stereotyping were made however then are open to be challenged:
-not always negative
-not always about minority groups or the less powerful
-they can be held about one's own group
-not rigid or unchanging
-not always false.
(example of representation through stereotypes) - sigur ros - hoppipolla
This music video contains an interesting narrative throughout which is presented through the several characters. They producer has deliberately chosen an elderly populated cast and dressed them in youthful clothing. The presentation used around these characters is typical of a role reversal, the stereotype that is typically given to the older generation is that they are slow, quiet, lack of mobility, blank expressions; however this video replaces this stereotype with a youthful stereotype which is shown throughout the actions or the characters and events they take part in. In conclusion it cleverly presents ordinary scenes that any age group can relate to however this is demonstrated in the bodies of grandparents, the effect of this grips the audience as it is such an unusual sight, though this is only because of the stereotypes that we as an audience are lead to believe.
Semiology
Last week in our 'theory Tuesday' lesson Mr Smith taught us about the concept of 'semiology'. This considers how media language communicates meaning to an audience and the effects the media language choices have. The concept is categorised into two types of sign which consider the semiological meanings of media, these are:
-an icon: an image imitating something it represents.
- an index: an image of something made by what the sign represents.
Again signs can be categorised into many more groups when considering their purpose. These are:
- political sign
- religious sign
- imperative sign
- didactic sign
- denotative sign
- an advertisement
- an icon
- an index
- charity sign
once we had discussed each of these terms we grouped off and took photographs of signs as examples of each category.
(these images will be posted shortly)
-an icon: an image imitating something it represents.
- an index: an image of something made by what the sign represents.
Again signs can be categorised into many more groups when considering their purpose. These are:
- political sign
- religious sign
- imperative sign
- didactic sign
- denotative sign
- an advertisement
- an icon
- an index
- charity sign
once we had discussed each of these terms we grouped off and took photographs of signs as examples of each category.
(these images will be posted shortly)
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Audience theories
Due to research i have learnt about four audience theories; the hypodermic needle theory, the two-step flow, uses and gratifications and the reception theory - three of which are included below and how they relate to my project however i felt the fourth theory didn't apply and so i haven't included it.
Hypodermic needle theory – as the track would be played on radio stations and music videos featured among other artists the public would passively be listening to the track and effortlessly be being exposed to music of all genres introducing the track to other audiences.
Two-step flow – once someone has heard the music passively via the radio or video on the tv/internet it will become a subject of conversation to those who would be interested in it and opinions of the song will be passed on by word of mouth.
Uses and gratifications – the lyrics of the song may appeal to certain audiences that can relate to them as well as people who find them inspirational. For these reasons it give bands the opportunity to give the public what they want to here in the bands unique way.
Hypodermic needle theory – as the track would be played on radio stations and music videos featured among other artists the public would passively be listening to the track and effortlessly be being exposed to music of all genres introducing the track to other audiences.
Two-step flow – once someone has heard the music passively via the radio or video on the tv/internet it will become a subject of conversation to those who would be interested in it and opinions of the song will be passed on by word of mouth.
Uses and gratifications – the lyrics of the song may appeal to certain audiences that can relate to them as well as people who find them inspirational. For these reasons it give bands the opportunity to give the public what they want to here in the bands unique way.
Friday, 11 September 2009
Analysing texts
In class we have analysied two texts according to Roland Barthes narrative codes. First we studied the 'Mac vs PC' advert and considered all five codes.
one example on each code taken from my notes:
the action code:
the theme tune throughout this advert is the same melody used for all mac adverts, therefore once the audience hears it begin to play they immediately know that it is an advert for mac products.
the enigma code:
the questions raised between the comparison of the PC and Mac are what are the visual and technical benefits other than imovie.
the semantic code:
the contrast between an attractive supermodel and a rounded man comically dressed as a woman highlights the connotation of the visual benefits of the mac as well their success in their software. The supermodel clearly represents technology with potential that produces much better quality than a PC.
the cultural code:
this includes many elements in the advert such as the age of the men representing the PC and Mac and their general appearance. it is a common interpretation of a male with a side parting and glasses that they are a stereotype of a geek, however a young, recognised actor who is dressed smart/casual would likely be interpreted as a modern geek however reinventing the stereotype into a role model that people may want to follow.
the symbolic code:
this relates closely to my answer for the above as main connotation of the advert is that the Mac is part of the future as it is modern and advanced in technology, where as a PC is the opposite and stuck in the past.
The next text that we analysed was the opening of The Royal Tenenbaums. When anaylsing this we specifically concentrated on the cultural and semantic codes relating the children, although i found that some of my points overlap into both codes. The task was to focus on one of the children and so i chose Margot:
The Royal Tenembaums Essay
one example on each code taken from my notes:
the action code:
the theme tune throughout this advert is the same melody used for all mac adverts, therefore once the audience hears it begin to play they immediately know that it is an advert for mac products.
the enigma code:
the questions raised between the comparison of the PC and Mac are what are the visual and technical benefits other than imovie.
the semantic code:
the contrast between an attractive supermodel and a rounded man comically dressed as a woman highlights the connotation of the visual benefits of the mac as well their success in their software. The supermodel clearly represents technology with potential that produces much better quality than a PC.
the cultural code:
this includes many elements in the advert such as the age of the men representing the PC and Mac and their general appearance. it is a common interpretation of a male with a side parting and glasses that they are a stereotype of a geek, however a young, recognised actor who is dressed smart/casual would likely be interpreted as a modern geek however reinventing the stereotype into a role model that people may want to follow.
the symbolic code:
this relates closely to my answer for the above as main connotation of the advert is that the Mac is part of the future as it is modern and advanced in technology, where as a PC is the opposite and stuck in the past.
The next text that we analysed was the opening of The Royal Tenenbaums. When anaylsing this we specifically concentrated on the cultural and semantic codes relating the children, although i found that some of my points overlap into both codes. The task was to focus on one of the children and so i chose Margot:
The Royal Tenembaums Essay
Roland Barthes
Over the past two lessons we have been learning about Roland Bathes narrative codes and ideologies so that we can apply these to our projects. Initailly we identified the five different codes:
1. The action code: An action deliberately included in a text that implies further narrative action; this can be both visual or an anchorage. An example of this would be of a close up of a gun in someones hand; the implication of this would be that this would lead to the gun being shot.
2. The enigma code: An unexplained element in a story that raises questions demanding explaination. An example of this would be to open a film with a murder scene; this immediately forces the audience to question when, where, why, who and how.
3. The semantic code: An element suggesting an additional meaning through connotations. An example of this could be of a rose; the denotation of this is that it is a red flower - the connotation is that the red colouring may suggest beauty or danger.
4. The cultural code: An element reffering to something that both the producer and the audience understand. An example of this could be particular dress codes i.e. someone dressed in a hoodie and trackies; this is where the cultural code would be represented as the mutual share of knolegde between the producer and the audience which also creates a bond between the text and audience.
Finally an ideology is a collection of ideas which are personal to someone beliefs. These are the beliefs that join the world together and provide general ground for people to connect with others.
5. The symbolic code: An understanding from in the text that the audience makes without being shown directly. This links with Levis Straus's theory of binary opposites; black/white and rich/poor, this means that one thing can only be defined in relation to something else. Where as the symbolic code for example if the 'grey' area in between the 'black' and 'white'. All in all it is a subtle connotation. For example, if there is poor man taking drugs in contrast to a rich man making a business, the symbolic code of this would be that the poor man got to where he was by wasting his money on drug and similarly the rich man made his success by starting a business.
1. The action code: An action deliberately included in a text that implies further narrative action; this can be both visual or an anchorage. An example of this would be of a close up of a gun in someones hand; the implication of this would be that this would lead to the gun being shot.
2. The enigma code: An unexplained element in a story that raises questions demanding explaination. An example of this would be to open a film with a murder scene; this immediately forces the audience to question when, where, why, who and how.
3. The semantic code: An element suggesting an additional meaning through connotations. An example of this could be of a rose; the denotation of this is that it is a red flower - the connotation is that the red colouring may suggest beauty or danger.
4. The cultural code: An element reffering to something that both the producer and the audience understand. An example of this could be particular dress codes i.e. someone dressed in a hoodie and trackies; this is where the cultural code would be represented as the mutual share of knolegde between the producer and the audience which also creates a bond between the text and audience.
Finally an ideology is a collection of ideas which are personal to someone beliefs. These are the beliefs that join the world together and provide general ground for people to connect with others.
5. The symbolic code: An understanding from in the text that the audience makes without being shown directly. This links with Levis Straus's theory of binary opposites; black/white and rich/poor, this means that one thing can only be defined in relation to something else. Where as the symbolic code for example if the 'grey' area in between the 'black' and 'white'. All in all it is a subtle connotation. For example, if there is poor man taking drugs in contrast to a rich man making a business, the symbolic code of this would be that the poor man got to where he was by wasting his money on drug and similarly the rich man made his success by starting a business.
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