Dominant: This collage is a 'dominant' illustration of how teenagers are perceived stereotypically, especially through the media. Main stereotype themes include: drinking, smoking and crime.
My photo collages are based around the theme of women in society and how they are portrayed/what they're expected to do.
My first collage is a 'dominant' representation of what women are stereotyped to be:
DOMINANT: women should be cooking, cleaning and looking after children. Women are seen as the more weaker sex.
My second collage is an 'alternative' representation of women:
ALTERNATIVE: Women represented as successful, an icon, being wealthy and prosperous. This goes against the dominant stereotype of which women only belong at home and shouldn't be victorious. These celebrities go against the stereotype of what women should be like, as a result this makes them icons.
1) Finalised group - Jasmine, SamSam 2) Initial plans - the plan our group have decided is to go with a urban narrative which involves issues affecting today's society e.g. drinking, drugs. However, our group is going to present this from a female perspective. Our group's focus is to film the video in Central London to promote a gritty and youthly feel and so it also meets the brief (ages 15 - 35). 3) Research Blogpost Research and planning Task #2: Institution research Research E4 and BBC3 - two channels that boast a similar target audience to your brief. For EACH channel, research the following: Channel history - E4 When did it start broadcasting? E4 began transmission on 18 January 2001 at 8.30pm with a night hosted by Ali G. Any controversial moments? A programme called 'Skins' was criticised for promoting promiscuity, underage drinking and drug abuse. What genre of programmes is the channel best known for? E4 shows programmes such as The Cleveland Show, 90210, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, Rules of Engagement, The Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls, Revenge, and formerly Friends. Overall the genre is mainly sitcom, teen dramas and reality tv - these genres attract many teens. Notable successes The most successful programme by far has been 'Friends' because of the long period of time it ran far. The programme was the most popular sitcom, especially in the UK. Target audience
E4 impacts holds steady very strong for 16- 34s.
E4 is the entertainment destination for a cutting edge young audience, its eccentric and witty persona and strong branding makes it a massive talking point.
Demographic breakdown - ABC1
E4 is associated with psychographic groups such as: mainstreamers - because many of the programmes are domestic values, aspirers - because many of the programmes may encourage charisma such as 90210 and explorers - because there are many genres promoted and the target audience are mainly young students.
Channel history - BBC 3 BBC 3 started in 2003, 9 February.
Criticism - In July 2010 a UK music magazine printed a letter from the pressure group Friends of Radio 3 that criticised BBC Three for having 'comedies, game shows, films and documentaries, but no arts programming at all' Notable successes The most successful programme has been 'Little Britain' and BBC 3 always show documentaries - these programmes are always on at prime time and this could be the main reason for success. A new programme, 'Some Girls', has been a success as well because it promotes teen lifestyle. Target audience
16–34-year-old age group
Demographic breakdown - ABC1 demographic
Psychographic groups - BBC 3 focuses on aspirers - because it's associated with image, appearance, charisma, persona and fashion. Succeeders - status quo and Explorers - energy - autonomy, experience, challenge, new frontiers. Brand choice highlights difference, sensation, adventure, indulgence and instant effect - the first to try new brands. (Younger - student)
Throughout the clip an urban, gritty instrumental is played to highlight how the programme is targeted at teenagers who are used to this genre of mainstream music.
Mise-en-scene:
During the clip there are some props like the music equipment in the studio to reflect how the teenagers are ambitious about making music. In today's society many young teens have pursued an interest with music and this clip reflects this accurately.
Characters:
The characters in this clip are introduced as typical enthusiastic people who are ready to work; the males are more aggressive, in a subtle way, in comparison to all of the females. The males who are introduced at the beginning of the clip are presented as being mischievous while working.
Setting:
The majority of the clip takes place in a professional photography studio to present how a photo shoot is taking place, then it moves to a music studio. The settings reflect the work ethic of the characters who are pursuing their ultimate dream which is to be recognised in the music industry.
Top Boy
Editing:
During the clip there are many elements of fast-paced editing when the two kids are running away after shoplifting. This creates tension and is vital as it represents how young kids are influenced by crime and are getting into gangs at very young ages.
Characters:
The characters range from young kids, teens and adults who are all part of a London gang. The clip shows how each of the types of characters contribute to the group and how their roles are played. The ages of the characters is vital because it portrays how young kids/teens main focus is to do with crime and the younger generation as the main ones who are associated with gangs.
Narrative:
The narrative focuses on dodgy deals or committing crimes. For example, two young kids are in trouble for shoplifting.
Setting:
The setting of the whole clip is shot in London where crime levels are the most. The urban and gritty feel symbolises how the youth who live in this part live their lives and how majority of the youth are influenced by gangs.
Sound:
The opening of the clip uses diegetic sound when the conversation between the men take place. However, when the clip moves onto the clips in the store running away, non-diegetic sound it used. The music is an upbeat, urban instrumental to reinforce the pace the kids are running away at. This creates an adrenaline rush.
Pretty Little Liars
The opening scene presents an establishing shot introducing all the characters. From the characters point of the view and from their eye it takes the scene into the future where something has occurred and this is all filmed in a fast motion which gives the affect of the audience getting to see many different things at once. The drama then ends with a fighting scene which shows all the characters slowly and the audience is able to visualize that all of them look terrified and scared which creates enigma. The director uses many different types of media angles and shots to represent the character and from this the audience can get to see the characters in a more and better way. The camera then focus upon one character trying to introduce her Separately with a close-up and from this the audience is able to see her facial expressions and from her facial expressions and the way she is talking the audience can connote she might be a mean character.
Eastenders
Camera shots:
Firstly at the start of the program it starts of with an establishing shot of a building in a low angle shot and from this shot it allows the audience to see the setting where the drama is going to be set and lets the audienceconnote what society it is in. Their is then a close-up of the train going by connoting that the show is set near a station. The director then takes a fade cut after introducing the setting to introducing on of the characters in the show with a medium-shot where it allows the audience to see its facial expressions and their costume. From looking at the firstcharacter we can foretell that he is a the villain from the clothes he is wearing and this represents him as a hood-rat in now days society. It then takes a straight cut introducing the second character showing a medium close up of her where the audience could see how she is dressed and this shows her personality.
Sound:
The sound is digetic and parallel in the beginning as the characters are running, building tension and nerves. When the couple scene starts their is too an upbeat sound as it's representing excitement and fun between the young couple. When the last scene begins their is a lot of tension and suspense involved so the music is in-line with it as it wants the audience to feel nervous too. As their is no rocky-type or upbeat but it's slow and some music involved which allows the audience to engage too.
Lighting:
The lighting used is low-key lightingcreating more shadows which makes it look more effectual and brings the sense of mystery and suspense to both the audience and the characters.
Misfits
Sound:
The sound used in this sequence is parallel sound as it is linked to what the audience are watching as for instance as the start as we see thunder signs popping up on the brick wall we can also hear thunder with it which causes as electric vibe each time something comes to the screen such as the picture of each character comes in such a way.
Lighting:
The lighting used in this opening sequence is quite dull and dramatic as it has dark colours to represent the powers that each character has. As for intense the first few seconds showing the black and white brick wall shows that it is connoting the special powers. They have used both high key lighting and low key lighting. They have used high key lighting so that it makes the sequence free from dark shadows. Also they have used low key lighting because that lighting accentuates the contours of an object by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast. At the beginning of the opening sequence there is a fading of thunder signs coming on the screen then the black and white wall fades out to the next scene and then when the characters are shown the wipe into the screen one by one presenting themselves in a unique way.
The video was a protest against pg 3 on 'the sun'. They believe that because of pg3 the representation of women in general is sex object and them not being valued naturally and covered, this makes influences the younger generation into thinking that those representation of women is normal. So they want to put a stop to pg 3.
Some of the conclusions made include:
"The men are always active not posed and the women are passive its all about how they look"
"when i look at the men side i see real life, when I look at the women side I do not see real its all manufactured"
"this is a newspaper renowned for sport and there inst a single picture of a women doing sport"
"the only older women on there are women on mobility scooters, the Queen and Mrs Brown"
"there is a range on emotions on the mens side, the women are mainly smiling or pouting"
I agree with these conclusions, it shows bodies that are not natural which are mostly plastic surgery and make most women feel bad about themselves instead of being proud of what they have. Pg 3 defeats the equality that many women fought for over centuries but creates this representation of sex objects that are incapable of the achievements that men can do.
This article is about female gamers being harassed by the male gamers, this is mainly due the the avatars that are available to female players, these avatars are very sexual and half naked.
This is an article about women representation in the popular game GTA5, women are mostly presented as vulnerable prostitutes or sex objects, this article suggests that this game was made to make men more dominate and exploit women
This article is about a women who walked 10hrs in new york city with casual wear, she was verbally harassed 108 times excluding wolf whistles and winks, and another man followed her for an hour. this suggests that women are not respected even in everyday situations due to the representations of women created in the media.
Task The task was to create a 30 second video clip
which involved filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a
room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with who she/he
then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. The clip should demonstrate match
on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree
rule. As this was a preliminary task mistakes were acceptable so we could
learn from them when filming the real thing. Our video was based on a
schoolgirl being pressured into undergoing a dodgy deal for a friend. She is
pressurised and feels anxious when being asked to complete the task. The video
clip was filmed in school and was shot in a classroom mainly. The purpose of
this was to reinforce the school setting. The first few shots were
all continuous shots to show the schoolgirl's journey going to the
classroom – this includes shots of walking up the stairs (close up of shoes,
medium shot from behind) and then she exchanges dialogue with her friend, this
is where she tells her friend she has completed the secret undercover mission.
WWW There was good use of match on action
when the schoolgirl opens and closes the door. The timing is well and it flows
together when watching it in time. The clip met with the brief perfectly - showing
a character opening a door (a schoolgirl opening the door to enter the
classroom), crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite
another character and then exchanging dialogue. The clip was high
quality so brightness wasn’t an issue despite the focus going out for a few
shots. The dialogue which was exchanged between the characters was clear.
The narrative was a good idea as it matched the setting perfectly – e.g. being
pressured by a school mate in a classroom. This created a more realistic feel.
EBI Improve the sound next time when filming and
to accurately follow the 180-degree rule when filming next
time in the future. The audio sounded fuzzy sometimes because we were experiencing some technical issues with the microphone. Now that we have completed the
preliminary exercise my group is more confident with using the equipment. Also,
some shots lost focus because of the timing and in order to prevent
this from happening in the future it's best to press the record button
then have the action taking place just a few seconds after in order to
avoid losing focus. In addition, more footage was needed in order let the
editing run smoothly and not let the action feel rushed. Some shots were
repeated and cut out – this was done because more footage was needed to meet
the brief. Moreover, a shot/reverse shot was needed and had to be filmed
efficiently to make the clip feel realistic. We slightly attempted to use a
shot/reverse shot but repeated the same shots because more footage was needed. I
also think that an effective sound bridge could have been used to match the
high school theme.
Blumler and Katz believed that some members of the public may choose to consume media texts as a source of escapism. 'EastEnders' is a prime example which allows the consumer to divert from routine as it provides entertainment for many people. The programme is dramatic and this is essential for the audience as it is used as a source of escapism.
Personal Relationships - Big Brother
Blumler and Katz believed that some people may choose to consume media texts as a tool to bond between other people. 'Big Brother' is a key example of reflecting personal relationships because it helps the audience to find a common interest and relationships with other people. For example, the audience may feel sympathetic towards a big brother contestant who seems to feel unhappy in the big brother house or even favour a contestant because they are a famous reality star. It can allow the consumer to find a sense of belonging and similarities with others.
Personal Identity - Love and Hip Hop Hollywood
Blumler and Katz believed that some people may choose to consume media texts as a source of personal identity. The consumer could choose to watch or read something that helps to reinforce self values and behaviour.For example VH1's programme 'Love and Hip Hop Hollywood' which airs in the US is a key example of reflecting personal identity. This is because the show is based around famous hip-hop celebrities and how their lives are day-to-day. This show is vital because it may help some consumers to find their personal identity and reassurance on how they want to live/what to achieve.
Surveillance - BBC News
Blumler and Katz believed that some people choose to consume media texts as a source of surveillance and information. This could be simply watching the weather report, news programmes, or any other information or fact based programme. Blumler and Katz believed that the reason people would watch these types of programmes is to ensure that they ‘stay in the loop’ with the current happenings. For example, the BBC news reflects surveillance as it provides very useful information (such a weather and news reports)
1) What do you primarily use the media for? I use the media mainly for information and to stay updated on new stories and trends, this links to the 'Uses and Gratifications' theory as it's associated with surveillance and the urge is created for wanting to know new information. The types of media I use are mainly E-Media and TV; for E-Media I use the internet for websites such as Twitter and Daily Mail Online. In addition, I also use the media for entertainment - specifically to stream TV shows from the US which are not available in the UK. By watching programmes such as 'Love and Hip Hop' or 'Breaking Bad' an emotional connection is formed with the characters along the way as the narrative develops each season (this links with creating personal relationships and diversion - an escapism from reality and routine). 2) To what extent do you feel we are dependent on the media? In today's society majority of people are reliant on the media for news and entertainment. Demographically, teenagers are the most prominent as they have access to new technology and new methods in finding out news much more efficiently. Social networking sites such as Twitter is an essential method in finding out news much quicker than on TV - this is because teenagers are constantly checking their phones. Majority of the teenagers in today's society don't really watch the news and so other sources of media are more useful than others. 3) Has our dependence on the media changed over the last 10 years? How?
Over the last ten years our dependence of media has changed increasingly because of access to new technology. The dependency theory, from 1976, claims that people are reliant of media more because it's a urge to stay informed of what's going on in the world and how the media is being promoted of developed. New technology ultimately means that it's easier and more encouraging to read the news - technology such as iPads and smartphones means that it's quicker to read the news and makes people feel more dependent on feeling the need to read the news as part of a daily routine. In comparison, dependence on media ten years ago was less due to the fact that technology wasn't advanced.
