Intro To Media Theory

 Media Theory: The Power Of The Media

LO: To identify examples of the medias power. To discuss how the media can influence the audience.

What interests you?

Video Games, Films, TV Series

What Media do you like?

Films, Video Games, TV

What Media do you watch?

Dramas, Series, Game playthroughs

What Music Do you listen to?

Varied

Where do you get your news from?

Social media news accounts

New drink breaks world record for weekly sales

Drank this and could feel the quality swedish craftsmanship flowing through my veins.

Monday 11th September

Media Theory: Stranger Things

LO: To analyse using the theoretical framework to critically apply the the theoretical framework to texts.

Media Language: 

How the media, through forms, codes, conventions and techniques communicate meaning.

Media Representation: 

How multiple groups of people are represented and whether they are very represented or under represented

Media Industries: 

The process of creating media such as films, tv newspapers, print media etc

Media Audiences: 

how media reaches the target audience of a specific media source

Media Language:

Flashing lights-fear

Loud Sudden noise

dark environment- fear

80s decor, lighting, clothing, music

Police-lazy, sloppy, alcoholics, smoke, unsupportive, Joyce and hopper combo- bias

Joyce- single mother, 

Production value very high

Media Representation:

1 black character, majority white characters

Media Industries:

Media Audiences:

Teenage protagonists- appeals to teen audience

Context:

Historical- Stereotypes of 80s, tough, inequality- reflected in Joyce

12th September

  

LO: To investigate the principles behind theories to critically apply theories to texts.

parody- humour that satirises something

homage-expression of great reespect and honour

bricolage  construction or creation from a diverse range of available things.

lack of verisimilitude- appearance of being true or real

fragmented narrative- interruptions and instability

Reality- unsupportive police, emotional mother

Not reality- high tech lab, alien like growths

Postmodern- 

Evident Features- Bricolage, loss of reality, Fragmented narrative

Hyperreal- very stereotypical school

Simulacrum- Sci fi elements, government secret lab, very stereotypical american high school

Stranger things is an example of post modernism. We see this through multiple uses of the definitions of postmodernism such as a loss of reality in scenes such as the secret lab in a government building and the many sci fi and alien elements of it. In reality, secret labs and sci fi lifeforms hidden in a government building in a rural town dont exist and contrasts the very realistic reality of other scenes such as Joyce becoming distraught over her missing son and visibly becoming very emotional, this is very realistic and links in very well with actual reality because becoming emotional and worrying is a very realistic trait and occurrence. Another example is the simulacra of places such as the police station, a very hyperreal environment, very typical police for the historical context, coffee and donuts, lack of care and belief that a child is missing. As well as the school, the school seems to be an extremely stereotypically american high school, bullies, nerds etc. 

Homework:

Media that baudrillard applies to:

Barbie Movie

Loss of reality- Very fantastical and unrealistic barbie world, everyone always happy never an issue, minor issues treated as massive inconveniences.

While in reality there is sexism, patriarchy etc. very evident when they first visit the real world and experience and learn about these things

Hyper Reality- Extreme stereotypes of a "perfect' women very evident in "barbie world". Everyone is beautiful, Everyone is always happy and fit and healthy. Everyone wearing dresses and very feminine clothing

Monday 18th September 2023

Media Theory: Music as protest hip hop and beyond.

LO: To investigate the principles behind theories to critically apply theory to texts.

Representation is how a person or group or people are portrayed, presented, stereotypes.

Represented as threatening, wealthy gangs

Slightly angry facial expressions, wearing golden chains etc Clothing, hats, "bling"

 

Rose Summary

Rap music criticises injustices for black men but maintains sexist attitudes to black women, constant reminder of male sexual dominance over black women.

The Message- Grandmaster Flash

Protests against the state of poverty in the inner city and stress of it.

Public Enemy- songs speaking about the right of freedom of speech and the rebelling of racial and economic inequality, in they're songs they speak about these injustices and the difficulties of them.

Tuesday 19th September 2023

Media Theory: Rupual and Identity

LO: To investigate the theoretical framework in a text to discuss media theorists. To critically apply theories to text.

Identity- Gender, race, class, background, sexuality. Who a person decides to be

Audience- Consumption of media

Media can make certain traits of an identity seem "normal" and makes anything else other than that seem abnormal.

Gender becomes more of a set path rather than a personal choice of the person.

Different parts of identity clearly represented that are sometimes contrasting each other

Gender in the show both subverts and supports very typical gender stereotypes. These men are dressing in very feminine clothing but also showing that to be  a women you must follow typical gender stereotypes.

RuPaul shows that drag definitely feel free in their identity and overall different genders and sexualities are far more generally accepted as a show has been made out of this style and massively popularised.

Audience are far more accepting of different sexualities and genders, evident through the fact that thousands of people watch this show.

Homework:

Media that Butler and Gauntlet's theories of Gender and Identity applies to:

Gauntlet:

Modern advertisements such as this are not nearly as constrained in there gender stereotypes, In this example we see a man advertising a new nappy brand and the quote at the bottom suggests its the dads responsibility to care for the baby. This is stereotypically a woman's role to fulfil and we can see that modern media sees gender roles and stereotypes as far less fixed than they were in the past as they are openly showing this role swap of gender stereotypes.

Butler:

Gender Trouble is caused by this advertisement as some people may disagree and feel conflicted over the idea of a man doing a stereotypically woman's job in a heterosexual relationship.

Gauntlet:

In this very old fashioned advertisement it is suggested that women are incapable of opening things/ doing basic tasks. This shows the very openly misogynistic views of people from the past. This advertisement emphasises the acceptance of subverting gender stereotypes in modern media and how much it has changed over time.

Butler:

In the past, a man and a women's gender roles and responsibilities were very set and solid, and it wasn't often disputed. These gender roles were performed for so long and repeated so much it became second nature to people to follow these gender norms. But in modern relationships, were different sexualities are far more openly accepted, stereotypical gender roles are disputed and it is no longer a case of a mans role or a woman's role.

Tuesday 25th September 2023

Mis- en-scene- Suit, wealthy, smart

Evening

Drink

Female, body shot,  Clothing, very little, sexualised, Revealing, Exotic, objectified

Low angle, power, authority

Media Theory: Gender and Bond:

LO: To investigate the theoretical framework in a set text. To discuss various theories to critically apply theory to texts.

                             

Editing:

woman's face is rarely shown and when it is, looks very afraid and unimportant, standing to the side etc

Sound:

Dialogue- Woman speaks of previous partner, how quickly she forgets his name, shows how little she cares about her relations, sleeps around etc

diegetic sound- music turns romantic when they begin flirting, 

Mis-en-Scene:

woman wearing Very skimpy, revealing clothing, women is very sexualised, emphasis on exposed parts of her body.

Bond- Very smartly dressed, authoritative, wealthy

Camera:

 repeatably objectifies woman, focuses on body, not showing face. when face is shown, afraid, supports female gender stereotypes of 70s.

Fight scene, camera is handheld to make more real.

Applies to this text through blatant objectification of the woman through clothing, behaviour and attitude.

Socially at the time, would be quite shocking for woman to act this way, very extreme representation of stereotype.

In James Bond, the women are predominantly represented as inferior to men, cowardly, sexualised  and a prize for the male gaze in 1970s social context. In the belly dancer ,scene we see that throughout the first part of the scene the woman is extremely objectified, wearing very revealing clothing and only her revealed body shown, rarely ever her face,  the camera only ever focuses on her body in close ups and midshots of her body showing that her body is valued more than she is. We also see that the vast majority of the people in the bar watching her dance are men. Mulveys theory that women are positioned in media as an object to be looked at for the visual pleasure for men can easily be applied here as her sole purpose here is to be ogled at. Furthermore she is never given a name and is only known as the "belly dancer", Further objectifying her and showing her body is seen as more important than she is. In 1970s social context, this is still a very extreme stereotypical representation of women and would of still been quite shocking to audiences at the time. Despite the current social context stating that women are often the desire and prize for men while also seen as inferior and weaker.

In James Bond, Women are often seen as the sexualised goal for men, this is clearly shown in the bedroom scene when we see multiple women are emphatuated with James and are clearly shown to have a predominant purpose of sexual desire in the plot. While Mrs anderson is still given value in the plot due to her relation to the main "villain" she is still shown to be sexually desired and objectified by James Bond. We can apply Van Zoonens theory that women are extremely objectified in media representations

Tuesday 26th September 

Gender, Bond and Beyond

Suggests there is more contribution to discrimination  and oppression other than gender,

 race, class etc. Shouldn't focus only on gender as a reason for this.

Gender- Male represented as powerful, dominant, confident, brave. Smart, Respectable

 Woman represented as object of attraction, seductive, flirty in elevator, inferior, opened door for him,less serious

Bond- Brave, confident, dominant, Leading female, wearing smart suit,

Woman- Weaker, object of attraction/sexual goal, submissive

Male Performance, Strong, Confident, Fearless, Leader, First appearance, smart suit, Patriarchal

Female Performance, Gentle, Wearing dress and makeup, very pretty, Stereotypically feminine, reacts to him rather than own actions, 

Referring to car as "she", comparing an object of desire to a woman.

Vast majority in place are men, cars are formal masculine colours

Bond is very skilled

Intimidating the woman, sexual desire, with multiple women very often

Not much care for the women he is with, leaving immediately after

She has just become a widow, disloyalty

Male forgets woman birthday, shows lack of care

Women lacks emotion, cold, has sex with bond same day her husbands funeral.

Widow- revealing clothes

The gender performance in spectre is  is that women are always the object of sexual desire to bond. This is very evident in the widow character when we see her repeatable represented as inferior and weaker to bond, Bonds extremely quick progression from meeting her to sexual interaction shows that he cares little about knowing her, she is simply an object of information and sexual desire for bond. This appears when we see bond pushing her back against a wall, clearly asserting his dominance and her submission to him. This clearly supports van Zoonen theory that women are objectified in the majority of media content as we see her clearly seen as an object of sexual desire when she is placed on the bed wearing very revealing clothes with a high angle shot, compared to when we see a low angle shot of bond. Emphasising her weakness and his strength and power over her.

Thursday 28th September 2023

Homework:

Barbie Movie:

Van Zoonen: We see later in the film that "Barbie world" has become extremely male dominated and patriarchal, All of the women have become extreme stereotypes and become very objectified, serving the men's every need, wearing very revealing clothing and flirting with them all, becoming objects of sexual desire to the men.

Butler: The change in behaviour and correspondence to stereotypical gender roles in this part of film represents the sexist views of women in 1950s 1960s. We see all the women essentially becoming housewives and constantly praising their partners, following every demand without question and make themselves seem inferior, these are very stereotypical gender roles for the 50s/60s

Van Zoonen:

On this cover, we see the model is clearly objectified, seeing only wearing a jacket that doesn't fully cover her, revealing a lot of her body. She is clearly placed in this cover like this to appeal to the "male gaze" and is very sexualised.

Butler:

 In this image, she is performing a stereotypical female gender role of pleasing the "male gaze" and is clearly placed as a stereotypical object of male sexual desire.

Monday 2nd October 2023

intimidating, weaponry, armour

about to go into battle

Media Theory: Race

LO: To investigate the stereotypes of race in texts to discuss race theories and to critically apply theory to texts.

Clothing- Postitive, traditional dress, costume, makeup, piercings, beads, Body paint

Weapons- Traditional, embracing culture, 

People of wakanda were close, welcoming and loving society, Royal structure, those in power command the army and the citizens, but open and funny. 

Traditional music of drums dress, methods of celebration

Positive, tribal, native, really positive of women

Spears- primitive, violent

Tribal costume was a mix of cultures

accents- mix of acents not true one form a country

no building other than metropolis 

Homework:

Levi Strauss:

In this movie poster Levi Strauss theory of binary opposition is very evident through the representation of "good and evil". The man in the hat is clearly represented as an evil character, Ugly expression wearing typical evil character suit, accompanied by chaotic background colours of orange and red that could represent fire and destruction. While the woman is clearly the "good" and innocent character. Wearing all white and being very pale could suggest holiness and importance. This poster also represents another binary opposition of stereotypical Feminine and Masculine conventions. The man is shown to very strong ,intimidating and dominant, holding the woman with ease and wearing smart clothing while the woman is shown to be very weak, clearly inferior to the man, wearing very little clothing, despite being clearly unconscious still has perfect makeup and hair.

Tuesday 3rd October 2023

Meaning, Stereotype. No "one true meaning", there is ideology behind the stereotype, values/beliefs

Clear binary opposition of good and evil, Alien is in an attacking position looks very bizarre, ugly, inhuman, green, sickness etc clearly evil. Humans wearing white suggests holiness, importance, holding syringe almost like a weapon, confidence etc clearly good.

Clear binary opposition of stereotypical masculine and feminine roles in film in 1960s. Men are confident, fighting against creature wearing appropriate clothing, woman is clearly afraid, inferior and weaker than the men, hand over mouth, shocked, wearing dress etc.

Alvorados Theory:

Kevin hart is jumangi is definitely seen as the comic relief character, the source of funny moments within the film. Also only really a sidekick character, not main.

Character is seen as pitiful when we are shown them openly sobbing and crying over family.

Monday 9th October 2023

Older man, veteran, fought in war, 

story about mans past,  

Media Theory: Ideologies

LO: To investigate how representations can produce ideologies to discuss various theories, to critically apply theory to texts.

Todorov- Narratology

Key elements to a narrative

Equilibrium

Disruption to E

Recognition of D

Resolution

New E established

repetition of fire, explosions, mental fire

Drug, alcohol, violence, loss of marriage

Mentally in 2 worlds, 

Vulnerable, violent, at risk

 Oppositional Reading- audience doesn't accept representations of scene, disagrees with actions and reasoning

Stereotypical angry teen,  shouting, lack of control, dependant on someone else

Lower socio economic group

Mom- Smoking, lots of boyfriends, clothing

Teen- Agressive, Casual joggers, Sports clothing

negative connotations

In Fish Tank, we see ideologies of stereotypes of a young teen woman in a lower socio economic group. She is clearly represented as angry, evident through her shouting and general attitude to other people and is shown to "shut off" from the world. These are extreme stereotypes of a british teen and her stereotypes as a woman are clearly shown when we see her immediately latch on and try to form a relationship with a very typically handsome man. We can apply Van Zoonen and Butlers theory of the objectification of woman in media, we clearly see as she fills her stereotypical gender roles of fawning over a man etc. The ideologies in this section establish the support of very typical gender stereotypes. This reflects the context of the time as the entire environment is very stereotypical of a naughties lower socio economic group.

Tuesday 10th October 2023

Masculinity

Stereotypical masculine stereotypes, super strong, brave, shirtless

Masculinity is shown as strength bravery, looks etc

Audience expectation is for men to conform to stereotypes

Man is clearly shown as strong and dominant over the woman. Shown to be disciplinary and unforgiving. Has woman in a vulnerable and embarrassing position. Clothing suggests worker, clean shaven, smart hair very professional.

In the diet coke break ad Masculinity is shown as being physically strong, healthy and good looking. But in this ad, men are also clearly objectified as we see the use of a high angle makes him seem inferior while the woman have a low angle, showing their importance. We are also clearly shown that this man is a construction worker, who stereotypically are not very smart and we are also never shown him working, only him on his break, making him seem lazy and also making his only purpose to be objectified by the woman in the building.

Masculinity in this ad is also shown to be role reversed as we see the women are working office jobs, potentially representing intellectual dominance and superiority. While also looking very professional, compared to the men whom are very sweaty working in unpleasant conditions etc. There is also an ideological myth of typical gender norms such as heterosexual relationships, the men working while woman are relaxed that represents typical gender stereotypes.

Very stereotypical representations of masculinity.

 Men are clearly shown to be very fit, healthy, strong good looking, waxed

Shirtless, displaying pride of body

wearing casual/smart clothing, professional.

Woman is clearly shown to be inferior and weaker, being pinned down

Woman is wearing tight, revealing clothing. binary opposition, woman seeming weaker makes men seem very strong

Facial expression suggests professionalism

Add additional context, 

Homework:

Media Theory: Barthes- Semiology

This  ad represents the idea and myth that men must strive to always look attractive, the connotation of being attractive is creating strong sexual desire in other people, stereotypically in women, as the connotations in this ad follow stereotypical heterosexual norms. The myth that men must always strive to be attractive creates an ideology and objective of looking attractive

Monday 30th October 2023

Media Theory: Assessment

LO: To demonstrate knowledge of media theories, to apply media theory to texts, to critically explore a text using media theory.

Rep

Lang

Ind

Aud

Teen characters, younger audience, clothing

Messy home, lazy, sleeping in clothes, not stereotypically masculine

Nancy- slightly older audience, young adult, relationships etc stereotype teenage girl, talking about boys etc.

Masculine stereotype- most police officers male, receptionist female

good and evil

Representations can vary within long form television dramas, discuss how and why audiences might respond to and interpret these representations differently.

Exam Question Answer

In this episode of stranger things, there are many different representations of age, gender and historical context, theses representations are responded to differently by audiences based on factors such as age and gender. For example, Younger viewers may relate more to the younger characters because they can understand their roles and relate to what they do and say, resulting in them liking that group of characters more than the older characters due to not understanding certain aspects and interests in that age group. For example a younger male audience may like the group of young boys as characters more than the older female characters such as Nancy or jill as they cant relate or understand them as easily. But an older audience would relate more to characters in their age group and less to the much younger characters due to different interests, lack of similarities etc. Essentially the representations of age and gender in this episode may be more evident to audiences who can personally relate to the characters who match their age, gender, ethnicity etc, and therefore cause the audience to respond equally positively and negatively to different representations. Audiences can respond to and interpret representations differently based on personal age, interests and gender.

Other representations such as masculinity, femininity and historical context are also evident within the show. For example the show is set in 1983, so audience members who are old enough to remember clear historical context from that time are caused to feel nostalgia and the historical contextually correct representations can only really be appreciated by those who were old enough to remember what 1983 was like. Causing a very positive or negative response while younger audience members would feel neutral toward the historical context of the show as they will only recognise that it is different and wont have experienced life in 1983. Audiences can respond to and interpret representations differently depending on personal experiences and historical knowledge.

 Stereotypicall masculine and feminine representations are also very evident, this is largely also due to historical context of 1983, when society accepted sexism and male dominance as normality. But the stereotypical representations of gender are both supported and subverted through different elements of characters. For example Hopper and the rest of the police officers are male, a stereotypical view that females aren't police officers and that it is a "mans job" but we also see that Hopper lives very lazily, isn't in great health and is evidently quite unfit. Eating junk food, drinking beer, overall living unhealthily and unhygienicly. All clear subversions of stereotypical masculinity. Essentially the representations of masculinity can be responded to differently by audiences due to their personal beliefs and ideologies, whether they enjoy seeing masculine stereotypes subverted or whether they believe in stereotypes and stereotypical masculinity. The representations of masculinity in this episode can be responded to and interpreted differently by audiences depending on personal beliefs and ideologies.

Within long form TV dramas there are many different representations of age, gender, beliefs and historical context. And they are interpreted very differently by different audiences entirely based on that audiences personal aspects such as beliefs, ideologies, interests, gender etc. And the way in which audience members respond to these representations is entirely built around how the TV dramas present them to the audience and how they reflect various contexts based on when and where the show is based, the age, gender, ideologies of characters and how well representations are displayed. Depending on all these factors, audiences will respond and interpret these representations differently.

 You need to tie your overall comments and generalisations of audience to specific media language examples and analyse these in detail linking them to the context and then the theory. 3+6

Homework- TV Drama, "Time"

Characters- Prisoners, stereotypically violent, aggressive, rude, mental disorders etc. Connotes a very stereotypical prison environment.

Narrative- Not given context beforehand, thrown into story with any prior information, past and context is slowly revealed primarily through dialogue. Connotes a desire for mystery and shock reveals.

Context- Prison is not that of a very stereotypical prison, very modern design, very humane toward prisoners, prisoners have access to appliances, kettle etc. Connotes a very unstereeotypical representation of prison.

Monday 6th November 2023

Media Theory: Dirt

In Stranger things, the evident representations vary massively are and are all unique, individual and very different to each other in order to create difference and interest in the characters. This is evident in the representation of the group of young teenage boys. Their overall behaviour throughout the entire episode is very boyish and allows younger audience member to relate and find comfort in these characters due to personal similarities conforms to stereotypes of adventuring young teens in media. Travelling as a group on bikes, a very common trope in adventure films and then emphasised further through close ups and cinematic shots showing them all together on bikes. The activities they partake in are also very conventional views of young boys. Focused primarily on their friendship, playing games, having fun, up to trouble etc. They also conform to very typically nerdy stereotypes. Into science, excited about a new radio. These representations are also emphasised by the presence of older characters such as steve, who is clearly shown not to have a single common interest with the boys and throughout the episode is very sex driven, wanting to stay with Nancy in the bathroom, wanting to go to her bedroom etc. Almost an opposite of the boys who are very innocent in their interests and wants. Audience members who have shared similair experinces of either nancy or steve may relate and find comfort in these characters to similarities in age and interests. As a result we can link this to Levi Strauss theory of binary oppositions for there to be maturity in steve and his very sexually driven interests there needs to be immaturity in the group of boys and their far more innocent interests that are accurate for stereotypes of their age groups. The roles of nerdy teenage boys and very sexually driven older teenagers do match stereotypes of the historical context stranger things is set in with the idea of "jocks" and "nerds" being very popular in the 80s.

Media Language

Audience

Representation

Context

Theory