Index

1) Media consumption audit
2) Language and Genre: Reading an image - advert analyses
3) Institution: major media institution research, presentation and feedback/LR
4) Institution: brand values
5) Narrative: narrative theory YouTube clip analysis
6) Genre: Factsheet questions and Chandler genre analysis task
7) Audience: psychographics
8) Audience: audience theory blog tasks/questions
9) Audience: Effects theory - factsheet and questions
10) Audience Pleasures: The battle of the Christmas adverts
11) Representation: clip analysis - dominant and alternative representations
12) Representation theory: 500 word analysis on blog
13) Representation: Photoshop collages - dominant and alternative representations
14) Ideology: BBC QT analysis and binary opposition
15) Ideology: Media Magazine reading and notes

Ideology: further reading and tasks

Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

2) What view of capitalist ideology is presented in the Hunger Games films?
It is quickly distinguishable that the dystopian world of the Hunger Games revolves around a society where wealth is unfairly distributed in a way that a small minority are extremely wealthy and powerful whilst the majority suffer in deprivation. The large group are being controlled by those with more authority because of their power. It is the epitome of a capitalist society. This links to a Marxist perception of the world. Marxists believe primarily that the less wealthy are under control by the more wealthy and will be punished if they disobey against their laws, this is pervasive in 'The Hunger Games' world. The 'Capitol' control the districts. This entire concept relates to real life as in today's society we are forced to follow strict laws and regulations set out by our government that if broken, will lead to severe consequences. Furthermore, Karl Marx's theory states that people will eventually always find a way to revolt and to resist power through rebelling and it is this very ideology that is shown throughout the film where the civilians do what they can to gain piece.

3) What do the Hunger Games films suggest about the power of the media to shape and influence ideological beliefs?
In terms of media within the film, it is evident that it portrays media as having an immense amount of influence and power of the consumers. it has the ability to create fear and overall a negative effect on the consumers of it even if there is empty threat within it. This is apparent through how Katniss and Peeta present themselves as having a relationship through media whereas in reality they were merely affectionate. However, media enabled them to stop the hunger games before it killed one of them. They did this through (plausibly) staging joint suicide.


Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology

2) What are the four accepted ideological beliefs in western societies highlighted by the article?
• Money = Happiness
• Consumer goods = Fulfilment
• Marriage/Family/Children = Happiness
• Obedience/Work= Fulfilment

4) What does French theorist Louis Althusser suggest about ideology and consumerism?
The French theorist provides a way of understanding how we are governed through ideology. His view was that ideology is the greatest material power and mediates our day to day lives through two key forms of control:

1: Repressive State Control, also known as ‘Repressive State Apparatuses’ (RSAs) :
These are forms of control through the major institutions of society – the Government, Army, Police, Courts, etc. They are dominated by the ruling elite. These state agencies regulate behaviour and repress the masses through operating on violence, punitive law, and fear.

2: ‘Ideological State Apparatuses’ (ISAs):
These are forms of control through things such as the Church, the media, educational institutions, the family etc. These looser institutions control and dominate implicitly through ‘common sense’ acceptance and social norms. These values, suggesting the importance of the individual, and self-fulfilment, are dominant in the West, and closely linked with the ideology of consumerism, which arguably dominates and drives society.


5) Do YOU agree with the idea behind They Live - that we are unthinkingly controlled by the media which is run in the interests of the economic elite? These are the big questions of A Level Media!Personally, I do agree with this idea. I believe that our society is being controlled by those with more authority because of their power and often media is a tool they use to achieve this and further their agendas.

Ideology and Binary opposition

1) Watch this clip from BBC Question Time with Russell Brand and Nigel Farage. The BBC deliberately placed the two against each other and the episode resulted in far more people watching and tweeting than usual.

What examples of binary opposition can you suggest from watching this clip?

To begin, we could class Russell Brand and Nigel Farage as binary opposites. It appears that everything about them contrasts vastly. Moreover, in terms of mise-en-scene we could argue their attire is entirely juxtaposed. Nigel Farage can be seen wearing a formal, grey suit whereas Russell Brand is sporting a far more casual, laid back outfit. Another binary opposite I have identified is the political stand both these men support. Russell Brand makes it evident he is left wing whereas Farage is far more right wing. Finally, an interesting binary opposition is the age group both these men fall under. It appears the older generation support a more left wing approach whereas the younger population advocates a more left wing political perspective.

What ideologies are on display in this clip?

Within this extract, we can see both men supporting entirely different political parties. For instance, Russell Brand can be seen supporting a left wing, Marxist view whereas Nigel Farage takes a right wing perspective and advocates a far more capital, conservative view political stance

Ideology and your own choice of clip

2) Now do the same activity for a clip of your choice. Embed the YouTube video in your blog and answer the questions in detail:

What examples of binary opposition can you suggest from watching your clip?

From this clip I can identify several instances of binary opposites in terms of appearance, character traits, behaviour etc. To begin, the most recognisable binary opposite is the gender of the two characters. This is evident considering the  stark contrast of their attire, their voices and behaviour. Moreover, to elaborate on their behaviour, we can see vast contrast in their mannerisms and traits. The female character holds very feminine, exaggerated reactions whereas the male character shows hypermasculine traits such as dominance. To continue, a more implicit binary opposite is strong against weak. We can see the female character attempts to defend herself with a weapon but fails against the sheer brutal force of the male character.

What ideologies are on display in your clip?

This clip reinforces stereotypical gender roles through the male showing hypermasculine traits against the female who appear quite effeminate. 

Dominant and Alternate Representation of London

Dominant Representation

For my dominant reading of London, I have created a collage of several shots all filtered predominantly in the colours of the union jack: red, white and blue. In this, we can firstly see several stills of architecture which the area  is often well renowned for. In particular, its cathedrals. Also, I have included the London underground sign. London often is most well known for its superb transporting systems. To continue, I used shots of the iconic red telephone box and red busses. These are common conventions of London. Moreover,we can see shots of the narrow, cobble streets. Finally, we can see the Queen's guard, as London is also renowned for the royal family.

Alternate Representation 

This is my alternate reading of London. I have included several shots that depict a different reality than what other countries may see as us. For instance, I have included the British variety store chain, popular for its cheap products. As well as this, we have the well known attraction, known for being beautiful yet it is crowded. Moreover, we can see several stills of dirty walls with graffiti and mud. Along with this, we can see national gallery of London occupied overwhelmingly with pigeons. This is a common issue that often people outside of London are not aware of. Additionally, we can see the formidable issue referring to litter in London.  Finally, we can see the reality of a standard home in London. Rather than a glorified, glamorous house, the actuality is  "row-houses" or a "semi-detached home."

Audience Pleasures

1) Which do you think is the most appealing and why? Try to use some of our audience theory in your answer.
Personally, the 'Coming Home for Christmas | Heathrow Airport' advert resonated with me. I found it most appealing because it struck both personal relationships and identity. This is because it built up in a way so that it would emotionally impact me when the characters were revealed as being grandparents who their grandchildren were excited to see. Also, it reflected upon  personal identity because I was able to see myself reflected in the grandchildren's reaction to their grandparents coming home for Christmas.

2) Are there any audience pleasures that two or more of the adverts have in common? Choose two examples to illustrate your point. 
Yes, this is demonstrated well through the use of family pleasures in the M&S and Sainsbury's advert. This specific audience pleasure is useful because it often is associated with heartfelt bonds, happiness and pleasure. This represents both the companies well in terms of their brand values.

3) Choose a different advert and identify the target audience for the advert. Answer in terms of demography and psychography. What tells you this?
In the very advert we can see that this advert is likely to be targeted predominantly at women. This is evident as we can see that the focus of the advert is a female character. Moreover, we can see the use of feminine colours such as pink.

4) Why do you think Christmas adverts, in particular, often use emotive language and narratives to appeal to a wide audience?

This use of emotive language is often used because they are trying to create an impression of warmth and compassion. This appeals to a wide audience because it can be categorised as Happy Families according to dyers lines of appeal.

5) Choose an advert with a narrative and, just for fun, apply one of our narrative theories to it. Why does a narrative have a place in an advert? 
For this, I have chosen the ALDI advert. The narrative falls under several categories in dyers lines of appeal such as: happy families, Dreams and Fantasy, Comedy and Humour and childhood.

Representation

Initial answer:
1) List the different people/groups represented in the trailer (men/women/Americans etc.)

In this clip we see a large variety of people and groups represented in this trailer. To list them, we can see British protagonists, powerful male protagonists, women and foreign antagonists.

2) For each group, decide whether the representation is a dominant or alternative portrayal

Bond films are notorious for their traditional, stereotypical roles. Therefore, they tend not to  subvert from the general conventions. However, we can argue that not all the women in this film are presented as weak. We can see some instances of them being portrayed as powerful.

3) What stereotypes can you identify in the trailer?

Most prevalent to me was the foreign antagonists. They are depicted as being harmful and are associated with guns, violence and muscle cars.  Moreover, it is evident that women are presented as quite brittle and vulnerable.  

Extended answer:

To begin, in this trailer the most prominent examples of representation was the binary opposite antagonists and protagonists. The antagonists are a European, foreign terrorist organisation whereas the protagonists tend to predominantly be the British characters, such as James Bond. Instantly, this alludes to Medhurst's theory. He stated that stereotyping is a form of communicating vast amounts of information about  a character in a short space of time. Almost like a shorthand for identification. This is prevalent in this trailer as this representation being common over the medium , makes the audience instantly assume that all foreign, europeans tend to follow this stereotype which subsequently creates an overall negative representation of all Eastern Europeans. 

To elaborate on this idea, Dyer's theory can also be applied he. He simply stated that a complex, board group can be reduced to a few key characteristics. His entire theory was primarily based off power. He believed that those with more power stereotype those with less power. This specific trailer demonstrates his idea perfectly as it relegates the diverse group of foreign people to negative value judgement. This is because they are seen as unlawful yet British people are shown as protagonists, saving the day and resorting equilibrium.  The idea of power is prominent here as typically British people are considered as being more prestigious compared to Eastern Europeans.

In terms of the representation of genders in this film, we can see two very different, distinct representations of each gender. Males are presented as powerful, courageous and ruthless. This representation is dominant as it is the generic perception of men over many forms of social media. In vast contrast, we can these that in this same tailer, females are represented as vulnerable to attack and subsequently in need of protection from men. This is shown through the blonde woman who appears unstable and relies heavily on Bond for safety. Moreover, they are often considered quite attractive and are portrayed as being very sexual. This is most apparent through the use of costume and make up. This links to Mulvey's theory. She conjured the idea of 'the male gaze.' Her theory stated that the dominant view in the media is masculine and benefits men. This is because women are present within the media entirely for the pleasure of men to look at, hence 'the male gaze.' This further links to the idea of women being objectified and presented as sex objects. However, occasionally we are presented with manipulative women. This could be a way of subverting from typical gender roles. This has been shown before in Bond films. For instance, the iconic scene where the new Bond is introduced by emerging out of the water, almost as if parallel to a scene where a woman is introduced the same way. This alludes to the more recent theory of 'the female gaze.' This theory consists of a similar idea to Mulvey's but women are objectifying men. It was proposed by theorist Rosalind Gill and is an example of post feminist media culture in modern day.

Audience: Effects Theories

1a) Do you play violent video games and/or watch violent films? Are you violent in ‘real life’?
I don't usually play violent video games and I like to think that I'm not a violent person at all in real life.

1b) Do you ever see a product advertised on TV or on the internet and decide you want to buy it?
It is more likely that I would be attracted to products advertised online as I use the internet more compared to the TV. However, most of the time, if a product is advertised well and appeals to me, I am drawn to wanting to buy it.

1c) Have you ever seen a documentary which has drawn your attention to an issue which you now feel strongly about?
Yes, several instances of this have happened. For example, 

2) What are the four categories for different effects theories?
• Direct Effect Theories
• Diffusion Theories
• Indirect Effect Theories
• The Pluralist Approach

3) What are the examples provided for the hypodermic needle theory - where media texts have been blamed for certain events? 
Horror films, rock music and video games.

4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.
The  1999 Columbine massacre refers to the school shooting that took place in Columbine High School.

5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?
The ease of access to firearms and the social acceptance of gun ownership, the alienation felt by teenagers who felt as though they did not fit in, the hopelessness caused by living in an area where unemployment was high and was economically disadvantaged and the general desensitisation caused by access to a range of violent images: film, TV, the news, the internet.

6) What does Gerbner's Cultivation theory suggest?

This theory considers the way the media affects attitudes rather than behaviour. The media is seen as part of our socialisation process, communicating ‘appropriate’ attitudes and the norms and values of the culture. It claims that when attitudes are repeated, they become normalised or naturalised and then accepted, making people desensitised.

7) How does this front page of the Daily Mail (from this week - Wednesday 16 November) link to Cultivation theory? The Mail Online version of the story is here.
It is the claim that all 'under-5s' fit into that assumption or category.



8) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?
An action film is likely to contain violence for a ‘good’ reason is acceptable or violence for a ‘bad’ reason must be punished.


9) What criticisms of direct effect theories are suggested in the factsheet?
The hypodermic syringe modelled is criticised for making simplified judgements about the audience. However, 

10) Why might the 1970s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour be considered so controversial today? What does this tell us about Reception theory and how audiences create meanings?
Today, this show appears to many modern viewers as racist and offensive. Times have changed and so have
people’s attitudes and values. What was acceptable as the topic for comedy some decades ago, no longer is today.

11) What examples are provided for Hall's theory of preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings?
An example he uses is the fact that The Sun and The Guardian report the same ‘facts’ very
differently.

12) Which audience theory do you think is most convincing? Why? It is important that you develop critical autonomy in judging the arguments for and against different theories and form your own opinion on these issues.
The pluralist view which sees media as free to present whatever point of view they wish and audiences being  equally free to interpret the ideas they are presented with. This view sees the audience, not as a manipulated mass, but as individuals who have the ability to interpret the media or form opinions based off of it
as they please.