Year 12 cover work

Find two music videos which REPRESENT women in very different ways. 

Video 1. Trey Songz - Yo Side Of The Bed. ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPd4Qp-Pdew&feature=relmfu&safe=active

Video 2. Christina Aguilera -Dirrty ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kaej4Wjkj1Q&safe=active

Answer the following questions on each music clip: 

1. How is the representation made to seem 'true', 'commonsense' or 'natural'?  

V1) In this music video, the female is represented as the career woman and the man as a house husband. This goes against the stereotypical of the women being home-makers. It's made to seem natural and true because there are some women that go through that stage where they have to leave their family behind to pursue their career. 

V2) In this video, women are normally seen as sex objects which makes the representation of women seem natural.

2. What is foregrounded and what is backgrounded? Are there any notable absences?   

V1) Foreground, the couple are in love with their baby. The woman is seen to be involved with both her family and her career as when she gets a call from her job and she has to leave she was genuinely upset about it. 

3. Whose representation is it? Whose interests does it reflect? How do you know?   

4. At whom is this representation targeted? How do you know?   

5. What does the representation mean to you?   

6. With what alternative representations could it be compared? How does it differ?  

 7. Why is the concept of representation problematic?

Textual Analysis: Independent Study

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK68Y3oMEk8

1) Media Forms:
What techniques does this trailer have to persuade the audience to watch this film?


2) Media Representations:
How are men and women representation in this trailer?


3) Media Audiences:
What target audience would be attracted to this film?


4) Media Institutions:
How does the production company impact the views for this film?




Answers:
1) humour is used to show that this is a romantic comedy
the actors in the film such as steve carell and ryan gosling
the music changes: shows different stages in the film
its all about re-inventing yourself 'take control of your manhood'
could be relate-able for divorcees 


2) there is a contrast with the men in this trailer: one is sophisticated and the other is average
the contrast could make the audience want to be the sophisticated one as he seems cooler and gets most of the women
women are seen as the 'prize'
women are seen the dominant ones 
men are seen as weak as they constantly want to be impressing the women
they are both important showing that women cant live without men and men cant live without women


3) divorced men are the target audience because it shows how to reinvent themselves
men who want to get more attention from women or the woman they like
the fact that its a romantic comedy and the main characters are well known actors will relate more to men
A lot of women is shown which can create that male gaze 
'tips of the trade'


4) warner brother is a high production company 
popular production company - everyone has heard of warner bros
produced many famous film: harry potter, looney tunes, the hangover, batman...
people may watch this film because they will know its a trusted production company
this film will have a big budget

Technophobes

BBC Three is launching a new program called “Technophobes”, following the lives of five people who are afraid of technology.

Audience: 

Demographics is age, sex, race, class, nationality, religion. So with Technophobes the audience that it will appeal to is 15-18, British black males, class D and E and any religion. The psychographics that will appeal to 'Technophobes' will be Funseekers and Free spirits.

Institutions: 

The assumptions that are made about this program being based on BBC Three is that it will definitely be a documentary or a reality show. Normally with BBC Three the documentaries/reality show shown are split into episodes which keep the audience interested with the program. 

BBC Three is attracted by teenagers so assumptions of the program will be that it's about teenagers or teenagers will like that particular program. Eg, Confessions of a sex addict, Cherry Healey: Like a virgin and older programs like World's Strictest Parents and Undercover princesses.

Media Forms:

Codes and Conventions: informative, entertaining, voiceovers

You would be expecting to see teenagers that are afraid of technology. With BBC 3 people will expect it to be entertaining. The camera would be observational 

Representation:

'Technophobes' position or opinion will present negatively because they're teenagers who don't like technology. They wont be looked at as the 'norm' because in the year 2012 teenagers are all about technology. People would mock them a lot.

Web Blog

I just watched Technophobes on BBC three and it was so funny how those 'teenagers' didn't like or were afraid of technology. I found it so dumb how they could be teenagers and not like technology. I mean, today's society is all about technology... people cant live with out it nowadays but for these people to claim that they dont like it or afraid of it is just beyond me - how do they survive? 

There was a guy called Mark who screamed every time he saw a Blackberry or anything closely related to it! If I was there I would of laughed in his face because he's surrounded by them everyday - so he must be screaming a hell of a lot. 

And there was a girl called Rachel who locked herself in her room because she was afraid of the internet, computers and phones, I know her parents must think shes weird because the looks that they were giving the camera when she ran away because they told her they made a facebook account got me laughing SO MUCH!

The thing that makes me laugh the most is that they cant even see what im writing about them because they are afraid of technology LOL ..I can't wait for the next episode when we meet 2 more 'technophobes' - lets just see how crazy and weird they are. 

Documentary DVD Cover image analysis

4 Little Girls - Spike Lee

The use of colour on the cover is contrasting as the main body of the picture is heavily bordered with black. This makes me fully drawn to the colourful picture in the middle of the cover. The first thing that I am drawn to is the light which represents God or Jesus. Also the fact that the shape of the main picture is drawn in the shape of a window, represents church. This represents religion and preferably Christianity. The second thing I am drawn to is the 4 girls praying towards the light, sitting on clouds which mean that they could be angel-like people.

The focal images of the picture are the light, the girls and the title of the documentary.

The denotation of the film cover is four black girls praying to what appears to be God. The connotation of the documentary cover is that the whole picture is a jigsaw puzzle and there is a jigsaw piece missing from where there is normally Jesus there or God there but in this cover its missing which suggests that there might not be a God. The girls are represented as angels as it seems as they have halos around their heads. There is a scripture underneath the girls which suggests that its definitely about religion. The scripture means: You have watered its plowed fields to multiply its fruit; with gentle showers you will give increase and you will bless its growth.

The writing used 'The story of four girls who paid the price for a nation's ignorance' is written in colloquial, everyday, regional English which regions like US, UK and other countries around the world speak in. (Code) I get a sense of freedom of choice with the type of language that is used on the cover. It says 'price for the nation's ignorance' which could mean that they have been standing up for something they believe in instead of listening to what the rest of the nation has said. This can relate to cultural analysis of the cover.

The presentation codes are the camera shot or in this case the way the picture is drawn. The fact that the girls are looking up towards the light could represent that they still believe and look up to something that might not exist or be there. This could refer to the quote at the bottom of the cover.

The picture by itself is polysemic which means that it could have many meanings but the anchorage on the cover is the writing which anchors the audience in. It narrows down the meaning of the cover. The scripture and the title shows that its about 4 little girls and about religion. The words 'paid the price' could suggest that they may of died or something bad may of happened to them. So the anchorage of the cover makes it more clear to the audience about what the documentary is about. Even though the cover doesn't really give much away but we as an audience have an idea of what the documentary is about.

This refers to cropping which means that the creator of the cover doesn't give to much away, that the audience keep guessing. Also so they know that the documentary will reveal all and that the cover will make sense to the audience. If the cover gave too much away then the audience wouldn't be as interested in the documentary as they can guess what happens in the documentary. This means that the audience will be less interested in watching or buying the documentary.

The signs of the cover is what it signifies. What the cover signifies is religion and that the four girls in the documentary.

Documentaries

What is a documentary?

Documentary has a lot of different interpretations:

• Broad category of nonfictional motion pictures
• Document some sort of primary reality data
• Maintains a historical record
• "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception"
• Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form
• Pare Lorentz defines a documentary film as "a factual film which is dramatic"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film

Codes and Conventions of a Documentary: 

• Voice over - The voiceover will inform the audience and help them understand a bit more, instead of constantly reading titles on the screen
• Real footage of events - This is a convention as all events shown is seen as real to the audience.
• Includes 'natural' lighting and sound - this makes the documentary seem more real
• Achive footage - Information/videos that the film maker was unable to get themselves (secondary)
• Interviews with 'experts' on the type of documentary the film maker has made - this gives more information to the audience that they might not be able to find themselves.
• Text - A quick and cheap way to give out information
• Sound - it can either be non-diegetic or diegetic 
• Set-ups - In a documentary sometimes it could be acted. They could show a stereotypical aspect of a particular type of genre to show that its 'natural'
• Mise en Scene - Whats on the screen is essential 

http://www.slideshare.net/crosswaysfederation/codes-and-conventions-of-documentary


Documentary Mode/Styles

• Poetic Mode - The formal structural organization of a film that emphasizes visual associations eg: Films about painters & dancers
• Expository Mode - (voice of God) This mode is what we most identify with the documentary often using a narrator.
• Observational Mode - (window of the world) it attempted to capture (as accurately as
  possibly) objective reality with filmmaker as neutral observer. the camera rushes about to keep up with the action resulting in rough, shaky, often amateur-looking footage.
• Reflexive Mode - (awareness of process) constructed nature of documentary. Shows people that this is not necessarily "truth" but a reconstruction of it - "a" truth, not
  "the" truth
• Performative Mode - This mode emphasizes the emotional and social impact on the audience

http://www.godnose.co.uk/downloads/alevel/documentary/Doc%20Modes%20nichols.pdf

Documentary formats 

• Mockumentary
• Docudrama
• Docufiction
• Nature documentary
• Rockumentary
• Web documentary
• Mondo film

How are representations constructed across the 3 platforms?

How are the stars/characters in the film reperesented by:

Print?
The main characters of the film (Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Amanda Michalka) are on the front of some of the posters

This can make fans and people that are familiar with the characters more eager to watch the film because they can see actors that they are familiar with or who they may like. Another reason why the actors could be on the front of the poster is for people that are not to familiar with the actors more aware of what type of movie it could be about and who are involved in the movie. So the actors on the front of the poster can tell the audience a lot about the film. This poster can be in magazines, newpapers, on buses or billboards. This can represent the audience by involving them and getting them interested in the movie that is going to get released.

Broadcast?
The actors can be represented by broadcast by having interviews on the television or over the radio. Joel Courtney was on MTV Movie Awards so this means he was on the red carpet. Interviews over on television could give the audience a good sense of who they are behind scenes so having interviews about the movie on the television (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTHM6CzPlc). Also, if there are dedicated movie film reivews like - Film 2011 on BBC 2 with Claudia Winkleman shows how the actors are represented. None of the actors in the movie have had bad publicity but if they did they will be represented on broadcast negatively. However, via DVD the actors are represented on how they behave backstage this always gives the audience a deeper understanding of who the actors are and behind stage clips can really braoden their fan base. The audience are represented with broadcast by the fact that they are able to get a better understanding of the characters.

E Media?
Over E Media, the actors are represented the same as the rest of the other platforms however with E Media, fans/audience can investigate more into the characters and find out some more of their background such as what other movies they've been in and how they started off acting. This type of information can help fans that want to be actors and could inspire them to start the same way they have. E Media is full of inseen interviews etc.. and the way the actors are represented in E Media is purely on how much information fans want to know about the character(s). So E Media can be a place where it can give away too much information, on the other hand it is a good way for fans to keep in touch with the characters over social networking sites. For Example (@Joel_Courtney). Social networking sites are a good way to represent themselves as they have an opportunity to talk to someone they like.

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Now think of how the film communicates with audiences across the 3 platforms (?)

How do audiences access the text across the 3 platforms?

Who are Super 8’s target audience(s) and how do you know?
Super 8's certain target audience is over 12s, because that's what they certified the movie as. But the type of reviews that I have read (http://www.film4.com/reviews/2011/super-8) cant give a specific target audience. So its mostly aimed at 12 and above - preferably teenagers and adults as a family movie.


Broadcast: This movie is a family movie as the rating of the film is a 12 which means its suitable for anyone over 12 but any child under that can be accompanied by an adult so it can be a family movie and whole family can watch it on cinema. Its also on DVD so it can be family movie. There isn't a main target audience with broadcast because everyone watches television and it has a wide target audience to do with broadcast. However, broadcast is not only television, its radio as well but for the radio that will be more for adults or later teenagers. It depends on what radio station it is on, for example on Radio 1 it may come on as an advert and teenagers will be listening to that it can encourage them to watch it but on talk shows on the radio it may listened more to an older audience so they can think that it will be good to take the family to go and watch. 


E media: The target audience will be pre-teens and teenagers because they know more about technology than an adult. Also on the website there are games and information that they may be interested in.They use e media to promote their movie by firstly, their website which is filled with information, games and behind scene clips ( http://www.super8-movie.com/assets/pdf/SUPER8ProductionNotes.pdf ) <How the movie got constructed. They also have a iPhone/iPod download app which relates to the audience, it keeps them interested. This can relate to them because pre-teens and teenagers are very interested in technology so this is perfect for them to get involved. E Media can keep the audience interacted with the movie by entering competitions or by posting comments on what they think about the movie either by typing or videoing themselves. They may also be interact with the audience by being online at a certain time to see the cast on ustream etc..


Print: Print could include posters and magazines that they could feature on the target audience will be pre-teens and teenagers. The move could be featured on kids magazines and the posters will encourage them to ask their parents to watch the movie so The Super 8 team need to be able to make their posters and print merchandise appealing to that type of audience. However, adults may be a target audience for print (magazines, newspapers) because adults may like to read hat they are about to watch and they want to know a lot more about the movie. The way that adults could read about the movie is if its featured on a broadsheet or a film magazine. Print can help the readers or audience engaging with the film by sending comments of what they think of the film and it can be posted into the next magazine or newspaper. Pre-teens and teenagers will get involved by entering into competitions and chances to win something to do with the film. 


super 8 promotions?

Now think of how the producers are communicating with audiences across the 3 platforms:

E media - the producers are communicating with audiences by having an official twitter (@super8movie) & facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Super8Movie) page to keep up with the latest updates "Digital Download & On Demand" for their movie. Its mostly with e media as its more diverse and free to do and it can get to a lot of people quickly and effectively. So the differences with e media and the other platforms is that e media is more effective because if they do something on the other platforms such as competitions, a chance to meet a cast member, send in pictures of their super 8 merchandise etc it will normally get referred back to emedia so they save money and do it straight on to e media. The only way they have widened their appeal to the move over the platforms is by having more than one social network and having an official website to keep their fans up to date and make it available to everybody. 


Audience theories you could research and apply to your Super 8 case study:
Gratifications: Super 8 is mostly tremendous fun and it certainly hits all of its emotional cues. Watching a likeable bunch of kids outwit the military is always a pleasure and the transformation of an average small town into an explosive war zone is a thrill. Going back to the style and structure of films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Gremlinsand The Goonies to create engaging narratives that rely on a developed build-up rather than a series of quick gratifications is an outstanding way of making engaging mainstream family entertainment (http://blog.cinemaautopsy.com/2011/06/11/film-review-super-8-2011/)

Social Demographics: C2, D, E (Working class)


mode of address?


Narrowcasting: On the internet, Super 8 producers make their website broadcasted to people to view it but they have narrowcasted things such as facebook so that people that subscribe can only have certain information and if you are not subscribed to them you are 'missing out' because they could be putting up the latest videos, pictures and competitions that the subscribers are the first to access.