The trailer tries to appeal to a mainstream audience. It is fast-paced and has quick editing, alongside the Immigrant song by Led Zeppelin. This song is easily identifiable and also from the era the show is primarily set in. There is also a voice over that makes the plot clear and easy to understand for the audience. The main character introduces himself as a DCI, letting the audience know this is a crime genre. Then, we see the car transform from a typical 2006 car to a 1973 one, telling the audience it is also sci fi and that the show is a hybrid-genre.
The main character is played by John Simm. He had already worked with the BBC on other shows, so he was already a familiar face for many regular viewers. Not long after Life on Mars, he appeared on Doctor Who as the Master, which would further boost him image to a mainstream audience.
The trailer portrays a variety of tropes for sci fi and crime. The main one for sci fi is the time travel aspect, highlighted by the transformation of the car. The audience is left with the enigma of how Sam Tyler got to the past
The sidekick character Gene Hunt acts as representation for older men who remember the 70s.
Life on mars was a critical success. It garnered a large following that still continue today. Part of the reason it was able to gain such a loyal fanbase is because of its sci fi element, as sci fi fans are known for being devoted and obsessive to their favourite series'. The fan wiki has 328 pages and goes into great detail about plot synopsis, what certain characters represent, and references to the era. This ties into Jenkin's fandom theory, as these fans are actively engaging with the show and creating information pages on it for all to enjoy. Unlike the BBC description of the show, these fans have no obligation to create this much fan content in this much detail, but out of a love for the show they have.
Monday 9 December 2019
Monday 2 December 2019
Life on Mars- post modernism
Life on Mars uses a lot of intertextuality. The name of the series is a reference to the 1973 David Bowie song of the same name. A news article Sam sees briefly references the politician Enoch Powell. There is also a poster for a 1950s western movie. The episode is very disconnected from the world of 1970s policing, despite revolving around it as a plot. This is because the episode acts more as a pastiche of 70s crime shows such as The Sweeney's more than as an accurately documented example of real life police investigation in 1973.
Bricolage is another trope of post-modernism. The episode is a great example of this because the whole thing can be broken down into different parts inspired by or referencing other media. Time travel has been done in almost every sci fi series that has run for long enough, and the many expected tropes of crime, including the weary detective and the sidekick who plays off him. Much of the crime genre aspects, as mentioned above, are based off depictions of police from 70s crime shows.
social context is not explicitly discussed, but it does acknowledge the treatment of race and gender in the episode. The only main female character is constantly belittled by other characters because she is a woman, and the pub owner reveals that he has created a facade in order to please his white customers.
Despite the time travel, the episode follows a linear narrative.
It matches the post-modernist narrative in the sense of not knowing what is real and what is fantasy, however only Sam experiences this while the audience have no doubt what is real or fake.
The series takes place in a hyper reality. It is very separated from actual 1970s police work.
Bricolage is another trope of post-modernism. The episode is a great example of this because the whole thing can be broken down into different parts inspired by or referencing other media. Time travel has been done in almost every sci fi series that has run for long enough, and the many expected tropes of crime, including the weary detective and the sidekick who plays off him. Much of the crime genre aspects, as mentioned above, are based off depictions of police from 70s crime shows.
social context is not explicitly discussed, but it does acknowledge the treatment of race and gender in the episode. The only main female character is constantly belittled by other characters because she is a woman, and the pub owner reveals that he has created a facade in order to please his white customers.
Despite the time travel, the episode follows a linear narrative.
It matches the post-modernist narrative in the sense of not knowing what is real and what is fantasy, however only Sam experiences this while the audience have no doubt what is real or fake.
The series takes place in a hyper reality. It is very separated from actual 1970s police work.
Tuesday 26 November 2019
Life on Mars
Life on Mars is a hybrid-genre of crime and scifi. It has more of the tropes of the crime genre, such as an urban setting and police station. Many of the characters fill the expected roles as well, such as the partners who start of not getting along and over the episode learning to work with each other. However, it subverts certain tropes such as the morally ambiguous protagonist. In the story, Sam is very straight lace and by the book at the start. It also presents things such as destruction of evidence and violence against a criminal as not necessarily in a bad light and even seems to reward characters for such behaviour. Its primary connection to scifi is the element of time travel, which though not confirmed is a very likely possibility. Sam also keeps hearing things throughout the episode that imply things may not be as they seem.
Despite starting in 2006 and ending in 1973, the story follows a linear narrative. The storyline is restrictive, as we only know what Sam knows. The episode follows Todorov's narrative stages. It begins in 2006 with a murder case that is not out of the ordinary. This is the equilibrium. This is then disrupted first by Maya'a disappearance and then more importantly by being sent back in time to 1973. By the end of the episode, while not completely satisfied, there is a new equilibrium formed with Sam slowly adjusting to his new life in the past.
Very few of the enigmas are solved in the episode. In terms of the crime genre, it fulfils the expectation of the culprit being caught at the end, and also solves the mystery of the first suspects connection to the killer. However, in terms of the sci fi genre, little to nothing is resolved. The audience is left just as clueless as Sam as to how he ended up in the past and whether or not any of it is real.
Despite starting in 2006 and ending in 1973, the story follows a linear narrative. The storyline is restrictive, as we only know what Sam knows. The episode follows Todorov's narrative stages. It begins in 2006 with a murder case that is not out of the ordinary. This is the equilibrium. This is then disrupted first by Maya'a disappearance and then more importantly by being sent back in time to 1973. By the end of the episode, while not completely satisfied, there is a new equilibrium formed with Sam slowly adjusting to his new life in the past.
Very few of the enigmas are solved in the episode. In terms of the crime genre, it fulfils the expectation of the culprit being caught at the end, and also solves the mystery of the first suspects connection to the killer. However, in terms of the sci fi genre, little to nothing is resolved. The audience is left just as clueless as Sam as to how he ended up in the past and whether or not any of it is real.
Monday 11 November 2019
The Bridge
Investigator- Saga
Sidekick- Hanne
Nordic Noir is a crime sub-genre that is set in Nordic countries. As Neale’s theory states, Nordic Noir has its own tropes that make it recognisable. These include plain language and avoidance of metaphors, bleak landscape settings, and a dark and morally complex mood. They also are generally from the police’s perspective and depicts the tension between the bland social surface and the bigotry that may hide underneath.
At the end of the episode, we are left with a variety of questions, like where did Mortem go? Will Hanne be okay? And most importantly, who killed Helle? This use of Barthes enigma codes keeps the audience hooked and wanting to come back for the next episode in order to get answers.
One of the most immediate ways The Bridge subverts the trope of women being the victims is to have both detectives be women. It also shows women being violent, like the mother who insists her child should punch her bully to make her stop. These both go against the typical helpless, soft-touch tropes we’ve come to expect with female characters. Looking at Butler’s theory of representation, none of these female characters are putting up the performance side of being a woman. In a sense they are not acting like women, but rather actively playing a role more typically expected of a male character.
The dark theme of the show is made very clear through the lighting and colours. All the scenes either take place at night or when it’s overcast, dulling the world we’re shown. The characters also wear a lot of muted tones, resulting in very few bright colours anywhere in the episode.
Sidekick- Hanne
Nordic Noir is a crime sub-genre that is set in Nordic countries. As Neale’s theory states, Nordic Noir has its own tropes that make it recognisable. These include plain language and avoidance of metaphors, bleak landscape settings, and a dark and morally complex mood. They also are generally from the police’s perspective and depicts the tension between the bland social surface and the bigotry that may hide underneath.
At the end of the episode, we are left with a variety of questions, like where did Mortem go? Will Hanne be okay? And most importantly, who killed Helle? This use of Barthes enigma codes keeps the audience hooked and wanting to come back for the next episode in order to get answers.
One of the most immediate ways The Bridge subverts the trope of women being the victims is to have both detectives be women. It also shows women being violent, like the mother who insists her child should punch her bully to make her stop. These both go against the typical helpless, soft-touch tropes we’ve come to expect with female characters. Looking at Butler’s theory of representation, none of these female characters are putting up the performance side of being a woman. In a sense they are not acting like women, but rather actively playing a role more typically expected of a male character.
The dark theme of the show is made very clear through the lighting and colours. All the scenes either take place at night or when it’s overcast, dulling the world we’re shown. The characters also wear a lot of muted tones, resulting in very few bright colours anywhere in the episode.
Monday 30 September 2019
Newspaper Key Terminology
Conglomerate- A large business corporation that is comprised of a range of different parts or smaller businesses
Horizontal integration- When a media company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.
Convergence- Where one form of media product "cross sells" another form of media product to their mutual advantage of increasing sales/audiences.
Plurality- Where there are a diversity of viewpoints available and consumed across and within the media industries and prevents any one media owner or voice having too much influence over public and political opinion.
Monopoly- When a sector of media industry such as newspapers is dominated by one or a small number of large organisations.
Merger- Where two or more companies, usually of similar size, combine to form a larger single company.
Takeover- Where a larger company buys a smaller company.
Distribution- The process of how the media product gets to its audience after production.
Synergy- The combination of different areas of the media coming together to maximise profit.
Vertical integration-
Consolidation- basically monopoly
. Trinity Mirror plc is the largest British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher after purchasing rival Local World for £220 million, in October 2015. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Since purchasing Local World, it has gained 83 print publications.
Monopoly, horizontal integration, merger, takeover, consolidation
News UK is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch. It is the current publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sun on Sunday newspapers as well as the Times Literary Supplement and Times Educational Supplement. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc.
Monopoly, horizontal integration, consolidation, conglomerate
Trinity Mirror, the UK’s largest local newspaper group and publisher of the Daily Mirror, is eyeing further consolidation, as the industry races to tackle the long-term decline of print publishing. “We see ourselves as a consolidator in the newspaper industry and will continue to do so subject to tight financial returns,” said chief executive Simon Fox, as the group reported like-for-like print advertising revenues fell 18 per cent in 2016. Trinity is in early stage talks with Northern & Shell, the parent company of the Express newspaper titles and OK Magazine, which could lead to it taking a stake in some of the Richard Desmond-owned assets. The move is part of a wider shake-up in the UK newspaper industry, as media owners face steep drops in print advertising combined with the existential threat from digital groups like Google and Facebook, who are taking the vast majority of new digital advertising revenues.
consolidation, merger, monopoly
Ownership effects media products as the more media products owned by one person or company, the less variety of viewpoints are accessible to the public. Multiple pieces of media with the same ownership are going to present the same political bias and if the audience is surrounded solely by products owned by the same company, their viewpoints will likely reflect that political bias. For example, Rupert Murdoch is involved in the ownership of The Sun, The Times, Sky, and Fox News. Ownership will effect things such as political bias, how certain news stories are presented and what audiences are told and not told. In the case of Sky, if Rupert Murdoch were revealed to be involved in some sort of crime or conspiracy, Sky's coverage of it would have a very different tone to a news outlet with no connection to Rupert Murdoch.
Newspapers have been one of the worst effected mediums by technological advances. Many people nowadays get their information from social media and other online sources. Paying for a newspaper seems arbitrary when you can find the same information online for free. Many newspaper outlets also release their information online, but this can lose them money. In the case of The Times website, their way of keeping a profit is to require people to pay a subscription fee in order to have access to the news stories.
With different political biases come different types of audiences. Depending on the newspapers leanings, the audience will come to expect certain things. For example, The Sun's audience would expect it to be more opposed to the Labour Party and less accepting of diversity, whereas a left leaning newspapers audience may be appalled to read the same content. Also, The Sun, like 95% of tabloids, is heavily anti-Labour. If The Sun audience were to read an article praising and hailing the Labour party, it would go completely against the image they have made for themselves and would almost definitely lead to complaints. This ties into Halls theory of representation, where stereotyping is used to assert power over communities. In the case of The Sun, it relies on heavy stereotyping of racial minorities and LGBTQ people in order to keep them something the audience should fear and hate. Often times, newspapers will play into the audience's prejudices and fears and feed into them. This is not unique solely to The Sun or just right-wing newspapers. All sides of the political leanings will rely on some level of audience fear and bias.
Horizontal integration- When a media company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.
Convergence- Where one form of media product "cross sells" another form of media product to their mutual advantage of increasing sales/audiences.
Plurality- Where there are a diversity of viewpoints available and consumed across and within the media industries and prevents any one media owner or voice having too much influence over public and political opinion.
Monopoly- When a sector of media industry such as newspapers is dominated by one or a small number of large organisations.
Merger- Where two or more companies, usually of similar size, combine to form a larger single company.
Takeover- Where a larger company buys a smaller company.
Distribution- The process of how the media product gets to its audience after production.
Synergy- The combination of different areas of the media coming together to maximise profit.
Vertical integration-
Consolidation- basically monopoly
. Trinity Mirror plc is the largest British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher after purchasing rival Local World for £220 million, in October 2015. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Since purchasing Local World, it has gained 83 print publications.
Monopoly, horizontal integration, merger, takeover, consolidation
News UK is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch. It is the current publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sun on Sunday newspapers as well as the Times Literary Supplement and Times Educational Supplement. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc.
Monopoly, horizontal integration, consolidation, conglomerate
Trinity Mirror, the UK’s largest local newspaper group and publisher of the Daily Mirror, is eyeing further consolidation, as the industry races to tackle the long-term decline of print publishing. “We see ourselves as a consolidator in the newspaper industry and will continue to do so subject to tight financial returns,” said chief executive Simon Fox, as the group reported like-for-like print advertising revenues fell 18 per cent in 2016. Trinity is in early stage talks with Northern & Shell, the parent company of the Express newspaper titles and OK Magazine, which could lead to it taking a stake in some of the Richard Desmond-owned assets. The move is part of a wider shake-up in the UK newspaper industry, as media owners face steep drops in print advertising combined with the existential threat from digital groups like Google and Facebook, who are taking the vast majority of new digital advertising revenues.
consolidation, merger, monopoly
Ownership effects media products as the more media products owned by one person or company, the less variety of viewpoints are accessible to the public. Multiple pieces of media with the same ownership are going to present the same political bias and if the audience is surrounded solely by products owned by the same company, their viewpoints will likely reflect that political bias. For example, Rupert Murdoch is involved in the ownership of The Sun, The Times, Sky, and Fox News. Ownership will effect things such as political bias, how certain news stories are presented and what audiences are told and not told. In the case of Sky, if Rupert Murdoch were revealed to be involved in some sort of crime or conspiracy, Sky's coverage of it would have a very different tone to a news outlet with no connection to Rupert Murdoch.
Newspapers have been one of the worst effected mediums by technological advances. Many people nowadays get their information from social media and other online sources. Paying for a newspaper seems arbitrary when you can find the same information online for free. Many newspaper outlets also release their information online, but this can lose them money. In the case of The Times website, their way of keeping a profit is to require people to pay a subscription fee in order to have access to the news stories.
With different political biases come different types of audiences. Depending on the newspapers leanings, the audience will come to expect certain things. For example, The Sun's audience would expect it to be more opposed to the Labour Party and less accepting of diversity, whereas a left leaning newspapers audience may be appalled to read the same content. Also, The Sun, like 95% of tabloids, is heavily anti-Labour. If The Sun audience were to read an article praising and hailing the Labour party, it would go completely against the image they have made for themselves and would almost definitely lead to complaints. This ties into Halls theory of representation, where stereotyping is used to assert power over communities. In the case of The Sun, it relies on heavy stereotyping of racial minorities and LGBTQ people in order to keep them something the audience should fear and hate. Often times, newspapers will play into the audience's prejudices and fears and feed into them. This is not unique solely to The Sun or just right-wing newspapers. All sides of the political leanings will rely on some level of audience fear and bias.
Monday 23 September 2019
The Mirror vs The Times
The main image takes up most of the front cover and is unavoidable if you are looking at the newspaper. The use of black and red clouds, both violent and ominous colours as well as the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of enlightenment, covering her face in shame holds very obvious connotations of travesty and despair. The top strapline "it's President Trump..." ending in an ellipsis creates a tone of sorrow and remorse. The headline "What have they done?" continues the desperate theme of the whole front cover. It points the finger at an outside force for what happened, which would resonate with many UK residents who would be in disbelief at the time of this newspaper publish. The biggest part of the front page is the masthead, Daily Mirror, who are a left-wing newspaper. This means much of their target audience would likely be against Trump and for them, an upset and horrified reaction to him becoming president would be the. one thy want to see and read about. The Daily Mirror are owned by Reach plc. It meets all of the News Values except for personalisation and continuity, as at the time of this newspaper's publish it was a very recent event. It takes place in America, which is an elite nation. The front cover also fills proximity, as in the top right corner it has a blurb about the tram accident in Croydon.
The Times' cover has drastically different tones from the Daily Mirror's. Unlike the other, this cover actually has an image of Donald Trump alongside Vice President Mike "hates the gays" Pence. Trump has his fist held up in a symbol of victory while Pence applauds him from the left, clearly framing the election in a more positive light.Monday 16 September 2019
Radio Industry
Broadcasting is when TV or radio is shown at the same time everywhere, e.g. the same show is on every Tuesday at 8pm. Podcasting is digital and available to listen to at any time. A podcast will usually also have a set time it comes out, e.g. mid day on a Saturday, but the difference is that you do not have to listen to it at that exact time. Also, you are able to listen to part of a podcast and then leave the rest for later, compared to broadcast radio that requires you to listen to it for the time slot it is in and if you leave midway through you will miss part of it. Podcasting give the audience more listening freedom, as they can still listen to it even if they are busy at the time it releases, whereas broadcasting requires the audience to plan around the showing times. On the other hand, broadcasting offers a more social experience, as people can watch the same thing on different TVs and message each other about it as it happens. Many people also gather together to watch some shows, creating a community. Podcasts have lost this social element as one person could get further along than another and they have to wait to talk about it for fear of spoilers.
Content is also affected. For a broadcast program, if it is played after 10pm it has a lot of freedom in what it can show and say. For a podcast, because it is accessible at any time, it is more limited. If it wants to have the same contents as the post-10pm broadcasts, it must put restrictions in place to avoid children finding it. Broadcasts have the shield that if a child is watching a show past 10pm, that is on the individual as they should not be up that late. Podcasts could get into a lot more trouble if they didn't put the proper restrictions in place. this usually involves making an account to listen to it and verifying age.
The most basic difference between commercial and public service radio is that commercial radio is payed for by advertisement, while public service radio is payed for by the people. For example, the BBC is payed for by people's TV licenses. Public service radios are more restricted in what they can play, as they are required to fill a quota for the public. In the case of the BBC this is to educate, inform, entertain. Failure to meet these results in backlash. Commercial radio is more free in what it plays as there is no requirement for what they must play. Commercial programming can also buy out public service programming, such as ITV buying The Great British Bake Off from the BBC. However, commercial radio has more adverts, whereas public service radios can only advertise themselves.
The BBC was formed on 18 October 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers. In the beginning it played the news, music drama, and talk radio for a few hours a day. Very soon after creation it was being broadcast across the nation, and its list of programs appeared in the first edition of The Radio Times. In the 1930s it began on TV, and was the first broadcaster to have regularly scheduled TV services, in 1936. Over the course of it 97 years, it has been the first to bring in many new ideas to radio and television, such as adding the weather to the news and being the first radio station to have a monarch on it. The BBC, as a public service, is funded by TV licence's that the public pay. Over the years it has created an identity as one of the most popular and well-known radio companies in the UK. While in recent years commercial radio has overtaken it in terms of popularity, it still holds ground and BBC2 is currently the second most popular station in the UK, only beaten by Heart Radio.
The BBC purpose is made clear in it's mission, which includes such requirements as:
-To educate, inform, entertain
-To provide impartial news and information
-To support learning for people of all ages
-To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services
-To reflect and represent the diverse communities around the UK
-To reflect the UK, its culture and values to the world
While many would argue they fail to fulfil this, this is the BBC's target and intended purpose.
The BBC has both national and local broadcasts. National BBC radio stations include BBC Radio 1 through to BBC radio 5. Any news told on these stations will cover the biggest stories from around the whole UK, rather than region specific news. Local stations, on the other hand, would be able to stick solely to the news of the area as the only people listening to it are people from the area. There are 40 local BBC stations across England, each covering a different county. For example, BBC Radio Newcastle would have news specific to Newcastle and, unless something massive had happened, would have little to no overlap with the news on BBC Radio Kent. The BBC also has a global Radio Station, BBC Radio News, that is broadcast in English in over 200 countries worldwide.
Radio 4 has 6.4 million listeners a week. The average age of a Radio 4 listener is 56 years old.
Content is also affected. For a broadcast program, if it is played after 10pm it has a lot of freedom in what it can show and say. For a podcast, because it is accessible at any time, it is more limited. If it wants to have the same contents as the post-10pm broadcasts, it must put restrictions in place to avoid children finding it. Broadcasts have the shield that if a child is watching a show past 10pm, that is on the individual as they should not be up that late. Podcasts could get into a lot more trouble if they didn't put the proper restrictions in place. this usually involves making an account to listen to it and verifying age.
The most basic difference between commercial and public service radio is that commercial radio is payed for by advertisement, while public service radio is payed for by the people. For example, the BBC is payed for by people's TV licenses. Public service radios are more restricted in what they can play, as they are required to fill a quota for the public. In the case of the BBC this is to educate, inform, entertain. Failure to meet these results in backlash. Commercial radio is more free in what it plays as there is no requirement for what they must play. Commercial programming can also buy out public service programming, such as ITV buying The Great British Bake Off from the BBC. However, commercial radio has more adverts, whereas public service radios can only advertise themselves.
The BBC was formed on 18 October 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers. In the beginning it played the news, music drama, and talk radio for a few hours a day. Very soon after creation it was being broadcast across the nation, and its list of programs appeared in the first edition of The Radio Times. In the 1930s it began on TV, and was the first broadcaster to have regularly scheduled TV services, in 1936. Over the course of it 97 years, it has been the first to bring in many new ideas to radio and television, such as adding the weather to the news and being the first radio station to have a monarch on it. The BBC, as a public service, is funded by TV licence's that the public pay. Over the years it has created an identity as one of the most popular and well-known radio companies in the UK. While in recent years commercial radio has overtaken it in terms of popularity, it still holds ground and BBC2 is currently the second most popular station in the UK, only beaten by Heart Radio.
The BBC purpose is made clear in it's mission, which includes such requirements as:
-To educate, inform, entertain
-To provide impartial news and information
-To support learning for people of all ages
-To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services
-To reflect and represent the diverse communities around the UK
-To reflect the UK, its culture and values to the world
While many would argue they fail to fulfil this, this is the BBC's target and intended purpose.
The BBC has both national and local broadcasts. National BBC radio stations include BBC Radio 1 through to BBC radio 5. Any news told on these stations will cover the biggest stories from around the whole UK, rather than region specific news. Local stations, on the other hand, would be able to stick solely to the news of the area as the only people listening to it are people from the area. There are 40 local BBC stations across England, each covering a different county. For example, BBC Radio Newcastle would have news specific to Newcastle and, unless something massive had happened, would have little to no overlap with the news on BBC Radio Kent. The BBC also has a global Radio Station, BBC Radio News, that is broadcast in English in over 200 countries worldwide.
Radio 4 has 6.4 million listeners a week. The average age of a Radio 4 listener is 56 years old.
Monday 9 September 2019
Late Night Woman's Hour
Late Night Woman's Hour began in 2016. It acted to a spin off of 'Woman's Hour', a very conservative talk radio that has run since the 40s. It is on later at night and allows for swearing. It is seen as the "edgier" and more progressive version of Woman's hour.
Topics range from wage gap to transgender. Primarily the issues revolve around those of white, middle-class and middle-aged women, as this is their target audience. This fits with it being on Radio 4, as the channel's main demographic is white conservatives. However they also talk about more pop culture topics as well, such as Love Island, to try and appeal to a younger audience.
It began with Lauren Laverne as the presenter, who already worked for the BBC, and was therefore cheaper to hire. She is the former singer of rock band Kenickie. She is a supporter of the labour party and once referred to the spice girls as "tory scum". She was known to have held left-wing views and had made controversial comments in the past. In 2018, the role was taken over by Emma Barnett, who has an Orthodox Jewish background. She is a great supporter of women's rights and is a member of the Women's Equality Party. She has worked for the BBC since 2014. She is known for being a skilled interviewer with a no-nonsense approach.
Late Night Woman's hour consists of at least one guest holding a discussion with the presenter. Sometimes there are multiple guests holding varying opinions on the same subject and are each given a space to voice these opinions, but when it is one person it will be them talking about their chosen subject and the presenter interjects with questions occasionally. The presenter holds a neutral view, and references to specific people or media is not allowed.
Topics range from wage gap to transgender. Primarily the issues revolve around those of white, middle-class and middle-aged women, as this is their target audience. This fits with it being on Radio 4, as the channel's main demographic is white conservatives. However they also talk about more pop culture topics as well, such as Love Island, to try and appeal to a younger audience.
It began with Lauren Laverne as the presenter, who already worked for the BBC, and was therefore cheaper to hire. She is the former singer of rock band Kenickie. She is a supporter of the labour party and once referred to the spice girls as "tory scum". She was known to have held left-wing views and had made controversial comments in the past. In 2018, the role was taken over by Emma Barnett, who has an Orthodox Jewish background. She is a great supporter of women's rights and is a member of the Women's Equality Party. She has worked for the BBC since 2014. She is known for being a skilled interviewer with a no-nonsense approach.
Late Night Woman's hour consists of at least one guest holding a discussion with the presenter. Sometimes there are multiple guests holding varying opinions on the same subject and are each given a space to voice these opinions, but when it is one person it will be them talking about their chosen subject and the presenter interjects with questions occasionally. The presenter holds a neutral view, and references to specific people or media is not allowed.
Monday 24 June 2019
dvd blurb
Tom and Shawn are part of a conspiracy theorist group. When a fellow member starts acting strange, the group is shook to its core. Red eyes, zoned out, always checking his phone. It is clear that their friend has been probed by aliens! Watch as a camera crew follow Tom and Shawn through their investigation and (possible) solution.
"a fascinating look into the lives of conspiracy enthusiasts" -the daily mail
"an interesting watch. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it" - frank skinner
"the characters are endearing enough that you can overlook their stupidity" - Idris Elba
"a fascinating look into the lives of conspiracy enthusiasts" -the daily mail
"an interesting watch. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it" - frank skinner
"the characters are endearing enough that you can overlook their stupidity" - Idris Elba
Friday 7 June 2019
script
Establishing shot of front of house. camera moves towards door and rings doorbell. The door is opened by character #1.
#1: ah, you're here. Come in.
Camera follows #1 into the house. Mid shot of back of his head throughout this, though maybe turning away sometimes to look at things around the house that imply how they live.
#1: we're glad you could make it. I think it's important to document this for future reference and we're really onto something now-
#1 abruptly stops once they step into a room. Camera swings round to show character #2 rolling dice on the floor. camera swings back to a close up of #1's face.
#1:(shouting) What are you doing?!
camera swings back to a mid shot of #2.
#2:(also shouting) I'm playing Dungeons and Dragons!
#1:(exasperated) Why are you playing Dungeons and Dragons?!
#2: you said you'd play with me!
camera turns to close up of #1 who's staring at camera.
#1:(to camera) I didn't say that.
The two continue bickering as dialogue begins over the top of it.
#1:(in dialogue) My name is Tom, I'm a conspiracy theorist.
Cuts to a mid shot of #1 standing against a wall.
#1: well not professionally. Professionally I work at Tesco.
Cuts to wide shot of #1 in the kitchen doing the dishes.
#1:(in dialogue) I'm a pretty average guy. I live with my roommate Shawn.
cuts to longshot of #2 lying on the grass in the garden, slowly zooming in.
#1: he's uh... he's a free spirit.
cuts to #2 standing against the wall at a midshot.
#2: so currently Tom and I have been working on something different.
cuts to close up of pages with UFO sightings and "evidence" of the moon landing being fake etc. camera slowly moves from left to right across these pages.
#2: we generally do work very typical of conspiracy theorists. UFOs, the moon landing and so on.
Cuts to a mid shot of #1 standing against a wall.
#1: well not professionally. Professionally I work at Tesco.
Cuts to wide shot of #1 in the kitchen doing the dishes.
#1:(in dialogue) I'm a pretty average guy. I live with my roommate Shawn.
cuts to longshot of #2 lying on the grass in the garden, slowly zooming in.
#1: he's uh... he's a free spirit.
cuts to #2 standing against the wall at a midshot.
#2: so currently Tom and I have been working on something different.
cuts to close up of pages with UFO sightings and "evidence" of the moon landing being fake etc. camera slowly moves from left to right across these pages.
#2: we generally do work very typical of conspiracy theorists. UFOs, the moon landing and so on.
Tuesday 4 June 2019
Statement of Aims
In my work, I will be focusing on a cross-media production, marketing a show for Netflix. I chose Netflix over Channel 4 as I felt Netflix offers more freedom in term of content, and the target audience would be likely to have it, as explorers would try to stay up to date with technology.
When shooting the television show, I will include moving shots, following a character from one location to another to reinforce the idea in the audience's mind that it is an actual cameraman following them. This may be accompanied by a voice over of one of the characters talking about the plot, before cutting to them as they continue their interview. This will help the flow of the video, allowing for a smooth transition between scenes even with sudden cuts. One location will be in a messy house, as this is typical of what an audience would expect to see about conspiracy theorists. This way, without being introduced to the characters yet, they have a good idea of what kind of people they are. I also intend to include clothing reminiscent of the 80s- double denim, oversized blazers, etc- as the target audience is 30-49-year olds and this would help appeal to their sense of nostalgia. The characters will all be played by teenagers but will actually be young adults in their early 20s, despite having an older demographic. This is because the audience are explorers and would therefore be more open to seeing things from different generations perspectives. It would also tie into the 80s clothing, making them reminiscent of when they were teenagers. There will also be a montage with a song, as these were popular in movies from the 80s.
I will also be making a billboard poster, which will have an image of the conspiracy theorists. It will be a wide-shot, with the theorists sitting in their chairs in strange ways and wearing tin foil hats. This then portrays to those that see it with no prior knowledge that these characters are conspiracy theorists, due to the tin foil hat. It also presents them as eccentric characters. Then, at the bottom I will put the title of the show, as well as the release date and reviews.
On the DVD cover, it will be an edited image of a theorist being abducted by aliens. The theorist will be floating up towards an alien spaceship. This will set the tone of it being a comedic, light-hearted story with sci fi references. On the DVD back will be a blurb briefly summarising the plot. This will provide a promise of pleasure for the audience. There will also be some reviews to show it has a mark of quality. There will also be screen caps from the film on it, showing key moments to give the audience a decent grasp of what is to be expected in the show.
On the DVD cover, it will be an edited image of a theorist being abducted by aliens. The theorist will be floating up towards an alien spaceship. This will set the tone of it being a comedic, light-hearted story with sci fi references. On the DVD back will be a blurb briefly summarising the plot. This will provide a promise of pleasure for the audience. There will also be some reviews to show it has a mark of quality. There will also be screen caps from the film on it, showing key moments to give the audience a decent grasp of what is to be expected in the show.
Friday 26 April 2019
ideas for brief
Television
To be broadcast either on Channel 4 or Netflix, target audience is 30-49 year old explorers or reformers.
Needed to meet brief:
-2 and a half to 3 minutes long
-NO title sequence
-two or more locations
-at least three different characters representing one or more social group
-exposition or conflict appropriate to sequence, range of camera shots, angles, movement used to establish location, narrative and representation
-dialogue and soundtrack
-editing of footage and soundtrack.
Idea- a documentary type thing, similar to Derek or What We Do in the Shadows. The camera is always held by the cameraman, so there is less need for a camera stand.
Starring at least three people. a group of people planning something. The documentary is about their preparation of it.
perhaps a conspiracy around someone cheating on another person. The group is trying to catch them out. Inspiration the ProJared controversy.
Some woods settings- the drug deal woods, or the London Loop. The abandoned pub by the estate may be another location. Third location could be in someone's house. Realistically my house, but maybe a different one.
cork boards could be used for laying out idea/plans within the footage.
opening scene is cameraman being ushered along by one of the characters. They are hastily explaining what they are planning to do. Go into another room where the other character's are waiting. They are introduced. Maybe one by one individuals interviews? Afterwards, it cuts to another scene elsewhere.
In the woods or park, trying to catch out the cheater. Fail to do so because scenario gets in the way.
Now in a third location brainstorming another idea. Perhaps looking through social media for evidence? Perhaps cheating mate shows up unannounced and everyone is very awkwardly being nice to them and trying not to let it slip that they think he's a cheater. This happens at a food place. Shirley cafe?
people to get play characters: Alex, Bailey(?), Jack(?)
Print
Create a DVD or Blu-ray front and back cover for the box set and a billboard poster to promote the release of your television programme.
Needed to meet the brief:
-minimum of 7 images in total
-at least 2 different locations for photography
-3 different characters representing a social group
Front cover needs:
-At least one main image
-Original title
-Age rating
Close up of face, tape over mouth that says "cheater"
Photo of the conspiracy theorists surrounded by their evidence
shot of cheater with girlfriend in foreground, theorists clearly spying on them in the background
Spine needs:
-title
-production company
-logo
-age rating
Back cover needs:
-At least one main image (original and different from the
images on the front cover and poster)
-Four ‘thumbnail’ images depicting different scenes from the
programme
-Promotional ‘blurb’ for the television programme
(approximately 150 words), including reference to narrative
conflict and/or equilibrium
-Billing block
-Production company/ broadcaster logo, age rating and
technical information
Poster needs:
-Original title for the television
-one main image (original from DVD front or back cover ones)
-An element of narrative, I.E. enigma or character types
-production company/broadcast logo
-release date
To be broadcast either on Channel 4 or Netflix, target audience is 30-49 year old explorers or reformers.
Needed to meet brief:
-2 and a half to 3 minutes long
-NO title sequence
-two or more locations
-at least three different characters representing one or more social group
-exposition or conflict appropriate to sequence, range of camera shots, angles, movement used to establish location, narrative and representation
-dialogue and soundtrack
-editing of footage and soundtrack.
Idea- a documentary type thing, similar to Derek or What We Do in the Shadows. The camera is always held by the cameraman, so there is less need for a camera stand.
Starring at least three people. a group of people planning something. The documentary is about their preparation of it.
perhaps a conspiracy around someone cheating on another person. The group is trying to catch them out. Inspiration the ProJared controversy.
Some woods settings- the drug deal woods, or the London Loop. The abandoned pub by the estate may be another location. Third location could be in someone's house. Realistically my house, but maybe a different one.
cork boards could be used for laying out idea/plans within the footage.
opening scene is cameraman being ushered along by one of the characters. They are hastily explaining what they are planning to do. Go into another room where the other character's are waiting. They are introduced. Maybe one by one individuals interviews? Afterwards, it cuts to another scene elsewhere.
In the woods or park, trying to catch out the cheater. Fail to do so because scenario gets in the way.
Now in a third location brainstorming another idea. Perhaps looking through social media for evidence? Perhaps cheating mate shows up unannounced and everyone is very awkwardly being nice to them and trying not to let it slip that they think he's a cheater. This happens at a food place. Shirley cafe?
people to get play characters: Alex, Bailey(?), Jack(?)
Create a DVD or Blu-ray front and back cover for the box set and a billboard poster to promote the release of your television programme.
Needed to meet the brief:
-minimum of 7 images in total
-at least 2 different locations for photography
-3 different characters representing a social group
Front cover needs:
-At least one main image
-Original title
-Age rating
Close up of face, tape over mouth that says "cheater"
Photo of the conspiracy theorists surrounded by their evidence
shot of cheater with girlfriend in foreground, theorists clearly spying on them in the background
Spine needs:
-title
-production company
-logo
-age rating
Back cover needs:
-At least one main image (original and different from the
images on the front cover and poster)
-Four ‘thumbnail’ images depicting different scenes from the
programme
-Promotional ‘blurb’ for the television programme
(approximately 150 words), including reference to narrative
conflict and/or equilibrium
-Billing block
-Production company/ broadcaster logo, age rating and
technical information
Poster needs:
-Original title for the television
-one main image (original from DVD front or back cover ones)
-An element of narrative, I.E. enigma or character types
-production company/broadcast logo
-release date
Tuesday 23 April 2019
explorers- like to discover new things and are attracted to new or innovative brands, products and experiences. They seek discovery.
reformers- reformers are defined by self -esteem and self-improvement. They are not influenced or impressed by status and they are not materialistic. They are socially aware people who are inclined to invest in brands and products that are good for them or good for the environment. They seek enlightenment.
reformers- reformers are defined by self -esteem and self-improvement. They are not influenced or impressed by status and they are not materialistic. They are socially aware people who are inclined to invest in brands and products that are good for them or good for the environment. They seek enlightenment.
Monday 1 April 2019
Tide print advert
Monday 25 March 2019
Kiss of the vampire
The poster shows obvious signs that it is a vampire horror. The iconography of the blood, as well as the red and black colour scheme are clear tropes of the horror genre. The imagery of the dying background, large castle in the distance, and the bats, which have been demonised by Hollywood, also tie in with the vampire theme, and the audience at the time definitely would have recognised them as such. The biggest sign on the poster is the title containing the word "vampire". The title also contains the word "kiss", which shows that there is a sexual nature to the movie. To the left is a man dressed in very traditional attire and his teeth are bare, showing the audience clearly that he is the vampire. He is holding a woman in his arm. She is kneeling beside him with her head swung back and mouth open. She is clearly submissive to him and presented as a victim. The man is shown having the dominance between them in a way typical of the time. The other man and woman however are the opposite. This time, it is the man that is kneeling and at the mercy of the woman. The woman, while still sexualised, stands above the man, a protective hand on his shoulder as she fights off bats. She completely defies the victim trope, instead acting as a protector and having the most aggressive facial expression and body language out of the four. Even the vampire looks frightened and seems to be shying away from the bats rather than fighting back.The movie was released in 1963. This was at the dawn of the second wave of feminism, where the dynamic between men and women was being challenged and the power balance was changing. As the poster of a horror movie, the poster must encompass some level of fear. In this poster, you could argue that, as a movie being targeted at a male audience, the fear comes from the central woman having power over a man. For most men at the time, this was a fear that came with the feminist movement.
Monday 18 March 2019
WaterAid- Rain is good
-establishing shot of middle class UK kitchen
-audio bridge created when cutting between the UK kitchen to crops in Africa
-crops are growing, positive imagery of prosperity
-warm lighting, bright colours
-singing old song to engage with and older audience who will be familiar with that song
-the song is upbeat, includes words like "sunny"
-girl singing song contrasts news on the radio
-positive imagery of people farming, children being happy
-two figures in the ad, including the main girl, seem to be in school uniform
-girl collecting clean water with other members of community
-multiple close up shots of happy faces
-statistics of how many people are unable to have what the people in the ad have, leaves the negative connotations to the audience's imagination
-message at the end uses emotional manipulation by using words like "help" and having people text the word "SUNNY" which has a lot of positive connotations
-also informs us the girls name is Claudia at the end, which humanises her and helps the audience form a more personal connection to it
-only asking for a small amount of money, £3. Telling us specifically about Claudia helps us see how £3 could help her, instead of people wondering how such a small amount of money could effect such a big problem.
-audio bridge created when cutting between the UK kitchen to crops in Africa
-crops are growing, positive imagery of prosperity
-warm lighting, bright colours
-singing old song to engage with and older audience who will be familiar with that song
-the song is upbeat, includes words like "sunny"
-girl singing song contrasts news on the radio
-positive imagery of people farming, children being happy
-two figures in the ad, including the main girl, seem to be in school uniform
-girl collecting clean water with other members of community
-multiple close up shots of happy faces
-statistics of how many people are unable to have what the people in the ad have, leaves the negative connotations to the audience's imagination
-message at the end uses emotional manipulation by using words like "help" and having people text the word "SUNNY" which has a lot of positive connotations
-also informs us the girls name is Claudia at the end, which humanises her and helps the audience form a more personal connection to it
-only asking for a small amount of money, £3. Telling us specifically about Claudia helps us see how £3 could help her, instead of people wondering how such a small amount of money could effect such a big problem.
Monday 11 March 2019
"Run the world" vs "Dream"
In the "Run the world (girls)" music video a clear binary opposite is made between the men and the women. At 0.20 minutes in the music video, we get an establishing shot of men running with riot shields and batons. This is a very violent way to portray men in the video, especially compared to Beyonce, who so far in this video has only been shown dancing by herself. The men in this video are presented very much as dangerous and predatory figures. However, despite the seemingly imminent danger of the approaching men, Beyonce is not shown to be phased. Typically within media, women are shown as being victims of men, and when they are they are often weak and frightful. Beyonce completely defying this could represent her taking back the power from the patriarchy by not giving into the fear they've tried to subdue her with. This conflict between male and female is an example of Levi-Strauss' theory of binary oppositions.
Similarly, in the Dizzee Rascal "Dream" music video, the binary opposite is Dizzee and the puppets, and the woman playing the piano. The woman represents an old white Britain, one that is conservative and reluctant to change. Dizzee, on the other hand, represents a young multicultural Britain that embraces the new and strange. The woman sitting at the piano has control over the puppets, who are limited by her control. However, there are moments when the puppets do things that make the woman uncomfortable, which could show them fighting back against her, but most likely portrays how she is disturbed by the harsh reality of their lives and would rather choose to ignore it than help in any way. However, Dizzee not being a puppet shows that he has perhaps managed to break away from her control, in a similar way to how Beyonce broke away form the men's control. However, this is in the opposite direction, as this is a man reclaiming power from a controlling woman.
Dizzee Rascal's music video also shows the conflict between white police and young black men. This is shown at 1:04 in the music video when the two black men are caught stealing and one is attacked by the police officer with a baton. Despite it being portrayed in a humorous way, there is a clear message of police brutality. This is highly relevant as, especially within the last twenty years, police brutality is an issue that makes appearances on the news regularly. Despite how long the issue has been going on for, consistently white police officers are still getting away with it and the issue does not seem to be improving. This could be in part because many people in power are white and for them, police brutality is not something they would ever experience and therefore may have a harder time understanding the grave seriousness of it. Dizzee's portrayal of the attack as comedic could reflect this as through the eyes of white Britain, in this case the woman sitting at the piano, such issues are not taken as seriously as they should be. For white Britain, police brutality is such a foreign concept that all they can do is laugh at it. This links into Gilroy's theory of post-colonialism, which states that the representation of groups (in this case black youths) are still affected by ideologies carried over from the time of colonial discourse.
In contrast, Beyonce's video shows a conflict between figures of authority and a young community, but both presented groups are multicultural. At 0:47, there is a long shot of the men, many of which are carrying batons. This is a weapon typically used by police officers, and therefore this immediately plants the idea in the audience's head that these men are somewhat representative of authority. However, unlike in Dizzee Rascal's "dream" where every police officer is shown to be white, in this it is much more mixed ethnically. The women are the same. This presents a very different idea, as there is no clear show of one race having power over another. One could argue that this presents a much more complex issue where racial imbalance is still able to take place despite the illusion of equality as presented in this. However one could also argue that race was not the main focus of the video, and instead Beyonce was more interested in presenting the dynamic between men and women, which even the title of the song references. Rather than make commentary on the racial issues of our world, she highlighted it by making both sides ethnically diverse, perhaps showing how things should be and in that sense making people notice how it often isn't in our world.
Similarly, in the Dizzee Rascal "Dream" music video, the binary opposite is Dizzee and the puppets, and the woman playing the piano. The woman represents an old white Britain, one that is conservative and reluctant to change. Dizzee, on the other hand, represents a young multicultural Britain that embraces the new and strange. The woman sitting at the piano has control over the puppets, who are limited by her control. However, there are moments when the puppets do things that make the woman uncomfortable, which could show them fighting back against her, but most likely portrays how she is disturbed by the harsh reality of their lives and would rather choose to ignore it than help in any way. However, Dizzee not being a puppet shows that he has perhaps managed to break away from her control, in a similar way to how Beyonce broke away form the men's control. However, this is in the opposite direction, as this is a man reclaiming power from a controlling woman.
Dizzee Rascal's music video also shows the conflict between white police and young black men. This is shown at 1:04 in the music video when the two black men are caught stealing and one is attacked by the police officer with a baton. Despite it being portrayed in a humorous way, there is a clear message of police brutality. This is highly relevant as, especially within the last twenty years, police brutality is an issue that makes appearances on the news regularly. Despite how long the issue has been going on for, consistently white police officers are still getting away with it and the issue does not seem to be improving. This could be in part because many people in power are white and for them, police brutality is not something they would ever experience and therefore may have a harder time understanding the grave seriousness of it. Dizzee's portrayal of the attack as comedic could reflect this as through the eyes of white Britain, in this case the woman sitting at the piano, such issues are not taken as seriously as they should be. For white Britain, police brutality is such a foreign concept that all they can do is laugh at it. This links into Gilroy's theory of post-colonialism, which states that the representation of groups (in this case black youths) are still affected by ideologies carried over from the time of colonial discourse.
In contrast, Beyonce's video shows a conflict between figures of authority and a young community, but both presented groups are multicultural. At 0:47, there is a long shot of the men, many of which are carrying batons. This is a weapon typically used by police officers, and therefore this immediately plants the idea in the audience's head that these men are somewhat representative of authority. However, unlike in Dizzee Rascal's "dream" where every police officer is shown to be white, in this it is much more mixed ethnically. The women are the same. This presents a very different idea, as there is no clear show of one race having power over another. One could argue that this presents a much more complex issue where racial imbalance is still able to take place despite the illusion of equality as presented in this. However one could also argue that race was not the main focus of the video, and instead Beyonce was more interested in presenting the dynamic between men and women, which even the title of the song references. Rather than make commentary on the racial issues of our world, she highlighted it by making both sides ethnically diverse, perhaps showing how things should be and in that sense making people notice how it often isn't in our world.
Tuesday 5 March 2019
Dream- Dizzee Rascal
The main narrative of the music video is about Dizzee Rascal's rise to fame. The whole thing is shown with a presenter and puppets. The video is actually a parody of the 1940's children's show "Muffin the Mule", starring a woman who looks very similar to Annette Mills. The whole video is quite grainy, giving it the appearance of being older. While the song itself has a clear message about following your dreams and staying true to yourself, the music video subverts that message. By using puppets, it shows that despite the message of being able to do whatever you want no matter where you come from, everyone is held back by where they're from. With the whole setting being reflective of the working class and street life, with the off-licence building on the piano and the lyrics reflect the stereotypical life on the streets. There is also imagery of graffiti and stealing TVs.
The binary opposites in the video are Dizzee Rascal and the puppets, and the woman sitting at the piano. The woman at the piano could be seen as white British society, and she is keeping Dizzee Rascal in a box. He is only let out on her terms and the use of the nursery rhyme shows that it has to child friendly to be allowed. This could very much be seen as commentary on how black artists have to portray themselves as unthreatening to be allowed in white Britain's society. Most of the puppets used in the video are also black, and are presented in a way reminiscent of black face, perhaps showing how black people are viewed by the white middle class. On the other hand, the policeman puppets are shown to be white and committing police brutality against the black teenagers. However, the policeman is also a puppet controlled by strings, which could show that all people of the working class, no matter of race, are not completely in control of their own lives.
The whole music video and lyrics make many references to typical city life, as well as the culture around grime music.
The binary opposites in the video are Dizzee Rascal and the puppets, and the woman sitting at the piano. The woman at the piano could be seen as white British society, and she is keeping Dizzee Rascal in a box. He is only let out on her terms and the use of the nursery rhyme shows that it has to child friendly to be allowed. This could very much be seen as commentary on how black artists have to portray themselves as unthreatening to be allowed in white Britain's society. Most of the puppets used in the video are also black, and are presented in a way reminiscent of black face, perhaps showing how black people are viewed by the white middle class. On the other hand, the policeman puppets are shown to be white and committing police brutality against the black teenagers. However, the policeman is also a puppet controlled by strings, which could show that all people of the working class, no matter of race, are not completely in control of their own lives.
The whole music video and lyrics make many references to typical city life, as well as the culture around grime music.
Monday 25 February 2019
Riptide by Vance Joy
The indie music genre is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels. They generally include vocals with acoustics. Recently, ukulele has come into popular use within the genre. Big influencers of the genre are indie movie directors Wes Anderson and David Lynch. For example, the cutbacks to the woman singing every chorus and slowly getting more beat up are probably less a commentary on violence against women, though it could be interpreted that way, and more a reference to Lynch's Blue Velvet. Well known artists of the indie genre would be Coldplay.
The imagery in the video is very literal for each individual line. For example, during the chorus, "lady running" is matched with a video of a woman running and then "down to the riptide" it shows a video of the riptide. The entire music video seems to follow this pattern, treating every line like its own story rather than presenting a continuous narrative. The closest the video gets to openly presenting a narrative is in the second verse, which is entirely dedicated to the story of a movie he has recently watched. It is interesting when focusing on the lyrics how conversational it is. It is as if it is a letter or is being told to another person verbally.
The video also uses a lot of imagery of women being victimised. There are multiple shots of women being dragged off by some unknown beings or running away. Most shots of women are from behind, and they are seemingly unaware that they are being watched. While the shots of women running are not at a high speed and seem to be casual, it still feels uncomfortable as we are never given any context for what is happening. There is also once again the woman in the chorus which, while I have already stated what it probably means, could still be seen as yet another disturbing presentation of women as victims.
There are odd specific memes sprinkled throughout. For example, in the shot of a bag being packed, it is shown that the person has a Romanian passport. This is one of the only notable clues as to who the narrator is and where he is from.
In this video, women are objectified, viewed only as victims or sex object.
The imagery in the video is very literal for each individual line. For example, during the chorus, "lady running" is matched with a video of a woman running and then "down to the riptide" it shows a video of the riptide. The entire music video seems to follow this pattern, treating every line like its own story rather than presenting a continuous narrative. The closest the video gets to openly presenting a narrative is in the second verse, which is entirely dedicated to the story of a movie he has recently watched. It is interesting when focusing on the lyrics how conversational it is. It is as if it is a letter or is being told to another person verbally.
The video also uses a lot of imagery of women being victimised. There are multiple shots of women being dragged off by some unknown beings or running away. Most shots of women are from behind, and they are seemingly unaware that they are being watched. While the shots of women running are not at a high speed and seem to be casual, it still feels uncomfortable as we are never given any context for what is happening. There is also once again the woman in the chorus which, while I have already stated what it probably means, could still be seen as yet another disturbing presentation of women as victims.
There are odd specific memes sprinkled throughout. For example, in the shot of a bag being packed, it is shown that the person has a Romanian passport. This is one of the only notable clues as to who the narrator is and where he is from.
In this video, women are objectified, viewed only as victims or sex object.
Friday 15 February 2019
Monday 11 February 2019
Straight outta Compton
The movie's target audience is mainstream. The age would be people around forty years old, as the movie is about artists from the 80s and 90s. This movie would hold nostalgic value and interest to people who grew up listening to their music. It would also attract a younger audience as well, because they are well known figures and many artists now who do rap and hiphop were inspired by them.
The film was funded by Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures. The total budget was $28 million and in the box office. One marketing tactic was the "straight outta somewhere" online campaign. Through this, you could edit your own version of the movie title with the name of where you came home, and it was spread using the hashtag. Within a week, it became the most popular hashtag on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The film was funded by Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures. The total budget was $28 million and in the box office. One marketing tactic was the "straight outta somewhere" online campaign. Through this, you could edit your own version of the movie title with the name of where you came home, and it was spread using the hashtag. Within a week, it became the most popular hashtag on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Tuesday 29 January 2019
I, Daniel Blake
I, Daniel Blake is a movie about the benefits system and the lives of people affected by it. It gained controversy from conservatives who argued that the film was "not a documentary" and is "inaccurate". However, Ken Loach, the movie's director, said “I challenge anyone to find a single word in that film that isn’t true.”.
The plot of the movie is about a 59 year old widower carpenter who was left unable to work after having a major heart attack. Despite this, he is classed as fit for work and forced to return to return to work or have his benefits cut. While at the Jobcentre he meets a young single mum who's also struggling financially.
The movie is directed by Ken Loach, a left-wing director who is well known for making other controversial, eye-opening movies. It was produced by Rebecca O'Brien and starred Dave Johns and Daniel Blake and Hayley Squires as Katy, the single mum Daniel befriends. The movie was made on a low budget and many people starring in the movie were not actors and actually people from these businesses. For example, the character Ann from Jobcentre actually used to work at that very same Jobcentre. This is likely done to add a higher sense of realism. It came out in 2016 and despite expectations, reached a wider audience and gained worldwide attraction.
This attention also came with its fair share of controversy, with many conservative politicians and right wing audiences calling it inaccurate and inaccurate representations of how Jobcentre works. The Daily Mail have written multiple articles about how it romanticises the people on benefits and that they are actually "scroungers". However, Loach has argued back that every part of the movie is based off of case studies in Newcastle and that not one part of the movie is inaccurate. Despite the controversy, overall the movie received positive responses, especially from people who have been or are in the same position as Daniel Blake.
I, Daniel Blake won a total of eleven awards, including a BAFTA award, two British Independent Film awards and a Palme d'Or.
Very present themes of the movie are poverty and the benefits system. It also has strong themes of family. It is set in Newcastle and, while a mostly white cast, does have characters of other ethnicities, including the neighbour. The main target audience is middle class people, as this is a way of educating them on a world they may not have been exposed to before. A secondary audience would also be working class people who can relate to what is happening in the movie.
The movie
The plot of the movie is about a 59 year old widower carpenter who was left unable to work after having a major heart attack. Despite this, he is classed as fit for work and forced to return to return to work or have his benefits cut. While at the Jobcentre he meets a young single mum who's also struggling financially.
The movie is directed by Ken Loach, a left-wing director who is well known for making other controversial, eye-opening movies. It was produced by Rebecca O'Brien and starred Dave Johns and Daniel Blake and Hayley Squires as Katy, the single mum Daniel befriends. The movie was made on a low budget and many people starring in the movie were not actors and actually people from these businesses. For example, the character Ann from Jobcentre actually used to work at that very same Jobcentre. This is likely done to add a higher sense of realism. It came out in 2016 and despite expectations, reached a wider audience and gained worldwide attraction.
This attention also came with its fair share of controversy, with many conservative politicians and right wing audiences calling it inaccurate and inaccurate representations of how Jobcentre works. The Daily Mail have written multiple articles about how it romanticises the people on benefits and that they are actually "scroungers". However, Loach has argued back that every part of the movie is based off of case studies in Newcastle and that not one part of the movie is inaccurate. Despite the controversy, overall the movie received positive responses, especially from people who have been or are in the same position as Daniel Blake.
I, Daniel Blake won a total of eleven awards, including a BAFTA award, two British Independent Film awards and a Palme d'Or.
Very present themes of the movie are poverty and the benefits system. It also has strong themes of family. It is set in Newcastle and, while a mostly white cast, does have characters of other ethnicities, including the neighbour. The main target audience is middle class people, as this is a way of educating them on a world they may not have been exposed to before. A secondary audience would also be working class people who can relate to what is happening in the movie.
The movie
Monday 7 January 2019
Video games case study: Assassin's Creed 3 : Liberation
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The genre of the game is action-adventure, stealth. The avatar you play as is Aveline, the first female assassin in the series. With her you can switch between three outfits: an assassin's outfit, a slave disguise, and a posh dress. The game is initially set in 1700s New Orleans, but you are able to travel to other places later in the game. The controls are more or less the same as the rest of the Assassin's creed games, but slightly changed to adapt to PS Vita. For example, if you wanted to run in an Assassin's creed game using a PS3 controller, you would have to hold both the R1 and X buttons, but to run with the PS Vita controls, you only have to hold down the R2 button. There was already a previous Assassin's Creed game released on the PSP, so this was the second AC game released as a portable game. However, the controls were more reminiscent of those on a console game and it was later released for some consoles in HD The multiplayer options of the game was extremely limited and was essentially a mini game of dispatching troops to nodes on a map, this was a far cry from the mechanics of the single player game and was a disappointment to fans. The limitations of the game was mostly down to the PS Vita's limits such as poor graphics compared to the mainline releases and laggy visuals with frequent framerate drops. However the game also had Issues with the AI of NPC's glitching and not responding correctly to the player.The company that develops and publishes the assassins creed franchise is Ubisoft, a french game company headquartered in Montreuil, France they own multiple successful video game franchises such as Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs which are all story driven Action Adventure games as well as more pure FPS games such as Rainbow Six siege and Tom Clancy's: The Division.
Sunday 6 January 2019
Fay's holiday homework
Five slogans for products recently advertised:
-I'm lovin' it -- McDonald's
-Finger lickin' good -- KFC
-Beanz meanz Heinz -- Heinz
-Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline -- Maybelline
-Just do it -- Nike
One advert recently that used shock tactic was the NHS antibiotics advert. This was shocking because it has a very cute, cartoon style to it with a catchy jingle, that abruptly takes a dark turn halfway through when it begins listing off the dangers of overusing antibiotics.
The very sudden juxtaposition catches the audience off guard, and incredibly dark implications of disease and death being told to use by cartoon pills is where the shock value comes from.
Stereotypes used in advertising:
-men being the bread winners
-women staying at home, looking after the kids and doing the housework
-teenage girls only care about looks
An example of intertextuality in radio advertising would be the money supermarket adverts. In 2018, they starred the characters He-Man and Skeletor, from the 80's cartoon He-Man. This is a very obvious example of intertextuality, and due to how recognisable it is has even been used in the radio advertising.
Different uses for music in adverts:
-to set the tone
-add to the message, E.G. loud swelling music for an inspirational advert
-to add emotion
-for comedic effect
Recently, Chris Hemsworth, a well-known and well-liked actor, appeared in a Hugo Boss aftershave advert. He is fit and charming, so having him in the advert gives people something they want to aspire to, and if he wears Hugo Boss aftershave, then they should too.
Examples of reward and punishment persuasion in current advertising:
- Virgin media- the reward of switching to them is that you get a faster broadband than any other company could offer you. The punishment is that if you don't switch, you'll have slower broadband.
-Money Supermarket- the reward is that you feel "epic" for using it. The punishment is that if you don't use it, you won't get this feeling.
-Hipp organic- the reward is giving your baby wholesome natural food. The punishment is that if you don't buy it, you risk giving your child artificial food.
-I'm lovin' it -- McDonald's
-Finger lickin' good -- KFC
-Beanz meanz Heinz -- Heinz
-Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline -- Maybelline
-Just do it -- Nike
One advert recently that used shock tactic was the NHS antibiotics advert. This was shocking because it has a very cute, cartoon style to it with a catchy jingle, that abruptly takes a dark turn halfway through when it begins listing off the dangers of overusing antibiotics.
The very sudden juxtaposition catches the audience off guard, and incredibly dark implications of disease and death being told to use by cartoon pills is where the shock value comes from.
Stereotypes used in advertising:
-men being the bread winners
-women staying at home, looking after the kids and doing the housework
-teenage girls only care about looks
An example of intertextuality in radio advertising would be the money supermarket adverts. In 2018, they starred the characters He-Man and Skeletor, from the 80's cartoon He-Man. This is a very obvious example of intertextuality, and due to how recognisable it is has even been used in the radio advertising.
Different uses for music in adverts:
-to set the tone
-add to the message, E.G. loud swelling music for an inspirational advert
-to add emotion
-for comedic effect
Recently, Chris Hemsworth, a well-known and well-liked actor, appeared in a Hugo Boss aftershave advert. He is fit and charming, so having him in the advert gives people something they want to aspire to, and if he wears Hugo Boss aftershave, then they should too.
Examples of reward and punishment persuasion in current advertising:
- Virgin media- the reward of switching to them is that you get a faster broadband than any other company could offer you. The punishment is that if you don't switch, you'll have slower broadband.
-Money Supermarket- the reward is that you feel "epic" for using it. The punishment is that if you don't use it, you won't get this feeling.
-Hipp organic- the reward is giving your baby wholesome natural food. The punishment is that if you don't buy it, you risk giving your child artificial food.
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