1. Music Video: Ghost Town 2. Music Video: Letter to the Free 3. On-line Marketing: Maybeline campaign 4. Film: Chicken 5. Radio: War of the Worlds 6. Radio: Life Hacks 7. Newspaper: Daily Mail 8. Newspaper: The i 9, Advertising (print): Score + 1 unseen product (= 10 CSPs)
Theories to learn
> Semiotics > Genre > Narrative > Postcolonialism > Representation > Feminist Critical thinking > Liberal Free Press > Transformation of Public Sphere > PSB > Ideology > Audience theories > passive / active > reception theory / theory of preferred reading > Cultivation theory > Culture, politics, history > (Fandom / Moral Panic)
1. Music Video: Ghost Town 2. Music Video: Letter to the Free 3. On-line Marketing: Maybeline campaign 4. Film: Chicken 5. Radio: War of the Worlds 6. Radio: Life Hacks 7. Newspaper: Daily Mail 8. Newspaper: The i 9, Advertising (print): Score + there will be 1 x unseen product (= 10 CSP’s)
Theories to learn
> Semiotics > Genre > Narrative > Postcolonialism > Representation > Feminist Critical thinking > Liberal Free Press > Transformation of Public Sphere > PSB > Ideology > Audience theories > passive / active > reception theory / theory of preferred reading > Cultivation theory > Culture, politics, history > (Fandom / Moral Panic)
Advertising and Marketing – Score pre-1970 product.
This is a targeted CSP and needs to be studied with reference to two elements of the Theoretical Framework (MEDIA LANGUAGE and MEDIA REPRESENTATION) and all relevant contexts.
TASK 1: look at the CSP below and use some of the starting points provided to make your first post. Make this post broad and contextual (ie get as much information as you can) but divide up your responses in terms of: 1) MEDIA LANGUAGE & 2) MEDIA REPRESENTATION
Media Language
Detailed study of Score should enable students to develop an understanding of the dynamic and changing relationships between media forms, products and audiences. Analysis should include:
Mise-en-scene analysis
Production values and Aesthetics
Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings
How advertising conventions are socially and historically relative
The way in which media language incorporates viewpoints and ideologies
How does Score construct a narrative which appeals to its target audience
How and why audience responses to the narrative of this advert may have changed over time
How does this advert create desire for the product
Techniques of Persuasion
Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the persuasive techniques used in the advert and issues surrounding brand values, brand message, brand personality and brand positioning should inform the analysis
Media Representations
Discussion of the Score advertisement will focus mainly on representation of gender including
The processes which lead media producers to make choices about how to represent social groups
How audience responses to interpretations of media representations reflect social, cultural and historical attitudes
The effect of historical contexts on representations
Theories of representation including Hall
Theories of gender performativity including Butler
Feminist theories including bel hooks and van Zoonen
Theories of identity including Gauntlett
Historical, social and cultural contexts
The Score hair cream advert is an historical artefact from 1967, as such it can be examined productively by considering its historical, social and cultural contexts, particularly as it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques. 1967 can be seen as a period of slow transformation in western cultures with legislation about and changing attitudes to the role of women – and men – in society, something that the advert can be seen to negotiate.
Produced in the year of decriminilasiation of homosexuality the representation of heterosexuality could be read as signaling more anxiety than might first appear. The reference to colonialist values can also be linked to social and cultural contexts of the ending of Empire (see this link).
In comparison, Men’s Health magazine represents a notable social and cultural shift in expectations of contemporary masculinity (a shift which could be usefully compared with the advert for Score Hair cream). The study of Men’s Health can be linked to social and cultural contexts through reference to body image and changes in what society deems acceptable and unacceptable representations.
Similarly, comparisons with Maybelline campaign and Oh! magazine would be useful in exploring a range of different theoretical ideas and approaches: feminist critical thinking, postcolonialism, postmodernism.
The advertising techniques of fifty years could be compared to those of today. For example, references could be made with the Lynx Effect advert and the Specsavers adverts (both from 2010) which received criticism from the ASA, read this link or this link. And again reference to body image and changes in what society deems acceptable and unacceptable representations. So have ideas and acceptance around representation of gender really changed since the 1960’s?
In the exam, newspapers will feature in Section 3. Section 3 expects students to produce long answer questions about all four key theoretical areas of this course:
Media Language
Media Representation
Media Audiences
Media Institutions
If you haven’t seen this video (which was posted for CSP 7 TeenVogue, then watch it now, as there is a clear link between news, new media technologies, societies, politics, economics and individual lives.https://embed.ted.com/talks/carole_cadwalladr_facebook_s_role_in_brexit_and_the_threat_to_democracy
Task 1: New Technology and the News
Technology is central to any Media Studies course, and is of relevance in terms of news, newsgathering, production, distribution and consumption, as well as playing a significant role in terms of democracy, knowledge, access and truth. As a starter exercise to understand this relationship in terms of news production, create a table and see how many different technologies you can put in each box, to show which what technologies are used in each stage of the production process.
Technology and Newspapers
Production
Distribution
Consumption
pen / pencil / paper word processor / printer telephone camera microphone license computer trees DTP data processors sources of information
(large scale) printing press lorries / vans / cars stacks / shelves / display cases / boxes social media platforms company / organisation / individual to deliver product storage billboards paper boys/girls target audience
paper (the ability to read? & understand?) a digital device (ipad/phone, computer reading glasses / eyes / braille / audio provision (headphones) WiFi target audience
Media Institutions
So the link between new media technologies, corporate ownership and the media is . . . ‘Manufacturing Consent?’
Some such as theorist, academic and intellectual Noam Chomsky, that the media is a mechanism that is deliberately used by the rich and the powerful (the elite) as a way of ‘Manufacturing Consent’
If you want to a good documentary film that explores the way “uniformed electorate make irrational decisions” Chomsky, watch the film Get Me Roger Stone . .
Read this hand out and extract 3-4 short pithy quotes (that you could use in your exam answer) that helps to show your understanding and knowledge ie make sense to you. For example . . . .
the suggestion that the news media ‘reinforces’ a political situation (Murdock, 1982), or the idea that
‘different stances different news organisations or types of organisations take toward different audiences in the marketplace‘ (Curran et al, 1980), or
the proposition that “major media conglomerates control more and more of the world’s media. Where media are not controlled by organisations, they are generally voices of the state.”
the propaganda model that the media ‘serve to mobilize support for the special interests that dominate the state and private activity‘ (Chomsky, 1988)
So how does this process of ‘manipulation’ or ‘persuasion’ work?
Structures of ownership
The role of advertising
Links with ‘The Establishment’
Diversionary tactics – ‘flack’
Uniting against a ‘common enemy’
In another approach, we can suggest that the media are ‘agenda setting’, look at this powerpoint to understand what this could mean in terms of The i: AGENDA SETTING
AGENDA SETTING
FRAMING
MYTH MAKING
CONDITIONS OF CONSUMPTION
In summary, we need to be able to read the signs . . .
In other words, the media are biased!
In terms of setting an agenda and mapping a clear political bias watch the video below where anchors at Sinclair-owned local news stations parrot a script pushing Trump talking points and “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country.
How can the Media act in the ‘Public Sphere’ in the ‘Public Interest’?
“a public space between the private domain and the state in which public opionion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established” (p. 82: 1996)
Task 3: Note taking
Look at the following extracts and note 5-10 bullet points that shows your understanding of ‘the public sphere‘ and the media as watchdog. Focus on what these terms mean and how did they emerge and develop. For example, in the extract: Mass Media and Democracy by James Curran there is a focus on Jurgen Habermas and his concept of the ‘Public Sphere‘,basically arguing that the developments in education and the mass media allowed for a greater access to information particularly with regard to government, authority and the exercise of control. Similarly, Denis McQuail aruges for a media that specifically works in the public interest and not in a purely commercial interest.
This links to the main proposition that we faced earlier in the academic year which was: in what ways are the culture industries different from other industries? Which was put forward in this extract from this opening chapter Culture Communication & Political Economy by Golding and Murdock from Mass Media and Societyby James Curran and Michael Gurevitch,
“shows how different ways of financing and organising cultural production have traceable consequences for the range of discourses and representations in the public domain” (p.11: 1996)
Task 4: Complete the Political Compass Survey to give you an understanding of left / right . . . authoritarian / libertarian . . .
If news media (and other media forms?) exhibit bias, how can we identify and critically understand it? A good starting point may be to identify our own social-economic-political bias, so take this survey from ‘The Political Compass’ (link to test).
Post up the image of your results from the Political Compass and make some brief notes that show your understanding of left / right politics and authoritarian / libertarian forms of social control.
About the Political Compass
In the introduction, we explained the inadequacies of the traditional left-right line.
If we recognise that this is essentially an economic line it’s fine, as far as it goes. We can show, for example, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot, with their commitment to a totally controlled economy, on the hard left. Socialists like Mahatma Gandhi and Robert Mugabe would occupy a less extreme leftist position. Margaret Thatcher would be well over to the right, but further right still would be someone like that ultimate free marketeer, General Pinochet.
That deals with economics, but the social dimension is also important in politics. That’s the one that the mere left-right scale doesn’t adequately address. So we’ve added one, ranging in positions from extreme authoritarian to extreme libertarian.
Both an economic dimension and a social dimension are important factors for a proper political analysis. By adding the social dimension you can show that Stalin was an authoritarian leftist (ie the state is more important than the individual) and that Gandhi, believing in the supreme value of each individual, is a liberal leftist. While the former involves state-imposed arbitrary collectivism in the extreme top left, on the extreme bottom left is voluntary collectivism at regional level, with no state involved. Hundreds of such anarchist communities existed in Spain during the civil war period
You can also put Pinochet, who was prepared to sanction mass killing for the sake of the free market, on the far right as well as in a hardcore authoritarian position. On the non-socialist side you can distinguish someone like Milton Friedman, who is anti-state for fiscal rather than social reasons, from Hitler, who wanted to make the state stronger, even if he wiped out half of humanity in the process.
The chart also makes clear that, despite popular perceptions, the opposite of fascism is not communism but anarchism (ie liberal socialism), and that the opposite of communism ( ie an entirely state-planned economy) is neo-liberalism (ie extreme deregulated economy)
The usual understanding of anarchism as a left wing ideology does not take into account the neo-liberal “anarchism” championed by the likes of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman and America’s Libertarian Party, which couples social Darwinian right-wing economics with liberal positions on most social issues. Often their libertarian impulses stop short of opposition to strong law and order positions, and are more economic in substance (ie no taxes) so they are not as extremely libertarian as they are extremely right wing. On the other hand, the classical libertarian collectivism of anarcho-syndicalism ( libertarian socialism) belongs in the bottom left hand corner.
In our home page we demolished the myth that authoritarianism is necessarily “right wing”, with the examples of Robert Mugabe, Pol Pot and Stalin. Similarly Hitler, on an economic scale, was not an extreme right-winger. His economic policies were broadly Keynesian, and to the left of some of today’s Labour parties. If you could get Hitler and Stalin to sit down together and avoid economics, the two diehard authoritarians would find plenty of common ground.
A Word about Neo-cons and Neo-libs
U.S. neo-conservatives, with their commitment to high military spending and the global assertion of national values, tend to be more authoritarian than hard right. By contrast, neo-liberals, opposed to such moral leadership and, more especially, the ensuing demands on the tax payer, belong to a further right but less authoritarian region. Paradoxically, the “free market”, in neo-con parlance, also allows for the large-scale subsidy of the military-industrial complex, a considerable degree of corporate welfare, and protectionism when deemed in the national interest. These are viewed by neo-libs as impediments to the unfettered market forces that they champion.
Task 5: Apply the theory to the CSP
Now you have a better understanding of left / right; authoritarian/libertarian forms of government and control, let’s apply the CSP / The i.
Use some of the questions from the survey that you have just taken from The Political Compass and link them to specific examples to the CSP (below).
Set out your approach ie your questions and the examples in a table.
Once you have produced enough data, see if you can plot the compass position of The i (based only on the 3 pages of our CSP.
As an alternative or more refined approach, take the whole test from the perspective of The i.
Summing up this CSP
Overall, in this section students are aiming to develop enough knowledge to show understanding of most of the following:
patterns of ownership and control, including conglomerate mergers,vertical / horizontal integration and diversification
the impact of economic factors, including commercial and not-for-profit aims and intentions
the processes of production, distribution and circulation
the role played by keyorganisations, groups and individuals in a global context
how media organisations maintain, varieties of audiencesnationally and globally
recent technological change in terms of production, distribution and circulation
patterns of consumption and response in terms of new media technologies
the impact of ‘new’ digital technologies on media regulation, including the role of individual producers
the regulatory framework of contemporary media in the UK
ASSESSMENT: Go to the Planner page/tab and choose either the 7571 Question Paper from 23rd May 2018 and answer question 8. Plan your answer, share your responses and collaborate with others to produce a complete and full answer. Look at the feedback assessment sheet below for starting points and areas that you could / should cover in your answer.
You will also need to specifically refer to Curran and Seaton, so please look at the references to Curran and Seaton in the feedback sheet (and presented below) and look to match these ideas with your own reading of the two texts provided below. The aim is to build up your own knowledge and understanding of Curran and Seaton as this should be central to your answer.
‘the United Kingdom regards press freedom as an absolute freedom.’ The government leaves it to the market forces to decide which press products survive’ (1992: 53).
In the case of the press, with certain limited exceptions, no legal restriction is placed on the right to buy or launch a newspaper. (This ensures, in liberal theory, that the press is free, diverse and representative (Curran and Seaton 2003: 346-7).
In this view of freedom of expression, it is the interests of the press, not of its readers nor of the subjects of its coverage, which are fundamental. (‘Free enterprise is a pre-requisite of a free press’)
Based on the assumption that democracy is best served by the free exchange of ideas, for which freedom of expression is vital. (‘the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market’)
In order to develop this knowledge and understanding, you should consider one complete print edition of the newspaper chosen by your teacher and selected key pages from the newspaper’s website, including the homepage and at least one other page
CONNECT NEWSPAPERS CSP TO 2020 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Jurgen Habermas and the concept of the Public Sphere
James Curran & Jean Seaton – the theory of the liberal free press
Noam Chomsky – the 5 filters that manufacture consent
Louis Althusser – interpellation & Ideological State Appraratus
Antonio Gramsci – the concept of hegemony / hegemonic struggle
TASK 2: SKIM READ THE FOLLOWING 2 ARTICLES AND TAKE OUT 5 QUOTES FROM BOTH AUTHORS THAT HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND: 1) THE THEORY OF THE LIBERAL FREE PRESS &2) THE ROLE OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTINGCurran-Press-Freedom-2DOWNLOADSeaton-PSB-1DOWNLOAD
THREE TYPES OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Fuchs, C ‘Reading Marx in the Information Age’ Routledge 2016
MEDIA AS A COMMODITY v MEDIA AS A PUBLIC GOOD
Fuchs, C ‘Reading Marx in the Information Age’ Routledge 2016
TRANSNATIONAL MEDIA CORPORATIONS: THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION
This is a Targeted Close Study product for which you will need to focus on the following areas of the Theoretical Framework: > Media Industries > Media Audiences You will need to listen to excerpts from the broadcast but the main focus will be the technological development of radio as an institution.
War of the Worlds is an early example of a hybrid radio form, adapting the H.G Welles story using news and documentary conventions. The broadcast and the initial response to it has historical significance as an early, documented, example of the mass media apparently having a direct effect on an audience’s behavior. The academic research carried out into the broadcast (and the ongoing dispute about the extent of the effect) provided some of the early media audience research and the findings have been extremely influential in the media, advertising and political campaigning. A useful overview and discussion of the context can be found here (not part of the CSP for assessment): https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/war-worlds
Media Institutions
War of the Worlds provides an historical context for broadcasting, being produced at a period when radio was the only form of domestic media; the 1930s and 1940s became known as the ‘golden age’ of radio.
War of the Worlds was broadcast by Columbia Broadcasting Company – an institution still in existence (in a very different form) today.
Radio broadcasting was seen as direct competition to newspapers which had previously been the only way of receiving news.
The broadcast is typical of the way institutions are always looking for new styles in order to attract audiences.
Regulation – radio broadcasting was regulated by the Federal Communications Commission and it investigated the broadcast to see if it had broken any laws.
The broadcast provides an excellent example to consider the effect of individual producers on media industries (known as ‘auteur theory’) as this is the work of Orson Welles.
Media Audiences
War of the Worlds has become a real-world test case for a variety of audience theories, although the exact nature of the audience response is still disputed.
What techniques (ie Media Language) does the broadcast use to convince the audience that what they’re hearing is really happening?
Consider the way that external factors – global political context, gender, religion, education etc. – are likely to also affect audience response
The ways in which audiences interpret the same media product differently – at the time of broadcast and now (Reception theory including Hall)
Cultivation theory including Gerbner
Historical, political, social and cultural contexts
For many, the wider social, political, historical and cultural contexts are not just clearly connected to media studies but they are in some ways more important.
“I’ve always said you can’t understand the world without the medianor the media without the world” (Professor Natalie Fenton, quoted in Fake news vs Media Studies J. McDougall p.17 2019, Palgrave)
“I do spend long periods of time with my gaze turned away from the media, because I’m seeking to understand what’s going on out there, and then the role of the media in that context. I’m always putting the social, the political and the economic (contexts) first.” (ibid)
War of the Worlds can be considered in a historical context as it provides an interesting study of the power and influence of radio as a form during its early days of broadcasting. It is also useful to consider the product in a social, cultural and political context when considering audience responses to the programme. It was first broadcast on the eve of World War II and reflected fears of invasion in the US and concerns about international relations.
Some other thoughts regarding this text center around contemporary ideas of Fake News. In other words, do we / can we trust the media? Where do you get knowledge and information? It also a text that shows the power of the media, to influence vulnerable audiences. Although I wonder if the stories around audiences reacting passively as if it were a true story were exaggerated almost as a marketing exercise, that in itself is a form of made up information? Indeed, isn’t all information made up? How do we know what is truth? What is clear is that the distinction between fact and fiction is often blurred and relies upon audience members recognising and understanding specific codesand conventions that relate to each Media Language. In this instance, the Language of Radio is used creatively to structure a text that could be taken as fact, but is clearly fiction. Recognising the particular social and historical moment that this media text was produced is significant, so was this a comment on the ability of the mass media to create propaganda and manipulate a compliant and vulnerable mass audience? Is that still relevant today? Think about twitter, Trump, Brexit etc. If so, then Chomsky‘s argument that the media is used by powerful groups – ‘Manufacturing Consent‘ – is the most appropriate theory to structure an understanding of media, technology, control, manipulation and power.https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xs0K4ApWl4g?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&modestbranding=0&rel=1&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&
Other areas to think about (but unlikely to form part of your assessment)
Media Language
War of the Worlds is a good case study for students to understand the way codes and conventionsof radio drama (sound, dialogue, SFX, microphone technique, silence, words, accents, dialects etc) are put together to create meaning and construct a recognisable and familiar genre (Steve Neale). War of the Worlds also belongs to the genre of sci-fi and invasion – how are the conventions evident?
But can War of the Worlds be considered as an intertextual product? Or pastiches of other genres.
Consider how developing technologies affect media language: in 1938 radio was still a relatively new mass media technology, the broadcast could experiment with the form in a way not possible later on.
At the time of the broadcast the idea of hybrid genres was unfamiliar, with clear boundaries between fact and fiction, making this a significant development in the form.
War of the Worlds is a good case study for students to understand the way codes and conventionsof radio drama (sound, dialogue, SFX, microphone technique, silence, words, accents, dialects etc) are put together to create meaning and construct a recognisable and familiar genre (Steve Neale). War of the Worlds also belongs to the genre of sci-fi and invasion – how are the conventions evident?
But can War of the Worlds be considered as an intertextual product? Or pastiches of other genres.
Consider how developing technologies affect media language: in 1938 radio was still a relatively new mass media technology, the broadcast could experiment with the form in a way not possible later on.
At the time of the broadcast the idea of hybrid genres was unfamiliar, with clear boundaries between fact and fiction, making this a significant development in the form.
Media Representations
While there are representations of social and cultural groups in War of the Worlds, this broadcast is particularly significant for studying how a media product constructs a representation of reality, drawing on issues in society to convince the audience of its reality.
How does the use of media language construct the representation of the real?
Is this programme an early example of fake news?
What signifiers of different groups and social classes are used?
The representation of the alien invaders in sci-fi genre.
As a broadcast in October 1938, can War of the Worlds be interpreted as representing particular political concerns to US – and international – society?
CSP 6: LETTER TO THE FREE – COMMON
Selection Criteria
Common is an Oscar and Grammy award winning hip/hop rap artist who wrote Letter to the Free as a soundtrack to The 13th – a documentary by Ava DuVernay named after the American 13th amendment (the abolition of slavery). His output is highly politicised, existing in the context of a variety of social and cultural movements aimed at raising awareness of racism and its effects in US society (e.g.: Black Lives Matter). The product can also be considered in an economic context through the consideration of if and how music videos make money (through, for example, advertising on YouTube).
Music Video – Letter to the Free is a product which possesses cultural and social significance. It will invite comparison with other music videos allowing for an analysis of the contexts in which they are produced and consumed.
If this CSP appears in the exam it will be in Section B: Industries and Audiences
What needs to be studied? Key Questions and Issues
This product relates to the theoretical framework by providing a focus for the study of:
Media Industries
The media of music video provides a useful case study to consider:
how musicians and the wider industry have responded to rapid technological change – streaming, piracy, video hosting sites – finding ways to make money from previously free services.
the significance of patterns of ownership and control, including conglomerate ownership, vertical integration and diversification
the way new media products are distributed on youtube and across the internet by Vevo, a video hosting service.
How artists are marketed and developed: Common is a Def Jam recording artist. Def Jam is a label associated with urban and hip hop music, starting as an independent in the 1980s it is now owned by the conglomerate UMG (which also owns Vevo)
As the soundtrack to the Netflix documentary The 13th the video is an example of cross media promotion and marketing.
TASK 1: Create a new post that looks at:
the artists involved (background, history, other work)
the actual music video (style, genre, narrative, characters, theme, message, ideology etc)
the institutions involved in this production (think again about majors vs indies, the role of conglomerates, vertical and horizontal integration, cross-media ownership, synergy, marketing & distribution, methods and modes of production and of course revenue).
the audience who are targeted (the role of politics, identity and culture in terms of producing product for ‘the culture industries’). Remember to think about audience theory – particularly, the theory of preferred reading.
Points you could include:
processes of production, distribution and circulation by organisations, groups and individuals in a global context
the relationship of recent technological change and media production, distribution and circulation
the impact of ‘new’ digital technologies on media regulation, including the role of individual producers.
the significance of patterns of ownership and control, including conglomerate ownership, vertical integration and diversification
the significance of economic factors, including commercial and not-for-profit public funding, to media industries and their products
how media organisations maintain, varieties of audiences nationally and globally
the interrelationship between media technologies and patterns of consumption and response
Key terms
Gatekeepers
Regulation / Deregulation
Free market vs Monopolies & Mergers
Media concentration / Conglomerates / Globalisation (in terms of media ownership)
Vertical Integration & Horizontal Integration
Surveillance / Privacy / Security
TASK 2: How many of these key words can you relate to the other CSP’s in Section B (ie TV & Film)? Do you need to look at your notes or adjust them in light of what you now know?
Media Audiences
The study of audiences for this video will use the analysis of media language and representation to consider how the video addresses an audience. As both rap and political protest song, the video can be studied as addressing a range of audiences beyond the youth market.
How media producers target, attract, reach, address andpotentially construct audiences
How media industries target audiences through the content and appeal of media products and through the ways in which they are marketed, distributed and circulated: widely distributed on video hosting sites aimed at a youth audience but also consumed by the audience for political documentary.
How audiences interpret the media, including how they may interpret the same media in different ways (Hall Theory of Preferred Reading)
TASK 3: Complete another exam question – go to planner and Media Sams Paper 1, Question 7: Explain how the social, political and cultural contexts of media influence how audiences may interpret the same media in different ways. Use Common’s Letter to the Free to support your answer. Use the feedback document below to help your answer the question.Music-essay-assessment-and-feedbackDOWNLOADCommon-exemplar-essayDOWNLOAD
A possible structure to your essay could be:
show your knowledge of the institutional details of the text ie specifics facts, figures, names, dates etc about the text. At this point show your knowledge of the music industry and use key terms (see above)
Next, show how audiences may (theoretically) interpret media texts ie audience theory.
Follow this up with specific ideas that suggest how certain audiences may interpret this particular text (ie apply the theory to this CSP)
Finally, make some summative conclusions based on your knowledge and understanding that show the importance of culture in terms of engaging with issues of power and control. For this you could reference Gramsci & his concept of ‘hegemony’ and/or Habermas and his concept of ‘the public sphere’
Hegemony
Habermas ‘the public sphere’
CSP 10: MUSIC VIDEO
The Specials – Ghost Town
This is a targeted CSP and needs to be studied with reference to two elements of the Theoretical Framework (Media Language and Media Representation).
1TASK 1: MAKE SOME GENERAL NOTES ON THIS MEDIA PRODUCTION: NAMES, DATES, NUMBERS, ETC
Ghost Town is a product which possesses cultural, social and historical significance. It will invite comparison with the other CSP music video allowing for an analysis of the contexts in which they are produced and consumed.
2TASK 2: WHAT IS THE CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN WHICH THIS VIDEO WAS COMMENTING UPON?
Ghost Town by The Specials conveys a specific moment in British social and political history while retaining a contemporary relevance. The cultural critic Dorian Lynskey has described it as ‘’a remarkable pop cultural moment’’ one that “defined an era’’. The video and song are part of a tradition of protest in popular music, in this case reflecting concern about the increased social tensions in the UK at the beginning of the 1980s. The song was number 1 post-Brixton and during the Handsworth and Toxteth riots.
The aesthetic of the music video, along with the lyrics, represents an unease about the state of the nation, one which is often linked to the politics of Thatcherism but transcends a specific political ideology in its eeriness, meaning that it has remained politically and culturally resonant.
The representations in the music video are racially diverse. This reflects its musical genre of ska, a style which could be read politically in the context of a racially divided country. This representation of Britain’s emerging multiculturalism, is reinforced through the eclectic mix of stylistic influences in both the music and the video.
3TASK 3:MAKE SOME NOTES ON THE WAY IN WHICH THIS MUSIC VIDEOS CREATES AND COMMUNICATES MEANING IE MEDIA LANGUAGE.
You should adopt a SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS (ie the use of signs) which should specifically look at:
Mise-en-scene – ie what can you see in each shot
Cinematography – ie how does the camera frame each shot & how are the shots edited together
How TODOROV, LEVI-STRAUS & PROPP could be applied to this music video (you may remember that we looked at these on our AS TV CSP link here or on this narrative post on my blog
Think about how the visuals link to the song lyrics (is it a LITERAL OR METAPHORICAL interpretation, eg the journey through a deserted landscape, or the way lyrics refer to effects of political and economic conditions)
How audiences are positioned and invited to respond (do they use a direct mode of address?)
How the Narrative structure provides appeal, interest and pleasures (think active audiences . . Uses and Gratifications theory or for those students who looked at my Easter post, apply the 2 Step Flow model (link here)
The two step flow model of communication
You should also focus on GENRE
Make sure you reference Neale! You may remember that we looked at Steve Neale when we looked at AS TV CSP (link here)
How the music video genre uses intertextuality and hybridity to establish meanings
How music videos meet the expectations of audiences
ASSESSMENT
You have a choice from two A level essay questions: YOU ONLY NEED TO ANSWER 1 QUESTION and either email it to me or upload it to the blog, (but remember to let me know if you have done so). They are both A2 exam questions and they are both worth 12 marks. Mark schemes and feedback sheets are below. Further reading / sources of information at the bottom of this post. Good luck
Q1: How useful are ideas about narrative in analysing music videos? Refer to both CSP’s in your answer [12 marks]
Students are not required to watch the film for the assessment, but is available on both i-tunes (rent + purchase) & amazon prime (rent only).
The film should only be studied in relation to Media Industries, specifically the production and distribution context.
Film: Chicken is an example of micro budget film making and raises issues around the role and future of national cinema as well as the viability of media products produced outside of the mainstream for niche audiences.
Students do not need to watch the film but will need to be familiar with the production context and distribution materials including:
Key Questions and Issues • Identification of how Chicken is characteristic of an independent film release, with consideration of budget, distribution, circulation. • Micro budget rather than low budget film (approximately £110,000) – entirely independent financing. • Distribution techniques – reliance on new technology; VOD, streaming, audience ‘programming’ (open screen etc.) • Continued use of traditional marketing and distribution; trailers, posters, film festivals etc. • The concept of “risk-taking” in terms of narrative choice available to independent studios • Regulation of the industry through BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). • Regulation including Livingstone and Lunt
Social, economic and cultural contexts Chicken is characteristic of contemporary cultural production in its use of new technology at production and distribution stages. Reflects shifting patterns of audience consumption. As a low budget film, it will be interesting to consider this film in its economic context, especially in comparison to big-budget Hollywood films.
Theoretical approaches Chicken is characteristic of the ‘risky’ business of cultural production (Hesmondhalgh), £100K + is a lot of money for a single individual, without a guaranteed return. Chicken also represents diversity in media production (Curran and Seaton) as this film provides a voice and narrative to groups who are not necessarily represented in mainstream media. Henry Jenkinsand David Gauntlett would acknowledge that web 2.0 enabled big businesses to exploit the web for commercial reasons, but would also argue that the internet remains the capacity to work as a social good and that online communities created via ‘participatory culture’ have the power to change the world for the better. Web 2.0 refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability for end users. Similarly, Clay Shirky argues that the media industry is increasingly driven by audience feedback systems rather than top-down control of proprieters. Read page 140 below. Media-ownership-Curran-and-SeatonDOWNLOAD
Note how there is a focus on making judgements and drawing conclusions in this essay
Release
Chicken had its world premiere on 27 June 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film had its international premiere in competition at the 2015 Busan International Film Festival, followed by screenings at the New Hampshire International Film Festival, Giffoni International Film Festival, Cine A La Vista International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Schlingel International Film Festival and Dublin International Film Festival. It eventually received a limited theatrical release in the UK on 20 May 2016.
It was then acquired by MUBI UK, and had its British TV premiere on FilmFour April 2017. It received its DVD and Blu-ray release by Network on 18 September 2017.
Critical reception
Chicken received positive reviews and holds a 100% “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 critic reviews.
Leslie Felperin of The Guardian gave the film 3/5 stars and said “first-time director Joe Stephenson elicits lively, empathetic performances from his small cast.”
Mark Kermode, also in a Guardian review, rated the film at four out of five stars stating that Scott Chambers’ performance is “superb”.
Anna Smith of Empire magazine gave the film a rating of four stars, responding that the film is “an enjoyable, involving British Drama with and impressive turn from newcomer Scott Chambers.
Cath Clarke of Time Out, commented that Chicken is “an impressively acted British Drama about a young man with learning difficulties.”
CineVue praised the film and mentioned that it is “the sort of British indie which restores faith in cinema”.
Accolades
Grand Jury Award for Narrative Feature — Joe Stephenson (New Hampshire Film Festival 2015)[2][9]
Silver Griffoni Award for Best Film – Generation 18+ (2nd Prize) — Joe Stephenson & B Good Picture Company (Giffoni Film Festival 2016)[9]
Award for Best Film — Chicken (Cine A La Vista International Film Festival 2016)[9]
Scott Chamber’s performance as Richard got a Special Critic’s Circle mention (Dublin International Film Festival 2016)[9]
The film was shortlisted for Best Director (Joe Stephenson) and Best Newcomer (Scott Chambers) by the British Independent Film Awards.
For our next CSP (number 3 of 9) we are looking at the area of ADVERTISING AND MARKETING, in the exam, you may well be asked to respond to this set text in terms of MEDIA LANGUAGE AND/OR REPRESENTATION. This CSP will appear in Section A of your exam paper.
TASK 1: TECHNIQUES OF PERSUASION
As this is looking at advertising the first task is to think about (and make some notes on) the way in which advertising persuades a specifically targeted audience to consume its product. In terms of the expectations from the exam board:
Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the persuasive techniques used in the advert and issues surrounding brand values, brand message, brand personality and brand positioning should inform the analysis.
So please watch this advert a couple of times, discuss with your friends and be prepared to feedback your answers to the whole class, think specifically about the following questions:
Think about how Maybelline created an advert for this product. What elements are used to make this advert? What media techniques are used in this advert?
What is the brand message and what values does this hold for a modern audience? What makes this advert different?
Have a look at some of the following articles to help your understanding (and note-taking)
Finally think about how you are going to feedback your ideas and share your notes.
Oh and also . . . don’t forget about how different audiences may interpret the same message in different ways . . . (remember? Stuart Hall and the Theory of Preferred Reading?)
The Language of Moving Image
It is possible to look at the Language of moving image from 2 perspectives 1) TECHNICAL CODES & 2) NARRATIVE. So firstly, make up a table that looks like the one below and in small groups fill in as much information as you can – you will need to watch the clip several times to do this. Upload the completed (shared) table to your blog. You may find this page useful: http://mymediacreative.com/blog/2019/04/20/language-of-moving-image-2/
Technical Code
Denotation (ie what is it – simply describe what you see / hear)
Connotation (ie what does it signify)
Setting
Clothing
NVC
Dialogue
Sound Effect
Music
Camera shot size
Camera movement
Editing
Next apply the following 3 narrative theories to the maybeline advert:
How does it apply to the advert (in your own words)
Equilibrium
Binary Opposition
Character Types
THE EXAM
Look at the exam papers on the planner page.
Look at the section A.
Section A is focused on LANGUAGE AND REPRESENTATION
Section A looks at 3 CSP’s / Media forms:
advertising and marketing magazines video games
That means we have finished this section!
Therefore can you answer the questions from this section (if they were based on this year’s CSP’s? Mens Health, Tomb Raider, Maybelline)
PREPARATION FOR THE EXAM
If this CSP comes up in the exam you can expect your question to be based around discussion of the Maybelline advert mainly on representation of gender, age, ethnicity and lifestyle with opportunities for direct comparison with other advertising CSPs.
The way the media through re-presentation constructs versions of reality
How and why stereotypes can be used positively and negatively
The processes which lead media producers to make choices about how to represent social groups
How audience responses to interpretations of media representations reflect social, cultural and historical attitudes
The effect of social and cultural contexts on representations
Theories of representation including Hall
Theories of identity including Gauntlett
Therefore make sure you are confident in this area and to test your knowledge can you present a comparison between this CSP and one other CSP that we have looked at so far. Again think about how you wish to organise your ideas and feedback your presentation.
Make sure you analysis is focused on MEDIA LANGUAGE and REPRESENTATION. Try to make some insightful points rather than stating the obvious, for example, discuss the use of semiotics, the notion of preferred reading and the concept of self-identity in Modernity (Giddens) see below.
I suggest you look at this post of mine about Media Language to make sure that you understand what it means ie it is much more than spoke or written communication and is specific to each media form.
TASK 2: THEORIES OF REPRESENTATION
Read this extract from a book called Modernity and Self Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, written by Anthony Giddens.
here is an edited version:
“The reflexive project of the self, which consists of the sustaining of consistent, yet continuously revised, biographical narratives, takes place in the context of multiple choice as filtered through abstract systems. In modern social life, the notion of lifestyle takes on a particular significance. The more tradition loses it hold, and the more daily life is reconstituted . . . the more individuals are forced to negotiate lifestyle choices among a diversity of options. Of course there are standardising influences . . . Yet because of the ‘openess’ of social life today, the pluralisation of contexts of action and the diversity of ‘authorities’, lifestyle choice is increasingly important in the constitution of self-identity and daily activity.”
Can you translate some of his ideas? For example, what is reflexivity? If you need more help you can read this post from my own blog: Representation, Identity & Self
Once you have thought about this, think about the concept of a ‘non binary identity’. Follow this link to find out more. What does this mean to you? How do you feel about it? What about the concept of CIS? Or Intersex?
Do these concepts help you to understand the idea behind the Maybelline marketing campaign?
Again discuss this with your group of friends, make notes and be prepared to feedback to the rest of the class.
So how is the traditional male representation adjusting to this new world from the perspective of Advertising & Marketing?
1. Music Video: Ghost Town 2. Music Video: Letter to the Free 3. On-line Marketing: Maybeline campaign 4. Film: Chicken 5. Radio: War of the Worlds 6. Radio: Life Hacks 7. Newspaper: Daily Mail 8. Newspaper: The i 9, Advertising (print): Score + there will be 1 x unseen product (= 10 CSP’s)
> Semiotics > Genre > Narrative > Postcolonialism > Representation > Feminist Critical thinking > Liberal Free Press > Transformation of Public Sphere > PSB > Ideology > Audience theories > passive / active > reception theory / theory of preferred reading > Cultivation theory > Culture, politics, history > (Fandom / Moral Panic)
In 1981 Britain was in a ‘state of crisis’, the government was unpopular, unemployment was on a rise and riots were breaking out across the country. the song is described as ‘the soundtrack to an explosion of civil unrest’. the specials announced a gig promoting racial unity on the day of ‘Ghost Town’s’ release due to the riots that were caused by indiscriminate use of police stop and search powers on the black community and the murder of of a local teenager in a racist attack.
Facts
released in June 1981
the specials are a British band
ghost town spent 3 weeks at number 1 in the uk top 40
the last song recorded by the original 7 members of the specials
label – 2 tone
genre – reggae/two-tone
music video filmed in London
directed by Barney Bubbles
won awards for song of the year and best single
Letter to the free
Facts
released in 2016
nominated for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song – Contemporary
the song/video is centered around the mass incarceration of African-Americans as a form of modern-day slavery, and is named after the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal except as “punishment of crime.”
the video is in black and white which indicates it is about race and equality
letter to the free was directed by Bradford Young
the song was written for and used in the netflix documentary ‘The 13th’
Historical, political and cultural context
links to post colonialism and the history of the black community being oppressed and unfairly treated and prosecuted for crimes due to their race. focus on the idea of systematic racism and the US justice system – in 2018 Black males accounted for 34% of the total male prison population. it shows an ongoing problem in the USA with racial injustice and has highlighted different aspects of systematic racism and the outdated views that many people in the US still carry. Racial injustice is still a big problem in the USA and has been for many decades e.g. recent black lives matter protests have been help around the world in solidarity with members of the black community after a black many was killed by a police officer.
How they relate
both are from different time periods but focus on the same matter of racial injustice against black people, letter to the free in the US and Ghost town in the UK.
1. Music Video: Ghost Town 2. Music Video: Letter to the Free 3. On-line Marketing: Maybeline campaign 4. Film: Chicken 5. Radio: War of the Worlds 6. Radio: Life Hacks 7. Newspaper: Daily Mail 8. Newspaper: The i 9, Advertising (print): Score + there will be 1 x unseen product (= 10 CSP’s)
Theoretic approaches
> Semiotics > Genre > Narrative > Post-colonialism > Representation > Feminist Critical thinking > Liberal Free Press > Transformation of Public Sphere > PSB > Ideology > Audience theories > passive / active > reception theory / theory of preferred reading > Cultivation theory > Culture, politics, history
Barthes– Semiotic is a science which learns the sign, object, and its meaning, in Semiotics, there are the signifier and the signified, the signifier refers to the sign and the signified refers to the something that is signified.
Saussure– there are the signifier and the signified, the signifier refers to the sign and the signified refers to the something that is signified.
Gilroy– argues that culture is the mode through which Black persons should aspire to liberation. (incarceration)
Barthes– He suggested texts may be ‘open’ or ‘closed’. Closed texts are those that are produced with a single, definitive meaning in mind making any interpretation from the audience inaccurate. He explored social theory, anthropology and semiotics, the science of symbols, and studied their impact on society. His work left an impression on the intellectual movements of Structuralism and Post-Structuralism.
C S Pierce– 3 Types of Signs:
Symbolic- has a random link to its object e.g. color, shapes, textures.
Indexical- a sign that has a link to its object e.g. sounds, props.
Iconic- a sign that looks like an object e.g. sets, camera work.
Saussure- There are the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the object, the word, the image or action. The signified is the concept behind the object that is being represented
Steve Neale- States that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference. Neale states that the film and its genre is defined by two things: How much is conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and stereotypes.
Repertoire of elements – repeated features that are identical and recognisable as a specific
Hybridisation – The merging of different genres to create a sub-genre, more than one genre in a text
Todorov- In a film or story, the power is in a state of equilibrium (balance). He believes that as the story progresses the state of equilibrium can change, giving one person more power or authority over another throughout the plot, keeping the audience entertained.
Propp- Argued that stories are character driven and that plots develop from the decisions and actions of characters and how they function in a story.
He concluded that all the characters in tales could be resolved into 7 abstract character functions:
The villain
The dispatcher
The helper
The princess or prize, and often her father
The donor
The hero
The false hero
Gilroy- Believes we can still see the affects of colonialism in the media now. He also believes that ethnic minorities are often shown as powerless and weak and he believes white western people are shown as successful, powerful and important.
Butler- Gender is a social construct, it’s about how you feel and behave. Butler says gender is constructed through performance, so certain activities make you feel more masculine/feminine.
Habermas- The public sphere is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action.
Curran and Seaton-
How the media landscape has fallen under the control of a handful of global media conglomerates.
costs and risks associated with the production of media products has resulted in the organisation of media companies into vertically and horizontally aligned conglomerates.
Mass market news: news designed to appeal to huge readership
Horizontal integration: Ownership os subsidiaries that produce similar types of products.
Vertical integration: Ownership os subsidiaries that enable a media producer to produce, promote and distribute products.
Present the view that a free press relies on a free market where individual newspapers can compete through their political stances and points of view. Analyze the ways that The i and the Daily Mail attempt to establish a distinctive identity within this free market
Hesmondhalgh- The idea of a ‘risky business’ and being hard to meet everyone’s needs. Not being able to predict if an audience will enjoy what is being created.
Gerbner- Cultivation Theory – the more you look at TV, the more you are likely to believe in the reality of the representations
Stuart Hall- Media texts are encoded by the producer meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages. The text is then decoded by the audience. Also, cultural identity is not only a matter a ‘being’ but of ‘becoming’, ‘belonging as much to the future as it does to the past’. From Hall’s perspective, identities undergo constant transformation, transcending time and space.
Lasswell- Hypodermic model- is a model of communication suggesting that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.
Giddens and Gauntlet- Representation Theory = “it remains the case that most women and men remain somewhat constricted within particular gender roles.”
Gauntlet- Pick and Mix Theory – Audiences pick and mix what they engage with as they are active not passive.
Giddens argues that just as an individual’s autonomy is influenced by structure, structures are maintained and adapted through the exercise of agency so structuration theory attempts to understand human social behaviour by resolving the competing views of structure-agency and macro-micro perspectives.
Daily Mail vs The I:
Question:
The Daily Mail
‘The i’ Newspaper
When they were first introduced?
1896
2010
Are they part of a bigger organisational structure?
Owned by ‘Daily Mail and General Trust’, a media company chaired by Viscount Rothermere
Owner – Daily Mail (as of late November 2019)
Are they known for a particular political perspective?
Right wing – Conservative
Liberal – non biased and don’t take a specific political stance
What kind of journalism do they produce?
Gossip, inaccurate scare stories of medical and scientific research, right wing politics, entertainment
Factual stories, Broadsheet
What kind of people run the paper?
Viscount Rothermere Family Editor – Geordie Grieg (2018)
Free Press
Do they have a similar readership reach?
Circulation – 1,134,184 (February 2020) Readership – 2.2 Million (daily)
Circulation – 221, 083 (October 2019)
Do they have a similar readership profile / target audience?
Women make up 52-55% of readers, Middle Class women, Right wing, average age of 58
General public, any age, all political views
How are they currently doing? Increasing or decreasing sales and revenue?
-During lockdown the circulation went down to 945,000 from 1.13 Million in March. -DMGT recorded a revenue of £1.41 Billion – Pretax profit £145 million
15% decrease of sales from June 2019 – June 2020
How are they looking to embrace new media technologies?
Daily Mail Online = 2003. (11.34 million visitors daily)
Online paper free to the reader
Do they have a similar layout and design?
Tabloid format (compact page size)
Broadsheet Layout
War of the Worlds:
Episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air, directed and narrated by Orson Welles
Media Industries– War of the Worlds was broadcast byColumbia Broadcasting Company, It was broadcasted live as a halloween special at 8pm on Sunday 30 October 1938,Regulation – radio broadcasting was regulated by the Federal Communications Commission and it investigated the broadcast to see if it had broken any laws. Illustrates a passive audience and doesn’t therefore fit into the uses and gratifications theory.
The aliens in War of the Worlds could be a metaphor for the enemies because the War of the Worlds podcast was produced in 1930s, which was when the Great Depression, the American Dust bowl and WW2 began.
It is a radio podcast of a science fiction novel that was written by H.G Wells
War of the Worlds radio drama had left listeners into suspended disbelief and became famous because it tricked people into believing aliens were invading Earth due to the “breaking news” style of the broadcast.
was the 17th episode of the CBS Radio series The Mercury Theatre on Air, which was broadcast at 8 pm ET on Sunday, October 30, 1938.
The science fiction drama was broadcasted from CBS, which is the Columbia Broadcasting System
The radio science fiction drama was directed by Orson Welles and was adapted by Howard Koch
It is a hybridization of the science fiction genre and the mystery genre.
In 1938, radios were just being introduced, so it can be interpreted that War of the World was fake news to try and get more people to listen to CBS and buy radios.
On it’s opening evening, it was estimated that around 30 million people were tuning into the broadcast and around 80% of Americans owned a radio then.
male gaze: the act of depicting women, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer
female gaze: feminist film theoretical term representing the gaze of the female viewer, is a response to feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey’s term “the male gaze”
patriarchy: a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property
sexualisation: to make something sexual in character or quality or to become aware of sexuality, especially in relation to men and women
post-feminism: used to describe reactions against contradictions and absences in feminism, especially second-wave feminism and third-wave feminism
THEORIES OF REPRESENTATION…
dominant ideology: denotes the attitudes, beliefs, values, and morals shared by the majority of the people in a given society
selective representation: only showing some events/conflicts, not all, sometimes chosen based on importance, proximity to home, and viewer preference
hegemony: the political, economic, or military predominance or control of one state over others
BAUDRILLARD…
simulacra: something that replaces reality with its representation, it is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody
simulation: the imitation of the operation of a real-world process/system over time, simulations require the use of models to represent the key characteristics/behaviours of the selected system/process
hyperreality: in semiotics and postmodernism, an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, particularly in technologically advanced postmodern societies
STUART HALL…
reception theory: the producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience, split into three readings: dominant, negotiated and oppositional
GEORGE GERBNER:
cultivation theory: suggests that people who are regularly exposed to media for long periods of time are more likely to perceive the world’s social realities as they are presented by the media they consume
CLAY SHIRKY…
end of audience theory: audience behaviour has changed due to the internet and the ability for audiences to create their own content at home
LIVINGSTONE AND LUNT…
public sphere: an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, through that discussions influence political action
regulation: a rule or directive made and maintained by an authority
public interest: he welfare or well-being of the general public and society
transnational culture: learned, transmitted socialization generated from a setting characterized by multiple participants, languages, and ethnic backgrounds
globalisation: the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide
DAVID HESMONDHALGH…
cultural industry: an economic field concerned with producing, reproducing, storing, and distributing cultural goods and services on industrial and commercial terms
conglomerate: a corporation that is made up of a number of different businesses
vertical integration: a strategy whereby a company owns or controls its suppliers, distributors or retail locations to control its value or supply chain
cultural imperialism: refers to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between civilisations, favouring a more powerful civilisation
ROLAND BARTHES…
signification: the act or process of signifying by signs or other symbolic means
denotation: a translation of a sign to its meaning, precisely to its literal meaning
connotation: refers to a meaning suggested or implied
myth: folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society
STEVE NEALE…
genre theory: revolves around the ideas surrounding how we define and distinguish genres, and how we categorise films into genres based on usually conventional factors
subgenre: a subdivision of a genre of literature, music, film, etc
TZVETAN TODOROV…
narrative theory: how the narration in a story is created, 5 stages a character goes through: equilibrium, disruption, recognition repair the damage and equilibrium again
DAVID GAUNTLETT…
identity theory: while everyone is an individual, people tend to exist within larger groups who are similar to them, the media does not create identities, but instead reflects them
NOAM CHOMSKY…
5 filters: ownership, advertising, media elite, flak and common enemy
manufacturing consent: framework to analyse the functioning of the media
MEDIA EFFECTS…
uses and gratifications theory: an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs, split into 4 categories: inform, identify, entertain, escape
maslow’s hierarchy of needs: a theory of motivation which states that there are five categories of human needs: psychological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualisation needs
hypodermic model: an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver
media literacy: the practice that allows people to access, critically evaluate and create/manipulate media
moral panic: a feeling of fear spread among many people that evil threatens the well-being of society
