camera man is holding the camera, circling round the actors – main attention is on them. symbolism is that black people should be more appreciated and focused on.
Media Concentrations / conglomerates: when various small productions are owned by larger corporations.
Globalisation (in terms of media ownership): distant countries are interrelated and connected together by trade communications and cultural experiences
Vertical Integration: company expands into other areas of the industry
Horizontal Integration: production company expands into other areas of one industry
Gate Keepers: craft and construct what’s published
Regulation / deregulation:reduction or elimination of power by goverment
Free Market: somewhere government has no control in
Monopolies: a place of no competition
Mergers: combination of firms
Neo-liberalism: everything against liberation = no equality
Surveillance / privacy / security / GDPR: general data protection regulation
| CATEGORY | SIMILARITIES | DIFFERENCES | THEORY |
| CHARACTERS | the detective who has a ‘natural’ instinct for law and order | The Killing, The missing has the main detective as female | PROPP |
| NARRATIVE | the first episode often introduces a lot of different characters | found out she was dead at start, normally they are found dead at the end | TODOROV |
| THEMES | the use of binary oppostions around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice. | identity | LEVI-STRAUSS |
| REPRESENTATION | reactionary representations of police, family, law and order, urban/rural | radical response- the detectives are females, normally seen as males. | SEMIOTICS |
| TECHNICAL CODES / LANGUAGE OF MOVING IMAGE (music, setting, props, lighting, use of camera, editing etc) | opening montage sequence that often gives clues as to the whole series – themes, locations, characters, events etc. | clues are identified throughout the series | |
what is the killing? It is a Danish police procedure drama television series
extra information i have found off the internet:
“The Killing has proved to be an international hit”
short summary – “This final ten-part series begins with the murder of a sailor. Sarah Lund’s investigation turns to the financial and governmental communities during the global financial crisis. Lund is now a Chief Inspector but has ambitions for a new lifestyle. As a parent she is struggling to repair her relationship with Mark. She has to cooperate working with a new Inspector Asbjørn Juncker and Mathias Borch of Special Branch when Emilie Zeuthen—9-year-old daughter of Robert Zeuthen—is kidnapped. Lund, Juncke and Borch hunt down the perpetrator while the government is on the verge of collapse. “
What i am going to expect:
Who is the primary, secondary and tertiary audience for this product?
Tertiary audience: is when a person is only listening to the station because they are familiar with the guest that is on.
What audience theories can you apply to which help you to develop a better understanding of the potential target audience?
i think that the target audience would be people who enjoy thrillers and horrors, within a crime.
What organisations (rather than individuals) are involved in the production, distribution & exhibition of this product?
| Theorist | What does it mean (in your own words) Todorovs theory talks about narratives having three part structure | How does it apply to the advert (in your own words) |
| Equilibrium | beginning middle end | BEGINNING – arrives in scene of hotel room MIDDLE – makeup is introduced – gold reflection floods the room END – transformed from original looks and clothing to sophisticated and glamorous up (bossed up ) |
| Binary Opposition | two words/sentences that are opposite of each other Levi Strauss theory talks about how binary opposite entail majority of media forms and how how help thicken the plot a further the narrative | Manny Mua and Shayla are all glamorous and bossed up, then theres the boy ball who is completely opposite in looks and clothing |
| Character Types | hero villain princess victim Prop’s Theory suggests that every narrative has eight different character types: hero, villain, helper, mentor blocker, prize. | HERO – makeup: as its introduced as something amazing that will VILLAIN – no makeup PRINCESS – Shayla VICTIM – bell boy |
| Technical Code | Denotation (ie what is it – simply describe what you see / hear) | Connotation (ie what does it signify) |
| Setting | New York | travel bling expensive |
| Clothing | gold high blitz rich in fashion ( more sophisticated at the end once transitioned) | as gold associates with royalty, magic and wealth, it suggesting that if u buy this mascara, you will feel magical along with a sense of wealth |
| NVC | standing up straight up, tall confident | Suggests that they are in a dominant position once wearing the mascara. Linking to the color gold ( can have an association with royalty) it can give a sense of hierarchy |
| Dialogue | american speaker enthusiastic voice | with the american accent, it gives a sassy atmosphere voice of excitement tells us this mascara is an amazing product |
| Sound Effect | blinging sparkling | innovates beautiful, giving an expression that wearing the mascara makes you beautiful |
| Music | beat drop | music beat drops once they are “bossed up” and transitioned into the more sophisticated clothing. |
| Camera shot size | close up of mascara | showing the detail in the mascara |
| Camera movement | slow motion | shows slow shot of a scene |
| Editing | gold reflection form mascara | showing how “precious” the mascara is |
From watching this advertisement, the main element that stands out to me is the fact that there is a male as the dominant signifier. From having a wide audience watching this video, it has introduces a ideology towards cosmetics, as it challenges the concept, as cosmetics are usually seen on females. As a result, cosmetics have broken the gender stereotypes by choosing male models as a face of a brand. The interesting thing is that in the 1990s, it was very rare for males to were makeup, however, in todays culture, the male cosmetic models are slowly increasing, and is becoming apart of normality. This is discussed through an article from Glamour, stating, “After decades of limiting makeup ads to women, beauty brands are finally getting the hint that makeup isn’t just for girls; it’s for guys too. Back in October Cover Girl named James Charles its first Cover Guy, and brands like Milk Makeup and Anastasia Beverly Hills have been featuring men in advertising campaigns and on social media for a more universal and inclusive approach to beauty. Even Giorgio Armani launched a gender-neutral lip balm called Him/her Lip care this past Fall.” This may be from the audience watching people such as Jeffery star, James Charles, and Manny Gutierrez himself, and have become idols and inspirations to people. From watching this advert, it can either be seen as a reactionary and radical response, as people may seem questionable about the fact a male is modelling makeup, which would make this a radical response. The fascinating thing is that if this advert was viewed in the 1990s, it would more likely be seen as a radical response, however, in the modern era, especially currently, it would more likely be seen as reactionary response. In conclusion, the only reason that makes it a radical response is from the dominant signifier; Manny Mua.
In this essay, I am going to be discussing how gender is displayed on the Tomb Raider and Men’s Health Magazine, by exploring how designers represent genders, ie females and males. Firstly, we need to look at the definition of gender, which is said to be either of two sexes, male and female. Interestingly nowadays, there is much more of an increase in gender fluidity, meaning the flexibility of genders, for instance, people can be referred as not just by the two sexes, male and female, but also non-binary, bisexual, transgender etc. When analyzing the Men’s Health magazine, how it portrays the gender male, in my opinion, is very stereotypical, which therefore I see as a reactionary representation, as I believe it’s ‘normal’ to see a man portrayed like this in a Men’s Health magazine, i.e. looking muscular and dominant. I would say I think this because, in today’s culture, our society has convinced us about how we should or expect men and women to be portrayed and how they present themselves, vs how the media present them. On the other hand, looking at the Tomb Raider magazine, I feel that it’s a very radical representation, as I believe that our society and media have made us stereotype males and females. For instance, women are characterized to be gentle and caretaking, whereas males are characterized to be powerful, buff and dominant over women. In the tomb raider magazine, it is clear she is holding a gun, which instantly challenges the dominant ideology. The fact that it is a woman standing on the front cover, implies that she is the main subject, showing that she is powerful, evidently as she is holding a gun. This initially says something about how we see women in pop culture and society. In addition, we believe that Lara Croft challenges the dominant ideology as she is challenging stereotypical men who a more dominant than women, which is evidently shown by her strength and power within the photo and her body language. Furthermore, the color yellow is associated with energy, this represents the women’s power. also, gamers were used to seeing women play the role a victim, seductress, or evil villains, however, in the Tomb Raider magazine, it challenges the dominant ideology, because she is presented heroically. my opinion, I believe that Men’s Health magazine is reactionary, and the Tomb Raider magazine is radical.
In the Tomb Raider magazine, it dramatically introduces sexualization. Lara Croft is presented as a protagonist, as she is placed in the center of the magazine, it instantly draws attention to her, as she’s been positioned to show her behind and overly enhanced graphic features. The game designers have constructed Lara Croft in this way, to appease straight Christian males, as she is underdressed and her breast and buttocks have been overemphasized. To add on, she has been placed in an unnatural position to help emphasize her female features. If we relate to the theory of reception, which means how the audience accepts or rejects the dominant reading of a text/image, I would say that the intended message is that women should be seen looking sexual and underdressed. This message can be interpreted in many different ways, for instance, people could have a dominant reading, meaning that they agree with the intended message, that women should be seen sexualized and underdressed, or they could have an oppositional reading, where the audience disagrees with the intended message. for me, I have an oppositional reading of this, as I feel females should by seen howeve they like and dress however they like. With this game rated as a 12, I feel that the young audience shouldn’t play or see this front cover, as I feel that as they are young and still learning about society as a whole, this front cover almost teaches them how women should be seen. This can lead to potential consequences of mental health problems as it indoctrinates and reeducates the audience, as the media can be influential, in this case, relating the Tomb Raider, it can cause people to think that they need to be skinny, and have large female features, which could lead to low self-esteem and confidence.
In comparison to the Men’s Health magazine, it’s almost been created to show how men’s health should be taken into account, for instance being muscular and toned and having a high metabolism and low body fat. Going back to Tomb Raider, I can see the comparison between these two magazines, as they both set an intended message to say that this is how males should be perceived, and this is how females should be perceived. Furthermore, what also fascinates me is how there is a theme of the color blue on the Men’s Health magazine. Our society has led us to think that the color blue is more representable for males, as it is associated with strength and it is now seen as a masculine color. Instantly, this magazine portrays that it is targeted for males, yet, with the title being men’s health, it implies that the magazine is only for men, as there is no female relation. This arguably suggests that working out, and being strong is only for men, however, it is ironic as looking at the Tomb Raider magazine, it hints at how females should be perceived, skinny, toned and powerful. Ultimately, in the Men’s Health magazine, it invokes a strong message, about how men should be seen, from the iconic sign that men should be broad and have large muscles, from the various verbs in large text, i.e. “lose, reboot, build, demolish” etc. Whereas the Tomb Raider magazine only hints at how females should be perceived, as it’s just a game, however, the game designers may have been intelligent, by only hinting that females should look like Lara Croft, as it isn’t as forceful and persistent as the Men’s Health magazine, from the variety of verbs etc.
In conclusion, when analyzing both of these magazines it conveys a message of how females and males should be expected to look like. This can cause serious problems to the audience, such as mental health, low confidence, and self-esteem, as they don’t see themselves as good looking as the people on these front covers. When creating these magazine covers, photoshop has been involved to make them look more appealing and attractive, however, their body features have been emphasized too much, and has led them from good – looking to unnaturalistic due to the unnatural enhanced features. The question is why have they been changed to look like this, by the power of computer technology? Even though they wouldn’t look like this in reality? As a result, it just gives the audience a sense of inferiority, as they feel that they are lower quality, by making them feel worse than they are. From watching the Dove advert “you’re more beautiful than you think”, it sends an intended message to say that people perceive you as more beautiful looking than you believe. In this video, they have taken a forensic artist to drew someone twice from the somebody describing themselves, and a stranger describing that person from observation. The drawings that were drawn by the stranger’s observation, were much prettier and positive than the first drawing, where the person described themselves. This implies that strangers and other people perceive us prettier than we think, as ourselves notice the small imperfections that others don’t notice. Overall, this suggests that media plays a big role in affecting people’s self-image, making them feel self-conscious, through the use of Photoshop, enlarging breasts, buttocks and having an hourglass silhouette, and men having shiny skin, broad shoulders, and large muscles.
Positive and negative stereotypes = general expectation of something or someone, including looks, personalities and behavior
Counter-types = a positive stereotype
Misrepresentation = giving a false or misleading representation with the intention to lie
Selective representation = parts of an image are selectively chosen to show
Dominant ideology = agreeing with what we believe
Constructed reality = how we represent ourselves/ things in a way we want it to be seen or things or the idea of that we’ve been influenced by other factors
Hegemony = dominance of authority
Audience positioning = techniques that are used to control how we perceive and understand things ideology of the media
Fluidity of identity = flexibility of gender
Constructed identity = how something is formed – is it real? has it been constructed?
Negotiated identity = changing someones beliefs through the concept of cultural beliefs and media
Collective identity =