Oliver Brit Essay

i agree with the statement because huge companies like Disney have bought so many things that they can waste money on advertising they're films on things like oranges and just about everything else you can think of, drilling what they've made into your head so you have to see the movie as soon as its released. a lot of people don't watch movies they would like to see because its advertisement  budget is not as big as other global companies.

since the beginning of film the British film industry and Hollywood have had a constant battle on box office hits and grossing profit, with Alfred Hitchcock, the British film industry had the lead until he moved to Hollywood and made 'Rebecca' (1940). Hollywood then had the lead for a while because they had better technology to make their films with the Brits obviously got hold of eventually levelling out the playing field into will took the lead again with franchises like "Harry Potter" and 'James bond'.
the battle has never really stopped though as more technology is constantly being created and shared between film industry now all it comes down to really is who has a original idea that has never been done before.

the Hollywood film i chose was 'pulp fiction' (1994) the script probably wouldn't appeal to most audiences but it turns out it did as it made $107,928,762. whereas the British film i chose  (trainspotting 1996) even though it was still a hit, it only made $16,491,080. Both the films were 18s  so they both had the same chance but i guess Pulp fiction made more money because it was released first. both films were 'black comedy drama's' but the most profitable film genre has been adventure since 1995.

 because they were both rated 18 not everyone could see them with lead film makers to make films like harry potter and the kings speech to have a lower age rating and get more views.

the rise and fall and rise and fall again.. of British cinima

from the 1930's and onwards the movie business has tipped sides between British and American films many time's, in the early days Alfred Hitchcock movies were widely loved when he started his film career and helped the British film industry rise! but then later fall as Alfred Hitchcock moved to hollywood in 1939 to combine with the american film industry causing american movies to topple over British films i

History of the British film industry

Highest grossing 90's movies
Ameican movies

British films

10. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
9.The Long Day Closes (1992

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Ethnicity

what ethnic groups are stereotyped in the UK and the USA?

UK:

• Black - will rob you, violent, drugs, guns
• White - racist, stupid, homeless, chavs, 
• Asian - small, intelligent, 
• Indian -
• Polish - drunks, stupid, violent, job stealers

USA:

• Black - will rob you, violent, drugs, guns
• White - racist, stupid, fat, super feminatzi's, guns
• Asian - small, intelligent, guns and drugs
• Indian -
• Latino - bigger guns and more drugs

As Pieterse forcefully put it in 1992; “The legacy of several hundred years of western expansion and hegemony, manifested in racism and exoticism, continues to be recycled in western culture in the stereotypical images of non-western cultures.”

Theorist Sarita Malik points out the obvious in her essay ‘The Construction of Black and Asian Ethnicities in British media (1998); “The word ‘race’ in the cultural and political terrain has almost universally been aligned with Black and Asian people, as though they are the only racial groups that ‘own’ an ethnicity… Whiteness has been naturalized, as though it is an invisible ‘norm.’ When it is of course an ethnic group like any other. 

Hip-hop artists and fans seem to be embracing the negative stereotype Stuart Hall highlighted in 1981 when he argued; "There is a grammar of race based on a traditional diet for the British Media that is based on the standard image of blackness being the social problem." A reason for embracing this negative stereotype relates to the same reason why negative portrayals of youth culture sell, it makes the magazine/artists/genre appear edgy and exciting to younger working class fans. 

stereotypes

Cornwall

• Pastys
• Shit weather
• Beaches
• Doom Bar
• 
  

Devon

• Bad weather

Yorkshire

• Tea
• Puddings
• Mostly bad weather

London

• Road Men
• The Queen

• Mostly bad weather

Wales

• Sheep
• Bad Weather

Birmingham

• Bad weather

Northern

• Really bad weather
• Racist
• Guns
• Farms
• Lakes
• Drink a lot.

Manchester

• They all looove football to the extent that their life's worth depends on it.
• Bad weather

Liverpool

• They all looove football to the extent that their life's worth depends on it.
• Bad weather

Scotland

• Gingers
• Kilts
• Haggis
• Lock Ness Monster
• Bad weather

colloquial dialect task; translate the following into english or back into cornish

oggy - pasty

call me dreckly - 

proper job - a job that is done properly to a good standard

wasson? - what is going on?

me lover -

alright me handsome - 

regional identity

theorist aAndrew Higson 1998 writes "identity is generally understood to be shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space this can be a particular nation or region"

Benidict Anderson 1983 maintains that the media play a vital role in constructing a national/regional identity as in reality the nation is too big for everyone to know each other yet often have shared values; "the unification of people in the modern worlds achieved not by military but by cultural means, in particular the media system enables pewee (of a nation or region) to feel part of a coherent, meaningful and homogenous community

Higson goes on to say; "stereotyping is a form of shorthand... a way of establishing a character... that often reducing the character to the most basic form so that the stereotype often becomes comic."

Higson: "no wonder then that a particular characterisation may be criticised for being stereotypical mean it lacks a realistic dimension, it fails to match up to the reality of identity."

shameless essay

in the five minute clip of shameless it is clear that he is the sort of dad that relies on his kids just as much as they rely on him he fits into what Richard Butsch in 1992 who says working class males in the media are presented as; "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffoon, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series, the male is flawed, some more than others., they are a working class family that live on a council estate stereotyping them as well as they have a lot of children. this all links back to what Gandal's said in 2007 (he said that target audiences are drawn in by the; "Sentimental rags-to-riches story,").

social class

All the characters in this are dressed extremely posh and stood in front of a huge 19th century mansion. They have cast middle and elderly aged people in this with is a stereotype becuase 'all posh people are older'. The poster is a low angle shot of the cast as if they are looking down on you 'because they are rich and posh and live in a bigger house than you with staff and servants. No first world problems.






In this poster all the character are 'partying, causing havoc, rioting, having fun?' they are also all wearing casual colourful clothes, the cast is a mostly younger generation.










Richard Butsch (1992) who says working class males in the media are presented as; "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffoon, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series, the male is flawed, some more than others.
Keith Gandal's, in 2007 he said that target audiences are drawn in by the; "Sentimental rags-to-riches story," 
classes B/C1 are represented as the; "Social norm" (Gandal, 2007)

Disability

Jessica EVANS (1998), drawing on the works of Freud and other psychoanalysis, states:

“Disable people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, disgusting, shitty, dribbling,” (Evans, 1998)
According to Evans (1998):

“Old people in our culture are also segregated and treated as though they are waiting to die. There are close associations between dependency, illness, dying and death. It seems that increasingly in our culture there are pressures that encourage a reversion to infantile feelings which have to be madly defended against.”

As Cumberbatch & Negrine (1992), Barnes (1992) and Longmore (1987) point out studies of the representation show that disabled people are screened out of television fiction or else occur in a limited number of roles.

As Jordanova stated in 1989;

“The idea of otherness is complicated, but certain themes are common: the treatment of others as more like an object, something to be managed and possessed, and as dangerous, wild, threatening. At the same time, the other becomes an entity whose very separateness inspires curiosity, invites inquiring knowledge.”

Medhurst argued in terms of power relations and the constructions of stereotypes; “they are awful because they are not like us,” (Medhurst, 1997).

In the clip i just watched it is clear that he is very dependent on his dad but does not like it, when's dad leaves him his dad is bored as he is not used to having time away from him. it is a bit of a stereotype as they are suggesting that he is still a virgin because of his disability.. and that they have arranged it via email suggesting that he has paid for this... wut . he also says about how he's never been touched like that because of his condition and that he's only had the doctors touch his skin etc idk if I'm doing this right or if this isn't a stereotype i could be wrong i suck at this

Youth

In 1904 Stanley Hall wrote Adolescence in 2 volumes in 1904, in this text he puts forward a theory known as the ‘Storm & Stress Model’, despite being written over 100 years ago it is still relevant to modern youth stereotyping in music magazines. In short, Hall argues the following: 

 “ Adolescence is inherently a time of storm & stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval, before establishing a more stable equilibrium at adulthood." Hall also argued that:
1. The common mood of teenagers is a state of depression.
2. Criminal activity increases between the ages of 12 & 24.
3. Young people are extreme and need excitement; “Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex, drink or drugs.”

Even though not all youths are; depressed, drug, sex addicted criminals, these over the top stereotypes still sell music magazines to youth audiences because they can make a music magazine look; edgy, rebellious, anti-establishment and exciting. In other words, youths who feel they are rebellious will think the magazine represents them and youths who are not rebellious themselves may still find reading about rebellious people more interesting than reading about straight A students who dress and behave like they are on Songs of Praise. 

Bill Osgerby argues that the portrayal of ‘youth’ in the media has not really altered much in the last 100 years (interestingly repeat patterns occur e.g. 1980s hooliganism and the recent riots) and is by-en-large pessimistic; “We do not have to search too hard to find negative representations of youth in postwar Britain. Crime, violence and sexual licence have been recurring themes in the media’s treatment of youth culture, the degeneracy of the youth depiction as indicative of a steady disintegration of the UK’s social fabric” (Osgerby, 1998).
However, Osgerby goes onto argue that; “The portrayal of youth is not entirely pessimistic,” he argues that “Mixed metaphors” appear when analysing the representation of youth. He claims; “Dual stereotyping of youth,” creates these mixed metaphors that Dick Hebdige (1988) termed; “Youth as fun,” and “Youth as trouble maker.”

In the 05:00 skins extract it supports Stanley Halls’ theory as the character ‘tony’ is obsessed with sex as his bed cover has naked people on them. He also stares (eyeliner match) at his older neighbour get dressed across the street but it disrupts his theory as he has a very tidy room and is awake before his alarm goes off, he does support the theory more by rebelling against his dad so his sister (who supports Stanley’s theory) can sneak back in the house as she has clearly been out all night. his dad shouts and swears at him yet he remains calm still which disrupts Stanley's theory but later supports it when he leaves the house and starts swearing down the phone at his friend.

sexuality

Theorist ANDY MEDHURST (1998) claims that sexuality disrupt representation claims, like those made by Dyer (“How we are seen determines in part how we are treated; how we treat others on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation” Dyer, 1993), because in the REAL world you cannot ‘see’ sexuality. 

Unless someone tells you they are homosexual you have no way of knowing.
However, in the media stereotypes are used to explore ideological positions about sexuality. “Films and television comedies are full of images of gay men as effeminate screaming queens…It chooses that aspect of gay male behaviour (SELECTION), inflates it into the defining male characteristic of male homosexuality (MAGNIFICATION), then establish it as the most easily recognisable image (REDUCTION).”

what is being gay? according to the media

“The ideological implications of stereotyping are obvious, since groups most liable to be stereotyped are those with LESS social and cultural power; indeed one crucial distinction between powerful and less powerful social groups is that the former hold the ability to stereotype the latter.”

“Stereotyping becomes ideological the moment it stops being simply a method of description and becomes a vehicle for values: the image of the screaming queen does not just mean ‘all gay men are like that’, it means ‘all gay men are like that and aren’t they awful’, which in turn means ‘and they are awful because the are not like us.”

Medhurst argued this is done to make heterosexual viewers feel safe in the believe that there way of living is the only ‘natural one’. So, stereotyping for the ‘straight’ viewer makes them feel safe and superior. In addition, the embedded social norm of straight sexuality is reinforced.

“This is why stereotypes of sexuality strive so vigorously to create two, polarized sexualities, hetro and straight, and to insist with such obsessive reductiveness that people who belong to those poles are easily identifiable – hence the recurring presence across media texts of the screaming queen and his female equivalent the butch dyke.”



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOXuQK0Z5-g

in this clip the character christian supports Mackillians theory because of what he is wearing and how he is portrayed in his dialog.

Gender

Laura Mulvey 1975 - "As erotic objects of desire for the characters within the story, and as erotic objects of desire for the spectator."

David Gauntlett 2002 - "images of the conventionally rugged, super-independent extra-strong macho man still circulate in popular culture."

Mackillion 2002 -  In 2002 Mackillion said males are now used in a similar way to women, in so far they are being presented as sex objects and are seen to be more image conscious and sensitive.

Media's portrayal of gender roles

How is gender portrayed in the extract of Hustle through:

Camera work                                               

Mise-en-scene

Sound

& Editing?

Theory

Link to question (gender)

In the extract of Hustle the theories of Mulvey (1975), Mackillion (2002) and Gauntlett (2002) are both supported and disrupted through the media language present in the clip. I will explore this in detail with evidence of camera work, Mise-en-scene, sound and editing contributes to conventions of gender representation.

The opening shot is a low angle medium close up of a middle ages male wearing an expensive suit and watch, the camera angle gives a sense that he is a masculine character which would fit Gauntlett’s 2002 theory but it also supports Mackillion’s theory because of the way he is standing is not a very masculine stance and he is stood as if he is waiting to be asked for help. The next shot is a close up of the younger woman’s face as she walks onto the shop floor, at the same time the non-diegetic music changes to a more feminine tune but switches back in the next shot, this supports Mulveys theory. There is continuity editing shown in those two shots to not distract the viewer.

The next shot is a cut in high angle of the shop owner, followed by a one two shot low angle of the shop owner looking at the woman and the woman looking at him, this supports Gauntlett’s theory. The music stops a bit when the characters diegetic dialog gets awkward so the viewer will also feel the sense of awkwardness. In the background of those shot the younger woman is in the background with her back to the camera, which supports Mulveys theory.

There is then a shot of the younger woman’s ring that pan to a close up of her face

Objectives:

1) You will be able to list the main sound terms.

2) You will be able to create the sound for an extract.

3) You will be able to discuss how sound contributes to representation.

TV Drama: Sound

In the examination one of the four things you will have to analyse, in terms of representation, is sound. Sound can be put into two main categories:

Diegetic Sound and Non-Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is 'realistic sound' where the source is visible on screen or where the source is implied to be present in the action even if the sound source is out of shot (e.g. a door slamming in another room or sirens in the distance) common examples of diegetic sound include: 

- Dialogue (characters voices)

- Sounds made by objects 

- music coming from instruments shown on screen

- ambient sound (background noise that would be present)

N.B. this links to what we discussed last week in terms of TV Drama's needing to create a realistic believable 'diegetic' world for the viewer - sound is part of the verisimilitude.

Non-diegetic sound is sound where the source is not present in the action nor looks like it is meant to be; common examples include:

- Mood music

- Dramatic sound effects that do not match the sound anything on screen would make.

- Narrators commentary.

Sound Terminology

Inside these two categories there are a number of specific terms for different types of sounds that you must be able to use in the examination when you analysis, make note on and write about the extract in terms of representation they are as follows:

Non-diegetic

Title music: theme tunes (connote genre/represent TV drama).

Score/incidental music: orchestral music used to connote tone/atmosphere.

Sound motifs: sounds associated with certain character (often a villain like the shark in Jaws) that connote something good/bad is about to happen.

Sound effects: used to connote atmosphere.

Voice over: often used to give the viewer an insight into the thoughts of a character (creating a bond between the audience and character), set the scene or progress the narrative.  

Diegetic

Synchronous sound: sounds that match what you see on screen.

Sound effects: realistic sounds that match the action on screen creating realism and/or connoting atmosphere e.g. gun shots, door opening/closing.

Dialogue: characters speaking (dialogue progresses the narrative and reveals the character's personality/views to the viewer). 

Ambient sound: natural background noise you would hear if the scene on screen were real - this is vital when creating realism.