media theory

Media Theory: stranger things  

LO/ To investigate the principles behind theories.

To discuss theories.

To critically apply theories to texts.

Key terms 

media language:How the media through their forms, codes, conventions and techniques communicate meanings. camera work, editing,sound, mise en scene.

media representations: How the media industries process of production, distribution and circulation affect media forms and platforms.

media audiences: How media forms target, reach and address audiences, how audiences interpret and respond to them and how members of audiences become producers themselves. 

media industries: How the media industies processes of production, distribution and circulation affect media forms and platforms.

postmodernism 

• irony
• parody or homage
• bricolage
• intersexual references
• fragmented narrative 
• self reflexivity
• loss of reality 
• common themes - what if ?
• vermilltude (the appearance of being true or real)

baudrillard 

• agued that, as modern societies were organised around production of goods, postmodern society is organised around 'simulation' - the play of images and signs.
• previously important social distinctions suffer 'implosion' as differences of gender, class, politics and culture dissolve in a world of simulation in which individuals construct their identities.
• the new word 'hyperreality' - media simulations, e.g. disneyland and amusement parks, malls and consumer fantasy lands - is more real than their 'real' and controls how we think and behave.

music as protest hip hop and beyond 

LO/ 

• To investigate the principles behind theories.
• To discuss theories
• To critically apply theories to texts 

stormy and British protest music

Throughout his music we see comments to political injustices across our country.

Halls theory on races: Cultural identity and diaspora.

• First definition: cultural identity is a 'sort of collective 'one true self'... which many people with shared history and ancestry hold in common.'therefore, blacks living in diaspora need only 'unearth' their african past to discover, culture, and power.
• second definition: cultural identities 'undergo constant tranformation' throughout history as they are 'subject to the continous 'play'  of history, culture and power'
• hall agues that black people living in diaspora are constantly combining aspects of their cultural influences to create their cultural identity 

Sidran,B. 1875.black talk, black music protest over time.

• sidran 1975 'slaves were only able to express themselves fully as individuals through the act of music. Thus each man developed his own 'cry' and his own personal sound. 'the work songs were the only form of social act that was permitted at the time line.
• The blues singer was born 'musicians composed their own song, based,for the first time, on the secular problems of the black individual.

gender and bond 

LO/ 

• To investigate the principles behind gender theories.
• To discuss various theories 
• To critically apply theory to texts.

Van Zoonen 

• women are often objectified ( viewed as sexual objects) in media representations.
• van zoonen emphasises the importance of gender being seen as socially and cultural constructed through performance of these roles, as a result gender can vary depending on cultural and historical contexts.

mulvey- 1975/1989 visual pleasures and narrative cinema. the male gaze.

• laura mulvey coined the term the male gaze which has been influential in media theory since and has dominated feminist readings.
• mulvey stated that women are positioned by hollywood as an objects to be looked at for the pleasure of the male viewer. they have no power or purpose other than for the visual enjoyment of the male viewer

Kaplan - 1983 women and film.

• when the man steps out of his traditional as one who controls the whole action, and when he is set up as sex objects, the women then takes on the masculine role as bearer of the gaze and initiator of the action. she nearly always loses her traditionally feminine characterised in so doing not those of attractiveness,but rather of kindness, humaneness, motherliness. she is now often col, driving ambitious , manipulating, just like the men whose positions she has usurped.

Smelik - 1998 and the mirror cracked: feminist cinema and film theory.

• women pose a threat to men in a film and therefore the narratives are derived to manipulate and remove their power and threat to men:
• her guilt will be sealed by either punishment or salvation and the film story is then resolved through the two traditional ending which are made available to women: she must die or marry.either way, catharsis is at hand for the male Spector.

Gender And Bond Beyond 

L/O - To investigate the principles behind gender theories.

          To discuss various theories.

          To critically apply theory to text.

Bennet 1982 popular culture.

• The women in bond novels/film are damaged sexually, this trauma (lack of farther or being raped) then makes their choices and morals questionable and no clear ideology between good and bad, therefore she unsure of her place sexually. bonds role is then to tame her usually she is a challenge and he repositions her in the traditional ordering of sexual difference.
• the place which they are out of so to speak is that allotted to them- that which they should occupy- within the structure of sexist ideology: subordinative, sexually and socially, to men.

Van Zoonen 

• women are often objectified( viewed as sexual objects) in media representations. 
• van zoonen emphasises the importance of gender being see as socially and culturally constructed through performance of these roles, as a result gender can vary depending on cultural and historical contexts.

Butler 

• gender is created in responce to our performance of gender roles.
• we learn how to perform these roles through repetition and ritual so it becomes naturalised.
• performativity of these roles causes"gender trouble" for those that do not fit the heterosexual norms.

Bell Hooks 

• Feminism challenges patriarchy and sexist representations,with hooks arguing for for an intersectional approach considering  how identities such as race, class and sexuality contribute to oppression alongside gender.
• Hooks agures media representations often reflect these oppressive ideologies and create a white supremacist capital patriarchy' whose ideologies dominate media representations.

Representation analysis on James Bond Specture.

https://youtu.be/y_eZw262fhM

What stereotypical representations are present?

they are that the attacker is a lot bigger than james bond which like in most film the bad guys are normally bigger that the good guys. and that women are no match fighting a man, showing that women are stereotypically weaker than men. it is also that the bad guy always looses the fight and the good guy comes out on top.

How are our characters challenged?

the character james bond is challenged by how he is attacked from behind and only knowing a few seconds before he gets hit, it is also a chalenge for him because he is a lot smaller than the attacker.

Ideologies 

15/11/22

What representations are created here?

War violence, solider positive in facial expressions surgests he is safe.

What is consent? 

Permission for something to happen.

What is dissent?

The holding of expresion of opinions that oppose that are commonly held.

What are the audience expected to think from this image?

Audience think that they are the heros in this situation, and that they are brave.

Todorov - narratology 

His theory states that it is possible to identify key elements to a narrative. 

• Equilibrium,
• Disruption to the equilibrium 
• Recognition of disruption 
• Resolution
• A new equilibrium is established at the end 

What does it tell us?

• State of mind is broken 
• solider - fought in vietnam 
• war  - PTSD reenforced from monologue, hallucinations
• dependant on drugs and alcohol  

Dissent 

• Critical of vietnam war - explosion and burning trees.
• Government lack of suport to the soliders.

Hall, Reception Theory

Encoding/decoding model

Media producers encode with preferred meaning

Each audience can decode in one of 3 ways.

• Dominant reading - Accepts the preferred meaning and ideological meaning.
• Negotiated reading - Some of the decodes message is accepted but the audience disagrees with parts of it and so changes it to fit their experience and values.
• Opposition reading - Both the preferred meaning and any ideological assumptions encoded in the product are rejected.

Fish Tank 

Equilibrium 

• Teenagers are problematic 
• Poor social issues are linked to poor background.
• Family life is difficult.

Bell hooks 

• Feminism challenges patriarchy and sexist representations,hook arguing for an intersectional approach considering how identities such as race, class and sexuality contribute to oppression alongside gender
• Hooks agues media representations often reflect these oppressive ideologies and create a whit supremacist capitalist patriarchy, whose ideologies dominate media representations.

How can we apply bell hooks to this?

Cleaned care and bravery are important - as she tried hard to stop Dahmer  - and is also important to the proceedings in showing how Jeffrey Dahmer was able to get away with his crimes for so long. The police constant dismissal of Glenda Cleveland only highlighted how race and sexually played a part in Dahmers ability to escape justice. The police chose Dahmers word over very real and repeatedly expressed concerns of a black women, as well as making the notable decision to avoid investigating his apartment due this to enable his crimes, and appeared to bank on being trusted by the police over his black neighbour.

How are ideologies integrated in to media texts?

The ideologies are seen in Jeffrey dahmer where the police officers do not listen to a black women who is shouting down the corridor, who has many times not listened to her saying about Jeffrey, the ideologies establish that they wont listen because she is black, a women and that she is living in a rough apartment, we can see this when they discover that she was right and that she was telling the truth about what Jeffrey has been doing. This reflects that in the 90s a mojoritory of people were racist and sexest. 

DIRT 

22/11/22

L/O - To reflect on areas to improve 

          To improve application of media theory.

          To improve critical exploration of a text using theoretical framework.

Exam Question 

Representations can vary within long form television dramas. Discuss how and why audiences might respond to and interpret these representations differently.

Levi Strauss - Binary oppositions

Gauntlett - Identify varies in the media so audience have lots of identities to chose to identify with.

Butler - Performance of gender roles.

Structuring the question 

1. Address the question 

2. Make a clear point using examples from the text.media language 

3. explore the media theoretical framework, representations, industries, audiences.

4. back up using theories that surport your point 

5.repeat for a further point.

Family life will vs mike, middle class vs working class.

mise en scene - safe area suburban area, america dream house vs will in the woods in a shack, trailer style.

Gender roles - Mikes mum vs Joyce housewife in charge of the family vs working mum trying to provide for the family.

mise en scene - Mike - warm setting vs will - dark cold atmosphere.

dialogue - renforces the difference in gender roles and authority - calm and firm vs hysterical and lack of authority.

Police roles: hidden vices - drunk and incapable vs later in the show where he is responsible and taking action to lead the search.

camera shots and editing - close ups on empty drink cans, ash trays, take away items. mess and and unorganised. reveal the hidden elements of the police chief,incapable. long shots of him later in uniform coordinating the search for will. authoritative and caring.

Teenage roles nancy - studying hard, focussed on success, secondary interest of Steve vs the boys interest in their friendship and adventure/having fun.

The representations in the text is based on family life and how it is different to others, this is shown between wills mum and mikes and how they are different. wills mum is very panicked and rushing around trying to get ready for work and getting the boys out the house when she finds out will is missing, this shows that she is not a good mother and that she is unorganised because she did not know that will was missing until the morning after. This is very different to mikes mum because she is organised and getting ready for breakfast and has got everything sorted which is a very different surcumstance to will mum.  the differences can be seen with the dialogue when wills mum is hysterical and shoes a lack of authority because she is speaking to will brother as an equal, but with mikes mum she is calm and firm and shows her authority and her power above mike and his sister.