EXAM RUN THROUGH

Component 1 A

In what ways do music videos encode viewpoints and ideologies? Make reference to Formation by Beyoncé and Riptide by Jack Vance.  [30]

Media Language - Barthes (enigma codes) / Levis Struass (binary opposites)
Representation - Hall (re-reprentation of a group in society) / Gauntlet (pick n mix identity) / Van Zoonen (womens bodies are used to sell a product to a male heterosexual audience)

Producers have constructed ideologies and viewpoints with in their music videos to explore and identify how to present individuals(celebrities) and social groups in different ways. 

In the music video Formation by Beyonce, it encodes a viewpoint where the artist takes an almost goddess-like role due to her success and power, as well as her attention and awareness to world issues. When Beyonce is shot in a scene on top of a sinking police car, she is literally put above law, and seen as something higher to her fans and audiences. This creates an enigma code(Barthes), as it raises questions and makes the video more of a mystery as audience want to know why these scenarios have been applied to this video. As a result, media publicity is drawn to the crisis in New Orleans as this celebrity has the power to do so. Additionally, the ideology of Beyonce's almost 'sacred' portrayal is enhanced through the mise-en-scene of the video, for example, slow motion and birds-eye camera angle techniques, along with her angelic body language and facial expression. 

On the other hand, in Vance Joy's video, Riptide, it forms an unusual link by presenting viewpoints on the oppression of women through themes of horror. This is done through the use of displaying paradigms typically from the horror genre, eg. dark lighting, horrified facial expression, graveyard settings, a gun and dragging bodies across the floor. This is met by features of the video that comply to Van Zoonens theory that womens bodies are used to sell a product aimed at a male heterosexual audience. For example, the video includes a shot where an unidentified woman undresses facing away from the camera. This is enhanced by a lower floor camera angle, as if audiences are watching and the subject doesn't know. I think producers have done this to create the ideology that the objectification of women is a subject that is almost horrific to think about and this is why they have made this representation.

Furthermore, Beyonce's music video, formation reveals many viewpoints and ideologies that explore conflict which consequently creates binary oppositions(levi-strauss). An example of this could include the contrast between white and black culture and how it is interestingly represented in the Formation music video. This is because the white culture is performed through the costume and setting of the video eg. suit and tie, big ancient houses, maids, children in white dresses and bonnets, however the cast of the video are all of darker skin colour taking on the typically 'white' social qualities. Another contrast could be the re-representation of 1950's New Orleans fashion conflicting with the modern video that displays issues that New Orleans faces today. This applies to Halls theory as he believes representations exist through repetition and remix of media trends.

To conclude, music videos are a method of creating multiple representations of different individuals/groups so that viewpoints and opinions and messages can be put across to the audience. 

 

Component 1 B

Explore the ways in which production, distribution and circulation have shaped the newspapers you have studied. Make reference to The Daily Mirror and The Times. [15]

Curran and Seaton - Power and media (media concentration limits creativity and variety)
Sonia Livingstone - Regulation (traditional approaches to media regulation at risk)
David Hesmondhalgh - Cultural Industries (companies try to minimise risks and maximise audiences through vertical and horizontal integration)

The Daily Mirror's production focuses on enhancing emotion and tragedy through their media platform to generate profit. This is done through using horrific words in their headlines such as 'hammer' and 'attack', creating a binary opposition with words associating with innocence like 'toddler'. This applies to Livingstones theory of regulation where more traditional approaches to media media regulation are at risk due to these brands' motives. On the other hand, where The Times reports the same story, their production focuses on informative and traditional techniques rather than a scandalous description. Less imagery and coverage yet still publishing the same content and information. 

Both The Daily Mirror and The Times have ben shaped by distribution due to continuous mass developments in technology. Media convergence between newspapers and technology has allowed news to be published in multiple different ways other than print: apps, online websites, email, social media etc. This has allowed news companies to expand massively.

The circulation of both the Daily Mirror and The Times have shaped the newspapers by being part of a Conglomeration. As these newspapers may be owned by the same larger vast corporation, according to Curran and Seaton, this media concentration is what limits creativity and variety. Evidence of this could be seen as the fact that both newspapers chose to publicise on the same story, but taking two different viewpoints. This allows the conglomerate to decide what types of opinions audiences will have on events and issues. 

Component 2

To what extent has sociohistorical context influenced representations in the magazines you have studied? Make reference to both Adbusters and Woman.  [30]

Patriarchal hegemony - women being dominated (power being weilded from another group)
Paradigmatic features - typical features to a genre
Postmodenism - 'style over substance'
Ideology - 
Polysemy - not everything has one single meaning

I think that sociohistorical context has greatly influenced representations in the magazines I have studied.

Woman magazine analyses and represents a time period where women were hugely oppressed and objectified; typically they took the role of the housewife, where they would stay home to cook, clean, look after the children and wait for their husbands to come home from work. The advert with in the 60's magazine for Breeze soap is a prime example of portraying women as objects as it displays a woman fully undressed selling a product. Using theories explored by Lisbet Van Zoonen, the women's body is being used in a media product as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, which reinforces patriarchal hegemony. This means the stereotype that woman are important and significant only for their bodies and for the sole purpose to appeal to men is being reinforced by this advertisement. The subjects seductive body language and facial expression, combined with her face full of make-up gives us the impression that all women are and want to use a passive attitudes. Consequently, these aspects of sociohistorical context have influenced the representations of women and their bodies in the media today as this is where initial media trends would have formed. 

Exam prep

Component 1a)
In what ways do music videos encode viewpoints and ideologies? Make reference to Formation by Beyoncé and Riptide by Vance Joy. [30]

Analysis:
In what ways are themes of conflict encoded in this video?

• Conflict between white/black culture
• Conflict between high and low culture
• Conflict between modern/past culture
• Conflict between police and rebellion
• Mise-en-scene "stop shooting us" accompanies lyric "get eliminated" symbolises threat of death made against the black community. 

What are the functions and purposes of this music video?

• Raise awareness of world disasters, and to show that just because New Orleans is in an area mainly inhabited by a black race, that it should still matter as much as if it was in a white area.

What groups are represented in this music video? Are these representations typical or subversive?

• Black Women - Quite subversive representations
• White high class - Typical representations of white high culture, eg. suit and tie, big ancient houses, maids, children in white dresses and bonnets.
• 1950's New Orleans fashion - subversive as these settings/costumes are set in a modern music video, which is quite postmodernist, and unpredictable.

 In this shot, their body language connotes power and independence, empowering their black female role, using their curvy figures to create a message.

 In this shot, Beyoncé makes angelic movements  to add to ideologies of her taking a goddess-like role. 

Vance Joy - Riptide [MAJOR HORROR CONVENTIONS]
Analysis
Mise-en-scene: 
Periods of dark lighting to emphasise lyrics in the song. Costume generally gets more distorted nearer to the end of the song as tension builds. 
Some objects and costumes suggest themes of horror, eg. ouija board, knives, horrified facial expressions, objects moving by themselves (paranormal activity).
Non-linear time narrative, very postmodernist. 
Reference to 1970's fashion, style. 
Editing:
Rapid and fast paced, matching the lyrics. Variety of types of shots. The speed of the video makes it deliberately confusing/complex - breaking the rules. 
Singing motif (where the female main character sings lyrics): lack of distinction between high+low culture (postmodernist).

Screenshot every time a woman is represented in the video.




What does this reveal about the representation of women?

• Some shots reveal women as strong, powerfull and independent, whereas others represent them as weak and vulnerable. It creates a Binary opposition.
• It challenges gender representation.

Component 1b)
Explore the ways in which production, distribution and circulation have shaped the newspapers you have studied. Make reference to the Daily Mirror and The Times. [15]

THE TIMES:
Headline lexis: Man held after baby dies 'in attack on twins'. Giving the title 'man' , makes the murderer anonymous and mysterious. It also creates enigma and makes audiences want to know who this 'man' is. The verb 'die' sounds cold and intrusive, as it is explaining the murder of a child. Attack on twins gives the story a narrative and sounds like a title to a story. This gives a basic idea on what the advert is based on.
Selection of Images:
The only image used includes a low angle shot of police entering the crime scene.

DAILY MIRROR:
Headline lexis: Man held after toddler dies in hammer attack
Use of 'toddler' makes the victim sound even more vulnerable and innocent, giving the story more tragedy. 'Hammer attack' sounds violent, and the producer has jumped to conclusions on how the murder happened just to make the story more tragic.
Selection of Images: The use of an image where the victim looks upset creates more emotion and sensationalistic characteristics to the news report. An image where the potential murderer looks content makes audiences think that murderers can look like an average person, and you can never know who can be capable of doing such a thing.
Layout: This news story is considerably larger in size in comparison to the times report, maybe because the story evokes emotion, tragedy and scandal which is more common of a tabloid newspaper. 

In what ways can media products incorporate viewpoints and ideologies? (Talking only about these articles)
Media language can be used to incorporate viewpoints and ideologies. For example, in the Daily Mirror article, emotive language is used to describe the victim to enhance his vulnerability and innocence. This gives the story more tragedy, and consequently giving a viewpoint in which the children are in danger. This language creates ideologies based around the murderer. "Hammer attack" gives connotations of violence and makes the murderer sound more brutal as the murder weapon is mentioned. 
Barthes codes are also used to create enigma in the headline. The unidentified suspect makes audiences suspicious and want to know more. 

Component 2

To what extent has sociohistorical context influenced representations in the magazines you have studied? Make reference to both Adbusters and Woman. [30]

Page/description of textual elements (see toolkit)	Target audience demographic and audience appeal	Audience interpretations (making reference to Hall), making reference social, cultural and historical circumstances	Possible audience uses and gratifications (Gauntlet)
Front cover of Woman 1960's magazine.	Middle aged women in the 1960's. Typically women that take the role of mother and housewife.	The hair and costume of the subject on the front cover is very contextual to its time.	The front cover could act as an escapism for women during this time as they may have a flawed life where they don't have much purpose. This front cover allows them to depict a perfect life with attractive looks, and they can desire to have this look.
Front cover of Adbusters alternative magazine.	Young adults, mixed genders. Specifically targeted to people who are interested in helping improve society eg. global warming/	This front cover weirdly conforms to the gender stereotype that men are aggressive. The body language and facial expression portray the image that men are genetically violent.	This magazine would fit best with the surveillance use and gratification as the magazine is very informative.

How does Adbusters conform to and subvert stereotypical representations of gender?

In the front cover, Adbusters conforms the stereotypical representation of men obtaining aggressive qualities. This is clear in the image, where the male subject carries both a violent facial expression and body language. His screwed up screaming face, and clenched fist suggests hostility. The magazine links this to themes of war, through use of costume in the image's mise-en-scene. This reiterates the stereotype of men taking on roles of anger and violence, as the front cover implies the man has involvement with the military.

Lisbet Van Zoonen theorises that gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products. 

Reflect the social/cultural content?

• The whole cover doesn't reflect much information. This could suggest that the magazine expects it's audiences to be of more intelligence and knowledge of the worlds news. It reflects the cultural and social expectations of it's readership.
• Beneath the soldier uniform, the image reflects the social/cultural content, by presenting a common civilian to present the representation of rebellion in the west.

Textual Analysis:

Layout and design, simple but effective layout drawing attention to magazine title and beauty of image subject's face. 

Font, large font used in the masthead using quite a swirly font type, maybe stereotypical for women. The title is almost as if it is glowing, with highlighted area around the text maybe to give angelic characteristics to women and make them feel better about themselves during a depressing time following the war.

Mise-en-scene, an attractive woman used to sell the magazine, wearing costume, hair and make-up that was extremely popular during the time. Eg, short bob hair, eyeliner and coloured lips, as well as a flowery printed bold dress. Stereotypical use of the colours pink and purple to represent female interests, which would have been more than acceptable at the time.

Lexis/Copy, "British women have a special magic" make women feel glorified and valued, and will intrigue audiences to ask why is this? 

Analyse the ways in which the advertising in Woman constructs stereotypical representations of women.

The advertisement shown on the left, is a prime example of how advertisement in the 60's magazine Woman, creates a stereotypical representation of women. Using theories explored by Lisbet Van Zoonen, the women's body is being used in a media product as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, which reinforces patriarchal hegemony. This means the stereotype that woman are important and significant only for their bodies and for the sole purpose to appeal to men is being reinforced by this advertisement. The subjects seductive body language and facial expression, combined with her face full of make-up gives us the impression that all women are and want to use a passive attitude.

The copy uses a very sexual and teasing tone while also using lots of repetition, for example, "all-over feminine...all-day fresh...". This can link to the stereotype that women must retain the domestic role of cleaning.