hw 11th dec

Describe the ways in which your production work and informed and aided by research into real media texts and planning. How was your ability to use research and planning for production developed over time.

Research and planning is very important to construct a media text because it is very important to follow conventions in order to create a successful media text. It is important for both the audience and the creators of media texts to follow conventions in order to preserve media and have a good product. Over my 2 years at college I have created 2 media texts, in my first year I constructed a horror film opening, in my second year I created a fashion advert. Over time I found that my research and planning became more developed and contained more depth, which aided me in creating a more successful media text which was more realistic and professional. 

For my research in my first year I made various different powerpoints which would outline the audience figures for my specific genre of horror, this was helpful because it made me aware of the target audience which I would use to have a successful film. I carried this knowledge on into my second year however I developed this so there was various different figures for channels and tv shows. I found that this allowed me to have a more specific media product as I would find the age range for audience figures for both a channel and a suitable program which was on the channel and then use the one which I find the best (which is backed up with figures) and use it for both my sponsorship sequences and adverts. This development of knowledge and increased understanding of research allowed me to create a more successful media text in the terms that it became more realistic to professionals research and was more advanced than my first year production. For my research in my first year I also looked at a number of different horror film openings and looked at the conventions within each, this helped me to produce not a generic film opening but a films which follows conventions which allows it to meet the genre of horror to benefit the audience because they know what they will be seeing and to benefit myself as a producer because it becomes a lot easier to make and to market. In my second year I developed this by not only looking at the conventions of adverts but analysing this to a deeper level but I also conducted a timed analysis for multiple adverts which allowed me to follow the convention of shot lengths in fashion adverts and record and take note of the different shots within fashion adverts, this allowed me to follow conventions on a closer level and produce a more successful media text. 

For my planning in my first year due to working in a group all planning was divided by 3 people which  meant the work load was a lot less, however due to being in a group somethings we did not agree on. By working by myself I am able to complete my work exactly how I want it to be. Last year in my planning I only had to do planning for one media text however this year I had to do planning for both an ancillary task and a main task, which involved 2 adverts, a sponsorship sequence and a web pop up. This means this year a lot more planning was involved as I had to ensure that it covered all three different media texts. Planning involves various different tasks, for example scouting sheets. Last year when completing the different release forms and scouting sheets I found it very difficult to understand because I didn't know what they were, however this year when creating my adverts and ancillary tasks I found them very easy to do as I almost had a template to follow, however this year I developed my release forms and scouting sheets as I made them more specific of the activity and times and days which makes the production safer for the models and prevents any scandal which could arise. 

Discuss the way that women are represented in the media

In the media women are represented in various formats. Within this essay I will discuss the 2 which are most dominant; sexy and maternal. However in certain media products, the producers aim to challenge stereotypes and can represent women in an aggressive, impolite format. I will also discuss this.

Women are often objectified within the media to meet the male gaze theory (Laura Mulvey), meaning that they are shown in this way for the entertainment of middle aged middle class men. In the blurred lines video there is not only the video which is suitable for airing on tv which shows women dancing around in knickers but there is also an uncensored version which shows them completely naked. Through this video women are represented to be attractive and sexy, and are engulfed in their looks as they are shown to look flawless. Throughout this video a women is also being lead on a lead as if she is a dog, and the man is her owner, this represents men to be in charge of women and women to be inferior to men. This follows the hyper reality theory (Jean Baudrillard) that means there is a blurred line between what is reality and what is not, this is enforced in real life as women often stay at home with the children where as men go out and work and make the money, therefore make the decisions which leads to the ideology that they are in charge. 

Brief Encounter was released in 1946, and stereotypes with women even existed then. In this film the woman was represented as maternal as she rushes home when her son is hurt and often talks about how she looks after the kids throughout the week. She is also represented as emotional as throughout the majority of the film she is tearing up or crying due to her sadness because she is disgusted with herself for committing adultery. This film follows the theory of Barthes as the representation portrayed of the woman appears normal, or at least for that time. In the 1940's middle class women didn't work, they stayed at home with the children and waited for their husband to come home so they could tend to them, this is exactly what happens in this film which she explains to her love during the film.

Although in some ways Brief Encounter represents the dominant ideology of women, if you look further into the film, it challenges the dominant ideology of women. This is shown through the act of the woman having the affair and represents that women don't actually obey their husbands, and that by being unfaithful, they are not the loyal housewife that the media dominantly represents them to be. 

The film Sket defies the dominant ideologies of women as they represent women as rude and aggressive, this is due to them being shown through fight scenes and shouting profanities from the onset  and throughout. This representation is based on Chandler's theory that representations construct a construction of reality within various aspects, this stretches as much to location and Skets representation of women is a stereotyped based on the location they are in in London which is also stereotyped as rough and aggressive. Sket represents women to be quite masculine within their media product as they are shown with traits that are dominantly represented for men, e.g. being tough and strong. This is shown through when the girls repeatedly beat people up throughout the film.

Analyse your film opening in regards to genre

In our film opening we used the genre of horror and the sub genre of slasher. Within this genre following conventions is important, I feel we followed conventions quite closer, for example, the narrative theory. However we also drifted from the conventions also, for example, we used a woman as the protagonist. We also chose the genre of horror for our film opening as the conventions deemed easier to follow as opposed to other genres, e.g. comedy.

Concerning the genre of our film, as I have already listed, we followed the convention of using the narrative theory of Todorov. By using this theory it entitled us in creating an equilibrium, a disruption to the equilibrium, a recognition of the disruption, a disequilibrium and a new equilibrium. Due to our opening being short, to display that we were using this theory we used a flash forward a minute or so into the opening. Doing this allowed us to show the audience that there was an equilibrium and a disequilibrium as in the flash forward we showed the main character, Riley, to be alone and afraid, we also showed the doll who seemed creepy and could be connoted to be evil.

We also followed conventions of horror to express our genre by the use of mise-en-scene. We ensured to film our flash forward when the scary part of the opening was happening in the dark. With the camera this came out in a night vision mode which emphasised it was night. Also at the beginning of our opening it was raining which acts as a pathetic fallacy of sadness, which can relate to fear, this also quickly fore shadows the tears then seen on Riley's face when she is fearing for her life when the flash forward is taking place. Lastly in the terms of mise-en-scene we used the setting of a park which was isolated as behind the park all that can be seen is a forest, this connotes to the idea of isolation which can be related to the idea of no escape. The ouse of the forest also creates more of an eerie, creepy feel to the opening.

In the genre of horror, conventionally, men are usually the protagonist and the survivor, this is due to the dominant ideology that they are masculine, strong and tough. However in our film opening we decided to use the woman as the protagonist, however giving her partial traits to a man. To emphasise this we even went as far as researching meanings of names for our characters, thus giving us the name Riley, meaning courageous. This is enforced when she is seen alone in the park, being connoted to be the last one standing. Although this did not follow conventions, Stephen Neal notes "Difference is absolutely essential in the economy of genre". The reason we did this was because we liked the idea of a female protagonist, however if I was to do this task again, just to follow the conventions of horror closer, I would make the protagonist a man.

Lastly, to get the biggest audience available for our genre, we researched the figures for which age is the biggest group of movie goers for horror. In our research we found that our biggest audience was among 15-20+, this then became our target audience. To enforce our film upon our target audience we made the classification of our film a 15, this making it view able for the younger end of our target audience. Also to engage and attract the target audience of out genre we used characters which were within the age range of our target audience (16-17), we did this because it made the characters seem more relatable therefore may appeal to the audience more so. We expressed their age through action, for example, making them get drunk in park, this shows their youth as it can be connoted as they are not old enough to go out and drink legally. We also created characters with individual personalities as this therefore meant that within our list of characters there would be at least one person the audience could relate to, which again engages them in the film.

How I have used representation to create meaning in the film opening that I made this year

Earlier in the year we made a film opening in the selected genre of horror, the main representation that we enforced within our opening was the representation of teenagers and the way which we conveyed them to be through stereotypes, this had the after effect of feeding the audiences expectations as this was their dominant ideology of the adolescent age group.

We represented them in a manner that showed them to be anti social and rule breaking, this was shown through the cat on of them drinking underage in a public place and them smoking underage. This also represented them as vulnerable which conformed to their age group ideology as they are seen as defenceless in the flash forward when each of them has been killed off, well at least this is what the connotation is.

Within our film opening we also incorporated the idea of a female survivor which challenges the dominant ideology within the media that women are weak and defenceless, and that men are strong and can defeat anything, making them the protagonist, however we liked the idea of going against what we saw and thus made the main character and survivor female.

We represented the doll to be quite young through costume, we put bows in her hair, dressed her in a sweet light blue and white dress and also used knee high socks. We also used rosy blusher on her cheeks which made her deem innocent which is often associated with being young as you have not lived enough to sin. However the representation that the youth are always innocent was challenged as the young doll was a killer doll and thrived off of killing people who entered her park.

We also represented the female to be quite emotional through crying and screaming, this was also shown through mascara stained eyes and when she dials 999, which represents panic. This conforms to the dominant ideology of women as it does show them to be weak despite the outcome that she is the only one to survive. Women are also shown to be emotional in our opening again as when the boy tells the scary story one of the girls gets scared and upset that he would even try to say that, which represents them to be over emotional.

Why is it so important to look at how women are represented in the media?

The dominant ideology of a woman within the media is that they are unintellectual, objectified, maternal and attractive. It is very unlikely that within magazines and music videos a women who is seen as unattractive so the male gaze would be used, and more than often when they are used they are photoshopped to have a certain 'look', big eyes, long legs, toned stomach, big hair, big lips etc. This is very dangerous for young people as they are influenced to feel like this is the only 'look' and it then becomes their goal to look like this to whatever length. Also this lessens the strive to get an education as  women are hardly ever posed in the media in an intellectual role or holding power.

Men and young boys are often exposed to porn and create a false idea of how women want to be treated, this ends in a negative format for women and is one for the reasons why women are not taken seriously in any other role apart from their stereotypes. This point of view follows Richard Dyers theory that how we are seen determines how we are treated and how we are treated is based on the representation we are given by the media.

It is also important to explore how women are represented in the media as in certain cases sexual violence is condoned, for example, blurred lines. Within the song Robin Thicke sings 'I know you want it', more often than not this is what a rapist may say to their victim, and to back this up their is multiple articles against this song in which victims have admitted their rapist has said this to them. Also many rapists have called their victims a 'good girl' when they finally give into their fate. By this song condoning sexual violence it makes women accept that this is now a normal thing when it is not and should not be tolerated.

The media also uses stereotypes to portray women which can be harmful to people of a young age as it makes them limit what they can achieve, for example, in films women are often shown as mothers and to be a homemaker as opposed to a strong business women, this will then limit what they strive to be in the future as they feel that is what they are set out to be, this would then be then conforming to a stereotype and accepting what is, what is. This is not acceptable as women have the potential to be so much more. Also women in movies in the media are often shown to always be in need of a man, this is even shown from early on disney films in which a women needs to be saved by a man in order to live, e.g. sleeping beauty needs the kiss of her male true love to live. This is an incorrect stereotype as women can make it on their own. Disney has started bringing in female heroines to endorse this, e.g, Brave.

Brief Encounter

Within lesson we watched Brief Encounter and studied the representation of women. Throughout this film is appeared to me that the women being represented were conforming to their stereotypes which in the past were more so a dominant ideology as opposed to modern age today in which women step out of their stereotypes.

The first stereotype I noted which women conformed to was the stereotype that they are obsessed with their appearance. Laura is often seen powdering her nose or fixing her hair, in addition to this she always has nice clothes on which represents that she takes time to look good. Theorist David Chandler comments that representation are a construction of relaity. Today we live in an age with icons who dress nice and are obsessed with their appearance such as models like Kate Moss or celebrities like Angelina Jolie. However such people lived in the 1940s when this film was shot, for example, Judi Garland and Jennifer Jones. This stereotype is also enforced with sound, speech in particualr. Laura's husband comments saying "stop beautifying" this suggests that she is constantly fixing her appearance and spends a vast amount of time being vain looking in mirrors in attempt to look better.

Women in this media product are collectively represented to be quite domestic. It is noted through conversation between Alec and Laura that she is a stay at home mother and the only time she goes out is on a Thursday to get shopping for her house. Also Laura's husband later in the film tells her "I want my dinner" signifying that she is the one who prepares the dinner and it is the usual thing that she fends for her husband. Another woman is also seen to be domestic, the middle ages woman who works in the cafe at the station, at the beginning of the film the first action she is seen doing is cleaning glasses. Also the maid which is in this film is a woman and is seen caring to the children and is therefore is represented to be quite hands on domestic. This stereotype follows Barthes theory and appears quite natural, this is because it is an ideology, women are seen to be domestic and home makers god for cooking and cleaning across the world, it is a global attitude.

Another stereotype which is enforced within this film is that women are very emotional. Throughout the most part of this film Laura is seen crying due to the guilt she feels for betraying her husband and because of the thought of Alec leaving. At one point towards the end she even considers committing suicide which expresses the exaggeration of women's emotion. Also Laura's emotions are represent through her voice over narration, this told the audience all of her emotions which were often represented to be all over the place. The use of such a voice over allows other women to relate to her situation which follows Baudrillards theory as a hyper reality has been created in which the lines between reality and what the media has constructed has become blurred because women in real life are in this situation. Mise en scene is also used to portray Laura's emotions, the train station is dark as Alec leaves which represents a dark moment, also when she goes out with Alec it is often bright with sunshine representing it is a happy moment. Also when Alec and Laura nearly get caught by Alec's friend the rain which appears acts as a pathetic fallacy as Laura is crying due to her guilt and how she could of let it get this far.

Theorists

Chandler: representation always constructs a construction of reality within various aspects e.g. places, people, cultural identities etc.

Dyer: how we are seen is determined on how we are treated and how we treat others is based on how we see them, how we see a person comes from representations

Jenkins: the theory that the audience participate in the representation of themselves and is an extension of self representation, the audience will see a media text and recreate this using all different types of media

Giddens: ideology refers to the influence of ideas on peoples beliefs and actions

Barthes: representations have an appearance of being natural

Gerbner: believes the media is a drip drip theory in which the effect doesnt happen quickly but accumulates, also know as the cultivation theory, believes TV enforces and supports the dominant ideology

Baudrillard: believes in a hyper reality in which the lines between what is real and what is not is now blurred due to the television, a perceived reality has been constructed

Mulvey: constructed the male gaze theory, which her belief is that the media is constructed for heterosexual men, this is enforced through how women are represented, this can be shown through what a women is made to wear, what stereotyped the fulfill, the way they act, what the wear

Stereotypes of a woman

G325 introduction

Key Terms

• Mediation
• Objectification 
• Denotation 
• Connotation 
• Challenges
• Conforms 
• Collective identity 
• Male gaze 
• Self representation 
• Richard Dyer- we are treated on based on what we see and what we see comes from representation
• Hegemony - dominance, one social group over another
• Ideologies- a world view, attitude, belief 
• Dominant Ideology- ideologies we live in a day to day fashion and do not question, they are strong

Sket

Sket challenges the stereotypes of women at the beginning as they are dominant over a male as they beat him, not only this but this shows them to be uncaring and aggressive as opposed to the stereotypes of caring and passive. Also due to being shown as aggressive the girls within this clip are represented to be impolite, which challenges the polite stereotype. This film follows Barthes theory as the representations included seem natural, despite the fact they challenging stereotypes, this is because of the mise en scene. 

This part of the film conforms to the stereotypes given by the media as they male is dominant over the woman pulling her in, representing female to be submissive to the male sex. The female pushes him away which shows that the contact is unwanted, which enforces the stereotype that males are dominant. 

This part is an objectification of women. The denotation is that a women is getting dressed however the connotation is that the woman has just had sex, this conforms to the stereotype given by the media and as the camera closes in on her body the woman is represented as sexy and this is therefore and objectification. 

Blurred Lines

Within this video women are seen dancing for the male singers, this objectifies women and makes it seem as if they are for men. This video also conforms to the male gaze theory as the women are made to be sexy as they are in minimal outfits, this is made for middle aged men as this is what they want to see. This video follows the theory of Martin Baker as it is misrepresenting the real world, not all women look like the women in this video and not all women act like the girls in the video. This video also follows Gerbners theory as it represents values already in society and supports the dominant ideology, which is true, the women are shown to be submissive to the men and the men are shown to be dominant, for example at one point a woman is on a dog lead being walked by the man. 

In this part you can see the woman is quite good looking and is wearing red lipstick which conforms to the stereotype that women care about their appearance. Controversy was made over this video as some of the public saw this video as condoning rape culture- 'I know you want it'. This controversy could be made over Richard Dyers theory that because a representation has been made that women don't mind being objectified, therefore the audience then see this and treat women like this. The representation in this video is founded on realities that don't exist, this enforces the hyper reality, a theory by Baudrillard, and makes a blurred image for what is real and what is not. What is real is the people in video but what is not real is the way that the people are acting.  

Blurred Lines Parody

In this parody video women challenge their stereotypes as they are represented to be dominant by having their feet on top of the men showing that they are in charge. Also in this video women are not objectified, but men are as they are seen only in their boxers which challenges their stereotype also. The women in this parody have created a self representation of themselves which goes against the representation given by the media, they show themselves as women who are the dominant sex and also as independent as opposed to their representation which shows them as dependent on the male sex.

Women conform to their stereotype of caring about their looks as they are all seen wearing make up, like the girls in the real video even the the aim was to challenge. However in this video the male gaze is challenged as the men are the ones who are being objectified as they are seen topless and being touched in the video.


Chandelier

 In this video an 11 year old is dancing for a song that is based on alcoholism and has implications of suicide, because of the content of the song this alone created controversy. However the fact that she is also wearing a nude body suit also makes her seem as if she naked, which also created controversy due to her young age. This video is a matter of self representation for the artist as the young girl dancing in the video is posing as the singer Sia, this has not happened by accident, this has been done purposely.

The dancer challenges her stereotype as she is shown in this screenshot to be pretending to strangle herself, which implicates suicide which implicates depression. The lyrics "im just holding on for tonight" enforce this, anyway, this challenges her stereotype as young girls are meant to be happy and cheery and this video shows a different side which the media doesn't often let an audience see.

Chandelier Cover

 This dance cover shows self representation as they are copying the dance moves they see and have been heavily influenced from what is shown on the web 2.0. This cover is a demonstration of intentional representation.