Case Studies - Four Lions

Four Lions - 2010, Chris Morris

• YouTube response - "Watched it last night, very good film, had its funny moments but it felt very tragic too, ultimately just a group of friends (bar Barry!) who are extremely misguided & committing a terrible act even if they themselves aren't terrible people. (if that makes sense!)" - cocorocks88 - Negotiated reading
• NME - http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/families-of-77-victims-protest-againts-chris-morris/172579 - 7/7 families calling for a boycott of the film, not to be shown in cinemas. Grahame Russell, whose son was among the 52 killed on 7 July 2005, told BBC News that the filmmakers were "morally bankrupt". - Oppositional reading
• Chris Morris - "the Dad's Army side to terrorism" - Preferred reading
• BBC -  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8663809.stm - "But here, what he's done, he's taken a specific attack," too close to home, too realistic making some viewers feel uncomfortable.- Oppositional reading
• The Guardian -  http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/mar/25/four-lions-chris-morris-review - " Morris has hit on the rawest of nerves, and for that he deserves admiration.", " has taken on arguably the most bad-taste subject imaginable: a cell of homegrown jihadi bombers, feverishly plotting martyrdom from terrace houses in Doncaster " & "  Four Lions reminded me of Dad's Army, with its blend of buffoonery and cantankerousness, petty power struggles and blurring of the lines between home and combat life. " - Preferred reading, agreeing with the view
• Omar - positioned with him - tea, CUS " big hands" - Domestic environment, i  the same position with them, clueless on what is going on - Surveillance

Sensitive subject - Religion, ethnicity & life experience 

Preferred reading - Extremism stupid? - Manipulation, influence, morals, right thing to do - religion - dealing with the issue

Oppositional - Life experience, those who have been affected by moral experience - "London bombings 7/7", Location - London, happened again? - too soon?, too sensitive? Age are they easily influenced.

Age- Youth are more likely to take preferred reading, older - question it, negotiated reading - too soon, is it morally correct?

Religion - Stereotyping, Islam - oppositional, understanding the humour

Location -  Oppositional stance

Political - Encouraging?

Target audience

• Slap stick
• Credits
• Reviews 

Audience theory

"Audience - Consumers of media text"


Passive Audiences

• All share the same view, all are influenced, mass audience product - Brainwashed - Disagree, only minority - other issues.
• Debated topic, no defining answer, hard to interpret audience
• Censorship - less control
• Relationship between audience and text

Hypodermic needle

• Media infect values and belief put forward by the media, audience are passive - out dated - moral panic - threat
• Mass audience consumption gaining the same messages - Nazi Propaganda
• Manipulating peoples views and beliefs - the dark knight, war of the worlds

Nazi Propaganda

• Distorted human, inhuman - someone else - inhuman - not pure
• Not German citizens - Communist
• Yellow - money, power, united Germany, positive, faded - Gritty yellow
• Looking at money - taking all of the money from Germany - greed
• Unwelcome - communism - untrustworthy - ideologies
• Threatening - slave drivers, demanding money

Uses + Gratification - Blulmer & Kate

"Media provides gratifications related to the satisfaction of social and psychological needs"

• Active audience - do something within the media text
• Diversion / entertainment - escapism, relaxation
• Integration & social interaction - gain an insight into others beliefs, identifying with others, substitution for a relationship
• Personal identity - Aspiring 
• Information / surveillance - Learning, relative events

 Slumdog millionaire

• Escaping from problems - engaging with someone else's problems
• Cultural or aesthetic enjoyment - reality
• Emotional release - enabling freedom
• Satisfying general interest - does he win?
• Finding models of behaviour
• Learning - cultures
• Social interaction - provides conversation
• Destiny - identifying with the person

Hierarchy of needs

• Layers of need, we need to satisfy one before moving up. Aim to get to self - actualisation.
• Gain the top, media products provide this - self - esteem
• Only 2% get to the self actualisation

M & S

• Belongingness + love and needs - affection
• Esteem - reputation, achievement
• Active - doing something with the media text

Reception theory - Encoding and decoding

Audience are active and there are different responses to a media text, all factors that might influence how someone might read a text.

Reader interprets the meaning of a text, interpretation is biased on individual culture and background.

• Preferred reading - Reader fully accepts the media text meaning.
• Negotiated reading - Share preferred meaning, but resists and modifies the way they view it.
• Oppositional reading -  Rejects the media text, but understands the meaning of the text.

Influences - Gender, age, race, social class, religion, politics, location & life experiences.

iLL Manors

• Stereotyping
• "do what Boris does..... rob them blind"
• "We're"
• "Break"
• barrier of social class - rich v poor
• Problem with stereotypes + class - chavs, violence - Etc
• Shock tactics - impact - shocking out of habit
• Understanding - challenging ideas
• Alienation
• Audience - a - d, active audience as it builds up questions in users mind, a direct mode of address, breaking down class barriers
• Oppositional reading -  a/c - taxes - against B system, conservative - right wing
• Negotiated reading - Understand the problem but dislike method - mc, cb, archetype & liberal
• Preferred reading - Breaking down of class system, names etc and riots
• MP responses - Jamie Reed - "the risk of any lefty politician being pilloried for praising the new Plan B track is really pretty high. That said, it's excellent". David Lammy - "reflecting anger" of a generation of youths who have lost hope.
• Newspapers - The Guardian "greatest British protest song in years" v The Independents "Misconceptions" of Plan B, "cheap discourse" 
• My Manors Law -  Audience response
• YouTube - "glamorisation of violence", "giving off the wrong message" & "you get free money from the rich people so shut up, we pay tax so you have money, we go to work and earn it and half of it goes to you!"

Case Studies - Events

News

• Very biased, politics, money etc.
• Alterer motives
• Choose what they want, may be different in views - "Construction of reality"
• "We are not seeing reality, but someone else's view" Mediation
• Do change to fit in with what they want
• Mediation - Presented as selective and biased
• Media event - Saturation of the media, an occasion of happening spontaneous or planned that attracts prominent coverage [and saturates the market]
• Types - Major news events - wars, social drama - progressively escalates - MP ex., expressive events - Olympics or deaths

London Riots

• Why, what happened, who is to blame or media effect 
• The Sun - Exaggerated - 7 year olds - kids to blame, police chief on riots - Use of language as it spreads - avoids the issues.
• The Guardian - Represent the problems, equality, liberal, other reasons
• Telegraph - "Carry on looting" - Making fun of looters
• Express - Immigration, very conservative
• Mail - Immigration, very conservatives - older generation, easily influenced, traditional views
• Links to audience + representations

Iconic images

• Express, Mail & Star - Fits their representation of the youth, conservative ideologies, subjective, news values - sensationalists

Television

• Live and constant - shocking images repeated - extent
• More insight? BBC news, people who are there, youth's fault - Comments choosing where to film, interviewer biased - How they fit illogical views
• Darcus Howe - Shuts him down when they go against what they believe, trying to stay unbiased - negative towards wrong ideologies - "Official enquiry". In-segregation of the people - wanting change. Racist - assumption just because he understand clash. Too many assumptions - Narrow minded, desperate for opinion - meaning for riots.
• Gov. - Press time v. those with different ideologies, dominant ideologies v other  ideologies & belief v. opionion
• Sky News - "Hooded and masked youths", Youth are to blame, quotes of those in power, skim over the youths view.

Social Media

• Continuation of the press
• Dual use - Pos. v. neg. - clean up support changes
• Helping solve crime problems etc. "positive response"
• Coming together - society breaks down - Young
• Standing up against - pos v neg

Case Studies - Issues

Disabilities

• "made ineffective, unfit or incapable". - Making those who are labelled in this way feel tarred with a distasteful brush, implies they are incapable of effectiveness in any field.
• The word disabled is represented in such a simple way, however this is reducing a large and diverse group of human beings to nothing more than a stereotype.
• In advertisement the main images of disabled is those in charities appealing for donations. Bringing us to feel pity and support the charities. Being disabled is not represented as being "sexy" as is won't sell - ideologically speaking.

Benetton's - Sunflowers advert

• Exploitation of young/ disabled - reinforcing ideologies - 1998/99
• Mixed response - positive, progressive/negative 
• Clothing - contrast

Paralympics

• Derisory level of coverage and sponsorship
• 1 hour of highlights vs. 160 of winter Olympics, BBC 2 - 2010
• When in 2008 it received 13.2 million viewers
• Why not given a wide space of coverage  

Cast Off's

• Mockumentrary - new side of disability
• Creating rounded story-lines
• Changing views and focus on disability
• Reflecting reality
• Fear of lack of audience, lack of experience
• Very fine line, can't please all

Born on the 4th July

• Tom Cruise - Appealing, going to see the star rather than the film - 89
• Disability is a great storyline - inspire pretty + Oscar nominations
• Applauded for fine arts - Can we only accept beautiful people portraying incapacitated (pretending) 

Barthes - Absent Presence

The very lack of some groups becomes an important issue in itself. Rectifying the issue by just adding more representation can lead too stereotyping - offending / offence

Adam Best

2009-2010 - raising the profile of the BBC raising the profile of disabled actors, David Proud - Eastenders

Case Studies - National and Regional Identity

Britain

Friends

• Polite, formal, well spoken - Very upper class
• Based in London - high usage of landmarks, Red buses & houses of Parliament
• Very stereotypical - comedic effect - easily recognisable only have 22 mins. to set the scene
• Comedy

Nottinghill

• Quaint
• Charming
• Classic Britain, books etc
• Other Britain - hidden by the mainstream fitting to the film.
• Constructed to get the identity across quickly due to small amount of time to portray it.
• Rom com

Working title

Appeal to a mass audiences - Transatlantic, stereotypes - appealing to many. Very popular image to world wide audiences. Tradition - projection of our country, very traditional and stereotypical.

Harry Brown

• National / regional Identity - London the other side - estates - not land marks, council estate, rough - reoccurring violence.
• Realistic - "happy slapping" - Hand held camera - British product, own viewpoint (exaggerated for film) - Links in with news - knife crimes
• Class based - setting - hard low key - "Not glossy"
• Relating - Smaller audiences, not transatlantic - Mainly British audiences, not brought to the mass due to fear of decline and unfair representation of the city as a whole.
• Hybrid - Action, crime and drama.
• Colloquial  language - 18 - swearing, the bitter truth
• Social class - lower social economic
• Pathetic fallacy - gloomy - low key lighting, grime
• Negative portrayal - Britain at war, cult, war zone - old v. youth
• Subject matter - crime, drugs and violence.
• Brown is a counter type - killing the youth - active and ex. marine - Hybrid genre.

The Sun - Let's make Britain great

• All jobs, small jobs making Britain great - Stereotypical jobs, fireman etc.
• Uniting as one - great Britain - all jobs
• Britain - Diversity, ethnicity, cultures etc.coming together, multicultural Britain - united, many representations.
• Proud / patriarchal - sport, coming together - National flag
• Who is being aimed - nation, mass audience 
• Chariots of fire - non digetic - inter-textual
• Stereotypical link to sea side - sea, island + tradition
• Against adversity - coming together and rising against it, ideologies
• Diversity, resilience + bravery - WW2
• EDF Energy - Patriarchal & pride

Regional identity

• Nottinghill - Wales + Ireland
• London - Friends, Made in Chelsea, south vs. north

North

• Villages
• Industries - historical perspective - working class
• Tougher - "Hard"
• Strong accents
• Rival settings - communities
• Traditional viewpoints

Heartbeat

• Farms, communities
• Older demographic - Jobs within communities
• Very traditional values - romantic view of the north

Plusnet

• Honesty, trustworthy - they are northern
• comedic take on stereotypes
• Britain is best
• United, support care etc.

Shameless - Manchester

• Lower economically developed areas - Derelict - Juxtaposition
• Always drunk, unemployed
• Strong language - swearing intelligent - Frank
• Fights
• Themes - family, crime, tight knit - community
• Lower class  

Case Studies - Ethnicity

Tabloid representation of immigration - "Express (tabloid)"

• Negative representation - "Keep out, Britain is full up", "Each illegal immigrant to cost us £1 million" & "No job unless you're polish"
• They are to blame for cultural / societies problems - Unemployment, "3 in 4" jobs" & money crises.
• Suggests they are to blame for Britain's problems
• Passing the blame onto someone else - not our fault
• Very self-centred - "English is a second language for 1 in 7 pupils"
• Suggests all should follow Britain's ways.
• Very traditional in values.
• Troublesome - blame for what is wrong with our country.

The Voice (on-line paper)

• Positive - "Mum's the word"
• Proud of achievements - "Major black writer programmes to launch in Bristol" - Equal opportunities.
• Speaking up for other ethnic groups, provides data/info. for the groups ignored or negative representation in media.
• Daily needs, lifestyle - Link to everyday for society, entertainment, Faith & History.
• Relevant stories - "adoption", Ethnic families.
• Hidden stories from mainstream media - "My boy should not have died"
• Praising the black community - Cancer & acting against crime

Beyonce L'Oreal "whitening - up" controversy

• Daily Mail Online - "Why I believe Beyonce is betraying all Black and Asian Women"
• Negative - making black and Asians feel inferior to others - Beyonce's fault
• To blame for issues with self assurance - "Naomi-Doll" - Sadness
• Encouraging them to waste "time and energy".
• Reinforcing "that" message, pushing out the message, that difference is wrong.
• Trend Hunter -  "Racist photoshopping", fault of L'Oreal for putting the image out there, not the fault of Beyonce.
• "Untrue that L'Oreal Paris is altering Ms Knowles Features" - Denying the accusation.
• Guardian - L'Oreal denies "whitening" Beyonce Knowles skin in cosmetic advert.
• ""Appears" that L'Oreal has caused not just her hair bet her skin to change colour"
• "Untrue" L'Oreal Paris
• Not Beyonce's fault but the creators - L'Oreal

50 Cent

• YouTube - "Dawn on me (with me and 50 Cent)" - Caring, joining a fan in a song, helping having fun etc. V. " Off and On" - Women portrayed as objects, male gaze - "smack her" - Object  - seen as inferior
• Daily Mail Online - "Rapper 50 cent £1.2 million home burns in "suspicious fire" - Suggests he is untrustworthy, hiding something, very negative representation "Branded suspicious by officials". "Tried to evict Tompkins and their 10 year old son, Marquise, from the home unless she paid him $4,500 a month in rent" - Suggests he created the fire to get them out. Very negative representation - Uncaring, unloving, done for a reason,  not an "accident"
• Telegraph -  "50 cent launches comedy website and show" - very positive representation - fun "this is 50 comedy show". It is a money making scheme "$2.99" to raise money for Tsunami in Japan - Charitable.

Case Studies - Websites (Women)

Women and Websites


MookyChick

• Powerful - How to guide - intelligence, female - domestic products - "Home-made lollipops"
• Positive representation - "play guitar", "real life health issues" - Manic depression, "pregnancy  symptoms they don't tell you about", acceptance - " how to love...belly", "sexual health check ups" - Party Pills
• Focuses on female issues activities - pregnancy, pale skin, twitter appealing to mass audiences, feminist icons.
• All regular features, female dominated - "How to get over a broken heart", anti men
• Writers - women writers, women run.
• Still have a power - influence, dedicated members, security of the website, "Boyfriend loves computer more than me" Feminist ideas - "Slow and steady"
• Gang against stereotypes - Zombies, self defence- Male activities, Ninjas- diverse-hybrid, natural beauty.
• Sums up the media - niche audience, not normal - too accepting, never reach mainstream.

Glamour

• Everything a women should be - body image - surgery, sex, babies, not accepted as yourself, sex-life
• Perfect body, clothes, shapes etc. - perfect look, compared to MC = accept
• Based on looks - glamour will help
• False idea of beauty - "get the perfect beach body", "How to make him want you"
• Ideologies of looking good.