MS1 Exam - Clip Analysis Practise

The first advert I am analysing is 

M&S Food: Adventures In Sizzle - TV Ad 2015

Throughout the clip. the audience can see a range of audio, visual and technical codes allowing us to comment on the narrative and the genre. The 20 second clip begins with the tagline "Adventures in Sizzle. A range of quick shots are used giving the audience a cinematic experience. The editing is cut quickly to give the audience "snapshot" views. The first shot seen is a tracking shot of a set of matches which is lit one by one. Close up shots of the food being advertised (sausages, burgers, typical grill food) are supposed to entice the audience and tempt them into buying their products. Slow motion is used consistently throughout the clip to highlight the key moments, in particular when the bright colours in the spices and herbs are shown - also giving a very artistic effect as the colours used are bold and eye-catching and thrown, drizzled and dashed on a black canvas. Alongside the sizzling sound of the food on the grill/fryer, the popular song of Clean Bandit - Rather Be is playing in a remixed format. The soundtrack is very light and moves in tone with the food and the audience will be able to recognise the track. The wording "Only M&S' suggest exclusivity and that this type of cuisine ("fresh from the British Ises) is only available with Marks and Spencer's. The wording and the imagery suggests the genre of a food advertisement.

The second advert I am analysing is 

Beyonce Pepsi Commercial - Grown Woman (2013)

Similar to the previous clip, there are a range of audio, visual and technical codes we can comment on. Singer, Beyonce uses her star power in the Pepsi advert to promote the brand. Beyonce has promoted the brand before in many commercials and advertisements in years before, she is also seen as a popular figure as to why she was used for the . A range of close up and full body length shots are used, in particularly when Beyonce is seen with closed eyes drinking the refreshment. Her facial expression suggests she is enjoying the drink. Her clothing is modern and skimpy suggesting not only sex appeal but activity as she is seen dancing.  The colours are overall dark although high definition. The lighting is dim throughout however spotlights appear on Beyonce only, putting definition on her pop star status The soundtrack used is Beyonce - Grown Woman as she is the only person throughout the clip and younger versions of her appear throughout. Slow motion is used also in this advertisement as the mirror shatters on the words "Grown Woman" which suggests power and command through the refreshment of Pepsi. The tagline "Live For Now" suggests that Pepsi is the drink to give you the energy to "live". The editing of the clip is similar to that of a music video which involve quick and close up shots. 

Why London is no place for a young black man?

                   http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/10/black-in-london?CMP=share_btn_tw

Published April 2009

Written in the Guardian, Peter Akinti describes his experience growing up and living in London from birth as an African British child and offers his opinion as to why it is so easy for black males living in London to stray on the wrong side of the law.

He begins by telling us he grew up in East London "where you could get your arse kicked if you didn't learn fast to keep your mouth shut and your eyes constantly averted" and how he spent most of his time "hanging around, robbing bus conductors, breaking windows, stealing cars and challenging people to fight on the flimsiest pretexts". He got involved in a robbery at a young age and his Nigerian parents vowed to never let him out the house again. He explains that Nigerian culture doesn't allow room for parent/child negotiations which gives us context on his background and his national identity. He further goes on to explain  how he studied law for his parents - again something that is entwined in Nigerian culture, pleasing your parents and getting a "real" job.

Eventually going on to have his own magazine company, he explains why he is always at a disadvantage - because of his race. "Black men in Britain remain almost invisible, at the lowest level of the "racial hierarchy"

I found this article very interesting as it is relatable. Even though I am not a black male, I know many who find themselves in the same situation as Akinti had found himself in when growing up in the 90's. This article could also be used as a detailed example for my MS1 Media Exam in June for the topics of either race, issues or national identity.

Do we trust Mr Cameron?

Taxpayer 'pays for Samantha Cameron's £53,000-a-year fashion adviser'


A recent scandal has risen involving the Prime Minister, David Cameron and it has made the public question their trust and faith in our leader.

It seems like Mr Cameron has been avoiding his taxes. Last week, the prime minister was forced to admit that he had made a £19,000 profit from the Blairmore fund set up by his father after days of describing it as a private matter. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had claimed Cameron had “misled the public” and “lost the trust of the British people”. 

The salary of a "special adviser" who helps Samantha Cameron with her social diary and fashion style has also been disclosed which is an amazing £53,000 of the taxpayers money.  Labour MP for West Bromwich East says"It's outrageous that he is creating a royal court while at the same time axing half a million public workers."

I found this article interesting as it shows we can't even trust our own PM to pay his taxes and not waste OUR money on dressing his wife. In my MS1 Media exam, I believe this could fit into the representation of Issues. As we can see in left-wing papers such as the Independent, journalists will be more critical of Cameron whereas, in papers such as The Telegraph, they either do not mention the issue or either downplay it.

There have been many calls for Cameron to resign. 

Andrew Neil is slammed by a 10-year-old schoolgirl during sugar tax debate

Daily Mail


I found this article interesting because not only is a well-known TV broadcaster being slammed on TV but because he is being slammed by a 10-year-old. 

Veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil was "left stunned" during a debate about the sugar tax on children's channel CBBC when a 10-year-old girl demolished his argument and suggested he wasn't 'educated properly enough' to understand healthy living. The article describes the young girl as a "tough cookie" as she pulls out stats and statistics from her note.

I found that this article completely voids the perception that young people do not want to get involved with politics. Although some commentators argue that this was staged for the British Public, the embarrassment on Neil's face says so otherwise. 

This article is published in the Daily Mail which normally has a right wing stance as it is a conservative paper and this article appears to be undermining the child, giving the impression that she doesn't know what she is talking about

This would be a good, clear example of representation of age in my Media AS Exam 

How #BlackLivesMatter started a musical revolution

Written by Daphne A Brooks, in the Guardian discusses how the #BlackLivesMatter movement has hit the airwaves and is becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
BLACKLIVESMATTER

With a picture of Beyonce heading the article (seen left), she says that we are experiencing a new golden age of protest music and describes Beyonce as the biggest and longest-reigning megastar musician of her generation. Brooks then goes on to say how inspiring and influential Beyonce's half-time performance at the Superbowl was as Beyonce flaunted her signature all-female dance troupe as she executed an insurgent assault on the media.

She also goes on to talk about Kendrick Lamar's topic related single, Alright, which he performed at 2016 Grammy's in February, again also controversial.  Brooks calls this a new age of injustice, one with a heightened awareness of state violence and a national reckoning with the state-sanctioned dispersibility of black lives.  She also goes on to name some of the black lives lost which had sparked and fuelled the movement, for example, Tamir Rice, Jayvon Martin, Micheal Brown etc.

Brooks describes herself as a black Generation X, who has witnessed black violence from as far back as 1991 with the beating of Rodney King by LAPD officers. She is able to relate to the movement and it is quite clear through the use of her language that she is an advocate of the movement. I chose this article as I believe the #BlackLivesMatter Movement is something that has been running for a few years and for international stars such as Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and others to be having a say and taking part in the movement is showing just how much the black community is coming together to fight the injustice no matter their celebrity status. This would be a good example in relation to the representation of race and issues in my MS1 Media Studies exam whilst mentioning the #Oscarssowhite boycott.

National and Regional Idenity

Representations of national identity are often reinforced and embedded in our culture. Our own identity is often defined by our difference in relation to other nations. Our perception of other nations is often stereotypical character traits.

‘Essex girls’ are represented in news articles and television comedy programmes as having a lack of intelligence and low moral standards. In the TV programme, The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE),  Essex girls are show to be "bimbos" and to only care for their looks and males. They are also seen as bitchy and catty.
 The opening scenes for the introduction proves my point further as glasses of champagne, make up and diamonds are thrown around the screen thus further giving the audience the impression what both females, and males in this instance, in this programme are interested in and what their world revolves around.

Another example of this is Made In Chelsea which represents the lifestyles of those living in the "posh" part of London, in particular Chelsea and Fulham. The opening scenes of the intro give the audience an insight into the type of lifestyle that the young and the rich live. We see expensive brands and fast cars. In comparison to TOWIE, the characters of this programme have inherited this money suggesting they all come from a background of wealth, again giving the impression of the type of lifestyle Londoners live in comparison to Essex.


Geordie Shore is another example of how those from Newcastle are represented. This show suggests that all young people from Newcastle do is drink, engage in sexual activity and eat junk food.

National identity is a complex issue – people may disagree about what makes a national identity or that it exists at all!

Other factors may also be related to identity – Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Religion, Class and Sexuality. These make the concept of a national identity even more complicated.

This is also complicated by the idea of Regional Identity as well.

Regional Examples:

•Scouse (Liverpool) identity

•Geordie (Newcastle) identity

•Essex boy/girl (Essex) Identity

•Yorkshireman (Yorkshire) Identity

National Examples:

•Scottish (Scotland) identity

•Welsh (Wales) identity

•English (England) Identity

•Northern Irish (Northern Ireland)

•British (all of the above)

The online music entrepreneur on Richard Branson, bike races and living like a caveman

Jamal Edwards

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jamal-edwards-interview-the-online-music-entrepreneur-on-richard-branson-bike-races-and-living-like-a6911426.html

Edwards is the founder of SB.TV, a broadcasting company that makes music videos and features them on its YouTube channel

In an interview with The Independent, Edwards says 'Too much social media gives you a headache, damages your eyes. It upsets the whole system'.

British internet entrepreneur, Jamal Edwards has a net worth of $45 million.

Jamal is the creator of SB.TV (SmokeyBarz) and now owns Just Jam, a subsidiary label of Sony record. SB.TV is an online broadcaster that has attracted millions of hits for its artists, including Professor Green and Ed Sheeran. He started SB.TV at the age of 16 with a video camera he got for Christmas

Nick Duerden had an in-depth interview with the millionaire about his general lifestyle, he says "School grades don't define your life I wasn't very good at school. I didn't get the grades I needed to get into college, so I had to do an extra year. But the subjects didn't interest me. I preferred practical stuff to theoretical"

He also goes on to mention that his ambition is to be an inspiration "Kids say to me they want to look up to someone like Richard Branson, but it's hard as he is not within their reach. I tell them that I'm friends with Richard Branson. He is within my reach, and I am in their reach. He inspires me, and I hope I inspire others likewise"

Although not your typical weekly news article, this is very inspirational as it shows that you can literally start from something so small and make something very massive out of it. The Independent is regarded as coming from the centre-left, on culture and politics so by promoting a story like Edwards, is showing just how cultural they can be.