Friday, 22 April 2016

MS1 Exam - Clip Analysis Practise

The first advert I am analysing is 

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 

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. 

Sunday, 17 April 2016

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.

Sunday, 10 April 2016

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. 

Sunday, 20 March 2016

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 

Sunday, 13 March 2016

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.

Tuesday, 8 March 2016

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)

Sunday, 6 March 2016

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.

Thursday, 3 March 2016

UNTOUCHABLE

Untouchable is a 2011 French comedy-drama film directed by Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano. It stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy. It has won a number of awards including NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding International Motion Picture. The plot of the film is inspired by the true story of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his French-Algerian caregiver Abdel Sellou


This movie would make an outstanding case study for the Media AS exam as it fits into a range of representation categories including: Race, gender, issues, and ethnicity. One example of issues is stereotyping as when the main character Driss walks into the job interview and is dressed, unlike the other candidates. When walks into the interview room, is assumed to be in the wrong building. This movie also plays up to the stereotype as he walks in and demands his paper to be signed so he can gain his benefits. 



After four weeks, by 25 November 2011, The Intouchables had already become the most-watched film in France in 2011.After sixteen weeks, more than 19 million people had seen the film in France. On 10 January 2012, The Intouchables set a record, having been number one for ten consecutive weeks since its release in France. The film has grossed $166 million in France and $444.7 million worldwide as of 12 May 2013.On 20 March 2012, The Intouchables became the highest-grossing movie in a language other than English with $281 million worldwide. It broke the previous record set by the Japanese film Spirited Away ($274.9 million), also breaking the record for the highest-grossing French film, surpassing The Fifth Element ($263.9 million). In July 2012, it became the top grossing foreign language film of 2012 in North America, surpassing A Separation
.

Sunday, 28 February 2016

Chris Rock's swipe at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith for boycotting the Oscars revealed

This article is an article from Daily Mail online

Following the recent trend of #Oscarssowhite, many African-Americans actors and actresses had a lot to say in agreement with the hashtag, sparked off by Will Smith and his wife, however many others s surprisingly disagreed with the movement, one of them being comedian, Chris Rock.

The comedian is set host the Oscars Sunday despite #OscarsSoWhite row. He made a particularly lewd joke about Will and Jada Pinkett Smith at an LA comedy club over the weekend now Hollywood are holding their breath as many are not sure it will make it past the censors. Chris Rock posted a tantalizing tweet ahead of Sunday night's Oscars that simply read: 'Get Ready'
And while Hollywood holds its breath, material that the comedian tested ahead of his much-anticipated monologue has emerged - slamming Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith - who have boycotted the show.

Launching into his skit, he reminded the crowd that Smith's lacklustre performance in the film Concussion was overlooked by Academy voters.
And that because of this and the fact that films such as Lee's Chi-raq, Smith's Concussion, Creed and Straight Outta Compton were also ignored, he and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith would not be attending the ceremony.
This sparked the #OscarsSoWhite row and on stage late on Saturday as he road-tested parts of his monologue, Rock scorched Smith by saying, 'Will Smith is complaining because he didn't get nominated for Concussion.
'If he wants it all about merit, can we complain about the $20 million he got for Wild Wild West,' said Rock.
He then slammed Smith's wife.
'Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rhianna's panties.
'You can't boycott something no one invited you to'.

This is indeed a response within the black community about the dividing race issues within Hollywood. The African American community are portrayed to be divided and "against each other" which is not a very good portrayal on there behalf

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3453545/Chris-Rock-s-shot-redemption-hosts-Oscars-second-time-amid-outcry-lack-diversity.html#ixzz41ViPtFMG

Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Report

Report

Mother Dearest is a teen thriller movie set in Ontario, Canada. It is about two sisters, one with a child, living together happily when a mysterious woman and her son move into the neighbourhood. In the script, there are a number of scenes, roughly 4 or 5. The film poster will be made to look dark and mysterious so the enigmatic element of the story remains constant. Finally, the typography used will be sleek and italic; this will fit in with the theme of the story and will suit the image on the front cover.


In the production ‘Mother Dearest’, I will consider many aspects of the thriller genre to make my film as accurate as possible. The setting will be dark and mysterious as it needs to create a sense of darkness throughout to enforce the state of disequilibrium, therefore, making it as realistic as possible.

For research, I created a visual space for all the posters and the trailers I viewed. I created this visual space online on www.tumblr.com. I looked at posters for No Good Deed, The Perfect Guy and Gone Girl.  Firstly, they all used the same colour schemes, which consisted of black, white and red. No Good Deed and Gone Girl consisted of the most generic thriller conventions. Trailers for both these films as well as The Perfect Guy includes low-key lighting, quick cuts, fade to blacks and tension music. I found that these conventions can be used for all Thriller films. I also found that all the films I researched followed Todorov's theory, where the films start in equilibrium and then it’s met by disequilibrium and is eventually met by equilibrium at the end. All films analysed had non-diegetic music playing in the background creating a sound bridge to create a certain atmosphere in the trailers. No Good Dead featured heavy breathing over fast paced music alongside fast shots and fade to black screens. Silence and sonic exaggeration are also used as it is thought provoking and does well to build up tension which seems to be a familiar convention for thriller films.

From research found on the internet, I have found that there is normally a crime in the narrative or the story line, therefore, keeping the viewer engaged with the film. Thrillers normally also contain complex narrative structures with false paths, clues and eventually resolutions. The narrative pattern includes establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be solved therefore keeping them entertained. At some point, all thrillers will involve a protagonist against an antagonist. Thrillers can often be closely related to horrors but can be categorised into different sub-genres, for example, action thrillers, comedy thrillers, crime thrillers and psychological thrillers.
My production’s target audience will mainly be female dominated as the main protagonist role is played by a female and a female is advertised on the poster. The target age of the audience is expected to be from 15 – 25 because it will mainly be females of a young age watching such a female based film as they can form personal relationships with the characters and idolize the almost heroic nature of my main character/s. The demographic for my production will generally be people that work or those in education as my main target audience is of a young age (15-25). The DVD cover and poster will attract the target audience through the use of thriller shots and the use of mise en scene. There will be a general black/grey and red theme on the DVD cover and poster to embody the “bad” within the film. This illustrates the audience that it isn’t going to be a comedy or a “light-hearted” film but a thriller movie with a twist, therefore, giving the audience the idea that this film is serious. Also, the use of a serious front cover/poster means that the audience is going to look at the film in an altered way and they may automatically assume that it is within the action/horror genre.  I would also like the brief summary on the back cover to draw in the audience because it gives a descriptive synopsis of the movie that does not give too much information away to the viewers. I had done this purposely so the audience can be made to think about what might possibly happen within the film.


“Mother Dearest” DVD cover is different in the layout in comparison to other thriller films as it does not contain any images of any of the characters which is unusual for thriller films but instead, it has an object (a diary) as the main centrepiece. This is done on purpose to create a sense of mystery and illusion for the audience, making them become an ‘active’ audience as they are then thinking.  Furthermore, following the visual codes of the colour theme, the back of the DVD cover features a black backdrop with a film review with a 5-star rating to make the DVD seem as realistic as possible. Below that there is brief summary (blurb) of the plot and the characters and then the special features are listed beneath. There are also the copyright laws, region DVD information and production information. In comparison, No Good Deed DVD cover is different as is features a different layout that presents the blurb then thumbnails and additional images of the characters. The thumbnails are presented in a horizontal layout and they are all in red outlined boxes and just above is an image of the protagonist and the antagonist. The special features are presented before the thumbnails and all copyright information are featured below. A film such as As Above So Below is similar to my film because of the use of one image and one main colour being the focus of the DVD cover being the backdrop of both the front and back of the cover.

The film poster of Mother Dearest is a shot of the protagonist facing the side direction of the camera in a mise –en scene, this is similar to the film posters of the Frailty because it also feature the protagonist as the main shot in a side shot with a similar mise en scene. The colouring and the font of the text is similar to that of Mother Dearest. The use of red, white and black connotes blood, darkness and evil as well as equilibrium. There are common similarities between all thriller films due to the colour themes.

Overall, by producing my concluding piece using generic and traditional thriller conventions, I was able to create a DVD cover and film poster to similar quality of that of other thriller movies.  I believe that the layout of my DVD covers, front and back, is well designed as it clearly shows the blurb, special features and credits. Additionally, the typography used is suitable for the genre of the film as well as the images I have used.  On the other hand, I could have put more focus on the editing used on the film poster to give it a more of an “eerie” look and more “together”. I potentially could have used more images of the characters on the DVD cover to give the audience an idea of what the characters are going to look like therefore appealing to the audience more.


Word Count ; 1,216

Sunday, 31 January 2016

Camerons enter son for top London private school


Camerons enter son for top London private school: Eton-educated PM considers prestigious £18,000-a-year prep for nine-year-old Elwen despite sending his daughter to state school... and calling the fees 'crazy' 


News broke on how Cameron has entered his son, Elwen, into a £18,000 Colet Court in Barnes, South West London.
Colet Court is part of the exclusive St Paul’s School in Barnes, South-West London. Pupils often go on to leading public schools, including Eton, where Mr Cameron was educated, and the elaborate idea to send his child to such a prestigious private comes 7 years after Cameron said he wanted ALL children to be state educated. Mr Cameron declared: ‘I’d like my children to go to state school. It’s crazy that we should have to pay lots of money for private schools. We all pay our taxes. You should have really good state schools available for all.’

The Daily Mail is a heavily conservative tabloid paper and this can be seen through the wording of the article.  Writer Simon Walters carefully phrases his sentences.. "David Cameron is considering", "The Prime Minister and his wife have discussed" and " 
the Camerons have not made a final decision" giving the illusion to readers that Cameron maybe won't send his son to the £18,100 prep school and maybe send him to the state Westminster City School which is closest to Downing Street. But then Walters completely eradicates that idea from the reader's mind as he goes on to compare the two...and it is clearly seen where his favouritism is leading towards.
Clearly focusing on the bad points, he emphasises on a pupil raping a teacher and the "ISIS Plotter students" planning a drive by attack whilst briefly mentioning the Star Wars Actor, John Boyega (mentioning he's from Peckham) whilst the prep school is "highly selective" and "97.9% of GCSE grades were A*/A".

In my opinion, it is quite clear where the favouritism lies here, being it is a Conservative newspaper.  Whilst trying to convince readers, it's a possibility that Cameron might not send his son to Colet Court due to Cameron's hypocritical comments in 2009, Walters indirectly "trashes" state school, Westminster City as any right wing paper would.



Monday, 25 January 2016

Woman mayor awards scholarships to South African girls who can prove they're virgins

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3415335/Woman-mayor-awards-scholarships-South-African-girls-prove-virgins.html


Alex Matthews for Mail Online reports on a story where a South African mayor has awarded college scholarships to 16 young women for remaining virgins, to encourage others to be 'pure and focus on school' however this can cause controversy as equality groups said it could lead to discrimination based on pregnancy 



Each year the mayor's office awards scholarships to more than 100 promising high school and university students from the area.
The young women who applied for the scholarships voluntarily stayed virgins and agreed to have regular virginity tests to keep their funding, Ms Mazibuko told South African talk radio station 702. 

Ms Mazibuko says To us, it's just to say thank you for keeping yourself and you can still keep yourself for the next three years until you get your degree or certificate.
'The grants will be renewed 'as long as the child can produce a certificate that she is still a virgin,'




A study showed 5.6 percent of South Africans aged 14 to 19 were pregnant.
Virginity testing is not against South Africa's constitution but it is essential that it is done with consent, Shozi explained.
Some activists have called for the banning of virginity testing in South Africa, describing it as sexist and invasive. 
Those defending the cultural practice say it preserves tradition and has been modernised to teach girls about their reproductive health and HIV and AIDS. 

The story is important as it shows how much those in less privileged countries value their education but also show dependent they are on their morals to stay virgins until marriage.