Section A question 1B (25marks)

talk about main products

areas:

• genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media Language

learn 3 THEORYs FOR EACH AREA

Macro:

Narrative
genre
audience
representation
media language

Micro:

Mise en scene- costumes, props, location
Lighting
Camera angles- movement, position
Editing
Sound


Genre

Genres are categories or types of media text. Genres are recognisable through the repeated use of generic codes and conventions:

• Iconographies
• Narrative
• Representations
• Ideologies

refer to audience*

Genre and audience:

• Genre offers audience a structure or framework
• Audiences gain enjoyment from 'spotting the conventions' (repetition) and making comparisons with other films of the same genre
• if a text deviates from the conventions it can confuse us, but at the same time we enjoy seeing the rules broken down
• Audiences like the anticipation of waiting for the predictable features

use stereotypes*

Narrative Theories  (use trailer)

Propp- 8 character roles
Todorov- equilibrium (normal)-disequilibrium (disruption)- new equilibrium (overcome disruption)
Barthes- 5 codes ( action,enigma, cultural, symbolic, semic)
Levi-Strauss- binary opposites  eg villain

use Verisimilitude*

A story must have verisimilitude (appear to be real) in order to engage us- how does my c/w created reality ?

diegesis* the world that we live in

Representation

questions:

WHO or WHAT is being represented?
HOW is the representation created?
WHO has created the representation?
WHY is the represntation created in that way? what is the intention?
WHAT is the effect of the representation?

Social groups in AS magazine
gender representation, followed?
narrative representation
media language

lighting, music, editing, camera workd, mise-en-scene

Audience

consider age, gender, demographic profile, social economic group, existing/new lifestyle, values, attitude.

Category E

mass or niche?

1. A preffered reading ( your intended interpretation)
2. An oppositional reading ( someone who didn't like it)
3. A negotiated reading ( someone who isn't the target audience but might appreciate it for whatever reason)

talk about one of them and link it to stuart hall theory*

consider who you targeted and how*

every media text is made with a view to pleasing an audience in some way- how did you please your audience?
Success is measured by the audience's response to a media text and those that do not attract and maintatin an audience do not survive.

Media Language

write about:

• Denotations - what is acually is
• Connotations- underlyining meaning
• Anchorage- establishing eg lady gaga with text next to it 

Micro elements helps communication

Camera
editing
lighting
sound
Mise-en Scene
Special effects: visual, sound and lighting

Section A, question 1a how to tackle it

Introduction:  say what you produced in AS and A2

Introduction: PDQ (Point Data Question)

Answer/give point of view to the question (I think my skills have developed in ………over the course of the two years/from AS to A2)

Outline briefly what you made across both years

Explain to the examiner how you are going to structure the essay

Structure

You should approach your essays using 3 stages:

1)      Pre-production

2)      Production

3)      Post-production

(Digital technology, creativity, use of real media texts)

You need to ask yourselves the following questions:

What digital technology did you use at AS pre-production (understanding conventions)(3 examples)

What digital technology did you develop in A2 pre-production (at least 3 progression examples)

What digital technology did the students use at AS production (3 examples)

What digital technologies did you develop at A2 production? (at least 3 progression examples)

What digital technologies did you use at AS post-production? (3 examples)

What digital technologies did you develop at A2 post-production (at least 3 progression examples)

AS google search

Section A, question 1a

 G325 Section A: Exemplar Essay

1a)

Over the two year media course we had to produce both a foundation portfolio of a school magazine and music magazine as well as an advance portfolio of a horror teaser trailer, film magazine – developing foundation skills further and a poster to advertise our trailer.

In the first year we researched existing music magazines and analysed each one so that we could gain knowledge of particular layouts, fonts and key elements that need to be contained in our production to make it successful. Research and planning allowed us to recognise ‘mastheads’ on magazines as being the most important and therefore the need to focus on a font more detailed to keep continuity with the contents page and double page spread which we also had to create.

Personally I researched ‘Rock’ magazines such as Kerrang, NME and others because I had chosen after carrying out a questionnaire to use Rock music as my theme. The real life media texts allowed me to visualise my favourite parts from each magazine – wripped sticker graphics and broken font on my own work which I then attempted to recreate within Photoshop CS4. In year one we were limited to what we could research because magazines were the only theme however, in the second year I was able to develop my ability to research real life media texts much further because we had a range of products we needed to create all under the ‘horror’ genre this time. I was able to research teaser trailers analysing my favourite and least favourite parts allowing me to plan with a mood board which I produced from a range of stills from previous horror films my ideas for my own trailer which helped me to develop my production of my products in relation to real life media texts and techniques such as restricted narration and handheld camera found in the ‘Blair Witch Project’ trailer which inspired my trailer ‘Laquem’ which is also set in the woods. Research into film documentaries like the ‘American Nightmare’ inspired me to create a product which reinforced fear and went against usual horror conventions to make it more interesting. Over the second year research became so important to achieving a product which was realistic and is now like my own distributed on on youtube as a real life media text of its own.

Real life media texts like advertising film posters were able to help me develop my Photoshop skills further because I was able to push myself with the ‘colour burn’ filters and want to create the scary atmosphere of my trailer from just an image and text which I found really fun.

Research into film magazines allowed me to develop my work from AS level so much further because I was able to produce a high standard piece of work in two weeks this year when the magazines took over 3 months last year which shows how much my skills have improves just by being able to constantly refer back to real life media texts for inspiration and even colour schemes that work well together such as black and red which in the first year I just found experimenting with. Research into horror trailers allowed me to recognise different styles of film and how we like Alfred Hitchcock could be an auteur creating new angles and ideas using generic conventions as well as unconventional representations that I have picked upon when watching films and analysing certain techniques which I have then attempted to do in Final Cut Pro when editing certain shots together to create collision cutting and changes in pace which my trailer does extremely well. I was inspired initially by the hand held camera in the

trailer REC and the fact I want as an auteur to change the stereotyped representations to be able use a female psycho killer.

Research also allowed me to produce text and intertitles that shook in order to capture my audience but narrating the story slightly so the shots when together made sense. Research into types of camera movements needed were really helpful and allowed me to completely change the pace with tracking shots and handheld camera which I noticed was used in Silent Hill and American Werewolf in London which I analysed and placed on my blog for reference as some pieces of footage I wanted to recreate including the final girl representations.

explanation/analysis/argument - 6
Use of examples- 4
Use of terminology- 5

Reading the Riot Act

" How have British youth been represented through different media in the london riots"

Press Representations

Teen Trouble: 2007

12% of crime is commited by teenagers

news of the world 'there to entertain' 'responding to an interest and demand'

they forget that youths are part of society

small minority who break the law, therefore the rest get punished aswell.

getting teenage stories are more looked at now. moral panic and cultivation theory, the amount of press coverage mean the most likely that the adutls will think it's real.

hyperdermic theory, injected by the media, believe everything. old people are passive consumers, agree with the media (Stuart Hall)

Mods got made to throw stones to get a story for journalists

The more CCTV the more footage to show bad behaviour

governments look like they are saving society for adults

the more youths are shown on media the more desensites the youth become (becoming violant)

we are called the generation asbo.

reports coming from police, obviously negative

more adults than youths, so adults have a bigger mouth

Reading the riot acts

british newspapers symbolise british youths with hoodies

representing youth:

ipsos mori survey 2005:

40% of articles focus on violence, crime, antisocial behaviour, 71% are negative

Brunel uni 2007:

tv news: violent crime or celebrities; young people are only 1% of sources

Women in journalism 2008:

72% of articles were negative, 3.4% positive

75% about crime, drugs police

Boys: yobs, thugs, sick, feral, hoodies, louts, scum

only positve stories are about boys who died young

David Starkey: 'the whites have become black'

What role did new media technologies, particularly social networking sites play in the london riots?

Do media cause riots or revolutions?

'Broken Britain' rhetoric fuels fears about state schools - The Gaurdian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/08/broken-britain-rhetoric-fuels-fear

How can you link cultural Hegemony to this article?

-This article suggests Cultural Hegemony by almost rejecting the lower class people and improving schools for the middle class by making 'acadamy schools' only focusing on helping the middle class.

-There is this sense that the lower class are all at fault when it is only a small percentage of them. They class poverty and bad behaviour together as 'broken britain'

How does this article suggest moral panic?

-Parents are scared of putting their child in a state school among lower class children, reinforces moral panic in order to maintain cultural hegemony

Mcrobbie symbolic Theory?

linking crime and violence to the lower class defining a boundry between lower and middle class.

Clearly shown, as they say that

Online Media

Facebook:

Social network
Your Profile
Your life
Chat
Sharing images
Events
Friends
Status
memories
gossip
nosey
stalking
judgemental


impact on facebook on british youth?

negative

you speak more online than in the real world
become more shy in the real world than on facebook
photos you want to get rid
allows people to manipulate people


Positive

exposure to other worldwide cultures and keep in contact with friends abroad
Helps to promote themselves
good use of advertisments  (eg bands)
every class and status is welcome
it's free

brumler and kals:

personal identity
personal relationships/social interaction
knowledge/information
entertainment
escapism

What new forms of social interaction have media technologies enabled?

• globalisation
• sharing of information
• development of self identity
• self realisation
• collective intelligence
• reshaping media messages and their flow; reshape and recirculate messages
• increased voice
• consumer communication with business (greater influence)- mass collaboration
• Awareness-bands/skills
• communication has become an interactive dialogue
• user generated content (UGC)
• self presentation and self disclosure
• increasing diversity within cultures
• online media focus on some or all 7 functional building block- identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups

"Online media are especially suitable to construct and develop several identities of the self" (turkle,1998)

"the mobile phone has become a central device in the construction of young peoples individual identity"

digital identity:

Identity consists of several fragments that permanently change

Online identity:

"identity is complicated. everyone thinks they've got one"

Media Use in Identity Construction

Katherine Hamley

Highlight key points/quotes that you think are important and then answer these questions when reading this text:

•      Young people are surrounded by influential imagery – popular media (Examples?)

TV, Internet, Magazines  

•      It is no longer possible for an identity to just be constructed in a small community and influenced by a family (Discuss)

There will be more of an impact from the media of developing and creating the teenager’s identity nowadays than the influence of the parents. All aspects help construct your own identity

•      Everything concerning our lives is ‘media saturated’ (What does this mean?)

The bombardment of different media getting absorbed influencing your behavior

In society today the construction of a personal identity can be seen to be somewhat problematic and difficult. Young people are surrounded by influential imagery, especially that of popular media. It is no longer possible for an identity to be constructed merely in a small community and only be influenced by family. Nowadays, arguably everything concerning our lives is seen to be ‘media-saturated’. Therefore, it is obvious that in constructing an identity young people would make use of imagery derived from the popular media.
However, it is fair to say that in some instances the freedom of exploring the web could be limited depending on the choice of the parents or teachers. So, if young people have such frequent access and an interest in the media, it is fair to say that their behaviour and their sense of ‘self’ will be influenced to some degree by what they see, read, hear or discover for themselves. Such an influence may include a particular way of behaving or dressing to the kind of music a person chooses to listen to. These are all aspects which go towards constructing a person’s own personal identity.
Firstly, it is important to establish what constitutes an identity, especially in young people. The dictionary definition states the following:

“State of being a specified person or thing: individuality or personality…” (Collins Gem English Dictionary. 1991).

The mass media provide a wide-ranging source of cultural opinions and standards to young people as well as differing examples of identity. Young people would be able to look at these and decide which they found most favourable and also to what they would like to aspire to be. The meanings that are gathered from the media do not have to be final but are open to reshaping and refashioning to suit an individual’s personal needs and consequently, identity. It is said that young people:

“…use media and the cultural insights provided by them to see both who they might be and how others have constructed or reconstructed themselves… individual adolescents…struggle with the dilemma of living out all the "possible selves" (Markus & Nurius, 1986), they can imagine.” (Brown et al. 1994, 814).

When considering how much time adolescents are in contact with the popular media, be it television, magazines, advertising, music or the Internet, it is clear to see that it is bound to have a marked effect on an individual’s construction of their identity. This is especially the case when the medium itself is concerned with the idea of identity and the self; self-preservation, self-understanding and self-celebration.

 “With a simple flip of the television channel or radio station, or a turn of the newspaper or magazine page, we have at our disposal an enormous array of possible identity models.” (Grodin & Lindlof 1996)

I believe the Internet is an especially interesting medium for young people to use in order to construct their identities. Not only can they make use of the imagery derived from the Internet, but also it provides a perfect backdrop for the presentation of the self, notably with personal home pages. By surfing the World Wide Web adolescents are able to gain information from the limitless sites which may interest them but they can also create sites for themselves, specifically home pages. Constructing a home page can enable someone to put all the imagery they have derived from the popular media into practice. For example:

“…constructing a personal home page can be seen as shaping not only the materials but also (in part through manipulating the various materials) one’s identity.” (Chandler 1998)

This is particularly important as not only are young people able to access such an interesting and wide ranging medium, but they are also able to utilise it to construct their own identity. In doing this, people are able to interact with others on the Internet just as they could present their identities in real life and interact with others on a day to day basis.
In conclusion it can be seen that the popular media permeates everything that we do. Consequently, the imagery in the media is bound to infiltrate into young people’s lives. This is especially the case when young people are in the process of constructing their identities. Through television, magazines, advertising, music and the Internet adolescents have a great deal of resources available to them in order for them to choose how they would like to present their ‘selves’. However, just as web pages are constantly seen to be 'under construction’, so can the identities of young people. These will change as their tastes in media change and develop. There is no such thing as one fixed identity; it is negotiable and is sometimes possible to have multiple identities. The self we present to our friends and family could be somewhat different from the self we would present on the Internet, for example. By using certain imagery portrayed in the media, be it slim fashion models, a character in a television drama or a lyric from a popular song, young people and even adults are able to construct an identity for themselves. This identity will allow them to fit in with the pressures placed on us by society, yet allow them to still be fundamentally different from the next person.

David Gauntlett: "Identity is complicated-everybody thinks they've got one"

David Buckingham: " A focus on Identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups"


Buckingham:

He classifies identity as an 'ambiguous' and slippery term'

• something unigue to each of us, but also implies a relationship with a broader group
• can change according to our circumstances
• is fluid and is affected by broader changes. relate this to britishness? We can see the connection between all of the changing subcultures. or cultural imperialism, eg American culture imprinted on british culture leads to globalisation
• become more important to us if we feel it is threatened 

- Social mobility
- Immigration- being a much cultural society

David Guantlett:

• Identity is complicated, however, everybody feels that they have one
• Religious and national identities are at the heart of major international conflicts
• the average teenager can create numerous identities in a short space of time( especially using internet, social networking site, etc)
• We like to think we are unique, but Guantlett questions whether this is an illusion, and we are all much more similar than we think 

Impact of online media sites, the influence of creativity:

1. Creativity as a process, about emotions and experiences
2. Making and sharing, to feel alive, to participate, in community
3. Happiness, through creativity and community
4. Creativity as social glue, a middle layer between individuals and society
5. Making your mark, and making the world your own

What is collective identity?

Representation: the way reality is 'mediated' or 're-printed' to us

Collective identity: the individual's sense of belonging to a group ( part of personal identity)

Inbetweeners

Ben palmer 2011

Media Effects:

do media representations of young people effect how they are percieved? if so how does this effect occur?

Hypodermic model:
passive consumers, respond and believe every single thing we hear or read.

Cultivation theory:
The more you see enough violence in the media amongst british youth , the more realistic it becomes

Copy Cat theory:
Influenced by what you see, so you copy what you see.

Moral Panic:
creates a panic within society, youths becoming antagonist and police turn into protagonist.

whose perspective is dominant in each of the texts?
what do representations have in each common?
How are representations different?
how are parental figures represented?

Contemporary British social realism:

• Attempt to portray issues facing ordinary people in their social situations
• Try to show that society and the capitalist system leads to the exploition of the poor or dispossessed
• These groups are shown as victims of the system rather than being totally responsible for their own bad behaviour
• low budget

Audience:

social realist films which address social problems in this country offer a very different version of 'collective identity' than british films which are also aimed at an american audience. Films like Notting Hill and Love actually reach a much bigger audience than the lower budget social realist films.

• Social realist films are aimed at a predominantly british audience
• If many more people see the commercial films, consider which version of our colloective identity is the more powerful.

When comparing how britishness and our collective identtiy is represented in films consider:

who is being represented?

who is representing them?

how are they represented?

what seems to be the intentions of the representations?

what is the dominant discourse? ( Communication, World view offered by the film, the way we are spoken through)

What range of readings are there?

look for alternative discourses.

Collective Identity

• the media contributes to our sense of collective identity but there are many different versions that change over time
• representations can cause problems for the groups being represented because marginalized groups have little control over thier representation/ sterotyping.
• The social context which the film is made influences the message/ values/ dominant discourse

Stuart Hall, 1980

Active Audience theory

• Encoding- Decoding is an active audience theory developed by Stuart Hall which examines the relationship between a text and its audience
• Encoding is the process by which a text is constructed by its producers
• Decoding is the process by which the audience reads, understands and interprets a text.
• Hall states that texts are polysemic, meaning they may be read differently by different people, depending on their identity, cultural knowledge and opinions.

(the difference in interpretations because of different backgrounds)

READING/ DOMINANT HEGEMONIC

we understand the media text exaclty how it is said giving an established mindset of framing

NEGOTIATED READING

a mixture of adaptive and oppositional elements around the reading to make it fit to you. It makes its own ground rules- it operates with exceptions to the rule.

will acknowledge the reading but conflict with it.

OPPOSITIONAL READING/ 'COUNTER-HEGEMONIC'

you disagree with the text entirely  

any representation is a mixture of:

1. the thing itself
2. the opinions of the people doing the representation
3. the reaction of the individual to the representation
4. the context of the society in which the representation is taking place

Stereotyping

Why do we stereotype?

so we can recognise people easily

we naturally see the world in this kind of shorthand way, with connections between character traits

Implicit personality theory:

implicit: embedded

when we first meet somoene, you have already made a judjment on them

what we experienced on the past we tend to rely on that

we give a system of rules to tell us which charateristics

we categorise people into types to simplify the persons perception

a prototype is then formed

if we encounter somoene in reality or in the media who seems to fit neatly into a prototype, we feel reassured

make assumptions about people

identity

it is almost as if we conspire with the media to misunderstand the world

Comparative analysis of Quadropheina Vs. Harry Brown,‘How are British youths represented in Quadrophenia and Harry Brown’

The main theme tells a story of youths being part of a subculture fighting for their survival. In Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam, 1979) focused on the ‘Mods’, was a time to rebel from parents and react against the post war radicalism. In Harry Brown, (Daniel Barber, 2009) there is this sense of injustice of not being part of the society with nothing else to do. Both subcultures wore iconic symbols such as the hoodie in Harry Brown and the long green coat In Quadrophenia to give them their identity.

During the beginning of Harry Brown, in many scenes of the presence of youth, we don’t get to see a clear, visible image of one of their faces, often shown in a long shot. Whereas in Quadrophenia we instantly are faced with the youth, making them seem less threatening.

The scene in the interrogation room, we see a clear contrast between the youths and the policeman. The lighting was dimmer on the potential killers (youths) whereas the policemen were clear and visible, as they had a brighter lighting on them. This creates an evil, creepy feel to the youths towards the audience. In comparison to Quadrophenia in the court, the lighting was bright and both the youth and the policemen were seen as joyful characters. Though like Harry Brown, the youth had this cheeky attitude making jokes towards the police, giving this sense of immaturity. This brings up the Gramsci theory of cultural hegemony, as the police want to be in charge and seem to be a higher class, especially in Harry Brown.

The parents are more evident in Quadrophenia, giving the sense that parents had a more important role at this time. We see a scene where Jimmy gets kicked out of the house and the mum has an argument with him, showing who is in charge of the house. Jimmy cries later on, this suggesting his love for her, even though he pretended not to care. In contrast, Harry Brown doesn’t show much present of the parents with only one scene of when one of the youths was getting taken away by the police. There wasn’t much communication and shows a change in the time periods as the parents have left their child to grow up without any discipline, and seem to have given up on them where there was no sympathy from the mother when her son was getting taken away from the police. The youth don’t even appear to take any interest on their parents with hardly any presence of them.

In both films, the youths have scenes where they run riot on the streets representing the Mcrobbie theory. This is when symbolic violence among the working class is part of social reproduction. In Quadrophenia they ran loose in a touristic place during the day fighting against another subculture in contrast to Harry Brown, they rioted in their own place at night against each other. This suggests that representations have changed in different time periods, where in the past they had the confidence and were able to riot anywhere at any time. In comparison to Harry Brown, they only caused a nuisance at their own territory. The Cohen theory is shown through moral panic. Every so often, a certain category of people are perceived by the media as a threat and creates a panic against moral beliefs. This is evident in both films as the youths are perceived as threats caused by the riots and act without morals, especially in Harry Brown, as more media was around to expose the audience.

Binary opposition is used where the police are seen as the opposite sides from the youths. There is more binary opposition in Harry Brown because the youth are represented as a lower class and are emphasized as the evil ones by the dim lighting. In Quadrophenia, the police seem in much more control as they virtually stopped the riots taking place after the previous looting. Different to this in Harry Brown, the youth seem just as strong as the police, with scenes where the police have almost an out of control situation, this again proving a change in representations of the attitudes between the police and the youth.

In conclusion, we can clearly identify from the two films that British youths have evolved in a less caring and nastier manner, increasing their power over their binary opposition of the police; though this isn’t their own entire fault for why they have changed.  This has occurred because of the widening between social classes where the youth appear in a lower class. In addition, the parent’s role doesn’t seem to have the same love and passion for their child as there was in Quadrophenia, and I feel that it is the parents fault for letting their child go by not bringing them up well. For the future, it gives the sense that the youth will only appear less and less respected to others and will seem more violent, exposed by the ever-growing media. The adults seem to want to give their own meaning of the youth and keep on creating their own fear suggested in the Giroux theory of youths being the empty category filled with interests of the adult world.

Character Profile on Mods

The British Mod style emerged from a desire among British youth to break away from the stiffness of the 50’s and uncouth look of the teddy-boys, and to emulate the more stylish Italian, French and, latterly, American fashions. They listened Modern Jazz and R&B. They also had scooters and went clubbing.

The original mod style is a slim-fitting dark coloured suit, worn with a lighter coloured shirt and thin, dark tie, along with a pair of dark shoes. Mods usually prefer a two-tonic coloured suit, made of a light material and fronted by three buttons (with the bottom button being left undone). The jacket has a breast pocket which can be adorned with a handkerchief in a variety of styles. The shirt is usually a button down with the most popular make being the ‘Ben Sherman’ incorporating a small button at the back of the collar.

The representation of youth in the two posters. The connotations of the two texts

This Is England

They are represented as a very confident group of youths because they have each other. They seem they are proud of what they want to represent themselves to other people emphasized by their serious expressions and clear lighting of the photograph. This is also shown by the text 'a time to stand out from the crowd'. This connotes that they want change and be different from the rest by their choice of clothes and becoming rebellious; a strong way of showing this is to create a large group. Everyone is looking straight at the audience apart from the black man which connotes that perhaps he doesn't feel as comfortable to be part of this group as everyone else. The boy seems slightly sad emphasized by his face positioned slightly away from the audience making him seem isolated. But he is represented as the main character because he is placed at the centre of the group. The rest of the gang seem to be represented as his bodygaurd as the boy's body is slightly covered in front of the people which connotes that the gang respect him as they are protecting him.

Quadrophenia

The text 'A way of life' connotes a different style and approach to life. It suggests that they won't have a normal attidude towards the society. It again has this rebelllious feel to it, as if they are not obeying the rules.The black man on the left hand side is represented as the outcast of the gang, showing that he is not an important figure within the group. The lighting is very grey giving a lot of contrast, showing a slightly unclear vision of them which creates a suspicious appeal to the gang. 

How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?

Youth SubCulture:
A group of individuals who are intitled through a common value system and tastes (clothes, music, politics)
A group positioned outside the mainstream, who unify as a response to mainstream.

Values of subculture:
 Emo, Indie, punk, chavs, goffs, geeks, skaters, mods and rockers

Ideology: refers to the way in which people think about the world and their ideal concept of how to live in the world)

• Conformity and rebellion
• Attitude to capitalism and consumerism
• 'Tribal' rivalry
• Traditional or 'neophile' (a person who loves novelty, one who likes trends; a person who accept the future enthusiastically and enjoys changes and evolution)
• Ideology in 1950s and 60s- peace, Rebellion against parents, Radicalism- reactions against the post war

Indie: Being individual, not known brand names, or no logos or brands shown. Fashion different to the norm. Listen to Indie music (alternative guitar). Quite relaxed and simple. Different style of hair.

Many groups protest and resist against the mainstream..
Teens will often move between subcultures, older youths mix and match styles/values from a mix of subcultures.
Or that adults can appear to conform for most of the working week, but re-enter the subculture at specific time ( festivals, weekends)

Subculture:

In the 21st century the 'dominant meaning systems' (mainstream) are crumbling.

'There is no mainstream. There are many streams'

Mainstream is in perpetual flux, constantly absorbing alternative cutlure at such a fast rare that the notion of a mainstream becomes obsolete.

no maintream, nothing for teens to react- instead driven by other motives.

1950s Teddies (Teds/ Teddy boys)

A minority in Britian but the effect they had was huge. (especially for clothing) 

1960s Mods

Mod (originally modernist to describe modern jazz musicians and fans) originated in London.

1960s Skinheads

Working class youths.Named for their shaven heads influenced by west Indian rude boys and british mods in fashion music and lifestyle. However attitudes toward race and politics have become main factors.

Early 1970s Punks

Came from USA, Uk and australia. Based around punk rock. Centred around listening to recordings or live concerts of a loud, aggressive genre of rock music called punk rock.Concerned with inidividual freedom and anti establishment views.

The cultural revolution.

Before the 1950s the world war happened.

Britian was entering a period of increased freedom and affluence

many of the old social cultural structures began to be challenged, by the young.

Rationing was coming to an end.

American way of life started to become key aspirations of the british public post war.

Increased availability of cheap colour magazines brought advertising for luxury commodities from america.

A world wide economic boom.

Labour was defeated by the conservatives at the 1951 general election. This change in goverment marked a shift from state control to increased individual freedom with slogon ' set the people free'.

Youth given mopre freedom through deregulation and commercialisation of society.

Americas Influence:

*Cultural imperialism- is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, seperating or articially injecting the culture of one society into another ( america influence on Britain post war) * use in exam

Massive increase in the production and availability of consumer goods stimulated mass consumption.

People expected to have goods such as tv, refrigerators, music systems and cars as basic requirements. before war these where luxury items only available to piviliged sections of society.

Cars rose by 250% between 1951 and 1961

The era of the 'lifestyle had begun, and specialist retailers began to spring up, providing outlets where people could buy into a new identitiy based around design or fashion

Teenagers became a recognised social group. They could differentiate them from adults.

The, branding and music spread all over to diffrent social groups.

Social Mobility:

many youths went to college and uni. evolution of trends, where as you get older you reflect back to see how things have changed .

There was a general feeling of optimism, but also a sense of uncerainty in the the future. New freedoms and liberties had been gained, but as a result society had become more fragmentes and less predictable.

Section B Question 6 Media and Collective Identity

For A2 I have studies the representation of women in both contemporary and historical media. As David Buckingham noted in 2008, “identity is fluid and changeable” – and arguably the identity of women in recent times has changed, some may argue it has become more mediated. Identity itself refers to who we actually are, the construction of ourselves – perhaps even the representation of ourselves and our social groups that we as media consumers wish to have. While many such as Buckingham and Gauntlett champion the fact the create and construct our own identities; others such aa Theordore Adorno see identity as something pushed upon us by the mass media, that we have no alternative but to take the dominant identities we are exposed to “something is offered for all so that none may escape,” he writes in explanation of this fact. Adorno therefore argues that our identities are becoming increasingly mediated – that is, that they influenced by the mass media, inherent identifies are weak and influenced by the media around us. ‘Nuts’ magazine is a stereotypical ‘lad’s mag’, aimed at 18-24 year old males. In ana analysis of the 19-25th March 2010 issue I performed the content proves interesting with regards to representation of women. Images of semi-naked females in suggestive poses represent women as victims of symbiotic annihilation. They are portrayed as merely objects of sexual pleasure for men – the images have been constructed, Laure Mulvey would argue with her theory of the Male Gaze, solely with the male consumers in mind, who using the Uses and Gratifications Model are consuming the text for sexual pleasure. Most significant here, however, is the so-called Mirror Effect of Mulvey’s Male Gaze. This states that women themselves consuming the images will apply the Male Gaze, and see the female in the image in a sense of what Baudrillard would call hyperreality, assuming the idea that this representation is ‘how women should be’ and in turn they should construct their identities similarly in order to appeal to males – aftr all women are the subdominant group in an apparent patriarchal society. Identity therefore has become mediated in this situation as Adorno says. The “culture industry” that is the mass media has imposed a dominant representation onto a collective group; who have felt pressured to adapt it as part of their collective identity. In the 2001 film “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, Lara Croft, the main female character is represented as fairly masculine (stereotypically masculine) in terms of her choice of clothing, body language and manner. All of these micro-elements construct her identity. However, throughout the film, we also see Croft use what can be considered the concept of femininity to her advantage, flirting with male characters and wearing stereotypically feminine clothes towards the final scenes. In terms of her character’s identity this supports Buckingham’s aforementioned assumption that “identity is fluid and changeable” but also conforms to Queer Theory. Queer Theory is widely recognized in Judith Butler’s 1990 book ‘Gender Trouble’ and states that the genders male and female are just as much the product of representation as the concepts of masculinity and femininity. She calls for a blurring of boundaries between genders and their stereotypical identities and calls for the media to celebrate such diversity. As a character, Croft arguably has blurred the boundaries displaying traits of both male and female behaviour. If Adorno’s assertions are applied here it can be argued that again the dominant identity of women as sly, untrustworthy and in need of patriarchal dominance is being applied through Croft’s deviant use of fronting identity to her advantage. However some could argue that the prominence of Queer Theory does not encourage the mediation of female identity instead it encourages dominant representations to be characterized and boundaries to be blurred – implying greater personal control over identity as advocated by John Fiske and David Buckingham rather than mediated identities. Cosmopolitan is a magazine aimed at females around 30+. In all ways it can be said that pragmatically the magazine pushes femininity as an identity for itself, with stereotypically female colours and text styles. In turn, the feminine identity of the magazine is applied as a representation of the readers, further suggesting a mediation of women’s identity. The magazine focuses heavily on beauty and fitness, reinforcing the dominant ideology of the “ideal” women that women should aspire to a fixed concept of beauty. As an example in the April 2010 issue a large image of Holly Willoughby (celebrity) features on the cover. Although unlike Nuts magazine, she is wearing fairly covering clothing and lacks cosmetic make-up, it is interesting to note that her clothing is white in colour – Ferdinand de Saussure would note that this has semiotic significance using his semiotic theory and Roland Barthe’s levels of signification, we can identify that white has connotations of innocence and weakness. Therefore this represents her as innocent and weak – reinforcing dominant patriarchal representations of women. Due to her status as a celebrity, her level of influence is great. In herself she is a semiotic symbol of success and affluence, so those who take inspiration from her will take this constructed innocence and weakness and apply it to their own identities. This is a clear example of the mediation of identity. It suggests a passive audience, influenced by the mass media as Adorno and other quasi-Marxists would suggest. It can be seen therefore, that as post modernists say, we live in a media saturated society. We are surrounded by signs which cannot be ignored. Women in the media are often represented as varying, whether it be as sexual objects for the pleasure of males; or as innocent, as ‘stay at home’ housewives as suggested in 2008’s film Hancock. Here, despite possessing stereotypically male strength and ‘superpowers’, the lead female aspires to be a housewife – reinforcing the sub-dominant representation of women. Either way however women are often the victims of mediation. The theories of consumption and construction of identity from theorists such as Adorno and Mulvey clearly show that despite the specific representations, one common identity is ‘forced’ upon women in the media – a subdominant social group living in a patriarchal society. Identity is constructed using this as a basis; and even media texts which challenge this representation and encourage Queer Theory diversity are still arguably mediating identity with their influence. Identity is fluid and changeable and can be individually constructed as Gauntlett and Buckingham state. But arguable, the mass media are, and have, mediated the identity of women in contemporary society. Terminology
EG
EAA

Diagram

Media theories about youth culture

Theorist	Year	Concepts	Your explanation	How it fits into the films we have studied.
Giroux	1997	Youth as empty category	Adults give their own meaning to youth and create their own fear. The category is filled with the interests of the adult world.	In Attack the Block, the youths are actually heroic and kind and regret their actions.
Acland	1995	Ideology of protection; deviant youth and reproduction of social order	Plays on the comparisons between a normal adult and a normal youth and their relationships. Adults want to protect youths. Acts like a boundry	In Eden Lake, the adults are an average happy couple and the youths are totally opposite. the use as an example of how not to behave.
Gramsci	1971 (1929-1935)	Cultural hegemony	One class is in charge and presents the ideologies that everyone else should live by.	In Harry Brown, the policemen and investigators are all of a higher class than the youths.
Cohen	1972	Moral panic	Every so often, a certain category of people is perceived by the media as a threat and creates a panic among moral beliefs.	This is present in all three films, as the youth are all perceived as threats and act without morals.
McRobbie	2004	Symbolic Violence	Symbolic violence among the working class is part of social reproduction helping to redefine their identity. creating a sense of violence with a particular lower male class. Helps to define a boundary between the lower class and the middle class	In Harry Brown, the youths are often seen fighting with each other, often for their survival.
Gerbner	1986	Cultivation Theory	The repetitiveness of the media’s text and images influence public understanding. Influencing society through media repetition cultivating this idea about how the youth are.	All films show quite an over exaggerated view of youth and don’t represent the silent majority.

How do contemporary media represent British youth and youth culture in different ways?

Harry Brown (2009) Director: Daniel Barber

How does Harry Brown represent young people?

The use of hoodies is an iconic symbol for gangs.
The dogs, knives guns.
Drugs, sexual abuse/confrontation
Location- environment for the gangs is a survival place, and shows who you are.
Male dominance
Policewoman comes out stronger even when she had less status where nobody believed her
criminal behaviour
revenge
territory
Dialogue (colloquial)
Binoray opposition- Harry brown/gangs(lower class)   gangs/police(middle class)   Harry Brown/Police age difference creates this opposition aswell as social class
Dark lighting-negativity, shadows, evil, threatening
crime drama thriller genre

'Hoodies Strike Fear in British Cinema'
Guardian,2009

unemotional inactive fealings
thugs
Reflect them being monsters (Jaws)
It becomes scary on films because there is this sense of realism, that it could happen.
The hoodie hides their character and we don't understand them which makes them scary.
Non fiction is scarier.

reacting to the environment in which they are living in
it's harder to survive
upper/middle class vs working/lower class

right wing politics- hegemony they want us to belive about a particular thing about eg lower class. giving a clear distinction between them. the media emphasizes this. prior to the asbos being intriduced ..
police seen as heroes.

implications of the representations:

Fear
moral panic by making us believe a particular thing
influence us they way we think about youth culture

Eden Lake (2008) Director: James Watkins

How are Jenny and Steve (the main couple) represented?

• average happy couple
• middle class
• mature
• Innocent
• Vulnerable
• Defenseless
• Outnumbered 
• Steve is shown as the dominant one facing up to the gangs instead of Jenny at the beginning. However we see more scenes of Jenny trying to get out of this horrible situation where Steve becomes the weaker one.

How is this contrasted with the representation of the other characters?

• Kids powerful over Adults
• Careless
• Evil
• Ruthless
• Brutal
• The gang stay the same throughout the trailer, as they are the bad guys in the film so don't need to change.

How important is the issue of social class?

• Not that important, though an expensive car is taken
• Accents
• clothes (not blazers)
• Dominant Ideologies 'Normal people who are accepted in society' 
• or Todorov narrative theory where there is a disruption to the equilibium
• youths seem like monsters as they are a real fear

How are young people represented?

• Rude
• Agressive
• Find somoene and cause pain
• scene as an entertainment, nothing to do
• binary oppositions of youths where couple comes into their territory.
• like monsters, hunt in packs, always outnumber their prey (couple)
• meeting a pack of youths at night creates a scary feel.

Attack The Block (2011) Director: Joe Cornish

Youths packing in numbers at night.

hoodies,bandaders, baseball hats iconic props used

A bit of a pathetic group as they only gang up on one girl, quite jokey attitude

We don't take them seriously