02 NEWS: Representation

 What/Which women are represented and how?

Women are underrepresented in the 60s Observer, due to patriarchal, social and cultural standards and contexts dictating their roles in media, politics, households, and more, clearly shown by the lack of authoritative or even representative female roles in the cover, besides those associated with royalty, social standards, or advertisements.

Examples of this may include the two advertisements for lingerie, which appear to be advertised towards women besides the lack of representation besides this. The objectification of women through these advertisements highlighted through the loss of other representatives shows that women were seen as an extension of their male counterparts - brothers, husbands, fathers, are represented by the men in political and social power in the media, but women are only second to them, shown by their domesticated and very objective audience appeal and representation through sensual products, that also benefit men visually. This presents the women in the cover as objects to be admired and advertised, not respected by political or social standards.

However, Barbara Castle makes a small appearance, as the only female politician on all three covers, arguing for 'less unequal pay'. While she is in an authoritative position, the fact that she is unable to argue for fully equal pay, and the demeaning of her position as a politician by such, also reflects cultural contexts at the time being that women were lacking in power and importance compared to men.

In addition, the representation of the marriage of a 'mixed couple' also shows cultural contexts, and that the event was probably so rare or unexpected it made a headline. In addition, discriminatory language was used, against a Mexican protest unselfconsciously by the newspaper.

SB to TD Differences/Notes

SB:

Low-level/desaturated lighting

Grunge Theme

'Pretty Face' villainised for being too stingy, and her looks, behaviour, etc.

Very dynamic, fast-paced camerawork. Centres the movement and the artist.

Avril doesn't need a well-structured narrative as the structure itself reflects her rebelling against music video and narrative norms.

Low-angle shot of the final concert places the camera in the crowd - integrated feel.

TD:

Highly-saturated

Stereotypical/Fantasy Theme

'Noelle' idolised for her looks, behaviour, etc.

Narrative, story-telling camerawork. Centres TD and the artists.

The artists express the TD's emotions, facially and verbally.

Low-angle shot with slow-motion makes the Jocks seem like a powerful unit.

Music Magazines - Representations of Gender

Mojo Cover - Nick Cave

This magazine celebrates older musicians, going against the stereotype the stereotype of most popular, influential musicians being younger. Popular musicians tend to be depicted as younger, but the cover is a complete contrast.

Although, the cover also conforms to the stereotype that older people tend to depict a lot of serious, uncertain attitudes, rather than bubbly, energetic attitudes depicted by younger stars. The cover fits this, with Nick Cave falling into this category of gloomy depiction alongside his 'grievers' audience.

The stereotypical linking of excess and youth but using a photo of the members of Queen when young to illustrate a cover line about excess.

Men stereotypically also tend to be linked with male seriousness and authority, which is also presented in the cover, alongside the very stereotypical link of warfare, aggression and masculinity in the cover line about Billy Bragg. 

"Explain how music videos use media language to promote their artists" (10)

(Mise en Scene, camerawork, narrative, messages, editing, diegetic and non-diegetic sounds)

Gender/Hierarchy Roles - Football Jocks (hostile, childish, authoritative) , Noelle (floats towards him, very stereotypically feminine, petite, idolised) , Main Guy (the underdog)

Setting - Relatable experiences, similar to American Sitcoms, Car-Bike contrast.

Camerawork - Close ups, cuts between narrators and main guy, high angle shots depict the main guy in a victimised, smaller position - creating empathy. Arc pans centre the artists to focus on their message.

Music Magazines: Media Language

 Look carefully at the front covers of MOJO and RNR magazines. 

QUESTION: How far do MOJO and RNR use different media language to create different connotations? (CONNOTATION meaning: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning.)

Answer on your blog. This is a high-value question and should take all lesson to answer. You can use the class blog search engine for more examples of how to analyse music magazines.

In your answer you should have 2 paragraphs:

• analyse the media language in MOJO and RNR magazine. 'Media language' includes the placement of the main image, the type of photography, lighting, colours, fonts, how busy or restrained the cover is, the layout (such as alignment to the margins), how serious or playful 
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently in both extracts to create different connotations. Are there similarities in both covers? What sorts of audiences are they targeting? You could think about MOJO's rock aesthetic of living loud and dangerously compared to RNR's folk, rock, blues vibe. 

The contrast between the red and blue creates a more vivid and expressive character from the Foo Fighters cover. In addition, words like 'adventures' and 'battle' also present them as more bold and determined from the language - accented also by the posture of the cover figure hunched over the title much like a hunting predator. Also, the sans serif font alongside the more 'adventurous' language connotes that they have struggled - 'we've been to...we've been to...' also highlights this, showing that they are both experienced and unshaped by their 'struggles' - displaying a different kind of but still respectable figure compared to the RnR cover.

One of the magazines is busier than the other. MOJO's cover is quite cluttered and busy, due to its numerous cover lines, images and puffs as well as a very dynamic cover mount in neon colours, with a vibrant cartoon image. RnR also has many cover lines, but they are all more minimalistic, and justified to the right-hand margin. They are exclusively in white, creating calm, orderly, uncluttered quality. Equally, the cover mount has modest verbal play, and is very plain and streamlined.

MOJO's choice of colours is vibrant, electric and dynamic, particularly in the primary colours of the cover mount, with its playful skeleton. By contrast, RnR uses soft, dull browns and only red an accent colour.

Although both magazines conform to genre conventions - both magazines centre a star at the centre of visual interest, and both magazines celebrate that star, but MOJO does so in a more dynamic, aggressive, confrontational way compared to RnR's gentle, lowkey, folksy vibe. This is because MOJO targets a primarily male rock audience, while RnR is aimed at folk and blues audiences. 

Also, although both music magazines feature many articles, RnR is more orderly and restrained.

• 

Statement of Intent

Website

 https://09rubym.wixsite.com/my-site

Lighting and Framing

 Lighting from the side - evokes stronger character, more dramatic, frames half of face in harsh light, but keeps other in 'mystery' (shade basically). 

Lighting from above/below - consider this as well, but for different character types.

Harsh/Soft Lighting - for relatable, relaxed atmosphere, go soft, for more formal, gripping character/atmosphere, go harsher. Also consider warm and cold tones.

Colour palette - when one side is lit in (blue, yellow, etc), shade in the opposite complimentary colour for a better effect (orange, violet, etc). In summary, use this technique for a more engaging image/scene.

Framing - depending on the set, close ups and long shots are equally as dramatic and engaging, but in different ways. (e.g. Queen's Gambit cover, Split cover).

Set - a variety of backgrounds, props, and lighting strung together have different effects, but keep in mind not to keep it too crowded or too bland. Don't rely solely on one element to give a full effect.

Developing Ideas

Front page Layout - photoshop basically a small version of the double layout, but less maze-y in a sense, put still with the aspect of 'screens' used for text and imagery. 

Double Page Layout - layout incorporates the text chunks and images to look like the actual screens at van Gogh Live - small people wandering in and out, + van goth sunflowers growing out behind the screens. Lots of blocky shapes so they should be counter-acted by the growing sunflowers.

Dummy Articles - on the paper plan, but include different aspects of art such as architecture (Minecraft, other programs that incorporate art), business (guy sells 13 year collage for millions) and emotional relation (young teen makes money off of small art business basically), only the middle of which is actually a real event and article, the others are fake but still somewhat realistic.

Main Article - details the event of  Van Gogh Live, his life, his art, and why the reader should go or be interested basically. 

Colour Scheme - like the sunflower paintings themselves, a lot of yellow and yellowish-green and possibly some blues/oranges to balance it out, to compare to the dark background. 

CUFFS QUIZ

Left to right, name the officers (1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) Donna, Lino, Jake, Jo, Ryan, Carl, Chief Super Intendent Robert, Felix

9 Who is this? Misha

10 Name the owner of the corner shop Mohammed

11 Name the racist thug Benson

12 Name the drug addict Nathan

13 Name the mother whose child is taken by her ex husband Mrs Quirk

Cinnamon  - Toothpaste

Exam Practice

 Q.3 How far does Cuffs adapt police drama conventions to fit its family audience at 8 p.m. on BBC1?

In your answer you must

• state what conventions you could expect from most TV police drama
  
• analyse the programme's use of genre conventions, making sure that you cover the whole episode (not just the extract played in the exam). This means explaining all the crimes that occur in the episode and everything that the police have to deal with that may be upsetting for viewers.
  
• explain who the audience is for Cuffs
• explain how far the programme adapted conventions
  
• draw conclusions about how far the extract adapts the conventions of police drama to fit its scheduling and audience

Cuffs adapts its police drama conventions to fit its target audience before the BBC watershed by using censorship and obvious slapstick humour to distract from the subtle adult humour.

The conventions from most police TV drama include brutal fight scenes, often bloody bodies, and crude language and themes. Cuffs avoids and adapts this using light censorship to keep the implications of certain events, and to keep enough adult humour to appeal to their target audience without being too explicit for children. An example of this would be the scene of an 'implied' murder, as we hear and know the struggle of a fight and killing, but it is not explicitly shown on screen - therefore not exposing children to too much gore and explicit content. This is also done for a more light-hearted scene at the start of the episode - when a naked man pushes a young man's face close to his privates. Throughout the scene, no explicit nudity is shown on screen beside the occasional naked buttock, which not only harks childish 'butt joke' humour for younger audiences, but 'shields' them from the more adult humour in the scene.

Continually, the slapstick humour in this scene may also be appealing to younger audiences, as the characters fight in a chaotic disorder - which creates excitement in the ridiculousness of the content. By using slapstick humour, Cuffs adapts certain conventions of 'brutal fights' in usual conventions, and censors the subtle adult humour while doing so. For example, references to sexual humour being the scene where the arrested women makes facial gestures towards a policeman almost immediately after being detained by him, which creates a comical contrast between her previous distressed attitude and her now flirtatious, bold advance - most likely in hopes of 'pleasing' her way out of jail. This creates subtle sexual humour for more adult audiences, while being absurd enough in contrast to be laughable to younger audiences, without fully disclosing her likely intentions to young children. This also censors the convention in police drama of sexual humour and references - as it keeps the convention there, but vague enough so that it may be suitable for younger audiences before the BBC watershed, which appears usually before the average child's bedtime.

(not done)

Analysis of language in MOJO and BBC Magazines

Make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently to fit different kinds of music. (15)

The media language in each magazine is used differently to the extent that they cater to different audiences expecting content and therefore matching themes of different music.

Mojo uses media language to convey the dramatic contrast of 'The Cure' to modern societal norms, using contrasting colour palettes and high exposure to exaggerate the bright, luminous white from the star's appearance, appealing to older generations in the familiarity of the difference and individuality rock-stars from MOJO brought to music. 'The Cure' appear as eccentrically iconic figures alongside their music - using contrary gothic makeup, paired with figured, dense black hair. Mojo circles this appearance with puffs and side-titles in complementary yet contrary colours to focus on the star's face, in order to bring attention to the distinguishably different look which makes up their appearing persona on the magazine - Mojo's trademark of framing the front-cover star in a serious, respectful light.

Whereas the BBC's classical music magazine uses media language to convey muted, traditional and simple tones that are associated with the genre of music, and may appeal to yet older generations than the audience of MOJO, who enjoy the appeal of soft palettes which don't overwhelm or overexaggerate the 'legendary legacy' of the subject. The layout does not circle the front-cover star, but is minimalist and informative, rather than anticipating and performative like MOJO - because the target also want familiar styles of music, but more for the content of the subject rather than the relatability and identity of the fandom surrounding the subject, like MOJO fans. However, the use of a younger musician adds diversity in the target audience, and represents a new generation of classical artists - allowing the reader to anticipate and expect new music, rather than hailing the legendary old music, again like MOJO fans.

In conclusion, MOJO and BBC magazines use media language to cater to different target audiences, and appeal to the expectation of the subject the audience is shown on the cover. It is used differently to the extent that MOJO uses the context of older stars to show them 'in their prime', and speak of their achievements, to install hope and relatability in the reader, whereas BBC music uses the context of the genre of classical music to bring newer faces and a new generation to install anticipation and expectation in the reader.

Social and Cultural Contexts in the Observer 1960's

 Representation of women:

Lingerie and clothing ads - representing the context of housewives caring about clothes and luxuries as men went out to work most of the day. Also represents women as sexual objects and as performers of beauty and pleasure rather than having actual thoughts, as the women presented in the ads are more mannequins than people - having less of an opinion, while the clothing would appeal either sexually our desirably to the reader.

The Queen herself in the paper is only valuable as 'the crown' - she may bring comfort and hope and is respected as royalty, but she doesn't offer solutions or have a political stance in media or as a royal power as represented in the newspaper.

Representation of ethnicity:

The representation of black Olympians reflects the changing of racial stereotypes in the coming decades, and was certainly a mark in history for racial equality. While racial slurs are used, they would probably be custom at the time - but no longer excusable in modern society.

The use of these slurs implies the newspaper was written and edited by white British persons, who wouldn't think twice with the racist societal norms to use such language, which complies with the context that Black persons at the time would not be allowed the education to get such a job, nor the money to pay for such.

Social Conditions:

The inclusion of the mining town disaster show the appalling social conditions the townsfolk had to live under - their land and occupation being sold away to a force that killed their next generation. The fact that none of the public had the money or influence to control this, while capitalists cashed in on cheap mining, shows the classism of the time - and how a visit from the Queen to the site of a tragic event caused by unbridled capitalist greed which she and other people in power were perfectly able to prevent would not be as appreciated by the locals compared to the media.

Yr 10 - 03 Brief 1

Hobby Magazine for 14-18 Age Group:

Name Ideas:

The Whitecap (reference to a violent wave, loud and contains seafoam and 'bubble plumes', similar to red tops?)

The Plume (reference to feathers and smoke)

The Spritz ('The Sunday Spritz', reference to possible terminology for spray paint techniques, possible reference to tabloidized content)

The Cordial(pleasant tasting medicine/fruit juice, and adjectively used to describe something pleasant)

Front Page:

Use empty canvas? Mixture of digital art and photoshop in terms of editing. Use previous paintings, or create photoshop/collage examples to fill in the blanks)

Add in dummy/side articles, summarize them but keep the focus.

Main Hobby Article Ideas -

Painting/Fine Art:

('Interview' with 'an artist' (borrow Claudia/Lucy?)) 

Relatability to audience - 

('Young adult finds solace in art during global pandemic, starts Christmas card company, makes thousands in large wave of recognition') ("I used social media to promote my company, in hopes of gaining traction - but I never thought that within a span of six months, I would go from using painting as a personal coping mechanism to an actual part-time job, which now pays most of my rent, and is soon to be my sole source of income.")

Dummy/Side Article Ideas - 

Theatre/Acting related - 

Tie into fine art/painting ('interview' with 'an actor/actress' (definitely borrow Claudia))/ description of a performance? Possibly one based off of a painting or artist - ("Monet", a performed biography of the Founder of Impressionism)

Fine Art/Design related -

('Architects experimented with Minecraft as an engineering and design tool, the city they built is now under construction')

('Florida Man sells 13-year collage piece for 70 million dollars')

(' 'Banksy' involved in Reading Bridge Graffiti war')

Incorporate a person's similar magazine/article? (collaborations between projects / favours / mentioning of the same event (articles exist in the same magazine reality?))

Yr 10 - 03 Creating Media

 If I were to choose immediately at this point, I would likely choose:

For the music video, I would likely choose a song such as 'Smalltown Boy' by Bronski Beat, which has a narrative and story already in the song, so lip syncing isn't entirely required as long as there is engaging and matching imagery and scenes, but it does have relatively understandable and malleable themes that could work well with different editing styles and shots.

In terms of the 'hobby magazine', activities such as gaming, particular areas of the Arts or music would be favourable, purely because of the expression and freedom they allow in terms of design and structure in the layout and theme. Plus, I'm better at performing on paper than on a platform, so it may be easier than the music video and factual programme.

However, the factual programme would allow me to cover historical, social and geographic concerns and topics, that would likely cover uncommon true topics such as Mariya Oktyabrskaya, a Soviet mechanic who's soldier husband died fighting Nazis in WW2, and in response she bought a tank named "Fighting Wife", and set out as a soldier on her own to kill many more Nazi soldiers herself. This is a topic that I'm surprised is not talked about much, but might not be appropriate for 14-18 audience depending on how it is approached.

Yr 10 - 01 The Avengers

What is your impression of the sixties era? 

The sixties era was a time of change as people began challenging unfair standards, beliefs and rights with movements and new ideals to achieve equality and balance.

Where does this come from? 

As values were changing with the new Labour government in this post-WW2 decade, the production of more controversial ideals, movements and products challenged past and present standards of that time, shown in the Equal Rights Movement, the second wave of Feminism, and the rise of popular yet unexpected idols such as the Beatles. Plus, student movements across the US began alongside the Vietnam war, as the public started to realise there was more loss than gain, and that they were barely numbers on paper to higher powers.

5 key events from that era that shaped it:

The Vietnam War, JFK's Assassination, The Equal Rights Movement, The Second Wave of Feminism, and Moon Landings.

5 famous figures associated with that era: 

Martin Luther King Jr, John F Kennedy,  The Beatles, Muhammed Ali and Alfred Hitchcock.

Yr 10 - Cuffs 01

 Chapter  end of 4 / start of 5 How does Jo come across? How does she deal with other people?

Jo comes across as complex and torn between justice and her own empathy, showing one more calm, sympathetic side in front of the family, and a more aggressive, agitated side outside in the corridor, showing obvious frustration at how she can't get what she needs for the case. She states "that kid is my only witness" with slight aggressive tones and body language, showing her unrest at the fact she can't attain the information, but also seemingly showing her more aggravated, objective side. She also seems to respect the father's point of view, showing her awkwardness in posture and mannerisms as he berates the police force, proving she does empathize and contain some sense of humanity, but objectively ignores it and continues to pursue her goal.

She deals with people by either trying to persuasively and passively convince them  shown in how she speaks to the witness and his dad, or by using a more aggressive, slightly threatening approach shown in her interaction with the standby lawyer of the witness. This creates a more two-faced look for Jo, who will actively switch between a more passive, calm approach to a more combative one if she doesn't acquire what she needs from people.

In conclusion, Jo comes across as bilateral, and tries to first passively persuade then threaten to achieve her goal, while being objective enough to not overly sympathize or empathize with the witness, suspect or victim in order to perform consistently in a likely high-stress workplace, but does occasionally crack when faced with an unmoving obstacle. This effectively creates a more realistic view of an investigator to the audience, while allowing her to be human enough with flaws for the audience to empathize with.

Yr 10 - Background to Television in the 2010s

1.Explain technological convergence. [2] 

The combining of technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and united as they advance and develop.

2.Explain 'channel surfing'. [2]

The consistent and constant scrolling or changing of channels in search of something the viewer finds interesting and/or entertaining.

3.Give 3 examples of how channels create brand loyalty [6]

An example of how brands create loyalty with their viewers is by providing specially catered content for a very specific audience. By aiming content to a very specific and niche community, the brands sacrifice a large portion of their viewers for continuous, loyal viewers that will stay with the brand throughout it's adaptation of its content over time, e.g Doctor Who.

Another example of how brands create loyalty is through their dependence on the streaming service to promote their brand alongside their content through entertainment - for example, the service will roll the end credits showing the branding of the content alongside promotions and cross promotions of the next available show, providing entertainment and information to keep the viewer 'hooked' to the channel while they subconsciously note the branding of the credited content.

Lastly, 'on demand' content from the same streaming service is often provided alongside 'live' content (e.g. BBC iPlayer and (the numerous BBC channels)). This is often used to allow the viewer to scroll and watch through content they may have missed, or saved for later - building trust in the streaming service and branded content as they know it will appear 'on demand' if they miss the 'live' showing. For example, the development of 'long form television drama' reflects how viewers may need an 'on demand' service to continuously watch and gain attachment to the content, rather than if it was completely 'live', the viewer could miss an entire episode and lose interest after not fully understanding the plot from the beginning of the series.

4.What is 'long form television drama' ? [2]

'Long form television drama' is a type of content designed as a series of episodes, commonly split into 'seasons' or 'parts', containing a continuous and entertaining plot, accompanied by sub-plots. The spreading out of this dramatic story over a series of episodes builds interest and fascination in the story, as it continues through various sub-plots usually in each episode to 2-3 episodes which lead to the final confrontation of the main plot at the end of the series. This provides more time for the series to expand and world-build to entertain the viewer compared to a movie, which commonly lasts between 1-2 hours.

Yr 10 - 01 Television

 1.What do you understand by the terms 'live' content and 'on demand' content? 

‘Live’ content means the viewer’s chosen entertainment depends on what is currently available and ‘live’ on television, whilst ‘on demand’ content consists of pre-recorded content that the viewer can watch as they please without missing potential ‘live’ content.

2.What is the demand for 'live' content like? 

It’s a saturated market, especially on platforms such as Twitch and Youtube, but can be quite profitable. The demand is high as many people want to experience the same content, first-hand, as the streamer and rest of the world in real time.

3.According to ratings research, there are 8 programmes cited as the top live shows for family viewing. How many have you watched? 

3 - The Masked Singer, Strictly Come Dancing and The Great British Bake Off

4.Apply Blumler and Katz's audience framework to what you learn from this article. 

The article meets the reader's search for entertainment, education and emotional reassurance by incorporating statistical evidence of audience approval of popular shows, which meets the reader's need for emotional reassurance and sense of belonging in that particular audience while also providing education on the subject. 

Shown by the statistics, the fact that many people watch 'live' content with other people, usually family members, allows them to bond with each other - and so associating that particular content with familiar memories of bonding, making it more likely that they will continue to watch that content with that same group of people.

Plus, the entertainment factor is met through the clear involvement of a popular form of 'live' content, Strictly Come Dancing, shown in the centrepiece image to allow the reader to be drawn by the familiar figures from the popular show. 

Yr 10 - Mojo Cover Analysis Prep

 

As shown in the example of a Mojo magazine above, the featured artists on the front page are always shown in a serious, legendary light – for example, John Lennon on the example cover is shown staring directly at the camera, centre-stage in the cluttered layout of the cover, and the design perfectly placed so that his face is untouched and uncovered, allowing it to be the centrepiece which attracts the reader to the layout.

This creates an iconic and esteemed view of the artist, as they are lit up with an offstage, harsh light which boasts their recognisable features – plus the magazine even places them in front of their own masthead – a true sign of respect and awe, while being recognisable enough to have readers know exactly what magazine they have in their possession.

Yr 10 - MOJO Media Language Analysis