Representation - Theories

All representations have certain ideologies encoded behind them in order to give a Prefered representation (Levis Strauss 1958)

Richard Dyer comments on represntations (1983)

what sense of the world is it making?
what doe sit imply?
who is it speaking to?
how do we respond to it?

Laura Mulvey (The male gaze 1975)

Comments that the female body is displayed to men in order to gain erotic pleasure from a media product. Women are objectified by the camera and the audience learn to accept the male's point of view.

John Berger 'woman are aware of being seen by a male spectator'

Baudrillard - Suggests the idea of hyppereality. We live in a place where things are constructed from no original place.

Stereotyping - A means by which support is provided by one group's differential against another.

Tessa Perkins - stereotyping is not a simple process. Some of the many ways that stereotypes are assumed to opperate is not true. (e.g a niche audience might not want to be considered or grouped in that way)

Mark Barker - stereotypes are missrepresenting the 'real world'. Comments that in order for stereotypes to work they must seek audience recognistion.

How do postmodern media differ from other media?

How do postmodern media differ form other media?

There are a number of elements that contribute to a media becoming postmodern and set aside from other media. The 2011 Nicolas Winding film 'Drive' features many postmodern elements such as the clashing of genres. Ryan gosling plays the role of a get away driver and hero/villain, fighting for the princess played by Carey Mulligan. This fairytale genre is interjected with violent outbursts as we follow the get away driver (Ryan Gosling) fighting the 'bad guys' and stomping someone to death in a lift. Therefore there are clear themes of violence, romance and gangster genre. The violent lift scene and the close-up on his face reflect almost a monster, not a hero. However the inclusion of  an recent 80's sounding synth-pop track 'A Real Hero' by, College ft. Electric youth works surprisingly well with the characteristics of the protagonist and night shots of the city which is thought to be California.

The clashing of genre's make this film postmodern because normally movie producers of a media product would stick to one genre in order to target a specific audience. Theorist Jacques Derrida has commented that 'there is no genreless text'. With a film such as Drive, it is hard to determined one specific genre. Drive could be considered a bricolage as these many genre's have been re-worked into one film. The film also displays hypotexuality as the director had elaborated, modified and transformed the existing genre's. 

Quentin Tarentino's 90's film 'Pulp Fiction' is significantly older than drive. It has a gangster/crime genre that appeals to an audience who enjoy that specific genre and the directors work. The film has been described as a  'delirious post-modern mix of neo-noir thrills'. Although it is loyal to one genre the film has a time twisting narrative that make it a postmodern media. The film incorporates four different stories, from the professional mob hit men, crackhead wife,  and the ammeters in the restaurant. Having these chronology shifts make the film more complex for an illiterate audience to understand and the combination of essentially four different plots and chronology shifts distort the normal conventions of film. The unfamiliar narrative structure highlights hyperreality as it reminds the audience that they are watching a fictitious film. Pulp Fiction also has an interesting soundtrack as one of the songs ('girl, you'll be a woman soon' - Urge Overkill) encapsulates a Western style that Tartentino uses often. His western influences mstly come from older movies such as 'The Searchers'. The opening of Inglorious Basterds uses a similar shot/framing of the door from 'The Searchers'. Another example of Tarentino using this western style is during his most recent film Django, where there is a shoot out the replicates that of the one in 'The good the bad and the ugly'. The inclusion of these scene's, taken from older movies displays intertexuality as well as '...................' theory of addition, deletion and transformation. This can be seen as well in Django as a modern Hip-Hop song (Rick ROss - Black Coffins) is played in a 1950's setting, which confuses the audience as the film distorts time. 

The lack of dialogue in Drive displays postmodern qualities as the protagonist is represented as a quiet and introverted character, that is somehow arrogant and confident enough to fight these brutal battles. Drive was filmed in L.A and the fly over camera work of the city present it as a strangely lonely place, there doesn't appear to be many people on the streets. This is slightly hypperreal and doesn't reflect the true reality of a busy city, in-fact it implies that the film is set during an unidentified time period. Although we know it must be set within the last ten years due to the usage of mobile phones and fairly modern costumes. The setting could be used as a metaphor for the character as they both appear to be lonely. The protagonist is unidentified and simply referred to as the 'kid' and throughout the film he is constantly alone without any family. Winding as specifically not included any nudity or intimacy between Gosling and Mulligan, in his film Drive. This makes the film modern as usual Hollywood blockbusters would feel that it is a necessity,  purely to attract a larger mass audience.

Some may find the lack of dialogue in Drive slightly irritating, however it is also interpreted as an interesting stylistic approach that leaves the audience to fill in the missing conversation and make their own interpretations. The lack of dialogue could be considered hyperreal as in reality, the conversations between characters would not be so vague/staggered. 

Tarantino's films are almost an exact opposite to 'Drive'. The extensive amount of intetexuality in Tarrentino's movies such as Pulp fiction, Inglorious Basterds and Django are there for the literate audience who have previous viewing experience. His 2009 movie 'Inglorious Basterds' features the postmodern element of self-reflexity as we see Soshanna exiting her apartment and some of the set is revealed. This is an element that tarentino uses fairly regularly, therefore he could be considered a postmodern Director with a massive encyclopedic knowledge. 'Pulp fiction' also displays self-reflexity when Jules and Mia Wallace pull up to Rabbit Slims diner and Mia draws a square on the screen. This reminds us we are watching a fictitious film. The Rabbit Slims diner is full of famous parodies working in the diner, for example the intertexual reference to Marilyn Monroe who is working as a waitress in the diner. This is postmodern as it isn't the actual actress (Marylyn Monroe).

Other media that could be considered postmodern is music. The 31 year old singer 'Beyonce' is an artist that has displays qualities that contribute to modernism and postmodernism. Songs that have sampled others are considered postmodern as the artist has modernised an older song. Beyoncé sampled a 1970's band 'The Chi-Lites' in her song 'Crazy in love'. She also uses sampling in her song 'Run the world (girls)' as the chorus was actually sampled from Major lazer with their track 'pon de floor' released in 2009. 'Run the world' also contributes to Jonathan Kramer's consideration of 'music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural social and political contexts'. The is due to the African style of choreography, that was inspired by the African dance duo 'Tofo Tofo'. The song also has an African sound that differ’s from her usual R&B genre of music. Beyoncé also makes social and political statements through her empowering lyrics 'who run the world? Girls'. Beyoncé will also be adapting her usual R&B genre when she teams up with Andre 3000 for the cover of Amy Winehouse 'back to black' for the soundtrack of  The Great Gatsby. Another R&B artist who heavily samples other tracks is Kayne West. Johnathan Kramar suggests ‘The piece of music that is copying, doesn’t respect the boundaries/ conventions of the time It was written.’ An examples of this is Kayne West’s song ‘Blame Game’ that heavily samples Aphex Twin ‘Avril 14^th’. It is unusual for a rapper to sample a ambient piano song.  

Another postmodern music artist is David Bowie. Every album of his was known for having a different genre or sound and every album was in some way different to the last. This could be considered post-modern as it rejects the normal conventions and structuring of an album. David Bowie has Beocme an icon in his own right. He was the main musical artist of the seventies and eighties and was admired for his New Romantic style/glam rock style that was pretty much unheard of before. Most of Bowie’s albums have a strong narrative which is different compared to modern mainstream music today. His album ‘The rise and fall of ziggy stardust’ tell the story of his alter ego. He adopted this alter ego to comment on society, drugs (which he used heavily) and the rock ‘n’ roll scene during the 70’s. Bowie was far from a heavy rocker. He was known for his shocking style and costumes on stage that seemed slightly feminine as he also wore make-up. His stage appearance and variety of genre’s in his music relate to Eno’s theory ‘The death of uncool’, as Bowie was excepted for his style and even influenced other postmodern artist’s such as Lady Gaga. All of these factors including his 2013 ‘The next day’ bricolage album cover (taken from previous album, Hero’s) make Bowie a postmodern figure in the music industry.

Postmodern media differ’s from other media/media’s quite considerably. Postmodern artist’s in some way have more freedom as they can ‘do what they want’ as opposed to mainstream film/music that stick to certain guidelines in order to be successful. Postmodern media seems to take a more stylistic approach when it comes to production and reception of the product. Making it differ from ordinary media.  

Pluralist theory

An active audience that create their own understanding of a media text/interpret what they choose to beleive. This is a result of society being diverse.

Own understanding
diverse
chose what to beleive

Media Language essay

1b. Evaluate your media coursework in relation to a media concept

Media Language

In this essay I will assessing my chosen media products and discussing how it relates to the term ‘media language’. I will be looking at my music video for this essay. When looking  at media language i would agree with the Theorist John Fiske (1982), who suggests that  denotation is what i  photographed  (filmed)  and connotation   is how  it is photographed.

The video begins with several close-ups of the DJ mixer. The opening few shots are jumpcuts, meaning the editing is very fast and punchy with some zooming in and out. The sound is parallel as it relates to the visuals and is quick and punchy. The camera work here connotes an energetic style to the song and relates to the dance genre. The two shot framing denotes the band together, this gives the viewer an understanding of the relationship between the male DJ and female singer. Another element of media language is body language. In the two shot frame the girl is dancing around as she is the singer and remains the ‘star’. However the DJ remains aloof and doesn’t make eye contact with the camera. This connotes reality as the DJ in a band isn’t normally as involved or showed in the video as much as the singer. The distance of the DJ is re-enforced with the close-ups on his face that denote no eye contact with the audience, which connotes a disconnected band member.

There is some interesting editing used in the video and editing can lead to various connotations. The denotation of Re-winding when the is girl singing ‘oh no’ as the music is staggered and whilst the DJ’s hand flicks up and down not only displays visible editing but displays the sound as synchronous. The audience believe that the sound is coming from the DJ as the music breaks and his hand action mirrors the break. In some ways the editing has two extremes, a slow-motion effect is applied as the music slows which denotes the girl (singer) dancing in-front of a black and white background. The slow motion effect could relate to the male gaze as we only see the girl dancing, not the male DJ. The slow motion editing also reflects a relaxed part of the song and creates the illusion that the girl weaving in and out of the lined background. The other extreme of editing is the denotation of fast-forwarding. This was used on some shots of the   DJ in order to make him look more active, which then connoted a faster pace to this certain part of the video. Some more unnoticeable editing is the enhancement of colour on some of the black and white background shots or plain white background shots. The brightness and clarity of the white shots have been enhanced using 'alien lab' effect.

The lighting in the video deems very crucial as the denotation of colourful background really aid to the connotation that the video is fun and energetic. The pink and green backgrounds at the start of the video were edited in to achieve a really bright and eye-catching start to the video in the hope that people continuing watching. The pink and green colours also work well and connote the female and male genders of the band. However the green and pink backgrounds shown with the female singing in-front of them were actually part of the lighting. All of the backgrounds were achieved by using a projector screen. This denoted the different colours and made the video look more interesting as the mise en scene was fairly unidentified/ unrecognisable. Therefore the colourful background could actually be joined to the mise en scene. The actually location of the video is internal, therefore artificial lighting was necessary.

The overall appearance of the band denotes a casual style and the Body language of the dancing the girl, connotes a quirky fun style and juxtaposes from the DJ's vague movement. The video shows self-reflexivity as the girl holds her hands up as the song finishes. This video displays a quirky and stylistic approach to contribute to media language. 

Media - Audience theories

Is your text popular for a mass audience?

Julian McDougall (2009) -  suggests that in the online age is it getting harder to conceive a media audience as a stable identifiable group. (difficult to define specific audience)

Niche or Alternative audience. The song has a dance genre that is slightly alternative. We've created the illustion of a house party but also incorporated a minimalistic and quirky style that would appeal to a niche audience.

Another definition of 'popular' is a kind of folk culture that encompaasess a kind of alternative culture which includes minority groups. This relates to the audience of my music video.

The initial target audience:

The initial target audience for the music video was for a mass audience as the song had a popular dance genre. However when we decided the band and planned out the storyboard it seemed that the video would take a more alternative appearance. 

In the media industry people are categorised into groups to determinded what media products they would be interested in.

What the audience might identify with my media product: 
The bright colours - the colours at the start of the video appeal to a young audience. The colours continue through the video as a method of continuity. These bright colours and youthful band represent/appeal to a young audience. 

costume of the band - The causal style of the band matches an indie genre yet purposefully goes against what real artists in a dance video would wear. 

What meanings might the audience assume from consuming your media product?

The audience could draw on a number of interpretations/meanings from the video. The girl dancing in the video could be identifiable with other teenage girls as this is something young people enjoy doing. The whole theme of a house party is also relevant to the age and culture of the audience.


Ang (1991) - 'audiencehood is becoming an ever more multifaced, fragmented and diversified repertoire of practices and experiences.'

I woud agree with Ang in relation to my media product. There are many people that enjoy media products that are targeted at different audiences. for example, someone might like pop video's but enjoy alternative electro music. (more sub-categories)


John Hartley (1987) also suggests that institutions must produce "invisible fictions of the audience, which allow the institutions to get a sense of who they must enter into relations with"

i also agree with this theorist as i (the institution) had an idea of who i must enter into relations with. This was fairly easy because the audience was myself and the video was created for people my age and culture to enjoy. Therefore i knew my audience very well and was able to address them effectively. (understanding your audience)


Gaining feedback from my audience: 

One way i did this was by creating a Facebook group and twitter group. This allowed anyone to be a part of the progress of the fictitious band and video. We could gain feedback from the audience we were addressing which became very useful after handing in our draft video. i also posted all my work and progression onto my blog along with a pitch.


Passive and active audience: 

controlling the way that people think and behave - the media injects people with ideas and views 

i wouldnt apply this theory to my music video because due to the minimalistic approach and alternative audience i would consider them more of an active audience who are able to make their own decisions regarding what to beleive or assume from music videos. 

Media is influenced by society therefore we have more of an active audience that are open minded about the media products they consume. 

(pluralist theory)

Media Langauge theory

John Fiske (1982)- denotation is what   is   photographed  (filmed) . Conotation   is   how   it    is   photographed  (filmed) .

Stuart Hall (1980) -  Texts can be encoded by producers, and meaning is decoded by and audience.

Charles Sanders Pierce (1931) - three    types   of  sings  that   we  use  everyday  to   create   

 meaning  
iconic
indexical  - dj    decks ,    conote  house  party,   somethig   literal   we  can   see .
symbolic signs  - we  have   symbolic  signs   in   our   video  as   it  dneotes   simplicity.

Theoretical evaluation of production

1B. evaluate your courseowrk in relation to a media concept.

Media Language

Camera -

 Close up of DJ mixer, fast jumpcuts zooming in and out: Parallel to the music as it is quick and punchy. Connotes an energetic style to the song and relates to the song dance genre.

Still and central framing – The camera remains still as the girl dances.

Two shot framing – there is a shot of the DJ and female singer. This highlights that they are a band. Body Language: The girl is dancing around as she is the singer, the Dj remains aloof and doesn’t make eye contact with the camera. These two elements highlights the bands relationship.

Close-up: close up of the dj’s face as he remains disconnected from the camera.
 
Editing: 

Re-winding: when the girl sings ‘oh no’ and whilst the dj’s hand flicks up and down. This connotes a quirky style to the video and runs parallel to the sound.(synchronous). This denotes that the dj sound is diegetic, we believe the sound and lisyncing is real.

Slow motion – The scene of the girl dancing against a black and white background have been edited using slow motion. This connotes a relaxed part of the song and creates the illusion of her weaving in and out of the lined background.

Fast-forward: some shots of the dj have been fast-forwarded to make him look busier

Colour: the brightness and clarity of the white shots have been enhanced using 'alien lab' effect
Lighting:

Pink and green background – connotes a fun atmosphere and style to the video as well as matching the style of the song. Works well with the different genders of the band. conotes artificial lighting.

Sound: non diegetic, synchronus and parallel sound that matches the action of the actors and editing. Sound is diegetic from the DJ.

Body language: denotation of fun dancing by the girl, conotes a quirky style and juxtaposes from the DJ's vague movement.