Exam Technique

• Got to talk about a representation of one particular social group
• Got to talk about at least 2 different types of media

Media Language

Media Language: The aims

• A mood
• A reaction
• Persuade
• Meaningful
• Feeling
• Information
• Intention
• Sell

Media Language means the way that meaning is made, using the conventions of the particular medium (Film or Music Video), and type of media product (Horror film, or Pop music video). It is about considering how media texts communicate

Every medium has its own "Language" - or combination of "Languages"

The language of film is different to the language of music videos

Goodwin Theory

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (A visual style)
5. There are frequent references to the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
6. There are often intertextual references

Carol Vernallis (2001) - Codes and conventions in Music Videos

• Vernallis' theory centres around 4 key concepts that all relate to the way the Music Video is constructed (How it creates meaning). These are: Narrative, Editing, Camera Movement and Framing, Diegesis

Roland Barthes (1977) Argued that film connotation can be analytically distinguished from denotation

As John Fiske (1982) States "Denotation is what is filmed, connotations is how it is filmed"

What to discuss

Editing - Post-production technique: Establishing and re-estbalishing shots, Transitions, 180° Line Rule, Action match, Cross-cutting, Cut-away, Insert shots, Shot-Reverse shot structures, Eye-line match, Montage, Flash back/forward, Ellipsis, Graphic match

Mise en Scene: Location (Setting, set-design, iconography), Character (Costume, properties, make-up, actors and gesture), Cinematography (Lighting, colour), Layout and Page Design (Colour, juxtaposition of elements)

Camerawork: Shot types, Camera composition, Camera movement, Camera Angles

Sound: Diegetic/Non-Diegetic Sound

Back to Basics - Semiotics

According to philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1931), "We think only in signs"

Signs take the forms of words, images, sounds, odours and flavours, acts and objects, but such things have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning

• "Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign" (Peirce) 

Anything can be a sign as long as someone inter pets is as "Signifying" something

1st and 2nd Order of Significations Whereas the first order of signification operates at the level of description, the second order of signification is much more sensitive to other meanings (Interpretations)  which culture might associate with a particular sign

For example:

Bonus-Umberto Eco (1981)

• Texts can have Open Meanings (Ambiguous, open to interpretation)
• Texts can have Closed Meaning (Easy for the audience to understand)

Genre Theory Continued

Can Genre be defined by audience? Is it a question of film  comprehension? 

Neale - Genre is constituted by “Specific systems of expectations and hypothesis which spectators bring with them to the cinema and which interact with the films themselves during the course of the viewing process.”

Jonathan Culler - Generic conventions exist to establish a contract between creator and reader so as to make certain expectations operative, allowing compliance and deviation from the accepted modes of intelligibility. Acts of communication are rendered intelligible only within the context of a shared conventional framework of expression.

Ryall - Sees this framework provided by the generic system; therefore, genre becomes a cognitive repository of images, sounds, stories, characters, and expectations

Framework

1. To the producers of films, genre is a template for what they make
2. To the distributor/promoter, genre provides assumptions about who the audience is and how to market the films for that specific audience
3. To the audience, it is a label that identifies a liked or disliked formula and provides certain rules of engagement for the spectator in terms of anticipation of pleasure, E.g. The anticipation of what will happen in the attic scene of The Exorcist
4. When genres become classic, they can exert tremendous influence: production can be come quicker and more confident because film-makers are following tested formulae and have a ready shorthand to work with, and actors can be filtered into genres and can be seen to have assumed "Star quality" when their mannerisms, physical attributes, way of speaking and acting fit a certain style of genre
5. In turn, viewers become "Generic spectators" and can be said to develop generic memory which helps the in the anticipation of events, even though the films themselves might play on certain styles rather than follow closely a clichéd formula. E.g. The attic scene from The Exorcist – we expect something to jump out on the woman because all the generic conventions are in place, but in the end, the director deflates the tension. We do not consume films as individual entities, but in an intertextual way.  Film is a post-modern medium in this way, because movies make sense in relation to other films, not to reality
6. It is the way genre films deviate from the clichéd formulae that leads to a more interesting experience for the viewer, but fore this to work properly, the audience must be familiar with generic conventions and style

David Bordwell notes, "Any theme may appear in any genre" (Bordwell 1989) "One could... argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film-goers would find acceptable"

PROBLEMS WITH GENRE CLASSIFICATION 

Theorist and Critic Rick Altman (1999) came up with a list of points he found problematic with genre classification: 

• Genre is a useful category, because it bridges multiple concerns
• Genres are defined by the film industry and recognised by the mass audience
• Genres have clear, stable identities and borders
• Individual films belong wholly and permanently to a single genre
• Genres are trans-historical
• Genres undergo predictable development
• Genres are located in particular topic, structure and corpus
• Genre films share certain fundamental characteristic
• Genres have either a ritual or ideological function
• Genre critics are distanced from the practice of genre

Genre Theory

Daniel Chandler: Conventional definitions of "Genre" tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (Such as themes or settings) and/or form (Including structure and style) which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them

It is easy to underplay the differences within a genre. 

• Steve Neale declares that "Genres are instances of repetition and difference"
• He adds that "Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre" = Mere repetition would not attract an audience.

Texts often exhibit the conventions of more than one genre. 

• John Hartley notes that "The same text can belong to different genres in different countries or times" (O'Sullivan et al. 1994)

Traditionally, genres (Particularly literary genres) tended to be regarded as fixed forms, but contemporary theory emphasizes that both their forms and functions are dynamic

• David Buckingham argues that "Genre is not... simply "given" by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change" (Buckingham 1993)

Daniel Chandler 

"Every genre positions those who participate in a text of that kind: as interviewer or interviewee, as listener or storyteller, as a reader or a writer, as a person interested in political matters, as someone to be instructed or as someone who instructs; each of these positionings implies different possibilities for response and for action. Each written text provides a 'reading position' for readers, a position constructed by the writer for the 'ideal reader' of the text." (Kress 1988)

• Thus, embedded within texts are assumptions about the "Ideal reader", including their attitudes towards the subject matter and often their class, age, gender and ethnicity

"Users and Gratification" Theory

Research has identified many potential pleasures of genre, including the following:

• One pleasure may simply be the recognition of the features of a particular genre because of our familiarity with it. Recognition of what is likely to be important (And what is not), derived from our knowledge of the genre, is necessary in order to follow a plot
• Genres may offer various emotional pleasures such as empathy and escapism - A feature which some theoretical commentaries seem to lose sight of. Aristotle acknowledged the special emotional responses which were linked to different genres
• Deborah Knight notes that "Satisfaction is guaranteed with genre; the deferral of the inevitable provides the additional pleasure of prolonged anticipation" (Knight 1994)

"Repetition and Difference" Theory

• Steve Neale argues that pleasure is derived from "Repetition and Difference"; there would be no pleasure without difference. 
• We may derive pleasure from observing how the conventions of the genre are manipulated (Abercrombie 1996). 
• We may also enjoy the stretching of a genre in new directions and the consequent shifting of our expectations.
• Other pleasures can be derived from sharing our experience of a genre with others within an "Interpretive community" which can be characterized by its familiarity with certain genres (Daniel Chandler). 

Theorists

Tom Ryall - Genre provides a framework of structuring rules, in the shape of patterns/forms/styles/structures, which act as a form of ‘Supervision’ over the work of production of film-makers and the work of reading by the audience.

John Fiske - Defines genres as "Attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meanings that circulate in our culture for the convenience of both producers and audiences."

Steve Neale - Argues that Hollywood’s generic regime performs two inter-related functions:

1. To guarantee meanings and pleasures for audiences
2. To offset the considerable economic risks of industrial film production by  providing cognitive collateral against innovation and difference

Neale - Much of the pleasure of popular cinema lies in the process of “Difference in Repetition”, E.g. Recognition of familiar elements and in the way those elements might be orchestrated in an unfamiliar fashion or in the way that unfamiliar elements might be introduced

Rick Altman - Argues that genres are usually defined in terms of media language (SEMANTIC elements) and codes (In the Western, for example: Guns, horses, landscape, characters or even stars, like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood) or certain ideologies and narratives (SYNTACTIC elements)


SEMANTIC
This is concerned with the conventions of the genre that communicate to the audience such as character, locations, props, music, shooting style and other signifiers

SYNTACTIC
This concerned with the relation between these elements and the structure of narratives in genres, E.g. In a Romantic-Comedy, we expect the potential lovers to begin by not liking one another. There are then a series of events, meetings/problems, (Enigmas), which culminate in their successful relationship 

Representation Theory

Important Questions:

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

Areas to cover: Expect to make references to 4 or more ways in which your onscreen social group/concept/artist/character/ideas, is represented and how it was achieved using the following; 

Camera (Movement, angles, framing), Mise en scene, Themes, Editing, Lyrics, SFX (Special Effects)

Theories

Dyer (1977)

• Details that if we are told that we are going to see a film about an alcoholic, then we will know that the plot will follow a tale of either sordid decline or inspiring redemption
• He suggests this is a particularly interesting potential use of stereotypes, in which the character is constructed, at the level of dress, performance as a stereotype, but is deliberately given a narrative function that is not implicit in the stereotype, thus throwing into question the assumptions signalled by stereotypical iconography

Perkins (1979)

• On the other hand states that stereotyping is not a simple process. She identified that some of the many ways that stereotypes are assumed to operate aren't true
• They aren't always negative
• They aren't always about minority groups or those less powerful
• They are not always false - Some are based on empirical evidence
• They are not always rigid and unchanging
• Perkins argues that if stereotypes were always so simple then they would not work culturally and over time

Strinati (1995) - Post-Modernist

• Previously people were concerned with representing reality but now this gets mixed around and we end up with pastiche, parody and intertextuality
• "Reality is now only definable in terms of the reflections in the mirror"

Laura Mulvey (1975) - Feminist

• Argues that the dominant perspective is masculine
• The female body is displayed primarily for the male gaze in order to provide erotic, voyeuristic pleasure for the man
• Women are therefore, objectified by the camera lens and whatever gender the audience they are positioned in accept the male perspective

Berger (1972)

• "Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at."

Audience Perceptions of Representations

1) The Reflective view of representing

According to this view, when we represent something, we are taking its true meaning and trying to create a replica of it in the mind of our audience - like a reflection. This is the view that many people have of how the news works - the news producers take the truth of news events and simply present it to us as accurately as possible.

2) The Intentional view

This is the opposite of the Reflective idea. This time the most important thing in the process of representation is the person doing the representing - they are presenting their view of the thing they are representing and the words of images that they use mean what they intend them to mean.

3) The Constructionist view

This is really a response to what have been seen a weakness in the other two theories — constructionists feel that a representation can never just be the truth or the version of the truth that someone wants you to hear since that is ignoring your ability as an individual to make up your own mind and the influences of the society that you live in on the way that you do so.

Thinking about representation in this way takes into account the personal interpretations made by individuals and accepts that one representation may create different meanings for different audience members. This is a useful way to consider media texts – if the target audience for the text is taken into account when thinking about representations it can help with determining the different responses that texts can create.

Stuart Hall

Negotiated

Some people may take a negotiated reading and recognise that, for example, a film is made for commercial gain and offers a glamorous Hollywood version so does not accept the representations as reality but perhaps still buys into them as unattainable cultural ideals that are pleasurable to consume for entertainment

Oppositional

Some people may take an oppositional reading and completely reject the representations as they do not agree with the values they see embedded in the text.  For example, I got really annoyed by the representation
of women in the film 'The Social Network' as in many scenes women were there as sexual objects and this
really put me off the film as it was no longer a believable on screen world that I could engage with – it took  a perspective  that I rejected

Hegemony Versus Pluralism

Representation can be considered from two very different ideological standpoints

The hegemonic view of society Gramsci defined hegemony as the way in which those in power maintain their control. Dominant ideologies are considered hegemonic. An accepted hegemony, in our culture, is that the police are always right. 

Althusser argued that ideology is a force in it’s own right – ideologies reinforce ‘common sense’ assumptions, attitudes and expectations e.g. women are better parents, men are stronger, homosexuality isn't natural.

Pluralists argue, that the content of your media has more to do with  using common representations which are familiar and popular among your audience than about ‘pushing’ a particular ideology?

Audience Theory

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Hypodermic Model Theory

• Dating from the 1920's
• It is a crude model, and suggests that audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge the data

Basic principles of Hypodermic/Bullet Theory

Reflect Moment

• However, thinking about your own media product, what specific production decisions did you take to try and encourage your audiences to interpret and respond in a desired way and, how successful do you think you were in achieving it?

Used a specific effect, Teal Orange, to signify the Music Video narrative was entering a flashback. The brightness and colourful look of the effect suggests that the footage is of a happier time, when the protagonist of the Music Video and her lover were together, particularly when compared to the dull, Strife effect the footage of the present features.

• Reflecting on the content of your audience feedback, to what extent was your audience's interpretation of your text far from passive?

A fairly obvious visual difference between the two clips, and with the soldier present in the Past shots identifies them as flashbacks, meaning the audience doesn't have to work particularly hard to understand the narrative

Users and Gratification Theory

• Denis McQuail 1987

Blulmer and Katz stated that individuals might choose and use a text for the following purposes:

• Diversion = Escape from everyday problems and routine
• Personal Relationships = Using the media for emotional and other interaction e.g. Substituting soap operas for family life
• Personal Identity = Finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts
• Surveillance = Information which could be useful for living e.g. Weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains
• Zillman =  Has shown the influence of mood on media choice: Boredom encourages the choice of exciting content and stress encourages a choice of releasing content. The same TV programme may gratify different needs for different individuals. Different needs are associated with individual personalities, stages of maturation, backgrounds and social roles

Our music video offers the audience a Diversion, an escape from real life. Set in the 1940's (A world a way from the modern period), it features a narrative plot although familiar, is exclusive to a certain group of people. It is a highly idealised and very common, overly romantic, offering an escape from the boring.

Two-Step Flow-Lazarsfeld and Katz 1944

• Media information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience unmediated but is filtered through
• "Opinion Leaders" who then communicate it to their less active associates, over whom they have influence. The audience then mediate the information received directly from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by the Opinion Leaders, thus being influenced not by direct process, but by a Two-Step flow

Before we even began filming, we carried out Target Audience research, finding out what is expected from the Indie-Pop genre in terms of music videos. This we used as inspiration and an indicator of what we were doing and planning - Along the right track...

The popularity of a music video is suspect to how much coverage and exposure it gets from its audience. To tackle this issue, we carried out Target Audience research looking at how they access the Media and what kind of platforms they use to look at new things and connect with artists and the music industry e.g. YouTube. 

If the first few people who watch it aren't impressed, then it is less likely it will be recommended to others.

Reception Analysis - Audience as Individuals

• Preferred/Dominant Reading How the media producer wants you to consume the product
• Oppositional Reading Rejection - Alternative reading
• Negotiated Reading Acknowledge and modify preferred reading

Exam Question (Narrative)

Answer:

3) Apply theories of narrative to one of your productions (January 2011)

30 Minutes