Misfits summary (youth identity)

In terms of Misfits the director addressed youth identity in a different approach as the theme is strongly linked with super-naturalism. Young adults who have been put in a detention for doing a few minor crimes but each possesses a great powerful in which they all intend to use positively but however they find themselves falling into temptation of using them negatively. This episode shows us the maturity of these young adults as they take part in adult activities and Misfits in a way agrees with David Buckingham theory which basically states that youth identity is forever changing and this is an example of a different youth identity as it necessarily doesn't agree with the stereotype.

Inbetweeners summary (youth identity)

In the Inbetweeners teenagers are portrayed as these extremely immature individuals even though the stereotype that is adolescence equals young adults. In most films or tv shows teenagers are usually portrayed as mature young adults who therefore do adult things and take part in adult activities, and this desire to be an adult pushes them to become monsters metaphorically however in Inbetweeners we almost get the impression that these teenagers have entered the entered the early stages of their adolescence due to their great fascination with girls and sex.

They do end up breaking a few rules set by their teenagers but nothing which strikes fear into those surrounding them or inflicting moral panic in a community. This episode is a great example of all that I have mentioned above.

Attack the block summary (youth identity)

Attack the block: After having watched the full movie we understand these working class teenagers in this movie are portrayed as nuisances at the start of the film effectively agreeing with the stereotype. A problem arises as unknown creatures come  from outer space to invade this area and moral panic is inflicted among the locals but however the teenagers come together with the help of a few adults and eventually kill these creatures. This film portrays teenagers in a different light almost as heroes also contradicts the stereotype that teenagers and adults do not have a great understanding but we see teenagers and some adults work together to find a solution for a dilemma.

Improved/new shots

 These are 3 industry standard shots from which I attempted to incorporate in my documentary.

 These are the shots from my documentary:

This medium close up gives the viewer a sense that they are having a direct conversation with the star as he is directly talking to the camera.

This Extreme close up gives the viewer the impression that they can almost read into the stars thoughts due to the focus on his head.

The Cut in is all about body language and this shot lets the viewers know the stars current state of mind as any sort of nervousness will be detected.

These are three examples showing my intention to include diversity within my shots, also with these new shots I concentrated on getting the focus correct which in effect will enhance my documentary. 

photos I can include in my magazine article

The following images are  inspired from popular urban magazines such as XXL and dream.

The images on the bottom right of each image are examples from the magazines XXL and Dream of two well known rappers Eminem and French Montanna. The way in which these artists pose emphasizes on the genre and conforms to the audience the Rap genre. For example the photo which Eminem points at the camera this shows a sense of authority, almost as if he is communicating with the reader as he is directly pointing at someone and authority is one of the factors within Hip/Hop which is related to respect. 

The second image is an interview style shot as French Montanna's body is slightly angled to the left indicating he is facing the person asking him questions however the fact that he has his shades on this is an indication that he is not willing to reveal too much as we can only assess from what he tells the interviewer also his body language on the chair is pretty laid back and that is all the information we can pick up from him as the eyes give away a lot of a person's feelings. This suggests he is reserved here ad doesn't wish to reveal too much which is a personality trait linked to rapper's and the Hip Hop genre.

Finally the 3rd image of French Montanna who appears to have a laid back body language and sitting on an office chair looking directly at the camera with his shades on again. This type of pose is to emphasize his level of superiority as his body language is also directed straight at the camera in a manner almost ready for anything this comes it's way. "Superiority" is probably the main aspect in the Hip-Hop genre as the genre is based on out doing one another and reaching great levels.

More theorists

Jacques Lacan - 'the mirror stage' is when a child from 5-18months is fascinated by an image of one self which later changes as the individual grows older

Laura Mulvey - 'The male gaze' this is the idea that audiences are made to view films,music videos, etc from a hetrosexual man's point of view. Women are objectified, for example when a camera focuses on a woman's curves/clevage.

Michel Maffesoli - 'the time of tribes' also known as Neotribalism is the idea that human beings have evolved to live in tribal societies rather than a mass society so therefore they create their own tribals through social network.

Mikhail Bakhtin - is the idea that identity is never finalized so therefore forever changing 

Judith Butler - 'gender is what you do, not what you are' she stated that feminism made a mistake by classing women as a group who hold the same characteristics therefore meaning that each woman holds her individuals values.

More theories

Hypodermic Theory - is the theory that states mass media had a direct impact on audiences in the 1940's/50's and contributed to a lot of behaviour change, e.g. TV, RADIO.

Active audience - Is an audience which seeks to increase knowlege on an issue, organization or cause rather than waiting to receive information.


Passive audience - Is an audience who does not interact with the media and waits for their injection of information, one who does not have control of the media influence on them.

Documentary questionnaire

Documentary Questionnaire  (Please circle your answer)

Name: ________________

1. What gender are you?

§  Male

§  Female

2. How old are you?

§  12-15       

§  16-19

§  20-25

§  26-34

§  35+

3. When watching a documentary which do you prefer to be?

§  Entertained

Or

§  Informed

4. What genre of documentaries interests you the most?

§  Sport

§  Music

§  Crime

§  Films

§  Wildlife

§  Politics

§  Food

5. What time of the day would you watch a documentary?

§  Morning

§  Afternoon

§  Evening

6. Name your favourite documentary

---------------------------------------------------------------

7.  Which do you prefer?

§  Film

Or

§  Documentary

8.  What duration of documentary do you prefer?

§  Long

Or

§  Short

9. How often do you watch documentaries?

§  Daily

§  Weekly

§  Monthly

§  Yearly

10.  What do you prefer in an interview?

§  Interview

§  Voiceover

Or

§  Both

   A questionnaire based on a documentary will give me a rough idea of people views towards documentaries. Once I have gathered the results these may help me to make adjustments or improvements to my documentary in order for it to be successful.

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Response to Homework

Adulthood (2008) - This clip shows us a negative representation of teenagers. We see teenagers comiting all types of crime from violence to robbery,  most of the negative behave is towards one another so the director is implying teenagers have minimal respect amongst each other. However this may raise a few questions like, do all teenagers really behave like this? Is this an adult representation of teenagers?

The key narrative in this film is teenagers which are in a war with themselves, also trying to reach adulthood still young. Furthermore the gender focused on in this movie are males, males are represented as having minimal respect towards females as we see in this clip actor 'Adam Deacon' who shows a lack of respect towards a female. Also half of their actions are down to a symbol of masculinity as they are portrayed to think it is a "Man's" thing to behave badly.

Audiences watching this will just have a negative perspective of teenagers, this can be linked to the Gerbner theory (1986) as it states people who watch too much tv/films over estimate crime. This will most likely inflict fear into certain audiences who watch a lot of movies that represent teenagers like this.

Coach Carter - This is however a different representation of teenagers, somewhat positive. These teenagers are represented as teenagers who are trying to build a better future for themselves however frustrated with the obstacles they are facing. This clip says a lot about the concept of Identity because we do not see these teenagers acting in a malicious type of way but however verbally find solutions to their problems so therefore teenagers are not these violent thugs as portrayed in most movies.

The narrative in this movie is mainly around "the rights of passage", these teenagers are seeking for a voice so they can let people know of the obstacles they face. In this clip we see mainly males and this tells us that male teenagers are the ones who face the most problems in society and are under a lot of pressure.

In terms of this Clip/film this may change ones opinion on teenagers and see them in a more positive light also it may also make adults with less knowledge on teenagers feel sorry for them instead of being in fear.

Homework (CASE STUDIES)

Case Studies

Cover two media
Past and present/contemporary (last few years)
- e.g. youth/gender
Identify key themes
- How is this text about the construction
of identity?
- What does this text say about the construction of identity?
- What are the key narratvies and discourses?
coming of age/ rites of passage/ youth and protest / adolescence versus adulthood or childhood
- How does it represent youth/gender?
- How do audiences respond to these representations?
What are the effects of these representations?


ANSWERS ON THE FOLLOWING POST

shots I am yet to include

shot of a bus
motorway panel
postcode panel
cut in of hands
a well known building
medium close up friends
other videos
landscape
shot in a car or bus
studio shot
shot of him writing lyrics

After having watched several documentaries linked to the hip hop genre and done several research I found they included a lot of the factors above and I intend to make my project as realistic as possible so I will include these in my documentary and show images and examples on later blog posts.

Magazine connotation and denotation

Editing progression

I have made some progression with my editing but however I have tried to work away from the ideal visual structure of a documentary and towards the more modern day structure of documentaries. I have added effects which improve the image quality like the cool stones effect in the following screenshot:

This not only improves the image quality but also gives the documentary a 'movie feel' even though what is being displayed is real life and we witness a similar effect in the Wretch 32 documentary:

Furthermore still sticking to a documentary structure I have given it my own input by putting for a example the test card: 

Also I have also put the 'Recording effect' is this just gives my programme it's own identity so a viewer that has watched this documentary will expect that effect to be there on a following documentary.

Examples of documentaries in my Genre

These three documentaries are examples of what I am aiming to achieve by the time I finish my documentary. They are all documentaries which fall into the Urban/Rap/Hip-Hop genre which is what my documentary is based on. I have included similar shots and have tried to make sure that my documentary also has the same feel to it as these documentaries so a viewer can recognise all aspects of my documentary within seconds of watching it.

Aspects within Media linked with a show

Form and style - For example if we look at Football Focus it has it's unique theme such as the use of the color red and Yellow, these colors has grown as apart of the title sequence and the program and therefore has become apart of it's identity. Once a viewer sees these colors they almost immediately recognize that the show they are watching and that is is Football Focus.

Convention - In terms of convention , Eastenders consists of all the aspects expected from their Genre in terms of what the program represents. It is a show based in the east end of London, so immediately viewers are expecting to see a wide range of nationalities as London is multicultural. Also the English culture consists of things such as: pubs, markets, football supporters, etc. So these are some of the things included within the show enhancing it's realism.

Signification - If week look at 'Top Boy' there are many signifiers which may seem ordinary but once signified there can be many definitions for them. For example in Top Boy we see a lot of characters with large black bomber jackets, as a signifier it is simply a large black bomber jacket but once signified the majority of viewers would associate it with individuals involved or affiliated with gang culture as this is what they wear in real life.

Semiotics = Codes, symbols

Signifier = What it is

Signified = The meaning individuals give to them

Theories

Giroux (1997) - (empty category) Is the idea that youth identity is an empty category which can not be truly defined, as over time we have witnessed in movies a portrayal of the youth but from an adults point of view.

Acland (1995) - (ideology of protection) This is the idea that the youth need constant surveillance in order to be kept away from trouble for example ASBOs allows the state to have more control.

Gramsci (1971) -(cultural hegemony) This is the Idea that one social class (predominantly the middle class) who dominate society by portraying their values and lifestyles appear normal and common sense


Cohen (1972) - this is the idea that a moral panic is inflicted within society by making a certain group subject of negativeness. Essentially a threat to society so therefore their nature will be portrayed in a specific way.


McRobbie (2004) - a violence towards the working class with a real motive in order to socially reproduce. Emphasise middle class dominance

Gerbner (1986) - 'mean world syndrome' this is the idea that people who watch a lot of tv over estimate levels of crime. For example news reports, dramas, films all hold different representations of crime. This has a great influence on their perception of the world and this is called the Cultivation Theory.


In 'Eden Lake' we see teenagers are portrayed almost like monsters as we witness them murdering and behaving in a negative way. In this film teenagers are more portrayed more like brutal criminals  who will get their own way by any means rather than nuisances which tend to step out of line every now and then. The Cohen theory can be linked to this film as we  witnessed a 'moral panic' The teenagers became a threat to society and a sense of fear was inflicted within society towards teenagers.We could also apply the Gerbner theory to this film as we could say a film like this is an example of an aspect which contributes to the 'mean world syndrome'. Viewers that watch a lot of films like this will have an idea in their heads that this is how teenagers are in real life.

In Harry Brown the teenagers are portrayed to us as opponents towards any adults or elderly people. Within the film we also see the level of crime increase from verbal abuse towards adults and the use of fire arms. However it is not as gruesome as 'Eden Lake' instead we see a lot of adults/elderly people being beaten up in the film. We can link the Gramsci theory to this film as it may raise questions that, Is this really the way teenagers are in real life? or is it just an adult representation of how teenagers are? We also witness one of the most influencial teenagers being arrested and this links to the Acland theory, and raises the question that, is prison the only way teenagers can be controlled?

Theorists

David Buckingham - Believes that youth identity and childhood are forever changing so therefore it is non existent e.g. children in the Victorian days compared to children now are very different as now most children have a direct contact with media because of the new age technology. In the Victorian days children as young as 10 would be forced to work.



David Guanlett - His theory is based on the idea that humans now create their own media rather than swallow whatever they are given .e.g. sites such as YouTube allows us to literally create our own media so other people can watch

Mood Board

This is a visual representation of how I intend for my documentary to come out. These are the type of shots I will attempt to duplicate in my documentary. The images relate to the music genre my documentary is based on and I have taken a few shots from documentaries of all these UK artists that I particularly liked.

A few screenshots my documentary so far

Logo for my show

This is the logo for my show so far and I have produced this on photoshop, I have tried to implement a urban feel to the logo as it is a representation of what my show consists of also so viewers are familiar with the name of the show and where the the content on the show originates from. In doing this it has also aided my aim to be able to completely understand the mechanics of photoshop. For example if I compare it to the 'Noisey' logo, they have chosen to include a clip of the Star being documented and have put a sepia effect over it. This gives their show a unique identity as it relates to the content of the show also the simple text they have chosen to use also has an impact.

Self analysis

WHAT WENT WELL (WWW): So far I know I am up to up to date as I have already chosen the question I'm going to base my coursework on and managed to complete some footage furthermore I have done some necessary research in regards to key media terms and relevant information which relates to what we're doing in class. I hope to keep this up. EVEN BETTER IF (EBI): I would have liked to had finished shooting all necessary footage for my for my documentary by now but unfortunately the people helping me have delayed this. Furthermore personally it would be even better if in the next three weeks I managed to fully grasp the mechanics of Adobe Photoshop which will make life easier when I start my magazine piece

Key Media terms

Surveillance - The need to know what is happening in the real world This is something we witness on TV dramas as they attempt to make it as real as possible and include events that take place in the real world.


Cultural Assimilation - When ones culture comes to resemble another ones culture e.g. In fresh prince of Bel-Air Jeffrey the maid is portrayed as this well spoken,educated man and comes from a good background, effectively holds qualities of a White man however the Black people on this show are portrayed as people who come from troubled backgrounds, dress very casually and are a nuisance.

 Cultural Pluralism - Small groups within an ever-changing society who manage to keep hold of their identity e.g.a white family who have moved from the north of England to London which is known for it's multiculturalism, but they manage to keep the identity that they developed from where they lived. 


Multiculturalism - Living in a society made up of different cultures e.g. a society made up of Asians, Africans, Caribeans, Americans who all live together.

Uses and Gratifications Theory (UTG)

This is the theory used to match up the why and how specific media is matched up with certain needs. In other words focusing on the audience we intend to deliver the content to and choosing what type of media would be appropriate in order to successfully deliver the content. Furthermore it is the psychological effect that media has on the viewers and this theory focuses on this aspect. In summary it is ideally the motive behind the choice of media that suites each individual.

This is England analysis

At the start of the film we are introduced to this innocent boy ‘Shaun’ who is still grieving the death of his father, he lives the life of an average English kid, going to school everyday, playing with his friends, etc. At school things start to go wrong for him as he is effectively bullied for many reasons such as; the clothes he wears, his appearance, hairstyle and is teased about his the death of his father. Shaun is more and more sensitized; frankly he can’t take any more of it. Due to the absence of his father he seeks help preferably from a male figure in order to resolve these issues he is having at school, at this point his relationship with his mother starts to deteriorate as she simply wouldn’t understand and this foreshadows what was yet to happen. In seeking for this male father figure ‘Shaun’ more or less loses motivation and at this pivotal point he come across a lad name ‘Woody’ who is much older than ‘Shaun’ and is also apart of a gang who all represent the same identity ‘Skinheads’. As we understand ‘Shaun’ had lost nearly all motivation and was really looking for help or someone to protect so as he met ‘Woody’ which introduced him to his gang ‘Shaun’ saw this as an opportunity to belong to something and from this point onwards he knew he was not going to be bullied anymore. He is suddenly to a foreign lifestyle, which he had no knowledge on before and not suited to someone of his age. They take him to parties, they smoke, drink, meets and make him center of attention effectively restoring his confidence/motivation in life that he had recently lost and he no longer resembles the ‘Shaun’ at the start of the film. This shows the audience how huge the impact that a persons surrounding can have on them to the point that they become a completely new being. We start to see a personality emerge out of ‘Shaun’ as he becomes deeply involved in the activities his friends take part in and the audience see how happy he becomes as apart of this gang which he sees as a family. He starts to joke, speak his mind, socialize, etc. This tells us although people portray gangs always in a negative image these are the positives, this sense of family, love and unite are the reasons why people join these gangs.

A2 Final Task

7. An extract from an original documentary TV programme, lasting approximately five minutes, together with two of the following three options: • a radio trailer for the documentary; • a double-page spread from a listings magazine focused on the documentary; • a newspaper advertisement for the documentary.

Falklands War

In 1982 Argentinians invade the Falkland Islands. A remote UK colony in the South Atlantic. This lead to a brief bitter war. At the time Argentina were in a financial crisis. By doing this they would reclaim sovereignty. UK had ruled the island over 150 years and reacted to this. Prime Minister (Margaret Thatcher) at the time said "1,800 falklanders were of British tradition and stock". Instructions were sent to reclaim the island. The fight that took place resulted in 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen losing their lives and 3 Falkland Islanders. Both leaders at the time were nationalists. Margaret Thatcher in most of her speeches spoke very proudly of Britain and how superior Britain was however failing to mention the problems the country was facing such as immigration, racial conflicts, social unrest and confrontation with the trade unions. She referred to the Argentinians as 'robbers' that dared to invade British territory. The Falklands War almost Britain's last attempt to keep hold of it's precious reputation.

Documentary Reasearch

Coronation Street

Coronation Street seems to focus on the realism of life for example the majority of scenes are set in homes with everyday appliances. Furthermore various conversations are on going to let the viewers know what is going on in the plot.

However there seems to be a lack of excitement and fairly mellow in my opinion but this could relate to where coronation street is set, telling us that dramatic situations do not occur on a regular basis.

Finally I did not see a variety of scenes as most of them included a setting, a few characters and an ongoing conversation this suggests that the whole show is based on the source conversation to foreshadow any oncoming bad events.