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Showing posts from January, 2018

Representing Ourselves

1) Read the article and summarise each section in one sentence, starting with the section 'Who are you?' 'Who are you' - We are all involved in constructing an image to communicate our identity. 'I think therefore I am' - At one time in the not-too-distant past, our identity was seen to be firm, fixed and pre- determined. How we presented ourselves was based on the social constructs. 'The rise of the individual' - During the second half of the 20th century, people began defining themselves as individuals, and so wanted to express their ‘difference’ and ‘uniqueness’; they were empowered by being encouraged to ‘be themselves’. 'From citizen to consumer' - The idea that identity could be constructed in terms of an externalised image came in the post-industrial consumer boom of the early 20th century. 'Branding and lifestyle' - marketing and the importance of brands. Branding is the association of a ‘personality’ with a product.

Learning Response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential). WWW - Some interesting points, quite well argued. EBI - More audience theories need to be covered in Q3 2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment. 1) Conglomerate ownership - Allows them to dominate media industries through sheer size and power. 2) For: It is regulated by Ofcom so therefore maintaining standards and providing audiences somewhere to complain or raise objections to content. Against: BBC and Channel 4 shouldn’t produce popular programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing as this is unfair on commercial broadcasters struggling to survive in the digital age. Instead PSB channels should focus on programming that isn’t profitable so therefore not produced by commercial rivals. 3)Hypodermic needle theory – largely discredited but pe

Feminist Theory

1) What are the two texts the article focuses on? - Pan Am  - Beyoncé  2) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)? Pan Am - It is interesting to note that this first image of the Pan Am stewardesses is one which is highly constructed and mediated, an image whose purpose is to be admired and aspired to by women, and visually enjoyed by men . Beyoncé - Particularly in her video "why don't you love me" Beyoncé is presented to be a feminine object who is there for the 'male gaze' and in a similar way Pan Am does it uses the past periods of the 50's and 60's and the clothes they used to wear as costumes in their videos to represent themselves. 3) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form? I n my opinion they show that there has been a clear improvement from the past, when there was a clear separation of the sexe s and eve

Introduction to feminism

1) Why did Laura Bates start the Everyday Sexism project? Laura Bates started the everyday sexism project when she had previously been catcalled, which she didn't seem to acknowledge until it happened once again when she was on the bus the same day and noticed how many women experience this form of violation which is taken so lightly by society and is seen as a joke or even a ritual of some groups of men. She says that she accepts that pay has become more equal and women have been raising their voices for this but have never once began to talk about or face the issue, which is this behaviour of some men and how easily accepted it has become that it is seen as the norm now. 2) How does the Everyday Sexism project link to the concept of post-feminism? Is feminism still required in western societies? I think that there are two sides to this issue of whether or not we are in a post feminist state. One side being that for some people it has become a trend to say that they're a

Representation

1) Why is representation an important concept in Media Studies? Representation is an extremely important concept in Media Studies, as it can help tell a story line or allow something to unfold quickly by using the links or stereotypes, which the producers already believe that the audience have about people or things. 2) How does the example of Kate Middleton show the way different meanings can be created in the media? The example of Kate Middleton is excellent as from past experiences we can tell that using the same image the media could have portrayed that in very different ways, instantly I can see that she could be portrayed to be classy and having a drink or could just as easily be labelled as irresponsible and to be a drunk or alcoholic. 3) Summarise the section 'The how, who and why of media representation' in 50 words. Producers are the ones who decide the representations and they will consider: -The expectations and needs of the target audience. -The l

Introduction to Representation

1) List the different people / groups represented in the trailer. Men Women Americans 2) For each group you identify, decide whether the representation is a dominant or alternative portrayal. Explain why you think this. Men-Dominant Men are seen to have a dominant portrayal, as they are seen to take advantage of the women in the film, fighting to save the woman and being aggressive. The main Character is seen to be strong, brave and seems to be better then all the other characters, effectively it shows that the main character is a man and has to save his daughter who is seen to be the "princess" who needs to be saved. Women-Dominant The stereotype for women is that they are vulnerable and require help to be saved. In the movie her father instructs her to do some things, which would help him to find her so that he is able to rescue her. The daughter is seen as weak and happened to find herself in exactly the situation which her father said she would be in and ha

Public Service Broadcasting

The British television industry is largely driven by public service broadcasting - the traditional TV channels that still account for the majority of TV viewing in this country. These channels are regulated by Ofcom and have to deliver a certain amount of specific content in order to fulfil the terms of their license. Public service broadcasting: notes Public service broadcasting refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve commercial interests. The media regulator Ofcom requires certain TV and radio broadcasters to fulfil certain requirements as part of their license to broadcast. All of the BBC's television and radio stations have a public service remit. The history of the BBC The BBC was created in 1922 in response to new technology – the radio (or wireless as it was called then). The BBC was set up to “inform, educate and entertain” – which is still its mission statement to this day.  The BBC funding model: