The powerpoint below was looked at in class over the course of a couple of lessons. Read over it again - look at the notes you have mad and then look at the notes below, these are all things that were discussed in the lesson.
Feel free to comment on any elements of the lesson with your own ideas and analysis...
The first few slides were really to get you to start thinking about how the media has an impact on your life as well as others.
Most people would agree that as we get older the world is presented to us through the media - which suggests that it can inform the way we look at the world.
For most people, even those who were very young at the time, the events of September 11th in 2001 are considered to be the biggest event of a lifetime.
It's easy to take this for granted - but as students of the media we must consider:
Why is 9/11 presented as such a big news event?
There are lots of factors, here are some that were discussed:
- The scale of the event - 3000 dead
- It was an ongoing story or narrative that unfolded over time
- It was the start of lots of other narratives e.g. the hunt for Bin Laden, the War on Terror etc
- It was caused by people rather than natural disasters
- People could relate to both the tragedy and the humanity
- There were recognisable Heroes and Villains
- It affected people in Western civilisation - where Media corporations are based
- Conspiracy theories as to what really happened were rife
- It was presented on rolling news - there were updates constantly
All of these are understandable explanations - many were emphasised by the media, what is fascinating is how the events are still so memorable.
This can be attributed to a couple of factors.
- The images associated with 9/11 can be considered as 'Iconic' - that is to say that they are forever in our minds associated with the events of that morning - here are some images that most people would think of immediately when thinking of 9/11
- Whilst initially the tragedy was just reported on the broadcast news (TV and Radio) and the newspapers, it has since been the subject matter of many other types of media. These include feature films, documentaries even albums.
Text
Any media product can be considered as a media 'text'. The word is used to refer to anything that can be consumed by an audience and we will use the term to refer to any media product that we analyse. The first question of the AS exam will ask you to analyse an unseen text that they provide. This text can be from any of the following types of media:- Film extract or trailer
- TV extract
- CD or DVD covers
- Video Game extract
- Websites
- Newspaper
- Magazine Covers
- Advertisements - TV or Print
- Radio sequence
Audience
Anyone who watches, reads, plays or interacts with any media text is an audience or is part of an audience. They are us! The consumers of the media and there are hundred of millions of us all over the world. Arguably we could consider the Audience to be the most important part of media studies as without the audience, there would be no media. Throughout the history of the subject there have been countless theories based around the media'a relationship with its audience and these are constantly changing as the media itself changes - so much so that today, the term 'User' is just as appropriate if not more helpful as a term to describe those that consume the media. Specifically we will explore the following areas...- Audience Classification
- Audience Appeals
- Audience Responses
Genre
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This literally means 'Type' or 'Category'. Most types of media can be organised into separate genres. Most of us will have a favourite genre of movie or TV show but there are also genres of magazines, radio shows and stations as well as video games.
In media we look at genres in order to analyse the ingresients or characteristics that make up the genre which are called 'conventions'. These will be the elements that the audience has expectations of. Therefore, much of the work that we do on genre is about how various texts meet and challenge the conventions of the genre.
Narrative
This is the term we use to refer to story. Traditionally we might think of Films or TV shows telling stories, however pretty much all types of media will use our familiarity with stories, whether they are Video Games, Magazines or even Advertising. From the earliest school days we are told that all stories need: A beginning, middle and an end.But why do we accept this and take it for granted? Do stories have to be told in this order? Why do we expect our stories to have Heroes, Villains and Princesses? Whose point of view is a story told from and does this make a difference to the story? All these questions and more are pondered as we study the narrative of all types of media, which, again, comes down to meeting and challenging audience expectations.
Institution
An institution is the term used to refer to any organisation which produces media texts. An organisation, a corporation or even a worldwide conglomorate! The media as an industry or many industries, is bigger than ever and only getting bigger. In fact some Media Institutions are amongst some of the biggest companies on the planet. Just think of Apple or Disney or even Rupert Murdoch's enormous News Corp empire. Studying the institutions that produce the media texts that we analyse can help us understand the values and messages that are intended for an audience to receive.Representation
At it's simplest this can be understood as re-presentation and basically involves analysing how certain groups of people, places, issues and events have been depicted by the media. We know that it would be naive of us to think that whatever we saw in our papers and on our screens are a straightforward depiction of reality. In media studies we look at how these groups have been constructed by the media and what happens if they're representation is bias or inaccurate. In this way we look at how the media is responsible for contributing to stereotypes.
To be able to analyse a text you must first make sure that you are using the correct terminology - here are some of the key words covered in the lesson...
Signifier - the elements that can be described, the things that are there
Signified - the things associated with the signifier
two similar and equally important words are...
Denoted - the actual thing, something that is actually there
Connoted - what is associated with that thing, what is suggested or implied
these may sound a little but abstract and may not make complete sense until we start using them in some proper analysis of the advert.
First of all it's worth making a list of exactly what is Denoted, or to put it another way a list of all the Signifiers in the advert.
- A model in a dark suit leaning against a wall
- A bunch of pink roses
- The word 'Paris'
- The Yves Saint Laurent logo
- The Eiffel tower (out of focus) in the background
- A superimposed image of a perfume bottle
The second part of the paragraph is where you analyse and say what is associated - this should be longer than your description.
e.g.
"The blurred out image of the Eiffel Tower in the background of the main image is a signifier that this city is Paris, and this is reinforced by the name of the product which also appears on the advertisement.
Paris has connotations of love and romance, it is considered to be a passionate city and this ties in with the romantic theme of the advert. Paris also connotes high fashion which the producers of the text (YSL) would want the audience to associate with their product. The aim is for the advert to imply a Parisienne sophistication. Furthermore the fact that the Eiffel tower is not in focus signifies that whilst Paris may have some famous landmarks it is the people and the romance that define the city - suggesting that not only is there more to Paris than the tourist track, there is more to the perfume than merely being a fragrance."
Finally, we looked at the idea of Icons and people and events that could be considered as Iconic. A good example being Princess Diana in this photograph...
Just as we analysed the perfume advert we can analyse the image of Diana - however this time we will look at certain specifics such as body language - this includes things such as posture, gesture and facial expressions.
Before we can analyse the image we should consider the things that Diana was considered to be iconic of and what she represented to people - and then see if the photograph reinforces these ideas:
- Charity
- Compassion
- The 'People's Princess' - down to earth, relatable, accessible
- Royalty
- Motherhood
- Style/Beauty
- Betrayed, tragic life
The photo reinforces many of the ideas associated with Diana as the 'People's Princess' and with being forever in the public's mind as a compassionate patron of several charities. Look at the analysis below:
"Diana was considered by many to be a Royal apart from the rest of the family, rather than being seen as stuffy, emotionless, old fashioned and stuck-up, she was seen as being in touch with the people and down to earth, an accessible royal that was compassionate and human. This famous image reinforces many of these ideas. Her body language is relaxed and confident, she has her hands on her hips and a broad, warm and honest smile on her face - she seems unguarded, natural and completely at ease in her surroundings as she helps people. The hands on hips gesture and sleeves rolled up connote that she is ready for work and this combined with her protective vest signify that she is willinng to put herself in as much danger as anyone else. In the background a woman can be seen - not much can be seen of her but it is clear that she too is smiling. Again this reinforces the idea that Diana is much loved and welcomed wherever she goes and makes everyone feel comfortable and happy in her presence."The ideas and activities covered in these sessions are really to get us started on our journey through the AS course. You will use the terms and skills outlined here constantly throughout the course - but they will only improve with practice.
Next you need to learn how photographs can actually create mood or feeling through the way they are composed...
