http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-09-16/meet-the-cast-of-doctor-foster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmOiPnlxCNk
Thursday 26 November 2015
Thursday 12 November 2015
2 new blog posts please
https://highdownschool.showmyhomework.co.uk/teacher/homeworks/9809302-english-representation-of-brutishness
Please go to the link to find your homework and complete the 2 new blog posts.
Please go to the link to find your homework and complete the 2 new blog posts.
Wednesday 11 November 2015
Identities and the Media How do the contemporary media represent the identities of different groups
How do the contemporary media represent the identities of different groups in society - and how have those identities changed over time? How far is identity being mediated by contemporary technologies and practices - and what are the social implications of this? Media teacher Jacqui Shirley explores the debates you'll be addressing in your A2 course.
The OCR A2 exam Critical Perspectives in Media addresses the issue in one of its pre-set topics, Media and Collective Identity. This should be studied through at least two media, and a range of texts, industries, audiences and debates.
Identity is the way we see ourselves, and the way different groups in society see us. It's the story we tell about ourselves, and we constantly update and change it. Identity isn't fixed, but changes over time and in different situations, and we can have multiple identities. For example: our online identity can be very different from the identity we have at college or at home. Would you really want your mum to see all of your online identities?
Individuals can use a range of media with which to identify, and to conceive versions of themselves; so the media can be seen as a set of resources or tools to inform personal identity and also to represent or display it. The way in which people use and respond to the media can become part of the way they construct their individual identity.
Identity issues
There are debates about the power relationship between the media and individuals. Some conventional identities are more acceptable than others, and conforming to a socially acceptable identity can allow people to 'fit in' to society. In this case, it could be argued that audiences passively accept media representations and ideologies, and use them to construct their identity.
There are many arguments about the influence of the media on young men and women's sexuality in an increasingly sexualised culture. Has this led to more liberal and open attitudes to sex and sexuality, or has it been a step backwards in terms of male and female sexuality and sexual identity?
There are many arguments about the influence of the media on young men and women's sexuality in an increasingly sexualised culture. Has this led to more liberal and open attitudes to sex and sexuality, or has it been a step backwards in terms of male and female sexuality and sexual identity?
Post-feminist theory has explored this issue and discussed the influence of the media on sexual identity. Many post-feminists argue that in contemporary media gender roles are less rigid, and women can more easily define their own identity. Through the interactivity of digital media, audiences can increasingly select, manipulate or reject media representations, and thus can create their own identities. Do you think audiences accept media ideologies without question, or do they select and adapt them to construct their own identity?
There have been many high-profile feminist campaigns in recent years, such as the website everydaysexism.com which provides a space for women to record sexist harassment they experience day to day, or the fantastically-named Twitter Youth Feminist Army. These examples suggest that individuals are actively responding to and manipulating the media to create their own voices and, in this case, challenging more mainstream representations and ideologies about gender.
Blurred lines?
The media are now more varied and diverse. People no longer define themselves as having a single identity - if they ever did - and today our stories and identities are complex and often contradictory. Audiences recognise that there is a wide range of resources to use in constructing their own identity; they are no longer restricted to a single stereotype, archetype or persona with which to identify.
Multichannel TV now offers us access to a huge choice of TV viewing and formats from across the world that we can watch on our TVs, tablets and phones, plus huge amounts of user-generated content online. But does 'lots' mean variety - or more of the same? How do different audiences use and respond to this choice? For example, Black British actors still say they have to travel to the US to get the serious or lead roles that UK TV and film doesn't offer them. How do Black and ethnic minority audiences use non-UK drama to construct their identity in the absence of representations in mainstream UK TV and film? It could also be argued, despite our apparent diversity, that there are still only a relatively narrow set of representations in the media, which circulate repeated ideas about, for example, sexuality and ethnicity. Do you think the media offers only a limited range of identities? Do some identities dominate, and are some marginalised?
Queer theory explores alternative representations that challenge dominant ideologies about sexual identity. For example, theorist Judith Butler argued that individuals can create, 'gender trouble' where they challenge existing dominant gender identities. The music industry is a good example of this. Macklemore had mainstream success with his song 'Same Love' that celebrated gay relationships in romantic soft focus, and supported the campaign for Washington Referendum 74 to legalise same-sex marriage. Music artists have a long history of exploring gender and sexual identities, including punk in the 1970s, the Riot Grrrl Manifesto in the 1990s and the recent emergence of Frank Ocean as an openly gay rapper.
Digital differences
Digital media and the internet play an important role in forming identity because they have changed the roles and relationships between audience and producer. Online technologies have enabled audiences to participate more actively, to play a bigger role in constructing their identity, exercise more choice in the media they use, and also find new ways to display their public identity.
Web 2.0 has enabled active audiences to interact with and comment on the media and to become producers themselves. New Media theorist David Gauntlett argues that Web 2.0 platforms enable audiences to represent themselves. So rather than providing access to a narrow range of institutions, the media landscape is now a criss-crossing web of different connections in which audiences can choose to participate.
The media now also enable audiences to share their identities online, for example, by setting up their own profiles and home pages, and participating online in many different friendship, social or interest groups. Online technology can also contribute to the construction and display of collective identities. It enables individuals to form communities that have a shared identity, for example, based on political values or ethnicity. Social media has a particularly important role in this respect, and there are many recent examples of people using the media to create collective identities and organise campaigns. To take one notable example: 17-year-old Fahma Mohamed's hugely influential online petition which led Michael Gove to invite all schools in the UK to take action to educate girls against female genital mutilation.
Such campaigns have the potential to exist 'outside' mainstream mass media, and to offer the tools for alternative or challenging identities. The Guardian newspaper became involved in Fahma's campaign. This could suggest that social media can empower individuals and groups and give them access to more powerful mainstream media. Or it could indicate that social media still need established mainstream media to really access power. Do you think technology is a threat to the construction of identities, particularly for younger age groups - or has it had a positive influence?
Repetition or challenge?
Finally we need to consider the values and ideologies that are communicated by these identities. Some will reinforce dominant ideologies in society and the media, others will challenge. Indeed, one question might be whether a single ideology does in fact dominate. Do you think the media are a progressive force, communicating new ideas - as seen with Oscars this year for 12 Years a Slave and the female-led Gravity? Or are they still dominated by traditional, more conservative values? Only one female director has ever won an Oscar, and Lupita Nyong'o is only the sixth African American woman to win an Academy Award.
The topic of Identities and the Media gives you ample opportunity to explore the important issues and debates current in the media today, and to think about your own relationship with the media. It explores the role of, and relationship between, the media and audience, power and resistance, dominant and marginalised identities, fluid and queer identities and the important role of social media. What story do you tell about yourself in the media you consume and produce, and in the way you use and respond to them?
Follow it up
Post-feminist theory
Post-feminism argues that feminism has now achieved its goals of combating sexism and inequality, and is now surplus to requirements. Arising out of a backlash against feminism, it has been defined in many different ways, from a return to more conventional gender roles, to an attack on extreme forms of feminist thought; in its crudest form, it suggests that the role of women is no longer a cause for concern, and that political change is no longer required. In terms of popular culture, characters such as Bridget Jones, Carrie Bradshaw, Rihanna or Lady Gaga have been described as post-feminist.
Post-feminism argues that feminism has now achieved its goals of combating sexism and inequality, and is now surplus to requirements. Arising out of a backlash against feminism, it has been defined in many different ways, from a return to more conventional gender roles, to an attack on extreme forms of feminist thought; in its crudest form, it suggests that the role of women is no longer a cause for concern, and that political change is no longer required. In terms of popular culture, characters such as Bridget Jones, Carrie Bradshaw, Rihanna or Lady Gaga have been described as post-feminist.
Judith Butler and gender trouble
Butler argues that ideas about gender - what it is to be a man or woman - are socially constructed; they are created by society. They are not natural or fixed and gender is a learned role that people choose to play of perform. This means that people can experiment with and challenge traditional gender roles and create what Butler called 'gender trouble'. The media often communicates dominant gender roles but can also be a place where audiences and producers can create gender trouble. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, Routledge, New York 1990
Butler argues that ideas about gender - what it is to be a man or woman - are socially constructed; they are created by society. They are not natural or fixed and gender is a learned role that people choose to play of perform. This means that people can experiment with and challenge traditional gender roles and create what Butler called 'gender trouble'. The media often communicates dominant gender roles but can also be a place where audiences and producers can create gender trouble. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, Routledge, New York 1990
David Gauntlett on Web 2.0
Web 2.0 has enabled active audiences to interact with and comment on the media and to become producers, as well as consumers. Gauntlett argues that Web 2.0 platforms enable audiences to represent themselves. This gives audiences an active role in creating their own identity. www.theory.org.uk
Web 2.0 has enabled active audiences to interact with and comment on the media and to become producers, as well as consumers. Gauntlett argues that Web 2.0 platforms enable audiences to represent themselves. This gives audiences an active role in creating their own identity. www.theory.org.uk
Thursday 5 November 2015
Research websites
Please use the websites below to start investigating what others have found out about your research topic area.
Details to login to the English and Media centre website:
Media Magazine:
Username: EnglishHighdown
Password: Highdown
Wednesday 4 November 2015
Stereotypes
- Before you really begin to analyse your texts you need to think about what the word 'stereotype' means to you.
- To begin your research you need to start thinking about what you expect to find. What do you expect to be represented by your chosen social group? For example: Do you expect all young parents to be depicted as living off the state with no hopes for their future? Do you expect all female police officers to be portrayed as masculine or depicted as vulnerable to their male counterparts?
- After you have done this you can then research to investigate whether your expectations of representation are met or whether something more complex is going on...
A reminder about the nature of contemporary texts
Just a quick reminder about the dates of your texts:
Whichever topic candidates write about, they are expected to provide emphasis upon the contemporary media landscape, predominantly using examples from the past five years.
There should be reference to historical context and examples but these should not dominate the overall answer.
Theory needs to be present, whichever topic is chosen. This needs to be accurate, so that the ideas referenced are not ascribed to an academic or critic who holds totally different views.
Relevant examples in some detail should be used to support points throughout the answer and these should come from more than one medium.
Tuesday 3 November 2015
Individual Study Areas
Please put a post up about your individual study areas.
Please say what area you are studying, which two mediums you are going to use and what texts you are already starting to analyse.
Here's a quick reminder of the type of exam question you could be asked:
Media and Collective Identity
6 Discuss the contemporary representation of a nation, region or social group in the media, using
specific textual examples from at least two media to support your answer. [50]
7 How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time ? Refer to at least
two media in your answer. [50]Here is the examiner's feedback from the Summer 2015 series of exams:
Media and collective identity was by far the most popular topic with youth, gender and British Muslims dominating answers. The best answers were able to discuss and apply concepts such as mediation, stereotyping, gatekeeping, construction, masculinity and femininity. A number of candidates referred to hegemony but a few found it difficult to articulate the theory and so their argument became convoluted and difficult to follow. For youth, Quadrophenia was the most popular historical example and Fish Tank the contemporary example. Weaker candidates tended to describe scenes and state that this is a negative representation, stronger candidates were able to discuss the nuances of the films, offering a far more complex discussion of media construction of collective identity. Whilst some candidates over-relied on two contrasting or historically distanced texts, others were trying to work with too many and subsequently the scrabble to include all of the texts studied meant that academic theory was overlooked and arguments were not fully explored, so there is a balance to strike for this topic.
General advice for section B is consistent with previous sessions – answers should be balanced, academically informed, current and forward thinking and, wherever possible, a sense of candidates’ reflecting on their own media culture should emerge in their writing.
Wednesday 21 October 2015
Catching up
Today is all about catching up. Please use this time to ensure all of your posts about your different representations are up to A2 standard, use RAILING to help you make sure you have given all aspects of the representation consideration and detailed thought.
If you feel that this is complete you can then begin to gather evidence from your two chosen mediums for your individual choice of group.
If you feel that this is complete you can then begin to gather evidence from your two chosen mediums for your individual choice of group.
What is celebrity?
This is the current definition of celebrity:
A famous person, especially in entertainment or sport: he became a sporting celebrity
The state of being well known: his prestige and celebrity grew
Late Middle English (in the sense 'solemn ceremony'): from Old French celebrite or Latin celebritas, from celeber, celebr- 'frequented or honoured'
How do you think we should define celebrity?
A famous person, especially in entertainment or sport: he became a sporting celebrity
The state of being well known: his prestige and celebrity grew
Late Middle English (in the sense 'solemn ceremony'): from Old French celebrite or Latin celebritas, from celeber, celebr- 'frequented or honoured'
How do you think we should define celebrity?
Thursday 15 October 2015
Representation of 'men' in male magazines
Below is a list of Male magazines you could investigate:
A
A
B
C
D
E
F
I
J
K
L
M
N
P
R
S
U
Z
Wednesday 7 October 2015
Thursday 24 September 2015
Collective Identity of mothers
You Tube Video
How does your example compose, light, write, frame, crop, caption, brand, target and censor its representation?
Composition
The 'mother' represented in this video is composed to look very glamorous. Her hair is styled, dyed and brushed to perfection giving a very perfect representation of motherhood.
We first see her without makeup, but with manicured nails.
Her setting within her bedroom is full of muted greys, browns and neutral tones. The calm atmosphere this creates gives the impression of a very collected mother. The lack of clothes strewn over the floor or children's toys everywhere again makes this a very stylised representation. The only hint that this mother may not be entirely organised are the ruffled bed sheets or an unmade duvet.
The setting of the kitchen is likewise very tidy, clean and glossy looking. The flooring is wood, probably oak and buys into the expensive lifestyle that this 'mother' leads.
Lighting:
Natural lighting is used whenever possible. Natural light shines on the 'mother's' face to give a flattering look. In the bedroom the lighting is very natural shining directly on her face, to the extent that despite the lack of makeup this mother looks refreshed and not tired.
The lighting used in the kitchen consists of natural lighting, but also artificial, mid-level warm lighting under the kitchen cupboards.
Writing
The representation of this 'mother' is obviously very artificial as her words have been semi-scripted. There has been time to consider what she wants to say to her audience and the type of 'mother' that she wants to present. She drops in the type of milk she drinks, 'almond' and the range of fruit that she has styled on her porridge.
She uses the personal pronoun 'you' to talk directly to her audience and try to represent herself as a 'normal' mother, one who can communicate and is open and friendly.
Her conversations with her children are calm, friendly and shows clips of her trying to educate her
Framing
The camera angles used are either mid shots or high angle shots. Both shot choices are very flattering for the subject
Cropping/Editing/Sensoring
The 'day in the life' of this you tube video is highly edited. We jump cut from Anna with no make up to her introducing what she had for lunch. This again is a highly stylised representation of a 'mother' almost a 'yummy mummy' as none of the process and daily routine has been included,
Branding
The Saccone Joly's are their own brand. They have built their own empire of distinct You Tube videos. Within the first 40 seconds of the video both Costa and Buxton are used to show the brands of coffee and water this mother drinks. Mid-range costing products are used rather than a glass of tap water and an instant coffee brand.
However, the branding within the video such as Ocado and Duchy both give more evidence to the representation of 'yummy mummy'.
Targeting
The demographic of the Anna Saccone videos would possibly be other mothers who are interested in her children and her daily routine. However,
How does your example compose, light, write, frame, crop, caption, brand, target and censor its representation?
Composition
The 'mother' represented in this video is composed to look very glamorous. Her hair is styled, dyed and brushed to perfection giving a very perfect representation of motherhood.
We first see her without makeup, but with manicured nails.
Her setting within her bedroom is full of muted greys, browns and neutral tones. The calm atmosphere this creates gives the impression of a very collected mother. The lack of clothes strewn over the floor or children's toys everywhere again makes this a very stylised representation. The only hint that this mother may not be entirely organised are the ruffled bed sheets or an unmade duvet.
The setting of the kitchen is likewise very tidy, clean and glossy looking. The flooring is wood, probably oak and buys into the expensive lifestyle that this 'mother' leads.
Lighting:
Natural lighting is used whenever possible. Natural light shines on the 'mother's' face to give a flattering look. In the bedroom the lighting is very natural shining directly on her face, to the extent that despite the lack of makeup this mother looks refreshed and not tired.
The lighting used in the kitchen consists of natural lighting, but also artificial, mid-level warm lighting under the kitchen cupboards.
Writing
The representation of this 'mother' is obviously very artificial as her words have been semi-scripted. There has been time to consider what she wants to say to her audience and the type of 'mother' that she wants to present. She drops in the type of milk she drinks, 'almond' and the range of fruit that she has styled on her porridge.
She uses the personal pronoun 'you' to talk directly to her audience and try to represent herself as a 'normal' mother, one who can communicate and is open and friendly.
Her conversations with her children are calm, friendly and shows clips of her trying to educate her
Framing
The camera angles used are either mid shots or high angle shots. Both shot choices are very flattering for the subject
Cropping/Editing/Sensoring
The 'day in the life' of this you tube video is highly edited. We jump cut from Anna with no make up to her introducing what she had for lunch. This again is a highly stylised representation of a 'mother' almost a 'yummy mummy' as none of the process and daily routine has been included,
Branding
The Saccone Joly's are their own brand. They have built their own empire of distinct You Tube videos. Within the first 40 seconds of the video both Costa and Buxton are used to show the brands of coffee and water this mother drinks. Mid-range costing products are used rather than a glass of tap water and an instant coffee brand.
However, the branding within the video such as Ocado and Duchy both give more evidence to the representation of 'yummy mummy'.
Targeting
The demographic of the Anna Saccone videos would possibly be other mothers who are interested in her children and her daily routine. However,
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