LO6 Essay Introduction

LO6 Essay Introduction

Discuss how far you agree with the regulatory guidelines for a media product you have studied

I fully agree with the regulatory guidelines given to my film as it fits all the characteristics of the rating it has been given. The product I have studied regarding regulatory guidelines is Django Unchained, a film released in December 2012/January 2013 by Sony pictures. It is aimed at adults, specifically men, between the ages of 18 and 50. This is because of its use of violence and extreme, racist language; this is also why it was given an 18 rating by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

LO6: Mark Scheme

LO6: Mark Scheme

Level 4 - 16-20
Level 3 - 11-15
Level 2 - 6-10
Level 1 - 1-5

Pass - 60%
Merit - 70%
Distinction - 80%
Distinction* - 90%

LO6: Revision - Media Effects - Passive & Active

LO6: Revision - Media Effects - Passive & Active


The Grand Theft Auto series is infamous for its use of violence, drugs and sexual content and many media organisations have criticised it for its use of these and have linked it to many violent crimes. They blame Rockstar, the creators of the game for influencing people; this links to Adorno & Horkheimer’s “Hypodermic Syringe” theory that implied that the media has a negative impact on the general public and mass audiences believe everything they see and hear.

LO3: Production Techniques Revision

LO3: Production Techniques

Mise-en-scene - What is included? relate to film meaning
Camerawork - pick 3 key scenes, identifying techniques, relate to film meaning
Editing - same key scenes, continuity techniques
Sound - diegetic, non-diegetic, effect and impact



Point - "used to create meaning"
Data
Question

In my film (Django Unchained) a series of close-up shots are used with a shot reverse shot structure during the scene before D'Artagnan is ripped apart by dogs to show the level of suspense in the scene and how tense the conversation is when Calvin Candie is talking down to Django. This could link to Stuart Halls theory (1995) that stated Western cultures continue to misrepresent ethnic minorities in the media due to underlying racist tendencies. Edward Said also said that ethnic minorities are portrayed as Pitied, humorous, exotic or dangerous.

In Django Unchained, dialogue (an example of diegetic sound) is expressed through the accent of one of the protagonists, Dr. Schultz. Dr. Schultz speaks with a German accent which allows the audience to understand that he is not from the area where the film is set like all the other characters are. 

LO3: Production Techniques

Mise-en-scene

Costumes - binary opposition
Props - binary opposition
Location/iconography - When and where we are
Lighting (high/low key)
Acting gesture - propp (1928)

Binary Opposition - Levi Strauss

The main characters in Django Unchained (Django and Dr. Schultz) often use weapons or equipment that someone of their profession would use in the time period the film was set (1870's).

Django Unchained features lots of props and costumes that link it to the time it is set; such as horses, old weaponry and fancy clothes. This is shown in the film during the scene where Django, Dr Schultz, Clavin Candie and his men are riding back to the candy land plantation on horseback wearing extravagant suits and carrying old fashioned weaponry such as Cobra "Big Bore" Derringer or the Colt 1851 Navy. This links to Tim O'Sullivan's theory (1998) that states "all media texts tell some kind of story".

The difference between the protagonists and antagonists in Django Unchained is shown by the use of acting gesture and costume. The protagonists wear expensive suits whereas the antagonists will dress scruffily. For example the difference in dress between Django and the brittle brothers during the scene where he shoots two of them; Django is dressed in a bright blue suit with a ruffled shirt whereas the Brittle brothers are all dressed in grubby, half-buttoned shirts and slacks. This links to Levi Strauss' Binary oppositions theory. Another example of binary opposition in Django Unchained is black vs white, when Django is fighting the plantation workers.

LO2: Advertising

A media product, such as a film, can be advertised through many different platforms. Such as: Billboards, social media, trailers, magazine adverts, web adverts, app/game. A social media campaign would be a successful method of advertising as it is free and it is likely to reach a wide audience. An app or game is a good method of advertising as it is a good way for the audience to interact with the production. A magazine advert is a good method of advertising as it can reach an older audience that may not have a digital device where they are exposed to social media.

LO4: Audience Research

LO4: Audience Research

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) - collects data on radio listeners
BARB (Broadcaster Audience Research Board) - collects data regarding television
NRS (National Readership Survey) - collects data regarding how many people read magazines and newspapers

For this section of the exam you have to analyse data that is collected by the organisations.

Django Unchained Regulations

Django Unchained regulation

Django Unchained was rated 18 by the BBFC, therefore it is allowed to contain:

• Extreme violence
• Scenes of a sexual nature
• Illigal drug use
• Detailed portrayal of a violent or dangerous acts

LO6: Starter

LO6: Starter

The two main areas when media products are discussed are passive audience theory and active audience theory.

Example of passive audience theory:

When the mass media demonised groups, people or products that they believe become a threat to society, values and interests it is called a moral panic.

         - Stanley Cohen, 1972

Example of active audience theory:

"We have uses and gratifications; people use media for their own purposes"

          - McQuail, 1972

An example of a media product that caused a moral panic:

"Doom launched by Bethesda at E3 2015, swiftly criticised for being too violent"

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BBFC

British Board of Film Classification, used to be called British Board of Film Censors until 1984. Gives age ratings to films to protect the public from violent or inappropriate content.

Before the BBFC changed its name in 1984, they used to block films and prevent the general public from watching them. After this time when VHS became popular the BBFC realised they could no longer censor everything the public watched as going to the cinema was no longer the only way to watch a film.

Video Recordings Act 1984

This meant that films had to have an age rating

BBFC Age Ratings

Lo6: Media effects

L06: Media effects

The main point of view of the article is that the BBFC should have rated "Batman - Dark Night Rises" a 15 instead of a 12A. I agree with this because as the article states "Unlike past Batman films where the villains were somewhat surreal and comical figures, Heath Ledger's Joker is a brilliantly acted but very credible psychopathic killer, who extols the use of knives to kill and disfigure his victims, during a reign of urban terrorism, laced with torture."

Article: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/aug/05/politicsandthearts

Passive Audience Theory

Hypodermic syringe - implies that media has a negative impact. Mass audiences believe everything they see/hear (Adorno & Horkheimer).

In the 1940's/50's, the mass media were perceived as an extreme influence.

This model does not hold much positivity for the audience, however it is a good method for a media producer, politician and also towards the use of marketing. 

In 1957, Vance Packard looked at the relationship between advertising and media effects in his book.

When the mass media demonised groups, people or products that they believe become a threat to society, values and interests it is called a moral panic.

         - Stanley Cohen, 1972

The group/products are referred to as "folk devil".

High exposure to fast-paced violent games can lead to changes in brain function when processing violent images, including dampening of emotional responses to violence.

          - Chris Anderson, 2007

This is known as desensitisation. 

Find three products that have been criticised for being too violent/ negative impact

1. "Doom launched by Bethesda at E3 2015, swiftly criticised for being too violent"
2. "The Walking Dead’ season 7 premiere criticised for ‘brutal, violent’ scenes"
3. Two events happened in the space of a week that many politicians and members of the media will link together. The first: A mass shooting in Washington, D.C. in which an angry, mentally-ill young man shot and killed a dozen of his fellow citizens. Second: The release of Grand Theft Auto V, the perennially controversial sandbox game.

Also, the two latest Wolfenstein games (The New Order and The Old Blood) were banned in Germany due to the Nazi theme throughout the game.

Representation

"All representations are mediated."

          - Hall, 1980

"Representations of men are linked to equation of masculinity with pathological control and violence.

          - Earp & Katz, 1999

"Representations of homosexuals are stereotypical"

          

          - Butler, 1993

"Ethnic people are seen as: exotic, dangerous, humorous and pitied."

          - Alvarado, 1987

"Black and asian boys are hooligans and trouble causers"

          - Turton, 2014

"Girls are portrayed as double-deviant; trouble causers who shouldn't be trusted because they are women."

          - Lloyd, 1995

I think my film (Django Unchained) would be criticised for having a negative impact as it is extremely violent in parts and uses racial slurs throughout. This links to Alvarado's 1987 theory that ethnic people are seen as dangerous. 

Active Audience Theory

"Other school of thought; we are able to filter and adapt to content in media"

          - Gauntlett, 1995

"We have uses and gratifications; people use media for their own purposes e.g. Personal identity, Escapism, Surveillance, Personal relations"

          - McQuail, 1972

Encoding/decoding model

          - Hall, 1980

Preferred (Dominant) reading - by audience depending on their background but accepts the dominant viewpoint/story.

Negotiated reading - partially agrees with meaning

Oppositional reading - meaning is understood but don't agree and think opposite

Aberrant -  gets the completely wrong meaning entirely

There are certain positive aspects of my film. The overall message is that eventually, good will prevail and the underdog will win. 

FOR A 20 MARK QUESTION THERE SHOULD BE 5 POINTS


INTRODUCTION

1. Give your opinion to the answer to the question
2. Tell me the product, Specific audience and regulation
3. Tell me how you are going to structure your essay

LO4: Uses and Gratifications Theory

LO4: Uses and Gratifications Theory

There are four reasons that people consume media products: surveillance, escapism, building personal identity and building personal relationships

Surveillance - people consume media products to see how other people live.

Escapism - people consume media products to escape from their real lives and pretend they are somewhere better.

Building personal identity - people consume media products to converge with what they see and build their own identity.

Building personal relationships - people consume media products to provide a topic of conversation.

Django Unchained offers the gratification of escapism into a past time in what could be a different country to the one that the audience lives in.

Audience Theory

Audience Theory

All media products have invisible fictions before they are made.

          - John Hartley (1987)

All media producers have imaginary entities in mind before their production.

          - Ien Ang (1991)

Audience Profile

Throughout Django Unchained there are multiple scenes of extreme of extreme violence such as when D'artagnan gets ripped apart by dogs or the final shootout scene at Candy Land. Because of this the target age for the film would be 18 to 50. Over 18 because of the age certificate of the film and younger than 50 as people over this age may not want to watch it as they may deem its use of violence and language "distasteful".  These instances of extreme violence would also lead to the target audience being mostly female as stereotypically, women are less likely to want to watch violent films. The gender split (Male/Female) would be about 70/30.

LO4: Understand the target audiences of media products

LO4: Understand the target audiences of media products

Demographic - Characteristics of the target audience

Conglomerate - A large company that owns other smaller companies (subsidiaries)

Horizontal integration - A conglomerate can market its media products across its subsidiaries on
different platforms

Audience - People who use/view/listen to a media product

Independent - A media company that isn't owned by a conglomerate and doesn't won any subsidiaries.

Niche - A specific target audience

Mass - A large target audience

LO4: Understanding the target audience of media

LO4: Understanding the target audience of media

Audience research is when surveys are taken to find out the demographic of your audience. An example of an audience research organisation is RAJAR.

LO3 Theories of Representation

LO3 Theories of Representation

Key Theory 5: Vladimir Propp (1928)

All narratives feature stock characters and that audiences understood stories because of such features. Villain/antagonist, hero/protagonist, helper/supporter, Princess (the prize for the hero - not necessarily a person) one that is rescued/saved/helped.

Protagonist: Django
Antagonist: Calvin Candie
Supporter: Dr Schultz
"Princess" (prize for the protagonist): Broomhilda (his wife)

Fluid character roles - characters that change roles throughout the film

Representation - how the media shows us things about society.

Django unchained is about a former slave who joins forces with a bounty hunter in an attempt to rescue his wife.

Key Theory 1:Tim O'Sullivan et al. (1998)

For representation to work, there has to be a shared recognition of people and places. All representations therefore have ideologies behind them.

In my film (Django Unchained) the slaves who don't play a main character are represented as being simple and uneducated. 

Key Theory 2: Richard Dyer (1983)

Audiences should question the representations they see in media texts. What does the representation imply? Is it typical of the word deviant?

Key Theory 3: Laura Mulvey (1975)

Male gaze. Women are objectified in media texts and passive objects. audiences are positioned to view the women from the point of view of a heterosexual male. In Django unchained there is only one main female character and she plays the role of someone who needs to be rescued. 

Key Theory 4: Stuart Hall (1995)

Western/white cultures continue to misrepresent ethnic minorities as in the media due to underlying racist tendencies. Edward Said also said that ethnic minorities are portrayed as Pitied, humorous, exotic or dangerous. In Django unchained almost all of the black slaves are portrayed as being simple and submissive. The main protagonist (Django) is black and is portrayed as a binary opposite to the other black characters in the film as he is arrogant and fearless instead of being timid and simple. 

Ways of Seeing - John Berger (1972)

In this study, Berger analyses the manner in which men and women are culturally represented, and the subsequent results these representations have on their conduct and self as well and mutual perception. In "Ways of Seeing" Berger claims that the representations of men and women in visual culture entice different "gazes", different ways in which they are looked at, with men having the legitimisation of examining women.

Orientalism - Edward Said

Orientalism is a way of seeing that imagines, emphasises, exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S. It often involves seeing Arab culture as exotic, backward, uncivilised, and at times dangerous. Said defined it as the acceptance in the West of “the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, ‘mind,’ destiny and so on.”

Unit 1 Genre & Narrative Revision

Unit 1 Genre & Narrative Revision

It is important to be able to identify the genre of a media product as this allows us to further analyse the characteristics of the product and possibly relate it to theories surrounding its subject.

Types of narrative structure

Linear
Non-Linear

LO1: Production Process & Job Roles

Production Process & Job Roles

Key Personnel for the film industry

Script Writer
Cameramen
Actors
Director
Editor
Technicians (light/sound)

Animators
Special effects agents

Key Personnel in Django Unchained

One of the most important roles in Django Unchained is the location manager. Because the film is set across a large portion of souther USA and various bits of scenery are needed throughout the film (forests, mountains, old-style towns etc.)

LO2

Pre 2000

Web 1.0 - not interactive

2000

Broadband - faster download speed

web 2.0 - interactive - VOD (Video On Demand services)

YouTube 2005

Digital methods are in existence because of technological convergence (technologies coming together to provide a new source for the audience.

"Black box" (referring to a smart phone)
            - Henry Jenkins (2006)

"Above the line" advertising methods

Premieres
Trailers
Posters
Reviews
Targets large audiences

"Below the line"advertising methods

Social Media

LO3 Narrative Theory

What is the difference between story and narrative?

A story is a sequence of events whereas the concept of narrative deals more with how the events are told. Narrative is the ordering of events into a consumable format.

Story = Plot
Narrative = Structure

The story of Django unchained

Two years before the Civil War, Django a slave, finds himself accompanying an unorthodox German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz on a mission to capture the vicious Brittle brothers. Their mission successful, Schultz frees Django, and together they hunt the South's most-wanted criminals. Their travels take them to the infamous plantation of shady Calvin Candie, where Django's long-lost wife is still a slave.


Key Theory 1: Tim O'Sullivan et al. (1998)

All media texts tell us some kind of story. Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves (as a culture) - these are ideologies. 

In Django unchained the two bounty hunters travel through southern USA killing criminals; this shows that justice is always important no matter how difficult it may be to seek it. 

Key Theory 2: Pam Cook (1985)

The standard Hollywood narrative structure should have: Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution, a high degree of narrative closure and a fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence. 

The enigma in Django unchained is Django being separated from his wife and her being kept as a house slave at a plantation. This is resolved at the end of the film when Django and Dr. Schultz travel to the plantation on pretend to buy a mandingo (fighting slave) in order to add Django's wife to the deal. However the deal turns sour when Calvin Candie (the plantation owner) realises what the pair are up to and makes them pay an extortionate amount of money for her release. Dr. Schultz ends up being shot and Django has to fight his way out in order to rescue his wife. 

Key Theory 3: Tvzetan Todorov (1977)

Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium.

Stage 2: This stability is disrupted by some kind of force, creating a state of disequilibrium.

Stage 3: Action directed against the disruption.

Stage 4: Restoration of a state of new equilibrium.

Django unchained does not follow this theory because it starts with Django being a slave, he then gets freed and becomes a bounty hunter, and finally he finds his wife. Unlike the theory where a film is said to go from equilibrium to disequilibrium to equilibrium again; Django unchained starts off with disequilibrium and progressively changes into equilibrium.

Key Theory 4: Claude Lévi-Strauss (1958)

Binary opposites: good vs evil etc.


Binary opposite in Django Unchained:

Good vs Evil (Django & Dr. Schultz vs Calvin Candie)
White vs Black (Django vs Calvin Candie)
The Law vs Outlaws (Django & Dr. Schultz vs the Brittle brothers)

Key Theory 5: Vladimir Propp (1928)

All narratives feature stock characters and that audiences understood stories because of such features. Villain/antagonist, hero/protagonist, helper/supporter, Princess (the prize for the hero - not necessarily a person) one that is rescued/saved/helped.

Protagonist: Django
Antagonist: Calvin Candie
Supporter: Dr Schultz
"Princess" (prize for the protagonist): Broomhilda (his wife)

Fluid character roles - characters that change roles throughout the film

Key Theory 6: Roland Barthes (1997)

Narrative codes: Enigma codes work to keep setting up problems or puzzles for the audience; action codes work to inform the audience in terms of what is happening in the next shot/scene.  


Action Code: 0:15 seconds - Dr. Schultz pulls a gun out of his sleeve so the aduience knows that someone will get shot in the next scene