Gender

Superiority and domination
Men are shown in dominant positions and women are physically portrayed as less-dominant or cooperating with men 

Dismemberment

Full body is not usually photographed; usually it is parts of it such as legs or chest

Clowning and exaggeration

Women are portrayed as the less intelligent ones, more emotional and make them seem more foolish where men are presented in positions of reflective thought and intelligence

Male approval

Women usually have to seek for men’s approval for different situations. “Males desire and women are desired.” 

The voice-over authority

There are a higher number of men speaking in voice-overs in commercials than women

Irrelevant sexualisation of women and girls

Women’s products are used to sell products, even if they are not products for women or directed by women

Primeval exam clip:

Women storms off, man walks away from her

Women driving digger, countertype

Man in charge, he notices body and takes action

Women tries to distract animal, potentially saves man’s life

Once recovered, man takes over again, uses belt to go across zip wire, improvising ‘manly’ action

Women shoots gun and saves man’s life

Camera shot of the men walking in a line, women is at the end, shows she is not as important

Other women has a lot of make up on and ‘designer’ clothes, tries to use flattery with power

Other man gets aggressive and angry, pulls out gun, woman panics, and results to giving him the power

Third man walks in and holds a gun up to him; the power is still with the man

Women is angry her coat is messed up and original women asks about the main problem, they are shown as independent

Regional Identity

 

 

Representations

Key questions:
Who or what is  being represented?
How is it being represented?
Within what genre? How does it fit within the genre?
How has the representation been constructed?
Whose ideas are being reflected?
How are the audience positioned?

Protagonist and antagonist:
The director wants the audience to be on the side of the protagonist (the person you are suppose to be following) and hope that the antagonist will fail.
The audience has to identify the protagnist for this to happen, they have to be on their side.
They only have a few hours to make you identify them, so they use a kind of 'shorthand.'

Character typing:
Archetype: a familiar character who has emerged from hundreds of years of storytelling and fairytales.
Stereotype: a character ususally used in advertising and marketing in order to sell a particular product to a certain group of people. They can be used negatively in the media, e.g. 'hoodies.'
Generic: a character familar through use in a particular genre (type) or movie.
Countertype: anything that goes against the stereotype.

The Hyperdermic Needle Model:
Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media.
It is a crude model and suggests that the audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge data.

Two-Step Flow theory:
The HNM proved to be too clumsy for media researchers.
The information comes from an 'opinion leader,' thus being influenced not by a direct process, but by a two step flow.
For example: Twitter, following celebritites and listening/acting on what they say.

Blumler and Katz:
Diversion: escape from everyday problems and routine.
Personal relationships: using the media for emotional and other interaction, e.g. substituting soap operas for family life.
Personal identity: finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts.
Surveillance: information which could be useful for living e.g. weather reports, financial news and holiday bargains.

Names in Narrative Theory:
Meaning: Roland Barthes
Structure: Tvzetan Todorov
Character: Vladimir Propp
Conflict and resolution: Claude Levi-Strauss

Lost: remake & The Director's Commentry

Re-make of the opening scene of Lost:

Director's commentry:

Concentrating on Mise En Scene, how does the text construct representations of ethnicity?

Throughout the text there are many representations of ethnicity. The text shows two types of ethnicity; White and Latino, through a variety of ways.

The White ethnicity is shown through scenes such as when the family is sitting around the table. Their home is tidy and homely, therefore suggests that they have more money. It also suggests that they are very family orientated and perhaps judgemental of other families who are not the same as them.

            The Latino ethnicity shows more criminal traits, as they have props such as cigarettes, drugs and knifes. This gives them the reputation of a ‘hard guy’ and as they have resulted to selling drugs, perhaps more poor than the white ethnicity. They also wear religious necklaces around their necks, suggesting they are religious and want something to believe in, therefore not bright. They are more interested in keeping their ‘hard’ reputation strong, rather than being family orientated and homely, like the white ethnicity.

Mise en scene

Mise en Scène: what is put into a scene or frame.

Setting and props
Costume, hair and make up
Facial expressions and body language
Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
Lighting and colour

Setting and props: these are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent finding a set which already exists.
For example: sci-fi = space, in another universe
rom-com = major cities e.g. Paris or New York
horror = dark forest, abandoned crooked house

Costume, hair and make up: act as an instant indicator to us of a character's personality, status and job. They also give us an idea of society and culture within the film and certain costumes can signify certain individuals e.g. black cloak = vampire.

Facial expressions and body language: facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling e.g. smiling = happy, smiling = sad. However, you have to be careful as if you add scary music to a smiling facial expression, we get a different feeling. Body language indicates how characters feel towards each other.

Positioning of characters/objects within the frame: this can draw our attention to characters/objects within the frame. The film-maker uses positioning to show characters feelings towards each other, e.g. if two characters were opposite ends of the frame, facing away from each other, we get the feeling they are rivals.

Lighting and colour: highlights important characters or objects within the frame. Also, it can be used to make characters look a certain way, for example by shading sections of the face/body, it makes the character looks mysterious.
Low key lighting is created by using only the key and back lights, for example horror films.
High key lighting uses more filler lights, this makes it look more natural and realistic e.g. rom-coms.

Breaking Bad:


Setting:
Run-down green, graffiti, warehouse, tables outside: dangerous area
Lighting and colour:
Red light: blood, danger
Low key lighting: foreshadowing dangerous events
Costume, hair and make-up:
Leather jackets, bald, gold chains: 'hard men'
Props:
Drugs, knifes, smoking: crime, death
Facial expression and body language:
Straight faces, laughter, punching gestures: seriousness, trying to take him seriously
Positioning in frame:
The bald guy is always to the side of the frame until he meets the drug dealer, then he is in the middle: his confidence grows, he feels like he is an equal match to the drug dealer