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Showing posts from September, 2017

TV DRAMA CONVENTONS: THE TITLE SEQUENCE

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E.g. Top of the Lake In the opening sequence for TV drama Top of the Lake, the thirty seconds gives the audience a insight into what events there are to come within the series. The music used in the background is the soundtrack to the TV drama. Its repeatable tone, traditional feel and almost old-fashioned sound makes for a calm though also fast-paced soundtrack. This soundtrack is very similar to others used in TV dramas, hence, giving the audience the idea of mystery from the off-set. The graphics used within the opening sequence are cleverly done; the title is shown in a tall but thin, silver font. Making it look delicate, precious and easily damaged; possibly linking to a character the reader will go on to meet. Further credits are also then showed, these include actors, producers and writers. Again, the font used is all uniform throughout, though compared to the title, is of a bolder font. The shot scans down the picture, reinforcing the waterfall affect which has been c

HOW IS THE REPESENTATION OF AGE CONSTRUCTED IN 'STRANGER THINGS'?

In 'Stranger Things', the typical childish stereotype is used throughout. The narrative follows a group of young boys, who are the main focus from the off-set. The establishing shot shows the house, then cuts to the basement where the boys are playing. A sequence of past-paced editing is then used, showcasing how seriously then boys are taking their made-up game; hence working with the childish stereotype. Shot-reverse-shots are also used to keep with the dialogue between the children, with each shot being of the pint-of-view of another child - helping to place them all equally. This idea is often used in modern concepts, with all minors being seen as one and not individuals. The next shot is a low-angle shot, positioning the mother up the stairs; therefore placing the children and the audience on a lower level. This helps to give more authority to the mother, making the audience feel on the same hierarchal level as the boys. A similar authority is given in the next scene, the

THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE OF BRITAIN

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Politics of today Conservative party (Theresa May) in control of the exit of the European Union (Brexit)  since the resignation of David Cameron, the party has moved to the right, as MP's moved to May's cabinet this party is made up of local associates, keeping the traditional approach to politics in May's first speech she made it clear that the conservative party were for 'one nation', looking after the 'ordinary people' and not just the rich - this could have easily been David Cameron making this same speech E.g. This headline is n favour of the Conservative party, using the traditional 'YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU', helping to present the party as traditional in their views. UKIP - the UK's independent party a sovereignist party wanting to leave the EU does well with voters who have lost faith in the failures of the major parties xenophobic approach to the EU

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN TV DRAMA 'DR FOSTER'

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Dr Foster This series, first aired in 2015, showing huge popularity with the female gender; and again showing just as popular in the second series, which aired September this year. The lead character, Dr Gemma Foster, played by Suranne Jones is the towns local GP who discovers her husband has been having an affair with her friends daughter. This first suspicion which Foster has, leads on to unravel a much deeper plot, involving family members and proving that Gemma shouldn't have completely trusted those who were closest to her. In this TV drama series, Dr Gemma Foster's character is presented as the complete opposite to the female cliché. The traditional female stereotype says that a female is gentle, sympathetic and nurturing. Whereas the character takes over the aggression of the typical male stereotype, though instead of being seen as empowering and strong, she is shown as almost being insane and crazy. This all has occurred over the male in the series,

DECONSTRUCTING FRONT PAGES

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HOW THE REPRESENTATION OF GENDER IS CONSTRUCTED IN 'MAD MEN'

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After watching a short clip from season 1, episode 1 of Mad Men, there are many points that I can pull from the scenes - looking at gender representation and techniques used. Firstly it is clear that the scenes are set in the typical 1960s era, with the mise-on-scene including 1960s suits and skirt styles. The scenes also showed an old-fashioned office building, with a shot of 1960s cars and the traditional yellow taxi cabs of New York. The scenes within the office showed typewriters and black and white pictures, again showing how the mise-en-scene is of  the 1960s era. In the clip, the director uses many different types of camera shots to showcase the whole scene, providing the audience with a full insight into how the director wants to represent the 1960s era. For example, at the beginning of the clip, an ariel shot is used. This shows the side of a office building, where you can see old fashioned  cars and the typical New York yellow cabs. It is clear, for a modern audience

HOW THE 'MALE GAZE' IS USED IN KHALID'S MUSIC VIDEO 'LOCATION'

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In Khalid's music video for his song 'Location', the 'Male Gaze' theory is used considerably throughout the video; making the females shown, almost as a goal for the men. Throughout the video the singer glances at the camera, creating almost a connection with the audience, though a different connection depending on the gender of the audience. For a male audience, Khalid is shown in a position with a female which would be desirable for a heterosexual male. This is a common trait in videos containing the theory - presuming the sexuality of the audience, and forcing the audience to view the vides through the eyes of a heterosexual male. Though for a female audience, the singer presents himself as desirable for them directly. A female viewing this video begins to compare themselves to the girls shown, making Khalid the goal. As the video goes on, it becomes more female orientated and so aimed at the heterosexual male. The scene changes to a party, where the lightin

NEWS: THE DAILY MAIL & THE GUARDIAN'S CONTRASTING VIEWS

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The Daily Mail and The Guardian are two of the most widely read newspapers, though with almost completely opposite views. The Daily Mail has slightly right-wing views, using its fascism opinions within the articles. Whereas The Guardian has slightly left-wing views, using more communistic view points. When looking at the ratings for the two newspapers, The Daily Mail has more readers, with 12,000,000 Facebook likes. Whereas The Guardian has 7,600,000 Facebook likes. The opposite views of the two newspapers, create a clean line between the readers; with both unable to even read the other newspaper cause of the extreme different views from opposite ends of the spectrum. I am going to look at front page headlines from the two newspapers, and analyse the contrasting views between the two, on the coverage of the same topics... The Grenfell Tower Disaster This was the headline the day after the Grenfell tower disaster; the front page is extremely striking using a shocking but real pi