Media Studies Blog

In 1982,  Marvin Anderson  was convicted of sexual assault, kidnapping, and robbery after a white woman was brutally raped by a black man in Hanover County, Virginia. When the woman reported the assault to an officer, he immediately suspected Anderson because the rapist told his victim that he “had a white girl,” and Anderson was the only black man the cop knew who lived with a white woman. Anderson had no criminal record, so police obtained a copy of Anderson’s employment identification, which had a photograph of Anderson in color. Police showed this photograph to the victim alongside black-and-white mug shots of other men. The victim picked Anderson from the photo spread and from a police lineup later in the day. Anderson wasn’t vindicated until 2001, when post-conviction DNA testing proved his innocence.

Todorov The Narrative Theory Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film. He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages called the equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again equilibrium. There are five stages the narrative can progress through: 1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.) 2. A disruption of that order by an event. 3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred. 4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption. 5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

FEMINISM Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.  Bell Hooks - The Colour Codes: Lighter skinned women are considered ore desirable and fit better into the western ideology of  beauty. Darker women are objectified and sexualised in hip-hop reflecting the colonialist view of Black women. Commodified blackness, a mediated view of black culture that is considered the "norm".

Intertextuality in Music Videos What is intertextuality? It is an idea that any text has been influenced and shaped by texts that have come before it. (anything read or seen in the case of movies) Therefore no film exists on its own and consciously or not all films borrow ideas from other films, past or present. Nothing exists on its own. To the right is an example of this. Who is intertextuality important to? writers directors audience Family guy and The Simpsons are two TV programs that like to use intertextuality. But they use it in a more comedic way to gain humour from their audiences. Above is an image from family guy copying the north by northwest scene.  Shrek is a well known animation series of films, distributed by  Dreamworks Pictures.  In the film there is a lot of Intertextuality and references to characters from different Disney films. This Intertextuality makes the f...

Timeline

Music Videos L.O; identify historical, social and cultural contexts of a music video. MARC PRENSKY - believes 'digital natives' want their content fast, free and up to the minute. Logic - 1-800-273-8255 Context:  Shows the life of a teenager struggling with the topic of his sexuality, and fitting in with others. This then leads to his suicide attempt. Themes:   Mental health issues -The fact that the boy tries to kill himself, and is also depressed because he doesn't fit in with his friends. Sexuality - The boy in the video is struggling with his sexuality, and telling people (his parents) about it. Bullying - The other boys in his class, bully him about being gay. This is shown through:  -Editing - The music video has many close ups, showing the importance of many of the things shown in the video. -Cinematography - The main character is never in the middle of the frame, he is always to the left or the right. -Mise en scene - Computer screens ar...

Marketing The 100 - how 100 teenagers try to survive, with no adults, food or shelter in a post-nuclear war world. But they aren't the only ones on the ground. Target Audience - teenage girls - young adults Name - Lauren Age - 17 Likes - Netflix, dance Dislikes - School, waiting Habits - going out with friends Trailer - would be shown on the explore page on Instagram             - shown before TV show videos on YouTube             - shown as adverts on Snapchat Influences + Endorsements - Get a musician, such as Justin Bieber, to be in the film for an episode so he can bring his fanbase (teenage girls) to watch the show. Also get him to post it on his social media accounts.                                              - Manipulate other people into sharing the trailer so that their frien...