There’s a riot going on - David Buckingham from Loughborough University (MediaMagazine 38, December 2011)

There’s a riot going on

by David Buckingham (first published in MediaMagazine 38, December 2011)

https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/media-magazine/articles/16831

• To talk about 'riots' rather than, for example, 'civil disturbances' or 'unrest' - or even 'uprisings' or 'protests' - immediately defines the meaning of the events in particular ways. 

• we were told, were simply an 'orgy of brutality', in which people appeared to lose all rational control.

• In most of the tabloid media coverage, the rioters were consistently and repeatedly identified as young people. These were the 'feral youth', the 'hoodies' and 'yobs' who apparently rampage uncontrolled in our cities, bent simply on destruction for its own sake.

• This was reinforced by the selection of images - and perhaps especially by the iconic image of one black, hooded young man which appeared on at least five front pages following the first day of the disturbances, 

• The newspapers consistently featured large, dramatic images of what the Daily Mirror called 'young thugs with fire in their eyes and nothing but destruction on their mind', or the Daily Express called simply 'flaming morons'.

• These young people, we were told, had not been sufficiently socialised: they were led simply by a kind of 'childish destructiveness'.

• In fact, many of the people ultimately convicted for crimes during the rioting were by no means young. Youth offending, youth detention and reoffending have declined in recent years. Meanwhile, just a few weeks later, young people achieved record passes in their GCSE and A Level exams. Those involved in the disturbances were obviously a small minority. Yet in much of the media coverage, they came to stand for Young People - or particular categories of young people - in general.

• There is obviously a class dimension to these representations. The 'feral youth' imagined by the politicians and the tabloid headline writers are implicitly working-class. 

• The working class, he argues, has become an object of fear and ridicule, not just in this kind of media coverage but also in popular figures such as Little Britain's Vicky Pollard and Catherine Tate's 'Am I bovvered?' character. ... despite the fact that many of those ultimately convicted after the rioting were in respectable middle-class jobs, or from wealthy backgrounds. 

• while many of those involved were black, a great many were not. 

• These kinds of images of young people are unfortunately typical of much news media coverage. A 2005 IPSOS/MORI survey found that 40% of newspaper articles featuring young people focused on violence, crime or anti-social behaviour; and that 71% could be described as having a negative tone. 

• Research from Brunel University during 2006 found that television news reports of young people focused overwhelmingly either on celebrities such as footballers or (most frequently) on violent crime; while young people accounted for only 1% of the sources for interviews and opinions across the whole sample.

• a study by the organisation Women in Journalism analysed 7,000+ stories involving teenage boys, published in online, national and regional newspapers during 2008. 72% were negative 

• Over 75% were about crime, drugs, or police: the great majority of these were negative (81.5%)

• Even for the minority of stories on other topics such as education, sport and entertainment, there were many more negative than positive stories (42% versus 13%).

• Many of the stories about teenage boys described them using disparaging words such as yobs, thugs, sick, feral, hoodies, louts, heartless, evil, frightening and scum.

• A few stories described individual teenage boys in glowing terms - model student, angel, or 'every mother's perfect son' - but, without exception, these were all about boys who had met an untimely death.

• Cohen argues that the media talked up the disturbances into a bigger 'moral panic'. In a moral panic, he writes:
•      "A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible."
• Cohen also argues that the media play a role in 'deviance amplification': in reporting the phenomenon, and in expressing the fear and outrage of 'respectable society', they make it more attractive to those who might not otherwise have thought about becoming involved.

• The media did not simply misrepresent what happened, and 'moral panics' are not just irrational responses. Media stereotypes are never simply inaccurate: they always contain a 'grain of truth'. 

• Yet in this case, the media coverage can be seen to reflect a much more general fear of young people (and especially of working-class young people) that is very common among many adults: the media speak to anxieties that many people already have.

• The Women in Journalism study also interviewed 1000 teenage boys, and found that 29% of them often or always felt wary when they saw other teenage boys they did not know. Media stories about teenagers were identified as the single biggest reason for this wariness (51%) 

• In the tabloid press, much of the initial blame for the violence was put on popular culture: it was rap music, violent computer games or reality TV that was somehow provoking young people to go out and start rioting.

• The Daily Mirror, for example, blamed
•      "the pernicious culture of hatred around rap music, which glorifies violence and loathing of authority (especially the police but including parents), exalts trashy materialism and raves about drugs."

• Others suggested that the looting of sportswear shops had been inflamed by advertising - it was like Supermarket Sweep, said the Daily Mail; while images of looters posing for the cameras and displaying their pickings were seen as evidence of the narcissism and consumerism of the 'Big Brother and X Factor generation'.

• Despite being depicted by tabloids as mindless thugs and morons, the rioters were also seen as somehow skilful enough to co-ordinate their actions by using Facebook, Blackberry and Twitter. The Sun, for example, reported that 'THUGS used social network Twitter to orchestrate the Tottenham violence and incite others to join in as they sent messages urging: 'Roll up and loot'.
• According to The Telegraph:
•      "technology fuelled Britain's first 21st century riot. The Tottenham riots were orchestrated by teenage gang members, who used the latest mobile phone technology to incite and film the looting and violence. Gang members used Blackberry smartphones designed as a communications tool for high-flying executives to organise the mayhem."

• A very similar argument was used in media debates about the 'Arab spring' earlier this year: there was much discussion about the use of social networking in the revolutions that took place in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Syria - although in those instances, this was generally interpreted by the Western media as a positive thing.

• Here again, the media were identified as a primary cause of what took place - as though riots and revolutions were simply created by the use of technology. But of course there have been riots and revolutions long before the electronic media came along.

Moral Panics and the British Media – A look at some contemporary ‘Folk Devils’

Moral Panics and the British Media – A look at some contemporary ‘Folk Devils’
by Ian Marsh and Gaynor Melville

The term moral panic has been widely adopted both by the mass media and in everyday usage to refer to the exaggerated social reaction caused by the activities of particular groups and/or individuals. 


The review concludes that there are key elements to moral panics and that these panics are the result of real events and actual behaviour and cannot be dismissed as myths.

Essentially, a moral panic refers to an exaggerated reaction, from the media, the police or wider public, to the activities of particular social groups. These activities may well be relatively trivial but have been reported in a somewhat sensationalised form in the media; and such reporting and publicity has then led to an increase in general anxiety and concern about those activities. 

So a moral panic is an exaggerated response to a type of behaviour that is seen as a social problem – the term indicates an over-reaction on the part of the media and/or other social institutions. 

In terms of its theoretical stance, Cohen’s seminal study on moral panics was clearly based on the labelling or interactionist perspective – an approach with a strong focus on how society labels rule-breakers as belonging to particular deviant groups and how once a person or group is labeled, the actions they undertake are viewed and interpreted in terms of this label. 

Furthermore, this over-reaction magnifies the original area of concern. Indeed it leads to the social group (and, as a consequence, the behaviour and activities they engage in) being viewed by the wider society as ‘folk devils’ – another term coined by Cohen. 

In modern societies most information is received second hand, usually processed by the mass media and so subject to their definitions of what constitutes ‘news’ and how it is presented. And this information is also affected by the constraints which newspapers and broadcasters have to operate under – both commercial and political constraints. 

The media reaction to deviant behaviour can lead to a process of deviance amplification whereby media attention increases the isolation of the deviant group who are forced to continue and develop their deviant behaviour and so on. 

There is a danger that the notion of media panic can be applied somewhat indiscriminately to all sorts of quite transient examples of youthful behaviour and/or delinquency; and in our discussion we are keen to keep the focus on the social reaction as led by the mass media. Having said that, there have been many recent examples of youthful behaviour that could be considered as having produced a moral panic. 

Hooded jackets were particularly popularized in the 1970s as part of the hip hop music scene and as a result of being worn by Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky films. However it was not until the 1990s that the term ‘hoodies’ was generally used to describe these garments, when they became associated with emergence of what were termed ‘chavs’, young disaffected working class youths, in this country; and were spread by their use by young skateboarders. And it was not until 2005, that the press and public were referring to ‘hoody culture’. 

The banning of hoodies from the Bluewater shopping centre in 2005 excited a great deal of media interest and debate. It led to the ‘meaning’ of the hoodie being examined by journalists and academics. As Gareth McLean (2005) pointed out, although only a sweatshirt with a bit extra, the hooded top strikes fear into the heart on most people, ‘a lone figure behind us on the walk home – hood up, head down – and we quicken our step.. a group of hooded teenagers on the street and we’re tensing our shoulders, clenching our fists.’

The move was, though, welcomed by many, including the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, who saw it as an attempt to clamp down on anti-social and threatening behaviour. 

the moral panic over hoodies is almost a continuation of a previous panic over chavs – working class, white boys who had underachieved in school and who, in the face of a bleak future in terms of respectable employment, turn to anti-social, delinquent behaviour. 

The moral panic about hoodies was part of a wider concern about the anti-social behaviour of youths and, as with other panics, the reaction has been criticized by academics and those working in the criminal justice system as excessive. 

the rest of society resents and fears such groups, as Ainley puts it, the ‘respectable working middle class live in fear and loathing of the hooded, chav “underclass”’. Indeed it was this resentment and response that led to the banning of hoodies from the Bluewater centre; and it was a response not just from ‘respectable’ society but from other teenagers

However, in spite of the differing political comments around the reaction to hoodies, the media reporting of ‘hoody culture’ has been both hostile and scaremongering in line with the way the media has responded to other, previous moral panics. Even though and at the same time as exciting this hostile reaction, the hoodie is a widely popular item of clothing that is in the wardrobes of millions of people, and is sold in the millions by firms such as Nike, Adidas and Gap. 

Nonetheless, there are key elements apparent in any moral panic. As Cavanagh (2007) puts it, the moral panic reflects social anxieties and concerns about behaviour that is seen as some sort of moral threat. The concerns are then exaggerated in regard to both scale and frequency, they are symbolised in terms of them being a threat to traditional values and are emphasized by groups of ‘moral entrepreneurs’ who reframe the particular problem in terms of the solutions that they favour. 

the moral panic has become a regular aspect of media reporting of anti-social and criminal behaviour so that, ‘moral panics are a direct product of the mundane practices of journalists’. The essential point here is that public anxieties and concerns are only able to take on a public form through the media. 

And it is important to be aware that moral panics are not myths but are the result of actual behaviour and real events. So the analysis of moral panics, ‘is focused on the observation of distortion and exaggeration in presentation of this factual problem’. 


Furthermore, this over-reaction magnifies the original area of concern. Indeed it leads to the social group (and, as a consequence, the behaviour and activities they engage in) being viewed by the wider society as ‘folk devils’ – another term coined by Cohen. 

The Role of Stereotypes

Representations of Women

The Women themselves

            Slim woman

            Translucent dress covered in diamonds

                        Sexualised

                        Playful facial expression

                        Out of the ordinary / luxury

           

The Advert - the encoders

            Expensive car

                        Successful

Independent

            Small coupe

                        Independent

            Low angle

                        Powerful

                        Dominating

            

The Audience

            The succeeded

                        Similar lifestyle to the person in the advert

            The aspirer

                        Want the life style

Context of Society

Narration and Hitchcock's Psycho

Genre Essay

The Adjustment Bureau is a film directed by George Nolfi and stars Matt Damon as the lead character. The film is a typical thriller with an element of film noir and romance.

The trailer starts of as a typical romantic comedy with warm coloured shots, slow and smooth camera movements and even the typical romance iconography of the camera shot with David and the love interest gazing into each other’s eyes. However the mood visually changes as we see that David and Elise live is not matching the designated plan set by The Adjustment Bureau. The typical iconography of film noir films are harsh shadows, cold blue hues and the de-saturated, high contrast colour grading, and this trailer is no different. The shot of the bed with the Adjustment Bureau agent looking over the bed is typical Film Noir cinematography. The room is darkened and the bed sheets have been chosen as a navy colour to show the contrast between light and dark. Choosing navy also increases the definition of the shadows which is a typical stylistic choice in Film Noir cinema that has been made because it makes the audience feel afraid of The Adjustment Bureau as they are perceived as being dark and evil. The hat is also a significant piece of mise-en-scene that connotes the Bureau is evil, dark and soulless as the audience can't see their faces which prevent the audience developing a personal connection with the agents.

As we move through the trailer, we are then presented with the chase scene. This also has elements of Film Noir. Like the bedroom scene, the grading is high contrast the emphasise the shadow in the scene, the setting has been chosen as downtown New York as it infamous for its dark shadowy back streets and alleyways, which increases the tension and fear that the audience feel as there is a common fear of what lurks in the shadow. In the chase scenes though, there is typical iconography that is found in the thriller genre. For example, the chase scene features a lot of fast paced camera movements and has several occasions where a handheld shaky-cam has been used to inject kinetic energy in the scene in conjunction with the fast paced edits between camera angles, which is exactly what the purpose of a thriller film is - to thrill and excite people. The audience positioning is also typical in thriller movies, such as the high angled shots of the protagonists (i.e. The Adjustment Bureau) which makes the audiences feel afraid of the Bureau because they appear to be powerful and controlling, whereas the ‘hero’ in the film (i.e. David Norris) is shot from a low angle which connotes that they are weaker, but are on the same eye level as the audience so that a personal connection can be developed which would lead to the audience feeling sympathetic and supportive. Even the idea of a weaker but determined male ‘hero’ character and a powerful and evil oppositional force is typical thriller genre iconography.

Music plays a big part in the emotions that an audience feels about a film. At the beginning of the trailer, soft and gentle music is played whilst the romantic iconography is displayed. This with the camera shots of David and Elise gazing into each other’s eyes makes the audience feel happy and almost protective of their relationship. When the thriller iconography is displayed, the music changes harsh violin notes, and fast paced electric guitars which creates and more tense and fast paced environment which threatens the relationship between David and Elise and the romantic ideology’s themselves which unsettles the audience and makes the audience feel quite fearful of the power and force of The Adjustment Bureau.

The stars and the directors are a big indication of the genre of the film. Although there are a few exceptions to the rule, most stars and directors stay within the same genre of film. The Adjustment Bureau was directed by George Nolfi, the infamous director of The Bourne Ultimatum and The Sentinel, both of which are in the thriller genre. The lead actor of the film, Matt Damon, is also well known for his work in the thriller genre, such as being the lead actor in The Bourne Trilogy and other well-known thriller films. Because they are well known within the thriller genre, the audience will have the impression that this will be another well-produced thriller film and thus will be more inclined to watch it.

Audience Reception

The text is an advert for price comparison website Compare the Market. It features different CGI meerkats with the main meerkat being the owner of a fictitious meerkat comparison website named Compare the Meerkat. The aim of the advert is to convince the audience to compare prices for different insurance and financial services via their website.

The target audience is The Mainstream because the adverts contain several features that are required by this audience. Firstly, the Compare the Meerkat campaign has been running continuously since 2009 so this appeals to the need of the audience to have brand security and familiarity. Also, the whole purpose of Compare the Market is to get the insurance or financial service you want for the best price possible by comparing prices with different providers in the industry. This value for money is a requirement of The Mainstream audience. Lastly, the Compare the Meerkat campaign has become a family brand, another requirement of the Mainstream audience. It has become a family brand due to it's emphasis of free cuddly toys which appeals to the younger members of a Mainstream audience members household, as well as its mission to save money - a value of any Mainstream member.

If the audience were to take a preferred reading of the Compare the Meerkat advert, they would still agree with the ideology that ‘saving money is important’ but they would disagree with the idea that comparison websites will get you the best deal when I comes to insurance policy. They would believe that they would get a better deal on an insurance policy if they went directly to an insurance company rather than via a comparison website such as Compare the Meerkat, however they would agree that comparison websites do provide a basic representation of the prices that different insurance companies charge. The audience would agree that a reward for using their service would be appreciated – especially for audience members who have children who would enjoy the toy, however audience members who don’t have children would see the reward of a child’s toy quite pointless.

If the audience were to take an Oppositional reading of the Advert, they would disagree with the ideology that ‘saving money is important’ and instead believe that getting the best service or most comprehensive cover from an insurance policy is much more important. They would also agree that they would get a better deal if they went directly to an insurance company, like the audience who took a preferred reading. They would completely disagree with the idea of the cuddly toy as a reward for using their service as well as the humorous and childlike, cartoon-style adverts, believing in the idea the insurance policies are serious investments. The policy you eventually choose will differ on the cover that it gives you. Therefore the audience would believe that using a humorous service that deals with the serious issue such as insurance would be inappropriate.

Audience Classification Questions

1. a) 

The MainstreamThe Great British Bake Off has been targeted specifically at the mainstream audience. Firstly, it is now a well-known franchise with 5 series being aired. The format hasn’t changed over the different series and so you know what to expect from the text. This offers brand security to the audience. It also offers brand security via the use of two well-known chefs – Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, as well as using two well-known presenters – Mel and Sue.

The AspirerThe Apprentice is mainly targeted at The Aspirer due to the values of the programme. The Aspirer values materialism, which is the main focus of The Apprentice. One of the ideologies of The Apprentice is that money is important. The series follows a group of candidates who what to win the program in order to obtain a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar. The winning team is decided upon which team makes the most money, which is an example of how the show puts a value on having money. This is one of the values of The Aspirer. The Aspirer also values people’s perceptions of themselves. This is also valued in The Apprentice, via the emphasis of the idea that the perceptions that Karen and Nick have on the candidates will influence Lord Sugar’s decision to fire someone.

The SucceederIn life, the succeeder looks for prestige in their programs and Dragons Den is a program that is designed to satisfy this need. It does this by creating an ethos of that only the best ideas will gain investment. In each episode we see a group of successful businesspeople listening to several pitches from different entrepreneurs before questioning their business plan and then deciding if they want to impress. The businesspeople are all successful people who are very confident in what they do, and also only invest in the most prestigious ideas. This provides something that the succeeder can relate to. The best ideas are rewarded with an investment from the dragons, which also appeals to the Succeeder audience.

The ExplorerLizard Lick Towing is targeted to the explorer audience due to its unusual and constantly changing format. The genre is reality, but it is an unconventional format, with the events being real and not staged. There are not many reality shows that look at vehicle repossession agents and there are not many reality shows targeted to men rather than a typically female audience.

b) How useful do you think these kinds of categories are helping to define audience types?

I think that these categories are very useful for audience classification as they take into consideration a wide variety of factors to build a profile of the audience. Unlike the Income/Status model, the audience classification model takes into consideration things like your religion, ethnic background, childhood and various other things. All these categories are not focused purely on your education or your job. It is also more useful that the Audience Profiling Model as this model takes into consideration things like your lifestyle and needs in life which means that people rarely change or fit into other categories as their status in life is not as important in this model.

c) Find out what is on the TV right now – choose one show and create an Audience Profile for a typical audience member using Hartley & Fiske’s subjectivities.

Our ZooOur Zoo is mainly targeted towards the explorer. This is because it is a drama series that is based purely on real life story of the Mottersheads. It also tackles the story from alternative and unusual viewpoints such as the grandparents and children rather than the main character of George Mottershead. You learn more about the story from these characters. The story is also an unconventional story and is not a topic previously dealt with in detail before in the media. I also think however the show could target the mainstream audience, because of the values that the program is based upon. It deals with the ideology of family being important, which is a quality looked upon by the mainstream audience. These solid values are what are looked for in a program targeted towards the mainstream audience.

d) Based on Lifestyle Categories, for the four texts you chose for question (a) and the TV show you chose for (c) – decide which audience of the people on the Lifestyles Categories sheet would be a likely audience member.

The Great British Bake OffThe Trendies would definitely be an audience member of The Great British Bake Off. This is because the Trendies long for the admiration of their peer group. This is the exact idea behind The Great British Bake Off. The contestants on the programme spend a long time producing these amazing bakes purely so that the judges will be impressed, as well as their fellow contestants. This idea is something that the Trendies can relate to.

The ApprenticeThe Apprentice could appeal to the Trendies based on the idea that they are looking for admiration from Lord Sugar. However I think that the most likely audience would a Cowboy. Their main aim in life is to make money and make it quickly – this is the whole premise of The Apprentice. The aim of the tasks each episode is to make the most money in order to become the winning team, which appeals to the Cowboys. Even the aim of the candidates throughout the series is to gain £250,000 within the 10 week process.

Dragons DenThe whole idea of the show is to provide entrepreneurs the platform to get their ideas shared and potentially gain an investment to make their idea a reality. This idea appeals to the Innovators and the Utopians in the same way. The reason for this is that most of the ideas on the show are created by people looking to improve the world. However the main target audience member is the Innovators. Their aim in life is to make their mark on the world, and this is the aim of the program, to provide people with a platform to make their world changing idea a reality. This idea directly appeals to the Innovators.

Lizard Lick TowingDue to its unusual nature, the audience of Lizard Lick Towing is quite narrow. A most likely audience member would be Drop Outs. In life, they don’t want commitments and that is something that the show caters for. Although the show is a unusual reality show with different content in each episode, It is easy for the audience to stop watching for a period of time and then re-join the series. This is because the content in each episode is different and unique and requires very little knowledge of previous episodes to enjoy the series.Our Zoo

Our Zoo has mainstream appeal; however the Rebels are most likely an audience member. Rebels have the need in life to make the world fit in with their ideologies. The series portrays the life of George Mottershead and his family as he decides the best thing for the surrounding villages is that a zoo should be built. The episodes dramatize George’s efforts to make the villagers and the local planning council see the world from his point of view and accept that his idea of a zoo is vital for the local community. This appeals to the Rebels who can empathise with his struggles to get the world to see things from his point of view.

Media Diary Week 2: Lizard Lick Towing

Name of the Text: Lizard Lick Towing
Date/Time: 24th September 2014/5pm - 6pm
Where I found it: Discovered the show whilst scrolling through the TV guide.
Genre: Reality
Institution: Zodiak/truTV (Distributed by Dave/UKTV in the UK)

Purpose

The purpose of Lizard Lick Towing is to provide an insight into the lives of a few Southern Americans and their jobs working for and owning a vehicle repossession agency. It also provides an insight into how repossessions are done, and the typical reactions from those who are having their vehicles repossessed. The purpose is also to entertain the audience.

Target Audience

Lizard Lick Towing is targeted towards a typically male audience. This is because it is shown on Dave which is a TV channel targeted at men. Lizard Lick does sometimes contain violence, fighting and on this particular episode blood which would discourage females from watching it. The type of audience that would most likely watch this would be The Explorer. This is because the genre is reality, but it is an unconventional format, with the events being real and not staged. It is also unconventional in the way that it is targeted to men rather than a typically female audience. This unconventional format would appeal to The Explorer.

My Reaction to the Text

Originally, I thought it would be quite an uninteresting and typically staged reality shows that is the norm of the genre. However I was pleasantly surprised with the show. The show is appealing to me as it provides a first-person representation of car repossessions which appear to be high action and dangerous in contrast to the civilised methods of repossessions in the UK. This provides some very entertaining portions of the program, as the audience is often left in suspense about if they will get the car they want or if the leaseholder will start fighting with the Lizard Lick team. The show is also quite amusing due to the stereotypical Southern American accents.

Why people would consume the text

I think that people who were looking for entertainment at tea time would consume this text. It doesn't require much concentration on the program to experience and enjoy the humour and suspense during the repossession scenes. People who were interested in South American culture would also enjoy the program as they could find out about the dialect of the people, the way they interact with others and the way they conduct business.

Could some people react differently towards the text?

Definitely, the program is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. Some people may not want to watch the program as it is categorised as a reality which does carry a certain stigma depending on the audience. As it is real life, I might not provide the escapism that some people demand from their television watching. Others may be deterred with some of the violent scenes in the program, or the brutal way that people's property is often just removed from under their feet. Others may also find it distasteful the way that the owners of the business treat or speak to people who are getting their property repossessed.

Analyis of Armani Advert

The Armani Advert has been specifically constructed to influence peoples decision to buy their underwear. David and Victoria Beckham have been specifically chosen for this advert based on their status as a well known and iconic celebrity couple who many people aspire to be. As the advert features both of them, we can connote that the advert is designed for both genders. This allows the advert to increase the number of people that the advert is targeted to.

Light and Shade plays a crucial part of the composition of the advert. Light has been used to bring attention and focus to areas of the image. Light has been used to bring the audiences attention to the underwear in the advert which connotes that the key to recreate this scene is the underwear.  It also focuses on their expressions so we can see the emotions in their face. The facial expressions of David and Victoria are quite natural. They are not looking into the camera which creates a feeling of them being alone together which combined with their very close positioning creates an intimate tone.

Shadow has been used to obscure elements of the scene. This provides a mysterious tone which makes the audience intrigued about what is being obscured. Also, a lot of men like the feeling of being mysterious, like a spy which is how the advert appeals to men. The harsh contrast between the light and dark connotes a feeling of passion. The shadow also emphasises David's masculinity, which appeals to the women targeted in the advert, as many women admire his body.

The image has been cropped so that we only see David and Victoria and nothing else. This connotes that the bed is irrelevant, and the location is irrelevant which makes people feel that they can have this type of "encounter" anywhere that they like if they are wearing this underwear. It makes the audience feel that the they could experience this scenario in their own home.

Media Diary Week 1: Our Zoo

A recent program I cam across that is not in my usual genre of television program is the 6 part series - Our Zoo. It's a dramatisation of George Mottershead and his family as he returns from war and constructs the Oakfield Zoological Gardens (now known as Chester Zoo.) It tackles several themes such as loneliness, shell shock, family values, and feeling pushed out of the community.

Initially, I had visions of it being monotonous. A documentary style program of how the zoo was made. I was in fact quite pleasantly surprised to find out it was a drama of the struggle the family went through to be accepted. I found it quite emotive as several stages throughout the last few episode and makes you question modern day values of the community.

Our Zoo stars Lee Ingleby as George Mottershead, with many well known personalities, such as Anne Reid and Sophia Myles playing members of his family. The screenplay is well written making the show feel believable, and the acting can make you loose yourself in the programme. My favourite character without a doubt is June Mottershead (played by Honor Kneafsey) who's innocence makes the audience most reflective of present day life.

For example, in episode three, we see June going to school. Her unusual interest in animals (and her small height) results in the other children bullying and making fun of her - something most people can relate to. We also see her love for the animals and her caring nature for  Mortimer the Monkey and the others which makes us quite warm hearted. This makes us even more empathetic towards June as we see her caring nature.

Another key theme that is discussed is loneliness and also isolation from the community. When the Mottershead family first move to Upton, the locals provide quite a frosty welcome - another situation most people have experienced or can relate to. As the villagers realise the plans of the family, they start campaigning against them. Their methods are cruel and consist of them insulting the Mottersheads, lying to the Parish Council and even spreading lies about their plans. Even the vicar is quite spiteful and rather ungodly about their plans, which is demonstrated during the council meeting in episode three. The vicar believes that his underhand discussion with a medical expert of zoology would stop the zoo before it was even built. The expert however, remains truthful and states there is no risk to life with a zoo being built, to which the vicar halts the meeting.

One thing that could be perceived as distasteful is the exaggeration of how the family treated, and how there is little content about the construction of the zoo. I would disagree completely with this because it is the treatment of the family which provide lump-in-throat moments that tackle with the themes of the show well. It provides a clear representation of the battles that George had to go to to build the zoo which makes the program more enjoyable

June Mottershead (played by Honor Kneafsey)
with Mortimer the Monkey

There are several things that appeal to the audience. Firstly, and quite obviously are the animals. Mortimer is especially heart warming with his cheeky personal, and the wild bears and provide some amazing edge of your set moments. Next, the theme of loneliness is well tackled in the show. It provides many occasions where we can relate to isolation the family felt.

Lastly, Our Zoo makes us take a good look at ourselves. It makes us realise that just because the world is against you, keep on trying, as soon you will succeed.

Photographic Composition

Background and Foreground

This photo is an example of the use of focus in the foreground and the background. In the foreground, we have a soldier with his gun pointing to a man in the background, however because we can see other soldiers in the background, it adds to the effect of the man being trapped. This would have been lost if we couldn't see the foreground and background together.

Lines

The photo contains a meandering river with a mountain range in the background. The parallel lines of the river back makes the eye of the audience follow it, which then draws them into the mountains in the background, allowing the photographer to control where people look in the photo. This is a good example of using lines in a photograph.

Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds have been used to draw attention to the bike and the lights in the background. The bike has been positioned on the right hand-side line which makes our eyes focus on it. Also the lights are positioned on the top line which also provides an area of interest.

Light and Shade

In this photo we see a bright light source at the top of the photo with silhouettes of people in the centre. The people also generate a shadow on the ground which makes the photo look more crowded. The people are all walking towards the light which guides our eyes to do the same. It also has the effect of inferring that the people have a second or split personality.

Cropped/Skewed Image

The photo has been cropped to focus purely on the elephant's eye. This is because the photographer wants the audience to focus on the emotions displayed by the eye, which would not be as successful if the whole elephant had been in shot. The photo has also been skewed on an angle to give the impression that the elephant is looking down at something, which re-enforces the height of the elephant, without it needing to be all in shot.

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