Director: Matthew Warchus. Producer: David Livingstone.
Cinema Release: September 2014, UK.
The film, which won the Bafta for writer Stephen Beresford and producer David Livingstone for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer, was a sleeper hit last year making over £4m at the UK box office. There is no known budget for this film as there was funds from BFI and BBC Films.
Projects will be independently assessed against the three ticks criteria by the BFI’s Certification Unit, which also administers the cultural test for film, games, high end television and animation projects. With a minimum of two ticks required to be eligible for support, film projects receiving three ticks will be promoted using a BFI diversity logo, will be profiled as good practice case studies, and their producers will be promoted on the BFI website. To incentivise good practice, each year an exemplary producer in receipt of three ticks will be given a Lottery award to fund a diversity opportunity or work placement within their company for 12 months.Production companies for Pride are : Calamity Films (Main production company for this film) BBC Films (presents) Pathe (presents) Proud Films (presents) BFI (British Film Institute) (presents) Cine+ (in participation with) Canal+(in participation with)
Pride is a co-production between Calamity Films and Pathe, with funding from BBC Films and the BFI.
Until the 1980s, we do not know how many people developed
HIV or AIDS. HIV was unknown and transmission was not accompanied by apparent signs or symptoms.
June 1982, a group of cases among gay men in Southern
California suggested that the cause of the immune deficiency was sexual and the
syndrome was initially called gay-related immune deficiency (or GRID)-
was later believed to be related to come from Haiti. Since the 1980s, men who
have sex with men (MSM) have remained the group most at risk of HIV in the UK. January
1983, AIDS was reported among the female partners of males who had the disease
suggesting it could be passed on by heterosexual sex.
In October, bath houses and private sex clubs in San
Francisco were closed due to high-risk sexual activity. New York and Los
Angeles followed suit within a year.
In the 1980s, there
was a very high death rate from AIDS. However, medications have improved
dramatically and so has the life span of people with HIV infection. If you have
access to AIDS medications and medical monitoring, there’s no reason you can’t
live a long life even with HIV infection or AIDS. Myth: You have to
take your doses exactly 12 (or 8, or 24) hours apart. Reality: Medications
today are fairly forgiving. Although you will have the most consistent blood
levels of your drugs if they are taken at even intervals through the day, they
won’t stop working if you’re off by an hour or two. However, some drugs, like
Crixivan (indinavir) can require careful timing. https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/aids-timeline/
This article is called Gays in Film, by an English academic currently holding a professorship in the Department of Film Studies at King's College London, Richard Dyer. This article is based on the problematic obstacles that homosexuality in film faces, and how negative that the representation of it in films actually is- for example Stereotypes, the 'camp' gay guy,who is basically a girl. A film to support this ideological stereotype is GBF and Tanner, when his new BFF's give his wardrobe a makeover. Soon after he rocks up into school with all his new clothes and struts down the hallways like he owns the whole school, more like a "popular" kid. Also on the other hand we have the other gay main character, Brent, who is represented in the film to be the gayest, most confident gay guy in the whole narrative of it "the camp queen" per say, however is basically there to represent the different kinds of gay personalities in society, Tanner being more laid back and not as confident, still scared that everyone knows that he is homosexual, where as Brent is out-going and has already came out to his mum, but is ok in school as people don't suspect that he is gay, which again adds to the humour of the film as stereotypically, it is so clear that he is...
"we have tended to condemn images of gayness in the name of aesthetic concepts and values that are highly problematic." I agree with this statement made by Richard Dyer as judgements globally of homosexuals in film, specifically men are that they are seen as camp and extremely feminine, which in reality isn't always the case. In film, gay men are labelled and targeted as loving everything fashion, make up along with all of the other bodily creative stuff, and having a specific taste particularly in colour which is no doubt pink. This is of course problematic as not ever homosexual acts this way, therefore stereotypes these personas in thinking that every gay person has to like fashion, the colour pink and act extremely feminine, along with the way that they talk, "to show gay people "realistically" on the screen means to show them in conventions of the prevailing cinematic realism. This kind of depiction in turn means to reproduce the ideas and assumptions about how gays really are which prevail in society."
"No term is more frequent in gay criticism of the cinema than "stereotype."" I completely agree with this statement, as the stereotype of gay people in film is represented poorly. It is shocking that there is such a broad stereotype on homosexuality in general; where by film emphasises these "pathetic, ridiculous and grotesque figures that are supposed to be us up there on the screen.". "To know that a character is lesbian is immediately to know that she is aggressive, frustrated, loud mouthed, big boned and perverse." which is beyond the stereotype and not actually true, as in modern day society, more and more people are coming out as gay, and the majority are females, who are regular girls that dress and act like a regular woman/girl would. Statistics say that there has been an increase of people coming out as homosexual or bisexual, mainly down to the legalisation of gay marriage in the US, where more films are being made on homosexuality and "Compared to the 1900s, it is clear that the greater acceptance of homosexuality in the modern era has allowed more queer characters and issues to be seen with more respect and understanding in film and cinema". (Taken from wikipedia, not Richard Dyer's Gays in Film).
"It is not there to express itself, but rather to express something about sexuality in general as understood by heterosexuals." This statement is true to a certain extent on the grounds of homosexuality of a film's narrative being based on a person actually being gay, but not on their relationships or them as people, excluding their sexuality preference. Examples of this are, 'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Happy Together', a hong-kong based gay film.
Some of the main points of this article are that there is, "to argue that what appears to be "given" aesthetic principles are, in however ambiguous a way, also principles of heterosexual hegemony." Another thing being, "if you are representing sexual and emotional relationships on screen, it does make a difference whether they are gay or straight." Which I personally agree with as, despite equality now with homosexuality being a lot more accepted than past and previous years, homosexuality in film is still produced for an audience and their views, in which case those views could be modern or traditional. How being gay or straight makes a difference is because stereotypically in a heterosexual relationship you see a guy who is usually white and a woman who is also usually white, where as with a gay relationship it could be that as they are seen as "others", alongside with black people and other races, it could be felt as if this would fit the topic well, in the representation of homosexuality in film.
"Since the gay movement began we have insisted on the centrality of the media (understood in its widest sense) as a carrier, reinforcer or shaper of our oppression." In the research piece I will be exploring this topic, to depict why homosexuality is represented so negatively within cinema, how it has improved through acceptance and why Hollywood is the shaper of homosexuality on these massive box-office films. One of the main reasons as to why homosexuality isn't shown through Hollywood blockbusters is all down to money and not homophobia. The money generated through blockbusters are huge, and homosexual films are give the impression that they wouldn't sell as well as if it was a straight, white, male/female in a film, as anything else is denoted as 'the other' as
"Given the dearth of alternative images, it is reasonable to suppose that these had an important influence on both public ideas about homosexuality and damagingly gay self-images."
Hollywood does not give homosexuality a chance in it's producing films as all they care about is the money that is being generated and what will become the final outcome of revenue at the box office. It could be argued that people see Hollywood as being homophobic, however the only case in this problem is the money as, "Mainstream American studios are famously cautious, and the risk that an LGBT movie wouldn’t make as much money as a ‘straight one’ is something which will flash through every studio executive’s mind when faced with a new gay script."Another reason as to why Hollywood doesn't particularly use gay characters is because of, "narrative and agenda". Even though as Richard Dyer said in his Gays in Film article, "That gayness should reflect itself on film" rather than it being shaped by producers and directors.
"Movies are constructed and every element of them is created by the writer or director, which means everything in the movies was put there for a reason, at least in terms of narrative. So essentially, if you’re including a gay character in your script, there has to be a reason why on a dramatic or thematic level." This quote from Vada Magazine in the article LGBT Representation in Modern Cinema explores and signifies the use of gay characters in film in modern times. In films now a days, if you were to include a gay character within the narrative, the character would have to be there for comedic values, to add humour in it and make the audience laugh at this particular character's stereotypical gay personality, rather than with them. However there are homosexual films that have a serious ideological message behind them. An example is Brokeback Mountain and the two main characters Jack an Ennis, fall in love one summer as workers on a ranch as sheep herders, however when separated after that summer, they both marry and until keep up their affair for over a course 20 years. Which is a hard depiction and is "very rare to see a gay character in a narrative not about sexuality".
How homosexuality is negatively represented is by "Every lesbian and bisexual character in these films is accused of being a psychotic killer ... And the girl never gets the girl. I'm tired of that." Which is a reference from The Celluloid Closet documentary and to this day, well more modern, is Black Swan, a psychological thriller film about 2 dancers, going head to head to get the role in Swan Lake, which brings out Nina's dark side. It could be implied that this representation of homosexuality in film, of homosexual people being psychopaths, and that being gay is like a mental illness. Despite not being a film, Orange is the New Black expresses this. This is apparent when Healy's flashback to when he was a child takes place, with his mother coming out of a mental home he asks, "Dad what's a lesbian?" and his dad replies, "Lesbianism? Its a disease.".... "A disease like mums?"..."No, more like a mental illness. Which falls upon the representation of traditional views of homosexuality, and more modernly so, in film/TV as "During the Second World War and the subsequent Cold War, Hollywood increasingly depicted gay men and women as sadists, psychopaths, and nefarious, anti-social villains."
In more recent films, "Of 19 LGB characters, only two were portrayed as being in a public, stable, long‐term partnership and two were shown dating." which clearly denotes the views from studios only with them using homosexuality in their films as pushed to the side in these blockbuster films, as if they were to make them central characters they know that their films would bomb dramatically. Furthermore this represents, that homosexual people aren't judged upon as positively as they are seen an "others", another thing is that "It seems that a decade after ‘Brokeback Mountain’, LGBT characters still aren’t being portrayed as a regular part of every day life." showing that studios should perhaps stop making sequels and start "diverting" their ideas.
In film, "Queer aesthetics typically challenge conventional ideas of what is thought to be universally true." Homosexual characters are always stereotypically represented "When discussing media representation of various groups, especially those we consider marginalised, stereotypes are often a primary concern."
This is shown from, how they act, how they dress, their look overall and a clear and evident act of gay person.Most gay men are represented as "camp" and are known to dress "fastidious" and act all confident and feminine in a stemming from a traditionalist view of a gay person basically being born in the wrong body, which is a disgusting representation. "It is noticeable that the lesbian iconography is less elaborated and precise than that for gay men (because lesbian culture has had greater difficulty in developing under the double oppression of gayness and femaleness)."
In films that involve Homosexuality, a lot of it's audience is mostly gay themselves. Personally, I think that this is for relativity in their lives, even if it is a comedy film. the genre has many conventions that could be relatable to the specific audience member. "Queer media doesn’t necessarily rely on queer people being the intended audience, nor does it require that queer people be affiliated with a cultural product in any way other than as consumers." Despite this quote being true, it is evident that films with the involvement with homosexuality only do "well" if their audience can personally identify with the film.
references used in this research piece:
Media Magazine
eJumpCut
Wikipedia- History of Homosexuality in American Film
Richard Dyer's Homosexuality in Film Noir
PinkNews.co.uk- LGB virtually non-existent in top Hollywood films
mediasmarts.ca- Queer Representation in Film and Television
The genre drama, is broadcasted through series mostly, for example Broad church is broadcast on ITV and has only 2 series up to now, and Skins has 7 series. When these shows are mostly shown on TV is around 9pm/10pm which is the times where children are mostly in bed and is known to be appealing to adult/teenage audiences. The format of the narrative of the show is shown through a progression of the show, by revealing more things and building up to the resolution of the problem that is being faced in the show. The actual time period that these shows are broadcast are mostly presented to the audience each year.
The appeals of the Drama genre as to why audiences watch these shows are purely in my opinion for entertainment, which is apart of Uses and Gratifications. People watch drama shows in general though, as by putting observations together and it seems that humans are attracted to dramas as it is seen as stimulating. It stimulates our minds and bodies, and leads to the encoders on getting a reaction out of the audience. Another reason as to why people watch Drama shows is down to social interaction, as friends may watch it also therefore, audiences are able to discuss the programme as a talking point. Another way that social interaction is the reason as to why audiences watch Drama based shows is so that they can use the likes of social networking sites like Twitter, to look at trends on the topic in the show at the time. Another thing as to why audiences may watch Drama shows is because of Personal Identity. There could be a something in that specific show which is relatable to an audience member and relevant at a certain time in their lives- audiences are able to create a bond with the characters because of this due the relevance of the topic for the two.
The target audience of Drama TV Shows are mainly targeted towards a Mainstream audience, as the shows usually consist of reality and everyday obstacles in some sense and also in most cases appeals to the Struggler if we're talking of Dramas such as, Skins and My Mad Fat Diary. Most Dramas on TV consist audiences watching them for entertainment however they can be classified to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and from there it is denoted that most audiences are positioned in the Esteem Needs category and also Social Needs & Love and Belonging.
Lifestyle Categories for Dramas are able to be categorized through Utopians as most Drama based TV Shows, deal with issues within such as, murder, mental health, addiction etc... which an audience could take and educate themselves more on those specific topic areas.
Audience Profiling for Drama TV Shows would mainly be female, in the 16-30 year age group. I would think that the family would consist of a Mother, Father and Children, that are working class, and from the UK. Ethnicity wise I would say all ethnicities watch Drama shows, and are under education in either college/ sixth form and university. The religion side of things I would say mostly Christian and are apart of a labour party in the politics section.
The visuals in this opening sequence of Skins from Series 3 tells us about the setting that it is industrial and has a lot of estates. This has connotations that the area is some what "rough" which soon effects the characters beings, and clearly identifying this being a drama packed show. On the topic of characters, this opening sequence for them, denotes the types of people that is typical of the Drama genre, for example, we see the characters smoking connoting rebellion and also characters kissing which connotes drama that may affect other characters in the narrative of the show. Leading onto themes that this opening sequence that the visuals connote are love, rebellion, adolescence and friendship. The music of the opening titles is the sound of bells which suggests, that the audience may feel as if panic has surfaced as bells are alarming which would make an audience feel anxious as it is a sign that something is wrong or something is about to go wrong, which fits perfectly with the Drama genre. Finally the camera shots in this reveal the characters to us, which enables us audience members to quickly relate to them and/or understand what is happening within the narrative that the opening titles is attempting to denote.
Settings that are typical for Drama genres are usually set in places that are communal also were the characters within the show are close due to this close society. How different characters interact with each other in these areas are usually through in a park, or the local pub, and basically just areas where you go to socialise, whether that also consist of house parties within the narrative of the show. Drama TV Shows are usually set in towns that are quite urban. For example, we have My Mad Fat Diary, which is a drama series of a young girl called Rae who is battling depression, but makes new friends and slowly gains happiness and is on the road to recovery- the whole point of this friendship group she has made in the narrative throughout the show is to socialise at which she does that by going to house parties, the pub, and drives, which reveal the settings of the area.
The technical codes in a drama genre are typical in the sense of camera shots and the use of close ups which enable the audience to create a relationship with the characters and also, they could actually relate to the characters in ways that are relevant in the audience member's lives. For example, in episodes of ITV Drama, Broadchurch, the use of close-ups are common and used a lot for this reason exactly, which is typical of the Drama genre. The editing that is most frequent in dramas, from my own personal experience of watching Dramas are montages of the different character within the show and their lives when separate from each other.
Typical characters in the Drama genre from stereotypes and archetypes are, "The Victim" which is the character that is the one who is dealing with an issue within the narrative, for example we have Effy from Skins battling psychotic depression, which lands her in a mental hospital and in that role she is the victim. Another example is Danny Latimar on Broadchurch and his death and in that respect, that is his character being the victim as they try to find his killer.
Functions of the people in the show are basically "the guiders" in Drama genres as there is always a recognition of disruption in Drama TV Shows as there is mostly always a resolution. How certain groups are represented within the show are based from stereotypes of the Status Quo of society at the time, which reflects on negative topics, however it could also be that they are based from positive topics that are happening in today's reality in society.
Characters are an important element in TV Shows as they have to be there to make a connection with the audience even if an audience member doesn't have anything in common at all with the character(s), there will be certain characteristics at which are linked to an audience member, whether that be the character personally or the situation that the character is in. What does make a good character in this genre however, is the character that actually makes the whole show possible in a sense, as they are the key to either the disruption of the narrative or the resolution to it. An example of a good character in the Drama genre is Rae from My Mad Fat Diary. She is a troubled teenager that has made plenty of friends since getting out of a mental hospital, however she is the character within the narrative that disrupts it (which in this case for her, she relapses on her mental condition, causing her friends to find out and leads to a chain of events throughout the narrative- which denotes my reasoning of certain characters making a show possible), however the character is then the resolver in the narrative to make things better, which for me is vital in this particular genre of Drama in TV Shows.
Active Audiences are widely expected in the genre Drama, as in these particular shows, audiences are more likely to have their own theories and also ideologies of what way the narrative is going or going to go. An example of this is Broad church and it's forever long lasting like build-up to find out who Danny Latimar's killer was. Even after the resolution and the New Equilibrium of the narrative in Drama shows, audiences from my personal experience with the genre, are still having and making theories of the shows narrative by taking an Oppositional Reading to the whole resolution within the narrative.
Action/Enigma Codes in Drama TV Shows are most definitely the most important element within the narrative as it adds to the suspense that comes along with the genre in particular, for example the cliff hangers which encourage and attract audiences to continue watching that particular show to find out what is going to or about to happen, examples of this are Skins and the series 4 finale where Cook and the Dr fight as Cook finds out that the doctor has killed Freddie (one of his best friends) and it abruptly stops, which leaves audiences in ore and wanting to continue watching the show and feel the anticipation of the next series.
Dramas in general and their narrative's all depend on what type of drama that it is specifically as there a bunch of sub-genres for the Drama category, such as: Crime Drama, Historial Drama, Horror Drama, Docudrama, Psychodrama, Comedy Drama, Melodrama, and Romantic Dramas.
Finally, themes, Ideologies and Binary Oppositions in the Drama genre often tell us about the world that Friendship is a key factor as in most Drama TV Shows, there is always an involvement in friendship, which provides teamwork in resolving the actual drama in the narrative of the show. A Binary Opposition for the Drama genre is Bad vs Good, as there is always the villain character type in Dramas and there is always the hero character(s). What is valued by the genre Drama, is that in my opinion, it is one of the most relatable genres to a mainstream audience as they always battle real-life situations and suggest ways in which they can be resolved.
Text 1- Justin Bieber MTV VMA Awards Perfomance 2015
The image shown is taken from an article from OK! Magazine of Justin Bieber during his come-back performance after a year long break... In this article, they represent Justin as being emotional, overwhelmed and being grateful- which reinforces the representation of dedication as denoted by his evident emotions . This image in particular has a representation of stereotyping due to his over all look and how he is dressed in black from head to toe and also has two arms full of tattoos which has connotations of the bad boy look, where his whole appearance contradicts him as a person due to him crying over his performance, which could lead to the representation of being fake.
The encoders of this text, in this case the photographer at OK! Magazine have represented Bieber as a role model. This has been represented as due to Bieber's microphone headset, we can clearly see that he is a famous singer, therefore we automatically believe him to be a role model to many people. The image uses Bieber as the central protagonist, however, out of focus we see fans with their hands in the air which is evidence of Bieber being a famous singer and a role model. This image shows Justin to be bold and simple due to his choice of clothing as black is a simple colour and stands to the representation of being "bad" which he has a representation in the media of being in his fairly recent past, after being arrested for DUI, but being bailed out as such.
OK! Magazine audience would expect to respondwith the preferred reading of this article, to see Bieber as a changed person and that he does have emotions and was just going through a phase, where he was big-headed, but now he has realised that singing is his passion and wants to make his fans happy by doing so, at which some people could relate to.
Due to the society that we live in, where pop-culture and fashion is extremely valued, Justin Bieber is known as one of the most influential male artists of the 21st Century, due to his come back and being labelled as so many different names in his younger years of his career. Due to his celebrity status, he is appreciated because we all live in an era where stars in every element of media and film are seen as iconic and people who we look up to and aspire to be like.
Text 2- Justin Bieber Calvin Klein Ad
Justin represents himself in this advertisement through the use of his body language, facial expression s and over all physical appearance. First of all, his body gives Bieber the overall look that he is extremely confident with himself and the body that he is in, which in this century people will aspire to be like, as the way you look is all that seems to matter now-a-days just to be labelled as pretty etc... This gives him a masculine look due to his "buff" body type and his tattoos. Another thing is Justin's underwear, which is the clear promotion of the product. Justin's facial expression is represented as rather serious looking, almost sexual looking, in which case, the desire of a sexual nature is used to attract an audience- this is a juxtaposition whereby it is signified that he is just being serious and looking directly into the camera in a way of telling the audience to buy this product.
Bieber's representation here is one which encourages an audience to buy the product so that you can either look as good as him in the underwear, whereby the male audience may want to be inspired to be "buff" like Bieber. Another way in which he is represented here is as a teenage heart-throb as teenage girls are mostly attracted to boys/men who're big and bulky and looking a certain way, whereby Justin follows this stereotype of expectation. The eye contact and use of personal pronoun in the hashtag, "#mycalvins" makes him a reflection of audience members. Another thing is that he represents the ideologies that you should be confidence no matter what you look like, whether you're muscular like him, slim, or on the bigger side. making him relatable and fulfilling the audience's need for affiliation as he is a role model in the sense that he has/had body confident issues, and that its ok.
Text 3- Justin Bieber Men's Health Magazine Cover
Bieber's topless image on this cover of Men's Health Magazine represents him as confident. His arms thrown behind his head is done to show his muscular arms but also adds to the open body language which further represents his confidence. His facial expression and with him looking into the camera connotes that he is confident and that he wants the audience to know that he is confident. This has the representation that he is 'big-headed' and has a sense of cockiness in him.
The encoders of the magazine are representing Bieber as a object for women, even though this is a male targeted magazine. The medium long shot allows his whole appearance to be seen, showing his (again) topless body which emphasises his muscular body type and masculine tattoos, but with the looks of a pair of fitness joggers, by the waistband. Another thing about this main image is that it is in black and white which connotes mystery and sophistication is an sense that even though Justin Bieber is a well-known singer and performer, he is also extremely dedicated to keeping fit which is also denoted by the cover line, 'LEAN MUSCLE'.
The target audience for this magazine for this text would be men aged 18-35, who have an interest in fitness but also, if they want to feel inspired to become fit. these men are probably married with children and would take the preferred reading that Justin is a confident, fitness maniac. Even though this magazine is targets men specifically, I do think that women would buy this magazine just because the 'star' Justin Bieber is featured within, which denotes his stardom, fame and popularity through both genders.
Text 4- Justin Bieber Purpose Album Cover (2015)
Justin Bieber has represented himself through a rather effective album cover being topless (again) however with his hands together connoting his religious background, letting his audience into an aspect of his life and personality. Even though it is evident that Bieber is topless in this cover, the use of effects of drawings/paint connotes that he is surrounded by people who have kept him covered through his rather 'bad' recent past.
The encoder have used this representation of the religious expression which signifies a religious, appreciated musical talent rather than the confident, cocky, muscular man. This cover represents the this in its Mediation of Justin Bieber, The Selection of a photo which shows him praying almost, as he has his hands partly together and his head down which is a connotation of praying and also the use of his topless body being covered by art. The Organisation of the layout is simple yet effective as there is so much going on with the edited use of black and white and art, but shows Bieber in a staged position. Finally The Focus of Bieber as a musician and religious persona being serious about his job rather than being in the media for all the negative and wrong things, rather than the positive things.
The preferred reading of this album cover is that Justin Bieber is a popular musician that loves his job and its eternally grateful due to his stance as a religious person, which has connotations of him being 'blessed' as the pop icon he is. This also stands with the ideology that religion should be something that is taken into account everyday, 1) you don't have to be ashamed as such to express your religion, 2) you should take life as a blessing and not take if forgranted, and 3) that the musical artist in him should be appreciated and more respected, rather than labelling him for all the negative things he's been in the media for, for his celebrity status.
The use of Cosmopolitan as the name and also the masthead of this magazine is due to the actual meaning of the word. Cosmopolitan has a polysemic nature of being sophisticated which implies to the audience of the magazine that, if they read this magazine, they will also be sophisticated. Another thing is that the world connotes maturity and being broad-minded which in this case, will attract an audience in seeing that the magazine itself will be mature and include a lot of non-childish things. the use of the colour pink for the masthead has been used as it has connotations of femininity, sweetness and playfulness. These show that the magazine will include mature topics for women and also include fashion and beauty as they are main feminine topics. The masthead takes up the entire width of the magazine's front cover as it is sized big, to make the audience aware of what the magazine is called and also has connotations of confidence showing authority due to it's size and it is also makes itself iconic, however it is positioned underneath the main image, showing hat it is important, but not more important than the celebrity being used on the front cover. The strapline of the magazine is replaced by the date of publishing, this being, January 2015, which is sized small compared to the masthead of magazine, showing that is isn't as significant as it. The choice of black for the date has been used to suggest that it is a piece of information and is serious but it is unimportant, and knowingly an audience would only pay attention to the colour of the magazine as a whole, however pay attention to coverless that are sized big also.
The main image of the magazine, is the well known celebrity, Rita Ora. The shot of the main image is a medium long shot. Despite the magazine using Ora as the central image of this magazine because the audience may aspire to be like her or either are interested about her, in other words a fan- Rita is giving a direct mode of address to create a relationship with the audience as she is there to talk to YOU directly. Another thing about the main image is that she is dressed rather revealing which implies that she is body confident, therefore you should be too. Another thing about the shot is that her body language implies a lot of things, as she is standing with her hands on her hips which has connotations of authority and confidence, which as a female figure, this is how she is represented. the use of facial expressions from Ora suggest a serious yet, sophisticated type of look- The use of red lipstick suggests this sophistication.
The ways in which the layout and the mise-en-scene work together from a visual perspective is through the use of the themes of summer. Summer is connoted in this front cover as Rita is standing in a swimming costume and also through the use of the cover-line, "The new freeze-your-butt-off slimming craze" which is stereotypical in the ways that girls/women say they would love a bikini body for the summer.
The film that I decided to choose is War of the Worlds (2005) which is obviously a science-fiction genre. How we can depict this film being of the genre, science-fiction is by the mise-en-scene as the lighting in the film's trailer is high-key before the disaster to denote that everything is fine before the alien invasion and sort of put the presence of reality into it, however there is also high-key lighting is some parts of the disaster which is used to emphasize to use of special effect etc... but generally during the disaster low-key lighting is used to show to darkness of the situation that the whole city is in. Next is the costume which in the film, is made to begin with normal everyday clothing which is used to make the audience relate to the characters in it- however, when everything starts to go wrong, the characters look rather dirty and over-worn looking which emphasizes the uncertainty of how the disaster will play out, which keeps the audience engaged and gets them thinking of the outcome. Along with the make-up in this film with the use of dirt,cuts and blood also follows this ideology.
From the trailer of War of the Worlds, I can see that the setting of this film is set in New York mainly due to the use of Tom Cruise's cap and that represents where he is from. The use of settings through out this trailer show a cellar, the streets of New York and Boston and also fields. These settings all signify fear and isolation which provides the audience with the Binary Opposition of Life Vs Death as these places present this and makes an audience question whether they characters will live or not.
Next, I am going to talk about the use of the camera and the editing in this trailer specifically. First is the use of close-ups, which provides the audience with the Binary Opposition of Fear Vs Safety.
We see this when we see the characters, Ray and Rachel looking scared at what is happening to their world and clearly can see by their facial expressions when they are frightened and not safe compared to the beginning of the trailer when the close-ups were the facial expressions of happiness and love. Next in this particular section of the film, the use of special effects such as the gathering of grey skies and the lightening in the "storm" and also the collapsing of the road along with the buildings and fires. These all create tension as they present to the audience with the Binary Opposition of Humanity Vs Greater Powers. This can depicted through the use of knowing the genre of the film (science-fiction) as we know that the formations of the skies in this trailer is unfamiliar to man-kind, so its obvious it would be put down to other life, such as aliens etc... Finally in this part, the use of high angle shots and low angle shots show the audience that the Binary Opposition for this is Weak Vs Power. This is shown through these shows due to the uses of them and the connotations at which in this case is weakness and power.
The characters in this film, War of the Worlds are played by Tom Cruise as Ray, Dakota Fanning as Rachel and Justin Chatwin as Robbie, who are the main characters in the film. Ray is the protagonist of the film and is a more complexed character in the narrative of the film as he is the one able to figure out what the aliens/tripods' purpose is down on planet Earth, and he's the one character that seems to have all the answers in a sense. However, on the other hand, Rachel is a less developed character as we actually see her develop through out the film, as in the beginning of this trailer in particular, we see her being a normal, casual child where as, as the trailer progressed, we see by the use of camera shots, and her facial expressions, the film gets more tense and frightening for her character, were she has too mature a lot, in such a short space of time. With Robbie as a character type, we see him as a dynamic character along with Ray and Rachel, however, his character doesn't seem to be around much at the beginning as he drives off somewhere with Ray's car, and also as I've watched the film, Robbie goes away to try and seek revenge of the Tripods, showing he is a determined character. Another character type is Robbie and Rachel's mother, Mary-Ann (Miranda Otto) who is basically in my opinion there to set the narrative of the story, in terms of "something bad is going to happen" this is shown when in the trailer she says to Ray before leaving "Look after our kids", which creates some sort of tense atmosphere surrounding the film to the audience. Finally, the character that seems to be the villain in this film is obviously the Aliens and their tripods, as they are there to destroy the main characters city/world and kill them- revealing them to the audience as the enemy of the main characters, who we see as good and gives the audience a Binary Opposition of Man Vs Alien.
Next is the use of Music and sound, in which case the music is used to create a tense atmosphere which creates suspense, due to the build up of the diegetic sound of music in the trailer from start to finish, where an audience can depict what genre it is by this music as well as feeling sort of uncomfortable by how tense it actually is. The silent music at the beginning of the trailer is only quiet because there is only a diegetic sound of dialogue which is used to show an audience what the story's purpose is and is able to give an audience an idea of what is going to happen, with baring in mind the genre of the film. The sound effects in this trailer consist of wind and footsteps etc... which enables the audience to feel as if they're apart of the film-like they're actually there. Finally is the progress of music towards the end of the trailer which ends abruptly with a sound identical to a thud.
The story line of this film is the main-character's (Ray) struggle of being a responsible father to his two children, Robbie and Rachel when their mum drops them off with him for the weekend and from then we can feel a tension filled atmosphere, like "something bad is going to happen". However when the lightening start to strike we know that this "reality" in the film is actually coming true, which turns out to be an alien invasion and Ray must find a way to protect his children as they seek refuge. The whole film has themes of Control, Confidence and Determination as shown by the Binary Oppositions I have given in this essay and also shown by the characters.
To begin, the text which I would class as my guilty pleasure would be the band 5 Seconds of Summer. Over the week I have been listening to there new album "Sounds Good Feels Good" on Spotify and considering that most of my friends dislike the band, I try to hide my like for the band. The target audience for the band in my opinion is teenagers, mainly due to the fact the band are known to be "good-looking" and are also new entries for the success of "rock" music.
Why I don't think that this is a text that I wouldn't usually consume is because it's totally not my taste in genre of music. I usually go more towards the likes of singers such as, James Bay, Sam Smith, and just generally more relaxed styled music. For me to like music by 5 Seconds of Summer is just out of character for my taste in genre of music as it is a bit more heavier in a sense with instruments such as the drums, bass and guitar, but is emphasised in their music much more that James Bay's music.
The reading I think that I take from the text is the preferred reading, as the lyrics in the songs actually surprisingly mean something, which I think the band has attempted to do. I really like the new album of the band, and have had it secretly on repeat all week- obviously meaning that I'm currently enjoying it for what it is.
In this album I think that there are the appeals of love & belonging and also self-actualization from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs due to the fact that most of the songs on the album are about love, and the stereotypical struggles of a relationship, but also self-actualization because there is sense of creativity in the album with various different meanings in each song.
I also think that the appeals in this album for me is I think that I am categorized as The Explorer from Young and Rubicans 4cs Model. I think this as 5SOS is not usually a band I would listen to due to the genre of music they participate in, and by listening to this I am trying out new music genres, and widening my taste in genre of music.
Finally I think that with the Uses & Gratifications model, the appeal is Entertainment/Escapism as when I listen to their music I feel like I'm isolated away from the world and at that moment just filled with music, that I enjoy.
After a long waiting for new season of Geordie Shore, season 11's first episode finally hit the screens of MTV. Geordie Shore is a text that I would put in the Entertainment gratification due to it's humour. I think that Geordie Shore is extremely humorous personally due to the use of personalities in the Geordie Shore family, however some people would disagree due to its high rudeness and sometimes vulgar outlook on certain situations with in the show. I also think that Geordie Shore fits the description of the entertainment gratification as in every episode previous to the new season, there is always drama, with boy troubles, fights and just the results of consuming too much alcohol.
I also think that Geordie Shore fits the Social interaction gratification as the stars that take part in the show are always active on Twitter, which is one of the main social networking sites on the internet, and they tweet about the show and certain parts of the show, which would cause other users to respond to their addresses to the subject. Another way in which Geordie Shore uses Social Interaction is by the adverts before the show is about to start or resume from it's breaks, of using hastags on Twitter, when they're talking about the show.
Second Text: Criminal Minds
The UK premiere of Criminal Minds Season 11, aired Monday, which does not have much escapism as it is quite an interesting and intriguing programme, which fits way better with Entertainment. The programme is full of drama due to the mystery of the BAU (Behavioural Analysis Unit) finding who the killer of that episode is.
Another gratification that this programme uses is Information/Surveillance due to the specialist information used in the episodes and how they identify a killer, but also we gain a lot of knowledge of what sick things people actually do in the world.
The programme also relates to Personal Identity in some aspects as in the episodes, there is always a quote read out by one of the characters either after or before the killer is found in the programme, at which an audience member could relate to in some way or another, whether that be something they live by, or something that is similar in describing a life event that has previously happened.
The media text that I think changed my life drastically would have to be Twitter. The reason why I think that Twitter changed my life is firstly, becoming interactive with other people who have the same interests as me; I thought that this was great to also have friends over the internet.
When I first consumed the media text, I didn't know how to use it all, however as time went on I got used to it and literally became addicted to tweeting and talking to other people. Despite me becoming overly addicted to this social network, it changed me as a person drastically! I became getting more opinionated than I'd ever been, due to being surrounded by so many different personalities, which cause a shift in my own. I began to stay in more, rather than going out and socialising with friends, but stay on Twitter all day, everyday! I think another reason as to why I became so addicted to Twitter was because everything that I wanted to find more out about, for example, news and just general knowledge, I would easily be able to find the information out so fast, due to trending hashtags and just the general knowledge of other accounts on there.
I feel in a way that Twitter would impact on other people's lives is by how firstly, like me, they would become addicted once they get the hang of working the social network, due to he reasons of interaction with other accounts and being able to find out information; secondly, I think that Twitter could cause people some personal problems... Them being, that accounts on Twitter could possibly a certain individual feel rather uncomfortable and make them feel intimidated (cyber-bullying), which could impact on someone's mental state and how they cope. Another thing is that Twitter could boost a certain individuals ego, for example accounts looking up to an ordinary person and tweeting them compliments etc... But also because of the amount of followers they have...
Twitter doesn't affect me as much as it did about two years ago, as I have fell out of he phase of going on my phone and checking my news feed every two seconds, and have realised that there are more things to life than sitting around doing nothing and talking to hidden identities behind a computer screen.
Firstly, my text is the 2015
film, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trails. This film has a target audience of people
who enjoy action/drama/sci-fi films however I also think, that the target
audience would be female young adults/teenagers as the main character is Dylan
O'Brien as the main character Thomas. The method of audience classification with Young and Rubican's 4c’s, I would classify this movie to be appealing to the Succeeder as this film includes a lot of competition which requires a lot of control, which the succeeder's core need in life is for just that. Secondly, the preferred reading of this text would be that the film will be filled with drama and thrilling. What the encoders want to achieve with this trailer of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trails is for people to take a preferred reading and also for an audience to keep the suspense up of what the whole film will be like. The ideologies which are encoded is that life is a challenge, due to the visible dramatic scenes in the film, that give an audience a feel as to what the film will be like. The text celebrates that you can defeat any challenges that life throws at you, even if you fail the first time... The underlying messages and what this film tells us about life is that everything is never as it seems, due to the amount of different scenes actually shown in the text and how the audience will perceive this. Thirdly, the ideologies and feelings that could be held by someone who understands the text but rejects what it is trying to do (Oppositional Reader) could firstly be the simple fact that they are happy in their own life all the time therefore could disagree with the ideology of "Everything is never as it seems". Another thing is that the trailer looks quite unrealistic, and from my own personal experience, I know that, that is the case- but the encoders have not attempted for that to come across. An Oppositional Reader's Cultural Experience might lead to this because, due to this film only being in the cinema now as it is fairly new, people will go there to watch it and may be distracted by people talking, so either you're too focused on telling them to be quiet or you're too busy concentrating on what they're talking about. Finally another thing is that if a person perhaps didn't want to go to the cinema, however watch it in the comfort of their own home so go onto an illegal streaming film site to watch it- but it's poor quality on a tiny screen, therefore it could make a person's experience of watching the film a lot less effective than going to the cinema to see it. Fourthly, the situated culture of this text may lead it's audience to taking a oppositional reading, due to distractions of where they are and who they are with. However, how it may lead them to taking a negotiated reading to the text may be because of who they're with at the time for example a person is sitting watching the film and you're really enjoying it- think its great, but then your friend sitting next to you thinks that it is awful, and has only negative things to say about the film; pointing out everything wrong with it and then they tell you and you start to doubt yourself liking the film and start to agree with some aspects of what your friend is saying.
The media text that I have consumed this week is the well-known social networking site, Twitter. I used Twitter to read up on the breaking news that a liquid substance has been found on Mars. This piece of text appeals to an audience who enjoy science, or are just particularly interested that something so out of the ordinary has been discovered.
Next, this piece of text that I have consumed involved the site Twitter, which now-a-days, most people in the world use; this could be categorised in the model, The Narcotising Dysfunctional Model, as this site (from personal experiences) is addictive. Another model that this site could be categorized in is The Cultural Effects Model, as the site can lead to a representation of teenagers, in a negative way, due to the argument of the app being addictive, even though it is being misinterpreted when you're reading up on something to do with space.
This piece of text has an audience categorization of the audience being "Explorers" as finding the substance on Mars is now science history and with this, research will be produced from this to discover whether there is life beyond Earth or whether there is a new twin for Earth, which is new ideas, which is what the "Explorers are all about". Another audience category I also think that this text fits into is the Mainstream audience as most people in the world have Twitter and near enough everyone from Twitter will have come across this discovery.
Finally I think that this text is treated as active as, everyone who wanted to find out about it will have made their own research, however it is also passive because people on Twitter may have just stumbled across the text due to another user re-tweeting it or sharing information about it.
Name of text: Spotify Date/Time: Everyday, around 4pm-10pm with breaks. Where did you find it: I found Spotify on the internet and also the Spotify app from the Apple App Store. Genre: Music What is the purpose: The purpose of Spotify is to listen to music you enjoy whilst also discovering new music. Institution producing the text: Apple, Internet... Target Audience: The target audience of Spotify is users who like to listen to music depending on their moods and activities. Your reaction to the text: My reaction to this text is that it is amazing! As a music lover myself, Spotify had me hooked from the beginning as it helped me develop my love of music and music taste further as I am able to discover new music as well as listening to songs that I love. Why would people consume the text: People would consume the text most probably for the exact same reason as me, wanting to listen to their favourite songs, but also discover new songs and upcoming artists. People such as record producers may want to listen to Spotify to find artists that they can sign, which is another reason as to why people listen to Spotify. Could some people react in different ways to the text? How?: Some people could of course react in different ways, due to the fact that some people in the world may not be music lovers. Another way people could react different with this text is how there are a load of different genres of music ranging from indie to religious music, it really does have something for everyone, however a minority rather than the majority of people may not like some of the genre based playlists provided, which may make people have different attitudes towards the text.
Name of text: Instagram
Date/Time: Everyday, around 4-9pm Where did you find it: Apple App Store Genre: Social Media What is the purpose: The purpose of Instagram is to share photos with the world, whether you want it just to be posted for the people who follow you, or virtually the whole internet race to see. Institution producing the text: Internet, Apple App Store, Android Target Audience: The target audience for Instagram is people who enjoy taking photographs such as everyone using Instagram to share memories and daily "selfies". Your reaction to the text: My reaction to the text is that it is over-rated to a certain extent, as personally I enjoy taking photographs, but I suppose I only use the app as it is more of a passive piece of media, in the sense that people only have it because everybody else does. Why would people consume the text: People would consume this text because Instagram allows us to interact with different people from all around the world, whether that be a close friend or someone in America talking to someone in Holland about their shared love and passions of certain things, e.g. photography. Could some people react in different ways to the text? How?: People could react in different ways to this app because Instagram is a social networking site therefore there are a lot of different opinions floating around. Another thing is that professional photographers could become annoyed at people who are aspiring photographers, but only posting their work onto a social media account and getting recognition from someone high up in the photography industry after such little time of taking photographs, and more the fact that by the click of a button they have either got money or a job out of their work.
To begin I will be reviewing the magazine 'ELLE'. 'ELLE' is one of the most globally popular magazines;which leads me to the reasoning of the pricing of this magazine-£4.00. For a magazine I suppose it is quite expensive, however due to the popularity of the magazine, that is the reason of the price, as it's content inside advertises high-end fashion.
Next, is the central protagonist, Reality TV, A-List celebrity, Kim Kardashian. Celebrity endorsement is frequently used when advertising a product or service as celebrities are considered to be very influential to the audience's buying habits. Kim is stood with open body language showing her 'CONFIDENCE' just like it is titled as a headline on the cover as well as not creating a direct mode of address as she is looking away from the camera showing that she does not care what people think of her whether its good or bad because she is confident. With Kim wearing black and white clothing from this we can infer that she is successful and is sophisticated, however with her legs being quite revealing connotations that you can be sophisticated but in sense be desirable.
Another thing is the masthead and how it is large and bold which will attract a user's eye as well as just looking at the cover and thinking, 'Ooo Kim Kardashian'. Elle is a French magazine which connotes love, sophistication and class, as that is how the French culture of fashion is stereotyped.
The typography on the cover is clearly in black,white and pink which shows elegance and class, but also because of the pink it connotes femininity. The magazine seems to be quite clustered with different titles of all different sized fonts, however the two that stand out straight away are the masthead and the cover line: 'CONFIDENCE', which shows that in this particular issue, that is what 'ELLE' wants to achieve by getting it's target audience to have self-belief and to have confidence.
To conclude, I think that this magazine is a fine representation of class and sophistication in women but with a bit of an edge. From the positioning of Kim to the grey classy background we know that this is a higher classed magazine. However, the cover touches on a subject that women around the world suffer from with having low self-esteem/zero confidence etc... and also the cover line stating, "A SMART WOMAN'S GUIDE TO SELF BELIEF' which proves that this magazine is targeted at women.
I chose this picture because I feel that the rule of thirds has been used effectively showing the line and shapes which means as a result that the image is a good photograph. Another thing is the lightning and shadows in this image, which makes people pay great attention to what is in the image.
