Media in the Online Age

Balkanisation/Splinternet
The splinternet is a characterisation of the Internet as splintering and dividing due to various factors such as technology, commerce, politics, nationalism, religion and interests.
"Powerful forces are threatening to balkanise it", writes the Economist weekly, and it may soon splinter along geographic and commercial boundaries.

Countries such as China have erected what is termed a "Great Firewall", for political reasons, while other nations such as the US and Australia, discuss plans to create a similar firewall to block child pornography or weapon-making instructions.

Technology
Describing the splintering of Internet technology, some writers see the problem in terms of new devices using different standards. Users no longer require web browsers to access the internet, as new hardware tools often come with their own "unique set of standards" for displaying info.

Journalist and author Doc Searls uses the term "splinternet" to describe the "growing distance between the ideals of the internet and the realities of dysfunctional nationalisms", which contribute to the various and sometimes incompatible standards which often make it hard for search engines to use the data. He notes that "it all works because the web is standardised." However as new devices incorporate their own ad networks, formats, and technology, many are able to "hide content" from search engines.

Stephen Lewis, information manager, describes the causes primarily in terms of the technology "infrastructure", leading to a "conundrum" whereby the internet could eventually be carved up into numerous geopolitical entities and borders, much as the physical world is today.

Commericial Lock-In
The Atlantic magazine speculates that many of the new "gadgets have a 'hidden agenda' to hold you in their ecosystem of content display and advertising. These are walls going up just as the walls to mobile internet access are falling down". Writer Derek Thompson explains that "in the splinternet age, ads are more tightly controlled by platform". They rationalise the new standards as possibility a result of companies wanting to increase their revenue through targeted advertising to their own proprietary user base. 

Forrester Research vice president and author Josh Bernoff also writes that "the unified web is turning into a splinternet", as users of new devices risk leaving one internet standard. He uses the term "splinternet" to refer to "a web in which content on devices other than PCs, or hidden behind password, makes it harder for site developers and marketers to create a unified experience". He points out, for example, that web pages "don't look the same because of the screen size and don't work the same since the iPhone doesn't support Flash". He adds that now, with the explosion of other phone platforms like Google Android, "we'll have yet another incompatible set of devices". However, both Android and IOS are Unix-based platforms and both offer WebKit-based browsers as standards, as does leading manufacturer Nokia.

Politics and Nationalism
A survey conducted in 2007 by a number of large universities found that Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia filter a wide range of topics and also block a large amount of content related to those topics. South Korea filters and censors news agencies belonging to North Korea.

It found that numerous countries engaged in "substantial politically motivated filtering", including Burma, China, Iran, Syria and Tunisia.
Saudi Arabia, Iran and Tunisia engage in substantial social content filtering.
Burma, China, Iran, Pakistan and South Korea have the most encompassing national security filtering, targeting the websites related to border disputes, separatists and extremists.

Organisations such as the OpenNet Initiative were created because they recognised that "Internet censorship and surveillance are growing global phenomena." Their book on the subject was reportedly "censored by the U.N" with a poster removed by the U.N. security officials because it mentioned China's "Great Firewall". In March 2010, Google chose to pull its search engines and other services out of China in protest of their censorship and the hacking of Gmail accounts belonging to Chinese activists. 

Religion
Internet access has also been blocked for reasons of religion. In 2007, and again in May 2010, Pakistan blocked the video sharing website Facebook and YouTube, reportedly along with the search engine Google, and Wikipedia, to contain what it described as "blasphemous" and "un-Islamic" material.

The Church Of Scientology recommended Internet censorship as a method of defending itself against what it said were a constant campaign of abuse by the group "Anonymous", along with "misinformation" and "misrepresentation" in the media. In September 2009 it asked the Australian Humans Rights Commission's Freedom of Religion and Belief to restrict access to web site it believes incites "religious vilification".

Interests
Splintering of the Internet community can occur when members of a specific interest groups use the Internet to exclude or avoid views that contradict their own cherished beliefs and theories. Cyberbalkanisation refers to the division of the internet into sub-groups with specific interests (digital tribes), where the sub-group's members almost always use the Internet or the web or communicate/read material that is only of interest to the rest of the sub-group. 

Cass Sunstein argued that cyberbalkanisation could damage democracy, because it allows different groups to avoid exposure to one another as they gather in increasingly segregated communities, making recognition of other points of view or common ground decreasingly likely. The commentator Aleks Krotoski feels that Jihadist groups use the internet in this way.

Despite the concerns of cyberbalkanisation, there is mixed evidence that it actually growing. One Wharton study found that internet filters can create commonality, not fragmentation. However, this study is primarily focused on music recommendation algorithms, and openly states that more research is required surrounding other domains (eg news, books, fashion). Another study found that ideological segregation of online news consumption is low in absolute terms, higher than the segregation of most offline news consumption, and significantly lower than the segregation of face-to-face interactions with neighbours, co-workers, or family members. 

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EG of Balkanisation; Net Neutrality issue! -web is becoming more fragmented.
Currently, when you access the internet on your phone, tablet or computer, you get to view websites and watch videos at pretty much the same speed as everyone else does. The traffic you create by browsing the web is treated equally by the companies that have built the infrastructure of the internet; internet service providers (ISPs). Net neutrality essentially means that everyone gets the same treatment.
The FCC - which regulates how ISPs are allowed to handle traffic - said that it would create new rules that may allow ISPs to treat traffic differently. Some people - companies big enough to pay extra, basically - may get faster internet than the rest of us. Here is what the FCC specifically said:

"The NPRM will propose...that broadband providers would be required to offer a baseline level of service to their subscribers, along with the ability to enter into individual negotiations with content providers. In all instances, broadband providers would need to act in a commercially reasonable manner subject to review on a case-by-case basis."

Instead of treating everyone equally, ISPs will only be required to give you a "baseline" level of service. Some people - again, likely companies rather than individuals - will be able to get faster, better service. The change came about because a federal court recently ruled that the FCC doesn't have the power to regulate the Internet the same way it regulates phones. With phones, companies have to supply everyone with the same hardwire service - even if they live way out in the countryside where its very expensive to put up the lines. The web used to work that way too - companies had to give you the same service even if you cost them more - but thats now going to change.

The big changes will be around companies like Netflix. Currently, sometimes almost a third of all web traffic is Netflix's streaming movies. Netflix often accounts for nearly 50% of all web video streaming at one time. Over time, companies like Comcast have gotten tired of serving bandwidth hogs like Netflix and paying for the privilege to do so. By amazing coincidence, the speed at which Comcast delivered Netflix movies started to get slower and slower. 

So, Netflix reached a deal with Comcast: Netflix would pay Comcast for a direct connection between its servers and Comcast's, so that Netflix's traffic didn't have to go through the interconnect companies. As if by magic, Netflix speeds went up again. 

This isnt the first time that an ISP has made major decisions like this: In 2007, Comcast blocked BitTorrent and in 2005 Madison River Communications blocked people from making phone calls over the net.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes that all companies' traffic should be treated equally, and if ISPs are in the business of providing the web service, they should do just that in aggregate, and not pick winners and losers based on the fees they're willing to pay.

Comcast has the opposite point of view. If it is to serve Netflix at the same prices it serves your personal homepage on About.me, then Netflix is essentially getting a huge service for free, Comcast argues.

AT&T argued recently....

Internet Is NOT The Answer
The internet that we use today was switched on in January 1983, and for it first 10 years, it was almost exclusively the preserve of academic researchers, which meant that cyberspace evolved as a parallel, utopian universe in which the norms of "meatspace" (John Perry Barlow's term for the real world) didn't apply. In fact, for most of two decades, the real world remained blissfully unaware f the existence of the virtual one.

And then Tim Berners-Lee invented the web, and in 1993 Marc Andreessen released Mosaic, the first graphical browser, and suddenly the real world realised what the internet was, with hindsight, predictable, though relatively few people spotted it at the time. It was later summed up by John Doerr, as "the greatest legal accumulation of wealth in history".

Andrew Keen- like many who were involved in the net in the early days - started out as an internet evangelist. His first book, The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture, was a lacerating critique of the obsession with user-generated content which characterised the early days of web 2.0.

Keen challenges the dominant narrative about the internet - that it's a technology that liberates, informs and empowers people. The problem with this narrative, he points it out, is not that it's wrong - the network society is breaking the old centre, compounding economic and cultural inequality, and creating a digital generation of masters of the universe. This new power may be rooted in a borderless network, but it still translates into massive wealth and power for a tiny handful of companies and individuals."

Far from being the "answer" to society's problems, Keen argues, the internet is at the root of many of them. As a result, it poses an existential question for democracies everywhere: can elected governments control the waves of creative destruction now sweeping through our societies as the digital revolution gathers momentum? Mr Keen doesn't have the answer to this. But then - as an inspection of our current campaign confirms - neither do we.



Andrew Keen noted that those people who really do think that the internet is the answer to all of our problems; not only in getting a taxi, or a sex partner, but also in education and politics, are the techno-utopians of Silicon Valley, the wealthy or wannabe-wealthy libertarians with a fetish for "disruption". Expressions of such a worldview are becoming more common outside the startup bubble, too. In the last episode of the BBC Radio 4 series "Can Democracy Work?", for eg, the Ukip politician Douglas Carswell was celebrating how the internet "democratises" everything, including the fusty old political process. 

The internet is now dominated by giant monopolists (eg Google). We live voluntarily in an "electronic panopticon". Keen argues that the big internet companies taken together are the net destroyer of jobs - jobs in independent bookshops or taxi firms.

Keen is especially angry about what has happened to music, since, as he relates he grew up at the end of the golden age of Soho record shops, and founded his own early music  startup, AudioCafe. "Back then," he confesses, "it really did seem as if the internet was the answer. The web 'changed everything' about the music industry, I promised my investors." As it turned out, it did, but not in a good way.




Macrowikinomics
Many of the institutions that have served us well for decades, or even centuries, have come to the end of their life cycles; from newspapers, record labels and old models of financial services to our energy grid, transportation systems and institutions for global co-operation and problem solving. 
The industrial economy has finally run out of gas, we're at a turning point in human history. At the same time, the contours of a new kind of civilisation are becoming clear, as millions of connected citizens forge alternative institutions using the web as a platform for innovation. From education and science to new approaches to citizen engagement and democracy, sparkling new initiatives are under-way, embracing a new set of principles for the 21st century. 

Collaboration, openess, sharing, inter-dependance and integrity - it's finally happening. With the proliferation of social media and social networks, we all have at our fingertips the most powerful tools and platform ever for growth, prosperity, social development and social justice. Social media is becoming social production. in every industry from all walks of life, people are self-organising, taking us from collaborative innovation in business, to macrowikinomics, the art and science of collaboration to change the world. The new media are enabling the birth of a new civilisation. 

We're innovating science and healthcare with 'PatientsLikeMe', where 80 thousand patients are crowdsourcing their data to help out doctors, scientists and their own course of treatment. In Kenya, a text messaging platform named Ushahidi, created to document election violence, has grown from helping emergency response teams in Haiti during the earthquake, to helping emergency snow removal in Washington, and even the BBC during the Tube Strike in London.

With GALAXYZOO, 275 thousand students and teachers are reinventing science and education by helping astronomers discover and map new galaxies. Teachers, professors and students are using the internet to reinvent education from the industrial model where teachers lecture and students are passive recipients of knowledge, to student focused, collaborative learning, customised to the needs of the learner.

Network models of the newspaper are providing good journalism, investigative reporting and ensuring that journalists get paid. Old style radio is collapsing, TV is becoming nothing less than a cool new app, and the failing music industry is being replaced by streaming audio which gives access to millions of songs with fair compensation to musicians and to song-writers.

The Wiki-Revolution sweeping the Middle East are harbingers of change. Social media didn't cause the Arab Spring, injustice did. Social media didn't create the revolutions, they were created by a new generation that no longer wanted to be treated as subjects. But just as the internet drops collaboration costs in business, so it also drops the cost of descent or rebellion.

Social change is in the air. Occupy Wall Street is the tip of the iceberg of a global movement for a world that is fair and just. The KONY 2012 video was seen by over 100 million people in a week. On the one hand, it led to a movement that caused the US Congress to take action and help hunt down the brutal warlord. But on the other, it raises tough issues about these networks - their accountability, their legitimacy, their representation and leadership. Issues that our new generation of social innovators and activists must address. This is a time of danger, but fundamentally its a time of profound change and great opportunity, and we can achieve a new age of promise fulfilled, but only if we get involved.

EXAMPLES FOR ESSAY

THEORISTS YOU CAN USE

Media Language Essay - The Secret Film

Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. Each form of communication, whether newspapers, TV game shows or a film such as The Secret, has its own creative language.

In the example of films, these creative languages usually represent the genre of the film; such as a horror film using scary music to heighten fear, or in a romance film using camera close-ups to convey intimacy. John Fiske's theory that the existence of genre benefits audience and institutions states that genre allows institutions to market films effectively and genre allows audiences to recognise familiar characteristics and make decisions of whether to watch a film based on this. Creative languages vary in each genre, which is why it's so important to be aware of the characteristics associated with a particular genre whilst filming. In 'The Secret', we used the characteristics of both an indie teen-film and a romance film. We tried to manipulate sound to fit the characteristics of these genres, such as using upbeat acoustic music in the opening scene. The music used here not only allowed us to manipulate the connotation; ie the feelings of the audience to think that 'The Secret' is an upbeat, happy film, but it also reflected the typical music you would hear in a teen-film. This immediately gave the impression that this film would be surrounding a young person, and probably surrounding topics such as relationships, friendships, family and behavioural issues which are typical themes seen in teen-films, in which some of these themes are heavily incorporated into 'The Secret'.

The music we used in 'The Secret' was actually quite special because as it began playing it was classified as non-diegetic sound because the sound was not located in the story world, but rather it was not explained in terms of any perceived source within the story world, but as the scene progresses, the sound changes to diegetic sound as it seems that the music is coming from the radio which appears in Will's room, so the sound's origin actually is located physically in the story world. This makes the audience feel as if they are included in the film as they hear the music changing from outside the story world, to being involved in the story itself. We also incorporated another source of sound from the radio, which was a news interview with a politician about gay marriage rights. This diegetic sound not only represents the theme of the film and presents Will's LGBT view point to the audience, which in turn, hints at Will's sexuality and gives an insight into the film's plot, but it also plays quite quietly in the film so the audience is almost subconsciously hearing the radio report which makes the audience feel more included in the story world; as if they are watching Will from the same room.

Mise-En-Scene refers to anything that goes into a shot, such as set, props, actor, costumes, camera movements and performances. All of these aspects were extremely important in bringing the plot of 'The Secret' across and conveying it to the audience in the way we wanted. For example, there was multiple text books and school books lying on the first desk that you see as Will enters the room, accompanied by a pair of tossed shorts and his school blazer. As well as these, there was also some aftershaves placed on another desk above it, which helps to represent the more masculine side of Will's character. The props in particular helped to represent Will's age group, and the fact that he is classified as a typical teenage boy, despite his sexuality being determined as 'different' to many people. Along with the objects within Will's room being gender neutral and almost slightly masculine, we also kept this theme in place by keeping the colours throughout the film neutral, featuring blues, greys and reds which are all gender neutral colours. All of these small details add up to give the audience an overall feel that Will is just as masculine as any other boy of his age, despite his sexuality.

Throughout the film the lighting consists of only natural lighting. We didn't incorporate any artificial lighting into the film apart from the close up shots of Will texting Taylor. The reason we used artificial lighting for those shots was because trying to capture the phone screen and focusing on the texts, making them readable, with natural lighting simply wasn't working. The use of artificial lighting helped to make these shots much clearer and easier for the audience to read what was going on in the film. Apart from those few shots, the lighting was strictly natural to give a feeling that this film surrounded a very normal topic within society. We felt that if we added lots of artificial lighting it would make the topic of the film seem very over exaggerated and almost over produced, which defeated the purpose of the film. We also chose to stick with natural lighting as natural lighting is a key convention in the romance genre and also in many teen-films, so we tried to stick as closely to those conventions as we could.

The shots taken throughout the film were all taken at eye level, as if the audience was at eye level with Will at all times. This height of shot simply makes the audience feel more included in the story, as we are seeing everything in the story world from Will's eye level. This changes in the shot where Will's sister enters the room, as the camera angle slightly changes from eye level to a lower angle. This gives the indication that Will's sister, who is presented as the homophobic character in the film, is of a position of power that intimidates Will as the audience is forced to look up at this character. This also helps to emphasise the differences of opinion between Will and his sister, and how Will's opinion on sexuality is almost deemed as less important/more looked down on in society, which can draw parallels with how society is today. This shot in particular allows the audience to relate the film to the society they live in, which makes the audience feel more included within the story. It is important to note that this shot is also taken as the sister states her opinion on gay rights on marriage as she uses a derogatory term against homosexuals to insult an LGBT pro opinion, which shows that from the perspective of Will, opinions like sister's are the opinions that determine and steer his relationship with Taylor- which we see is going badly due to his hesitancy to be honest to his family about his sexuality.

We used continuity editing in our film because our story followed a timeline of Will's life at a particular time in which he was struggling with his sexuality and relationships with both his family and his romantic partner. The story takes place in order, in other words, it follows a sequence and there are no flash-backs or flash-forwards. All of our shots transitioned into the following shot by cutting- meaning one sequence of film is immediately followed by another. This was simply because there was no need for any more complex transitions, and we felt that cut transitions just made it easier for the audience to follow the story without over dramatising it or adding unnecessary editing techniques.

In conclusion, lots of messages were brought across during 'The Secret' through connotations and denotations, which, as a result, help the audience to feel more included within the story world and understand exactly what is going on at that moment, as well as subconsciously giving them clues about the film plot and theme through techniques such as props, costume, and setting.

Media Language

For moving image, the language of film and television is defined by how camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene create meaning. Likewise, an analysis of print work would involve looking at how fonts, layout, combinations of text and image as well as the actual words chosen creates meaning.

The Key Concepts are the single most important framework for the whole Media Studies course- they have evolved as a means of understanding a text by using a critical framework rather than just make unconnected and meaningless observations. The key concepts work in unison. 

RAILING  is a mnemonic used to remember these key concepts...

• Representations
• Audiences
• Institutions
• Language
• Ideology
• Narrative
• Genre

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Media Language

The Importance of Media Language

Every medium has its own 'language' - or combination of languages - that it uses to communicate meaning. Television, for example, uses verbal and written language as well as the languages of moving images and sound. We call these 'languages' because they use familiar codes and conventions that are generally understood.

Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. Each form of communication -- whether newspapers, TV game shows or horror movies -- has its own creative language: scary music heightens fear, camera close-ups convey intimacy, big headlines signal significance. 

Understanding the grammar, syntax and metaphor system of media language, especially the language of sounds and visuals which can reach beyond the rational to our deepest emotional core, increases our appreciation and enjoyment of media experiences as well as helps us to be less susceptible to manipulation.  

The word 'text' is used to describe any media product such as television programmes, photographs, adverts, film, newspaper adverts, radio programmes etc.

'Texts' are therefore the main point of our study in understanding how media languages create meaning. One of the keys to understanding the meanings in text is the use of codes; codes are the rules/conventions by which signs are put together to create meaning.

The codes used to construct meaning are varied and frequently depend upon the form of the media text- usually the text will use a variety of codes; visual, audio and written; which fit together in a certain way to create a particular meaning.

Media Language- Image Analysis

Denotation the level of analysis where you look at images and describing what you see.  It is what an image actually shows and is immediately apparent, rather than the assumption the individual reader may make about it; the everyday or common sense meaning of a sign.

EXAMPLE...

Framing

Framing defines the position from which the image was created (i.e. it is the border betwen the space we are allowed to see and that which is out of our sight). In terms of framing a still image, you can vary:

• Angle: the angle of vision refers to the camera's angle in relation to the vertical. The most common is the 'straight on' position. Other commonly used angles are low angle (which is often used to indicate a position of power as the audience is forced to look up to the character) and high angle (which means the audience has to look down on the character so often suggests subservience)
• Height: this is the height at which the shot is taken, usually eye level.
• Level: this refers to the camera's horizontal angle. As with the vertical angle, usually it is 'straight on' but the camera can also be tilted on its side to the left or right to change the level.
• Distance: this refers to the distance of the object from the camera. there are seven categories: extreme long shot, long shot, medium shot, medium close-up, close-up, extreme close-up.
• Depth of Field: this refers to the distance between the nearest and furthest area from the camera which is in focus. Deep focus photography will have the whole scene in focus, whereas a conventional photograph will focus on the main object with the background out of focus. Soft focus can be created by using special lenses and layers.
• Lens type: wide angle lenses make the scene appear deeper than it is; an extreme wide-angle will give a 'fish-eye' effect while telephoto lens pulls objects closer together (eg. two atheletes may seem to be running close together but when the shot is cut you see the true distance between them)
• Film stock: this refers to the speed at which film responds to the light. A fast stock will produce grainy images while a slow stock will require lots of light. Slow stock is the norm in cinema while most television companies use video tapes.

 Moving Image

There are 6 types of moving images:

1. Pan: the camera moves horizontally from a static position
2. Tracking/Dolly: the camera moves on tracks to give a smooth movement
3. Tilt: the camera moves up or down vertically from a static position
4. Crane: the camera is moved on a device that can move up and down laterally
5. Handheld: gives the frame as shaky look, often used as point-of-view shot
6. Zoom: technically not movement, but the change of the focal length bringing us closer or further away rom the object in the frame

Mise-En-Scene

Refers to anything that goes into a shot: set, props, actors, costumes, camera movements and performances. There are 3 main components of mise-en-scene analysis:

• The subject
• The lighting
• The setting

THE SUBJECT:

There may be more than one subject in an image and we bring our cultural knowledge to bear when looking at a subject. For example; if the subject is a person, we would consider all aspects of non-verbal communication as we did earlier.

THE LIGHTING:

This refers to how the image is lit. 

1. Where is the lighting coming from; front, side, back, above or below?
2. Is the lighting of equal intensity? (unlikely)
3. Where is this light coming (or supposed to be coming) from?

Three-point lighting is the most common set up, made up of a key, fill and backlight.

The key light is the main source of illumination and is directed on the subject, usually from 45 degrees above and to one side of the camera. It is a hard, direct light which produces sharply defined shadows.

The fill light is the soft or indirect light that "fills" in the shadows formed by the key light.

The back light shines from the behind the subject, usually to differentiate it from the background.

THE SETTING:

This is self explanatory; we have different expectations, eg, of a tropical setting when compared to an Arctic one.

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Connotation: the meaning of a sign which is arrived at through the cultural experiences a reader brings to it. 

The way we interpret what we see is connotation, where we add our own pieces of information. We fill in what is missing from the denotation stage and attempt to identify what message is being communicated. IE. Denotation is identifying an aspect of the image, and connotation is analysing that denotation. 

EG. The colour white, a clenched fist, a black dress = DENOTATION

        White could represent cleanliness, honesty, purity, innocence = CONNOTATION

Barthes (1977) argued that in film, connotation can be analytically distinguished from denotation.
John Fiske (1982) says that "denotation is what is filmed, connotation is how it is filmed"

ANCHORAGE: fixing/limiting a particular set of meanings. One of the most common forms of anchorage is the caption beneath a photo.

CROPPING: The advent of digital photography means many people at home now have experience of cropping pictures on their home computers. Choosing to focus on one particular aspect of a picture, so by definition missing something out, will clearly have implications.

JUXTAPOSITION: Being placed side by side. By placing information near an image is likely to influence your reading of that image. EG. an image of a craggy, handsome man juxtaposed with a mansion on the cover of a novel would suggest it was a romantic story. The same man, juxtaposed with a gun and the mansion would suggest a murder mystery.

GENRE: Provides audience with a clear set of expectations which are used to interpret the text. EG. If we read a horror text, we'd be surprised if it didn't include elements such as a big, creepy house, thunder, lightning, death, monsters, supernatural etc. Iconography is the objects we recognise as belonging to a particular genre.

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SEMIOTICS

This is an attempt to create a science of the study of sign systems and their role in the construction and reconstruction of meaning in media texts. It can be problematic in that some of the terminology makes it seem obscure and difficult. Semiotics is essentially the "study of signs" but it doesn't just refer to formal signs, but any system of communication. We will look at the work of 3 key figures; Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Peirce, Roland Barthes.

Saussure said that a sign is the sum of the signifier and signified. i.e.

The signifier is the sign's physical form in the real world while the signified is the mental concept evoked by the signifier. So, if we perceive a four legged animal with a very long neck (the signifier), this evokes the mental concept of a giraffe (the signified). This combination creates the sign "giraffe". You can see here how in your own perception, the signifier and signified are inseparable, but they are separated for the purposes of analysis. The basic act of signification operates at the level of denotation.

The relationship between the signifier and the signified is usually arbitrary (determined by chance and universally agreed upon). EG the fact a four legged animal with a long neck is called a giraffe in English is arbitrary. It therefore follows that if the signifier determined the signified than the word for giraffe in English would be the same in all languages; indeed there would probably be only one language. The fact that signs are arbitrary means they can have many meanings- they are POLYSEMIC. Not all signs are entirely arbitrary in nature. A photograph looks like what it represents. Signs such as this were defined by Charles Peirce.

Our understanding of signs rarely stops at the level of denotation. Once we see a sign, we have particular associations with it which colour our understanding. EG- arachnophobes would have negative feelings about the sign "spider" whereas a tarantula owner would have an opposite feeling. These connotations mean that the original sign has become another signifier which evokes an associated mental concept to create another sign which consists of "sign" + "associations"


There is a social consensus for many connotations; eg a dog, sitting down, tongue hanging out and head to one side (a denotative description) - connotation that the dog is friendly.
Meaning can't exist in individual signs because of their arbitrary nature. Meaning is derived from context.

Langue and Parole
Saussure distinguished between;

• Langue; the rules of sign systems (eg grammar)
• Parole; the articulation of the signs (eg writing)

Langue is the supporting structure of any communication, often implicitly understood but hidden beneath the surface. Parole is the performance of the rules, referred to by Noah Chomsky as "what the speaker does". 

To use the writing analogy above, langue is the grammar of English (eg the rules of punctuation) and parole is the piece of writing produced by a person who implicitly understands the langue. 

Codes associated with films (eg continuity of editing, use of diegetic and non diegetic sounds etc) act as the equivalent of the langue while the way these codes are actually used in a specific film is the equivalent of parole. unless a person has learned about the media language of Hollywood films, then it is likely they would know about the rules of (EG) continuity editing. However, because most people can make sense of the editing when watching films (the parole) then they implicitly understand the langue, as indicated by Chomsky.

Sychrony and Diachrony

Saussure demonstrated another way of structuring meaning: considering the vertical and horizontal dimensions of sign systems; synchrony and diachrony. Synchrony is the vertical dimension of meaning of meaning and diachrony is the horizontal dimension.

When we look at a still from a film, or a freeze-frame of a video, we are, in effect looking at the synchronic dimension: the sequence from which the still is taken is the diachronic dimension.
A useful way of remembering this is that synchronic is like freezing time (as said above) and diachronic is concerned with changes over time. If we analyse a text in a synchronic way, we focus on it as existing at one historical moment. If we analyse diachronically, we acknowledge that what we are looking at arrives with a history, not something that is complete within itself.

Theorist Warren Hedges defines the terms as:
"A diachronic approach involves an examination of origins, development, history and change. They focus on how things change over time."

"In contrast, a synchronic approach gives us a snapshot of a particular system at a particular moment in time. Synchronic approaches focus on how a given system is at a given moment, and how each part fits into the system."

To expand on Hedges' example of words: a synchronic analysis of the word "gay" in 2006 would focus on how young people in Britain have adapted the word to mean"rubbish" or "worthless" in addition to it meaning homosexual. A diachronic approach would ground the word "gay" in its historical context of meaning "happy" and follow the way it has evolved to mean homosexual and now "rubbish" or "worthless" to British school children.

Syntagm and Paradigm
Syntagm:
This is a chain of signs, that is, an element which follows another in a particular sequence. Saussure identified a syntagmatic relationship in language: language is linear so there is a relationship between the words: "the cat sat on the mat". This syntagmatic level can be seen as the structural level from which a text can be broken into its constituent parts - ie that sentence being reduced to analysis of individual words within the sentence.
In terms of film or television, a syntagmatic analysis would involve an analysis of how each shot, scene or sequence relates to the others. If you were analysing a still image, syntagmatic analysis would focus on the spatial relationship between objects.
Roman Jakobson used the word "combination" when defining syntagm.

Paradigm:
A paradigm is a class of objects or concepts which are all members of a defining category but markedly different in themselves. To use the example of language, the vocabulary of a language is a paradigm. The use of one paradigm over another (ie choosing to use one word instead of different word) shapes the meaning of a text. To change the selection of words can potentially change the wider meaning, which is crucial when it comes to analysis in Media.
Roman Jakobson used the word "selection" when defining paradigm.

Paradigmatic elements are those from which you choose, and the syntagm is the sequence into which they're arranged.

The Commutation Test:
In semiotics, the replacement of one sign by another is called a commutation test and illustrates how powerful syntagms and paradigms can be in analysis. by substituting objects for other signs in the same paradigm and decoding the new meaning, we can isolate what contribution the original sign is making to the meaning of the image.
As John Fiske puts it: "the meaning of what was chosen is determined by the meaning of what was not."
FOR EXAMPLE:


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Charles Peirce, the other great pioneer of semiotics, created a tripartite categorisation of signs:

• Iconic
• Index
• Symbol

Symbolic Signs

A symbol is a sign that represents an object or concept solely by the agreement of the people who use it, therefore, symbolic signs have no obvious connection between the sign and the object.

EG: The word DOG has no obvious link to a furry animal - it only works because we understand the rules that say the letters D-O-G when put into a certain order, mean/signify that furry animal. 

Internationally the colour green is used in traffic signs to signify "go". This is a symbolic or arbitrary sign because the world as a whole has agreed to its meaning. The colour pink could equally have been chosen if this had been agreed upon.

This means some symbolic signs can have several meanings that are contested, or about which people mightn't agree. 

Iconic Signs
Iconic signs always resemble what they signify. There is a physical similarity between a photograph/good drawing, of a dog, and most people's experience of these animals. Therefore, unlike the symbolic word 'dog', the photo/drawing is an iconic sign.
We are familiar with iconic signs in our everyday lives, for example a wheelchair is used to signify facilities for disabled people and we can usually find the men's and women's toilets wherever we are in the world by looking for the iconic signs on doors.

Indexical Signs
In a sense, indexical signs lie between symbolic and iconic signs. Indexical signs have some sort of direct connection with what is being 'signified'. EG smoke is often used an indexical sign for fire and a tear running down a cheek can be an indexical sign for sorrow.

READING SIGNS...
The three categories of signs aren't mutually exclusive! In fact- a sign can very well be all three categories at the same time. For example, a crossroads sign:

When signs are open to different interpretations, they are said to be polysemic. This ambiguity can be potentially disruptive and one way of trying to control the meanings made by a reader is anchoring.

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Finally, we will look at Roland Barthes, whose crucial contribution to semiotics was his definition and exploration of myths. Barthes looked at how signs take on the dominant value system of a particular society (ideology) and make these values seem natural.
Barthes used the example of a flower with red petals, green leaves and a thorny stem - a signifier evoking the mental concept of rose at the denotative level. However, rose can also signify the mental concept of romance, particularly if it is red and placed in the context of St Valentines Day.

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Binary Oppositions
One of the most powerful creators of a sign's meaning are binary oppositions. Here, signs are contrasted with signs which have meanings that operate which have meanings that operate in opposition. For example, town and country, man and woman, child and adult etc

Binary oppositions are cultural creations. Some theorists claim that the west uses binary oppositions such as white-good, black-evil to perpetuate and legitimise western power structures that favour "civilised" white men.

The media often use binary oppositions to structure their representations. So a portrayal of a town, for instance, may use pollution as a starting point. A text that uses binary oppositions usually assigns a positive value to one side against the other; by stating the one side is good, it follows that the other side is bad.

Adjectives such as artificial, polluted, over-crowded, exciting, commercial and dangerous could be used to describe a town, where as clean, natural, deserted, boring, and sage could be used to describe a country-side.

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Aspects of Mise-en-Scene -- video and print style

1. Location - settings, set-design and iconography
2. Character - costume, properties and make-up, actors and gesture
3. Cinematography - lighting and colour
4. Layout and Page Design - colour, juxtaposition of elements

Micro Elements: Camerawork

There are four aspects to camerawork that you need to understand:

• Shot types - particularly relevant for print
• Camera composition
• Camera angles
• Camera movement

Micro Elements: Editing

Editing is a post-production technique in which the footage shot during production is cut up and reassembled in such a way as to tell the story. TV shows aren't filmed in chronological order. They are filmed out of order in short sequences, called 'takes', which then have to be assembled in the correct order. Long takes are shots of unusually long length, and short takes are shots that only last for a few seconds. 

There are two basic types of editing: Continuity and Non-continuity.

The Structure of The Classic Narrative System

According to Pam Cook (1985), the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have:

• Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution.
• A high degree of narrative closure.
• A fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence. 

Micro Elements: Sound

Sound is layered on tracks in order to create meaning. There are 2 types of sound; Diegetic and Non-diegetic.

Diegetic sound includes; dialogue, sound effects and music.
Non-Diegetic sound includes; incidental music, voice over/narration, non diegetic sound effects (which can be asynchronous).

Representation Essay - Y13 Film 'The Secret' October Assessment

Representation refers to the construction in any medium of aspects of 'reality' such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Our film 'The Secret' is based around a homosexual teen male, so the main topics represented in the film are sexuality and age. We tried to represent the topic of sexuality through the eyes of the character of Will himself, and show the audience what many homosexual people have to deal with on a daily basis.

Judith Butler's 'Queer Theory' challenges the idea that gender is part of the essential self that is fixed and immoveable; in other words, that our male/female gender doesn't control all aspects of our identity or how we perceive other peoples identity. The theory developed as a way of combating negative representations of gay sexuality in the media. It combats the idea that people should be divided and categorised due to their sexual orientation or practice and that a persons' identity shouldn't be limited to their sexual preference. This theory can be applied to 'The Secret' as we tried to break the 'gay stereotype' as much as possible, by making the setting of the room just like a typical teenage boy's room which we thought helped to challenge the stereotype that all gay people are feminine.

'The Secret' contains many aspects which represent sexuality through the 'Queer Theory' such as costume and setting. Will's costume consisted of a regular blue hoodie and some tracksuit bottoms, which is the outfit of a typical teenage boy. To give the same effect, we made the setting of the bedroom very gender neutral, and almost edging on masculine to represent his gender, despite his sexual orientation. For example, we had multiple text books and school books lying on the first desk you see as Will enters the room, accompanied by a pair of tossed shorts and his school blazer which represents how he is a typical teenager with a messy room. As well as these, we also had some aftershaves placed on another desk above it, which helps to represent the more masculine side of Will's character.

Along with the objects within Will's room being gender neutral and almost slightly masculine, we also kept this theme in place by keeping the colours throughout the film neutral, featuring blues, greys and reds which are all gender neutral colours. All of these small details add up to give the audience an overall feel that Will is just as masculine as any other boy of his age, despite his sexuality.

Another theory that can be applied to our film is Anthony Gidden's 'Traditionalist vs Post Traditionalist View of Society' theory. Media representations of society can be seen as traditional or post traditionalist. Traditional views in terms of our film would be people having a narrow minded view towards sexuality and believing that romantic feelings are only acceptable between a man and a woman rather than between two people of the same sex. This theory heavily relates to our film as Will obviously has a post traditionalist view on sexuality within society, where as his sister and other family members have a traditional view on sexuality, as we see when Will's sister uses a derogatory term for homosexuals as she hears Will listening to a debate for gay rights. Added to this, we purposely added the radio interview debate about gay rights to allow the audience to have an insight into the current societies views on the topic, and into Will's personal views on the topic. It also allowed us to show how serious the topic of gay rights is to Will, and how his post-traditional views help to define him. The fact that this theory can be applied to our film suitably shows that we efficiently brought across the topic and showed the views of two separate people within a short amount of time, while also expressing Will's emotions towards his sister's views by showing his stuttering and unsure reaction towards his relationship as she insults homosexuality.

Media texts usually represent the world in order to support a dominant ideology. An ideology is a belief system that is constructed and presented by a media text. Dominant ideologies are central to people's belief systems, and it's often difficult to challenge them effectively, but as traditional views are changing on homosexuality, we decided to challenge the dominant ideology of marriage and family. This dominant ideology states that the 'right way' to live is to marry an opposite sex partner and have children, which we decided to challenge by surrounding the film around a homosexual teen; so although the film doesn't feature marriage or children, it does surround a same sex relationship which is seen as taboo to many people. Dominant ideologies are considered hegemonic, which is the way in which those in power maintain their control. Our aim for the film was to challenge the belief that romantic relationships are strictly between two people of the opposite sex, by trying to normalise same sex relationships - this is why we named the other boy in the relationship 'Taylor' because it is a unisex name, so to the audience, the romantic relationship occurring was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of the dominant ideology until they were actually introduced to Taylor.

Dick Hebdidge said that subculture is a group of like minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and who develop a sense of identity which differs to the dominant in which they belong. 'The Secret' represents Will and Taylor as a group of these like minded individuals as they both belong to the gay community and have the same belief system, and as a whole many people disagree with that belief system, so it can be argued that they feel neglected by societal standards. However, the two characters experience this differently, as Will clearly doesn't have the support system of his family, which Taylor seems to have as we see when he mentions that his mother wants to meet Will, suggesting that Taylor's family are open to and accepting of his sexuality. So, although they both belong to the same subculture group, they experience their neglect from societal standards differently based on the company they surround themselves with.

The dominant representation of young people/teenagers tends to involve anti-social behaviour, gang culture, disrespect, drink and drugs, and teen pregnancies. In order to present the struggles Will goes through with his sexuality as a teen, we decided to leave these typical themes out of Will's character, and simply focus on his inner issues. The theory on age representation of teenagers doesn't necessarily apply to Will's character, however, it can be applied to the character of his sister. This can be argued because, as stated before, a typical tendency of a teen in films is disrespect, and in our film, Will's sister disrespects the opinion of others as she insults the gay community and those standing up for them, as she uses a derogatory term as she voices her opinion on the gay rights debate playing on the radio.

Another theory that can be applied to the film is Psychoanalysis and 'The Mirror' by Lacan. Lacan's theory about 'the mirror' is an idea around the idea of identity. He considers the point which a person develops a sense of self and conscious identity. He considers the point at which a person recognises their own reflection and begins to consider how other perceive them and modify themselves to satisfy the perception of how others see them. Will never physically changes himself in the film, however he does hide his sexuality in order to gain the respect of his family and avoid being an outcast due to their opinions. This was important to us in the film, as this is a true representation of many gay people in society which we felt was an important aspect to include so many viewers who are gay themselves could relate to Will's hesitation to be honest about his sexuality, even to the closest people in his life.

In conclusion, many theories can be applied to 'The Secret' intentionally or unintentionally. These theories help to make the film come to life and present the real meaning behind the film itself. The theories also help viewers relate to the film or even change their opinions based on seeing issues from a characters point of view.

Representation Theory

Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of 'reality' such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures.

It is the ability of texts to draw upon features of the world and present them to the viewer, not simply as reflections,  but more so as constructions. Hence, the images don't portray reality in an unbiased way with 100% accuracy, but rather, present 'versions of reality' influenced by culture and people's habitual thoughts and actions.

In a world dominated by print and electronic media, our sense of reality is increasingly structured by narrative. Feature films and documentaries tell us stories about ourselves and the world we live in. Television speaks back to us and offers us 'reality' in the form of hyperbole and parody. Print journalism turns daily life into a story. Advertisements narrativise our fantasies and desires.

We often analyse representations in the media according to categories such as; age, disability, gender, socio-economic grouping, race, nationality and sexuality.

Ideology 

An ideology is a belief system that is constructed and presented by a media text. Media texts represent the world in order to support a dominant ideology. Eg; newspapers often promote the dominant ideology of patriotism through their representation of race and nationality.

Some dominant ideologies...

• Capitalism; the production of capital and consumption of surplus value as a life goal.
• Patriotism; To love, support and protect one's country and its people.
• Marriage and Family; The 'right way' to live is to marry an opposite sex partner and have children.
• Male superiority; Men are more suited to positions of power and more suited to decision making at work and at home.

Many dominant ideologies are extremely culture-specific, for example; Christian fundamentalism as a political force in the USA, Shariah Law is some Muslim countries, the principle of individual freedom in the Netherlands.

Dominant ideologies are central to people's belief systems. It is often difficult or impossible to challenge them effectively.

Dominant ideologies are considered hegemonic; power in society is maintained by constructing ideologies which are usually promoted by the mass media. Hegemony is the way in which those in power maintain their control. Examples of hegemonic values include:

• The police are always right
• It's important to be slim
• A credit card is a desirable status symbol
• Mass immigration is undesireable
• The poor are lazy and deserve their hardship
• Men are better drivers than women

Antonio Gramsci

An Italian political theorist who is renowned for his concept of cultural hegemony as a means of maintaining the state in a capitalist society. His theory means that a diverse culture can be ruled or dominated by one group or class and that everyday practices and shared beliefs provide the foundation for complex systems for domination.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes are characters in a media text who are 'types' rather than complex people. Stereotypes are often defined by their role, such as 'bad cop' or 'nice old lady'. 

Children's media texts often use stereotypes so a young audience can identify quickly with the characters. 

Stereotypes are usually negative representations considered to be too reductive. Many are considered offensive, such as 'drunken Irishman' or 'over-emotional woman'.

Extension/restriction of our experience of reality

By giving audiences information, media texts extend experience of reality. Every time you see a media text, you extend your experience of life but in a second-hand way. However, because the producers of the media text have selected and constructed the information we receive, then our experience is restricted.

Process and product

Representation involves not only how identities are represented (or constructed) within the text but also how they are constructed in the process of reception.....

THE GAZE

The gaze refers to how an audience views the way people are represented in the media.

The gaze can be charactered by who is doing the looking:

• The spectator's gaze: the spectator who is viewing the text; often us, the audience of a certain text.
• Intra-diegetic gaze: where one person depicted in the text is looking at another person or object in the text, such as another character looking at another.
• Extra-diegetic gaze: where the person depicted in the text looks at the spectator, such as an aside, or acknowledgement of the 'fourth wall'.
• The camera's gaze: which is the gaze of the camera and if often equated to the director's gaze.
• Intra-intra-diegetic gaze: such as Bart&Lisa watching Itchy&Scratchy in The Simpsons.

LAURA MULVEY'S MALE GAZE THEORY...
The male gaze occurs when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man. A scene may focus on the curves of a woman's body; putting you the viewer in the eyes of a male. However, it is only the Male Gaze Theory if these curves are highlighted with specific conventions such as slow motion, deliberate camera movements and cut aways. Male Gaze is very common in James Bond films

The theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance. Women can ore often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a man's perspective.

However the presence of a woman in mainstream film texts is vital. Often female characters have no real importance themselves, it is how she makes the male feel that is the importance, many females only exist in relation to the male. The male gaze leads to Hegemonic ideologies in our society.

Mulvey states that the role of a female character in  a narrative has two functions;

1. As an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view
2. As an erotic object for the spectators within the cinema to view

Gender roles;

The characters that look at others are seen as the active role (MALE)

The characters that are to be looked at are passive (FEMALE). They are under control of the males gaze and only exist for visual pleasure.

Females often slow down the narrative and act as inspiration for men to act.

Males on the other hand, push the narrative forward and make things happen (are active).

Patriarchal society = men dictate the rules; Mulvey argues that we live in a patriarchal society in which men set the majority of the rules and construct and represent the ideal visions, roles and male dominance over women.

Objectification is related to the gaze - the persons gazed at are objectified, treated as an object whose sole value is to be enjoyed or possessed by the voyeur.

SOME MORE THEORIES....

Psychoanalysis and 'The Mirror' - Lacan

Lacan's theory about 'the mirror' is an idea around the idea of identity. He considers the point at which a person develops a sense of self and conscious identity. he considers the point at which a child recognises their own reflection and begin to consider how others perceive them, modifying their appearance to satisfy their perceptions of how others see them. Mulvey extends this idea when she writes about 'the silver screen' which she suggests operates like a metaphorical mirror; reflecting back to the female viewer representations of female identity, but these representations aren't genuine reflections of the viewer but rather male perceptions of idealised femininity. 

Queer Theory - Judith Butler

Queer theory challenges the idea that gender is part of the essential self, that is fixed, immovable - in . other words, our male/female gender doesn't control all aspects of our identity or how we perceive other peoples identity. Gender is fluid and flexible depending on the context in which it is seen. EG Tom Cruise plays a heterosexual pilot in The Right Stuff but although he is male he's seen as having "queer" attributes. 

The theory developed as a way of combating negative representations of gay sexuality in the media, it combats the idea that people should be divided and categorised due to their sexual orientation or practice and that a persons' identity shouldn't be limited to their sexual preference.

Subculture- Representation of Groups - Dick Hebdidge

Dick Hebdidge said that subculture is a group of like minded individuals who feel negelcted by scoietal standards and who develop a sense of identity which differs to the dominant on to which they belong. 

Ken Gelder lists 6 ways in which subculture can be recognised:

1. Often have negative relationship to work
2. negative or ambivalent relationship to class
3. Through their associations with territory  (The street, the hood, the club) rather than property
4. Through their stylistic ties to excess
5. Through their movement out of home into non-domestic forms of belonging (social groups rather than family)
6. Through their refusal to engage with what they might see as the 'banalities' of life

Other ways of recognising a subculture might be symbolism attached to clothes, music, visual affections like tattoos etc. Subcultural values often associated with being cool.

Traditionalist vs Post Traditionalist views of society - Anthony Giddens

Media representations of society can be seen as traditional or post traditionalist. Traditional societies are ones in which individual choice was limited by its dominant customs and traditions, where as, post traditionalist societies are one where the ideas set by previous generations are less important than those of individuals. Post traditional societies no longer feel so dependent and limited to time and place. Gidden says, we are living in a post traditional society where we are much less concerned with precedents set by previous generations and that our options are only limited by what the public opinion and law allows. 

Interconnectivity of race, class and gender - Bell Hooks

Bell Hooks wrote "Ain't I A Woman? Lack, women and femininity" in 1981. It focused on the perpetuation of systems of oppression and domination in the media paying particular attention to the devaluation of black womanhood. The idea of 'lack' or 'otherness' refers to way that women and ethnic minorities are usually represented as 'other'. Their primary purpose is simply to be other than the norm - they are therefore known more by the context of lack than by a realised or complex identity. This theory can be linked to ideas of the monstrous feminine found in feminist analysis of literature and art.

Genre Theory

Genre is a way of categorising a text through style and form. It's vital to be able to categorise texts in this way - both for production and analysis. It is a class or category of artistic endeavour having a particular form, context, technique or the like.

A text is classified in a genre through the identification of key elements which occur in that text and in others of the same genre. These elements may be referred to as paradigms, and range from costume, to music, to plot points, to font (depending on the medium). Audiences recognise these paradigms, and bring a set of expectations to their reading of the text accordingly; the criminal will be brought to justice at the end of a police thriller. These paradigms may be grouped into those relating to iconography  (ie the main signs and symbols that you see/hear), structure (the way a text is put together and the shape it takes) and theme (the issues and ideas it deals with).

According to Daniel Chandler, genres create order to simplify the mass of information available. Creating categories promotes organisation instead of chaos. Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content or form which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them.


Jane Feuer has divided ways to categorise genres into three groups;

1. Aesthetic: organising according to certain sets of characteristics, and so the overall work of the artist isn't disparaged by generalisation.
2. Ritual: ritual uses it own culture to help classify - if one performs a ritual associated with the system of ritual, one can be said to be practicing as a member of that system.

Amy J. Devitt focuses on rhetorical genre. Scholars generally recognise the restrictions placed on works that have been classified as a certain genre. However, viewing genre as a rhetorical device gives the author and the reader more freedom and "allows for choices". Genres aren't free-standing entities, but are actually intimately connected and interactive amongst themselves. Rhetorical genre recognises that genres are generated by authors, readers, publishers and the entire array of social forces that act upon a work at every stage of its production.

This recognition doesn't make the taxonomy of texts easy. Chandler points out that very few works have all the characteristics of the genre in which they participate. Also, due to the interrelatedness of genres, none of them is clearly defined but instead they fade into one another. Genre works to promote organisation, but there's no absolute way to classify works, and thus genre is still problematic and its theory still evolving.

Quotes and theories from theorists such as Chandler, Neale and Ryall;

Genre is important for both the audience and producers...



Classification by genre is seen as both positive and negative by audiences, producers, and theorists. On the one hand, rigorous conformity to established conventions while giving the audience what they want, can actually lead to stagnation and the eventual ossification of a genre as a "they're all the same" judgement is passed. This is what happened to the traditional Hollywood Western and Musical - once many profitable examples of these genres were pumped out by the studio each year, but the formats became stale through repetition and audiences lost interest. It is now only when a Western or Musical that challenges the conventions and defies expectation (eg Brokeback Mountain or Moulin Rouge) comes along that non-niche audiences are willing to watch.

On the other hand, the genre of reality television has defied criticism that it is stale, contrived and predictable, and is now the basis of programming for entire networks. Although all possible variations of the same structure, iconography, and theme seem to have been run through in the space of a decade, it's still popular with audiences who seem to enjoy the familiarity of the patterns presented onscreen. "Television producers set out to exploit genre conventions" - Nicholas Abercrombie; which essentially means that media producers use conventions to create familiar and 'safe' products, which are likely to be successful.

Genre can provide structure and form which can allow a great deal of creativity and virtuosity, especially when a genuine reworking of generic conventions comes along. Genre provides key elements for an audience to recognise, so that may further appreciate the variation and originality surrounding the representation of those elements.

Narrative Analysation Essay - Y13 Film 'The Secret'

The Secret is a two minute opening for a film which my group created for our Year 13 coursework. The film surrounds a closeted homosexual teenage boy, Will, who lives within a homophobic society and household. However, Will has a boyfriend, Taylor, who has been led to believe that Will has told his family about their relationship, which isn't true.

The film opening takes place in Will's home. By showing Will driving into a driveway and entering a house, the audience automatically links what is happening in one shot with what is happening in shots either side of it, so the audience knows that the house is Will's family home. In this way, the audience is interacting with the film. We chose to set the location in the family home, as it gives the audience a direct insight into Will's life at home, and lets us into a private part of his life both in terms of location and relationships. By the film being set in Will's room, it could represent how Will keeps a large part of his life behind closed doors. The structure of the film follows Todorovs narrative theory, as the film opens in a state of equilibrium- the colours are bright white outside, no problems have occurred thus far and overall the film opens on a content scene.

Immediately as Will enters his room, technical code is introduced as the colour choice of a black wall in the room could reflect how the audience is entering the dark, private part of Will's life that no one else knows about. This makes the audience feel more included in what is taking place on screen.

Action codes are used effectively in the film once Taylor is introduced, as Will stutters and sounds uneasy when talking to his boyfriend about being public about their relationship. This propels the narrative forward, and also acts as symbolic code as these actions act as a clue towards Will not being open about his sexuality to his family and being uncomfortable with his sexuality, which eventually causes problems within his relationship. Will's actions also make the audience question why he is acting uneasy which is eventually revealed.