Theorists and Theories for unit G325

8/12/2019 Theorists and Theories for unit G325

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G325Question 1B

You need to focus on one production piece

and analyse it in terms of: Genre/

Narrative/ Representation/ Audience/Media Language

Must use media theory/ theorists


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What do you need to be able to do

with theorists and theories? You do NOT need to:

Learn a load of quotes although one or two may be useful

Explain their theories in great depth

Know them all

You DO need to:

Use a few quotations if you can keep them short

If you dont have a quotation try to summarise the idea and

apply it to your trailer/music video/poster etc

Be able to apply them to your work/ case studies

Consider how useful/ not useful they are when discussing

your work


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How to use theorists

0 Quote

0 Summarise

0 Comment

0 Assume your reader knows about the theory/ theorist.

0 Dont explain the theory; use it.

0 A Todorovian analysis would argue

0 Mulveys notion of the Male Gaze provides a useful way ofunderstanding the video in that

0 Kate Wales statement that Genre is... an intertextualconcept could be useful here because


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Genre0 Denis McQuail The genre may be considered as a practical device for helping any mass medium to produce

consistently and efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations of its customers.

0 Nicholas Abercrombie It makes sound economic sense. Sets, properties and costumes can be used over and overagain. Teams of stars, writers, directors and technicians can be built up, giving economies of scale Directors/stars are used to portray genres.

0 Christine Gledhill Differences between genres meant different audiences could be identified and catered to... Thismade it easier to standardise and stabilise production Different genres have different audiences

0 John Fiske A representation of a car - we are unlikely to have experienced one in reality, therefore intertextually.

Repetition/stereotypes/conventions makes us understand the genre

0 Andrew Goodwin -Genres change and evolve

0 David Buckingham - Genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation andchange. Genre changes with culture

0 Stephan Prince Horror, unlike other genres, challenges the unknown. Good vs evil (foil) has evolved into crazydad or neighbour etc, this has happened through time. Humans are not top of the food chain, which creates

helplessness

0 There is no pleasure without difference, Genres are instances of repetition and difference - Steve Neale

0 How we define a genre depends on our purposesChandler


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Narrative0 Tzetvan Todorov Narratives always have a structure of Equilibrium/

Disequilibrium/ New equilibrium0 Story versus plot

0 Levi-StraussHuman cultural understanding is based upon a system ofbinary opposites (good/ bad/ black/ white/ male/ female).Narratologists have taken this theory and applied it to narrative, arguingthat binary opposition forms a fundamental way of understanding

narrative.0 Roland Barthes: Enigma code; Action code. Also, Open and Closed

texts.

0 Proppargued that narratives always have certain character types whoperform certain actions. Characters are agents of action.

0 Noel Carroll - Traditional 3 part structure for horror: Onset phase

where a disorder is created, Discovery phase, where charactersdiscover the disorder, Disruption phase where characters destroy thesource and restore normality.

0 Horror genre most important characteristics are the modes of affect thathorror films intend to create in their audiences other characteristics and

generic conventions evolve - Brigid Cherry


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Representation Representation is what are the connotations of the media text - Symbolism.

Verisimilitude appears to look real. Socially what they look like, and how they arerepresented through society e.g. policeman with respect.

Stereotypes are used to generalise and represent society. It is easier to groupcharacteristics and social positions together as it builds a stronger ideology of whatthey are like, without actually knowing them (assumption) Shown through:Appearance and Behavior.

Perkins argues that stereotypes are not simplistic, they contain complex understanding

of roles in society. Not always negative and often contain truth. Dominant Ideology Widely held belief by many members of society. Marxist theory Dominant ruling classes shape culture (Hegemony)

Baudrillard We watch hyperreality were everything is a depiction of what the world islike.Laura Mulveyargues that cinema positions the audience as male. The camera gazesat the female object on screen. It also frames the male character watching the female.

We watch the girl; we see the male watching the girl; we position ourselves within thetext as a male objectively gazing at the female.

Hegemony leadership by one smaller group over another larger group (male overfemale, the consumer is forced to accept what has been shown)

Pluralism that the audience can choose wither to accept what they watch is real etc. Selection:What shot has been chosen to go into media text. Organisation: Mise-en-scene Focusing: What we are forced to focus on; by choice of the cameraman and director


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Audience

0 Stuart Hall- Encoding and Decoding; Preferred/ negotiated/ oppositional readings

0 Denis McQuailUses and Gratification theory (audiences consume media texts for Surveillance;

Personal Identity; Presnal Relationships; Escapism/ Diversion.

0 Dyers Utopian theory How audiences consume media products with a clear set of pleasures to

draw from that experience. Escapism from peoples real lives.

0 The Hypodermic Syringe - According to the theory the media is like a syringe which injects ideas,

attitudes and beliefs into the audience who as a powerless mass have little choice but to be

influenced- in other words, you watch something violent, you may go and do something violent.

0 The Culmination Theory - Years and years of watching more violence will make you less sensitive

to violence

0 Morleys Research- Women tend to watch something whilst doing something else and they watch

soaps etc. Men put full focus onto watching a film, sports and news.

If a media text attracts a wealthy amount of people then it is likely to continue even if thatpercentage is small. A series such as Star Trek (attracts single male men), although it only attracts a

small amount of people, the figures and collectables that come with it, make the series successful.

Audiencehood is becoming an even more multifaceted, fragmented and diversified repertoire of

practices and experiences. Ien Ang


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Media Language

0 Camera Angles, shots, body language etc..

0 Style and type of editing and filming

0 Written, Symbolic, Technical (WST)0 Semiotics Signs of what we see (signifier)

0 Denotation/Connotation

0 Iconography

0 Paradigm set of codes that we see in a media text


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Media Language

Is also the conventions that we expect of the media

product -

E.g. music video editing in time to the music,

montage, direct address, abstract or visuals that may

link to the music or the musical genre, star

construction, the creation of the relationship

between the star and the performer

Intertextuality is important in music videos andgives additional meanings for the audience.


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Media Language

0 Trailers use of narrative/thematic/genre/ signifiers

from the film cut together in order to make the

audience want to see the film.

0 The ordering of these so that it gives a taste of the

film and a sense of its visual style

0 The use of intertitles to anchor meaning

0

The use of sound to anchor meaning0 The use of institutional titles to make intertextual

links to similar films etc.


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You must give examples

It is really important to give clear examples from the

piece that you have decided to analyse.

Documents

Theorists and Theories for unit G325