Assessment

Test

Music videos - MEDIA LANGUAGE

Explore how the combination of media language creates meaning for the audience in the video to Riptide [15]

Plan:

The meaning I think is created is: 

• Women are only valued when they are attractive to a hegemonic stand-point, and maintaining appearance is their prime duty. However they also serve a secondary purpose to create meaning via the narrative of the story.
• The meaning is created that women are objects, and their only purpose is to be looked at. But they are only pleasing to look at when they are attractive to a hegemonic standard.  The audience are exposed to this meaning through close up shots, mise-en-scene
• A deeper narrative meaning is explored - mise-en-scene, symbolic coding etc. This is all the woman's fault. Nails turn from white to red.

Media language is the techniques used by the producer, in order to create intended effects and showcase an overall meaning. Within the Riptide music video, the audience are exposed to a degrading representation of women, in order to present the meaning that women are only valued when they are attractive to a hegemonic perspective. This meaning is anchored through the producers choices in shot-types, mise-en-scene and the inclusion of a narrative.

Within the music video for Riptide, the meaning that a woman is only pleasing to look at when she is attractive to a hegemonic standard, is communicated clearly to the audience. Anchored by the close-up-shot of the woman's face, the audience instantly feel comfortable as the mise-en-scene of the woman's light makeup reinforces she is attractive. The lack of facial makeup creates the narrative that she is confident, as she does not have to conceal any flaws on her skin, and therefore the audience presume she must be attractive. As the music video progresses, there is a shift in her appearance, and her makeup becomes smudged. There is a second close-up-shot, where the audience are exposed to the model's messy and disorganised makeup, this shot is uncomfortable for the audience as she is no longer attractive to a hegemonic standard. This creates the meaning that women are only valued by the audience when they conform to the stereotype surrounding the 'perfect' woman, and when the model does not achieve the expected standard of beauty, they are instantly disregarded by the audience. 

The meaning that women only exist to appeal to a patriarchal society, is further established via the mise-en-scene of the swimming costume. Within one shot, the woman removes her swimming costume, yet the positioning of the camera only allows us to see the exposed skin on her back. This allows the audience to have an extra diegetic gaze. The exposure of her body arguably has no impact regarding the story of the music video, yet this scene is included to appeal to the patriarchal, hegemonic society which all media products are aimed towards. Alike Lisbet Van Zoonen proposes, women are constructed specifically to appeal to the heterosexual male audience. This creates the meaning that women are featured within Riptide to be viewed as objects, opposed to anything of value, supporting the initial meaning that women are only valued when they are hegemonic ally attractive.

This degrading meaning of women is further continued through the narrative of the music video. The symbolic coding of red, such as the mise-en-scene of blood on the woman's neck, is representative of violence. This is anchored by the lyric, 'left hand man', which plays alongside this clip. The lexis of 'left hand man', is polysemic. It relates to both marriage, but also the opposite of 'right hand man'. A right-hand man is associated with protection, meaning the 'left hand man' is associated with destruction. As the blood is on the woman's hands, this positions her as the villain within this situation, as she has caused this destruction. This creates a new meaning for the audience, as although she has previously been seen as an object, she does hold slight value to the storyline overall. This creates the meaning for the audience, that despite women having the primary value of appealing to a heterosexual-male audience, they do have a secondary value which is to provide addition to a storyline.

Overall, Riptide creates a specific meaning for it's audience, that women are only valued when they are attractive to a hegemonic stand-point, and maintaining appearance is their prime duty. This is anchored by the mise-en-scene of costume and close-up shots. However women serve a secondary purpose to create meaning through the narrative of the music video, providing an unconventional, dark story, which is unexpected of the music-video industry. This helps to entertain the audience, whilst implying the intended meaning.

Video Game industry - INDUSTRY

In what ways has ownership shaped the media products you have studied? Make reference to the Assassin’s Creed franchise [15]

Gonna use my own examples too

• The Walking Dead, Telltale shut down and went bankrupt - leading up to this reduced budget, so much of the planned content had to be cut.
• Ubisoft assassin's creed = big budget!!! High quality gaming experience, no troubles with budget, but because its a huge company it means they don't want to take risks. But they're a mass conglomerate so there is a limit in creativity. Curran and Seaton.

My answer:

Ownership relates to who possesses a specific media product. Often dependent on who the owner is, this can shape the production of a product, and influence the final outcome. The owner controls the amount of time, money and effort which is put into creating this product, which can often lead to it being standardised or diverse. Assassins's Creed is owned by a mass conglomerate, Ubisoft, whose primary concern is maintaining their success and making a profit. In order to do so, they must limit risk, but this limits creativity and diversity within production and marketing.

Ownership drastically shapes the way a game is shaped, particularly within relation to the extent of creative freedom and expression. Assassin's Creed is owned by Ubisoft, a company formed in France in 1986 which is the forth largest publicly traded game company in America and Europe. They are a mass-conglomerate, meaning they have a large budget, but in order to maintain their earnings, they must reduce the possibility of risk. This limits creativity, which is exampled within the conventional structure of their trailers. As their trailers are distributed online, Ubisoft target their games towards the general public, and to the general public, this trailer resembles a film trailer. It used paradigmatic features such as a narration which explains the story, the showcasing of multiple scenes, establishment of characters and interesting camera shots. As this is reminiscent of a movie trailer, the general public will be interested in it, as it is something normalised to them. This will help to increase profits of Assassin's Creed, but reduce the amount of creativity within the media product. This shapes the media product into a standardised product, which lacks diversity within it's marketing.

Ubi-Soft is also a part of a mass conglomerate, alike companies such as Disney, meaning they have large ownership of the industry. They need to set a standard which is hard to compete with in order to maintain this power. In this case, the best way to maintain this standard is by having high production values. The recommended retail price of Assassin's Creed Vahalla is £60 and it is a triple A game, which confirms high production values will be present. The game has been shaped not by the wants of the producers, but by the need to meet maintain their current success as a mass conglomerate, and control the industry. Alike David Hesmondhalgh has said, it is essential for media industries to minimise risk, and to maximise profit.

The game has also been shaped by the fanbase and the legacy this game already has. This game is a part of a huge franchise which is well-known for including a  highly-produced score, engaging battle scenes and good animation. Fans will be expecting this game to continue that legacy, meaning the producers must invest money to shape a game with high production values to meet demand. This can be exampled within the production process, where the challenging animation of hair and fur was focused on. This shows a lot of time and money has been invested into making a game, which makes fans feel valued. Similarly, this also helps them to maintain their current success as they have successfully met and overcome the initial standard. Assassin's Creed Vahalla has been shaped into a game which is expected to continue the legacy in order to please the large fanbase.

Overall, Assassin's Creed has been shaped into a standardised product which lacks diversity, in order to maximise profit and appeal to a mass audience, whilst also satisfying existing fans. This has been influenced by the ownership of Assassin's Creed being Ubisoft, a mass conglomerate who needs to maintain their position as one of the most influential game creators.

Advertising - AUDIENCE

Explore how the WaterAid advert you have studied appeals to its target audience(s) [15]

• meant to target a privileged audience (binary opposition of close up shots - radio and empty bucket)
• audience meant to feel guilty.

The target audience, is the group of people the advert is specifically tailored towards. WaterAid are a charity, who are appealing to a privileged audience with funds, in order to make money for their non-for-profit organisation. In order to appeal to this target audience, WaterAid uses a combination of media language techniques which positions their audience in a sense of power, making them feel as if they have the ability to make changes to the world.

This advert aims to appeal to a privileged audience, in order to make them reflect on the amount of opportunities they have, in comparison to those presented within the video. The opening, close-up shot of the radio, shows the audience an item they are familiar with. The setting is in England, reinforced by the stereotypical rain on the windows and the accent of the speaker on the radio show. The radio is a materialistic item, which is 'wanted' by the buyer, it is not necessary. This is contrasted with a later close-up shot of an empty water bucket, which exposes the audience to their differences within lifestyles dependent on geographical location. The emptiness of the bucket, acts as a proairetic code, creating the narrative that the female actress is going to collect water, further highlighting her underprivileged background. Water is a necessity for live, which is needed. The binary opposition between close up shots of the radio and the empty bucket, helps to contrast the idea of a 'want' and a 'need', creating a clear opposition between luxury and poverty. This makes the target audience feel privileged, and therefore in a position of power to help make a change. The close-up shots help the audience to focus on the financial inequality, making them want to initiate this change, because they have the power to do so.

Within the advert, many teenaged actresses are used. Most teenagers are stereotypically presented as lazy and dependent on those around them, yet here this ideological perspective is subverted. Teenagers are represented as hardworking and as a vital part of the community. This perspective is anchored via the mise-en-scene of buckets, which are positioned on the teenager's heads. This implies their strength and dedication, creating the narrative they are hardworking. Similarly, the facial expression of the teenagers being a smile, helps to subvert the negative stereotype that teenagers are moody. This new, subversive representation that will be appealing because the teenage audience, making them satisfied with how they are being showcased, therefore donating themselves, or asking their parents.

Africa is represented as a lively place, subverting the stereotype that it is a poor, miserable country. This is a refreshing perspective which may appeal to the target audience, as it is uplifting and has a community theme. This is demonstrated through the contrast in colour pallet. England is represented to be dull and boring due to the unsaturated colour scheme and lack of intensive lighting. The mise-en-scene of rain, makes it easy for the audience to relate to the boringness of the day, making them think negatively about their own country as only the bad aspects are emphasised to them. This heavily contrasts the warm colour-pallet of Africa, which has connotations of being homely, and therefore happy. The sound of a chorus of all actress' singing, further emphasises this safe feel, as it demonstrates a sense of community and collaboration. This creates the narrative that Africa is much more desirable, enjoyable and safer than England as it is warm and communal. This appeals to the target audience, as it seems like a place to appreciate and therefore donate money to, in order to maintain the beauty of the environment.

Overall, WaterAid appeals to their target audience by communicating a subversive representation of Africa, which is engaging to the general public. This engagement is enhanced by complimenting the audience, as they are positioned in a sense of authority. This makes their donations much more likely, and serves the purpose of this advert.

Magazines - REPRESENTATION

Liesbet van Zoonen argues that representations of gender are encoded through media language to position audiences and to reinforce dominant ideological perspectives. In what ways do the producers of Woman use representations to position their audiences? [15]

plan: breeze advert - missing things - constructed as attractive

lexis - condesending - not intelligent despite target audience

D:

A:

C:

Representation is the reshowing of a specific group or idea. In this instance, it is the reshowing of women. Women are represented within Woman Magazine to be valued for their beauty, and lacking in intelligence. As Woman magazine's target audience is working-class women over the age of forty, this use of infantilisation is used to position the audience in a sense of powerlessness and reinforce the patriarchal hegemonic society.

Within the 'breeze' advert, which is featured in the Woman magazine, an attractive representation of women is presented to the audience. A woman is photographed washing herself, anchored by the mise-en-scene of soap bubbles, whilst still wearing a full-face of makeup. This creates a binary opposition between cleanliness and the full-face of makeup, presenting the ideology that even when washing, a woman must always value her appearance and look her best. This employs a self-obsessive narrative, for women. The producer has excluded the mise-en-scene of a bath-tub, allowing for an emphasised focus on the model's exposed body. This gives the audience an extra-diegetic gaze. The lack of clothing demonstrates the ideological perspective of the producer, to agree with the objectification of women in order to appeal to a heterosexual, male audience, alike Van Zoonen's theory. This allows for an extension of the previous narrative, showing that women are self-obsessed because of their desire to appeal to the heterosexual male. Although this is a magazine targeted towards middle-aged women, any male within the household could see this image, particularly if a woman is trying to get her husband to purchase the soap on offer. This positions the heterosexual male audience viewing the advert, in a sense of power, as they feel as if they are in control of women, as women are represented to spend time and effort trying to conform to their preferences. 

The lexis of the phrase 'because you are a woman', conveys a patronising tone. This suggests that women are treated differently to men, as there is an acknowledgement that due to her gender, she must receive different products. This degrades a female's intelligence, particularly as this is aimed towards middle-aged women. Within the 'Are You An A-Level Beauty?' article, women are addressed as 'girls', which degrades them to be younger. In relation to the target audience being women over the age of forty, referring to them as 'girls' makes them seem childish, and therefore acquires a patronising tone. This is infantilisation, further reinforcing the lack of intelligence the producer associates with women. This positions the audience as those who are less-powerful and intelligent than the producer, therefore making them believe everything showcased within the magazine, as the narrative has been created that they cannot think on their own.

Within the advert for 'Creme Puff', the different construction of women, in comparison to men is still present and is still focused around the theme of intelligence. Women are repeatedly represented as lacking in intelligence opposed to their male-counterparts, which is reinforced by the patronising lexis. The condescending mode of address, 'Now you can be sure of your beauty always... it's so easy!' anchors the way in which women are treated differently, as it emphasises how things need to be made 'easier'. The lexis of 'easy' is condescending, and presumes a woman has no intelligence as something needs to be made simpler for her. However, this advert does acknowledge that a woman is intelligent enough to know how to dress for particular occasions. Anchored by the mise-en-scene of the setting, the narrative is created that this is a formal event. In order to dress appropriately, the female model is fully-clothed in expensive clothing.This shows how a patriarchal hegemonic society forces a woman into spending more time studying how to dress appropriately, opposed to gaining mental intelligence which can be applied to daily life. This positions audience of women as only being intelligent when the task in question is related to material and appearance. This constructs women differently to men, as they are showcased to lack intelligence within most other areas, unlike their male counter-parts.

Overall, Woman Magazine constructs women differently to men, alike Lisbet Van Zoonen's feminist theory. This is achieved through the difference in lexis, the condescending tone which is conveyed, and the mise-en-scene of costume. Women are encoded as being valued for their appearance, and intelligent only in relation to material and vanity. They serve a patriarchal, hegemonic society, and are positioned in a powerless manner due to the expectations they must conform to.