Red herrings - false information (false lead, for example you are made to believe the killer is one person but it is actually someone else.
Inexperienced sidekick - For example a new police officer or someone who does not have much experience
Cliffhanger - High tension at the end of an episode which leaves people on edge or uneasy. For example a main character could be shot and you do not find out what happens until next episode
A chase - For example the police is chasing the criminal who is getting away
Teamwork - Working together to solve crime and the audience feel satisfied when the team succeeds
Personality defect - If the protagonist has a personality defect such as an alcoholic, the audience feel sympathy and it makes it more entertaining, also the writers can play around with the fact that there is a blockage or history there and use it to their advantage
Sub genre: Within the overall genre of television crime drama there will be groups of shows that share similar conventions, for example a detective-led drama is a sub genre.
Gangster - A TV crime drama that focuses on the lives and crimes of gangs (example = The Wire, The Sopranos)
Police soap series - A TV crime drama which goes on and on and the crime does not stop (example = The Bill)
Cold case - A TV crime drama where old cases which were closed due to lack of leads are re-opened (example = Waking the dead)
Court room - A TV crime drama which is mainly based on the lawyers and in court a lot (example = Judge John Deed)
Detective dramas - Detectives engaged in investigating a big crime (example = Broadchurch, Criminal minds)
Serial killers - A TV crime drama which is based on the serial killers and their lives (example = Dexter, Bates motel)
Prison - A TV crime drama which is mainly set in a prison (example = Prison break, Orange is the new black)
Investigative detective and sidekick - Where the TV series focuses on the eccentric police officer and a boring sidekick (example = Midsomer murders)
Criminal - Focuses on a group of criminals (example = Hustle)
Cuffs In 'Cuffs', the teamwork is all of the police officers and the chase is when the said team chase the criminals. The inexperienced sidekick is PC Jake, the new one. There is a red herring when the audience believe that the criminals are about to be caught but there is miscommunication and they get away.
This is the trailer for Black Panther. Write 5 camera shots below: Establishing shot - The beginning 8 seconds of the trailer is an establishment shot because you can see the full picture of the location and the scenery. Over the shoulder shot - At 39 seconds, there is an off the shoulder shot where you can see the emotion of the persons face you can see. You look at what she is wearing - an unusual hat and clothes that no normal person you see everyday would wear. Her emotions seem quite distressed, angry or upset. Someone takes denotations from the clip. Straight angle shot - At 1 minute 22 seconds, there is a clip of a man walking towards the camera with destruction and flames behind him. This creates a really powerful denotation and image. The mans face seems quite serious and stern but he does not seem to be screaming or scared of the fire behind. High/Canted oblique shot - At 1 minute 28 seconds, a man is holding a gun pointing downwards showing that he is the one with the power and whoever he is aiming at is the vulnerable person. His facial expression is very angry and he looks authoritative. The camera is slightly tilted. Two shot - At 1 minute 47 seconds, 2 people are fighting while wearing an arbor suit and with swords. You can see the scenery in the background as being very dark but slightly lit.
You can apply Propp's theory to crime TV shows. Hero - Officers of the law Villain - Criminals Dispatcher - Superintendant Donor - Officers of the law Princess - Victims Father of the princess - Father/Parent The false hero - Sometimes the suspect The helper - Police officers/Forensics --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The officers of the law: the hero, heroine, anti-hero cop, grumpy, buddy, quirky, rookie, bad tempered, experts, intelligent The victims: new victims in every episode, audience tend to sympathise, flashbacks are sometimes used The suspects: suspected of committing the crime, can be innocent/wrongly arrested, treated badly The criminals: they represent the opposition to the law, weak, misguided, stupid, clever, smart, quick Below is a trailer for a crime/investigation TV programme called 'Scorpion'.
Hero - Walter O'Brien Villain - The criminal in an episode Dispatcher - Cabe Gallo Donor - Happy, Toby, Sylvester, Paige Princess - The victims in an episode Father - Family of the victim False hero - Often who is thought to be aiding the hero but isn't Helper - Happy, Toby, Sylvester, Paige The TV producers show the different character types by giving each one different traits to support Propp's theory. This is such as, making new victims every episode. Also having a main character often put in danger to help greater good, much like a hero
- Representation is concerned with the way that people, ideas and events are presented to us.
- This could be representation in magazines, news soap operas, films and so on.
- It may include representation of people, places, events.
This means media texts are intentionally written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded, targeted and censored by producers, and that they are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us.
Elements that create representation
Mise-en-scene
Sound
Editing
Camera shots, angles, movements and positions
Social groups in terms of representation
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Sexuality
Class and status
Physical ability/disability
Regional Identity
Example; goths - trashy, lonely, love for darkness/death, plain, shy/introverted, rude, sensitive, love for rock music, disrespectful
Stereotypes
A commonly held public belief about specific social groups or types of individuals
A simplified representation of a character, appearance and beliefs
Sometimes representations can turn into stereotypes
A countertype is a positive simplified widely held view but is still not the whole truth
The representation of Men and Women in the media: Women - Feminism has been around for 30 years yet media representations of women are worryingly the same. Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following: - Beauty - Size/Physique - Sexuality - Emotional Dealings Women are often represented as being part of a team such as family, friends, colleagues etc. And in drama they tend to take the role of the helper, passive rather than active. Men are still represented as TV drama characters up to 3 times more frequently than women, and tend to be the predominant focus of news stories. Men - Representation of men across all media tend to focus on the following: - Strength, physical and intellectual - Power and success - Sexual attractiveness, physique -Independence - Masculinity Representation of age: - Rebellious teen - Senile old man/woman - Cradle robbing woman - Male in a mid-life crisis - Middle-age woman clinging to her youth - Silly old man -Social group in school (nerd, cheerleader, goth etc) And the list goes on.
Old people are often subject to the most rigid stereotypes of all (old= ugly, weak, stupid, grumpy, boring).
Ethnicity:
Ethnicity is defined by a set of genetic and cultural characteristics.
Representation of ethnicity in the media can consist of rigid stereotypes that are similar to gender portrayal.
There is a need for a more accurate portrayal of the diversity of different races is a priority for political agendas.
In recent years, the success of actors such as Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Laurence Fishbone and Morgan Freeman in a diversity of roles has meant that black characters in movies and on TV are no longer 'stock' types. However, there are many negative representations of black people in the media, portrayals which seem deliberately designed to inflame the hatred and fear. People of African descent - Nigerian mum, big woman who loves food and music and family - Boys in hoodies, aggressive, part of a gang, urban, criminal - Famine victims, they are starving and poor - Rappers, guns, bling, weed, grill teeth, tattoos People of asian descent - Intelligent, extremely clever - Broken english, can't speak english - They eat dogs - They are very culturally exclusive, put their own first - Martial artist, ninja, karate - Obsessed with electronics - Obsessed with anime - Lack emotion - Wealthy and love Chinese food
People of Arabic (middle-eastern) descent - Terrorists, violent, killers - Religiously devout, strict, serious - Villains, make the victims, victims - Physically strong, hates jewish people
People of White British/American descent - Powerful, physically and intellectually - Often the hero, can be the killer - In charge, the dominant race - The lead role, the protagonist
Representation of sexuality- Heterosexual women - Loving, respectful, monogamous - Promiscuous, flaunt their body about - Frigid, sexually uncomfortable - Pure, virginal, innocent, naive - Gold digger, cougar, pregnant teen Representation of sexuality- Heterosexual men - Loving, respectful, monogamous - Promiscuous for women is bad, but for men it is considered ok - 'Ladies man', 'heart throb', player - Bumbling man who has trouble speaking to women
Representation of sexuality- Lesbian women - Monogamous, faithful and loving - Promiscuous, flaunts their body about - Embarrassed (in the closet) - 'Butch', dresses masculine or looks masculine Representation of sexuality- Homosexual males - Young promiscuous men - Older monogamous men - Overbearing and in your face - Embarrassed (in the closet) - Obsessed with makeup - Vanity and very self absorbed Class and status: - Poor, moneyless, bum - Lower class - Lower middle class - Working class - Upper middle class - Upper class - Elite, rich, millionaire Status symbols - Clothing or lack of it - Cars - Jewellery - Brands - Houses or mansions - Gadgets Physical ability/Disability - Physically disabled, paralysed, deaf, blind - Those who are limited in how much they can do - Those who are in good shape, star athletes, superheroes, average
Regional identity - This constitutes the representation of individuals from a certain geographical area - Costume - Setting - Staging/acting - Depiction - Accent Key terms: -Selection: whatever ends up on the screen or in the paper, much more will have been left out. Any news story has been selected from hundreds of others which the producers decided for you were less interesting. Any picture has been chosen from an enormous number of alternatives. - Construction:Media texts have been created in a specific way to portray a message/representation - Mediation: Mediation is the process by which a media text represents an idea, issue or event to an audience. We are given a version of reality which has been altered. - Dominant representation: A dominant representation is one which is repeated across the media over time.
In this video, the differences between the two sexes are very obvious. The girls like makeup, clothes, doing their hair and the men picking up the bill. The boys seem dominant and manly while being strong and a ladies man.
The Uses and Gratifications Theory assumes audiences actively seek out media to satisfy individual needs.
Why/How do we consume media?
Information
Personal identity
Integration and social interaction (personal relationships)
Entertainment
Information - findingout about relevant events in society around the world, seeking advice, satisfying curiosity and general interest, learning and self education or gaining a sense of security through knowledge. Blue planet, for example.
Personal Identity - finding reinforcement for personal values, finding models of behaviour, identifying with valued others (in the media) or gaining insight into ones self
For example, Jay Alvarez. He inspires me by the lifestyle he leads as a man who travels the world and a videoblogger. This is an example of me identifying with his values and being my model of behaviour.
Entertainment - escapism or being diverted from problems, relaxing, filling time, emotional release or sexual gratification. For example, How I Met Your Mother is a comedy show often used for as entertainment or escapism.
Integration and Social Interaction - gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy, identifying with others and getting a sense of belonging, finding a basis for conversation and social interaction or having a substitute for real life companionship.
^ for example, when watching Love Island, creates a conversation between friends and bonds relationships.
On-screen sound - the audience can see the source of the sound
Off-screen sound - the audience can't see the source of the sound
Diegetic sound in the video above: the dialogue of many characters Non-diegetic sound in the video above: soundtrack music
Diegetic sound in the video above: the dialogue of the singer Non-diegetic sound in the video above: music with a source
Sound: Parallel/Contrapuntal
Parallel sound matches the action. (example, children playing = happy music) Contrapuntal sound does not match the action. (example, horror film = funny music) Sound: Sound Bridge A sound bridge helps to create a smooth transition between one scene to another. The sound bridges two scenes.
The clip from jaws below shows parallel sound because the music matches the action.
The video below demonstrates contrapuntal sound because the music does not match the vents of what is happening.
