Task 2

Media Ideology

Popular Music

There are two different types of music categorized as Popular and Serious music. Popular music is considered to have various levels of value which society take for granted such as social and musical values which are totally independent of one another.
Popular music has Standardized Characteristics as there are rules to follow in its production. The chorus lyrics are easy to remember and the harmony is repetitive these characteristics usually come in the form of various examples such as the 'novelty' song. This music has also simplified its ways of interaction with the listener by making it easy to understand and also has dance types creating a very repetitive listening experience overall.

Popular usic aims to be industrially standardized to become more successful in its promotion within the mass media, but that can not be done with out following the standardized pattern within production as society are conditioned to recognise these listening traits which popular music has always contained.

With Popular music there are no surprises and so the listener is prepared before he/or she listens and is conditioned to except the fact that there is no in depth meaning. With serious music on the other hand each detail be it the musical notes or the lyrics is influenced by the meaning and offers the listener complexity which is dependant on the course of the music. This gives the listener a more in depth meaningful experience.
Popular music also promotes Structural Standardization which takes away the Independence and the freedom of the individuals in society and forces all listeners to take away the same experience. This has taken away new ways of producing music which has resulted in an array of unoriginal popular music being massed produced giving the listener less choice instead of more.

If alistener is not capable of taking in the seriousness of complex music they pick up on the simplest part of the beat and accept the rest as a parodistic distortation of the simplest form.

Popular music aims to be industrially standardized to become more successful in its promotion within the mass media, but that can not be done with out following the standardized pattern within production as society are conditioned to recognise these listening traits which popular music has always contained.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzRkgtJn2is- Is this the way to Amarillo-Peter Kay

I Choose 's this the way to Amarillo'originally sung by Tony Christie, then by Peter Kay to raise money for Comic relief in 2005.

This sony was originally written by two Americans but in 1971 Tony Christie released it into the UK and it came in at no18 in the charts. Although this song wasn't particularly famous and popular at first, it was pickd up by many social groups in society and was chanted at various events such as football matches.

Thesong was originally called Amarillo because it rhymed with the word pillow, this can b linked to where Adorno suggests, the means of these particular songs are very stantardized and have very little meaning.

The song was also played in the key of A major and in a time signiture, which we can also link to where Adorno suggests that there are Musical Characteristics of this type of music to keep it musically standardised and easier for the listener to digest.

In 2005 this song became a hit when Peter Kay re-released it in one of his TV series Phoenix nights. He also did a music video and sung it at various festivals to raise money for charity.

I think this song was so successful because it is easy for the listener to digest as there are no hidden meanings within the song and the music is repetitive and so easy to remember even without the words. I also think it was successful as it has many Peter Kay being one, celebrities attached to it which added some credibility to the song. Within the video the celebrities were also walking, or doing a particular dance to this song which Adorno suggests is also a common thing with this kind of popular music.

Task 4

Annotate T.W Adorno's:How to look at television (Spring 1954), pp 2-3. [Assessed 05/02/09]

1st half

2nd half

Next pg

1st part

2nd part

3rd part

The gaze lecture notes

In the book Ways of Seeing by John Berger, he suggests that a mans presence is different to that of a women and that 17th Century paintings of women were purely made to faller the male eye, assuming that the one who is ‘gazing’ is a male. This is what has influenced the idea of ‘The gaze’
He goes on to say that this is something that we have now been made aware of but yet nothing seems to have changed. This idea of the male being the gazing eye and the woman being the one looked at has filtered down into society and this is idea is being reconstructed within the media and films in particular.
In films the ‘ideals’ of the male and female figure is a common trend where the male is always the Hero, and the female is always the sexual object there to be looked at. The gaze evokes two different structures of power within film and the genders where ‘Men act and women appear’. J Berger
J .Berger says about the behaviour of a woman in today society ‘she has to survey everything she is and everything she does, because how she appears to others, and ultimately men, is of critical importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life’. He goes on to suggest that women are conditioned from childhood to believe they are to survey themselves and that they will be surveyed by others. This in turn makes them correct themselves into being what they want to be seen as.

The Gaze within films appeal to the 3 different levels of our consciousness and unconsciousness, ego, super ego, and ID.
The Gaze appeals to our egos because this is the side of us that we show and we behave in accordance to the way we want to be seen. Hence the ‘hero’s’ within films are always men and the assumed spectator is always male. This allows the spectator to live his ‘ideal’ through a film as this appeals to his ego, and this is the way he wants to be seen.
The Gaze is also apparent in our unconsciousness super ego because this is where others don’t see us and this is a part of our true self which we don’t allow to come out. Hence this is the part where women grow up and have life experiences, they watch films with the ‘ideal’ female figure and then they watch themselves and fashion their behaviour in to becoming what they want to be seen as.
The Gaze within films also appeals to our ID, as this is where our deepest desires are about sex, pain, violence and death this is the part of us that we suppress as we are told not to enjoy it. We see it as acceptable to take enjoyment in watching others do it on a sub-conscious level as we are not doing it ourselves. But we can’t be seen to enjoy this on a conscious level. This is where we are able to watch films and satisfy our desires without the guilt which is also Mulveys theory.

'Le Vial' The Rape


The Dolce and Gabbana's advert was made an example of during the lecture of how the gaze can work. In this Ad we can identify with a set-up which could be interpertated as a gang rape, something which might appeal to the inner ego of the 'male gaze'. The media and advertising in general offers the 'male' spectator a way of thinking about desire and Sigmund Freud argues these desires stem from childhood.
'The Gaze' seems to be most apparent in classic hollywood films but have filtered down into contemporary films, but in my research I found a film which I could argue goes againsts Bergers quote to describe 'The Gaze' where he states 'Men act and women appear'.

Kill Bill Vol.1


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVam1qOmlEo&feature=related- Trailer

This film is based on an ex gang member of the Deadly viper assasination squad, who was once betrayed by her boss Bill. Before the film starts there is a flash back of the past where we find The 'Bride' who is the main Character in the film finds she is pregnant and so for a better life she decided to leave the gang and start a family off with someone else. But once Bill her boss finds out he decided to go and kill her with the rest of the female gang members on her wedding day.
Years later 'The Bride' wakes up in hospital and doesnt know what has happened to her but soon realizes what has happened. So for the rest of the movie she goes on a search for Bill which the intentions of killing him for taking her baby away which just so happened to be his.

I do think that 'The Gaze' is apparent within this film as the one who is driving the plot is a male 'Bill' and although we haven't seen him he has much presence and credibility as he is controlling all of the other females within the film.
In the beginning of the film we can identify with a set-up almost like a 'gang rape' where we see the gang moving in to spoil 'The Brides' day. In their eyes she betrayed Bill the ultimate 'male figure' within the film and as her punishment she is beaten up and finally shot. They take away her life for her make her own decisions without a 'mans' authorisation, because she is his property.
But as Berger suggests 'Men act women Appear' (p.72) is not part of this film as the main characters throughout are female and they do alot of acting and fighting, whilst the other men in the film dont have much presence.
I think the main Character The Bride is 'Fighting' for her own right as an independant woman who has been surpressed by this male for most of her life. I also think there is the idea that every woman will do anything to protect her child and will kill anyone without even thinking about it to take revenge for doing a wrong to her child.
Throughout the whole of this film we are also given a way of fullfilling our inner desires where we see violence and killing, which we are said to supress by our egos as we are told it is wrong to enjoy. But to see the Bride get her revenge after what Bill has done, as a 'female' you can relate to how she must feel and you do get a sense of enjoyment watching it.

Bibliograpy
IMDB. Normski3, beth-243, elyseface. Kill Bill Vol 1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/synopsis. [Assessed 10 months ago]
Lecture notes
Berger, J. (1972) ‘Ways 0f Seeing’, London, Penguin
J. Berger. Ways of seeing. Chapter 3. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. 1972. London

Task 3

Critical Studies Essay Proposal Form

Provisional Essay Title- How women are seen in films

Main Issues addressed by your essay and thrust of your arguement-
The gaze- How women are seen in films and how social and cultural issues have influenced this.

Look at a comtemporary film picking out any Chacracteristics of the Gaze to prove it still exists in modern day films.

What visual material will you look at?-

Taken, directed by Pierre Morel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvUxdQ4q-Lg trailer

psychoanalysis, The Gaze, Identity.

which specific theorists/writers will you refer to?

John Berger
Laura Mulvey
Daniel Chandler
Sigmund Freud

Globalization, sustainablity and the media

Notes taken in lecture
I only caught the second half of this lecture but from my notes have tried to make a clearer understanding of it.

Do certain countries dominate culture?

Globalization is something which is on the increase and is resulting in the world turning to America to take on its western cultures this is leading to the assumption that the caucasian culture is something to aspire to.

Most news, cultural, factual, and entertainment corporations are now owned by time warner which have created and is now providing us with a commercial culture with the same messages on different subjects to suit their cultural needs. This in effect is taking more and more power and money away from smaller corporations in eastern countries that then can't develop their own cultures, and is making us more dependable on America.

Examples of globalization

• The speading of culture lifestyle, and attitudes to life which leaves to one world with an all american dream.


• There has been things like skin lightening creams which have encourage the eastern world into believing white, is the way to a better life.


• this has lead to one culture and a western dominated world.

In doing this there has been no consideration to the potential affects on the planet which has now lead to global warming.

Global warming was made an example of in the lecture

we talked about:

Green washing- a tactic move inorder to encourage the public to continue to buy into things which are said to be 'environmentall friendly' this takes away the guilt but inevitably is still damage us and the planet.

The media is telling us that Global warming is on the rise and is encouraging us to do something about it. We are being manipulated into believing we are the result of this global mess and that we are responsible for cleaning it up. they have created even more things which they green wash and encourage us to buy but if we look closely at where they have come from the result was the same in that something had to be distroyed to make it.

If we look at current estimates on which countries pump out the most emissions it is clear that there is a serious case of pollition going on in America which adds up to the most then China, and then filters down further. A large percentage of these emissions are being pumped out by big factories which are making billions of pound every year, but yet we are the ones who have to pay for it. This is a mere example of how the media influenced by these corporations, can manipulate society into believing we should all conform to behaving in a certain way depending on the business and financial status of the western world and the result is always so that the big bosses at the top can make maximum amounts of money for themselves.

Channel 4 did a documentary called 'Great global warming swindle', which investigated the topic, and they faced a controversy as it was found that they used selective information to prove the government was lying about how serious this subject was.

According to ofcom as long as a topic is debateable it is ok for there to be controversy and selective information released except in the news, but as soon as it has been proven then there is no excuse for using selective facts to create a story. So it makes me think through magazines, the newspaper are we being told some untruths?

Channel 4 was questioning whether human activity played a large part in the effects of global warming, and according to scientist this has been proven. This makes it sound as thought we are at fault, but compared to what the government owned factories are creating id consider human pollution to be a less of a problem. Or maybe thats the human activity they are refering to after all we require the factories dont we to make all our 'commodities'.

Bibliography

Ofcom, Office of communication. http://lightbucket.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/great-global-warming-swindle-ofcoms-rulings/-26/02/2010

Lecture notes.

Hyper-reality and Virtual reality

Over The hegde
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE77igZczlI Trailer
Whilst in this lecture I was reminded of the film Over The hedge by dreamworks 2006. The lecture talked about how we as a society are becoming more and more obsessed by possessing, and this is a result of mass production and Capitalism.

The film is about a hungry animal RJ who trys to steal food from an angry bear but instead all the food is distroyed by a truck as a result of it all rollng down a hill in a trolley. The bear gives RJ a week to fill the trolley back up with all the food or else he will get eaten.
As RJ goes in search of food the first place he stops is a dangerous place where only humans are allowed, Over the hedge. As collecting all the food is too much work for him alone, he decides to pursuade other animals in the park to come with him, whilst lying to them about his real moto.
So they all go on search to find real food, the convient mass produced food we eat which doesnt grow naturally. This is where you see in the film how detached us as humans have become from nature and reality and instead how we are so greedy and over indulgent on things which create a false reality, this is due to Ideological control.
As a result of lying RJ losses all of his 'real' friends as he is found out.
To me this goes back to the idea that with Globalization someone always has a underlying moto which as a result they will benefit from it the most, and then turn on us when stuff like global warming takes place.




Lecture notes

Communication Theory

Notes taken in lecture
As a Visual Communicator I am always looking at the possiblities of communicating a message effectively and trying to answer important questions which will make my work more successful such as

'who say what to whom in what channel with what effect' Harold Lasswell's maxim

This is a quote from Lasswell on the different stages of Communication such as

Who is the communicator?
What is their message?
How are they communicating?
and who are they communicating to?

According to theorists there are 7 different communication theory traditions which are:

Rhetorical-key theorists Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero
Semiotic- Key Theorists Saussure, Barthes, Eco
Phenomenological-'' '' Husserl, Merleau-Ponty
Cybernetic/information systems-'' '' Shannon and Weaver, Chang-Gen Bahg
Socio-Psychological- '' '' Cialdini, Petty, Zimbardo
Socio-Culture- '' '' Vygotsky, Rogoff
Critical- '' '' Bourdieu, Faocoult

We communicate everyday and because we transmit these messages to and from each other verbally, it has been proven that communication can be miss understood due to the process it goes through whilst travelling from one brain to another. There are 3 different potential communication problems-

Technical-Accuracy
Semantic-Precision of language
Effectiveness-Does message effect one?



Shannon and weaver's model of communication explains how this process happens.



Image taken from
www.shkaminski.com/Classes/images/Shannon-Weaver%20model.gif-26/02/2010

This model explains how communication works
Info source-Brain
Transmitter-Mouth
Channel-message travels through noise interferance
Receiver- ears
Desination- Brain which makes a meaning out of what has been said

As you can see there is a long process in which the message goes through and so this is why Claude Shannon's suggest that this is why the meaning behind the message can be interfered with. http://stevefournier01.tripod.com-26/02/2010


John Berger also suggests that seeing things a certain way can be altered by our life experiences.

'The way we see things is affected by what we know and what we believe'- John Berger

Semiotics is also a system language which communicates to us on a sub-concious level everyday-As Daniel Chandler gives an introduction to Semiotics and its key thinkers he says
'Semiotics is the study not only of what we refer to as 'signs' in everyday speech, but of anything which 'stands for' something else. In a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gestures and odjects'-Daniel Chandler, Semiotics for beginners

To get me thinking about the communication theory I decided to look at narrative within film and look for any of the communication traditions to try understand the film better.

Thinking about narrative
Narrative originates from old folktales and nursery rhymes which have developed over the years into books, films, and other forms of visual communication, but the meanings and messages behind these narratives are something which have lasted throughout time.

Jonathon Young said in his article:Once upon a time.
How fairytales shape our lives.Inside Magazine fall 1997
"we see that all the characters can represent aspects of our own personalities. These tales are psychological mirrors and we become more complex as we mature. The storytellers intentionally loaded the adventures with heavy symbolism to reveal more meanings as we develop a deeper awareness of ourselves. Bedtime stories have enormous influence over our identities. People identify with certain characters in the stories they heard in childhood. To some degree, many live out these stories, largely unaware of how much the old tales may be shaping our lives."
"We must hold them (stories)ct gently for a time until they deliver their message to us. The effects of what we learn might well last for a lifetime."http://www.folkstory.com/articles/onceupon.html

From reading the article I found that the reason why Romantic Comedies continue to be successful although very repetitive in theme, plot, and style is because they appeal to our deepest dreams and hopes which have been manipulated by ideology.
We could associate this behaviour with the socio-psychological and socio-cultural communication tradition where one behaves a certain way through being influenced by society for instance. In this case it is saying we grow up with certain expectations of ourselves because this is what we are told should happen at such a young age and we conform to that.

Looking at film Romantic comedies in particular they all seem to be based on ideals to we have created and society has now become transfixed on the idea that this is what is supposed to happen in real life to be truely happy.
When we listen to a story or we watch a film which has derived from a folktale (e.g romantic) it always contains character types which are based on what we see as ideals and appeals to us, whether it be heart throb/damsel in distress/villan and we naturally want to be statisfied by a film/program and we always want a happy ending. This movie is amongst many movies brought out each year which all share a similar theme. Looking at Rom-Coms you can see a theme there is always a boy and girl at logger heads who eventually fall in love what ever happens in the middle just bulks the film out, there is no surprises the same things happens in them all. This trend within these films and stories have resulted in us becoming transfixed with life being about growing up, finding love and living happily ever after. For most of us we see it as an essential stage in life for one to remain ‘normal’ and to be happy. These ideas have been passed down through generations of Fairytales and into society.

This is where we can see how this type of film may communicate a different message to its audience depending on gender and cultural experience and expectations. A woman for instance will relate and interact with a romantic comedy differently that to what a man will simple because of her life experiences as a woman, because of the expectations society have of women which has had an infulence on her behaviour, and because of the way she interacts with others this is the phenomenological tradition.

'We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves. Our vision is continually active, continually moving, Continually holding things in a circle around itself, constituting what is present to us as we are'- John Berger pg 9

I did an informed analysis on How to lose a guy in 10 days and this was very benificial as it encouraged me to think about how visual language is used within films, to create a mood, or to give an underlying message to its audience. This proved quite effective as I was able to think about the semiotic denotations and connotations throughout each scene.

2003 Romantic Comedy, How to lose a guy in 10 days, directed by Donald Petrie.
The film what made an estimated £11,009,445.28 worldwide is based on a self help book that has the same name and written by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long.
The film was produced and distributed by Paramount pictures and released on the 7th February 2003 in the USA. Releasing a film of this sort, around Valentines Day was a tactical marketing strategy.

The film itself is based on a journalist Andy Anderson (Kate Hudson) who is bored of her job, which entails writing ‘How to’ articles for the company magazine Composure. To persuade her boss to let her write more freely about more important things she sets herself a task in which she has to date a guy for 10 days where she has to do ‘all the things women tend to do wrong’ and record her experiences for the article. In the hope other women will learn from it (her friends).
On the other hand Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey) tells his boss he can make any girl fall in love with him. Showing how confident he is about this statement, he allows his female colleges to choose a random woman of their choice (Andy) who he will date. To prove she has fallen for him he will bring her to the company ball.

Without seeing the movie, reading the synopsis and looking at the poster for the semiotic tradition you can see that it gives a lot away about what kind of film this is going to be.
These are two Characters who have set themselves similar tasks but at opposite ends of the scale.
You can imagine they will be playing a game of tug of war throughout the film which is obviously going to create tension.The synopsis gives a lot away about the characters as well, you can imagine Andy being quite intelligent, Independent, popular and career minded. Whilst Benjamin being quite a man’s man, arrogant, egoistic and confident.
Looking at the poster there are also obvious signs that these two characters will not get on as their backs are against each other, but still they are showing some interest in the opposite sex as their expressions show. We are able to pick up these semiotic signs and are able to understand what the movie is communicating because in the real world we learn through experiences and through what culture teaches us that green means go and red means stop, and we pick these connotations and denontations sub-conciously.

"Semiotics tells us things we already know in a language we will never understand."
--- Paddy Whannel




The film gives a clear out line that Andy is being forced to be this stereotypical ‘hair headed blonde’ who uses her female attributes and attractiveness to get the ‘how to’ articles done. But you actually find having a good intellectual career is all she wants.
This character type gives you the impression the Director has based her on the ideals every man wants, but also the idea that ever man has, about women being able to turn on/off the ‘I’m a woman’ button. Ideology and the scientific study on the male species has also taught us that men are attracted to a certain ‘type’ of woman, with blondes (stereotypical idea) being the most attractive and fun (Andy). This ‘type’ not only refers to a sexy and good looking woman, but also a woman who can take care of herself and who is intelligent (Andy).

John Berger also suggests in his book Ways of seeing:

'Women are depicted in quite a diffrent way to men-not because the feminine is diffrent from the masculine- but because the 'ideal spectator is always assumed a male and the image of a woman is designed to flatter him' pg 64

The character Ben on the other hand also shares the same drive, but having all the stereotypical traits women think all men have such as ‘egoistic, arrogant, foreign body, and macho man’. Our own life experiences tell us these two characters are not going to get on and as it goes, Women are from Venus and Men from Mars, the story follows on with this trend.

The lighting, colours and costumes throughout these scenes are very gender distinguished too. There are colours such as blue for male shots and softer oranges and reds for female shots with these also being the brighter lit shots too.Their costumes are also very formal and serious until you see them falling for each other where their cloths start to get looser and softer.
The camera shots show a lot too as they very rarely share a shot until the turning point of the film. This all works towards giving the viewer a certain feeling and message of conflict within the film and the film does it exceptionally well.

'Seeing comes before words. The child looks and regognizes before it can speak'John Berger pg7

I would definitely say this film is more appealing to women, but I also can’t help thinking it is an insult to women. In my opinion it is just another film to add to the chain of films, which women are slaves to feeling like they have to live up to. Being based on a self help book, just like the 1950’s how to be a good wife mag, it’s a modern version of how the incapable woman can improve herself.
With it being said that these ‘Stories’ are something we can all relate to it on so many levels, there is nothing challenging about its narrative or hidden concept. It is just a film about an unrealistic but ‘ideal’ take on life between the sexes and is very much gender driven.

These films will continue to be popular with movie goers because they appeal to our inner dreams and expectations of ourselves and society. Creating certain techniques such as semiotic signs, theme, songs, settings, camera movements, sounds, lighting, and editing effects communicates something and allows the audience to connect in some way to what they are watching whilst also making a judgement based on their own situation, and attitude towards culture and society.

Bibliography
http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/~cbybee/j201/overheads/whannel_quote.htm-semiotic quote-04/02/2010
handouts on Visual Language.
Communication theory lecture notes
Reality V’s Hyper-reality and The Gaze Critical Study lecture notes
Web
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306734/synopsis
http://www.imbd.com-reviews/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005028/ -K, Hudson movie profile/biography
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000190/ -M, McConaughey movie profile/biography
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251127/ - How to lose a guy in 10 days movie profile
http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/how_to_lose_a_guy_in_10_days/ - Reviews.
http://www.folkstory.com/articles/onceupon.html-article by Jonathan Young, Inside Magazine, fall 1997.
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/LOSEG.php- Budget and earnings
http://www.the-numbers.com/people/directors/0DPET.php- Donald Petrie profile/biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_film_theory
www.boxofficereviews.com
www.youtube.com/ trailers
-The lord of the rings: Return of the king
-The matrix Reloaded
-spy kid 2
-Somethings gotta give.
Filmography

(Romantic Comedies)
How to lose a guy in 10 days directed by Donald Petrie.
Somethings gotta give trailer- Directed by Nancy Meyers

(Epic Fantasy)
The lord of the rings :Return of the king trailer- Directed by Peter Jackson

(Action/Adventure virtual realty film)
Spy Kid Trailer- Directed by Robert Rodriguez

(Science fiction)
The matrix Reloaded- Directed by the Wachowski brothers
Stephen M. Fournier. http://stevefournier01.tripod.com/hist/hist-6.html-%2026/02/2010
Young Jonathan. Once upon a time, how fairytales shape our lives. Inside magazine. 1997
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. The british broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. London. 1972
Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics for beginners. www.aber.ac.uk/media/documents/s4b/sem01.html. 26/02/2010
Paddy Whannel http://jcomm.uoregon.edu-quote/. 26/02/2010