Media Guardian Newspaper: 'Overlooked for being a woman'

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2097944,00.html
Thursday June 7, 2007

Sky One boss Richard Woolfe did not want a woman to run his acquisitions department, a former Sky executive told an employment tribunal today. Samantha Rowden said she had been passed over for a newly amalgamated acquisitions role because of her sex.

"I can't see any other reason why, when I was doing a good job, had brought in great programmes, and we had worked together for such a short period of time," she said. "I can't think of anything else apart from the fact that I was a woman."

She said she believed that Mr Woolfe always intended to hand the new job to her colleague in the acquisitions department, David Smyth. "I believe the whole process was predetermined and David was chosen because he was a man, and the whole process was completely unfair," Ms Rowden told the tribunal in Croydon.

Asked why she felt she had been treated less favourably, Ms Rowden said she had been treated dismissively by Mr Woolfe. "I believe Richard was not interested in what I was doing within the department. He was very dismissive," she said. "The way Richard was behaving with David was very different from the way he was behaving with me."

Ms Rowden is alleging wrongful dismissal and sex discrimination over her departure from Sky in July last year. The company is contesting her claims. The tribunal continues.

Media Guardian newspaper:Channel 4 praised for Big Brother action

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2097739,00.html?
Thursday June 7, 2007

Emily Parr and Charley Uchea: Parr was told to leave Big Brother immediately after using racially offensive language. Photograph: Channel 4

Racial equality campaigners and politicians today welcomed Channel 4's swift action in evicting Big Brother contestant Emily Parr after she made a racist remark.

The media regulator, Ofcom, said it would look into the incident after it is broadcast tonight on Channel 4, if there are any complaints by viewers. A Commission for Racial Equality spokesperson said the racist word Parr used, "nigger", is "clearly offensive". He added: "We're relieved that Channel 4 has acted quickly. Whichever way you look at it, the 'N' word is clearly offensive. This will show everyone that racism must never be tolerated in any way, shape or form. "We can see from this incident that there is no stereotype of a racist, they come from all walks of life, education and social background. Two series of Big Brother, two racist incidents - this just shows how prevalent racism really is in Britain today."

The Conservative shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Hugo Swire, also applauded Channel 4 for its action. "Racism has no place in modern Britain," he said.
"Ofcom's adjudication on Celebrity Big Brother made very clear how broadcasters must handle difficult or challenging material to ensure they adhere to Ofcom's broadcasting code," an Ofcom spokeswoman said.

"Where necessary, broadcasters should implement new procedures to prevent failures of compliance. Once the material in question has been broadcast, Ofcom will look into any complaints carefully and assess whether any issues are raised in relation to the broadcasting code."

Channel 4's Big Brother commissioning editor, Angela Jain, speaking on Sky News, defended the broadcaster's decision to remove Parr. "That word that Emily used was clearly a racially offensive word. We felt we had to take the appropriate course of action," Ms Jain said.
"I think it's very important that viewers have the opportunity to see the conversation in context and see how we made a proportionate response."

When asked why Channel 4 is showing the incident tonight and not censoring it, Ms Jain said: "We don't want to hang Emily out to dry so it's important for us to not censor and allow viewers to see we acted proportionately. "I believe we've absolutely acted appropriately. All of the housemates before entering the house were specifically warned we wouldn't tolerate racist behaviour and that we would act appropriately, and that's what we've done." She also pointed out: "It's very, very clear to us that offence can be caused to viewers. What we've done is act appropriately and swiftly I hope."

The Channel 4 chief executive, Andy Duncan, is not expected to make any comment today about the incident.

The Guardian newspaper:Paris Hilton released from jail:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2097851,00.html
Thursday June 7, 2007

Paris Hilton was released from prison today after serving just three days of her 45-day sentence, but has been placed under house arrest.

The socialite and hotel heiress, jailed for driving offences, was admitted to the Century regional detention facility in Los Angeles just after 11.30pm on Sunday. Hilton had originally been sentenced to 45 days in jail, but this was reduced to 23 for good behaviour.

At 2:09am on Thursday morning, Hilton, 26, was "reassigned" to the LA County probation department for medical reasons, and fitted with an electronic tag as part of her punishment.
Hilton has now been fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet and will serve the remainder of her 45-day sentence at her home. She has 40 days left, as the LA authorities have counted Sunday night and Thursday morning towards her sentence.

The actor, author, model and star of reality TV show, The Simple Life, pleaded no contest (a guilty plea) in January to charges of alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to three years' probation. She was stopped by the California highway patrol for speeding in February and charged with violating her probation.

Hilton turned herself into the authorities on Sunday night, almost walking off the red carpet at the MTV movie awards in Hollywood and going straight to the detention centre. She was held in a separate unit for high-profile inmates, away from the general prison population.

Critics and friends of Hilton have been debating how her stay in prison will affect her career. She is reported to have been paid $500,000 (£251,200) to keep a prison diary, but others fear the short spell will finish her lucrative career.

Sex and the city opening credits

Hollyoaks Opening Sequence

Text 1- sex and the city
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8VQCuDSLo

Form: opening credits
Function: set the tone of the show

M:
Natural lightening to make it seem realistic but at the same time has this surreal aspect to it at there is no dialogue just music playing.

I: HBO- subscription channel in America

G:
American text
Sitcom with soap opera storylines
Conventional with the name of people who appear in the show. However, not each character is introduced.

R:
New York- glamorous
Sarah Jessica parker- nassarcisitic as she has poster of her on the bus, has lots of close up shots of her to emphasises the show is about her and how she is the main protagonist

No men

A:
Aspirers
Predominantly females
Women who read cosmopolitan as that magazine talks about how women can pleasure from sex which is similar to the sex and city show where women want pleasure from sex

I:
Post feminist text

N:
Follow Carrie around

Text 2 – Hollyoaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJbzgrQCChI

Form: opening credits
Function: set the tone of the show

M:
Jazzy music
Close up of the blue eye

I:
C4- public service broadcaster

G:
British text
Soap

R:
No Asians
More glamorous less realistic
Women are objectified more then men- mulvey
Men objectified- female gaze

A:
Adolescents/young adults this is established through the characters they choose to portray in the title sequence. No representation of old people.

I:
Post feminist text

N:
Characters being introduced- no text to state the name of the character or actor/actress this suggests the show relies on a committed audience who regularly consume the show.
Character have serious faces which suggests the show discuss some serious issues


Wider context: computer graphics used in the background for most of the scenes to reflect the development of technology. This is linked to the typography used as it is written half in pink and the other half in blue. The colour blue connotes boys and the colour pink connotes girls. Boys and girls are clear binary opposites- Strauss. Additionally, holly is the word written in pink which is a typical girl’s name.

Similarities:
Both texts have no Asians in them
Both post-feminist
Both broadcasted on C4 in the UK

Differences:
Text1- one main character in contrast to text 2 where there are several characters that appear.
Text1- has names of actresses/actors who appear in the show
Text1-american text up to some extent the title sequence is going for more of a realistic look where text 2 is more glamorous as all the character are posing or trying to impress the audience.
Text 1- no men
Text1- aimed at more of an older audience as it is on a subscription channel. Furthermore, in the UK it is shown on C4 after the watershed.

Issues and debates:
Uses and gratification theory suggest people may consume this show as a diversion from everyday problems and routine.
Adolescents watching text 2 can form personal identity with the characters they are watching as they some of them are around the same ages as them.
Both shows can be watched as entertainment.

Feminism women are more sexually liberated

institution story:

Change afoot as Endemol founder returns
Chris TryhornMonday May 14, 2007http://media.guardian.co.uk/city/story/0,,2079441,00.html

John de Mol's return to Endemol, the independent TV producer he co-founded 13 years ago, is likely to bring big changes to the company, including the possible departure of Peter Bazalgette.
Although Mr de Mol is only one of three investors taking over the Big Brother and Deal or No Deal producer in today's €3.5bn (£2.4bn) deal - along with former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset and Goldman Sachs - company insiders expect him to play a hands-on role.
Mr Bazalgette stepped up to his job with Endemol's global business in January 2005 from the company's UK arm along with Tom Barnicoat, who became chief operating officer. Mr Barnicoat left Endemol in March to head a rival bid for the company.
The managing director of Endemol France, Stephane Courbit, is almost certain to walk away after setting himself against Mr de Mol as a rival bidder for the whole company.
Mr de Mol will however be comforted by probable support from the UK and the US, two of the company's key markets.
For Mr de Mol, today's deal marks a remarkable comeback - and a return to production after a foray into broadcasting.
The Dutchman founded Endemol in 1994 by merging his company, John de Mol Productions, an international player thanks to the success of the show Love Letters, with the production company owned by fellow Dutch creative mogul Joop van den Ende.
Endemol built its success on developing winning formats that could be sold across the world and tailored to the tastes of different broadcasting markets.
Riding the crest of the reality TV wave that broke at the start of this decade, Endemol turned Big Brother into an international phenomenon.
The gameshow Deal or No Deal is now an even bigger hit, generating more revenues worldwide than the reality show behemoth.
Mr de Mol and Mr van den Ende shared a fortune when Telefonica paid €5.5bn (£3.8bn) for their company in 2000.
The former stayed on for another four years as Endemol's chief creative officer.
In the meantime, he became a canny investor, building up stakes in UK independent producers including RDF Media, the maker of Wife Swap and Shed, the company behind Footballers' Wives.

Med 6 Response-2 Moving Texts

All these texts belong to carefully constructed marketing campaigns in order to promote the films: the original 1974 version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the 2003 remake, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both films, therefore, belong to the same genre which is horror/slasher, and so have similar generic codes and conventions such as a girl screaming, chainsaw as the phallic object and the psycho killer, which assigns them to this genre.

However, due to the different historical eras in which they were made and released, their target audience draw on the instinct cultural knowledge with different expectations, due to censorship relaxation audience are now more desensitised. This was one of the reasons why the producers had made text 2 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) trailer more enigmatic to appeal to contemporary audiences. Moreover, text 2 covers some of Todrov’s theory by using equilibrium at the beginning of the trailer and then having a disequilibrium throughout, in contrast to text 1 that has a disequilibrium throughout the whole trailer.

Furthermore, text 1 is produced in a more of a news report style by using a dominant male voiceover to guide the audience through the trailer. This reflects how the film was created in a time where patriarchy was present as the trailer was male dominated as there were only two females present. However, in text 2 there are more women present but the two young women are objectified especially the final girl this is conveyed through having a medium close up of teenage girl’s bottom as this gives the male viewer the pleasure of fetishisation.

But then again, in text 2 there is a clip of fat women. This challenges Mulvey’s theory as she does not fit into what society believes to be beautiful. Moreover, its shows how the result of feminism has managed to get women from off-screen to onscreen and how women are not onscreen now just to be “look at ness”.

The camera sound is the sound that the two trailers share in common, the camera is used as a post modern element as it makes reference to previous horror/slasher film “Peeping Tom” (1960). It links to this film because the camera sound clicks and it looks as though a picture of the teenagers’ facial expressions are taken when they are feeling and looking terrified. Moreover, the camera sounds gives the audience this eerie feeling and connote that something bad has happened or going to happen. This helps contribute to give the audience the pleasures of voyeuristic, masochistic and suspense.

Text 1 is grainy and looks low budget to give it the real life documentary feel however, text 2 uses special effects by making the establishing shot look nostalgic by adding a golden/yellow tint to show that it is a re-presentation and that it is not real. Moreover, it links to the wider context and indicates how technology has developed and how the remake is reproduced by a big Hollywood studio so has the money to splash out on special effects. Furthermore, text 2 is longer compared to text 1this could be for the reason that it has more characters compared to text 1. additionally, text 2 makes use of the sound of a heart beat to create tension and indicate how the audience should be feeling.

med 6 revision

Texas chainsaw massacre original trailer (1974) plan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed5lDfOutw4

Form-trailer
Function-persuade audiences to film

M
Voiceover of male
Camera sounds- sinister
Extreme/Close up of the corpses- scare audiences and create enigma
Girl screaming-convention
Phallic object-hook, chainsaw
Girl is lying in the fridge can connote a coffin because she resurrects from it after the camera zooms up on her face
Low key lightening
Montage editing

I
Bryanstone pictures
Independent
Low budget

G
Horror/thriller/slasher
The Swedish version removed the scene where Leatherface hangs the woman on a meathook. It has since been released fully uncensored on DVD.

R
Psycho killer-mother role picks up girl and carries her away- similar to how mothers carry disobedient children
Final girl- survivor but portrayed as helpless running away from the killer constantly and not fighting back just screaming a lot thus in a way playing the role of the damsel in distress
A disable teenage character

Teenagers- only girls are shown screaming

No adults are present apart from the corpses and psychos

Killer itself is not scary looking however wears a mask made of skin as an iconic element of the genre. Reflects the wider context as Ed Gein wore human skin

The interior of the house shown in the trailer, particularly the room filled with bones, was also based on the crime scene notes describing the inside of Gein's home

A
Mainstream audience
Teenagers
Pleasures for the audience are voyeuristic, masochistic, sadism, visceral pleasures, challenge for being scared, screaming
YUPPIES (young upwardly mobile professionals)

I
Conservative- does not challenge status quotes
Patriarchal to some extent because they use a male voiceover making it more authoritive
Film set in America challenges the American dream

N
Disequilibrium right from the start of the trailer- killer killing each teenage one by one and show the last teenage getting caught and tortured but also running so audience are unsure whether she dies or not
Report style
Non linear narrative

Wider context:
Ed Gein killings- stored organs in the fridge similar to the trailer body stored in the freezer
The house’s residents are a family of weird homicidal cannibals who also like grave robbing and constructing furniture made of bones and skulls alike. The lead bad guy is called ‘Leatherface’. Leatherface likes chasing teen’s around with his chainsaw and wearing the human face mask of his victims.
The connection is mostly with the house, graverobbery and the cannibalism.

Vietnam War
The horror experienced in that was reflected in this trailer by having people killed off

Feminism
Final girl was introduced however still tortured by the killers and not physically fighting the killer

The film was banned in 1984 during the moral panic surrounding video nasties.

Jobs becoming redundant that’s why people in the film turn to canabilism.


Texas chainsaw massacre remake (2003) trailer plan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm5iet9oHBk

M
Cinematography: fades to black which connotes evil,
Meduim close up of teenage girl’s bottom- (laura mulvey) shows she is being objectified, and gives the male viewer the pleasure of fetishisation
Montage/Fast pace editing towards the end which is an convention of modern slasher/horror film trailers and according to Eistein helps the audience relise what they are watching is not real
Enigmatic shots-makes audience in suspense to who the killer is
Only a quick glimpse of the killer is shown

Mise en scene:
sound-screaming- conventional for this genre
Sound of camera clicking- sinster and can be similar/reference to “peeping tom”
The song "Sweet Home Alabama" is played during the opening as the characters are going to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. The film takes place in 1973. The song "Sweet Home Alabama" appeared on Skynyrd's sophomore album, Second Helping, released in 1974.
heart beat-links to the viseral pleasure they want the audience to recieve

Typography: font is white and written in sans serif suggest is aimed at teenagers and to give it more of a modern feel

I
New line cinema
AOL Time Warner (largest institution in the world)-Hollywood institution-distributes, promote and show the film (vertical integration) because they control all the stages of production. This institution is American therefore US culture is likely to be forced upon the audience

G
WC: Banned in Ukraine.
Slasher/horror/thriller
Repetition of the killer but variation as they have policeman in this trailer
And a women hitchhiker
As it is a remake in METZ cycle it falls into the 5 cycle as it tries to reinvigorate the genre and can be seen as a homage as the same mask and similar storyline is used however is slightly more modernised to appeal to the new generation of audience who are a lot more desensitised.

R
Adolescents stereotypical representation as they are making out and having a laugh-promoting heterosexual relationships- conservative ideology
Authority figures to be ineffective giving them a negative representation

A
Mainstream audience
Horror/slasher fans- specifically at people who have seen lots old horror films
Audience that are desensitised to the horror films are likely to pick up a different reading to those who are not.
Use and gratification theory- Denis McQuail suggest audience would want to watch this film because for information- satisfying their curiosity and general interest, entertainment

I
Positive values: To educate and inform the audience as it is based/inspired by a true story
Patriarchy
Conservative ideology
Conventional narrative and ML maintain capitalist propaganda and ideologies

N
Uses some of Todorovs’ theory by beginning with an equilibrium where the teenagers are all smiling and making out
But then disequilibrium begins when the audience realise people are dying through the dialogue and the shots of the teenagers running away but these shots are enigmatic as the audience can not see who or what they are running away from which gives them the pleasure of suspense and makes the genre of the film trailer a thriller

Wider context:
Feminism

Similarities:
M: Same camera sounds
N: A group of teenagers getting terrorised by a psychopathic killer
I: patriarchal- because the chainsaw can be seen as a phallic object which is used to kill the victims as a result the killings can be seen as a metaphor for sex. Moreover it could suggest the killer is bisexual as it kills both men and women whereas in films like “peeping tom” the man kills mainly women. It could also bring in Freud theory on penis envy as the phallic object is his chainsaw which is a symbol that represents/connotes strength, victory and power that can defeat and uncastrate men and defeat women who are uncastrated. As it is patriarchal it is likely to reinforce conservative ideology.
Set in America so in some sense promote American ideology and American hegemony
No big stars used shows that it is aimed more at horror/slasher film fans


Differences:
They have a clip of fat women which challenges Mulvey’s theory as well as showing how the result of feminism has managed to get women from off-screen to onscreen because in the original Texas chainsaw massacre there are only two teenage girls and the dead grandmother shown in the trailer. Whereas in the new one there is at least five women alive women shown in the trailer.

More enigmatic shots as audience are desensitised to killers and violence

Hollywood institution so big budget whereas original was low budget so more effects are used in the remake due to the new technology

The old Texas chainsaw massacre foreshadows the whole narrative because at that time it would shock audience more then it would now.

wider context of 1980s ED GEIN

True life murderer Ed Gein was an unusual character, born on a farm and raised by a domineering mother. In the space of a few years his entire family died and he was left to raise the farm all by himself. In the next few years he became a grave robber, a necrophiliac, a cannibal, and also took up arts and crafts in body parts. He is seen as one of the most weird and bizarre serial killers of the twentieth century, and maybe only Jeffrey Dahmer got as close to what Ed did. His crimes also inspired the movies Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence of the Lambs. This page is a documentation of his life and crimes.
In his spare time Ed read books on human anatomy and Nazi concentration camp experiments. He was quite interested by it all, especially the female anatomy. Alone in the farmhouse he thought endlessly about sex, until one day he saw a newspaper report of a woman who had been buried that day.
He enlisted the help of an old friend named Gus. Gus was a weird loner too, and quite definitely odd - he went to the asylum a few years later. Gus was Ed Gein’s trusted buddy, and agreed to assist Ed in opening a grave to secure a corpse for ‘medical experiments’. Gus helped dig the graves.
The first corpse came from a grave less than a dozen feet away from the last resting place of Gein’s mother.
Over the next ten years Ed did the same, checked the newspaper for fresh bodies, always visiting the graveyard at the time of a full moon, got the whole female corpse or just the parts he wanted, filled in the grave and took his winnings home. His experiments with the dead bodies was bizarre. He would construct objects from the bones and skin and would store the organs in the fridge to eat later. He also committed acts of necrophilia on the bodies. He even dug up his own mother’s corpse.
Gein was in a series of examinations at the Central State Hospital for the Criminally insane. He was proven insane. The reasons for his actions were seen; he loved his mother but he hated her, so that is why he killed older women. It is said that Mary Hogan had more of a passing resemblance to his mother.
Ed Gein’s activities certainly inspired the literature and film industry. Because of the true nature of the crimes it gave Hollywood a lot of ideas to work on.
One such early film was Psycho. Based on the Robert Bloch novel and made into a Hitchcock film. The connection being the overpowering mother and horror of the film, it made it one of the first of a kind. Robert Bloch got most of the ideas for Psycho from Ed Gein's life.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was one movie lightly based on Ed Gein. The story is about a group of travelling teen’s who stumble on a horror house. The house’s residents are a family of weird homicidal cannibals who also like grave robbing and constructing furniture made of bones and skulls alike. The lead bad guy is called ‘Leatherface’. Leatherface likes chasing teen’s around with his chainsaw and wearing the human face mask of his victims. There are about four Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies each with the teen’s trying to escape the deadly Leatherface. The connection is mostly with the house, graverobbery and the cannibalism.
One more recent and Academy Award winning film is Silence of the Lambs. It’s about an FBI agent who’s tracking down a serial killer and to find him she must get the help of an intelligent cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lector. The serial killer she’s trying to track down is called ‘Buffalo Bill’ because he likes to kill women and make clothes of their skin, also he wants to be a woman, hence the skin costume like that of Gein. There are a lot of connections to this film and Ed Gein, being with the skin clothes, cannibalism, and Buffalo Bill being a transvestite.

Ed Gein was definitely one of the most weird murderers of this century. Even though he did kill only two women and suspected for the disappearance of others he is seen as one of the worlds infamous killers. Its what was found in Gein’s house that made him instantly infamous in the murder world.

News Values

News story 1(broadsheet-the guardian newspaper) “Carphone Warehouse divorces Big Brother” 9/3/07: http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2029609,00.html

Continuity: in and out of the news, this issue will be in and out of the news it is likely to pop again when big brother 8 starts in the summer.

Reference to elite nations: cultural proximity because it can appeal to Asians and other people who are offended by the remarks (or found the remarks offensive) made on celebrity big brother this shows the people in the media are taking the issues seriously as “Carphone Warehouse” do not agree with the ideologies of the show so therefore choose not to be associated with them as they do not want a negative representation.

Composition: soft news- this story was not on the front page but on the second page this is because the gate keeper did not see this as very important news on the hierarchy of news.

Personalisation: events are seen as the actions of individuals because of the housemates bullying and making nasty remarks and big brother not intervening and warning the housemates could be the reason why carphone warehouse pulled out their sponsorship with them and moreover because of all the complaints received by the viewers.

News story 2 (tabloid-the sun newspaper) “Is she really a Goody example?” 9/3/07: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007110059,00.html

Reference to elite persons: they talk about celebrities and whether they think they are good mothers so in this case the media are paying attention to important people. In this situation it includes arrange of celebrities from A list to C list. However this article particularly focused on jade goody who is now a B list.

This article focuses on English/British celebrities so there is no reference to elite nations.

Frequency: the time span of this event is likely to be very short

It can be slightly meaningful to the fans of the celebrities. Moreover, it can be meaningful to aspirers who aspire to live a life like celebrities.

Again this story would be considered as soft news it is a tabloid story and it’s not something that is important to mass audience.


News story 3 (public service broadcaster-BBC news) “Reward to catch Jessie's killers” 9/3/07: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6430829.stm

Frequency: is likely to go on for a while because it’s about a murder

Personalisation: because someone murdered the boy the event turned into news

Meaningfulness: the article will be meaningful to a mass audience this is because it’s been in the news frequently. Moreover, it was aired on Crimewatch so it appeals to the non newspaper readers. People who view crimewatch are mainstream viewers because everyone can have access to it because it is shown on a terrestrial channel and after the watershed so it is appealed at adults and teenagers. Furthermore as it is a child that has been murder it makes it more emotive and attention grabbing towards the audience.

Continuity: it would be a running story because they are investigating who the murderer is and after the murder is found they would look at why he did so its likely to have a long frequency.


News story 4 (broadsheet- the times) “Banned additives in children’s medicines” 10/3/07: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1495075.ece

Unexpectedness: because they are putting artificial dyes, sweeteners and preservatives that are banned from food and drink for the under 3s in childrens medicine.

Meaningfulness: this could be meaningful to a mass audience because lots of parents have children so it would concern them. Moreover, it could be appealing to universty students studying health/medical related professions such as pharmists.

Compostition: this was one of the headlines in the times therefore to the gate keeper rupert murdoch it is considered important and news worthy.


News story 5 (tabloid- the mirror) “EXCLUSIVE: the big brother cover-up” 10/3/07:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_headline=exclusive%2D-the-big-brother-cover%2Dup%26method=full%26objectid=18732760%26siteid=89520-name_page.html

frequency/continuity: this story has been going on for a while since january therefore it has been a running story in and out of the news.

Composituiton: its could be seen as hard news as it was one of the top stories/headlines so for the target audience of this paper would see this as important news

Meaningfullness: this would be considered an important story/ piece of news to viewers of big brother who found jade’s and mum’s behaviours offesive and horrible.

Reference to elite persons: the media focous on Jade a lot as she is/use to be a B/C list celebrity. Her mum on the other hand would be considered as Z list.

Five key points on how to identify a post modern text:

A post modern text rejects conservative values- high and low culture. An example of high culture is opera and an example of low culture is soaps. Soaps are now watched by audiences from class A, B,C1 and C2.

A post modern text may be a pastiche which copies a certain style an en example is “sin city”. “Sin City” copies film noir and a comic book style genre.

A post modern text may be seen as a parody which mocks the conventions of a certain genre. Examples of parodies are “Shrek”, “Shrek 2” and “Hoodwinked”. Shrek films tend to mock pop culture, fairytales and Disney.

Intertextuality is another feature that can help identify a post modern text. Intertextuality is the blending or mixing of two different texts. An example I could think of is “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham” (2001) (Bollywood film) that uses a song from another Bollywood movie called “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” (1998) this could show that it is tributing the bollywood film released in 1998.

Bricolage is the last the way to identify a post modern text an example would big brother as they use conventions of game shows and soap operas. The game show convention it follows is using the money as a price and soap opera convention it uses is having cliff hangers at the end of the show.

Plan:

Form: Webpage/website

Function: persuade people to buy products

ML: what techniques are being used to make meaning?
Logo/masthead uses a sans serif font which conveys that it is a contemporary website. Masthead/title “low” has an arrow going down around the “O” to symbolise that the price has been decreased. There are is no main image but instead four small images.

I: who produces, distributes, regulates?
Marketing

G: what type is it?
Internet webpage/advert

R: who/what is being represented? How?
The list of products written down seem to appeal to more of a male audience as they are written in blue and the typography used is very simple.

A: who is it aimed at? How do they consume the text?
Interactive-active audience
Pleasures are interaction and entertainment
Slogan: “style does not have to cost the earth” suggests that this advert is aimed at reformers- as they are people who are concern about the environment.

I: what are the beliefs/messages/values underpinning the texts?
Capitalist ideologies-as they are portraying the pda, printer and carry case something you should have and that it is on a good offer.


http://www.thorburn.co.uk/ecafolder/Images/Lowestontheweb/Picture%20in%20Document1.jpg

Newspaper front page analysis (tabloid)

concept flow practise 1st paragraph:
The masthead uses a sans-serif font as well as the headline to give the newspaper a modern look, suggesting the newspaper will get straight to the point. The white masthead stands out in the red background so that the target audience can quickly identify this as a tabloid newspaper. The demographics for tabloid newspapers are mainly working class people that fall into the economic scale between D-E. This is because of the informal language used such as “Jordan strikers” which connotes how they are referring to her breasts they use the word “strikers” as she is shown in a long shot of her dressed in a football shirt suggesting the target audience are males as that is a sport that is associated with men. Furthermore, the colour blue connotes this, as that is a sterotypical colour associated with boys. They use the name “Jordan” instead of her maiden name “Katie Price” which proposes that she is still being objectified as that was her was her stage name as a glamour model suggesting that she is just there to be looked at.

freaky friday film poster analysis

The purpose of the film poster for “Freaky Friday” is to persuade people to go and watch the film. The central image is a medium shot/two shot of the two main characters in the film which is Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. Jamie Lee Curtis is dressed in formal, sophisticated way suggesting she is a business women where as Lindsay Lohan is dressed in informal/casual clothes which suggests she might be a bit rebellious because of the conventional iconography used for example of her jewellery and badges she is shown wearing. Moreover a binary opposition is then created in the narrative. Lindsay Lohan facial expressions portrays that she is happy, excited and carefree. However, the fact she is folding her arms suggests there maybe some tension. On the other hand Jamie Lee Curtis’ facial expressions seem serious and indicate that she is concern about her daughter. The two actresses attract two audiences Jamie Lee Curtis appeals to an older audience whereas Lindsay Lohan attracts a younger audience as she is seen as a role model to teenage girls. The mise en scene is of a diary which is a conventional prop used in a chick flick genre. Both diaries are represented in stereotypical way for example having an image of both of the men in their lives. This reinforces patriarchy as it suggests the most important thing to a woman is a man. The typography used for the title seems wacky which makes the audience think that something strange is going to happen in this film. Furthermore, the “I” is a symbol of a star instead of a circle/dot which makes the audience think that maybe something magical is going to happen. The use of alliteration in the title and the informal way it is written makes more appealing to the target audience as it makes it more catchy. The tagline “they always been in each others faces, today they are in each others bodies” gives a major hint of what is going to happen in the narrative. The arrows indicate that they are going to swap bodies.

dvd cover analysis

The aim of this DVD cover is to persuade the audience to buy the DVD. The codes and conventions it uses to do this is by using the celebrity name in block capital and bold folder where it is position near the title to make noticeable and appeal to her the fans of that actress. As she is a singer, dancer and actress she is well known by many people which would attract a mass mainstream audience. Furthermore as it is a Hollywood film it just emphasises how the target audience are mainstreamers who watch movies for purely entertainment as Hollywood is a profit driven, money making institution. They used a medium close up of Jennifer Lopez to portray her facial expression, which seem very serious as she is looking scared this is to give the audience and idea of what the narrative is about. The tagline beside her head suggests there are villains and heroes in the narrative as the hero uses self defence to beat the villain. Furthermore, they have positioned the villain in the back to show so that the audience can not see his face which creates more enigmas for them and it could also be done to make the audience feel alienated from him. The title of the film is written in red and capitals to show that the protagonist can no longer take what is happening to her and that’s she is angry as red connotes anger. The director of the world is not enough directed this film which suggests the genres are similar as the world is not enough was an action, thriller films which suggest this could be too as the back of the DVD cover they show Jennifer Lopez position as if she is ready to fight. On the back of the DVD cover they represented her in a way which makes her look more manly and strong as it seems that she is looking at her fear and is ready to face it which challenges stereotypes of women. They colour scheme they decide to go with is mainly dark colours, predominantly black as it connotes evil, fear and reflects the pessimistic mood. Its bin given four stars which could encourage people to buy it as they may respect or think that person has high authority. The name of the star is written in white to as that connotes her innocence, which anchors the image of her. As Jennifer Lopez is Puerto Rican it encourages ethnic minority audience to go and watch the film.

Magazine analysis

The aim of the magazine is to educate, entertain and inform the audience. This attracts them to buy the magazine. The dominant colours used in this issue cover are red, black and white as they all contrast each other well. Moreover, the colour red has conations of love, romance and sexiness which relates to the cover lines well. This magazine teaches women how to get sexual pleasure, look good and feel confident and sexy by using staplines such as “sex survey”, “sexiest jeans” and “seductive lines to use on guys”. The central image is of Sarah Michelle Gellar she is used as the target audience for this magazine are women who see her as a role model or are either aspirers or suceeders as the cover price of the magazine is usually around £3.50. A medium long shot of her dressed in a low cut red dress and looking at the audience is used this is done to create a relationship with the reader. As this is a post feminism magazine the types of women who this magazine is targeted at is women who would watch programmes like “desperate housewives” and “sex and the city”. The women are not represented in a stereotypical way as the audience are positioned in a way where she it looks like she has the power, authority and control over the men. She is shown wearing a red dress so that women aspire to be sexy like her. There are many straplines to show the magazine has a lot to offer so it is worth the money. Furthermore this magazine helps liberate women and encourages women to be confident and look good. However, it could be seen as a way of brainwashing audience into looking good for men and pleasuring them which reinforces patriarchy. The masthead is slightly covered with the puff and the celebrity this is because it a well known name and popular magazine so the target audience/readers will instantly recognise it.

film poster analysis

The aim of the poster is to persuade audiences to go and watch the film. The title is written in the colour white along with the well known character “James Bond” as this is easy for the target audience to identify and they the “back in action” suggests the film falls into an action genre. They have used three images of the James bond as he is the main protagonist and he is likely to drive the narrative forward. In one of the images the show him kissing a women which suggest the narrative has some romance elements. Furthermore they show a golden women lying there naked which suggest she could be a villain in propp’s character role as the gun is shown pointed right at her. Furthermore it shown in that way to attract male audiences as they make get sexual pleasure from seeing her like that. They use the word “excitement” as it gives the audience sexual conations. This also gives the audience a negative representation about women as they are just there to be looked at which encourages misogyny. The target audience seem to be mainstream people and mainly males as they have shown women in more passive roles as one is just lying down while the other one is kissing him. This suggests this text was made in a time where we still lived in a patriarchal society as feminism may not be introduced. This could be as the producers of the text were men therefore there belief and values are being conveyed through the film poster. Furthermore as it is the organisation is Hollywood it’s bound to have sexist beliefs. The generic conventions used are the symbol of the gun which connotes the action and power bond has. They used the name “pussy galore” which again suggests sexual conations. On the poster only white middle class people have been shown which suggest they are top of the hierarchy in those times as this is a fairly old film poster. As they film poster is in black they have not introduced any settings which creating a few enigmas for the audience. This text relies on stereotypes as they don’t show women in active roles.