FILM INDUSTRY

Purposes of a media product

• MONEY
• entertainment
• to enrich lives
• to change people's perspectives (propaganda)

The Birth of Films Facts

• First film was to settle debate about wether horses hooves hit the ground (by Eadweard Muybridge in 1897)
• First films were all under a minute long 
• Sound wasn't introduced until 1927 (The Jazz Singer)
• First film studios built in 1897
• Classical Hollywood cinema was like a production line
• Early films made by women because films were considering not very important 

Classical Narrative Cinema

• Emphasis on spacial continuity - audience always knows where they are at any time
• Emphasis on temporal continuity - the audience always knows in what order the events have transpired, and any flashbacks and so forth will be clearly signposted
• The film must be realistic, and must not make reference to other filmic or narrative texts 

THE STUDIO SYSTEM  

PRODUCTION  making a media product

DISTRIBUTION  getting the product out there

CONGLOMERATION  a corporation that consists of a group of businesses dealing in different products or services (e.g. Disney - films, theme parks, tv channel, clothing, toys)

REGULATION  the rules and restrictions followed by media products 

HORIZONTAL INTERGRATION  when a company buys other companies in the same sector to reduce competition

VERTICAL INTERGRATION  when a company buys other companies involved in different stages of the production and and circulation 

DIGITIAL TECHNOLOGIES  technology made possible through computers 

CONVERGENCE  when 2 separate media industries come together (e.g. music videos - film and music)

EXHIBITION  showing of a media product (e.g. Youtube, cinema)

Digital technology has changed the way films have been distributed and exhibited in the last 2 decades (iTunes, streaming, Youtube)

DAVID HESMONDHALGH 

THE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES 

The factory and industrial process of creating culture

IDENTS iconic opening logos (e.g Universal an Disney)

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

• Founded 30th April 1912
• Founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane^[a] and Jules Brulatour
• In its early years Universal released three brands of feature films — Red Feather, low-budget programmers; Bluebird, more ambitious productions; and Jewel, their prestige motion pictures.
• Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City.
• Highest grossing film ever released is Jurassic World ($652,270,625)

CURRAN AND SEATON

POWER AND MEDIA INDUSTRIES 

Media concentration limits variety, creativity and quality

The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the profit and power - more socially diverse patterns of ownership can create more varied and adventurous media productions

REGULATING FILMS

REGULATION  the rules and regulations that media producers have to follow

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation, founded by the film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works

UC  suitable for all children, especially under 5 (e.g. Tweenies, Pingu, Teletubbies)
U  'universal', meaning suitable for all children, only mild references to relationships, violence and bad language (e.g. Wallace and Gromit and Garfield)
PG  'parental guidance', can be viewed by all ages, with or without an adult, but younger children may need to be supervised, mild bad language and mentions of sex, stronger violence than U, no use of weapons making them look attractive (e.g. Stormbreaker and The Chronicles of Narnia)
12/12A  12A only used in cinemas, aimed at children over 12, but children under 12 can watch if with an adult, more mature content with stronger language, some violence and some drugs (e.g. King Kong and Pirates of the Caribbean)
15  only suited for those 15 and over, more bad language, violence, nudity, and scary scenes (e.g. IT and Ted)
18  only suitable for adults, bad language, violence, sexual scenes, nudity, some scenes too scary for children (e.g Silence of the Lambs and The Libertine)
R-18  only supplied in specially licensed cinemas and licensed sex shops, only for adults, sex and fetish material 
E  material exempt from being classified by the BBFC, for films primarily to inform and educate instead of entertain (e.g. documentaries)

I mostly agree with the statement "regulation of film in the UK has largely become pointless due to the rise of digital technologies like the internet" because you can find most films on streaming websites, which don't ask for age, making it easy to watch any film desired. Additionally, video games and social media often show a lot of violence, therefore, anything shown in films will likely to have no affect on the audience. However, it is useful for parents who have more control over what their children see, and it makes it easier for the audience to judge what the film will be like and whether they'd enjoy it.

• We regulate films in the UK because they can influence children 

NWA

Fuck the Police

GENRE - hiphop, gangster rap
POLITICS - unfair treatment of black people by the police
strong political message - campaign for rights
mocks court system
DEBATES - strong language is controversial 
re-appropriation of n-word, group of people take a word and put it into different context (owning the word to desensitise it)

Straight Outta Compton - Theatrical/Official trailer

• official music of N.W.A - added piano to make it more dramatic, to target and maintain an audience(conventional)
• target audience may be older teenagers - interested in rap/hiphop
• biopic film - based on a true story but characters are fictional
• fast-paced editing - 'wow' affect on audience, humour, guns, family trauma , drama
• picks up on serious issues - expands target audience 
• censors bad language so that it reaches a wider audience
• less controversial - sends a positive message about how they still succeeded

AUDIENCE

Audience identification and grouping

Component One Section A - Analysing media language and representation (Tide, WaterAid, Kiss the Vampire)
Component One Section B - Industry and audience (Tide, WaterAid

Media is preoccupied with audience because;

• spend money on media product
• audience influences producer

TARGET AUDIENCE  who the producer is aiming at 

PRIMARY AUDIENCE  the specific group that the producer is targeting 

SECONDARY AUDIENCE  the less specific group that the producer is targeting 

    T A P        producer >>>> text >>>> audience

                                   producer encodes text      audience decodes text

TARGETING  creating a media product that is aimed towards a certain group of people

ATTRACTING  how a media product appeals or draws in a specific audience

REACHING  how the producer promotes their product to a wider audience 

ADDRESSING  how the audience of a media product is spoken to 

CONSTRUCTING  constructing an audience (the way in which a producer makes their audience e.g. classy female smokers instead of prostitutes)

Who is it aimed at? young adult, male, heterosexual

Secondary audience? teenagers, male and female, heteroexual

• young characters
• dark mise en scene
• survival genre (run down, abandoned, city)
• young girl who may be found attractive (subverts stereotype as she is carrying a gun, not sexualised)
• mystery (proairetic code as camera is on a tilt) (audience is involves as characters are looking in audience's direction)

DEMOGRPAHICS  the classification of people according to class 

The issues with this stratification is that you are born into a certain demographic, it's not very well defined, unfair, too reductive, people may be one demographic but act like another, tells us very little about the audience 

PSYCHOGRAPHICS  the classification of people according to attitudes and aspirations

AUDIENCE MANIPULATION

ALBERT BANDURA

MEDIA EFFECTS the hypodermic needle model

Watching too much tv/youtube/video-games

• may accept biased ideologies
• may change personality
• may take the world less seriously (video-games)

The Effects Model aka the hypodermic needle model (brainwashing)

Producers are brainwashing audiences with ideologies, but audiences have no control over it

MASS MEDIA  media which can be spread to mass audiences (e.g radio, tv)

One reason why this theory is believed is because it is very simple, however, it is incorrect

GEORGE GERBNER

CULTIVATION THEORY (allowing an ideology to grow)

The idea that prolonged and heavy exposure to [TV].. cultivates a view of the word consistent with the dominant or majority view expounded by the television

1. TV presents a mainstream view of culture, ignoring everything else
2. In doing so, television distorts reality
3. Therefore, heavy television watchers are likely to accept this distorted view of reality
4. However, not everyone is the same, so some people are more likely to be manipulated then others

This theory is simplistic, but doesn't take into account the complexity of the human mind

What ideologies are cultivated in the Tide Advert?

• Women should do the cleaning - no mention of men and large image of  archetypal "housewife"
• Tide is what she wants and she wants to clean- hugging it with smile on her face, small hearts above her, dressed up (almost romantic)

HEGEMONY  where one group wields power over another, not through domination, but through coercion and consent (don't have to do something, but you do it anyway)

• the school system
• driving
• queueing 
• giving elderly/disabled our seat
• wearing makeup
• cultural hegemony
• politcal hegemony
• hegemonic structure of class
• patriarchal hegemony

HEGEMONIC POWER

• Conflicts with hegemonic ideas of gender and sexuality (tight shorts and heels)
• Half suit, half shorts, binary opposition
• Top half represents men, bottom half represents women
• Complained about because people feel so strongly about hegemonic code

• Expectation that women shouldn't have body hair
• Men threatened to rape woman in advert - attempt to reenforce patriarchy because masculinity is threatened

STUART HALL

RECEPTION THEORY

 Reactions to WaterAid advert

• uplifting
• don't really care
• positivity and feeling happy for Zambian villagers
• annoyed because it only shows one place, whereas there are other places without water
• more positive and better than average charity adverts
• cute
• rewarding to those who donate
• frustration because she wouldn't be singing in english (put on for the camera, so may not be that happy)
• feel sorry for her

Proves hypodermic Needle Theory wrong (audience all brainwashed with producer's ideology)

Stuart Hall categorized audience response into 3 groups;

1. Dominant reading - the audience agrees with the dominant values in the text, and agrees with the values and ideologies it shows
2. Oppositional reading - the audience completely disagrees with what they see, and rejects the dominant reading
3. Negotiated reading - the audience generally agrees with what they see, but may disagree with certain aspects

Factors that affect audience response;

• upbringing
• moral beliefs
• financial situation
• religion
• ethnicity
• age
• sexuality
• location
• gender identity 
• mood

Different reactions to WaterAid advert;

• Dominant reading - donations are making the Zambian villagers happy and they should donate to help more people
• Oppositional reading - villagers are already happy and have what they need to don't need donations
• Negotiated reading - agree that donations make a difference but think that other places should be focused on more, because they are not happy

• Dominant reading - bright colours show positivity
• Oppositional reading - Claudia has clearly been given an outfit to wear and it's not realistic 
• Negotiated reading - bright bucket and dress bring positivity to the advert, but realise that this wouldn't be natural

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING TERMINOLOGY

CODES AND CONVENTIONS
IMAGES/PHOTOGRAPHS
FONT SIZE/ TYPE OF FONT
LANGUAGE
LAYOUT AND DESIGN  where things are placed, colour scheme, etc
COMPOSITION  where everything is
MISE EN SCENE  everything in the shot
ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE  the way a story is told
GRAPHICS  logos, etc

This advert is selling a bag, which you can see in the layout and design because it is featured in both images, with the bag as the main subject in the right image (close-up shot). There is a small 'Coach' logo in the right-hand bottom corner, which is a well-known handbag brand, therefore, the audience knows straight away what is being sold. 


ROLAND BARTHES
SEMIOTICS(signs, signifiers and signifieds)

• anything that can have meaning (signs)
• the thing that creates meaning (signifiers)
• the meaning that is created (signifieds)

CODES  something that creates meaning for the audience

• HERMENEUTIC CODE  aka enigma code, anything within a text that creates mystery or suspense (asks a question)
• PROAIRETIC CODE  aka action code, anything within a text that suggests something will happen
• SYMBOLIC CODE  something that creates a deeper meaning

Layout and design - image of the product repeated(ubiquity) so audience knows what they are looking for if they want to buy it.

Cluttered layout which appeals to working class audience, as oppose to classy, minimal, upper- class adverts.

Font - brand name is white, capitalised and large so it stands out; brand is well established so people can see that the mascara will be good.

Language - uses statistics and is trustworthy, shows quality.

Symbolic code - close up of model shows what the product does and symbolises desire to be attractive.

New York backdrop symbolises busy lifestyle and expensive look, shows makeup is important but the product is quick to apply and looks good.

Background is dull in comparison to her skin, symbolises brightness and optimism.

Leather/ black jacket, in the city, got her nails done suggests she has independence and is bold. 

Hermeneutic code - why is she putting on makeup? 

Proairetic code - mascara wand floating over eye suggests she is about to apply the product.

KEY TERMS

Z-LINE  audience's eyes following a z-shape over an advert
RULE OF THIRDS  when the subject is placed along the crossing points of the image split into thirds
HEADINGS/SUBHEADINGS  larger font, usually at the top of the page
SERIF FONT  formal font (with feet)
SANS-SERIF FONT  informal font (without feet)
LEXIS  choice of language
MODE OF ADDRESS  how the advert addresses its audience

CLAUDE LEVI STRAUSS
STRUCTURALISM (binary opposition)

Our concept of the world is based upon binary oppositions

• No day without night
• No male without female
• No good without bad

IDEOLOGY

The function of an advert is to make the audience feel like they product will make their lives better

IDEOLOGY  the beliefs and values of a media text
PRODUCER  the maker of a media product (e.g. artist, director)
DOMINANT IDEOLOGY  the set of ideas or culture that is most common or widely accepted in a society. The dominant ideology can change over time

Dominant ideology of Britain: eat roast dinner, drink tea, go on holidays, fish and chips, queue, passionate about football, support the monarch

The ideology in the Tide advert is that women want to clean, and only women should clean. 

Ideological signification of the focal image in this advert

• Need to wear makeup to look beautiful 
• Need this eyeliner to look like this woman
• "Keep your eyes in line", you're disobedient and disorganised if you don't wear this eyeliner

Stuart Hall

Theories of Representation

PRESENT  to show 

REPRESENT  to show again (the ways in which a media product constructs the world and aspects in it, including social groups, individuals, issues and events)

Lindt Lindor - 'Do you dream in chocolate?' (2011)

• Voiceover sounds like a stereotypical, well spoken Englishwomen - suggests middle class and luxury
• Calming and relaxing voiceover - tastes luxurious, bliss 
• Close up of melting chocolate - smooth and pure
• Close up on woman's face, in bed, and soft lighting - sexualised, if you buy it it will fulfil your needs
• Shots faded into each other (transition) - smooth and innocent 

Superbowl Commerical Break (2015)

• Disabled women portrayed as strong and unstoppable to advertise a car - shows that car is also unstoppable, ideology of 'American Dream' (if you work hard you can get anything you want)
• Empowering music in background to advertise a truck - America is powerful and so is the truck, if you buy it people will see you as the 'King of the road'
• Dominant ideology in advert about America's history - only American audience will understand 
• Woman turns up to school to pick up a child, can't drive and crashes car - dark representation against stereotype of mothers

STEREOTYPE  a commonly held belief about a certain group of people

Richard Dyre

The Role of Stereotypes

• An ordering process
• A short cut (for producers)
• A reference point (for audiences)
• An expression of dominant societal values

DAVID GAUNTLET
THEORIES OF IDENTITY

He believes that despite many negative perceptions of media, audiences are capable of constructing our own identities through what they see on television. Additionally, he writes that there are now many more representations of gender than the traditional 'gender binary'.

How we define ourselves;

• what we wear
• our hobbies
• taste in music
• where we're from
• language/accent
• ethnicity
• sexuality
• education

This print ad selling a men's aftershave gives men the assumption that they should be "macho". The model in the ad looks very stern, which also suggests that the expected characteristic for men is to be serious and strong.

The focus of these ads are to sell makeup and cleaning products to women; you know this because the layout of the ads have women directly in the center. The makeup advert uses the term "the science of media", which implies that makeup is the only part of science they can understand, which conforms to the old views that only men are intelligent enough to learn about science. Additionally, the 'Surf' ad implies that its a woman's job to do the cleaning because there is no mention of men and the model has her hair up, to suggest she is spending her whole day cleaning.