Friday, 21 October 2016

Critical Investigation: Project proposal

Research-http://inderamest4.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/critical-investigation-final.html

  1. More textual analysis of one or two more key scenes in Breaking Bad (media languages/forms)
  2. Apply representation theory 
  3. more on TV crime dramas, look at the genre an its consumption and Iconography 
  4. find other media texts relating to TV crime dramas 
  5. research more on moral panics
  6. use media magazine to look at audience effect and theory 

Working title- Do TV crime dramas like ‘Breaking Bad’ generate moral panics and negatively contribute to social issues through the impact they have on audiences?

  • To what extent do TV shows like Breaking Bad influence audiences?
  • How to TV shows like Breaking Bad glamorise "the drug lifestyle"?
  • Do TV shows like Breaking Bad contribute to social issues and moral panics and to what extent do they influence audiences?
  • Drug abuse/Audience effects

Angle

  • Breaking Bad causes audiences to commit copy cat crimes 
  • Glamorises the Drug lifestyle 
  • Media effects theory

Hypothesis

TV shows are not all to blame for peoples actions and that the audiences themselves act up on what they see.

Linked production piece

  • A linked pridctuon peice similar to that from a scene from Breaking Bad

MIGRAIN

Representations
  • Different ethnic groups are being represented in the show, this includes Whites, Latinos and Black people.
  • Representations of families, shows dominant and alternative representations. In a usual family setting with a husband, wife and children. Alternative representations being a family with no father around or the kids being in foster care
  • Different representations of Drugs, it shows it being relaxing and popular, but it also shows the negative side of taking drugs
  • Drug abuse and what it connotes, for example in the episode peek-a-boo we see the hardships that taking drugs causes when we look in on a family whose parents neglect their kid in favor for meth 
Media Languages and forms
  • In the last season of Breaking Bad an episode titled Ozymandias (titled after the famous poem by Shelley) closely relates to the deeper meanings of the poem and is done through the media language and forms
  • One of the songs used titled " A horse with no name" is cleverly used in sync(parallel) with the scenery at the time as Walter was driving through a desert, Breaking Bad did this a lot as they tried matching the mood and the scenery with music
  • A lot of creative shots are used in Breaking Bad and it has one of the highest rated cinematography in the TV industry
  • The first episode of the show (the pilot) goes into exceptional detail on very minute things, for example we get a medium shot of only Walt's feet on an exercise machine and we are also led to focus on the sound that it makes as the camera then switches to a medium shot of Walt's face.
Narrative
  • Drug abuse and what it connotes, for example in the episode peek-a-boo we see the hardships that taking drugs causes when we look in on a family whose parents neglect their kid in favor for meth
  • Unusually in films and TV shows you wouldn't necessarily have the main characters as the villains but in Breaking Bad they flipped the roles. Although Walt and Jesse are the villains the audience don't see them as the bad guys because we've seen their characters grow and have an insight into their personal lives
Genre
  • Breaking Bad is a crime drama/ thriller
  • The characters also help reinforce the genre, for example the character Gus Fring (Albuquerque's drug king pin) shows why Breaking Bad is a crime-drama because his criminal empire runs along side his personal life

TV crime drama genre-

  • conventions:
  • set in known places with recognizable land marks (relate-able/higher crime rates) 
  • the title of the show gives clues about the plot
  • the title sequences are an important aspect, shows a lot off about the plot
  • there are always the solvers, criminals, victims and there families (Propp)
  • complex narrative structure - different for a show like Breaking Bad where the lead characters is a criminal- goes against general convention
  • puzzles (flash forwards)
  • ends on a cliffhanger 
  • clear binary oppositions good vs evil   Poilce vs Criminals
  • camera usually follows the lead/detective
  • guns, knives, drugs
  • stereotypical clothing
  • change in tone as pace intensifies
  • some contrapuntal music
  • Todorovs Equilibrium theory- Ordinary life, disrurption, police find out, attempt to repair (this case by the criminal), crime is solved.



Institutions
  • Breaking Bad was originally aired on AMC but is now shown on many channels including streaming service Netflix which it promotes the show through
  • Breaking Bad has gone global and has even been adapted with Spanish voice overs
Values and Ideologies
  • At the start of the show it does try to promote good family values by showing Walt in his family environment, in particular in an episode where he defends is handicapped son in front of some bullies
  • We are immediately introduced that there is a line between right and wrong but we are not forced as the audiences to choose a side
Audiences
  • Breaking Bad was originally designed for people in the 18-30 age demographic but now because of the popularity it has reached many other age demographics which go below and above the original targeted ages
  • From looking at the show you may expect people who like drugs, not necessarily Methamphetamine to follow the show as they may want to connect with it and experiment with new things
  • In my personal opinion I watched Breaking Bad for the entertainment, however some people, for example in the age demographic of 40-50 may watch it for surveillance so they can keep up to date with what people around them are doing, especially the younger people

SHEP

Social
Historical


 Economic 

  • Breaking Bad reportedly cost $3million to produce 
  • It's viewing and ad revenues weren't as steep as AMC's other hit show the walking dead
Political
  • Breaking Bad features many racial stereotypes that upset some viewers. In the final season a group of neo-Nazies were introduced into the show
  • Blue meth is being sold in real life, costing governments a lot more to clean it up off the streets

Issues/Debates 

  1. Representations and stereotypes 
  • Breaking Bad was not a show short on controversial stereotypes and included many different representations of ethnic groups including whites, Latinos and Black people 
  • It represents the Latinos in the show negatively and there's only one positive representation as one is shown to be in the police force
  1. Media effects
  • How powerful Breaking Bad's characters and the artistic nature of the show is at influencing its audience
  • audiences effects and theories can be applied to suggest and argue whether people are to blame for their actions or the TV show is
  1. Moral Panics
  • Whether Breaking Bad is responsible for creating Moral Panics, for example is it responsible for the wide-spread use of crystal meth
  1. Narrative and Structure of TV shows
  • Most TV shows don't compare to Breaking Bad in terms narrative and structure
  • Breaking Bad uses character theory and forces the audience to feel sympathy for unusual character types
  • Breaking Bad uses flash-forwards 

  1. ---

Theories

  • Uses and Gratifications theory- This is looking at why people would view Breaking Bad, this could include Surveillance and Entertainment 
  • Prop's character theory- This is used to show how the characters are used and which ones the audience can relate to, in this case they relate more towards the villains/anti-hero then the actual hero
  • Equilibrium- Scenes in particular where the characters take the drug is a narrative sequence as we see the character go through the high 
  • Stuart Hall dominant and alternative stereotypes- There are both dominant and oppositional readings to various issues in the show such as Drug abuse, races, family values and gender roles
  • Two step flow model- This theory suggests people follow these figures (opinion leaders) and act upon or follow them, this could be applied to Breaking Bad as the main characters Walter and Jesse could be said to be opinion leaders.
  • Medhurts shorthand stereotypes- Race and Gender roles are put into perspective like this, for example the stereotypes we get of Mexicans in the show is very negative.

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media Texts:

  • Breaking Bad-
  • Dexter-

Other media texts: 

  • Power-t
  • The Bill
  • CSI Miami
  • CSI New York
  • Law and Order UK
  • Whitechapel
  • Broadchurch 
  • Sons of Anarchy 

TV Documentaries 

Academic texts/books

Internet Links


The Wolf of Wall Street 2013, and Limitless 2011, both in which display different male protagonist’s engagement with drugs with mild inferences towards the damaging effect


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