Tuesday, 13 December 2016

Homework pledge

December 19,20 & 21st. I do not have plans to  go to the BFI library over Christmas but if i find myself struggling to write the essay i will.
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Tuesday, 6 December 2016

Critical Investigation Task #6

Quotes
    1. Consequently, media audiences are not directly influenced by the media. Rather, they choose to adopt a particular opinion, attitude and way of behaving after negotiation and discussion with an opinion leader. The audience is, therefore, not passive, but active.
    2. Furedi argues that moral panics arise when society fails to adapt to dramatic social changes and it is felt that there is a loss of control, especially over powerless groups such as the young. Furedi therefore argues that moral panics are about the wider concerns that the older generation have about the nature of society today – people see themselves (and their families) as at greater risk from a variety of groups. They believe that things are out of control. They perceive, with the media’s encouragement, that traditional norms and values no longer have much relevance in their lives. Furedi notes that people feel a very real sense of loss, which makes them extremely susceptible to the anxieties encouraged by media moral panics.- What a moral panic is from Furedi's perspective.


    1. Many cultural commentators were apprehensive about the impact of this new medium on individual behaviour and on society’s moral order
    1. The "hypodermic needle theory" implied mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behavior change.- Several factors contributed to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including:
      - the fast rise and popularization of radio and television
      - the emergence of the persuasion industries, such as advertising and propaganda
      - the Payne Fund studies of the 1930s, which focused on the impact of motion pictures on children, and
      - Hitler's monopolization of the mass media during WWII to unify the German public behind the Nazi party
    2. The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response.
    1. 'JUST BECAUSE YOU SHOT JESSE JAMES, DON'T MAKE YOU JESSE JAMES.'
    2. 'SAY MY NAME.'
    3. TREAD LIGHTLY.' - Its a play on words, although it is what Walter said, it is an invitation of sorts which warns the reader of what is coming up. 

    1. It was cherished as a reassuring reminder of apparently simpler, gentler times”.
    2. Dixon was a cosy anachronism that was smashed up by the arrival of The Sweeney - This compare Dixon of Dock Green to another crime drama in a similar time period - The Sweeney. The shows were very different in the way they portrayed crime and the police force.
    3. Dixon makes its own use of the changing language of police drama – with its “shooters”, “birds” and “blags” and the prioritisation of the CID while former beat copper Dixon takes a back seat – and reflects the changing practices of, and attitudes towards, the police. 
    1. ·       Here is an example of someone actually saying that they have copied someone they’ve seen on TV because they felt them and the character were the same. This killing was supposedly inspired by hit American TV show Dexter, a gruesome, crime/thriller about a socio-path serial killer.
    2. · ‘Dexter made me do it’ – These are the words from a psychotic killer who killed his younger brother because he felt like his TV show idol Dexter, he says it as he is almost forced to commit murder when the show says nothing like it.
    1. Hall won a Golden Globe for his portrayal but the show was criticised in the U.S. for its violent theme by the Parents Television Council
    1. ·         This article looks at both sides of the argument, the argument being does the media have a direct impact on the audiences behaviour, whether this be the news or in this case a crime drama, for example the Bill and Breaking Bad
    2. ·         They depend upon media to gather information and then form opinions about crime.
    3. ·         was found that fear of crime seemed to increase when people watched crime-related programs on television
    ·         The details of violence and dramatization of a crime story may be responsible for the increased fear
    1. ·         Watching a culprit being caught by the law and sentenced might reduce the fear. 

    1.  Criminologists, in their professional attempts to explain crime and violence, consistently turn for explanations not to the mass media but to social factors such as poverty, unemployment, housing, and the behaviour of family and peers. 
    2. If the antisocial acts shown in drama series and films are expected to have an effect on the behaviour of viewers, even though such acts are almost always ultimately punished or have other negative consequences for the perpetrator, there is no obvious reason why the antisocial activities which are always in the news, and which frequently do not have such apparent consequences for their agents, should not have similar effects

    Fourie, P.J 2008 Media Studies Volume 2 - BOOK

    • hypodermic needle model quotes

    http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news-analysis-an-injection-of-realism/1193912.article - JOURNAL

    • --“responsible for introducing generations of youngsters to drugs"


    1. At first glance these three different strands do not seem to have much relevance to our study or serial murder killers. However, in relation to "media effects", we might note the case of Canadian MArk Twitchell, the so called "Dexter Killer" 
    2. claimed to have been inspired to commit murder by the TV series Dexter (2006-2013)





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    Friday, 2 December 2016

    BFI notes

    1.    Lunt, P., & Livingstone, S. (2012). Media Regulation: Governance and the Interests of Citizens and Consumers. doi:10.4135/9781446250884-  Media regulation by Lunt and Livingstone-https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zAdEAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT19&dq=lunt+and+livingstone+media+regualtion&ots=unK3Z0Qqad&sig=_tpYBCYBynARSUgqqxvLanzH5Uw#v=onepage&q&f=false

    • ·         Time and time again the view was expressed that the real problems of society(crime, immigration, corruption) weren’t being tackled while faceless bureaucrats developed elaborate systems of rules to constraint or intrude on the freedoms of the majority and while people themselves had little or no influence on how regulation was formed or shaped, as fairly passive recipients 


    1. Vaage, M. B. (2016). The antihero in American television. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. - quotes below
    • traditional hero - The idea of a traditional hero is what we have been fed for years and years and it's usually someone in a cape or someone who saves the damsel in distress, but Walter White is seen as a hero but not a 'traditional hero'. In his own way he makes the audience feel sympathetic for him and makes them route for him even though whats hes doing is morally wrong
    • Walter white and serial killer Dexter are not morally good- This does address the issue of the protagonists in TV crime dramas being morally wrong and does point out that even though we know they are wrong we still end up supporting them (can be linked to Levi Strauss's binary oppositions).
    • the notion of identification entails that the spectator is under some kind of illusion where she looses herself in the character and the mistakes the characters experiences for her own
    • smith suggests that iconography, music and the start system are among the factors that influence our moral evaluation 
    • "quality TV has become a genre in itself"
    • Does watching Dexter entail that the spectator morally evaluates it's 
    • Eaton & Carolls theory - research 

    1. Blevins, J., & Wood, D. (2015). The methods of Breaking bad: Essays on narrative, character and ethics. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company,.  This can be linked to another social issue that Breaking Bad raises - masculinity and feminism 
    • Walter is a father. husband and school teacher who like the waning reign of the symbolic father, suffers many sleights against his masculinity from his family, his students, his doctor and his boss at the car wash- This raises another social issue in Breaking Bad about how men are loosing there masculinity and will do anything to put it right and preform and adapt themselves to meet social expectations of them
    • for Walter it is about the danger, the excess danger induced by the crisis in his masculine identity- 


    1. Hughes, J., Critcher, C., Rohloff, A., & Petley, J. (2013). Moral Panics in the Contemporary World. Bloomsbury Academic.
    • in early content analysis Dominick (1973) reported that violent crimes (e.g., murder, assault, etc) accounted for 60% of the crimes portrayed on prime time television during one weeks worth of programming.
    • A final characteristic associated with media portrayals of crime concerns depictions of race and ethnicity.  

    Journals


    1. Oliver, M. B. (1994). Portrayals of crime, race, and aggression in “reality‐based” police shows: A content analysis. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 38(2), 179-192. doi:10.1080/08838159409364255
    • The content of analysis of "reality based" police programmes suggests several conclusions
    • first these programmes not only strongly over-represent violent crime, but also over-represent the percentage of crimes that are cleared or solved by law 





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    Tuesday, 29 November 2016

    Critical Investigation Task #5

    DO TV CRIME DRAMAS LIKE ‘BREAKING BAD’ GENERATE MORAL PANICS AND NEGATIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIAL ISSUES THROUGH THE IMPACT THEY HAVE ON AUDIENCES?


    Introduction 

    • Introduce the text: The media text this essay will focus on is an American TV show called Breaking Bad  
    • Go through background information of show exploring Economical factors (E)
    • Briefly  outline what issues this relates to  (S)
    • This includes: Media effects (copycat crimes, give an example), substance abuse *censorship problems, social issues, moral panics
    • what group its aimed at 

    Quotes/key words/theory,texts,citations

    • Age demographic
    • Socio-economic group
    • Media effects
    • https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/cultivation-theory/-  The theory suggests that this cultivation of attitudes is based on attitudes already present in our society and that the media take those attitudes which are already present and re-present them bundled in a different packaging to their audiences
    • The theory suggests that television and media possess a small but significant influence on the attitudes and beliefs of society about society. Those who absorb more media are those we are more influenced
    • Breaking Bad's viewing stats and money cited from Wiki- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad 
    • Moral panic quotes- Stanley Cohe
    • How Breaking Bad has shaped the meth industry-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11206140/Breaking-Bad-blamed-for-shocking-rise-in-crystal-meth-usage.html
      -Showing the horrendous impact of crystal meth can have a boomerang effect and cause curiosity among some viewers who might think 'that must be good –       Another way the media can influence audiences is through glamorising certain things in such a way that it makes the audience curious and want to actually go out and do it.
    • hedonistic generation- ·         Hedonistic= engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent
    • http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Break%20Bad - "break bad definition"  
    • More information to what the media effects theory is about- http://www.sociology.org.uk/AS_Media_effects.pdf
      • This article gives more information about media audiences and the effect It has on them. It gives more insight into how influential media texts are at empowering audiences. It looks at theories like the hypodermic needle model and other media theories.
      • At its most basic, this theory suggests the media transmit ‘messages’(ideas, information, beliefs and so forth) that are then picked up and acted upon by the audience (receivers).






    Introduction

    There has been an on-going debate in the media about whether 'it' is to blame for some people’s heinous actions or whether the people in question acted out of their own self-interest. It's no word of a lie that the media influences people do go and do things, for example TV advertisements were made with just that in mind; but can the media also contribute negatively towards social issues and create moral panics? This essay will explore whether TV crime dramas like Breaking Bad, (an American TV show about a high school chemistry teacher who decides to "break bad[1]" and cook up the finest drugs north of the border), can influence audiences and add to social issues or resolve them. Audiences can be impacted/influenced by material they see in the media, we call this media effects and "at its most basic, this theory suggests the media transmit ‘messages’ (ideas, information, beliefs and so forth) that are then picked up and acted upon by the audience (receivers)[2]", so does this mean that if someone were to see a murder constructed in a text like Breaking Bad that they'll be motivated to go and copy it? The theory does give us an insight in to how audiences "receive" texts but of course there are other factors in play and the media effects isn't the only theory which can be used to rationalise someone’s actions. 












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    Sunday, 27 November 2016

    Gone too far work

    Film review

    'Gone too far' is a fish out of water comedy which is based on  Bola Agbaje’s original script. The story is based on some parts of her personal life and this is a good thing because in this comedy you just couldn't make some of it up. The story is great at showing how diverse London is and really shows how different cultures are from each other. It is a great educator which shows how mixed communities can live with each other and the similarities and differences between them. In a comedic way it did explore issues surrounding bigotry within the Afro-Caribbean and African communities but what the film is extremely good at doing and resolving this is through the use of its music. The way the music is implemented in the film. for example in one of the first scenes when Yemi is singing along to a modern rap song and in another where we see Razer (portrayed by Tosin Cole) also singing along to a similar song of the same genre really helps brings the film together.


     This house believes that films featuring ethnic minorities should only be produced by those who have the ethnic identity being represented

     I do not agree with this statement based on the fact that people are free to choose to film whatever they like and represent it how they want it even if it maybe wrong or inaccurate. Inaccuracies in film are of course an issue but when you begin to tell people what they can and can't film then that is far worse and more dictatorial. Some of the best films in history have been produced by people who aren't from the same ethnic minority, for example Tarantino's Django Unchained is a perfect example of how a white man can successfully produce a film centred around the black community. The counter argument to this is that when another ethnic group attempts to represent the minority is that they can of course choose to show how much power they have or represent them as powerless.

     Another argument if favour of a person of a different ethnic background representing a minority group is that without the endorsement of the director the film representing the group may not reach a large enough audience or be shown off to everyone. Recognition is important for any film and if an unknown director who was of the same ethnic identity as the minority group wanted to produce a film representing them it may not be as successful as if someone else were to make it. Also, it doesn't have to be just a group of white directors and producers on the set there can be room for the ethnic minorities to educate and show how they want to be represented, especially on a Hollywood film set.








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    Tuesday, 22 November 2016

    Critical Investigation Task #4

    Essay Plan

    Migrain= (G)
    SHEP= (S)

    Do TV CRIME DRAMAS LIKE ‘BREAKING BAD’ GENERATE MORAL PANICS AND NEGATIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIAL ISSUES THROUGH THE IMPACT THEY HAVE ON AUDIENCES?



    Introduction 

    • Introduce the text: The media text this essay will focus on his an American TV show called Breaking Bad  
    • Go through background information of show exploring Economical factors (E)
    • Briefly  outline what issues this relates to  (S)
    • This includes: Media effects (copycat crimes, give an example), substance abuse *censorship problems, social issues, moral panics
    • what group its aimed at 

    Quotes/key words/theory,texts,citations

    • Age demographic
    • Socio-economic group
    • Media effects
    • https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/cultivation-theory/-  The theory suggests that this cultivation of attitudes is based on attitudes already present in our society and that the media take those attitudes which are already present and re-present them bundled in a different packaging to their audiences
    • The theory suggests that television and media possess a small but significant influence on the attitudes and beliefs of society about society. Those who absorb more media are those we are more influenced
    • Breaking Bad's viewing stats and money cited from Wiki- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
    • Moral panic quotes- Stanley Cohen 
    • Showing the horrendous impact of crystal meth can have a boomerang effect and cause curiosity among some viewers who might think 'that must be good – Another way the media can influence audiences is through glamorising certain things in such a way that it makes the audience curious and want to actually go out and do it.
    • hedonistic generation- ·         Hedonistic= engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent

      Section 1

      • MIGRAIN analysis of how Breaking Bad appeals to different audience groups and how people view it differently (A,I,R)
      • how different characters appeal to different people (N,A)
      • refer to textual analysis
      • reference song choice being parallel/contrapuntal and what this means to the audience (M)
      • Say whats interesting about breaking bad, about its genre and how it differs from typical codes and conventions and whats the same, refer to different texts which contradict and support it (G)
      Quotes/key words/theory,texts

      • Parallel/contrapuntal sound & diegetic/non-diegetic 
      • MIGRAIN 
      • Propps character theory 
      • Uses and Gratifications theory 
      • Hypodermic needle model  (ANTI HERO)
      • age demographics
      • Dexter
      • CSI - ^ both modern TV crime dramas, one similar to Breaking Bad and one different
      • Vaage, M. B. (2016). The antihero in American television. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. - quotes below
      • traditional hero
      • Walter white and serial killer Dexter are not morally good
      • the notion of identification entails that the spectator is under some kind of illusion where she looses herself in the character and the mistakes the characters experiences for her own

      Section 2

      • Look at historical text and compare it based on genre, time period, location, mise-en-scene 
      • Introduce Dixon of Dock green and look at some of its wider contexts (SHEP)
      • Answer & refer to the question about what issues it has created and is it to blame 
      • refer back to modern times, about how it would be accepted now and the views which people have on drugs and police - negativley contributes to moral panics about how police force isn't suitable anymore, 
      • include facts and figures about the meth surge and police violence in the US and UK (S,P) 

      Quotes/key words/theory,texts
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_of_Dock_Green - Wikipedia article for Dixon of Dock Green -    The image of Jack Warner in police uniform with helmet was well-known to the public and made for a very effective symbol of policing in Britain - This quote looks at how people viewed the police, this can be linked to certain hegemonic values that we still believe the police is like today and differs from american views of the police as recently with the Black lives matter campaign they are not being praised as saviours anymore.
      • Black lives matter campaign in the US (S,P)     
      • Journal of Broadcasting and electronic media- Portrayals of crime,race and aggression in reality based police shows- Oliver, M. B. (1994). Portrayals of crime, race, and aggression in “reality‐based” police shows: A content analysis. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 38(2), 179-192. doi:10.1080/08838159409364255 - "
      • "second in terms of racial representation, these programs tend to underrepresent blacks and over represent whites as police officers 
      • "these programs are much more likely to portray whites as police officers  (or heroes) and non-whites as criminal suspects (or villains)"
      • look for issues that Dixon of Dock green covered during the time (60-70's) - racial profiling and corruption


      Section 3

      • Relate Breaking Bad to theories on media effects and dependency theory/cultivation theory 
      • start the debate on whether the media is to blame for peoples actions 
      • have a balanced review of the question including quotes and examples from people in favour of the media being influential 'negatively on audiences and the media have 'an affect' on audiences whether this be negative or positive 
      • list other social issues/moral panics - this includes the rise of feminism and the fall of masculinity.Blevins, J., & Wood, D. (2015). The methods of Breaking bad: Essays on narrative, character and ethics. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company,.


      Quotes/key words/theory,texts

      • Paradigm - a typical example or pattern of something; a pattern or model.
      • Blevins, J., & Wood, D. (2015). The methods of Breaking bad: Essays on narrative, character and ethics. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company,.  This can be linked to another social issue that Breaking Bad raises - masculinity and feminism 
      •  Walter is a father. husband and school teacher who like the waning reign of the symbolic father, suffers many sleights against his masculinity from his family, his students, his doctor and his boss at the car wash
      • for Walter it is about the danger, the excess danger induced by the crisis in his masculine identity
      • ·        1.      This article aims to give a balanced argument into who is to blame, the media or people?-https://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/imitate-modern-why-do-people-commit-copycat-killings/
      •  -Copycat killers are more likely to suffer from personality (and other mental health) disorders, come from socially dysfunctional and alienating family backgrounds, be emotionally vulnerable, be trusting of the media, and – as noted above – a previous criminal history (as well as self-identifying with criminals they have watched or seen in fact and/or fiction). ­- This somewhat backs up that the media content does not influence the general audience in a vindictive way and that a small proportion of people take  it In the wrong way. People look at the media in different ways, just because some psychotic people view and act on the media in negative ways it doesn’t mean, for example news channels can influence the general audience and create moral panics.


      Conclusion

      • conclude on the main argument about breaking bad and the media effects debate using book quotes to back it up
      • talk about the other moral panics it covers and include other texts, Dexter and link to news article
      • give an overall summary of the essay and give final opinon with a 'it depends' 
      • use stats and data and opinions from elites to back up points

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      Tuesday, 15 November 2016

      Critical Investigation Task #3

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_of_Dock_Green  Dixon of Dock Green


      Similarities and differences between Dixon of Dock Green and Breaking Bad


      •  Dixon of Dock Green is an old British TV crime drama cast and shot between the 1950-70's. It featured a main character, Dixon, portrayed by Jack Warner who played the part of a Police man and we followed his everyday stories. He solved crime by using common sense and there were few large and violent crimes just petty thefts for example. Whilst on the topic about violence the show never aired any extremely gratuitous parts or explicit parts and this fit in with the views and values shown in that time period. 'anachronism' is a word that can be used to link things to a particular time period and Dixon was a police man suited to that time period as it wasn't as violent as it is today. Policemen in London today very different to what they were in the 60/70's. There were aspects of violence, in particular the nuclear protests which sparked the use of the well known hippy symbol. Policemen today have a different approach towards crime but we the audience still don't see it that way we still picture policemen how they were in the 60's.


      • Breaking Bad is an American TV crime drama where we follow the story of the criminal and not of the law. This is not typical of crime dramas to follow this story, however it is typical of them to show clear binary opposites, for example right vs wrong, good vs bad and Police vs Criminals. Breaking bad is set in present times (when it was filmed 3 years ago) and explores the life of Walter White, a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin. The law in this case is represented very differently to that of the people in Dixon of Dock Green. Also there is gruesome and gratuitous violence and there is a lack of censorship compared to that in the 1970's England . Although some stuff is cut out a lot of stuff is shown, for example murder, theft and drug dealing. Things which would have been widely unacceptable is easily looked past now a days.

      Quotes

      1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_of_Dock_Green - Wikipedia article for Dixon of Dock 
      2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_of_Dock_Green
      3. "Dixon of Dock Green." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2016.
      4. Green

      • The image of Jack Warner in police uniform with helmet was well-known to the public and made for a very effective symbol of policing in Britain - This quote looks at how people viewed the police, this can be linked to certain hegemonic values that we still believe the police is like today and differs from american views of the police as recently with the Black lives matter campaign they are not being praised as saviours anymore.



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