The Unlovable James Bond

'The Unlovable James Bond' is a supercut or compilation of scenes from many different films. It focuses on one of the most important and problematic aspects of the Bond cannon: the representation of women. Rather than focusing on the women themselves, it instead concentrates on Bond's own interactions with female characters. It's an excellent opportunity to see not only how the Bond character has developed and evolved over the last half century, but also how attitudes towards women in society have shifted too.

The Unlovable James Bond, via The British Film Institute

A2 Exam (MS4): The importance of the argument.

In the MS4 exam, you will have a small choice of questions, which can be a relief after the MS1 exam. However, while the questions may seem like they are asking for a simple answer, they're actually written to encourage you to explore your own points of view. In short, the exam requires you to argue.

Some questions lend themselves more easily to an argument than others. There are many problems with the representation of gender in Skyfall, and there are many examples of female characters being objectified, sexualised and used as a narrative device simply to keep the story moving. We can take this argument further: do these ideas reflect the views of society? Why are women still the focus of the dominant male gaze in 2016?

It can be harder to present an argument for a genre question. take the following example:

How do your chosen texts use genre conventions?

While it may look like this question is asking you to describe genre conventions, and perhaps identify which genre(s) your films are, it is actually asking you to come up with your own point of view about genre. Here are some suggestions as to how you can do this.

The 'sound' response

The simplest way to respond to this question is to outline in the opening paragraph whether you believe that the genre conventions in your chosen texts (that is Skyfall, The Selfish Giant and Brave) are

• conventional or 
• unconventional. 

You would first of all need to define which genres the films are. Mentioning they are all dramas has limited use; essentially all films are dramas! You would then base each paragraph around an aspect of genre (the narrative, characters, iconography, setting etc) and then argue that the use of genre conventions is conventional or unconventional.

The 'good' response

In order to get a 'B' or higher in the exam, you need to have a definite point of view, and you need to argue it. Films use genre conventions, but why? You might decide to argue that

• Producers are forced in to using certain genre conventions to maximize audience appeal

You could then argue that your films use genre in conventional ways simply to appeal to an audience. You would still use exactly the same key scenes and examples as the last argument, but this time, you would always come back to this point of view.

A few other examples of 'good' arguments include

• Using genre conventions is a delicate balance. Producers must balance the interests of financiers and audiences alike. I shall demonstrate how my chosen texts use genre conventions in an unconventional way, while still belonging to a definite genre...
• Directors are forced in to using genre conventions by producers, but can contradict audience expectations in many ways...

These two are very similar, but hopefully you get the idea.

The 'sophisticated' response

If you want to push towards an 'A' grade answer, one good way of getting off to a good start is to think about the ideology of different genres. What beliefs and values does using genre entail? Should film makers use genre in general?

Examples of sophisticated arguments could include

• Though genre can be restrictive, an experienced film maker need not let genre conventions get in the way of their message. By attracting broad and guaranteed audiences, genre is a valuable ideological tool for promoting messages as succinctly as possible. My chosen texts disseminate their ideologies in the following creative ways, and in doing so, are able to influence the beliefs and ideas of the audience.
• Genre is a massive restriction for the creativity of the producer,  utilised only for commercial gain. The selected texts shamelessly reuse tired genre conventions in order to maximise audience appeal at the expense of creativity.

It's down to you

While having a more detailed argument is usually helpful, you're going to need to back it up with detailed examples. Additionally, if you decide to just talk about how conventions in the three films are used in an unconventional way, and you use particularly detailed examples and use a range of genre theory in your response, there's nothing to stop you from getting the higher grades. The only way to ensure success is to keep practicing!

Playing with genre hybridity: marketing Deadpool (2016)

As audiences get ever more aware of media conventions, producers are playing on our expectations more and more. The upcoming superhero film Deadpool is currently causing ripples with fans of the genre and casual audiences alike. The Deadpool comics are already famous for breaking and subverting genre conventions, and the protagonist will frequently break the fourth wall with a direct mode of address to the audience.

So it's no surprise that the advertising campaign for the film has once again subverted expectations. Often superhero films feature hybrid elements, such as splashes of romance and crime genre conventions. Generally these conventions are pushed aside when it comes to the main focus of most superhero films: to use a standard action formula to deliver pleasure to an audience who know exactly what they are getting. But what happens if you isolate the romance conventions?

The following posters present Deadpool not as a superhero film but as a romance film. Have a look and see what generic conventions of the romance genre you can identify. What reaction will this get from the genre's traditionally and predominantly male fan-base? Will it potentially attract a new audience? Will it hurt the chances of the film at box office? Or will it be a successful marketing stunt?

Images via Just Jared.

Thanks to Hatesh in U block for both suggesting and researching this post!

The top ten Bond moments

You could be a James Bond fanatic and have seen every film, but it's likely many audiences will only be familiar with the most recent, Daniel Craig fronted films. Eon Productions did a lot of work in making sure that new audiences could get involved with the new films, making Casino Royale (2005) a reboot of sorts.

However, for the A2 Media exam, a broad contextual knowledge to back up your reading of Skyfall is needed, and even the new films make constant reference to more than 50 years worth of previous installments.

While we would strongly recommend watching as many Bond films as possible, the following video gives a fun rundown of 10 of the best and most iconic Bond scenes. It would be particularly useful in a question on genre, pointing out instances of "repetition and difference" (Neale, 1980), or a question on representation and how this changes over time.

Just remember, your focus text is Skyfall, so make sure this is the film you make sustained, explicit reference to!

Top 10 James Bond Moments

(Thanks to Charlotte for the link!)

Barthes five narrative codes

A code is an aspect of a text from which the audience can derive meaning. We can do this through decoding or deconstructing the text; literally breaking it to pieces.

Roland Barthes was a French theorist who studied a variety of fields. Perhaps his most famous contribution to Media Studies was through his study of semiology. The following five codes can be very useful in the process of textual analysis. While you will be making far more use of some than others (action codes and enigma codes for example), learning to apply all five will prepare you for anything that may come up in the exam.



Hermeneutic/ enigma code - An enigma code is a mystery within a text that is not immediately answered. Examples could include "The man lies slumped with an ornate silver knife in his back. Who did it? Why did they do it? And why did they use such a weapon?" As an audience, we assume that this mystery is going to be solved at some point. If it isn't, the audience potentially will be frustrated. On the flip side, if the mystery is revealed too quickly (or if the audience is able to work it out too quickly!), then they could be let down. Writing a successful mystery is a difficult business!

Proairetic/ action code - Parts of a narrative which are related to things happening. For example "Gus glared at Gary, and started to crack his knuckles threateningly". At this point, the audience would probably guess that Gary is going to get punched! This code, along with enigma codes can create considerable suspense. Think about how many times James Bond has disarmed a ticking time-bomb with only one second on the clock! As an audience, we have decoded the action code of the time-bomb, and we assume that Bond is going to die, even though deep inside we know he definitely will survive!

Semantic code - Something within a text that means something, often multiple meanings. There can be many meanings within a single text.

Symbolic code - A part of a text that 'stands in' for, or means something else. For example the gold dress Nicole Kidman wears in the Chanel No.5 advert symbolizes wealth, luxury, glamour and even power. The deeper meaning of a text.

Referential code - Where a part of a text refers to something outside of the text. This assumes the audience has knowledge of whatever it is that the text is refering to. This is closely related to intertextuality, and often it can be the basis for humour. For example, The Big Bang Theory makes frequent reference to other texts, including Star Trek, Star Wars, and other aspects of 'nerd culture'. As an audience, you are more likely to get the joke if you have knowledge of these texts. Likewise, Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics take place in a world where seemingly all myths, legends, gods and comic book heroes exist. It requires a lot of background knowledge to fully comprehend every reference, but the audience can get by if they read it as a creepy story with many enigmas and symbolic codes.

The Selfish Giant

For the A2 Media Students, here's a little bedtime reading to prepare you for the next focus film...

"Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant's garden.

It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. "How happy we are here!" they cried to each other.

One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.

"What are you doing here?" he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.

"My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant; "any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself." So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.


TRESPASSERS
WILL BE
PROSECUTED


He was a very selfish Giant.

The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside. "How happy we were there," they said to each other.

Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. "Spring has forgotten this garden," they cried, "so we will live here all the year round." The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. "This is a delightful spot," he said, "we must ask the Hail on a visit." So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.

"I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather."

But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. "He is too selfish," she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.

One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. "I believe the Spring has come at last," said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out.

What did he see?

He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children's heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. "Climb up! little boy," said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the boy was too tiny.

And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out. "How selfish I have been!" he said; "now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children's playground for ever and ever." He was really very sorry for what he had done.

So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him. And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. "It is your garden now, little children," said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o'clock they found the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.

All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.

"But where is your little companion?" he said: "the boy I put into the tree." The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.

"We don't know," answered the children; "he has gone away."

"You must tell him to be sure and come here to-morrow," said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad.

Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him. "How I would like to see him!" he used to say.

Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about any more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games, and admired his garden. "I have many beautiful flowers," he said; "but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all."

One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.

Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvelous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.

Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, "Who hath dared to wound thee?" For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.

"Who hath dared to wound thee?" cried the Giant; "tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him."

"Nay!" answered the child; "but these are the wounds of Love."

"Who art thou?" said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.

And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, "You let me play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."

And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms".



THE END

Oscar Wilde, 1888

Narrative structure and The Bond film

A standard formula to deliver pleasure

Bond films often do not have a conventional narrative in the sense that it can be difficult to apply Todorov's narrative equilibrium. By extension, Bond films deliver not so much a coherent narrative, but a satisfying and formulaic delivery of pleasurable scenes. Think back on Skyfall, or indeed any other Bond film, and it is likely we can come up with a selection of cool, explosive, violent and/or sex related scenes, even if we can’t remember the character’s name, what he or she is doing, and why.

Another way in which Bond films work is as a metanarrative,  that Bond doesn’t exist in the ‘real world’ as such, but in “a vast network of media-generated images’. Put simply, we know what is going on because we have seen other Bond films. We know what drinks he drinks, his trademark quips, and large parts of his personality. Even if you have never seen a Bond film, it is likely that you will know his code name, occupation, and a few other key facts.

In short, even if the audience is unable to follow the complex narrative, they are still able to take considerable pleasure from the text.

Reducing the narrative yet further

This formulaic narrative isn’t unique to Skyfall. In his study of the novel of Casino Royale; narrative theorist Umberto Eco found a certain formula could be applied, more or less, to every Bond film.

Umberto Eco's 1979 analysis of Casino Royale raises some interesting points about the rigid narrative structure of the entire series. 

Umberto Eco’s analysis of narrative in Bond films

Eco stipulated that the reduction of the narrative to a simple series of ‘moves’ made the Bond novels resemble a “game” as opposed to a novel. Reading through the above list, you will hopefully see how easy it is to apply this structure to Skyfall, Casino Royale, Spectre or any Bond film.

This game theory materializes itself yet further in what Eco refers to as “play situations”. Instead of resembling a conventional narrative, the Bond film resembles a game of chess (or poker, if you prefer). Bond and the villain take it in turns to 'move' from one location to the other, This moving from one locale to another gives the producer an excellent opportunity to show off whatever countries are most exciting or fashionable at the time. Along the way, Bond must play by certain 'rules'. At one point he will assert his dominance through 'possessing' the female lead (invariably sexually). However the villain will capture the 'Bond girl' and/or Bond, before torturing Bond in order to infer to the audience that he has the upper hand. This is before, or course, Bond will find a way out, and then kill the villain.

Losing the woman

One of the most most important aspects of any Bond film is the very end. After 'reclaiming' the woman, Bond will then 'lose' her in one of two ways:

1. The woman will die, often through suicide at the guilt of being a double agent.
2. The woman will merely disappear, never to be seen again in any film

This loss is problematic in terms of representation, but it serves a narrative purpose. Bond never has to deal with the narrative hang-ups of romance, marriage or of fatherhood that could get in the way of his job. Instead he is once more a bachelor, his life free of complications, and the narrative can begin anew. Some things will be remembered, but are usually only briefly alluded to. The next film can be enjoyed by a completely new audience, with no knowledge being assumed.

A Level Media workshop

Wednesday 15:25 - 16:10, G8

This workshop is open to all A Level Media students, first and second year.

AS Media exam resit revision

Exam and essay writing technique

Homework help

Advanced theory 

Anything else Media related!

Please feel free to drop in, but if there is anything specific you want to cover, please let Michael know in advance.

Textual analysis toolkit

Please note that this is the textual analysis toolkit for students sitting the non-linear media specification. If you study the linear specification, i.e if you started in September 2017, this this is the toolkit you want!

To say the following is helpful would be an understatement. Referring to the following list of terms in every response you write from now on will ensure that you evidence knowledge and understanding. If you do not refer to key terminology in every response you make, your answer will be deemed common sense, and you will not achieve your target grade. Why not bookmark this post on your mobile phone right now?

With that, here is a list of every general concept, term and code you could be referring to in your answer. Just remember: it's just a list. You need to add your own detailed examples! Also if there's something here that looks unfamiliar, it's possible we have not covered it yet. Also do not try and cram every concept into an answer. It's not possible, and many concepts are not relevant to certain media. For example, you would not get many marks for trying to talk about diegetic sound if you get a questions asking you to analyse a magazine front cover!



TECHNICAL AND AUDIO CODES

• Camera shots
• Camera angles
• Camera movement
• lighting
• Editing – pace, special effects
• Graphics
• Sound – diegetic and non-diegetic
• Sound effects
• Music
• Dialogue
• Voice overs

VISUAL CODES / IMPACT

• Use of colour
• Iconography
• Gesture
• Expression
• Mise-en-scene
• Use of graphics
• Images
• The gaze
• Lighting

LAYOUT AND DESIGN

• Selection and use of images
• Graphics
• Colour
• Structure of text
• Font styles

LANGUAGE AND MODE OF ADDRESS

• Lexis/language
• Tone
• Use of vocabulary
• Hyperbole
• Use of quotations
• Formal/informal
• 
  

NARRATIVE CODES

• Narrative strands
• Construction – linear/circular
• Generic conventions
• Enigmas
• Character relevance/purpose
• Action codes
• Filming techniques
• Manipulation of time and space
• Theory - Todorov

CHARACTERS

• Representational issues
• Relevance
• Place in narrative
• Relationships 
• Theory - Propp