Magazine front cover analysis

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Tzvetan Todorov: 01/03/1939 - 07/02/2017

We're deeply saddened to announce the death of Tzvetan Todorov. A noted narratologist and semiotician (among many other disciplines!), Todorov will almost certainly be most familiar to A-level Media students through his theory of narrative equilibrium. This idea suggests that Western narratives typically follow a three (or five) act narrative structure, where an equilibrium or state of balance is established, before being disrupted, thus beginning a series of conflicts. This is typically resolved through a partial restoration of the equilibrium. 

This staple theory has its limitations, which makes it excellent to critique when applying to a Media text.

Do remember that Todorov is associated with many theories, not just narrative equilibrium (or even narrative!). Film Studies students may be familiar with his writing on horror and fantasy narratives, and if you haven't encountered his theory on classical Hollywood narrative, it's probably because you'll be covering it in Media very soon!

Mock exam FAQs

If you have any questions about the mock exam, please send us an email, and we'll reply and pop the response up on the blog for everyone!

"What exactly are the differences between visual and technical codes? And what theorists should we be talking about in the AS mock?"

• If visual codes are basically ‘the look’ of the text, then technical codes are ‘how it’s made’, so camera angles, camera movement, editing techniques and so on. There’s some overlap between the two (lighting is both visual and technical!) but I wouldn’t worry about that so much.
• For theorists, it really depends on which aspect you’re talking about. So far we’ve only really looked at theorists for the narrative part of the toolkit, so I think you should be fine with knowing Todorov, Propp, Levi-Strauss and Barthes. You certainly don’t need to use all of these theories: personally I find Levi-Strauss and Barthes most useful.
• Finally there’s an exemplar response on the blog which gives you an idea of how you could respond to the question. Ultimately, the first question is about how texts create meaning, so as long as you can back up your argument, it’s(almost)  always right!

"Do I really need to get to college at 08:00???"

• We still expect you to arrive just before 09:00, but given the importance of the mock, we recommend getting in a bit earlier on that day. If you do run in to issues on your journey, send your teacher an email! 

"When's my exam?"

• Check what block you're in, then consult the mock exam timetable.

The Selfish Giant - context and backround

This post was compiled from research conducted by R block and Q block. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Cast

• Conner Chapman, who had starred previously in similar independent British films such as Pleasure Island and Charlie says, plays the role of Arbor.
• Made his on-screen debut in The Selfish Giant and had not acted before. He had no training going into the movie and hadn’t even read a script before
• He was discovered on the first day of casting by casting director Amy Hubbard who wanted to find an ‘untapped and untutored source of talent’
• Chapman is from the Buttershaw estate in Bradford where the film is set
• Chapman admitted he can identify with Arbor’s situation as he states ‘I used to get a lot of stick from people in school because I used to go scrapping myself to earn myself money.’
• After The Selfish Giant, he starred in Charlie Says (2013) and Pleasure Island (2015)

• Shaun Thomas plays his best friend Swifty, after previously starring alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in Grimsby.
• Made his on-screen debut in The Selfish Giant and had not acted before. He had no training going into the movie and hadn’t even read a script before
• Thomas shared Swifty’s love of horses which added authenticity to his role – he stated ‘In real life I do love horses because where I grow up, that’s what everybody does. You get middle-aged people going around collecting scrap metal to pay for food and gas and the electric, just to live really.’
• Thomas is from Holme Wood, a housing estate in Bradford
• After The Selfish Giant, he starred in The Brothers Grimsby (2016) and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

• Sean Gilder – Kitten
• Sean Gilder was born on March 1, 1964 in Brampton, Cumberland, England. He is an actor, known for The Fall (2006), Gangs of New York (2002) and King Arthur (2004).

Casting

• Both the first film for the two leads, adds a relatable sense as the two actors actually from the area of the film and under no pressure. Chapman had had some drama lessons in school but interestingly Thomas hadn’t and was suspended from school for the first audition and missed it, meaning he was lucky to get a second opportunity. Barnard based the two characters of Arbor and Swifty on scrappers she saw whilst filming The Arbor.

Box office

The Selfish Giant had a reported box-office take of $943209(£742682.77). According to the BFI the film's budget was £1.4 million

Filming locations

Filming took place in Willington, Derbyshire and Bradford, Yorkshire.

Awards

Was nominated for best film at the 2014 BAFTAs.

Reviews

• “It is a richly allusive and moving work.” The Guardian
• Mark Kermode liked it a lot 
• Peter Bradshaw at the Guardian gave it 5 stars “Clio Barnard's social-realist tale of a teen scrap scavenger goes at it like a supercharged Ken Loach –and packs in Bradford's answer to Ben-Hur to boot”
• 97% on Rotten Tomatoes
• The telegraph-5/5 
• “...a brilliant and soul-scouring fable about scrap men and scrap children; two outcast generations doomed to forever sift through life’s rubbish dump.”
• Roger Ebert – 4.5 stars – “The film is a tragedy: keenly observed, warm, often funny, but a tragedy. And yet even when the life-on-rails dramaturgy becomes wearisome, we feel we're watching an evil adult exploit angelic children. Arbor and Swifty aren't "good" or "bad" boys, just desperate and far too trusting. Kitten isn't a villain, just a mangled product of his environment like everyone else.”

Clio Barnard

• Clio Barnard is a British director of documentary and feature films. She won widespread critical acclaim and multiple awards for her debut, The Arbor, an experimental documentary about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar.
• Barnard grew up in the town of Otley in Yorkshire. Her dad was a university lecturer and her mum an artist who later became a jazz singer.
• The total movies directed by Barnard include: The Selfish Giant (2013), The Arbor (2010), Flood (2002)

• “I don’t think artworks should be didactic and I can’t articulate my political beliefs by making a speech, but perhaps I can through making a film. But I’d like for it to be open to interpretation. Someone told me they thought the character of Arbor was a bit of an entrepreneur, which is not my politics at all!” – Clio Barnard
• “ I suppose what I wanted above all, because the character of Arbor is based on a real boy, and his friendship with his real best friend. And I suppose that I saw something really special in those two, and in their friendship, and I suppose what I wanted to do was to share. So, what I hope that people feel that same affection for those boys that I do.”
• “I think it’s about a tragic love story about a friendship between two teenage boys.”

BBFC

• Rated it a 15 and said “THE SELFISH GIANT is a contemporary drama about two boys who get caught up in the illegal world of metal theft. It is rated 15 for strong language, once very strong.”
• “There are over seventy uses of strong language ('f**k' and variants) and one use of very strong language ('c**t') which is used by a young boy as a term of endearment to his younger best friend. “
• “There are also uses of discriminatory language ('spaz', 'retard' and 'pikey') which are not condoned.”
• “The film also contains a brief image of charred human remains, scenes of moderate violence without detail and one scene of threat to a child. There are also passing drug references ('smackhead', 'spooning') sight of adults smoking and children drinking alcohol.”

Social realism

• Early British cinema used the common social interaction found in the literary works of Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy.[11] 
•  After World War I, the British middle-class generally responded to realism and restraint in cinema while the working-class generally favored Hollywood genre movies. Thus realism carried connotations of education and high seriousness. These social and aesthetic distinctions have become running themes; Social Realism is now associated with the arthouse auteur, while mainstream Hollywood films are shown at the multiplex.
• Was first seen in the form of art (paintings and, later, photography) to capture the social realism of society a specific time in history. The genre of social realism in media was then transformed onto the big screen; though film and TV texts.
• TV and film in the 21st century that take on the genre of social realism typically focuses on topical issues alive in a modern society which is represented by different ideologies. Themes such as money, drugs, and sex are quite usual in modern contemporary social realism films as well as class, religion and political views. [These themes are very popular today but not all were involved in the early social realism storylines and films.]

Notable Social realist films:

• Trainspotting 
• This is England
• Kes
• Ill Mannors
• Kidulthood 

• It can be argued he selfish giant is a piece of political propaganda against Thatcherism highlighting the problem s which the poor experienced due to not reviving help from the government. 
• When Thatcher was in power, poor people didn’t get much help because of left wing ideologies presented by her reign. 
• The selfish giant represents the consequences of Thatcherism influence on society.
• Clio Barnard wants to expose this cruelty and hidden world to the public through this film.

The Selfish Giant (Oscar Wilde, 1888)

• “Then the Spring never came, nor the Summer” (referring to the depressing life in Bradford – lack of hope, happiness)
• The Selfish Giant talks about the garden being a ‘children’s playground’ (the scrap yard = Arbor and Swifty’s playground?)
• At the end a young boy dies, at the end of Barnard’s film Swifty dies.
• Barnard describes putting Wilde’s text aside to concentrate on her immediate subject only to find the material circling back upon itself, becoming once again a story about the “wounds of love”.”

Film Four

History

Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the United Kingdom. The company's first production was Walter, directed by Stephen Frears, which was released in 1982. It is especially known for its gritty, kitchen sink-style films and period drama.

Purpose

To develop, finance, advertise and broadcast films.

Notable Films

- 12 Years A Slave
- 127 Hours
- Fever Pitch
- Four Weddings and a Funeral
- One Day
- Slumdog Millionaire
- The Inbetweeners Movie
- The Iron Lady
- The Selfish Giant
- This Is England
- Trainspotting

Textual analysis of print media - an example

Analyse the above advertisement with reference to 

• visual codes
• layout and design
• narrative

What is an advert?

An advertisement never sells a product. It sells a lifestyle, a "future" for the audience. John Berger wrote extensively on advertising in his book Ways of Seeing. His conclusion on advertising, that it is a lifestyle, and not a product being sold may sound weird. However, it is pretty much impossible to sell a perfume in a print advert. It's a liquid that makes you smell nice. The producer cannot inform the audience of how it smells. So instead, the producer focuses on the wild and fantastic connotations of this smell. This is in the hope of building a deep and powerful association with the product itself.

Similarly, the ideology of the advert is not 'if you wear this, you will have a sexual encounter'. Nobody believes that life is as simple as this. The advert is selling the future possibility of an exciting, illicit and even dangerous love affair. You might well have an issue with an advert making these claims, so make sure you point this out in the introduction!

Introduction 

The introduction to the textual analysis question should briefly establish the aims and intentions of the essay. In this instance, the candidate has been presented with a perfume advert. What is the purpose of adverts? What is the primary ideology of this advert? what are you actually trying to do?

Here's an example of what you could put, though it would be a bit wordy...

Print advertisements are a vital strategy for media producers in encoding the intended ideology of the perfume itself. Perfume adverts often use striking imagery, controversial themes and connotations of luxury. The advertisement for 'Guilty' by Gucci is no different, using a range of visual codes, a stylish layout and subtle use of narrative codes. It presents an ideology of luxury and sexual openness, which may both be attractive or potentially offensive to its target audience. 

Visual codes

• Use of colour - Bronzed, golden skin connotes luxury and wealth
• Gesture - The male model holds the female model in a gesture that could either be protective or restraining
• Expression - Lustful And blissful, connoting the importance of sex in a relationship, and the importance of sex to the Gucci brand 
• The gaze - models gaze directly into the audience's eyes in a direct mode of address, suggesting a deliberately confrontational mode of address (cheers for this point, Amelia!) 
• Jude had a different interpretation of this direct mode of address, suggesting that the models are glaring at the audience, suggesting the audience are not the same status as the models, manipulating the audience into seeing themselves as inferior... until they buy the perfume that is!
• High key lighting - connotes elegance, sophistication and wealth by resembling a film set or a high-end fashion shoot
• Mise-en-scene is used to construct an ideal representation of both men and women. The man is idealised through his on trend designer stubble and tattoo, the women idealised through being slender and with makeup that contours her face. Both models are tanned, healthy, and certainly Photoshopped to emphasise their perfection. This reinforces the symbolic code of the perfume as a symbol of sexual desirability (cheers Phoebe for this excellent point!)
• Iconography of the heterosexual couple gazing towards the audience confirms the target audience are heterosexual men and women (though there is obviously nothing to stop gay men and women negotiating the image). The GUCCI logo and the ethnicity of the models suggests a white, middle class target audience, though working class audiences may aspire to the luxurious relationship being presented. 
• The use of the shot type (somewhere between a close up and a mid shot) coupled with the model's lack of costume positions the audience in a voyeuristic viewpoint (great point Meena!)

Layout and design

• Font - clean and evenly spaced, suggesting the professionalism associated with the product (cheers for this one, Ryan F!)
• Graphics - The twin bottles of perfume, one for each gender, demonstrate both the differences between men and women, and suggest that men and women are essential for one another
• Lexis - The use of the word 'GUILTY' has connotations of criminality and illegality. This is confirmed by visual codes including the iconography of the tattoo of the male model. The product itself is therefore 'forbidden' to the audience, thus making it more attractive!

Narrative

• Male and female models create a binary opposition, emphasising the conflict and passion in the relationship
• Couple are presented immediately before or after sex through the combination of their expressions and their closeness. This presents an enigma code for the audience without explicitly suggesting sexual intercourse (this is important: the producer of the advert wants to be risqué without risking getting arrested!)
• An enigma code is created through the direct mode of address. Are we, the audience stepping in on a secret relationship? Are we positioned as a third party in this encounter?(!!!!)
• The Gucci logo acts as a referential code for the audience. Audiences familiar with the Gucci brand will understand that it is associated with luxury and costliness. Therefore the word 'Gucci' alone has many connotations. 
• There is binary opposition between the black 'male' bottle and the pink 'female' bottle. This encodes the ideology that men and women are very different from one another, further emphasising the conflict between them.
• The word GUILTY acts as anchorage for the audience. The producer is attempting to encode a love affair as opposed to a common or garden romantic relationship. When the audience reads this in combination with the naked couple, it confirms the forbidden nature of their relationship.

Pushing for an A grade - polysemic readings and ideology

• The advert is not selling a nice smelling perfume, it is selling a lifestyle of luxury and sexual freedom to an audience. This is misleading and even manipulative. 
• Marxists may believe that this ideology of success is purely to remind the working class how different they are from the ruling class. It presents a wealthy, white, heterosexual, young and attractive couple in a position of power.
• The male model holds the female model down in a gesture that asserts the power of patriarchal hegemony over women
• Gay and or non-white audiences may disagree with the representation of love and passion as being a solely white and straight institution!
• Sam J made an excellent point that the the advert is appealing to the largest possible audience by appealing to heterosexual people. However, we can criticise the fact that the advert essentially ignores the existence of gay people in order to do this!
• A religious audience may object to the depiction of pre/extra-marital sex. However, the producer of the text may be relying on this sort of controversy!
• The use of the word 'GUILTY' suggests that sex is shameful and taboo, which many audience members may disagree with

Phrases to avoid

"the white text stands out in front of..."
"the font is clear and easy to read..."
"the bright colours attract the audience..."
"the naked couple makes you sit up and take notice..."

The issue with all of these phrases is that they are common sense. There is nothing here that you need an education in media studies to be able to notice. 95% of people you ask will make exactly the same suggestions. So how do you avoid these common sense statements?

• Use media terminology consistently and in every paragraph
• Use the terms 'producer' and 'audience' rather than 'them' and 'you'
• Always explore why the producer has used tis technique, and how it contributes to the ideology of his/her message

The Selfish Giant - Research

Please complete this research in an unformatted (no fancy fonts or layout, but a few pictures could be useful)Word Document. After you have completed this task, please email your research to Michael, who will then take elements from everyone's work to create the ultimate Selfish Giant fact-file.

There is far too much to complete in one lesson, so pick and choose what you find most interesting.

The Selfish Giant

• Actors (profiles, previous films, etc)
• Director (name)
• Budget
• Casting
• Promotion
• Distribution
• Production
• Reviews (quotes)
• Regulation (age certificate, find the report on the BBFC website and quote it)
• Etc

Clio Barnard

• Filmography
• Influences
• Directorial style (short paragraph)
• Quotes
• Future projects

Social realism

• History
• Key films
• Notable directors
• Comparisons with The Selfish Giant

The Selfish Giant (Oscar Wilde, 1888)

• Read the story, hosted on this blog
• What comparisons are there with The Wilde story and Barnard's film?
• Is The Selfish Giant (2013) an adaptation?

Film Four

• History
• Purpose
• Ideologies
• Notable films

BFI

• History
• Purpose
• Ideologies
• Notable films

Moonspun films

• History
• Filmography

MS1 exemplar answer

This answer was written in response to the first three minutes of the BBC documentary "Is Alcohol Worse Than Ecstasy?". This video extract was used in the actual AS Media exam, and is a great example of the often controversial source material that the exam board will present you with. Remember, the examiner will be looking for you to identify the ideology of the text when pushing for a higher grade. 

The documentary can be found in very low quality here. Remember to only watch the first 3 minutes (unless you get into it!)

Study the extract from the BBC Horizon Documentary ‘Is alcohol worse than ecstasy?’ Analyse the extract commenting on visual codes, technical and audio codes and genre.

The BBC Horizon documentary uses a wide variety of visual codes, technical codes and genre conventions to create a range of meanings for the audience. In doing so, it presents the beginnings of a powerful and accessible documentary on the danger of illicit and potentially harmful drugs, and questions the ideological implications of certain drugs being illegal.

The introductory sequence uses a wide variety of visual codes in order to establish the themes and ideology of the show. A range of news footage making sensationalist reports on drugs is used, with trusted names like Fiona Bruce reporting on luridly named drugs such as ‘Nazi crank’. These images are presented in a distorted and confrontational way, as if filmed directly from a TV screen. This symbolises to the audience the confusion and fear surrounding the drug debate. Edited into this sequence are an array of footage of drugs being prepared and taken by unseen users. Unlike with the news reporters, no faces are shown. This signifies that drug users are anonymous, criminal and even dangerous. This footage is shown undistorted and with frequent extreme close ups, emphasising the shock value of the images. The confusion here is further emphasised by the use of onscreen graphics and newspaper headlines, which run simultaneously with the voiceovers and drug footage. These three aspects all emphasise the disorientating and confusing nature of the drug debate, instantly positioning the audience into a situation where they know they will have to make up their own mind, which is an effective technique for producers to use.

The use of non-diegetic music within this sequence has many connotations for the audience, which change as the sequence progresses. After using an initial selection of uncomfortable digital noises, which connotes despair and confusion, the documentary uses a Bob Dylan folk song, which is completely contrapuntal with the mood of the sequence. The use of folk guitar creates a binary opposition between the cheery song and the scenes of drug taking. This hermeneutic code suggests that not only do drugs have negative implications for users, but there are also positive ones as well. The bob Dylan song was probably selected for its use as a countercultural, pro-drug anthem. After the opening sequence, the music takes a very different turn, with a combination of plucking strings and heavy, digital drums. This soundtrack gives the sequence a particularly ‘druggy’ effect, as this genre of music could well be played in a club where drugs are taken. The use of digital dance music and the folky Bob Dylan song creates a very explicit double mode of address, and signifies the intention of the documentary to appeal to not only younger audiences, but older audiences, both of whom will have very different opinions on the drug debate.

The ideological notion of the drug debate comes down even to the very title of the documentary, which asks a question to the audience in a direct mode of address. In order to do this, a wide variety of interviewees are used as talking heads, and are edited together in very quick succession. A rapid-fire montage of very different people on a park bench, including a young black man and his daughter, followed by middle aged white man in jeans and a t-shirt positions the audience in such a way that they are forced to make a difficult decision. Straight after these two unnamed interviewees, the documentary interviews Prof David Nutt, and the voiceover explains that he is an expert in the field. This reassures the viewer that though there are many enigma codes being presented, a definite answer will be decided on by the end of the show. This corresponds with Todorov’s traditional view of narrative, where a three act narrative structure is concluded with a restoration of the equilibrium. Professor Nutt even states that he will be using three ways to assess if drugs are actually harmful. 

The voiceover claims that by the end of the program, ‘Britain’s most dangerous drug’ will be revealed. The use of the word Britain here assumes that the audience are British, and effectively positions them with the text, and with the educated and confident professor Nutt. There are other institutions of Britishness used throughout the documentary. Firstly, the foaming pints of beer at the bar in the introductory sequence creates an important gratification of self identification for the British audience, though the suggestion that alcohol may be more harmful than ecstasy also creates conflict. Finally, the programme is made by the BBC, a well-respected British institution. Along with the horizon strand of documentaries, the prominent use of the BBC logo at the start has connotations of quality, of presenting an unbiased point of view, and of intelligent and in depth documentary making. By aligning itself with Britishness, the documentary successful intrigues its British audience.

The program is definitely a documentary, and it evidences a range of genre conventions that prove this. Firstly, the use of archive news reports combined with a range of interview footage are edited together in a succession of quick cuts to emphasise to the audience that a range of information is being looked at. While the BBC logo and the documentary format may suggest impartiality, the doc has a definite point of view, that alcohol is actually worse than ecstasy (a fact which is emphasised by a middle class academic backing up this claim, announcing it has no long term effects in a calm voice), and that the drug debate cannot move forward while the public are ‘provoking…the media’. This is emphasised by the emphasis of information contrasting with the panicked reporting of ‘the media’ (again, the use of the term ‘Nazi crank’ as opposed to a scientific name). This suggests that the program has definite agenda and ideology. Being made by a prominent media institution, The BBC, it can be argued that there are issues of bias, as it is taking a one sided look at the debate, presenting its own point of view as a question, and ignoring the… (I lost my train of thought here and moved on to a new paragraph. This can sometimes be a great tactic for the exam!)

Despite being a documentary, in terms of genre conventions, there are several atypical aspects. It is impossible to ignore the rapid fire editing, which makes the doc resemble an MTV music video more than an unbiased documentary, and breaks the sense of verisimilitude on several occasions. The use of on screen graphics are often distracting and confusing, which many edits seeming unnecessary. For example the distorted scan line effect on the opening shots, and the cutting to current and historical news broadcasts actually make the program more confusing than informative. When David Nutt is being interviewed, a loud and ‘whooshing’ non-diegetic sound effect is played, which is used to emphasise his name as it moves onto the screen. However, all these digital post production techniques show is that the BBC are taking a very condescending view of the audience, and are doing everything possible to position them in such a way that they have to accept the dominant ideology of the text. This is further emphasised by the use of narrative techniques within the text, promising a debate that has been planned for ‘the last two years’. In this sense, the text creates a utopian solution, promising a conclusion to the confusion and the debate in a way that is conclusive and easy to understand for the audience. 

To conclude, the documentary uses a variety of techniques in order to position and anchor the audience in to the preferred reading of the text. The introductory sequence uses a wide variety of visual codes and technical codes to establish the confusion and complexity of the drug debate, with the montage of footage also suggesting the debate have continued for many years. The use of music is particularly effective in allowing audiences to make polysemic interpretations, symbolising that drugs have both positive cultural and negative sinister effects. The doc interviews a wide variety of people from different ethnic backgrounds, creating an atmosphere of inclusivity, though far more screen time is given to Nutt, suggesting a n adherence to traditional patriarchal hegemony.  The doc uses typical and atypical genre conventions to create an exciting, though less informative program, emphasising entertainment over knowledge, and even using the techniques of music videos. This final editing choice makes the documentary particularly condescending to the public, and makes a very serious and worthwhile debate cheapened as a result of using the genre conventions of other forms of media.