Revision tips from students

There's lot of information out there on the best ways to revise and to prepare for exams. But what techniques are actually proven? I asked students who received high grades in a recent mock  how they achieved them. Then I completely forgot to publish this. That was in 2018, about six years ago. Never mind!

"I'm not really sure. I just looked at the blog. I've got a good memory. I think it's because I dance"

"I just went through my blog, and then made notes from my notes, then just remembered the most important stuff for the exam"

"I looked at the blog, and then I made notes from the blog"

"I spent some time on the blog looking up topics. I'm quite good at using big words. When I'm writing I get really in to it"

So the conclusion seems to be pretty straightforward. Use the blog! And maybe take up dancing.

Of course, there are lots of ways to revise, but it's way more important to revise little and often. Ideally revision should be stress free and simple, if a little boring. If you have any great revision tips, please let me know. And if there's anything you would like to see on the blog (that's not already on it already), please give us a shout!

A-level June 2023

Component one 

SECTION A: ANALYSING MEDIA LANGUAGE AND REPRESENTATION

Media Language

Question 10 is based on the audio-visual resource. It is an advertisement for Dolce & Gabbana, an Italian fashion brand. It is filmed in Italy: in the city of Milan and on the island of Sicily.

• You will be allowed one minute to read Question 10.
• The advertisement will be shown three times.
• First viewing: watch the advertisement.
• Second viewing: watch the advertisement and make notes.
• You will then have five minutes to make further notes.
• Third viewing: watch the advertisement and make final notes.
• Once the third viewing has finished, you should answer Question 10.

10 - Explore how this advertisement uses media language to communicate meaning. [15]

Representation

Question 20 is based on both of the following:

• the print resource: All Day and a Night film poster (2020)

• the set music video you have studied: Formation or Dream.

Study the print resource carefully and use both the film poster and music video when answering the question.

In this question, you will be assessed on the quality of your written response, including the ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning that is coherent, relevant, substantiated and logically structured

20 - Compare how representations in the film poster and music video convey values and beliefs. [30]
In your answer, you must:
• consider the similarities and differences in how representations convey values and beliefs
• consider how stereotypes are challenged or reinforced
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far representations reflect social and cultural contexts.

SECTION B: UNDERSTANDING MEDIA INDUSTRIES AND AUDIENCES

Media Industries

31 - Briefly explain what is meant by distribution in the video games industry. [2]

32 - Explain the impact of digital technologies on video games. Refer to the Assassin’s Creed game you have studied to support your points. [8]

In question 33 , you will be rewarded for drawing together knowledge and understanding from across your full course of study, including different areas of the theoretical framework and media contexts.

33 - Explain how video game producers maintain global audiences. Refer to the Assassin’s Creed game you have studied to support your points. [15]

Audiences

41 - Explain how radio programmes appeal to specific audiences. Refer to Late Night Woman’s Hour to support your points. [12]

42 - Explain how audience responses to advertisements reflect social and cultural circumstances. Refer to the WaterAid advertisement you have studied to support your points. [8]

Component two

SECTION A – TELEVISION IN THE GLOBAL AGE

Answer one question in this section on the option you have studied.

Either,

Option 1: Life on Mars and The Bridge

10 - How useful are structuralist theories for exploring television products? Refer to Lévi-Strauss’s structuralist theory of binary oppositions and the set episodes of Life on Mars and The Bridge in your response. [30]

Or,

Option 2: Humans and The Returned

20 - How useful are structuralist theories for exploring television products? Refer to Lévi-Strauss’s structuralist theory of binary oppositions and the set episodes of Humans and The Returned in your response. [30]

Or,

Option 3: The Jinx and No Burqas Behind Bars

30 - How useful are structuralist theories for exploring television products? Refer to Lévi-Strauss’s structuralist theory of binary oppositions and No Burqas Behind Bars and the set episode of The Jinx in your response. [30]

SECTION B – MAGAZINES: MAINSTREAM AND ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

Answer one question in this section on the option you have studied.

Either,

Option 1: Woman and Adbusters

40 - To what extent can audiences interpret the same magazine in different ways? Explore the set editions of Woman and Adbusters in your response. [30]

Or,

Option 2: Woman’s Realm and Huck

50 - To what extent can audiences interpret the same magazine in different ways? Explore the set editions of Woman’s Realm and Huck in your response. [30]

Or,

Option 3: Vogue and The Big Issue

60 - To what extent can audiences interpret the same magazine in different ways? Explore the set editions of Vogue and The Big Issue in your response. [30]

SECTION C – MEDIA IN THE ONLINE AGE

Answer both questions in this section on the option you have studied.

Either,

Option 1: Alfie Deyes and gal-dem

71 - Explain how media production and distribution have changed in the age of YouTube and the Internet. Refer to Alfie Deyes in your response. [15]

72 - Discuss the influence of social and cultural contexts on the representations on the gal-dem website. [15]

Or,

Option 2: Zoe Sugg and Attitude

81 - Explain how media production and distribution have changed in the age of YouTube and the Internet. Refer to Zoe Sugg in your response. [15]

82 - Discuss the influence of social and cultural contexts on the representations on the Attitude website. [15]

Representation, media language and representation - TV industry ultrapost

Please note: this is a big old post combining lots of disparate aspects about the TV industry. However, there's lots of excellent material here that is perfect for revision material! 

Explore how representations can position audiences

• The complex representations used throughout these TV shows are highly effective in positioning audiences, in order to maximise audience engagement 
• Audience positioning refers to the many ways in which audiences are placed within a media product by the producer to further anchor and align the audience, and to help them relate to complex themes. Representation refers to the re-presentation of a particular group, issue or event, by the producer, in order to reflect their ideological position. In this essay, I shall argue that the producers of TV shows often use complex and even challenging representations in order to engage and position audiences who expect more from television in the 21st century. In order to explore this idea, I shall refer to San Junipero, an episode of the British sci-fi anthology show Black Mirror, originally created by Charlie Brooker and subsequently internationalised and distributed by Netflix. I shall also refer to Les Revenants, a French horror/drama hybrid, produced and distributed by French conglomerate Canal +, primarily targeting an alternative and niche audience.
• An excellent example of how representations can position audiences in les revs can be found in the highly postmodern representation of the town itself. In the open credit sequence, a hyperreal representation of a French rural town is constructed through the alarming MES of…
• ..in fact, due to being funded by a notable French tourist board, in many ways it is significant that the episode resembles an advert for the Rhein Cotes Alps region, with the montage…
• The audience is positioned in a confusing mode of address, through the hyperreal representation of the middle class Seurat family. Their muted reaction to these extreme and bizarre events is stereotypically French, and may puzzle and alienate British audiences 
• One way representations can positions audiences 
• One excellent way in which a producer uses a highly stereotypical representation to position audiences
• A further way in which a complex representation can position audiences 

Judith Butler argues that gender is constructed through a series of performative actions. Evaluate this theory of gender performativity. Make reference to the TV shows you have studied to support your answer

What is the difference between sex and gender? 

• Sex = a biological categorisation, eg male/female/intersex
• Gender = a cultural categorisation, based on personal identity 
• Gender fluidity = the idea of an individual’s gender changing over time, or gender as a concept eg gender stereotypes changing over time 
• Gender performance = the rituals performed on a day by basis that act as a performance of gender. For example, men may on any given day, visit the gym, attend their masculine job, go to the pub, wear trousers, watch football, shave, spit on the floor, swearing, regularly get a haircut
• Gender performativity: how the world is shaped by your performance of gender. Gender performativity gets its strongest results when an individual challenges dominant hegemonic ideologies 

Examples of gender performativity in the set TV episodes

San Jun

• Kelley is overtly feminine. Her costume codes are highly feminine, and her makeup and jewellery demonstrate a glamorous and extroverted personality. She is able to make people nervous through her confidence, in particular Yorkie, who in a particularly effective montage, frets and panics over her own gender performance 
• Yorkie dressed as a range of different intertextually related feminine characters from a variety of different films and music videos from the 1980s, including the ‘weird girl’ from The Breakfast club and the seductive and glamorous makeup from the backing dancers from Addicted To Love . By trying out a range of different feminine performances, Yorkie is attempting to investigate her own identity, and her own performance as a woman. Ultimately Yorkie decides to ‘be herself’, and dresses in oversized glasses and a cream coloured cardigan. 
• In the opening club scene, Kelley assertively rejects the attention of a pushy man, before pushing herself assertively on Yorkie, sitting directly next to her in a scene reminiscent of many 80s comedies. However, Kelley chooses instead to romantically engage herself in another woman, a subtle difference from the largely heteronormative romantic narratives of the 1980s. Instead of their sexuality., the overwhelming binary opposition that exists between Kelley and Yorkie is their respective sexual experience 

Les Revs

• Julie dresses in an unconventionally masculine way for a woman. As a result, she is never the object of an intradiegetic gaze (where one character looks at another character), and her role is not romantically encoded 
• Camille is not romanticised or eroticised, which is unconventional for a TV show. For example, she is fixated on eating a sandwich. An unconventional representation of a teenage girl 
• Lena is conventionally attractive and fits many stereotypical assumptions of teenage girls. She assertively demands Simon to buy her a drink, and flirts in an over the top way that challenges conventional hegemonic assumptions about women 
• Simon is hegemonically conventionally attractive, and dressed in a fashionable suit. Simon has an immediate effect on Lena, yet shows no interest in her romantically. This highly complex representation of gender performativity subverts traditional assumptions about romantic narratives. 

Paragraph starters

• In San Junipero, an excellent example of how characters performatively assert their gender can be found in the dressing up scene
• This contrasts somewhat with Les Revenants, which presents often subversive presentations of gender. A perfect example of this can be found in the character of Julie, who..
• A further example of a subversive gender performance can be found in San Junpero through the stereotypical feminine performance of the character Kelley. 

Henry Jenkins argues that audiences are ‘textual poachers’, and actively manipulate media products in ways which best suit them. Evaluate this theory of fandom. Make reference to the Black Mirror episode San Junipero and Les Revenants to support your answer. [30]

• San Junipero - t-shirts (unofficial)including the San Junipero logo, presumably made by fans. Audiences can poach images from the TV show, use photoshop to recontextualise it and then construct a fictitious brand identity that audiences can then use to reflect and to reinforce their own identity. This highly complex and active form of fan mediation is actively encouraged through the structure of the TV show. The mainstream potential of Black Mirror, which has grown from its initial niche audience to a show which is now distributed on Netflix demonstrates its potential . Furthermore the mode of the episode is reliable and hopeful, with a positive representation of a queer relationship that is both surprising and unconventional. 
• Les Revs - fan art including moody portraits of the main characters. There are comparatively few active audience examples for Les Revs, partly because it is so niche and partly because ideologies of the show are so resolutely ambiguous. Furthermore, it is much harder for the audiences to root for or identify with any of the characters. The show has a mature mode of address, and potentially targets older audiences who may deal with the themes in a more serious way. A perfect example of this is the limited availability of Les Revs fan fiction, which focuses on expanding the narrative, as p=opposed to ‘shipping’ characters for sexual gratification

An analysis of the final montage

• The selection of the song, ‘Heaven is a place on earth’ by Belinda Carlisle, is highly symbolic and poignant. Both diegetically and non-diegetically situated, the song plays pleonastically over the montage. The lyrics ‘heaven is a place on earth’, vehicle in actuality a trashy and meaningless pop song here hold a special poignant that is emphasised through the opposition between empty pop aesthetics and intense, almost religious emotion.  
• The overtly science fiction shot of the MES of a robotic arm placing a component into a circuit board presents an intensely emotional response to the science fiction fan audience. While it is not made explicit, we can contextually deduce that one of the nodes represents Kelley, and the other represents Yorkie. This shot is placed in stark opposition to Kelly’s name being etched on the family grave of her husband, which itself represents traditionalism, conservatism and heteronormativity. This extremely complex and conflicting set of narrative constructs a highly subjective and personal mode of address for the target audiences. 
• Additionally, the intense themes of suicide, euthanasia, the illegality of gay marriage...
• The final sequence of San Junipero is masterful not only in its technical and narratological perfection, but also in its unprecedented ability to encourage active fan responses. Like many works associated with Charlie Brooker, the episode interweaves the end credits with the final narrative flourish, a technique that he has been using since the broadcast of Nathan Barley and Dead Set on Channel 4 
• The MES of the scenery constructs an explicit intertextual reference to 80’s arcade games, most notably Sega’s 198 racing game Outrun. While the vast majority of audiences will not explicitly get these references, fans of arcade games and retro games will do, and will enjoy this exclusive and highly gratifying mode of address. Brooker is vocal in his love of video games, and his public persona as a nerd and fan himself is essential for many fans' enjoyment.
• The politics of the final sequence are both provocative and highly likely to encourage debate. The clear representation of euthanasia as a positive and affirmative act directly positions the audience in a highly uncomfortable mode of address. Anchored by the exceptional use of editing, the audience sees the montage of a car driving down the highway and of liquid flowing down a tube, together combining to create a powerful ideological message about death being a release. This beautiful mode of address further emphasises the discomfort, and constructs a particularly emotional and overwhelming set of meanings for the dedicated science fiction fan. 
• Additionally, the audience can also interpret the scene as a straightforward escapist fantasy of cheating death and overcoming trauma
• The ending is open, which means in the minds of the fan, there is no clear conclusion and lots of opportunities for both shipping these characters and imagining their relationship develop beyond the end of the narrative. This is a classic example of fan theory, where simply watching until the end of the product is just the beginning
• Fulfils the social interaction aspect of uses and gratifications, by encouraging audiences to actively debate the ending. For example, Yorkie manipulating Kelly into killing herself to spend her (after)life with her is the very definition of a toxic relationship, and is cult-like in its unpleasantness. This deliberately ambiguous ending is designed to polarise audience
• The final song, Heaven is a Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle is not only a poppy and anthemic 80’s song, the lyrics also help to construct and to anchor a cyclical narrative. It helps to explain to the audience the cruel and complicated narration of the conclusion, by using the throwaway binary of ‘heaven is a place on earth’ constructs a hyperreal fantasy where a meaningless lyric suddenly has a deep and complex meaning. Further anchored through the use of neon and utopian colours that connote a hyperreal, almost imagined 80s, a fascinating representation of pop songs as salvation is constructed. 
• Finally, we are entered into a dialogue with the ultimate fan, Charlie Booker himself, who shares through intertextuality his own favourite films, songs, and videogames. We are encouraged to identify with his enthusiasm and to engage with what he loves 
• The sequence focuses on notions of overcoming trauma, a powerful and affirming experience. The MES of Yorkie confidently jumping into the sports car demonstrates her symbolic conquering of a trauma that can only come through her assisted suicide. The sense of the real world being a hellish obstacle while the simulation is a heavenly manifestation of freedom presented in the form of of a glorified version of America presents a complicated relay of information for the target audience 
• Themes of existentialism are introduced and emphasised through the blunt and nightmarish binary opposition between the bright and glorious Tuckers and the nightmarish hellscape of the server room in the bleak grey warehouse. Making explicit intertextual relay to simulation narratives such as The Matrix. However, the symbolic code constructed through the rotating and blinking LED lights construct, through a highly sophisticated montage, now represents dancing, romance, sex, and life
• Yorkie, now wearing a combination of blue and pink, has gravitated towards a more stereotypically feminine costume, while Kelly’s costume has also changed subtly 
• The ending is deliberately problematic by presenting a number of contentious ideologies. Essentially, the scene ideologically communicates that true love is only attainable through death. Additionally, we are led to believe that true love only exists as a hyperreal representation of an eternally young couple dancing forever. With no limits on time, or no threats of illness or other issues, is true passion even attainable? Ultimately these thoughts do not matter, because “heaven is a place on earth”

How does the opening sequence construct a hyperreal simulacra? - A representation of something that never even existed in the first place

• The scene constructs a hyperreal and even idealised version of a club. Completely lacking bouncers and security, the establishing shot constructs a perfect club night. Patrons are drinking alcohol, and every individual is both young and hegemonically attractive, as each individual is able to construct their own avatar. A completely unified sense of community is constructed, where no one is excluded. People are behaving appropriately, the club is adequately populated

A bit of theory, as a treat

• Roland Barthes - semiotic theory - the study of meaning
• Connotations and denotations - the deeper meaning and the surface meaning of an element 
• Symbolic codes - What something symbolises, the deeper meaning of something. A red rose is symbolic of love! The MES of the curtains billowing in the breeze is symbolic of an orgasm 
• Proairetic codes - Action codes, something that suggests that something is going to happen. For example, the CU of the liquid flowing down the medical tube is a proairetic code for Kelly’s imminent death 
• Hermeneutic codes - enigma code a mystery or a question posed by media language. For example, the sudden use of 90s iconography constructs a hermeneutic sense of mystery for the audience. The preferred reading of this montage is that audiences ask themselves why this is happening, and an answer is quickly given
• Referential codes - Intertextuality, where a product makes reference to another product. This episode, being fixated on nostalgia, makes extensive use of referentiality 
• The function of myths - A myth is an established story that teaches us a lesson about the world. Barthes argues that the world is built on myths. Eg, SJ is a love story about two women who cannot be together 
• Claude Levi Strauss - Structuralism - the idea that everything has an underlying structure
• Binary oppositions - two concepts in total opposition that make meaning  
• How binary oppositions construct narrative - Tuckers and The Quagmire, creepy guy and Kelly, Kelly and Yorkie, life and death, simulation and reality, night and day, men and women, gay and straight…
• How binary oppositions construct ideological perspectives
• All narrative is conflict

Mock exam January 2024

 

Section A: Analysing Media Language and Representation

Time allowed: one hour

Representation

Question 1 is based on the unseen print resource and the Daily Mirror front page you have studied. You can find this below.

The print resource consists of the front page to The Observer, dated Sunday 1st November 2020, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced measures to mitigate the covid pandemic.

1 - Compare how audiences are positioned by the representations in The Observer front page and the Daily Mirror front page you have studied.

In your answer you should:

• consider how the representations construct versions of reality,

• consider the similarities and differences in how audiences are positioned by the representations, and

• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the representations relate to relevant media contexts. [30]

Click image to view full size. After the image opens, right click and 'open image in new tab' to zoom in on details 

Postmodernism - how to actually refer to the hardest theory in media studies

• Postmodernism in  media studies has a variety of different definitions
• One aspect of postmodernism is hyperreality, which is a representation which is more real than the thing that is being represented 
• What does this even mean? Reality is exaggerated, and reality is  subjective. What is real and what is not is unclear.
• But in our modern world, we can take this one step further, and declare that nothing is real.
• For Jean Baudrillard, life is a simulation, i.e. a constructed version of reality. Everything we do, say and believe is based on things which are not real. What makes it more confusing is that we all realise this. We all know that social media provides us with a highly mediated world based on constructed assumptions and that newspapers utilise biased modes of address to manufacture consent. But ultimately, we go along with it because it would be so much harder to actually interrogate this. 

Examples of hyperreality

• Avatar - the ‘perfect world’ of this film obsessed fans and created very intense fan relationships 
• The Met Gala - the exiting extreme fashion and watching beautiful people wear insane costumes is completely at odds with events going going on in the world at the moment, for example the genocide in Gaza
• The ordinary lives of people in films are romanticised. However, the lives led by film characters are objectively unrealistic. For example, we very rarely see characters using the toilet. That would be weird and gross and would FEEL unrealistic 
• The Hunger Games - the representation of poverty as something that can be overcome in exciting ways, and the representation of the ruling class as an elite, evil, group of bad guys simplifies the world in to a straightforward group of haves and have nots. 

Our lives are boring, and they also make no sense. However, media products are complicated, exciting, and give our lives purpose. This is hyperreality, where the representation makes WAY more sense than the thing it is supposed to represent! So how can we refer to this complicated concept for all of the set texts in component one?

1. Tide advert - the perfect picture, the perfect housewife. Beautiful, happy, and living an exciting life, this is completely different from the reality that everyone has accepted. But to admit that washing and cleaning is essentially state mandated slavery is too difficult to come to terms with
2. Kiss of The Vampire - the glamorization of murder and death as something exciting and sexy presents a hyperreal and escapist mode of address to the target audience 
3. Super.Human - the representation of disabled people is hyperreal. The rapid fire montage editing constructs an ideology that to be disabled to to face exciting challenges 
4.  Black Panther - the death scene presents a violent death as exciting and noble and promotes the idea that to be heroic in the face of death is the right thing 
5. I Daniel Blake - a heavily narrative story, where every word is relevant, and contributes to the plot. However, the film uses numerous techniques to make the film seem ‘real’, for example using cheap cameras, a complete lack of special effects, highly relatable costume, constructing a completely hyperreal mode of address
6. The Daily Mirror  - the highly biased news presented by this left leaning newspaper constructs a hyperreal worldview for the working class audience and reinforces their political ideologies 
7. The Times - the ideologies covered target a middle class audience, for example the hyperreal representation of the yoga woman on the front page asks the audience to align with the values of the newspaper. Additionally, the damning representation of Johnson reflects public opinion at the time, and reinforces the fact that newspapers will frequently change their ideology in order to minimise risk and maximise profit.
8. George’s Podcast - George’s delivery is perfect and clearly edited, yet there are a range of sound effects and unconventional cuts that construct a sense of realism. The relationship of the diegesis is particularly complicated, and constructs a complicated hyperreal mode of address 
9. Assassin’s Creed - the idea of being an ‘assassin’ is presented as a noble and positive choice, and the representation of violence is fun and exciting. The world of AC Unity allows audiences to live out their escapist fantasies, climbing buildings and punching strangers
10. Riptide - the representation of women and violence against women is represented in a hyperreal and stylish which constructs a confusing mode of address for the target audience
11. Formation - Beyoncé laying on the police car creates a hyperreal representation of dissent and opposing the ideologies of the police in a way which is unlikely to cause too much controversy. 

Jean Baudrillard argued that we live in a world where hyperreal representations exist which are more real than the thing that is being represented. Evaluate this postmodern theory. Make reference to the Black Mirror episode San Junipero and Les Revenants to support your answer. [30]

Welcome to the cleanest, quietest club in the world!

• A perfect example of a hyperreal representation that is significantly more real and more reliable than the thing being represented occurs early in the episode, where Yorkie enters the club. 
• The music is not extremely loud, but instead is at a comfortable volume which allows everyone to talk to each other in reasonable manner 
• Yorkie leaves her drink unattended at the bar which not only opens her to being spiked, but also is a complete waste of money and suggests that neither of these two issues exist in this world 
• Yorkie dips her hand into her pocket and is surprised and delighted to find she has money. Clear, financial poverty is no issue in this world 
• Everyone is clean, attractive, and having a good time. Everybody is reasonably good at dancing, and no one is in anyone’s way
• “Don’t make me red light you’. Presumably, this refers to a way of blocking unwelcome attention in the simulation, and suggests in this world, even  unwanted sexual advances can be ignored or completely removed, thus making this a perfect, hyperreal construct 
• The lighting is dim, yet adequate, and allows the viewer to see every detail perfectly
• This scene is reminiscent of club scenes in 80s films and suggests that Yorkie has chosen to engage in a hyperreal fantasy of 1980s films rather than from her own memories.  For Yorkie, the ultimate in reality is not her own life, but the 80s movies and music that she escaped in to. This is a perfect example of postmodernism ,and reinforces the idea that we live in a world that ultimately means nothing, and that fancy is more real than supposed reality 

Audience and industry - digitally convergent media, economic factors and the magazine industry

Explore how Adbusters uses digitally convergent media to appeal to and to address niche and non-mainstream audiences [15]

The majority of our proposed answer to this 15-marker comes from the Adbusters website itself. A great way to revise is simply going on the website, and then picking out specific examples to answer specific questions. 

• Digital convergence refers to the coming together of previously separate media industries thanks to digital technologies. While sales of print magazines have long declined, particularly among certain, younger demographics, innovative campaigns using synergetic and digitally convergent technology have led to magazines remaining relevant in a digitally convergent world. Adbusters makes heavy and innovative use of digitally convergent media in order to both appeal to and to address their niche, anti-capitalist and radical target audience. This anti-capitalist magazine uses the logic and aesthetic of detournement to position its audience in a radical mode of address. 
• The lack of anchorage in the magazine actively encourages active audiences to use digitally convergent technology to research the deeper themes and contexts of the magazines. This not only addresses the audience as someone already deeply involved in global activism, but also positions the audience in a deeply respectful mode of address, and does not insult the intelligence of the target audience.
• The home page of the website instantly links to the Tiktok account of Adbusters, using the snappy title ‘meme warfare’ . This highly politicised language actively engages and includes the activist target audience. Moreover, the selection of Tiktok as the primary social media account also potentially engages younger audiences. This is anchored through the selection of images of young and hegemonically attractive radical activists in the process of being arrested. By promoting this act of dissent, it cultivates the ideological perspectives that adbusters wishes to promote to its constructed younger target audience. Younger people tend to skew more heavily to progressive, left wing ideologies, and are also potentially more easily manipulated. Using the language of social media, in particular repeated images and ideologies, Adbusters presents a simple, straightforward and attractive representation of global activism where the target audience can feel they are making a difference
• The aesthetic of the website is messy, rugged, and takes a mixed media approach combining scribbles, photographs and scans. The website specifically resembles the magazine, especially the landing page, which cultivates an explicit and easily identifiable brand identity. This ugly and rugged address particularly appeals to younger and socially active audiences who wish to challenge the dominant hegemonic ideologies of capitalism
• The website also includes commonly repeated symbols, squiggles and calls for political activism and campaigns. These include the famous ‘buy nothing day’, ‘digital detox week’, a campaign encouraging audiences to let down the tyres of SUVs, and most famously occupy wall street. These high profile campaigns attract a younger, politically motivated audience who wish to push for change, and also position the target audience as political activists who are changing the world 
• Reception theory - the dominant ideological perspective is encoded through the codes and conventions of the magazine and the website, constructing a coherent brand identity. However, a commonly held oppositional reading of how adbusters targets its audiences is that it uses the language of capitalism in order to cultivate a certain ideological perspective. Audiences are encouraged to ‘cancel’ the Adbusters brand on incendiary articles about the Israel Palestine conflict. However, even this link links to the online shop, only providing the audience with the straightforward response of subscribing to the magazine. This is a perfect example of utilising digitally convergent technology to distribute the physical, old media edition of the magazine to a predominantly middle class audience who normally would not engage in such a product 

How have economic factors shaped the production of Woman magazine? [15]

The second half of the lesson took the form of research and a discussion, so there are only a few notes. If you want the whole story, you must attend the revision lessons :) 

Two further in depth articles about Woman and the magazine industry can be found here, and here

Simple straightforward sexist ideology

Hyperrealistic adverts

Power and profit 

Mass audience

Sexualisation

Aspirational mode of address

Patriarchal values

Cultivation of patriarchal ideologies

Hegemonic expectations 

Mass produced, mass distributed 

Many black and white pages minimise production costs

Sexist language “because you’re a woman’

Direct mode of address

The cultural industries IPC horizontally integrated to specialise in magazine production

Major manufacturer of magazines

Discriminatory values, reflecting dominant ideologies of the time 

Representation - analysing Super.Human (again)

I still can't download or save new images, but at least this one is informative and relevant

 

DAC

Representation refers to how an issue, event or person is shown again by the producer, using media language to reflect their often complex ideologies. In this essay, I shall argue that the Superhuman Paralympics trailer represents people with disabilities as powerful, mentally and physically strong, but also vulnerable, fragile and relatable to a wide range of target audiences. This representation is highly complex, and therefore challenges traditional representations of people with disabilities as being simple and straightforward. The Super.Human advert advertises Channel 4’s coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games, and does so by challenging stereotypes. 

Content 

• Stuart Hall argued that representations are constructed through media language 
• The final montage of the video uses fast paced editing to construct a representation of people with disabilities as hardworking. It also constructs an exciting mode of address for the mass mainstream target audience, not only interesting the audience, but representing disabled people as being fascinating, interesting and exciting 
• In the final montage, a binary opposition is constructed through the surprising cut from the fast paced montage to a peaceful and even dull shot of a stereotypical middle class white family cycling slowly on a tandem through a stereotypically middle class setting. This not only constructs white middle class people as being boring and straightforward, but also reinforced through binary opposition the struggle and excitement of competing in the games as a disabled person
• Other working class iconography includes the MES of the setting of the traditional cafe, the London accent of the singer, and the binary opposition this forms with the middle class representation of Boris Johnson 
• To be a Paralympian, there’s got to be something wrong with you’ the lexis presented on this intertitle constructs a polysemic mode of address, and simultaneously infers that not only is there something related to disability, but also there is something deeply ‘wrong’ with the mentality of competing in the Paralympic games. This is reinforced through the frequently disgusting MES of the puke bucket, the revolting endoscopy footage and the frequent use of blood all combine to represent disabled people as both vulnerable yet brave. His highly inclusive representation presents people with disabilities as being extremely visible, and may challenge the assumptions of the mass British audience 
• Additionally, the disabled athletes are also represented as being often stereotypically British . One stereotype about British people is that they do not complain, and endure even the worst hardship. This hyperreal representation of British identity will appeal to British audiences in particular, who will feel a sense of personal identity to the disabled participants. In doing so, the producers construct a highly relatable representation that challenges the idea that able-bodied people and disabled people are binary oppositions. 
• Representations of black hair challenge the hegemonic orthodoxy of white hair styles, and will appeal to a black audience

Preparing to revise for the end of year mock exam (KA4)

I've lost the ability to download images, so here's a picture of G block for no real reason

What do you need to know?

• The end of year mock exam is big and tough. It is designed to assess everything that we have done over the last year. 
• Not everything we covered will come up in the exam. This is because the exam emulates component one. Component one is the first exam that you will sit, and it covers only ‘first year topics’. However, we do not know what will come up in component one.
• There will also be questions that will involve analysing unseen media products. While you can definitely revise for this, there is no way of ever being completely prepared for these. And that’s fine! The examiner will be interested in how you respond to something unfamiliar, and how you apply media language and theory to it to help you revise.
• The unseen questions are probably the easiest ones to ‘blag’. But don’t blag them. Revise media language and theory to prepare!
• Other questions are all about cold hard facts. If you know the answer, that’s great! If you don’t, well, that’s not. 
• You cannot ‘blag’ the industry or audience questions, because they are about factual recall

What could come up?

1. Media language - 15 marks - 30 minutes - unseen analysis question - could be anything! Either video or print - use media terminology to get marks!
2. Representation - 30 mark - 60 minutes - unseen comparison - one of the set texts (Daily Mirror front page (Johnson), The Times front page (Johnson), Super.Human, Tide Advert, Kiss Of The Vampire poster) or music videos (Seventeen Going Under or Formation), compared with literally anything! -  use media terminology to get marks! But also how the producer has used representations to reconstruct reality 
3. Industry - 15 marks - 15 minutes - shorter questions about any one of the following - newspapers, videogames, film or radio - cold, hard, factual recall

How to use the blog to revise

• Mind maps - take a topic, concept or theory, and then surround this word with further information about it. Have information from the blog open in front of you
• Use the industries tab to find explicit information about every industry
• Use the revision checklist, under resources
• Use past paper questions. Either answer timed conditions, or simply just look at them!
• Learn specific definitions of keywords. Using flash cards, or covering up the definition and having a go at writing it yourself
• Open the textual analysis toolkit, find a funny advert on YouTube, and analyse it! Analyse anything you want!
• Want to know how to actually write an essay? Either check out this article, or watch the video version of it!
• Check out mark schemes and exemplar answers. There are some on the blog!
• Learn facts! Go on Wikipedia and rinse it for the latest facts!
• Theorists! Go on theories and theorist and make 19 flash cards in four different colours
• Use the revision pyramid! There’s no such thing as bad revision, but mixing up different kinds of revision will really help you, so using this poster will get you inspired!
• Check out videos. There’s my YouTube channel, Mrs Fisher, Mark Dixon, and possibly others
• Revision walk: go for a walk with flashcards! getting tested while doing something else can help your factual recall!
• Revise while cooking! While your chips are in the oven, read the blog on your phone!
• Get a bunch of post it notes, and stick them all around your house!
• Make a quiz! Quiz yourself! Quiz somebody else!
• Teach somebody else! Get a study buddy!

Representation - Adbusters, Woman and the re-presentation of reality

Question one - David Gauntlett asserts that audiences can actively construct their own identity through a process of mediation with the representations encoded in media products. Evaluate this theory of identity and representation. Make reference to the magazines you have studied to support your answers [30]

DAC introduction

David Gauntlett argues that audiences can pick and mix the ideologies of the producer to form their own identity. This complex process of negotiation sees the audience actively decoding complex messages, and provides producers incentives to either provide complex or straightforward representations to create a product that makes sense to the target audience. In this essay I shall argue that Gauntlet's theory is extremely useful in understanding how audiences can use magazines to form their own identity. However, I shall argue that the identities formed are wildly different depending on the target audience. In order to explore this, I shall refer to the October 1964 edition of Woman, a women’s lifestyle magazine which presents a straightforward ideology to a mass audience, and Adbusters, a complicated magazine that presents an unconventional mode of address to it’s unconventional, non-mainstream, niche activist audience 

 

Plan

Stuart Hall representation

Stuart Hall reception 

Anchorage

Liesbet Van Zoonen  - women’s bodies as spectacle 

Cultivation of ideologies

Weekly circulation woman magazine

Bimonthly, irregular circulation

Gender performativity

Covers

MES

Lexis

Layout

Conventional vs unconventional 

Ideologies

Hegemony

Codes

Patriarchy

Proairetic

Language

Lighting

Readings/interpretations

Colour

Makeup 

Hair

Composition

Mass audience

Niche audience

Anti-capitalism 

Cover lines

Narrative

For each spread:

1. Who or what is being represented?
2. How is the representation constructed through media language? 
3. How can the target audience use this to construct their own identity?

Louboutin double page spread 

• There are a number of different representations encoded in this double page spread. Firstly, the high end fashion house Louboutin themselves, who are represented in a fiercely controversial way. Additionally, there is a blunt, straightforward and stereotypical representation of black people, in particular black people living in third world countries. 
• An uncomfortable mode of address is constructed through the raw and serious selection of image, anchored through the unusual use of a birds eye view shot, explicitly ‘looking down’ on the MES of chapped, broken and poverty stricken feet. Coupled with the use of closeup, the middle class target audience are confronted with a highly unpleasant mode of address, which is further anchored through the dark humour of the Lexis ‘red soles are always in season’. Copied and pasted from an actual Louboutin advert, the lexis now has a dark and problematic meaning through its new anchorage, and is a perfect example of detournement, a concept which will appeal to educated middle class target audience.  
• Certain amount of cultural capital needed to understand this double page spread, which indicates a middle class target audience. Further anchored through the high cover price, this helps the audience to construct a middle class, educated, and also rebellious ideology. 
• Gender performativity: the audience essentially performs ‘class’, and Adbusters allows middle class audiences to performatively explore elements of being working class anarchists (Champagne socialism!!!)
• A complicated identity is therefore constructed for the target audience, that resists conventional ways of categorising audiences

Alfred Hitchcock double page spread

• Representational group - ‘they are like snow capped volcanoes’. The lexis here not only others women, in a women’s lifestyle magazine no less!, but also refers to the dichotomy between British women appearing beautiful and innocent on the surface, while also being sexually available and promiscuous below the surface. This ideological perspective is quoted word for word, from privileged and respected male director Alfred Hitchcock, and reinforces patriarchal hegemonic viewpoints prevalent at the time
• “Nottingham has a thriving industry of pretty, flirty girls” heavily stereotyped 
• Binary opposition between the MES of Hitchcock's hegemonically attractive face with Grace Kelly’s highly hegemonically attractive and desirable face, and reinforces the highly hierarchical nature of patriarchal society, where powerful men get what they want, and only hegemonically beautiful women can succeed 
• Kelley’s seductive facial expression is a construction, of both the photography, makeup artist, and crucially Hitchcock, who boasts of ‘grooming’ her to help her find success 
• Preferred reading - Alfred Hitchcock is a privileged and respectable man who decides what is sexually attractive. Rather than questions the deeply sexist and patriarchal ideologies in the article, the contemporary target audience would be expected to agree with the hegemonic values of the article
• Kelley is presented as an aspirational stereotype of a successful woman, but she is not self-made. The article reinforces that Kelley was constructed by Hitchcock. Therefore, the female target audience can use this interview as an escapist fantasy. However, it only reinforces the highly sexist and patriarchal ideology that women’s success is completely based on meeting a rich and powerful man, and also being sexually available to him 

Question two - To what extent are the choices made by the producer reflected in the representations in the magazines you have studied? [30]

DAC introduction

Representation refers to how the producer of a media product re-presents social groups, issues and events. Representations always reflect the ideology of the producer. However, representations are a reconstruction of a reality, and can both shape the world and manipulate audiences to believe the ideological perspective of the producer. Additionally, representations cause stereotypes to form, which are used to help audiences understand media products, yet always are harmful, and reflect imbalances of power (Hall). In this essay, I shall argue that the producers of both magazines show a clear and obvious reflection of their ideologies, which is primarily encoded through simple, straightforward and often manipulative representations. However both magazines also use at times complicated representations, which ensure the engagement of their respective audiences. I shall refer to the October 1964 edition of Woman, a women’s lifestyle magazine which presents a straightforward ideology to a mass audience, and Adbusters, a complicated magazine that presents an unconventional mode of address to it’s unconventional, non-mainstream, niche activist audience 

Plan

Suits

Feminism 

MES

Lexis

Cartoon

Conventional/unconventional 

Binary opposition

Hall

Fetishism (sexual/commodity)

bell hooks 

Van Zoonen

Anchorage

Hyperrealism 

Modes of address

Levi-Strauss

Binary oppositions 

Narrative

Barthes

Stereotypes

Subheadings

Copy

Layout

Low production values

Colour

Typography

Codes and conventions

Intertextuality

Content

Adbusters - homeless spread

• A strongly fluid representation of gender is constructed through the MERS of the highly androgynous representation of an alternative and striking fashion model. This striking representation is both anchored and further constructed through the MES of the hand being placed over the mouth of the model, constructing a powerful symbolic code, and suggesting a masculine mode address. Challenging conventional representations of femininity, this representation constructs a highly performative representation that breaks down what it means to be a man or a woman. This constructs the ideology that gender is not a fixed identity, and reflects the idea that we live in a complex world. 
• The striking and androgynous model constructs a binary opposition with the hegemonically attractive homeless woman on the other side of the spread. Her representation is constructed through the combination of childlike clothing and the MES of the individual sitting on a grate in the middle of a busy street. Directly addressing the audience, and clutching an empty cup of coffee, this atypical representation of women reflects the unconventional ideologies of the magazine, and exists to elicit sympathy, and draw attention to a complex and particularly problematic representation
• The lexis of the article directly situated to the right of the model suggests the fear of starvation. However, the article explicitly refers to climate change, and not explicitly the issue of homelessness in large American cities. Through the combination of these seemingly unrelated elements, a complicated narrative and set of representations addresses the educated target audience, who are expected to absorb these complex representations and put them all together in a complex act of negotiation. The producers of adbusters therefore argue that the representations of gender, social issues and inequality are all related, and to understand one of them requires understanding all of them. This highly complicated mode of address clearly targets a more educated target audience. 
• However, certain audiences will doubtless decode this double page spread in a simple and straightforward way, that homelessness, climate change and inequality are all bad things. In this sense, even audiences who do not engage with these complex representations will ultimately still align with the preferred reading 

Woman - EXTRA SPECIAL

• A binary opposition is constructed between the challenging representation of women in the article, and the hegemonic norms and expectations of women living in the 1960s. Thi8s potentially feminist perspective may be to help the magazine stand out from its immediate competitors (for example Woman’s Own magazine), and may also hope to influence the ideology of the target audience in subtle yet progressive ways. However, this representation of feminism is simple, straightforward, and unlikely to cause a revolution. 
• The main image features the surprising MES of a woman standing on top of a man. However, even this image is encoded in such a way so as not to incite revolution. The dress code of the man is formal, and presents him in a position of power, even though he is being trodden underfoot. His facial expression connotes annoyance, and his pose, with his feet outstretched connotes femininity, which presents a humorous mode of address to the target audience. Additionally, the woman treading gently on the man’s head is both happy, and hegemonically attractive, creating an intertextual reference to the conventions of the contemporary sitcom. While the image can be negotiated as being revolutionary, it is far more likely that the preferred reading is that the situation is ridiculous and humorous
• Additionally, the main image takes on a fetishistic quality, and presents an exciting and alluring mode of address to the working class middle aged target female audience. 
• The persuasive lexis of “keep it under your hat” creates a mocking and conspiratorial mode of address, that suggests that in order to have power over men, women are able to indirectly influence their significant other, through the selection of costumes, purchasing items such as ties and hats, and reinforces the patriarchal hegemonic ideology that women are only able to control a small part of their lives
• The satirical overtone of the article makes fun of the idea of feminism and women’s liberation

Media language - Woman, Adbusters, and textual analysis

While many different questions could be asked for the magazine industry, your principal argument is likely to always be the same. So, before we go any further, what are the fundamental differences between woman and adbusters? 

In order to keep things simple, let's only use the front covers of the two set editions to demonstrate how to answer two media language questions. Both of these questions are 30 markers, and therefore should take 50 minutes to answer. 

Question one - To what extent have historical contexts influenced the genre conventions of the magazines you have studied? [30]

DAC introduction

Genre refers to the ways in which a media product is categorised by the producer. Genre is absolutely essential for audiences as it allows audiences to decode the messages and ideologies encoded in magazines by producers. It is also essential for producers as it allows for audiences to be effectively targeted. In this essay, I shall argue that genre conventions are affected by historical contexts to a massive extent, and in fact present the single greatest factor in their differentiation. Genres shift over time, in a process known as genre fluidity, and societies ideologies as to what is right and wrong help influence this shift. I shall explore this idea by making reference to an edition of Woman published in 1964. Woman is women’s lifestyle magazine, first published in the 1930s that targets a female, working class mass audience. I shall contrast Woman with an edition of adbusters published in 2016. Adbusters is an unconventional hybrid of art, politics and counterculture that targets a middle class, nice audience. 

Content 

Woman 

• The main cover line promises audiences an interview with notable film director Alfred Hitchcock. The pull-quote here and its selection is typical of the woman’s lifestyle magazine. “British Women have a special magic”. The target audience are therefore positioned in an affirmative mode of address, which is delivered by a respected man. This reinforces the dominant patriarchal ideology of the 1960s, an the audience, feeling complemented, will be more likely to engage with this genre of magazine. 
• The selection of the model who features in the main cover image is hegemonically attractive, yet is differentiated from the glamorous representation of Grace Kelley from within the magazine. Instead, the model , through her symbolically natural makeup and her conventional haircut convey an ideology of a sweet, relatable housewife stereotype. This relatable mode of address specifically targets the mainstream class audience with a comparatively easy to achieve and and aspirational role model. Her unnatural smile, however, is connotative of the performative nature of gender, and the expectation of living up to hegemonic, patriarchally enforced beauty standards. This stereotypical assumption is highly typical of the women's lifestyle magazine 
• Airbrushed standards of beauty

Adbusters

• The costume of the model on the front of adbusters connotes war. However, completely lacking anchorage, this potentially middle eastern man represents any number of current conflicts and issues that face the world today. This highly confusing mode of address… ETC ETC ETC 

Question two: Roland Barthes argued that meaning is constructed through a symphony of codes. Evaluate this semiotic theory. Make reference to the magazines you have studied to support your answers [30]

Knee jerk reaction - Barthe’s theory is extremely useful at understanding the complex meanings constructed by magazines, providing the audience a range of opportunities to decode the often subtle ideologies of the producer

Plan 

Binary oppositions

Hermeneutic codes

Symbolic codes

Proairetic codes

Referential codes

Low productions values

MES

Anchorage

Main image

Unconventional adbusters

Conventional Woman 

CU

Feature article 

Headline

Ms

Hari and makeup 

Symbolic annihilation 

Subheadings

Commodity fetishism 

Stuart Hall

Liesbet van zoonen: codes construct sexist ideology

Coverlines

Masthead

Collage

Mixed media

Lexis

Colour scheme

Polysemy

Detournement 

Baudrillard

Audience positioning

Conservatism vs nihilism 

Capitalism vs anti-capitalism 

Men vs women 

Rich vs poor

DAC introduction

DAC introduction

Roland Barthes argued that a symphony of codes construct meaning in every media product. Barthe’s theory is extremely useful at understanding the complex meanings constructed by magazines, providing the audience a range of opportunities to decode the often subtle ideologies of the producer. In order to explore the wildly different ways in which codes can construct meanings, I shall be exploring the examples of Woman magazine, the edition here published in 1964 and appealing to mass, female, heterosexual, white conservative UK audiences. I shall contrast the meanings constructed in Woman with a 2016 edition of Adbusters, a Canadian anticapitalist magazine that p-resents a rather more complex and even inscrutable set of ideological perspectives to a diverse, yet predominately radical worldwide audience. 

An excellent example as to how ideological perspectives can be encoded through codes can be found in the front cover of both magazines.

Content

Adbusters

• Extensive use of hermeneutic codes, especially the screaming man that occupies the main image, constructs a distressing, violent and confusing mode of address. This highly unconventional utilisation of codes here constructs an address to a certain niche and radical audience, while at the same time distancing a mainstream mass audience. This use of unconventional codification is fairly typical on non-mainstream and anti-capitalist magazines
• The deliberately low production values, encoded through the MES of a brown splatter that covers both the masthead and the ‘cover model’ resembles nothing less than a printing error. This is highly unconventional, because this rejection of perfect production standards does not typically appeal to a mainstream mass audience. However, this highly unconventional mode of address can attract a certain radical niche audience who reject both the ideologies of capitalism and of commodity fetishism. By rejecting hegemonic traditional values, adbusters demonstrate through a symphony of codes a rejection of standard codes and conventions

Woman

• The symbolic code of the makeup of the model constructs an ideological perspective that from a hegemonic perspective, the function of women is to look good for a perceived heterosexual audience. This highly conservative and sexist ideology is further anchored through the additional symbolism of the purple background, which connotes a feminine and highly stereotypical mode of address. While Adbusters wants us to destroy the world, Woman magazine directly implores the heterosexual female target audience to conform to and reinforce certain hegemonic and heteronormative values. By conforming to patriarchal ideological perspectives of the time it was made, this impossible yet aspirational image encourages the lowly educated target audience to buy the magazine week after week in the hope of meeting these beauty standards. Codes here are completely essential in constructing this ideology

Ideology, conflict and District 9

How are themes of conflict encoded in the opening sequence of District Nine (Blomkampf, 2009)

Throughout District Nine, themes of conflict are expertly communicated by the director in a variety of different ways. The primary site of conflict that exists in this film is between a race of immigrant aliens (‘prawns’) and the humans who have to deal with their sudden appearance. Deeply allegorical, the South African setting clearly makes symbolic reference to apartheid, and therefore takes the science fiction genre in exciting new directions.  

Cinematography

The use of handheld cinematography to establish the city of Johannesburg establishes themes of chaos and conflict. This is further anchored through the use of handheld digital cinematography, that emphasises a sense of grittiness, verisimilitude, and a found footage quality that is quite unconventional of typical Hollywood film. The lack of stability of the camera is anchored through the MES of signs that encourage segregation between humans and aliens. 

The handheld technique is used again for the oppressive found footage shots of the interior of the mothership. However, the crisp digital camera shots of the modern footage is here replaced with gritty, disgusting and distorted video footage that constructs an element of conflict. Once more, this is emphasised through the inclusion of POV cinematography, positioning the audience as a human, and constructing a sense of fear, revulsion and disgust. Clearly, cinematography here is instrumental in constructing a very real binary opposition between alien and human. 

The use of natural lighting is used throughout the opening montage to construct a sense of documentary realism. This sense of realness conflicts harshly with the absurdity of the narrative premise, and helps for the premise to seem both natural, and to emphasise the allegorical elements 

Allegory - a narrative that represents a real world situation in a figurative manner 

Diegetically The film initially takes the form of documentary, alternating between vox pop/talking head shots, and murky found footage. However, as the film develops, the cinematography looses these elements, and becomes more formally cinematic. This combination of documentary style with formal Hollywood inspired cinema is deeply unconventional. This is an example of cinema verite (literally ‘the cinema of the truth). However this constant flip flopping between different cinematographic modes constructs a highly confusing mode of address, and therefore emphasises themes of conflict 

The varying levels of quality between different found footage elements constructs a narrative where the MNU are clearly underprepared and understaffed for the upcoming transportation. Furthermore, by wildly cutting backwards and forth between the chaotic streets of Jo’Burg and the calm, clean interiors of the offices, a further binary opposition is construction

Mise-en-scene

A sense of professionalism is encoded through Wilkus’s costume. His tie, tied in a classic Windsor, along with his almost excessively neat hair connotes a sense of naivety that contrasts radically with the audience’s expectations of Johannesburg as a city of danger and with a high crime rate. Wilkus is clearly bureaucratic, and exists to do his job. Wilkus is physically intimidated by Koobus, who pushes him to the floor, and emphasises the conflict that exists within the South African law enforcement system.

The ‘Human Only’ are connotative of segregation, and would be particularly resonant for a south African audience 

The MES of District 9 itself, and in particular its rough architecture is an actual slum/township on the outskirts of Johannesburg. The corrugated iron roofs a symbolic of poverty and oppression, and by using a real shanty town, the director is very much encoding themes of conflict

Almost every exterior shot is characterised through the MES of dirt, grime, and broken chunks of rubble scattered on the floor. Reminiscent of a war zone, these battered streets and alleyways connote a sense of displacement, and a sense of abandonment, that is continually at odds with the lives of the mostly white employees of the MNU. 

How are ideological state apparatuses and repressive state apparatuses represented in the ‘storming the township’ scene of District 9?

Note - you will need to revise Althusser's notion of ideological and repressive state apparatuses to understand these next few points. 

• This scene in particular takes a highly critical perspective of both RSAs and ISAs. 
• A binary opposition is constructed between the elaborate MES of the costumes of the private military forces, and the unarmed and potentially vulnerable aliens. 
• The proairetic code constructed through the pristine white truck of the MNU forces connotes an instrument of efficient violence . This notion of organised and structured violence is reinforced through the MES of abundant guns.
• The POV BEV shot of the paramilitary soldier peering out of the helicopter positions us directly as a repressive state apparatus. The brutish power of this man is reinforced and anchored through the pleonastic sound of the helicopter blades whirring, which serves to underline the sheer financial power of this organisation
• There is an interplay between the power of RSAs and ISAs in this scene. The MES of Wilkus’s clipboard and pen provides him with a false sense of legitimacy.  The idea of signing a sheet provides the event with a sense of authenticity, which is clearly contradicted by the presence of firearms. Furthermore, while Wilkus’s performance is often hilariously non-threatening, his dialogue is often laced with symbolic racism. He delightedly announces in the helicopter “this land is our land, please leave”, a clear allegorical reference to the South African apartheid movement. 
• Wilkus is the son in law of the CEO of MNU, and receives his power through highly nepotistic means. Wilkus is white, and is in charge of a series of rank and file black soldiers, who are positioned in considerably greater danger than him, proving that even with in the RSA system there are still strict hierarchies 

Whiplash discussion: Is Terrance Fletcher justified?

These notes were formed from a discussion that occurred immediately after viewing Whiplash's superlative ending sequence. The power of cinema is such that it can provoke extreme reactions, and the joyousness experienced through the conclusion of Whiplash is no exception. Yet as the final credits roll, we as the spectator are forced to question our joy. Has Fletcher's abuse been instrumental in allowing Andrew to become an exceptional musician? Is even considering such a viewpoint deeply unethical? Is Terrance Fletcher Justified? 

• Fletcher’s methods are by their very nature destructive. His ideology is that true talent can only be forged through absolute abuse. It could be argued that this is never justified
• No one person ‘signed up’ to be abused by Fletcher. In fact, his methods came as a complete surprise to Andrew who is in no way ready for them 
• Is a destructive act of self-recognition actually necessary to construct an exquisite talent? 
• Does the ending, as wonderful as it, function as an apology for abuse? Even at his pivotal, most joyous moment, Andrew is dripping in a mixture of sweat and blood, which is connotative of his continued abuse
• Does Fletcher even see anything in Andrew? Fletcher can only see his way, and takes ownership for Andrew's success in the final montage! Yet ultimately he is totally vindicated!
• Andrew’s own returning to the site of abuse is borderline masochistic. Andrew’s respect for Fletcher is horrifying and grotesque! Andrew is totally self-destructive!

A brief analysis of the opening sequence

• The MES of the character’s costumes, in particular the contrast between black constructs a clear and even stereotypical diametrical conflict between ‘good and evil'. And not only does this allow the story to be told through colour, it immediately and expediently explicates to the spectator the fundamental conflict at the heart of the narrative 
• While Andrew is constructed through even and considered lighting, Fletcher literally emerges from the darkness to be captured by a single high key light. This high key light constitutes a polysemic array of interpretations. The light could signify a halo, constructing Fletcher as a de facto living god. 
• However, Fletcher also resembles a devil. His bald head, oversized features, sunken eyes and generally oppressive visage constructs Fletcher as a relentlessly hideous figure
• However, Fletcher has an element of both dominant masculinity and raw sexuality about him. This is constructed through the combination of the MES of his tight black t shirt, coupled with the performance of huis flexed bicep
• Both are completely different representations of masculinity, and both come in to sharp conflict as the narrative unfold