What are the differences between C1 and C2?
C1 is unseen, C2 is ‘seen’
There is a big emphasis on analysis and evaluation
We know what is coming up in C2 (television, magazines, online media)
The questions in C2 are much longer, much more detailed, and much harder
50 minutes should be spent on each industry
One question in component two will make explicit reference to a theory, and/or ask you to evaluate it
Underline the key terms
Stuart Hall argues that stereotypes serve a variety of complex functions and are integral to understanding media products. Evaluate this theory of representation. Make reference to Humans and The Returned to support your response [30]
Knee jerk reaction
Stereotypes are very important to understanding media products. Stereotypes are used by many media producers to encode a simple, and basic understanding of characters. However all stereotypes reflect the ideology of the producer, and therefore all stereotypes exist as a system that others certain groups. Yet while Humans extensively uses stereotypes, Les Revs tends to avoid more obvious
Plan
Genre conventions
Shot types
Non diegetic sound
Diegetic sound
Allegory
OS shot
Low key lighting
Intertextuality
Target audience
Binary oppositions
Semiotics
Proairetic codes - something will happen
Hermeneutic - mystery
Symbolic - deeper meaning
Judith Butler - gender performativity (Anita!)
Liz Van Zoonen - representation of gender
Paul Gilroy - postcolonialism
Mogwai
Long takes
Introduction
DAC - definition, argument, context
Representation refers to how a group of people, an issue or an event are ‘re-presented’ by the producer in order to encode their ideology. However, according to Stuart Hall, producers rely on stereotypes, or commonly held assumptions, not only to provide straightforward narratives, but also to more easily explicate their ideological perspective. In this essay I shall argue that not only are stereotypes essential to understanding media products, they also fundamentally reflect the ideology of the producer. Yet by reducing people to a simple group of assumptions, I agree with Hall that stereotypes always serve to other or distance certain groups. In order to explore this idea, I shall refer to Humans, a Channel 4/AMC UK US co-production scifi TV series first broadcast in 2015, and Les Revenants (The Returned), a French language horror TV series first broadcast on Canal + in 2012.
Paragraphs
Les revs - Camille comes home
The atmospheric non-diegetic, composed by Scottish rock band Mogwai constructs a deeply unpleasant hermeneutic code, reinforcing the stereotype that ;little girls in horror films are scary
Camille is ‘uncanny, and is meant to be dead. Yet she is also a stereotypical and hegemonically normal young girl. This constructs a deeply unsettling hermeneutic code, and forces the audience to try and understand what is actually going on. It also reinforces the stereotype that children are creepy and unpredictable
Camille is unpredictable and wilful. She runs off to the bathroom, clumsily makes a sandwich, and insults her mother’s mug. Yet this forms a binary opposition to Claire’s shocked and distant expression, which constructs a deeply disconcerting polysemic mode of address to the target audience. This deeply confusing mode of address reinforces the confusing lives of teenage girls
Horror genre conventions - long shot of clare and Camilie shows Claire
Humans - Buying Anita
A high angle POV shot of Anita's feet protruding from her packaging positions the audience as Joe, the consumer, constructs a polysemic set of readings that exists somewhere between discomfort and anticipation.
An ECU of a zip being unzipped proairetically symbolises undressing and the sexual act. Yet the imagery of the MES of a bodybag and Anita’s lifeless body construct a deeply unpleasant polysemic interpretation that dehumanised anita, and horrifically combines sex and death, which may be deeply unsettling to the target audience
The notions of sex are further anchored through the performance of the salesman who proairetically winks at Joe, suggesting the sexual possibilities of Anita
Humans functions as a powerful criticism of the ways in which women are sexualised and used in our society, and this is something which is only possible through the use of stereotypes