Most media texts target a range of different audiences, how true is this of your chosen texts?

In the little sequence we see in Lost there are examples of how the producers are trying to target their chosen audiences. To begin Lost is made by ABC which is a major film label, so we know it is aimed at a mainstream audience.  Furthermore some enigma codes are shown. We see a handful of characters walking through the forest together in a big group, like they are vulnerable on their own. As an audience this makes us question what is in this forest and what danger could possible happen. This is supported by the non-digetic sound. The the slow flowing music is full of  tension and suspense. The second enigma code we see is when Syed and Sawyer argue. These two characters clash and argue quite a lot in the starting stages, we even see them fighting earlier on. This makes us as an audience question what will happen between these two. Will they fight even more or become friends? The use of the hypodermic model through this allows the audience to passively be entertained by these devices. However the uses and gratifications theory can be applied after a audience watch Lost. After it is over they still think about what has happened in the text and actively engage with it in their mind others online.

Before we even see the bear we hear the use of digetic sounds such as bushes rustling and aggressive growling. As this is happening the camera queues to close ups of the characters faces and their expressions. This allows the audience to gain a deeper insight as to what each of the characters seen is like, letting us learn about their personality and how they act when in trouble.

Targets

-Try to be more consistent.
-Refer to key scenes in technical detail to make analysis more relevant for question.
-Discuss other films in more depth for each genre to support my  point of view.
-Try to be consistent throughout all texts to raise my overall grade.
-Revise key scenes in preparation or further mock exam questions.

Most texts today mix genres. How true is this to your three main texts?

This is true of District 9. Throughout we see lots of references to other films of the Science fiction genre  with reference to postmodernism and its conventions. To start, the idea of someone fighting their own race to save another is a common feature in this film. At the end of district 9 there is a big shoot out where Wikkus is in the alien machine fighting the militia and the MNU while Christopher is running to the mother ship. This idea of killing your own race to save another links to Avatar and how he also fights his own race for another. In this particular scene of District 9 the idea of a dystopian society is obvious. When looking at the Mise-en-scene we see the war torn ground, MNU vehicles and soldiers, the Militia soldiers, alien technology and corpses lying everywhere. These conventions give a clear message that this is a dystopian society, a aggressive world they live in with no clear way of peace. In addition to this, in District 9 there are some typical Si-Fi genre conventions involved in this. The alien technology and the transformation are the two obvious connotations. In the scene where wikkus is sitting at his desk, just as the transformation is starting to occur we see use of Pastiche with reference to 'The Fly'. In this scene we see Wikkus pull off his nail as his human body is starting to decay and transform. Putting the two scenes side by side we can see that it is almost equal to the scene in the human fly where he also pulls his nail of in the early stages of transformation. However the Mise-en-scene in District 9 in this scene is filmed with a much more documentary side approach. The digetic sound of the office and people talking just makes it seem like it is an ordinary work place. However everywhere we see the MNU logo, showing that this is a dystopian and dominated society with strict rules, giving a feeling of great oppression. There is also bricolage in this scene. There is a mix of documentary, horror and science fiction. The documentary side is the office and its typical conventions, the horror side is the gore aspect with he use of decay and the sifi aspect in this scene is the transformation.

That was terrible ^^^^

Induction paragraph.

I will be exploring if Hip-hop presents stereotypical views on ideas of masculinity and if so how are they shown.

Throughout i shall be looking at particular songs and music videos which represent clearly what the society is like and how they're trying to express this. In doing so i shall be looking into artists to compare associated with this album. The artists and albums which i am looking to compare and contrast are Public enemy - 'It takes a nation of millions to hold us back', a more older version of hip hop, and Dr.Dre's album -'The Chronic', still a older version of hip of hop but the views and musicality between these artists is comparable.

Gender representation in Hip-hop slide

http://genderrepinhiphop.blogspot.co.uk

"Hip Hop is one of the largest cultural movements that the world has seen. It was born in the United States through racial, class and gendered divides as a way for marginalized, primarily black and brown youth in the United States, to share their stories and experiences. In desegregated communities suffering from the effects of “white flight”, from near non-existent social services, from police who were the bad guys, from the devastation of drug addiction and dealing, in communities that suffered – hip hop grew.
The spirit of hip hop has always been one of empowerment through artistic expression. The four elements of hip hop - b-boying/b-girling, DJing, graffiti and MCing - are art forms that have enabled people to articulate the reality of their lived experiences and to share their knowledge with the world. It is the artistic embodiment of “the personal is political.” These art forms have always represented another aspect of hip hop: the notion of constant battle. Just as hip hop is about fighting both self-imposed and systemic oppression; success for hip hop artists is about competition - with oneself to be better, and among others to be the best.
Hip hop is about self-education and the encouragement of people to improve their circumstances through advancement of their knowledge and their skills." 

http://www.themissgproject.org/teachers/MissG-Curriculum-HipHopUnit.pdf

Fish tank.

Fish tank is a social realism film targeted at a Niche audience. This film was constructed to give a clear representation of the realism of this particular society, what the culture is like and what troubles the individuals face. As the film starts, before we see anything we can already hear the sound of traffic, sirens and the outdoors. To the trained ear it would be easily identifiable to recognize this as a social realism film just from this as usually in other genres to start off there is some form of music, digetic or non digetic. Shortly after this we see Mia who happens to be the main character. In many social realism films the directors use unseen actors as it helps add to the realism of the film. To add to this many of the actors in Fish tank had never acted before, so their untrained acting also has that sense of naturalness too it which you couldn't find in Hollywood films for example. In social realist films the main goal is obviously to make it as real as possible, and to portray a clear picture of that society. In Fish tank there are a series of things which help achieve that. The English accent, slang and swearing. The gritty accent and the use of foul language in Fish tank helps express the idea of poverty in that area, even what they are wearing adds to that. The raggy cheap track suits and vests which a lot of them seems to wear sends us a message of no money and little motivation to look good. Another thing which helps achieve this gritty social realist style is the use of natural lighting and hand held cameras. Being a low budget film it works perfectly in social realist films as it actually relates to how real life is. As far as natural lighting is concerned you wouldn't have hard and dark lighting effects in normal day to day life, so this natural lighting really helps portray them as real people with normal things happening, relating to use as an audience as we also live in the real world. The hand held camera on the other hand makes us feel like we are there. There is a scene where we see Mia walking quite fast and a hand held camera is following her. It just adds to the realism of the scene instead of a expensive shot where it wouldn't connect with the audience as much as a hand held shot where the screen is all shaky would. Her walk says something too. Her walk is fast and rushed, like she has somewhere to be, or even running away from something. But in reality she has nowhere to go and is just trapped in this place.

In the film there are quite a few scenes of the female gaze, contrary to the male gaze in a lot of films. We can say this female gaze makes her the sole focus even more as throughout the film the camera is either through her eyes, or on her. Seeing this female gaze we learn about her personality. Learning that  she does feel attraction towards men. The fact that the director of fish tank is female shows her views and how she wanted to turn a nice twist on what gaze is represented. Another thing to point out about Mia is that she takes after her mother. Her mum is dressed like a tart and speaks uneducated, with swearing and cursing. She is not an appropriate role model for her daughters. As a result of this Mia looked up to her and took after her. They both share a similar attitude of hate and anger. Mia's younger sister is on the verge of becoming the same too, as a result of bad parenting Mia's little sister looks up to her mum and Mia and swears just the same, even though she looks eight years old. This example is a realistic portrayal of what this society is like, how everyone takes after each other with this broken language of swearing, the cheap clothes and horrible attitudes, and how its just on a continuous cycle through generations. Relating back to the idea of Mia being somewhat trapped in this place throughout the film we also see a horse on a chain. Mia and this horse seem to connect throughout as they are both in similar situations. They are both trapped with no clear way of getting out. Mia feels sorry for the horse and when it goes she starts to cry. This is the only time in the film where we see proper emotion come from her, telling us that there is more to her behind the strong and angry front she puts on.