Analyse the ways in which at least one group of people is 'mediated'.

Disability
Television:
- Paralympics
Coverage won a bafta in sports and live events
watched

- The Undatables
- Sex on wheels

Films:
- Forrest Gump

- Of mice and men
Crooks and Lenny both victimised


women not represented as much as men
films usually have disabled MALE character
however, paralympics gave sense of unity to both men and women

Joe Swanson
portrayed as independant
police officer, married, got a child, however his friends tease him





Will Savage (Hollyoaks)
- seen as quiet, shy, intellectual, but is dark and manipulative



THEORIES:
Paul Hunt identified 10 stereotypes that the media use to portray disabled people:

1.The disabled person as pitiable or pathetic



2. An object of curiosity or violence



3. Sinister or evil
- Dr No false hands



4. The super cripple
- Paralympics
- Joe Swash (Family Guy)


5.As atmosphere


6. Laughable
- Captain Hook (Peter Pan)


7. His/her own worst enemy


8. As a burden


9. As Non-sexual
Undateables
Sex on wheels



10. Being unable to participate in daily life




http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilCripple
http://www.google.co.uk/#output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=how+are+disabled+people+portrayed+in+the+media&oq=how+are+disabled+peopl&gs_l=hp.3.1.0l4.169.4257.0.5459.22.12.0.10.10.2.1220.3688.0j3j8j7-1.12.0...0.0...1c.1.14.psy-ab.GlWMzuGRqJI&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46751780,d.ZWU&fp=91c159786e7c7909&biw=1280&bih=927&safe=active
http://disabilitystudies.syr.edu/resources/literature.aspx

Representations

Representations in Earth Bound
- representation of working class teenage boys

• loud
• uncaring
• disrespectful
• reluctant to give up their seats

theories

 

- apparatus theory

• represented a sense of 'reality' that we see in most media forms, it was stereotypical but i used a scene that people could relate to

- representation of women

theory

- Laura Mulvey male gaze.

Was not present in short film, camera angles, narrative and characterisation did not sexualise main character because i wanted to challenge the conventions that women are always represented in a way that is pleasurable for men.

Real media text essay

Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.

Researching media texts help develop my own media product because it gave me an idea of what i need to include in my film. When researching i used youtube.com and shortoftheweek.com as a guide, youtube because it has films previous students had made, as well as films that had been created on phones etc that were amateur yet seemed proffesional, and shortoftheweek because it had proffesional short films as well as amateur. All of the videos I watched helped me discover the conventions of a short film, i also expanded my knowledge by using google.com to help me find the generic conventions used in all short films. Some of these were a) there are rarely more than two or three characters b) a twist c) situational. These are the ones that i chose to use in my film because a short film doesn't have enough time to develop a relationship with more than one or two characters and as my film was 5 minutes, it was not possible to develop a relationship with anyone apart from Mia, possibly a brief relationship with her mother.

Before the film production i had to research my locations, as well as taking into consideration health and safety issues, because my partner and i filmed by a bus stop, i had to make sure there wouldn't be any accidents by the road. As well as that, i had to make sure my possesions weren't in danger so i made sure the area i filmed in was safe and well lit, just in case something went wrong.

I used websites like twitter and facebook when doing my audience research as well as asking friends for their opinions of the storyline, this was because my audience was young adults i knew the best way to ask was through such social networking sites because most of the 'facebook friends' i have are around the age i wanted the target audience to be. When i did my first draft,  i posted the link onto facebook and asked my peers to answer the questionairre about my film to see how i could improve and get a wider target audience and whether or not the story was something they would be interested in watching once it was completed.

I also did a fair deal of research for my ancillary, in particular posters, where i used poster websites to narrow down the main conventions used typically. I used the format used on the posters on my own to make mine seem like a realistic portrayal of what i would see adverised in newspapers, on buses etc. For example how i recieved the feedback for the film, i used to same technique of putting a copy of the poster onto facebook and asking people to fill in the questionaires i had made, then using the feedback to make sure it was similar to the main product, in terms of the fonts of the title and caption, and theme.

Using experience from ASand a film award I did for the school's media arts week, I already had editing experience which  helped me put Earth Bound together effectively so it had a developed narrative and tension towards the end. I had a sufficient amount of knowledge about iMovie, which I used for AS the arts award production, so this already gave me an idea on how to cut clips to construct a certain effect. The use of music and ambiance also helped create tension, so deciding what music I should use for each scene was difficult, I used several uncopyrighted CD's and several websites, using genres and paces I thought would be right in each clip, for example, needing a dramatic build up for the end, yet a more upbeat tune for the rest of the film.

Black Youths

Stephen Lawrence Inquiry

- Stabbed to death on 22nd April 1993. Racially motivated, 5 or 6 white youths. No one convicted of the crime. Suspects were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

- police complaints authority; kent police investigated complaint by parents that first investigation was 'botched' by met police

july 31st; home sec. Jack Straw asked Sir William Macpherson to chair inquiry into matters arising from death of stephen

police investigation
- 'sequence of disasters and disapoinment'
- MP's criticised, accept their inves. was flawed
- claimed to be institutional racism
- friend and parents treated badly due to stereotypical assumptions

part 2 of inquiry
- stop and search complaints; black people stopped more often than white
- more likely to be arrested than white

conclusions
- there was fundamental errors, imcompetance, institional racism, failure of leadership by senior officers.
- Mr Panton, barrister, claimed if the colour roles were reversed police would have acted differently.
- Change needs to be created, but police can not do it alone.


Segregation.
- black boys may be taught apart from other children to help improve their grade.
- Mr Phillips called for tougher action on black fathers who don't take parenting responsibility
- Headteacher dismissed the idea of segregation claiming it would be too similar to segregation of America

Gypsies and Travellers

How do the contemporary media represent regions and ethnic/social/collective groups of people (gypsies and travellers) in different ways?


The media is seen as a very influential institution in society, this could be seen as both a negative or positive, as some sociologists argue it could manipulate people opinion to suit societies needs. In this essay i will be looking at how contemporary media forms such as film, television programs and online newspaper reports represent gypsies and travellers and how this portrayal is seen by both collectives.

Firstly, the popular television show 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' commissioned by Channel 4 explores the lives and traditions of several Irish Traveller families when preparing to unite through marriage. However, the title in itself is misleading as it shows Travellers originally from Ireland as opposed to the the Romany ethnic group which originated from India in the 14th century. This already could cause questioning of how realistic the representation is, however as the groups are seen as the 'other' to the British public this representation goes unquestioned and it seen to be what it was supposed to be seen as, a 'documentary' on this collective of people that live in caravans and wear skimpy clothes. The documentary is presented by a 'factual', British, typically middle class woman, who we connect with as one of our 'own'. This could also have an effect on the way we see certain things, for when we connect with certain people we are more likely to value their opinion as fact. Because of the little we know about certain cultures and because Channel 4 is known for showing groundbreaking documentaries about minority ethnic/social/collective groups, this is one of the main ways we as viewers find out about things we may not have been able to research before. One perspective that links with this view is Marxism. This is because it believes that those in power reinforce their ideals and ideologies.

As I stated, the documentary focuses on such aspects such as the clothes the females wear throughout the show. This could link with the feminist Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze because of the camera angles and the close ups which suggest this is normal. Other feminists would also argue that the representations are negative towards women, not only presenting them as submissive to the Traveller men, but the fact that they need to be in revealing clothing and make up suggests they have to create 'perfect' versions of themselves so that they are able to get husbands which portrays a shallow and sexualised view. 

 Online student newspaper yorkvision.com did a feature on the prejudice, where several Romany gypsies discussed their opinion on the portrayal of 'gypsies'. Although E4 did make sure the audience were clear of the different groups being shown, there was confusion as to why the two collectives where put into a documentary together as their lifestyle is completely different to the other, the fact that they are both 'wandering' groups the documentary doesn't take into account the language, origins and culture that make both of them unique. 

Finally, 2001 film Snatch by British Filmmaker Guy Ritchie also uses the term Gypsy to describe one collective in the film, however, like BFGW they are actually Irish Travellers and are seen in a very negative view, however the whole film does have negative depictions of many different collectives of people including Russians and Blacks it also uses the same effect BFGW does, using a voiceover of one of the main characters who was British which Marxists could argue aligns us that view because we as British people would sympathise more with our own as opposed to the 'alien' subcultures.





Snatch


http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/tvs-portrayal-of-gypsy-culture-is-one-big-fat-myth-28773885.html
http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-gypsies-and-travellers/
http://www.yorkvision.co.uk/features/my-big-fat-gypsy-prejudice/



charlie chaplin, gyspy episode - historical

how is the traveller lifestyle mediated

watching the clips you see a sense of the lifestyle with the 'voice overs' like Snatch which are of a middle class white woman with a british accent which makes us relate more to her and see the gypsy culture as more alien.
The poster was titled 'bigger, fatter, gypsier' which caused contraversy and serious offence to the traveller society but to those outside it seemed just like a good slogan, but we didn't take into account that it could be seen as 'racist' because they wouldn't say 'bigger, fatter, blacker' or 'bigger, fatter, more asian' etc

With reference to any one group of people that you have studied, discuss how their identity has been ‘mediated’.

With reference to any one group of people that you have studied, discuss how their identity has been ‘mediated’

the definition of mediated can be used in two different contexts. firstly you could take the dictionary definition, (verb) Intervene in a dispute to bring about an agreement or reconciliation, or you can separate the word to create 'media' and 'ted' this could be interpreted as influencing the views of the audience and creating a false perception of a certain topic or representation. In this essay i will be explaining how british youth, especially working class  have been mediated though the dominant, alternative, redundant, absent and entropic representations. 


Around the 1970's Cohen introduced the term "moral panic" in describing the way  the media reacts to particular social groups or particularly threatening. In regards to representation of British youth, these 'panics' can be seen through newspaper articles, especially during the 2011 riots where they were presented as the main perpetrators and referred to as 'yobs', 'hoodies' and 'thugs' this could be portrayed as a form of mediation as this creates the dominant representation, which as marxist theorists would claim to be the bourgeoisie dominating the working class and creating hegemony. This also links into the theory of the hyperdermic needle, where the viewers are being 'injected' with the views of this capitalist ideology with passiveness.

However, there is other representations to british youth, that challenges the idea of a moral panic by creating a situation that's based on humour and more positive and 'realistic' portrayals of youth. One example is the inbetweeners, a program about 4 teenage boys and their daily escapades, which usually have a comical journey. This representation as opposed to the other shows youth in a way that makes them look less threatening and more of a joke to those around them such as the elderly and children. In a way this does have a beneficial effect for british youth as it weakens the stereotype of them being violent and menacing. However, certain aspects of the alternative have to be considered for example the show is based on for white boys, not the race more focused on when involved in criminal and other anti-social behaviour. Another factor is that the boys are all from working class backgrounds except one, and as he is from a more middle-class background he is both smarter and has more common sense then his working class friends, so naturally gets them out of trouble. This could also be argued to reinforce the ideology that working class males are dumber then the middle class man therefore should be submissive to the help given by him. 

When a representation is classed as 'redundant' it means the portrayal of a certain group has been shown so often the image no longer has any power over the audience. This challenges the hyperdermic needle theory as it claims that the audience aren't actually passive when they're watching programs. When discussing british youth, an example of this could be working class youths living in council estates, for example in Fish Tank the characters living in tower blocks seemed like a normal environment because usually that is the setting that is placed in. 

An absent representation refers to when a group is not represented at all or very little in society. For example most representations of british young females revolves around working class females for example Skins rarely involves upper class females however when they are portrayed it shows them as being annoying and shallow or as easy ways of getting sex, with sometimes comical voices. This representation can have a negative effect as it brings a certain image around the upper/middle class females, both connoting the superiority of the male gender and also showing how youths from a working class see people outside of their 'class' which could be a more realistic portrayal and some could argue that this goes against the marxist idea that capitalist ideology influences the portrayals of the audience and the writers. However, feminists could argue this portrayal is a example of 'symbolic annihilation' (Tuchman) and they are misrepresented in a trivialized way such as being extremely sexually active and unsophisticated. 

Finally, the entropic representation is the way a representation is challenged in a controversial way. When something is controversial it usually challenges the normal conventions of something, however this could mean it's exaggerated or a portrayal of something that isn't usually mentioned in society. One again i bring up the e4 show Skins, as it was seen as very controversial at the time it came out focusing on casual teenage sex, drug and alcohol abuse. This representation has several effects for example it can cause a moral panic as well as entertain. Parents watching Skins will be shocked at how teenagers present themselves in the show so this could have a negative effect on how they see youth. The show was rated an 18 which is ironic as the show was based around 16/17 year olds in their first year of college. This could be argued as helping aware parents of their teens sexual promiscuity and this 'mediates' or influences parents ideas of how t0 deal with such situations. But because the show was written by young people, the average age of 22, this could be exaggerated for entertainment purposes. 

In conclusion, the youth of Britain have been portrayed in mostly negative ways, including females from the upper class. This could be because of entertainment purposes as most people enjoy more negative portrayals as opposed to positive because it shocking and seemingly more 'realistic'. However this negative image has not been portrayed as much through the portrayal of middle class white males. I think that youth have been mediated in a sense that it influences our views, maybe not as much as the hyperdermic needle suggests, but because it focuses on a small subculture as opposed to a grand scale. In it's portrayals it doesn't take into account the various other groups that may not be represented. In terms of the verb it may intervene in the dispute of how youth are 'reckless' and could offer suggestions to how to help. For example, the e4 website does offer support and advice to those who may be going through similar issues as the characters in skins.