To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre? (30 marks)

For this question I have chose the movie Sin City as my text. I believe that this film's genre is a hybrid of Film Noir and Comic Book. Some conventions of these that are shown in this text are certain characters and high contrast colours. Common characters in these genres are damaged protagonists and main characters, femme fatales, villains, and thugs and henchmen. The high contrast colours are a big part of the visual effects due to the nature of them. The very dark blacks and very bright whites make a big impact on the film as a visual text. Another convention is the weather; it is nearly always raining or damp, and there is sometimes storms involving thunder and lightning. Fighting and blood is also common in these genres.

One scene that I know which contains all these conventions is set in a deserted farm. Marv (the damaged protagonist) comes to avenge his lover called Goldie (his femme fatale) by killing Kevin (the twisted villain). In this scene is heavy rain and when the camera points to the sky, you can see and hear the flashes and sounds of thunder and lightning.

To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?

The film Fish Tank fits in to the genre of Social realism, and it is very typical of this genre. The films contains many 'kitchen sink' moments, where the scene is based in the house, more specifically the kitchen, and the characters usually are just talking there. The film characters are working class, and the genre usually portrays them as heros even though they are not of a high class in society, and do not get a lot of media coverage. The shooting of the film consists of a lot of handheld cameras, and the shots are sometimes very long, and sometimes the film feels like a documentary. The locations are usually real places, and because the characters are working class, these locations are deprived areas. The only sound heard is diegetic.

One scene which contains a lot of these elements is a scene where Mia is in the kitchen dancing and then Connor, her mums boyfriend walks in. They talk by the kitchen sink in the small kitchen in their flat for about 3 minutes, and it is filmed by a handheld camera. There is no editing, it is just one long scene. There is music on but it is diegetic, coming from the TV.

Coursework essay

How far do the music videos of Rihanna and Ludacris portray contemporary representations of women and men?

  For my media research investigation, I will be asking the question ‘How far do the music videos of Rihanna and Ludacris portray contemporary representations of women and men?’ I will be exploring how music videos objectify women and I will apply Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze to determine how the camera is used to present a masculine view of women. The Male Gaze theory states that 'women are typically the objects, rather than the posessers, of gaze because the control of the camera' (11). I will also be looking at how the Uses and Gratifications theory is used to give the audience pleasure and entertainment. The Uses and Gratifications theory 'assumes that members of the audience are not passive, but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media in to their own lives' (12). The Male Gaze theory will focus on how women are being shown in the videos to please the males watching, and Uses and Gratifications will show how the audience reacts to what is shown in the video, and how they can gain pleasure from it and how they can be part of social integration from it.

  Rude Boy by Rihanna (1) is the first music video I will be looking at. The song and video were both released in 2009 (13). It was the third single released from her fourth album 'Rated R'. Throughout the video, she is dancing in high heels and very little clothing, and her outfits change a lot. In some parts of the video after the beginning, there are men watching her or standing next her, and sometimes dancing with her. There is one shot where she fiddles with a mans shirt and then looks down his trousers. There are lots of close ups on her face, especially her lips, and at one point there is a close up of her breasts. I can look at both theories with this video, especially the Male Gaze.

  Act A Fool by Ludacris (2) is the second music video I'm looking at. The song and video were both released in 2003 (14). It was released as a stand-alone single for the film '2 Fast 2 Furious'. In most of the video, there are expensive-looking modified cars, and the video revolves around them. They are being driven by both genders, including Ludacris, and there are a few shots of Ludacris crouching down and rapping next to a car wheel. The cars are used to cause trouble, escape the police and race in the streets. Before racing, a girl who holds the flag to start the race lets an elderly lady cross the road, at which point a woman in a car tells the old lady to hurry up across. One of the cars break down with a man and woman in it, and the man makes the car go down at an angle so the woman is all on top of him. Later on, the car is being fixed by 3 women, and a man is behind watching pulling sexual facial expressions. All of the women in the video wear little clothing. Both theories feature largely in this video.

  Rihanna's music video Rude Boy (1) is not the first Rihanna video to be infamous because of how raunchy it is; We Found Love (3) and S 'n' M (4) proved very controversial because of the video and lyrics. The video consists of her dancing around, occasionally with some men. The Male Gaze was obviously a key element in the making of this video. The camera shows her making lots of sexual facial expressions and  the way the camera zooms onto her face and body shows her in a provocative way. The video shows her in a dominant position over the men involved, because she is walking round them and standing above them in some scenes, yet she is still doing things like dancing provocatively, and it seems she is doing this for the men, and heterosexual men would usually and stereotypically enjoy this. 'The audience's voyeuristic phantasy is encouraged by the contrast between the darkness of the cinema and the changing patterns of light on the screen' (15) this theory could have been put to use in this video; it contains lots of different, bright colours, making it stand out on the website or television being used to watch this video. The music industry is still mainly run by men (5) so they know what other men want to see in music videos their sons and daughters will most likely be watching. "...every person I have come across in this business in any position of power have been men - and even more, they have been white men." This is a quote by Speech Debelle in source 5. By encorporating the Male Gaze, the children can enjoy the music and can idolise the singer in question, and the father can watch and enjoy watching the singer dance around. Uses and Gratifications comes into it now, because whatever age you are, the chances are, if you are a girl, you will idolise this singer. She is a mainstream singer with lots of talent and lots of money and good looks, which is what girls can easily aspire to. Also she can be seen in the video dancing with topless muscly men, which older girls will like because they will be getting to, or they will be at the age where they start looking at males in a sexual way.

  Despite this, some people believe that she is still a bad representation of modern women. As well as being a talented idol for many, 'instead of using her fame as a platform to become a role model, Rihanna would rather post revealing photos and passive-agressive messages online' (6). Even respected artists such as Will Young have quoted 'I don't think Rihanna is a massively great role model for women, her lyrics aren't empowering.' (7)

  Act A Fool by Ludacris (2) does not have constant examples of the Male Gaze but still has examples occasionally, dotted throughout the video, and it links in with Uses and Gratifications at the same time. A good example of this is at the beginning of the video when some attractive women not wearing a lot come out of some expensive modified cars. The males watching will enjoy the women and cars, and will maybe aspire to have their money and cars. Females watching could also aspire to have their money and lifestyle as well, and maybe even the women's looks. Despite this, it shows women are second to the power of the men, because the men will do what they want around the women and the women will be passive and allow it to happen. This video though portrays both genders in a bad light. Firstly, they are all breaking the law by speeding and crashing through things, and then evading the police that catch them doing them. Then before breaking the law some more by racing in the streets, a woman shouts at an elderly woman. This video overall could easily be effecting small children's minds. If they are watching this video, they may not know much better than to look to adults to see whats right. It also gives young black men and women bad representations, and this representation could be passed on to others who have not even watched the video through speech and social interaction. Ludacris has had other controversial videos; His video Pussy Poppin' (8) was banned, and Ride (9) and Jingalin' (10) are also infamous. Although many critics praise him for his 'lightning-quick phrasing and cutting wit' and 'witty wordplay, Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly was quoted as saying that he has 'too many cuts are simply one note jokes stretched out to 3-4 minutes' and that the sexual nature of his album(s) are 'cringe-worth misogynistic snorefests' (16).

  Through this research, my views have slightly changed. My view was that Rihanna was a good role model making good music, but I never realised that she was involved in so much controversy. This has all made me think that parents should be careful when they let their child watch music videos on the internet, because if this is a correct representation of other music videos, children are in danger of being exposed to things of an adult nature too early in their lives. Ludacris' video is similar in the way it is harmful to young children's minds, and his lyrics in other songs can be offensive as well.

1. Rihanna - Rude Boy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82VE8UtW8A 
2. Ludacris - Act A Fool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA7gnSyuIik
3. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2064474/Rihanna-isnt-fazed-saucy-video-banned-France-posing-sexy-new-photo-shoot.html
4. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657144/rihanna-s-m-video-banned.jhtml
5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/aug/02/nme-krissi-murison-louise-wener
6. http://hollywoodlife.com/2012/04/19/rihanna-bad-role-model/
7. http://www.heatworld.com/Celeb-News/2012/03/Will-Young-Rihanna-is-not-a-good-role-model/
8. http://www.contactmusic.com/news-article/ludacris.-x.rated-video-banned
9. http://www.rnbmusicblog.com/ciara-ride-music-video-official-premiere-ft-ludacris/12225/
10. http://idolator.com/6767491/ludacris-jingalin-video
11. http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/08/26/faq-what-is-the-“male-gaze”/
12. http://www.slideshare.net/zlorhenley/uses-and-gratifications-theory-6933502
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rude_Boy_(song)

14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_a_Fool_(Ludacris_song)

15. 'An introduction to cultural theory and popular culture' by John Storey (book)
16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken-n-Beer

Women and Men in music videos

http://heathenmedia.co.uk/sledgehammer/2011/10/20/representation-–-representation-of-gender-in-music-video/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/04/women-sex-object-music-video-research-study.html
http://dambour.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/sexualization-of-women-in-music-videos.html
http://raprehab.com/2012/02/images-of-black-women-in-music-videos/
http://ealert.mysistahs.org/features/hiphop.htm
http://www.confidencecoalition.org/statistics-women
http://heathenmedia.co.uk/prayer/2011/10/19/representation-of-gender-in-a-music-video/
http://vashtijoseph.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/the-effect-of-female-portrayal-in-music-videos-on-men’s-views-and-expectations-toward-women/

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/07/13/3544673.htm

Albums

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/rihanna-music-of-the-sun/619
http://www.allmusic.com/album/music-of-the-sun-mw0000723815

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/26029/Rihanna-A-Girl-Like-Me/
http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/rihannagirllike.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/32bd
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10320-good-girl-gone-bad/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/11/album-review-rihannas-rated-r.html
http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/11/album-review-rihanna-rated-r/

http://www.nme.com/reviews/rihanna/11718
http://www.muumuse.com/2010/11/rihanna-loud-album-review.html/

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16072-rihanna-talk-that-talk/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/arts/music/talk-that-talk-by-rihanna-music-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/27232/Ludacris-Back-For-The-First-Time/
http://www.avclub.com/articles/ludacris-back-for-the-first-time,18215/

http://www.nme.com/reviews/ludacris/6048
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.121/title.ludacris-word-of-mouf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/8qhj
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,519560,00.html

http://www.cokemachineglow.com/record_review/1147/ludacris#.UHfeLI7R38s
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.496/title.ludacris-red-light-district

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9469-release-therapy/
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/10611/Ludacris-Release-Therapy/

http://www.djbooth.net/index/albums/review/ludacris-theater-of-the-mind-1123081/
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.1067/title.ludacris-theater-of-the-mind

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/03/album-review-ludacris-battle-of-the-sexes.html
http://planetill.com/2010/03/album-review-ludacris-battle-of-the-sexes/

Music videos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rihanna
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2064474/Rihanna-isnt-fazed-saucy-video-banned-France-posing-sexy-new-photo-shoot.html
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657144/rihanna-s-m-video-banned.jhtml
http://idolator.com/6415411/rihanna-where-have-you-been-video-review-revue
http://top40.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/Top-10-Rihanna-Videos.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/oct/23/rihanna-music-video
http://whatculture.com/music/rihanna-where-have-you-been-music-video-review.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludacris
http://www.contactmusic.com/news-article/ludacris.-x.rated-video-banned
http://www.rnbmusicblog.com/ciara-ride-music-video-official-premiere-ft-ludacris/12225/
http://idolator.com/6767491/ludacris-jingalin-video

http://www.tv.com/shows/lost/reviews/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411008/reviews?start=0

These reviews are divided. About 60% say that the series is one of the best ever made; the story line is second to none, and the characters are completely relatable. the other 40% say that the story is too flawed and confusing and that some characters are boring and poorly cast.

Explore the marketing strategies used by your selected industry. Use the examples you have studied to illustrate your answer

http://www.cafepress.com/+abc-lost+gifts
The website above has a whole collection of gifts, ranging from t shirts, to mugs, to dog bowls. The only websites with Lost merchandise I can find are American. This is because it was such a big hit over there, where as it wasn't so big over here.

http://www.goldlabel.com/mad-men
Mad Men has similar merchandise, but focuses a bit more on sophisticated things like shot glasses and calendars, because its aimed at an audience of higher class.

How do your chosen texts attract their audiences?

Lost's cast has a variety of people, an ensemble cast. They are predominantly American, with one young woman who is Australian, an English man, a couple from Japan and an Iraqi soldier. There is also a mixture of body build, skin colour and age. Lost has a typical episode structure of Todorov's theory. There is always at least one equilibrium and dis-equilibrium in an episode, and there are many depictions of heros and villains.

'Most media texts target a range of different audiences'. How true is this for your chosen text?

For the programme I've chosen, Mad Men, I don't think this is true. I find that Mad Men is very slow moving. This does not appeal to a lot of people, most mainstream programmes have a normal or fast pace to them. The characters have a small age range as well. The youngest and oldest characters seem to be 30 and 60 years old respectively. They also all work in a high class work office in an urban high class area of America. This also means that the characters are of a high class as well, the majority of which are men. The whole programme seems to be aimed at people over 30, in a socio economic class of C1 or above.

Rihanna - Rude Boy

Throughout all of the video there are shots of her dancing provocatively wearing very little clothing (interestingly she is always wearing high heels as well), and for most of the video after the beginning, there are men who are either just standing there next to her, or watching her do the above, or are dancing separately. She also fiddles with one of the mens shirts in one shot.

Ludacris - Act A Fool

At the beginning of the video, a few girls come out of two expensive looking cars. Later on, these cars are speeding down a deserted road, with a police car spotting them and pursuing them. One car also crashes into a market stall at the side of the road nearly knocking a woman down. A few times later Ludacris also sticks his finger up at the camera. There is a scene where a girl is on top of a man in one of the cars, and after there are some slow motion shots of women moving around and getting out of the cars. The car with the man and the woman in breaks down. Then the cars are lined up ready to race with a woman wearing little clothing holding up the stop/go sign. Before racing the woman lets 3 elderly women cross the road, at which point one of the women in the car tells them to hurry up across. Whilst racing, the police are still chasing them. A few shots show the broken down car being fixed by two women, with a man standing behind one making sexual facial expressions. Throughout all of this video, there are shots of Ludacris rapping with either his friends behind him, or him crouching down by a car wheel.

My final question:
How far do the music videos of Rihanna and Ludacris portray contemporary representations of women and men?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82VE8UtW8A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA7gnSyuIik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA7gnSyuIik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82VE8UtW8A

How do two mainstream modern music videos make use of the male gaze and the two step flow method to attract attention?

I have thought of 2 new questions for the research task:
How were Justin Beibers and Ed Sheerans debut albums recieved in the media?
What are the representations of two mainstream artists in the media?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_beiber
http://singularityhub.com/2010/03/16/justin-bieber-and-the-rising-importance-of-accelerating-media/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sheeran
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2085837/Brit-Awards-2012-nominations-Ed-Sheeran-scoops-nominations.html

These are all links about my research question

My questions

I am currently researching 2 questions:
1. Has the internet helped in the rise of mainstream artists, specifically Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran?
2. How did an older band, 'The Who', and a modern band, 'Bring Me the Horizon', get famous?