Discuss one of your production pieces in relation to the concept of Genre?

Genre is a way of categorising a text through style and form, while genre is more commonly applied to discussions of film, the concept can actually be applied to any media text as a way of explaining categories and paradigms. I am going to use it here to discuss my website which I produced for the AS portfolio.

It would be simple to class the similarities and differences in websites to make them fit into a specific genre, although Rick Altman applies this to films, it could be useful in websites, this is called the semantic approach (1995).

Industry websites have certain genres because each industry sector has a different function, so their websites must serve a different purpose. Most websites do function as a marketing tool, although it would be inappropriate to assume this was their only function. I can support this as a fact as marketingcharts.com there a chart titled ‘Top 10 Site Genres’. The list includes website genres such as Finance, Sport and Recreation, Home and Garden and Entertainment. Email is the top site genre, closely followed by General Community.

So the marketing industry is already categorising sites, presumably because it helps them sell

advertising space on them, Genre has also been a key marketing tool for film promoters because

they can connect films with big advertisers and with audiences.

Campaign websites are easily identified by their paradigms, they all have a common theme that is

to help others. The websites must use iconography that catches the audiences attention and gets

them involved in the website and the campaign they are fighting for, this is made easy by using a

certain structure. My website theme was regonisable as we used an attractive and eye

catching structure to involve adults and make them aware of children that are at a disadvantage.

The iconography made my site recognisable as belonging to the campaign genre because the images were of the

children our campaign had helped looking happy. For example, my homepage features a video of a young girl

swinging on a swing whilst facts of our campaign run along the bottom.

From my homepage there are useful links such as the 'Events' page which shows the latest events of what my charity

have been up to, also pictures of the children that have been helped. In addition to this you can find persuasive

language and key verbs such as 'Donate', 'Help' and 'Support' which are expected in this genre.

Audiences like site genres because it helps them navigate sites quickly. They expect a site in a particular genre to

contain certain and recognisable paradigms. For young people, the assessment of the site may also be based on

how inventively the genre paradigms are used.

The concept of genre is therefore applicable to websites and it is already extremely important to both the Institutions

their audiences. Both are given a sense of safety by genre. The institutions have financial safety knowing they are

investing money on a format that already works. For site visitors, the safety is of having their expectations of the navigation experience met by the site they choose to visit.

Essay 2 Redraft Feedback.

You have so many good points in here, if they were properly structured with a strong conclusion it would be a B grade or above. It is better, but still hovering around level 3 (C+).

Level 3

Explanation/analysis/argument (12-15 marks)

Candidates adapt their learning to the specific requirements of the chosen question well, in the main. The answer offers a sensible, mostly clear balance of media theories and knowledge of industries and texts, with a proficient attempt at personally engaging with issues and debates.

Use of examples (12-15 marks)

Examples of theories, texts and industry knowledge are connected together in places, and a clear argument is proficiently developed in response to the question. History and the future are discussed with relevance.

Use of terminology (6-7 marks)

Material presented is mostly informed by contemporary media theory, articulated through use of appropriate theoretical terms.

Relatively straightforward ideas have been expressed with some clarity and fluency. Arguments are generally relevant, though may stray from the point of the question. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar but these are unlikely to be intrusive or obscure meaning.

Essay 2 Redone

After watching the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' I immediatly was given a strong impression of how male identity was portrayed in the 1990's. Simply through proving a small point in a harsh amount of violence, a sexual nature, or through drug abuse.

Violence is one of the main themes shown in and throughout the film, although we don't always see the consequences and how badly beaten they are left to be, the males are the protagonsists and violence is almost seen as the 'fun' in their lives, along with the amount of money they have to show their power. whether it is seriously hurting somebody to get it, or purchasing drugs.
The director Guy Ritchie was said to have been influenced by Quinton Tarantino.

Critics such as Ray Greene from the Box office Magazine 2000 said that 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a film with absolutely nothing to say.' Although other opinions came from the San Fransico Examiner, Jane Gahnal, she called the film as a 'rockin' good time'. The cycle of gangster films (1997 - 2001) was paralleled by a stream of memoirs from real-life villains and the deaths of all three Kray brothers, and the return of Ronnie Biggs from Brazil.

Reginald "Reggie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 1 October 2000) and his twin brother Ronald "Ronnie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 17 March 1995) were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in Londons East End during the 1950s and 1960s. As West End nightclub owners, they mixed with prominent entertainers. The Krays were highly feared within their social environment as are many of the characters in Lock Stock, they all carry around weapons as they never know when something violent may come around the corner!
The Kray bothers relate to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as they are the stereotypical 'gangster lad' that we see in the film, always up to something that will eventually involve everyone, in a bad way! This links to how male identity was portrayed in the 1990s as it is a real life situation that eventually ended in 2000.

David Gauntlett has said that 'studies around the media are too simple', stated in his media effects theories as an audience we never know if the film is affecting our personality which may happen after watching the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. Gauntletts theory, which leads to testing on audiences may have a perminent affect on them, this is a disadvantage as it could cause serious psycological problems, linking back to how male identity can be affected. Young children may also be affected by the film as the violence is rated. In society, violence in video games and flms can cause a harsh affect on children and even adults. Football hooligans are influenced by these types of gangster films which are seen to be the main cause of their violent and 'lairy' attitudes.

The film to me was also seen as a gangster light film, the violence is made humorous as we don't see it throughout the film, it is also things we don't see everyday so we almost get a 'fake' view of it. The violence in the film is exaggerated, unbelievable and unrealistic and as an audience we know that it is not real violence, the mise- en - scene editing draws attention to the males in the film, making them seem more violent than they actually are.

Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'male gaze' 1950's -60's is represented in the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' in attempting to explain male identity and the influence of film. Mulvey's theory was that women are placed in Hollywood only for the pleasure of men, assuming that the audience of the film will be only men. There is no doubt that this film was written and produced with the male audience in mind. Three women are shown in the film, but all in different ways. One lady is purely to look at, placed in 'Harrys Sex Shop' she is made to dance naked in the background of the scene showing that she is there for men to look at, supporting Mulveys theory. Another woman is shown in a completely different way, she is 'head' of the poker game between a few of the males in the film and puts the message across clearly that she isn't to be messed about. The other woman in the film is shown through violence, she doesnt have a big role througouht the film and is only shown almost blowing the other characters heads off. Although she reacts in a violent way, she is used for comedy effect, and she is punched in the face immediately after she fires the gun. Women do not play any important roles in the lives of these characters, it's a man's world with men's rules and the women are almost set to follow these.

Two other theorys that I thought about whilst watching 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' are Theodor Adorno 1991 and John Fiske's 1989 theory, they are two commonly referenced theorists when discussing the power of the media over an audience. Adorno believed that the media had a massive impact on society, in a bad way. The audience was seen as being passive and that the consuption of the media on the audience was getting stronger and stronger. Adorno would therefore aregue that boys and men watching this film would become passive to this sort of 'gangster' behaviour and act as they do in the film. Whereas Fiske believes and would argue that the male audience watching the film would respond to it in different ways, not everyone would want to copy the males in the film but some would. The males influence eachother, from the film they all want to be involved in the violence, even the little boy, this then relates to real life of how once a trend is in, everybody more or less follows it.

One male in the film known as Big Chris, played by Vinnie Jones; who was known at the time as a hard, strong and powerful person, has a son called Little Chris. He is seen as a father type role, but also the violent thug side of him is shown in the film, this almost makes it quite comical.

Nature Vs Nurture is also a point to be made about Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Male identity can be affected in two ways from the film, after watching Big Chris and his son in the film, his son makes a major point that his father is the main man he looks up to in his life, this may affect the male audience by bringing out a more gentle side, whereas the film holds a lot of violence and brutal attitudes towards women and other men this could have the complete opposite affect.

Although British men do tend to have a reputation in foreign countries as being hooligans and beer swigging thugs, especially at football tournaments, i.e The World Cup where there are special provisions to keep fans apart and away from trouble. This type of trouble happens at home too where it is notorious to have football gangs that fight eachother and lots of these thugs are not young males but some are middle aged too and have been behaving like this for all of their lives because it has been instilled in them by their fathers and males and peers they look up to. They have been brought up thinking this is the right way.

In my opinion I think that the male identity in Britain in the 1990's has changed massively over the years, through different films and studying different theories mentioned above. There are not so many gangsters in London, and even if there is they aren't made to be obvious and portrayed as bad and violent as they are in the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. In London today, security is a must, especially in places such as Canary Wharf and the more upper class parts, gangsters and gangs would stand out immediatly. After studying the theories of different people such as Laura Mulvey and David Gauntlett I have understood that male identity in the 1990s was portrayed through violence, harsh attitudes towards eachother, also sex and drug abuse.

what does the film Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, (Ritchie, 1998) Tell us about Male identity in Britain, 1990s?

After watching the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' I immediatly was given an impression of how male identity was portrayed in the 1990s.

Violence is one of the main themes shown in and throughout the film, although we don't always see it happening. The males play a big part in the violence, it is almost seen as the 'fun' in their lives, along with the amount of money they have to show their power. whether it is seriously hurting somebody to get it, or purchasing drugs. The actor Guy Ritchie was said to have been influenced by Quinton Tarantino.

Critics such as the Sun in 1998 had great things to say about the film, the Sun newspaper said we would be 'lost' without these sort of films and that the not so famous films should stand back and let the 'leary lads have a go'. Although other opinions came from the Sunday Times, and they were saying that the new 'lad style was not refreshing', the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking barrels' was also seen as 'sexist and facist' showing that this sort of gangster themed films were not rated the best sort of film. Even Guy Ritchie was slated for bringing in 'this sort of film'.
The cycle of films was paralleled by a stream of memoirs from real-life villains and the deaths of all three Kray brothers and the return of Ronnie biggs from Brazil.

David Gauntlett has said that 'studies around the media are too simple', as an audience we never know if the film is affecting our personality which may happen after watching the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. Young children may also be affected by the film as the violence is rated. In society, violence in video games and

The film was also seen as a gangster light film, the violence is made humorous as we don't see it throughout the film, it is also things we don't see everyday so we almost get a 'fake' view of it.
The violence in the film is exaggerated, unbelievable and unrealistic and as an audience we know that it is not real violence, the mise- en - scene draws attention to the males in the film, making them seem more violent than they actually are.

Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'male gaze' is represented in the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. Mulvey's theory was that women are placed in Hollywood only for the pleasure of men, assuming that the audience of the film will be only men.

Three women are shown in the film, but all in different ways. One lady is purely to look at, placed in 'Harrys Sex Shop' she is made to dance naked in the background of the scene showing that she is there for men to look at, proving Mulveys theory.

Another woman is shown in a completely different way, she is 'head' of the poker game between a few of the males in the film and puts the message across clearly that she isn't to be messed about. The other woman in the film is shown through violence, she doesnt have a big role througouht the film and is only shown almost blowing the other characters heads off!

Two other theorys that I thought about whilst watching 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' are Theodor Adorno and John Fiske's theory.

Adorno believed that the media had a massive impact on society, in a bad way. The audience was seen as being passive and that the consuption of the audience was really bad. Adorno would there fore aregue that boys and men watching this film would become passive to this sort of 'gangster' behaviour and act as they do in the film.

Whereas Fiske believes that the male audience watching the film would respond to it in different ways, not everyone would want to copy the males in the film but some would.

One male in the film known as Big Chris, played by Vinnie Jones; who was known at the time as a hard, strong and powerful person, has a son called Little Chris. He is seen as a father type role, but also the violent thug side of him is shown in the film, this almost makes it quite comical.

Identity is shown in the film by 'Nature vs Nurture'’. Big Chris wants to show how his son should behave as a man, teaching him how to be hard and powerful and that being soft is not cool although he does show his tender side to his son, they have a reputation to keep up.

In my opinion I think that the male identity in Britain in the 1990's has changed massively. There are not so many gangsters in London, and even if there is they aren't made to be obvious and portrayed as bad and violent as they are in the film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'.

Although British men do tend to have a reputation in foreign countries as being hooligans and beer swigging thugs, especially at football tournaments, i.e The World Cup where there are special provisions to keep fans apart and away from trouble. This type of trouble happens at home too where it is notorious to have football gangs that fight eachother and lots of these thugs are not young males but some are middle aged too and have been behaving like this for all of their lives because it has been instilled in them by their fathers and males and peers they look up to. They have been brought up thinking this is the right way.

Essay 1 Feedback

Low Level 4 (Low A)
Excellent Olivia. Nicely structured, clear argument, use of examples to illustrate points. Only point for development would be to find some of your own examples to use instead of only those covered in class, but, as a first A2 essay, very well done.

Does the mass media have a significant amount of power over its audience, or does the audience ultimately have more power than the media?

One of the main debates in the media society is whether the audience has more power over the media, or do the media have more power over the audience?

There are many theorists that argue this statement but two I am going to focus on are Adorno and Fiske, these two theorists argue opposite sides.

Theodor Adorno was particularly worried that the mass media had great power over the population. He saw that this could be very damaging as we are all watching, listening and learning the same things. Adorno attended the Frankfurt School for social research, as he was in a group of German and Jewish intellectuals that moved from Frankfurt to New York when the Nazis rose to power in the 1930s. Adorno had a great dislike for American pop culture because German culture valued high art they felt that Americans were quite happy with their everyday lives as they were almost being told what the best media was. Whereas John Fiske is a fan of the ‘Popular culture’, he was one of the most influential media scholars in the 70s and 80s. He wants to prove Theodor Adorno wrong and show him that the population is more than a group of drones, that there is a range of individuals and we all have different tastes in the media, we just reflect what is popular at the time.

Adorno and Horkheimer were distraught to find out that a revolution of the workers predicted by Karl Marx did not happen. Marx predicted that the workers in the factories would be so fed up they would overthrow the rulers and the factory owners, whereas when Adorno arrived in America, he noticed that the workers, although they didn’t have the best were reasonably happy as they had the media to keep them happy.

Adorno and his colleague Max Horkheimer, a German philosopher – sociologist who is also famous for his work in critical theory wrote a book called ‘Dialectic of Enlightenment’ in 1947 that contains the essay ‘Enlightenment and Mass Deception’. Their book captured the mass media and how it had such a damaging effect on society, nobody was an individual, we were all following each other, therefore the media was referred to as the ‘culture industry’ – meaning that media was just being produced exactly the same each time as the producers knew it would make a profit before it was even released!

Fiske, on the other hand wrote a book called ‘Understanding Popular Culture’ in 1989. At the beginning the book quotes that ‘popular culture is made by the people not the culture industry. All the culture industries can do is produce a repertoire of texts or cultural resources for the various formations of the people to use or reject the on-going process of producing their popular culture.’ Fiske agrees that we live in a capitalised society but doesn’t think it is right to suggest that popular culture is a manufactured thing.

All products of the ‘culture industry’ are ‘exactly the same’ (Horkeimer and Adorno, 1979:122). ‘Products may seem different but it is all an illusion’ (1991:87). For the Germans on the other hand, this was devastating for them to realise that the ‘culture’ was reduced to manufactured products as they were all being sucked into believe something that wasn’t real. An example of this is the comedy act ‘Axes Of Awesome’. They produced a song called ‘The 4 Chords Song’, this illustrates that all songs use the same chords, allowing anyone to create music and make a profit. The comedy band makes a full six minute song including up to date pop music using just four chords. I was shocked to see that as I have never really thought about how similar all songs are. It is the passivity of audiences that Adorno is so concerned about.

Fiske argues that not all audiences are consumers of text, they produce meanings from texts and they decide what they like as individuals. Madonna for example is a famous pop singer, for Fiske she has sold many albums as she is able to connect with the audience well and understand what they want, whereas Adorno argues that the audience settle for the work of a manufactured icon, they don’t seek out their own entertainment.

Adorno’s theory suggests that even if you disagree with him, you wouldn’t ever realise that you are being sucked in by the media, as it is all identical. Fiske says that ‘Culture is a living, active process. It can be developed only from within, it cannot be imposed from without or above’ meaning that as an audience, we view the media how we want, from our own identity, which is unique to us