Q4

Is there evidence of any alternative representations of this group of people/place in the media, perhaps in different genres? If not, why do you think this is the case?

Comedic characters -
Four lions - Waj- Stupid/slow - 'I'm not confused brother! I just took picture of my face, and it's deffo not my confused face.'
Fessel- dopey/clumsy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08QE9zR5wUQ

Majority construct muslims as terrorists as the growning terror attacks taking place over the world have been aclaimed by muslim extremists. However to add, the news potrays muslims within a negative representation which then gives society the idea that muslims are radicalised and have issues with the western world.

Q3

What other reasons might there be for why your group of people/ place is represented the way it is? Consider the role of politics and the media e.g. hegemonic structures and why it might be in the interests of the media/ hegemonic society to represent them/ it in this way.

islamic extremists
- osama bin laden
- sadam hussain

9/11

7/7

al-qeeda

Q2

What institution(s) is/are responsible for the production of your media texts? Consider both the production company (and channel of the broadcast if on the TV) and explore how this may affect the representations in the texts.


Four Lions
Film 4 Productions - Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel 4. Channel 4 being a terrestrial channel which is available to all TV owners and follow traditional and patriarchal views and values. The company has been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the United Kingdom.

My name is Khan
Fox Searchlight Pictures - Part of the major company 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures specializes in independent and British films. Being a american organisation Fox Search light takes a different perspective upon views and values compared to the UK.

Q1

How is your Group of people/ place represented typically in the media? Use detailed examples from your primary sources. Explore specifically how the representations are constructed.

The general representation of muslims within films are as terrorists/extremists who have disagreements with western traditions and values. This is reinforced by such characters:

Four Lions:
Waj- 'we'll blow something up'
Omar - 'What we gonna blow up waj?'
Barry - 'Yeah! Bomb the mosque, radicalise the moderates, bring it all on.'
Fessal - 'My plan is, right, to put a bomb on a crow and fly it into one of them towers full of Jews and slags.'
Hassan -'Let's blow up a load of fit slags at the marathon, yeah?'

My name is Khan:
Rizwan- 'My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist.'

Traitor:
Samir: 'oh I'm a terrorist'

Case study

A study of the representation of muslims in contemporary flims.

Reason
After 9/11 representations of Muslims have changed.
Also the recent emergence of Muslim extremists plots.

Texts

Four lions - 2010
Traitor - 2008
The Kingdom - 2007
My name is Khan - 2010

Theorists

David Gauntlet
Stuart Hall
Theodor Adorno

Alternative representation

In general, the Hip Hop genre has a distinctive image where females in the hip hop videos are represented stereotypically as sex objects wearing skimpy dresses and showcasing flesh for the pleasure of the male gaze. They are further represented as weak and vulnerable while being under the power of men, therefore, they are depicted as the subordinate sex. Meanwhile, men in the Hip Hop videos are depicted as the superior sex and they are represented as aggressive, powerful and dictator's of women. However, the Hip hop video of Eve and Gwen Stefani (Let me blow ya mind) challenges these stereotypical gender roles within Hip Hop video’s in a number of ways to reveal alternative representations of male and female roles in Hip Hop genre.

The video begins with mug shots of Eve and Gwen, which has connotations of crime, trouble and resistance towards authorities that is normally associated with young male rappers, and is a total reversal of gender roles and an alternative representation of women in comparison to other Hip Hop videos. Furthermore, Eve is featured riding a quad bike sitting in a poised posture and wearing a leather jacket with tattoos of tiger paws revelled on her chest which all foreshadows an intimidating masculine gangster image and connotes power and superiority to challenge the male gangster role often featured in Hip Hop videos.
Where usually men are seen as the rappers in Hip Hop genre, the Eve featuring Gwen video challenges this stereotype to show Eve rapping throughout the video taking the male role. Moreover, she is seen riding a quad bike while being accompanied by a gang of female riders impersonating Ruff Ryder’s, a well known group of black male rappers who come across aggressive and as the stereotypical male hip hop rapper.

In the video, Eve and Gwen are shown to gate crash a high society party on their quad bikes causing affray which contrasts the gentle female image in Hip Hop as females are mostly seen as sex objects being caressed and hovering around intimidating dominant male rapper figures. In the video Eve is featured sitting on a bar bench position higher than two male figures on either side of her which shows her position to be higher than the males pictured alongside her and this also challenges the hierarchy of Hip Hop as females are always looked down on to as inferior sex objects.




In some way the video has created an alternative stereotype for females, a countertype. This can be connoted from the use of props, lighting, shots and costumes. The clothing gives the impression of a more male influence with leather jackets which are normally worn by bikers of male gender this connotes change of roles, where the females are more dominant and have equal power to what men are normally given. Also looking at costumes, within the scenes of the ballroom once Eve has enter and started rebelling it shows the females in classy formal clothing where as compared to the stereotypical representation where they are given clothing of short and skin tight clothing such as skirts and bikinis.

Conference

Theodor Adorno

Adorno (1903-69) argued that capitalism fed people with the products of a 'culture industry' - the opposite of 'true' art - to keep them passively satisfied and politically apathetic.


Media 2.0

Outline of Media Studies 1.0

This traditional approach to Media Studies, which is still dominant in a lot (but not all) of school and university teaching, and textbooks, is characterised by:

A tendency to fetishise 'experts', whose readings of popular culture are seen as more significant than those of other audience members (with corresponding faith in faux-expert non-procedures such as semiotics);

A tendency to celebrate certain key texts produced by powerful media industries and celebrated by well-known critics;

The optional extra of giving attention to famous 'avant garde' works produced by artists recognised in the traditional sense, and which are seen as especially 'challenging';

A belief that students should be taught how to 'read' the media in an appropriate 'critical' style;

A focus on traditional media produced by major Western broadcasters, publishers, and movie studios, accompanied (ironically) by a critical resistance to big media institutions, such as Rupert Murdoch's News International, but no particular idea about what the alternatives might be;

Vague recognition of the internet and new digital media, as an 'add on' to the traditional media (to be dealt with in one self-contained segment tacked on to a Media Studies teaching module, book or degree);

A preference for conventional research methods where most people are treated as non-expert audience 'receivers', or, if they are part of the formal media industries, as expert 'producers'.

Outline of Media Studies 2.0

This emergent alternative to the traditional approach is characterised by a rejection of much of the above:

The fetishisation of 'expert' readings of media texts is replaced with a focus on the everyday meanings produced by the diverse array of audience members, accompanied by an interest in new qualitative research techniques;

The tendency to celebrate certain 'classic' conventional and/or 'avant garde' texts, and the focus on traditional media in general, is replaced with – or at least joined by – an interest in the massive 'long tail' of independent media projects such as those found on YouTube and many other websites, mobile devices, and other forms of DIY media;

The focus on primarily Western media is replaced with an attempt to embrace the truly international dimensions of Media Studies – including a recognition not only of the processes of globalization, but also of the diverse perspectives on media and society being worked on around the world;

The view of the internet and new digital media as an 'optional extra' is correspondingly replaced with recognition that they have fundamentally changed the ways in which we engage with all media;

The patronising belief that students should be taught how to 'read' the media is replaced by the recognition that media audiences in general are already extremely capable interpreters of media content, with a critical eye and an understanding of contemporary media techniques, thanks in large part to the large amount of coverage of this in popular media itself;

Conventional research methods are replaced – or at least supplemented – by new methods which recognise and make use of people's own creativity, and brush aside the outmoded notions of 'receiver' audiences and elite 'producers';

Conventional concerns with power and politics are reworked in recognition of these points, so that the notion of super-powerful media industries invading the minds of a relatively passive population is compelled to recognise and address the context of more widespread creation and participation

Coursework

Ideas

Keep them simple. the more complicated your idea, the more will go wrong. Limits on settings, actions, characters, story. Pitch should be able to be explained in 25 words.


Research
Look at examples
conventions, audiences and insitutions

Planning
Plan for what can go wrong
Record all planning
Show process of planning

Evidence
Storyboard
Script

Feedback
At every stage take feedback to improve

Logistics
People, place, props, costume
Rehearse and prepare
Share contact details