The News Extended Learning Project: Week 5

What impact do you think social media has on the way news is gathered and reported?
I believe that a large proportion of news is now delivered online, as we can access news articles through websites or see stories when scrolling down our news feeds on social media. However, i also believe that this way of presenting news has led to there being a large amount of 'false news' online, with many articles being manipulated to gain online views which therefore produces a larger profits for news agencies. This also makes news more accessible and we could suggest that it makes young people more aware or current events given that this younger age group makes up a large proportion of social media users.

The News Extended Learning Project: Week 4

Do you agree that the media has tried to manipulate the public’s view of Jeremy Corbyn? What evidence is there to support your argument?
I do believe that the media is trying to present Jeremy Corbyn in a negative light, given that a large majority of articles failed to present his views and opinions accurately. As a result, this may have driven the opinion that "90 per cent of Mr Corbyn's supporters believed PR agencies were in some way involoved in orchestarting the coup of Labour MPs against him, while 55 per cent said it was likely that the intelligence services, including MI5,we were to undermine him."

The News Extended Learning Project: Week 3

What is a news agency, and what do they do and whom for?
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters.

The News Extended Learning Project: Week 2

Label the cover of a tabloid or broadsheet newspaper in terms of layout codes and conventions:

The News Extended Learning Project: Week 1

According to Harriss, Leiter and Johnson, what are news values?
When people talk about ‘news values’ they are referring to the ideas or assumptions that form the ideological background to the work of the journalist and news editor. These values are not always clear to the casual observer; many of them remain hidden or implicit rather than being openly discussed. Harriss, Leiter and Johnson suggest that these news values are the most evident:

Through which different mediums/forms of media can we access news?
Radio, TV, Internet, Social Media, Newspaper.

Representation of Gender in the Media homework: Week 6

As the media industry plays such a significant role in shaping the dominant views of society, it also has a massive responsibility when it comes to the representation of men and women. What could media producers do to create a society where they is more equality (in terms of gender representation)?

Overall, the media can make the effort to better represent women and move on from the stereotypical image that they have created of them. Video games should start to encourage female protagonists and balance the strength that they represent in gender. Magazines should stop encouraging the 'perfect' image of a women and introduce stories about self acceptance and morality. As a whole, important figures in the media should start to use their voice in a positive way that will help to equalise men and women in the media. Actress Jennifer Lawrence is an example of a celebrity using their voice and becoming a spokesperson for change, writing an article about the gender pay gap after Sony's pay cheques for the actors of American Hustle were leaked and it was apparent that she was paid less than her male costars (http://www.lennyletter.com/work/a147/jennifer-lawrence-why-do-i-make-less-than-my-male-costars/). In general, the media should start to equalise men and women and present them as equal so that it will have the correct, positive influence on younger generations.

Representation of Gender in the Media homework: Week 5

Judith Butler (http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-butl.htm) believes that we are not born into a gender and that gender is different to sex (male/female).   She say that we ‘learn’ how to be a particular gender through adopting characteristics that we ‘learn’ from society (the media included). What evidence (from the media) could be used to suppourt her opinion?

The media can be seen to have a huge influence on gender, and how we 'adapt it', especially within women. Women in the media are often sexualised and presented with the ideal and perfect body images which overall can have a huge impact on young girls who view these images/videos. It can drive young girls to achieve this unrealistic representation of what is normal and acceptable, when often these images are photoshopped or edited. An article about women in the media highlights how we are manipulated to achieve the unimaginable and also how the media has driven "29% of 11-16 year old girls to be "not at all happy with the way they look"". Overall, the media can drive a huge influence in gender, especially young girls and how it 'teaches' them to learn to adapt the female gender from what is shown to them on TV, in magazines and films etc.
http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/policy-research/attitudes-media-culture/

Representation of Gender in the Media homework: Week 4

- Define the phrase 'patriarchal society'.

A society ruled by men, in which males are in authority over women in all aspects of society.

- Do you think you live in a patriarchal society?

To some extent, i believe this statement to be true as our lives are heavily influenced by how they are represented in the media in which predominately focuses on gender and how males are the main attention. This divide in gender also affects us somewhat subconsciously by the gender pay gap.

On average, females make less money than males who work the same job and hours going far in showing how males dominate society. This pay gap can result in women making an average of $1.4 million less than men over a lifetime including time off for caring for children and illness. This divide in gender economically can be seen as a clear example of how males are seen as more important and more 'deserving' over females in society.

Representation of Gender in the Media homework: Week 3

Read this (http://www.bustle.com/articles/143690-female-oscar-winners-are-more-likely-to-be-wives-than-anything-else-the-discovery-is) article, which discusses female Oscar-winners - Summarise the key arguments made in this article into 5 bullet points.

• 16% of women who have won 'Best Actress' over the past 88 years of Academy Awards have done so for playing the role of a wife. In the nominees for 2016 alone, 2 out of the 5 women nominated played the role of wife in their films.
• In contrast, only 2% of men have won for playing husbands.
• The fact is, films are often regarded and as idealized version of reality and so often present ideas of the 'ideal' wife/husband in order to make us realise that we are not necessarily the people we see represented on-screen.
• The numbers also indicate how men and women are allowed to represent themselves on-screen. Six 'Best Actress' Oscars have been awarded to women playing sex workers, while the number of male remains at 0.
• "The roles recognized by awards shows help perpetuate a system in which women are taught to value their bodies and gender roles as mothers and wives over their minds."

Representation of Gender in the Media homework: Week 2

Read this (https://mattdent123.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/xw7ho9q.jpg) infographic, which explores the facts related to female video game characters - What do you think are the main reasons for this lack of equality in representation?
I think the main reason for this divide in gender in video game characters is how we grow up watching TV, films etc. and see male characters being shown to be 'stronger, more adventurous' and better in general than female players. As well as that, the majority of video game players are in fact male and even though this number has grown to be more equal in recent years, it can be seen as a good explanation for this divide due to the fact that males stereotypically choose to play with male characters when given the choice. We can also suggest that this difference is down to the fact that video game characters were originally male and so many game developers have stuck to this structure to be successful and faithful. Overall, it can be seen that this divide is because of how gender is represented in the media and how we are 'taught' that males are powerful and strong, and females are weak and 'pretty' and therefore predominately chose to play with male characters in order to be successful within a game.

Representation of Gender in the Media homework: Week 1

Raynor describes representation as "The process by which the media present the 'real world'" which means that everything in the media is a representation; everything we see is being represented and this is to portray the stereotypical view of the world.

- Do you think that the media (films, newspapers, music videos, TV programmes and magazines etc.) present the real world?
Personally, i do not think that the media represents the 'real world' accurately or realistically as stories/shows are often manipulated to make them appear more interesting and engaging and therefore make more money. The media is also biased and primarily focuses on publishing controversial stories such as those about celebrities, religious stereotypes, politics etc. rather than writing articles about 'real world' events such as medical advances and the positive work of refugees and black people.

Another example of this stereotyping in the media is the gender gap in TV presenters. CML wrote the following article "How do Media images of Men affect our lives?" about how TV is dominated by males and how this difference affects our lives as we watch. It highlights ideas about how the 'perfect, less real man' is broadcasted on our television screens and how we are taught gender roles in society. http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/how-do-media-images-men-affect-our-lives

The following image is taken from an article about how social media is influencing the way in which we view the 'real world' and how they are a false representation.

Creativity Homework: Week 3

In what way could this short film be considered creative?

• Use of camerawork

The editing within this film is moderately slow and flows effortlessly into each shot. This slow paced editing replicates the slow pace of life that the young, punk girl leads. We also see a lot of close ups on the protagonist's face to help show the contrast between emotions and personalities. 

• Mise-en-scene

The colourful graffiti that plagues every scene creates a modernised version of an old school fairytale, paired with the young girl's facial expressions. This shows creativity quite literally through an adaptation of a previous idea (fairytale). We also see the girl with brightly coloured hair, tattoos and accessories which contrasts to the dull, grey backgrounds that she appears in. 

• Sound

It is evident that during the beginning of this short film, the music is soft and peaceful to foreshadow the essence of the main character and what she is supposed to represent. Also, whenever we see the symbolic codes of the bird of girl herself, the shots are supported with the same musical tone to enlighten which characters are 'creative'. This can also be seen when the music deepens in shots featuring the ink or other characters.

• Narrative

The narrative of this short film is extremely imaginative and conveys elements of fantasy and surrealism, things that we would associate with being creative and open minded. As a whole, this story line could be seen to be creative due to it being about a girl who wants to change her city into something new and fresh.

• Representation of characters

Characters who are supposed to carry a creative aspect are featured in colour, examples of this being the bird and girl. The protagonist of this short film could be representing the typical young adult with a creative, optimistic mind. Whilst we see other characters such as the lady stamping the papers as representations of pessimists and are always shown in black and white. Overall, this contrast in characters could be seen to represent the contrast in creativity and the difference between past and new ideas.

Creativity Homework: Week 2

1) Look at this quotation by Herman Melville, do you agree with him or do you think that imitation can still be creative?

I agree with the quote as a whole in that failure is compulsory if we want to make something new that has never been seen or done before. As well as that, i think it is important for us to always have new ideas and to be creative as imitation can only be altered to originality for so long. However, if we alter a previous idea to create a new idea then that it is not 100% original as our inspiration came from someone/something else in the past.  

2) Find an example of a media text that you think imitates another, whilst still being creative.
Overall, many modern films' plots can be seen as copies of traditional narratives and include familiar characters and story lines. The following films are just a few examples of imitations of previous creations:

• Ridley Scott's 1979 film "Alien" has had comparisons to the 1958 film "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" since it was first released with many critics closely comparing their sequences, scenes and finales.
• George Lucas' "Star Wars" is said to have taken ideas of characters, narrative and film sequences from Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress". Some people even notice a direct nod to the 1958 movie when the Imperial Officer was forced choked before speaking the entire title (38:34).
• Lee Unkrich's 2010 "Toy Story 3" has to give some credit to "The Brave Little Toaster" which stars household appliances cased aside by their collage-aged owner, Rob, the team decides to find their way to his dorm room, encountering terrifying obstacles along the way. Being thrown in with disassembled or broken gadgets, and even winding up in a junkyard headed for disposal were all re-imagines for the "Toy Story" series, particularly the second sequel.
• More recently, Suzanne Collins' book to film adaptation of "The Hunger Games" (directed by Gary Ross) has been heavily compared to Kinji Fukasaku's "Battle Royale" since it hit the big screen. Both of these films follow the story line of a dystopian society run by an empowering government in which children are forced to fight to the death as a punishment a rebellion.

These are just a few examples of imitations within film however all of the modern recreations are still creative and unique due to advances in technology and cinematography as a whole. New advances in camera, lighting and special effects allow audiences to experience familiar story lines through a whole new perspective.

Creativity Homework: Week 1

1) Create your own definition of creativity
The ability to transcend traditional ideas and create new meaningful ideas across numerous platforms.
2) Now find an official definition

3) Compare your definition and the official one:
i) What are the similarities and differences?
Both of these definitions carry the idea of taking an original idea and making something new and imaginative. As well as that, both suggest that creativity is not restricted to an individual person or platform, and that anyone can be creative how they like. However, in my definition it mentions that the new idea should be meaningful and have some depth behind it rather than just an alteration of an original idea.

ii) Which, in your opinion, is better?
I think my definition is better as it is less vague but still allows different approaches and interpretations. It also suggests that it is ok to incorporate previous ideas into new, unique ones.

Lady Gaga Extended Learning Project

Lady Gaga Biography