Naomi's World =]

• thousands of news events happen everyday.
• stories come from: public, publicists, PR( public relations), news agencies- e.g reuters,leaks and tip offs e.g police/politics, research
• the popular press use news values to decide what news is worthy for print:

1. negativity – if a story is negative  it is more likely to catch the attention of the public. they are more interested in negative things than positive things.
2. proximity- is it proximal , making it feel like it can happen where you are, making the news sound like it impacts you.
3. unexpectedness-making the news sound fresh and new
4. frequency- make it sound like the story never goes away

What makes “I Know What You Did Last Summer?” a successful horror movie? With particular reference to the dress shop scene

“I Know What You Did Last Summer?” shows signs of a classic horror genre. This horror film has a lot of shadows and silhouettes e.g. the dress shop scene. One clip when Helen is running towards the shop you notice that the killer never runs and the silhouette of the killer shows the power and authority that he has over his victims. Also in the dress shop scene, most of the time, you find yourself with an obstructed view e.g. when the killer is killing Helen in the alleyway. You get the telephone wires obstructing your vision and you see the murder from a bird’s eye view. This makes you feel helpless and distant because you’re not able to help in any way because she’s out of our reach. Another thing that shows us that this movie sticks to the classic horror genre is that all the murders happen at night and they are all killed with a hook. Iconography and dark mise-en-scene helps you to relate to the classic horror genre better. Based around an “urban legend” the revenge and turmoil the killer wants to inflict on his victims show us that the narrative is also one of the conventions that make the genre so successful.

“I Know What You Did Last Summer?”  is set in small rural town in the middle of nowhere. Its target market audience is teenagers or who enjoy the excitement/thrill that you get from watching a horror film. We know this because the story is based around your typical white American teens which consist of: the cheerleader, the footballer, the fisherman and the graduate. Also the storyline of a group of teenagers who accidentally knock a man over and dump the body, then a year later the man comes back for revenge is the perfect plot to get the attention of a teenager. This film appeals to their primary audience by setting the story around situations that you are familiar with in everyday life. E.g. going to university or working as the same thing as your dad did.

Going on the way I reacted to watching this movie, I believe that other audiences might react in a similar way. The audience would be jumpy at those climax moments when things would get heated between the killer and his victims. The audience will respond to this movie in a positive and negative way. They will respond in a positive way because they may be a fan of these types of movies but may parents may respond in a negative way because they may not agree with the storyline and may not think it’s appropriate for their children to watch. Apart from those climax point the audience will always be trying to figure out who the killer is because when you think you know who it is something happens to cross them out as a suspect. People would enjoy this film and it was so popular because it has a lot of suspense and you never get bored because something always to catch your attention.

This film represents young people especially white America as being thoughtless and heartless, they show signs of this in Barry and Helen’s character because they were the ones who were adamant on dumping the body whereas Julie and Ray are portrayed as feeling remorseful and are not too keen on dumping the body. There are big differences in this movie between male and female for instance Barry acts very intimidating and empowering over the girls whereas Ray is a lot more soft spoken towards the girls. They represent Helen as being really slutty in the clothes she wears e.g. short skirts, revealing clothing ect. Unlike Julie who is portrayed as a more religious symbol because she wears long clothes that aren’t very revealing and the most of her clothes are white symbolizing purity and holiness.

Ideology is very important in “I Know What You Did Last Summer?”, because if there was no meaning to the film it probably wouldn’t make sense. I think that the meaning of “I Know What You Did Last Summer?”  is what goes around comes around or karma will always find a way to pat you back. One of the ways these meanings are conveyed in the movie is that only the people who were cold hearted or were the bad characters e.g. Helen and Barry get killed. I think that “I Know What You Did Last Summer?”  follows the Strauss and prop’s narrative theory it is very predictable horror film. It also follows the classic formula of a horror film because there is a hero, villain, donor, helper, princess and false hero.

In conclusion I don’t think this film breaks the classic narrative structure that some other horror films do. E.g. Shawn of the dead because it takes the mick out of the classic horror film and breaks the codes and conventions of horror.

I have designed a fictitious CD cover for my classmate Schmoovy “SHAMZ”. The idea behind the CD cover is Schmoovy “SHAMZ” breaking through a brick wall and a beam of light is coming through also. The name of my artist is “SHAMZ”. I have chosen this name because that is the name that ‘Schmoovy’ the person I used in my picture’s tag name. The title of the album is “BREAKTHROUGH”, I have named it this because it related well to my CD design and it was a title that a lot of my target market could relate to because of situations they may go through. The name appeals to my target audience because the graffiti style tag name appeals to the subgenres of urban music, which are people that are into grime etc. By doing this I am using an appropriate mode of address to appeal to my audience. This is also the genre and subgenre that I am targeting so this helps me to relate to them. I have used the codes and conventions of urban music: grime by making the design of my CD cover very urban, using graffiti, bright colours and having Schmoovy dress very urban.

I have used aspects of media language in my CD cover design like semiotics, I have used semiotics to show signs and symbols of the message my CD cover and artist is trying to portray. An example of this is “SHAMZ” kicking and breaking through/down the wall, this symbolises her breaking down the barriers and stereotypes of urban music and possibly depending on how others interpret it, the black community. I have appealed to my target audience very well and that they will react to this in a positive way because I have tried to make my artist and her music relate to my target audience and also I have made it suitable for ages as she doesn’t swear or used any unsuitable language so parents will be able to see that you not everyone uses bad language in their music. I have represented her as a young, aggressive, urban artist but although I have stuck to the classic stereotype for urban music I have also broken the classic stereotype of urban music by using a strong young woman other than a male which is what you expect when talking about an urban rap artist. So as well as sticking to those stereotypes I also challenge it at the same time.

I would suggest that my album be promoted, played and viewed on TV channels like channel AKA, MTV base and other urban music channels because these are channels that my target market watch and also channel AKA is a good channel because it promotes young upcoming artists. I would want my album to be played on radio stations like CHOICE FM  because this radio station is good for urban music and my target market listen to this station the most. The internet is a good way to promote my artist because sites like myspace, where I can share my music with everyone and build up relationships with other artists that may like my artist’s music. This is a good may of building contacts and could lead to some good opportunities for my artist.

The sitcom has changed immensely over time. Sitcom was started through radio but is now seen on t.v. We see this change through the form, representation and audience of sitcom now. Firstly the form of sitcom, in its early days sitcom was very slapstick creating sitcoms like “Some Mother Do Av Em” and “Fawlty Towers”. Many sitcoms came along following the formula of having cheesy theme tunes, canned laughter, filmed in studios, catchphrases etc. Sitcom has now become very tired and  in need of a new lease of life, as a result of this writers and producers have begun to experiment with different media language and break down the sitcom formula. The characters, scripts and types of jokes used in sitcoms now have also changed.  We see this in sitcoms like “Flight Of The Concords” were we see socialrealism, meaning there is no canned laughter, it is structured in a documentary style way and is shot on location.

The representation of sitcom has also changed over the years becoming more ethnically diverse. By the 80′s britain was an ethincally diverse country meaning that producers and writers had to alter their sitcom and the racial steroypes portayed making them more diverse and appealing to all races. We see how sitcom was before britain became ethnically diverse by watching old sitcoms like “It Aint Half Hot Mum” and we see how racial stereotypes have changed since then by looking at sitcoms like “Desmonds”.

We also see how representation of sitcom has changed by looking at gender and how gender representation has changed.  Early on in 50′s T.V sitcoms like “I Love Lucy” portayed women as being housewives and still in some sitcoms we see that this stereotype has not changed e.g. “The Simpsons”. In the 90′s this stereotype/gender representation of women change. Rachel from “Friends” is a good example of this because she is  portrayed as this middle class women who is independant, has no children, very professional and earns her own money. This was in my opinion a big step for sitcom because here you start to see the classic formula of sitcom breaking down and people are starting to see that there is more to women than staying at home and looking after the family and the household.

The representation of family has also changed and developed over time too. Older sitcoms tended to feed us the idea that the classic ‘family’ was made up of 2 parents and 2+ children. The families were always wthout a doubt white, we see this in sitcoms like “Roxanne”. Even now we still see sitcoms that follow this formula e.g. “My Family”. Although  we still see a lot of sitcoms that still follow this classic formula, we also see that family sitcoms have become more ethnically diverse and now show more sitcoms with black families and families that don’t follow the classic 2 parents and 2+ children, we see families that just consist of  the grandparents and grandchildren or single parent families. T.V sitcoms like “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Royal Family”  show us how the classic family representation has changed and how diverse and open minded to change and new things we as a country have become.

Over the years the sitcom audience has become more open and is now appealing to a wider age range. When sitcom started out its target audience was aimed women who liked soap operas and a lot of them were family shows. Now we see that the sitcom audience has changed and that a there are now a lot of  sitcoms made for young people like “Gavin And Stacey” and “Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisp”. There are also sitcoms for childeren e.g “Thats So Raven” and more adult sitcoms like “The Office”. Audience is also now more fragmented into groups like age, race and gender. Audiences are now more aware of the sitcom formula and are getting bored of the classic formula and need something new and original.

What makes ‘The Fear’ by Lily Allen an interesting case study in music video within the pop music industry?

The text I will be analysing is ‘The Fear’ by Lily Allen. The premise of this song and the music video is mocking celebrities and all the stereotypes that come with being one. This piece is an interesting case to study for analysis because compared to other pop videos like Holly Vallance’s ‘Kiss Kiss’, this video shows pop and Lily Allen in a different light.

This video is intertextual because although the genre of the video and song is pop it’s making an intertexual reference to classic Hollywood musicals like Annie’s ‘I think I’m gonna like it here’. The effect of intertexuality in this music video is that it gives the song and video so many different meanings and breaks down stereotypes of what a classic pop song and video is. The classic codes and conventions of music videos that are shown in this video are things such as lip synching, dancing, and choreographed set routines, highly edited and montage. The location of the video is very grand, lavish and everything is big and dreamy. Those are some of the things that show us signs of classic Hollywood musicals. All of these things allow you to put Lily Allen as an artist, her song ‘The Fear’ and most if not all of her music to come under the indie pop genre.

The video starts in a field with a caravan. They did this to show freedom, lower class/poor people and common working class people. It is also showing us how rich or higher class people identify what is normal is, with anyone of a lower class which is the idea/stereotype that all common/normal people own a caravans and go camping.

The story taking place in ‘The Fear’ video is about the fantasy of a normal person of what it would be like to be rich, famous and have everything. This video creates a surreal Alice in Wonderland type fantasy where everything is dream like, colourful, lively and surreal. Examples of this in the video are the balloon people, dancing presents, bright bold colours, dancing butlers and the bow around the mansion at the end. All these things contribute to making a surreal; dream world where you have everything and everything is done for you. The themes and ideas being conveyed in this video is a fantasy world and the idea of a rags to riches story. The lyrics play a big part in telling the story. For example in the song it says “I am a weapon of massive consumption, it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function”. The lyrics of this song is basically talking about ‘THE DREAM’ and the desires people want but, in that particular part of the song Lily Allen is saying that you may think living the dream is fun but, all those celebrities that you see with all these different images and characteristics, they have all been constructed by the label or by their management.

Lily Allen’s audience is a mass audience made up of teenagers and adults who are into pop and people who are into indie and live music such as festivals e.g. Glastonbury. The video starts in a field on location which appeals to her target audience because it has that festival type theme that they’re used to. Lily Allen has created opportunities for other artists that don’t meet the classic pop stereotype e.g. Kate Nash etc and she also balances out stereotypes. She has created a cool, alternative female icon with a whole new pop genre. Parody and satire play a big part in this song and concept of the video because the whole song and video is based on mocking the rags to riches dream and people that think that money is everything. Audiences might respond to this video and song with mixed feelings because the higher class may find it offensive and like their lifestyle is being mocked. The middle and lower class may understand the message and see the song for what it is and not the offensive side. This video shows us that the music industry has a huge influence over the audience; the video also attacks the pop industry that makes it seem fine to be naked etc.

Lily Allen is signed to independent record label London Records. The indie nature of the London Records means that her music will be more directed towards an audience that are into indie pop music. Also being an indie artist Lily Allen is a regular performer at festivals, meaning the majority of her audience will be people who are into the festival scene. London Records is owned by Warner company ‘AOL/ TIMES/ WARNER’. Most indie labels are owned by major labels, this is called horizontal integration which means when a company owns other companies which contents. The fact that London Records is owned by major label Warner Bros Means that they have a better chance to signing to major labels including Warner Bros. If they see that Lily Allen could be a very successful artist then they could always sign her to their label opening a lot of doors for her to hook up with major artists etc. Institution is very important when analysing a music video because the label they’re signed to and the style of their music can tell a lot about an artist.

I did a semiotic analysis of Lily Allen’s ‘the fear’. One of the first things you notice with this video is that everything is constructed, nothings real it’s all very fantasy.

In the beginning of the video it is set in a field and there is a caravan, the caravan symbolises common, ‘normal’ people and people who are poor or the working class. The field symbolises freedom, nature and the plain and simplicity of life, at the beginning of the video also the field and caravan reminds you of festivals and indie music which is very arty and cool. Her clothes were very vintage, she had a vintage style dress symbolising ideas of alternativeness and independence/ individuality, showing that you can be sexy without dressing ‘slutty’. When Lily Allen walks through the caravan door she walks into this huge mansion giving off the fantasy feel almost like a hidden dream world like Narnia, you see a lot of surrealism throughout the video but that was just one of the ways we see this in the video. Another sign of surrealism in the video is when Lily Allen is entering the mansion and the butlers are standing waiting service but then suddenly turn into dancers. This shows ideas of parody/satire.  The room full of presents symbolises riches/treats, when the presents get up and start dancing we see the shallowness and fakeness of wealth and celebrities, it also suggests over the top excess.

Personally I like this song and the video because I think that the lyrics and the meaning behind the song and the video relate to a lot of  the issues going on now with how celebrities are conceived and how we as ‘ordinary people’ strive/ dream to live the life of them.  Also I believe that Lily Allen is trying to tell us that what we see on T.V is just what they want us to see or what their label wants us to see but, there’s a lot of behind the scene issues that we don’t know about that makes being a celebrity not such a great thing. I agree with all the ideas conveyed in this video because I do believe that we all dream of having this celebrity lifestyle with all the money and fame but, we don’t really know what the industry is like. It’s not all presents and big houses, a lot of the time celebrities aren’t like what they are conceived in the media. They have been constructed by their record labels to look like this type of person in the media.

Horror poster evaluation

My poster is about a man called Nick McRowdy who was tortured by his brothers and family for most of his childhood. 20 yrs on and he is 23 and has decided to take revenge on his family. He kidnaps his family and locks them in a warehouse creating the illusion that they are the last people on earth. His family tortured him by using his fear of small spaces and the dark against him so he thought he would give them a taste of their own medicine. He killed them using their fears against them also, but his youngest brother Paul escapes. Nick hunts him down and kills him. I titled my poster “Everyone’s afraid of everything” because I thought this represents my film the most .My poster depicts the film because it tells the story of the film without giving the film away.

Form:

The poster for ‘Everyone’s Afraid of Something’ is clearly a horror poster.  It uses the codes and conventions that audiences associate with the horror genre. An example of this is the close up of the eye which is a classic piece of horror genre iconography.  The eye conveys that you are being watched which is also a narrative clue about the theme of the story.  An extreme close up of an eye could also suggest terror and shock. When I took the picture of the eye I didn’t intend to catch the reflection of the photographer but, in the end it proved to be very effective because the silhouette of the photographer coveys that it could be the killer or the soul of the victim trapped because you can see the silhouetted window which looks like bars. Spiders are also an example of classic horror codes.  This gothic symbol conveys creepy feelings of darkness or death. The blood dripping from the eye is another classic example of the horror codes. The blood conveys the feel of torture and slaughter. It also symbolises death, plays on childhood fears, shows a sense of gore and get that visceral feeling. It also gives a narrative clue to the outcome of the film. The font of the writing is very sharp and spider web like. It conveys feelings of terror and fear. The colour of the writing is a blood red and so this contributes to the scare factor of the whole poster.

Audience:

My target audience for my poster is teens 18+ and adults. I aimed for the people who like twisted and disturbing films that send a chill up your spine. I think my audience will respond to my poster positively with excitement and curiosity. I chose to release it in February because I wanted young couples to come and watch the film. The audience would respond to my film with gratification because if they want a film that is going to scar you when you leave the cinema then this is the film.

Institution:

This is a british film that is trying to appeal to a larger audience by going for more Hollywood style and a more conventional horror narrative but, still keeping a raw british style.