MIGRAIN INDEX

1) Media consumption audit
2) Reading an image: RBK advert analysis & own choice advert analysis
3) Institution: major media institution research and presentation
4) Institution: brand values
5) Institution: CoolBrands research
More brands
6) Narrative: narrative theory YouTube clip analysis
7) Audience: psychographics
8) Audience: audience theory blog tasks/questions
9) Audience: audience theory - dependency theory
10) Representation: clip analysis - dominant and alternative representations
11) Representation theory: 500 word analysis on blog
12) Representation: Media Magazine articles and questions
13) Ideology: BBQ QT analysis and binary opposition
14) Ideology: Media Magazine reading 

Hunger games

MM52

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The view of capitalist ideology in the hunger games film:

The hunger games have a clear ideology as the audience can picture exactly what the film is trying to say. the binary oppositions are clearly established e.g the good and the bad. The view of capitalism is seen to be unfriendly to society. There have been many rebellions in the past due to the change in the 'Capitols' ruling system and this lead to stricter rules being put in place in order for society to be kept in line. This is apparent in the line, "The Games serve to keep the districts under control, as punishment for previous rebellions, and to warn them to stay in line". This quotation accentuates the fact that the Capitol has created new punishment systems in order to keep each district in line of obeying the law. The use of a powerful phrase 'under control' suggests that only the powerful can make the decisions of how the districts should be run. Furthermore, it suggests that previous actions were near to success and that the current government are frightened that one day rebellion will occur and may become successful. since the leading character is a female this suggests that the film has a better viewing for women than men as they are portrayed to be more powerful. The film has opposite ideology e.g the women are now portrayed to be stronger than the men this means that the female gender would be more attached to the film. The film also shows the weak and the strong and the hero and villain. The film has many positive views. The hunger games shreds a really powerful image to the media as the main protagonist has become a symbol of radicalism. mainly this film has a dominant ideology which are also common in other films. it also presents the working lass and lower class as they develop drastically to reach upper class.

Page 48:

• Realise your true potential
• Be yourself
• Lead a satisfying life
• People should put their families first

Gramci's theory suggests that the use of power is not used with force but is used through consent. This means that people allow some sort of power to be placed amongst them rather than just being forced on them. This is one way in which those in power maintain their control through consent, otherwise placing force on someone allows them to lost their control. He argued that the power of ideology comes primarily from ideas and strictures which support an elite social group. Louis Althusser delivers an understanding of how we, the consumers, are controlled through ideology. His view point was he believed that ideology was 'the greatest material of power' and dominates our day-to-day lives. This occurs through two key forms of control: Repressive State Control: This is primarily about those who have the most power such as, Government, Army, Police and Courts etc.- which are dominated by the ruling elite. These 'state agencies' deliver their masses through violence and fear. Idealogical State Apparatuses: Church, the media, educational institutions etc.- these institutions control and dominate implicitly through common sense rather than through fear. This links in with Gramci's theory, that power can be used though consent rather than through force. 

Ideology and Binary Oppositions.

Examples of binary oppositions in this clip:

The audience may have many binary oppositions but these would be the main ones.

• Good vs Evil
• Hero vs villain 
• Rich vs poor 
• Strong vs weak
• Clever vs stupid
• Upper class vs Lower class

In this interview, we can see that Russel Brand is representing the working class. He relates to the audience much more in comparison to Nigel Farage. Russel Brand says during the interview to the audience that he is 'just like you'. Which shows he can relate to the audience and engage with them, and most of all understand where they are coming from. He also talks about being brought up in a similar environment as the audience, and tries to turn them against Nigel Farage, by saying that Nigel was brought up in a more privileged environment. By Russel doing this, he can get the audience to level with him more easily as he shows them he understands their struggles.

Finally, another common ideology that has been present during this clip has been that the countries system needs to be changed. This is because majority of the audience are confused on where the money (from the economy) has gone and where it is. Both Russell and Nigel want a tremendous change to society, however their values and opinions is what makes their ideas differ from one another. In addition, this ideology of 'change' is the key and main thing that all members of the public share in common /based on this current situation). Therefore, one of the most common ideologies present during this talk was the need for change in society and in the government.

This film has many binary oppositions the main one would be good vs bad as the film consists of this man who is fighting for justice. the film trailer represents the lower class succeeding to become a higher class and the protagonist increases recognition. The binary oppositions are between the protagonist and the antagonist. The protagonist being an American and the antagonist being from another country. This is also seen with the law and civilians in the court room when the judge takes away the child from her farther. There is also a binary opposition between the protagonist and the bank.

This film presents men to be a stronger figure than women as they are presented to be more violent and especially in this film their appearance is portrayed to be even stronger. The protagonist is strong and is usually a white male. Women are seen to look after the man and children. This is a common ideology as it shows how they are portraying men as the main figure.

ideology

Ideology is all about gaining power in society. The power of ideology is often those in power control ideas, as well as resources. This means that those who are higher up in the hierarchy have a greater influence on those below them and in this case it is the public and those who live in the districts. In the film 'Hunger Games' the power of ideology comes from the most powerful, in this case it is President Snow. He applies his own creativity into the game and this is mostly going to be from his point of view of what changes he would want to the game and not what others think of it. This ideological thinking is from some persons perspective and the way he sees things to be run may not always be the best way for other people as it is from his point of view. He is concerned that other who are below his in the hierarchy are more likely to rebel against his authority and so he tries to gain his power by spreading fear amongst those below him such as the districts. The way he comes across with his ideological thinking and information is through the propaganda he produces. Propaganda can influence many consumers who come across it as the propaganda is used to influence a certain way of thinking and this can lead to people changing their perception towards a specific thing.

Dystopia and Propaganda:
The article states that those in power (those at the top of the hierarchy is slowly crumbling. This is because although they hold most of the power, those below them are joining together to rise up against the corrupt government. The one who has the most power in the districts is Katnis and she uses propaganda to influence the need for rebellion as she hacks into Capitol system and publishes a video of a hospital being bombed by the Capitols. This move was sued to encourage people to turn against the support of the Capitol and to rebel against them due to their cruel system. Katnis uses the power of the T.V to help deliver he message across to the world stating that the Capitol is cruel and is not the right system for them.

MM52- P48

Ideology
In this article, the ideology in Britain changes as new ideas emerges however there three dominant ideologies that society accepts or agree on even though everyone doesn't entirely agree. The three dominant ideologies are the following:

• People should put their families first.
• People should work hard for their money.
• Women should behave in feminine ways, and look after their appearance.

These ideologies often are accepted without any question or argument as society has consumed this ideology and will agree to it. Although there can be people who counter this ideology, this doesn't make a significant impact on societies point of view. 

Media Magazine Task

Key Concepts of Representation

MM50

1. The article is about female audiences who view the media often are 'dominated' by heterosexual Caucasian of 0-2 models. People complain stating that women in advertising are 'too white' and under size 6. Yet there is still advertising both men and women are suffering issues with body image due to media imagery. The introduction of the plus size model helps advertisers in projecting an image of what people actually look like. 
2. The name of the film that has sparked fused this debate is known as 'A Perfect 14'. 
3. The female gaze is somewhat different from the male gave judging from this article as both versions of the female gaze have a similar view point however this article focuses not from a women being 'looked at' but rather how women feel by the narrow use of different sized women. This article is showing how advitisors want to project the image of women too look a certain way whereas Mulvery's theory is that women are often there to be looks at by men.
4. I think that the media shouldn't keep portraying women like this as this can really have a major impact on many women's lives. The media is trying to project women in a certain way and therefore,some women would feel uncomfortable knowing that they do not fit in with that category and can rally have an effect on many women's lives and the way they see themselves. 
5. The film is about a divide in females representation in the media. Women in the trailer believe that 95% of the women portrayed in the media are skinny and beautiful and they believe that consumers aren't buying the product but instead they are buying the portrayal of the Caucasian women. Women feel depressed about the way they look because of other peoples portrayal of 'normal' women are different to other woman who don't fit that category. 

MM51

1. The introduction to this article is about how the media is re-presented after the media object has been captured. The article states that the producer behind the media object will in some shape or form 'mediate' the image in a way that it will perceive more value and thought than the original object did for example, a famous celebrity has a photo taken, and the media will discuss the clothing or the setting of where the photo is being taken place. This isn't what the image previously was to state but the image has been mediated. 

The representation of the mass media in the article is portrayed to show how the 'mediator' behind the media object is presented. In this case, the location in a film is determined by the Film Director of how this location is going to be portrayed and this is often from both the institutions and directors point of view. Another example, is the new paper. The company running the news paper will decide what type of story to cover and how to portray it whether its positive or negative. 

The how, who and why representations in this article is to show how each media text or object is used to portray a certain way of thinking and the steps taken by the mediator to get this representation as effective as possible. The mediator will need to go through various requirements and steps before publishing a media object to the consumers. This is because the producer of that media text/object wants it to be presented and seen in the same way he/she wants it to be. For example, a new war film has been released and the poster of that film is designed to promote it. The producer would place explosion images as well as planes or even weaponry within that media object in order to convey the genre and the visuals of that film.

Stuart Hall's approach to ideology in this article was to show how the mediators/producers way of making the consumer think or even react to a certain media text will not always have the same impact that the producer intended. This was known as ‘Encoding/Decoding' which basically told how consumers would add their own thoughts and beliefs on the media text and this would change the entire message that the media text is trying to convey.

The new media and representations statement is about how consumers now days often create their own media and this is often through social media. Moreover, consumers and people now days are more into user generated content and distribute their thoughts and opinions on to their friends or even followers (depending on the type of platform). The use of social media allow us to construct our own media and identity and for our consumers to take that media text or object in. Furthermore, the article states that due to the many generated content being produced by various users around the world, they are not only created new and original content but also they are constructing their personalities and characteristics to the world. 

3) Overall, I do become aware of the things that I do post online as the content that is published through the world wide web can be seen by millions of people using the internet and this can be very vital with the type of content wanting to be produced. However, I am to a large extent aware of how I present my self online. This is because the way you construct yourself online can or cannot (up to the user) be an exact representation of your life and can be altered. This can be dangerous as people want to see themselves as being different to who they actually are and this can give off the wrong impression to people of they type of person you actually are due to the way you construct yourself. People now days often portray themselves (through social media) as being completely different to who they are in real life and their friends can notice that. This can be very damaging as people confidence may be more lenient into the side of your virtual self rather than you actual self and this confusion can affect peoples day-to-day activities and social interactions as they have lost their personality. Overall, I am very aware of the way I present myself online as I don't just see the  information that I post from my point of view but from others point of view and this is a clear indication of being aware of the data and information that is posted via the internet.