https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MI3CKL4NMI -Smoke the weed snoop lion

i decided to choose this video for my summer research project as it shows the representations of drugs in which i am

section B LR

LR: use more theory in each question 

Print: The links in with the auteur theory where the director is being presented as an author who's name is used to attract a wider audience. Spectre' contract with Transport For London for dedicating a few London buses to promote the film links in with one of Dyer lines of appeal. The distributors want to be seen as elite people who have a lot of money to spend on promotion. This is because not many films use this method to try and attract an audience, but this may be because Spectre is from a British TV show and its core audience is British people.

Broadcast: The TEDX lecture that Ben Drew had attended was a way for him to attract a new audience and make them gain some interest in his film. The audience generally in a TEDX lecture would be reformers who seek change about society. This matches with Ben's ideological thinking on society. Ben thinks that the current conservative government is casting out the youth in society and he believes that this is wrong and should be changed. By expressing his opinions and thought in a TEDX lecture, those who are part of the audience may agree with his opinions as they too seek change in society and government. As a result, Ben would have potentially of gained a new audience for his film Ill Manors as the audience may want to see a film that serves the same purpose as them. Spectre's use of the classic trailers helped deliver to its mainstream audience. This is because Spectre is part of a big franchise; the 007 franchise. As a result, the core audience who love this type of movie like to see the same thing again and do not like to change from that. This is what makes the franchise very successful, it is always true to the original screen adaptations. And by presenting it is a mainstream fashion, it further increases the reputation of the franchise. 007 audiences like to see the same thing over and over again and by presenting it in a common and normal way, it further stays true to its mainstream audience.

E-media: A Field In England using the e-media to help promote the DVD release of the film was an attempt to gain last minute revenue. This could work as those who loved the film and want to see it again, can do so by purchasing the DVD version of the film. The DVD was spotted on Amazon etc which allowed for audiences to purchase a copy of the DVD film.There was great amount of synergy seen throughout the webpage of Spectre. It had a store where all the 007 merchandise can be found via a store on the webpage. This is a form of product placement where the website is promoting other things rather than just the film itself. In this case, it is products that are linked with the brand instead of the film. This can  also be seen as a form of synergy as it is cross promoting the perfume industry as well as the clothing industry as well. 

mock exam LR

1. WWW - Q1 good detail used

EBI - You need to cover more, especially the Section A question 3.

My strongest was Section A on the first question as I've included good content that'd get me good marks, however I could have included more theory in it.

My weakest question would have been question 2. Instead of talking about the male gaze for Megan Fox's portrayal in the clip, I talked about the female gaze. Meaning, I didn't use the correct theory to match with the evidence I was giving. I was meant to talk about the male gaze which is from the males perception.

One way in which the trailer attempts to appeal to a male audience is through Megan Fox's appearance. This is because females are not usually presented in FPS games and it will certainly grab the attention of the viewer if she appears in it. Megan Fox is a sexually appealing woman in the eyes of many males as she is a model and actress, which means she can gain the attention of many males who view this trailer. This links in with the male gaze, where the men do the looking (the viewers as well as the on-screen characters) and focus more on the female. This is a way to attract males into watching this trailer as they would not normally associate females with Call of Duty games.

Another way in which the trailer attempts to appeal to a male audience is through the level of action shown in this clip. This is because the action genre appeals to a male dominant audience as they enjoy this type of visual element. When they see some sort of action and violence they are here to stay a bit longer as they are engaged with the action occurring on screen. This fits in with the female gaze as it is the men that are being looked at by the potential female viewers (as this is the first Call of Duty game to feature female characters and may have some form of interest) as they are represented as masculine and as protectors- they are very patriotic.

Finally, one way in which the trailer attempts to appeal to a male audience is through the tag line. This is apparent towards the end of the clip where all 4 characters are walking and the tag line saying 'There's a soldier in all of us'.This tag line can really have an impact on the male viewers as it fits directly with their masculinity. Men see themselves as patriotic and are proud of their masculine figure etc. The tag line is used to reinforce and remind the male viewer of their position as men and acts as a way to re-define their current status.

One is with the group of 4 friends who go to Las Vegas to have a good time and enjoy themselves. This links to the film The Hangover where a group of male friends go to Las Vegas to have a good time. This is highlighted as we see the Las Vegas sign after the car passes then the group of males coming out of the car. This is a strong link with the game and film as they both say that Las Vegas is the place to go to have fun and enjoy yourself with your friends.

The trailer also associates Infinity wards and Activision as two businesses who help promote action films. When people see these businesses they will automatically associate IR with the call of duty franchises or those who know about the call of duty franchises but want to play games that are similar to this, will go and search the other games that they sell. This will help promote Activision and infinity wards as call of duty being one of their successful games people will go and buy other games that they produce to live up to the standard of call of duty.

I talked about all three platforms for each of the films that I talked about. There were also examples given to show knowledge of what was being said. In order to gain access to the top level for section b I needed to use the key words for the question and always link back to it. There wasn't enough information linking back to what the question was asking. I needed to talk about how all of the platforms can be accessed on your phone which is how media devices contain everything from all platforms which is linking it back to what the question was asking.

LR section B

LR: go in more detail and  mention at least 2 or more theories in each paragraph.

The one theory that can be applied to this poster is Hooks theory. It is that women who are lighter skinned appeal more in the desirable and fit in the western society. This is seen in the poster as there are women who are seen to be revealing as they are on a beach and are of a lighter skin colour. This can also be linked to the male gaze which is Burgers theory that men look and women appear. This is seen as they are on a beach surrounded by women and they are the only men that can be seen this reinforces this stereotype that men are usually the ones who look and women always appear and dress up for men.

Paragraph two- Broadcast platform

The broadcast platform offer a lot of moving and digital footage which is what the print platform doesn't have. The broadcast platform can deliver more information and engage more than compared to a print product as there isn't a lot of user interactivity. Ill Manors used a range of different types of trailer which focus of completely different things. The Ill Manors main promotional trailer focused a lot of the characters as well as the lifestyle of the youth. There were a couple of scenes where the youth were beating each other up or doing violent acts. However, there was a few scene of prostitution. These scenes don't play a major role in the films narrative and thus is used to attract the viewer even more. This film is a 18 certificate meaning that there will be sexual related scene within this movie, and these scenes are to attract the audiences attention. This links nicely with the female gaze ans the majority of the sexual scene were of women. The trailer is portray females as sexual desirable people and this is seen through their body posture as they lean in to the window of a males car. The film seems to follow the stereotype of young women being prostitutes and is apparent in this trailer through the female gaze.  In Spectre broadcast platform, we see the character James Bond doing a range of dangerous and being active throughout this trailer. This is an example of the male gaze. James Bond franchise is known to follow this theory as the character often needs to be portrayed as dominant and attractive to the female audiences. He is seen time to time doing life risky things which is to further engage the female audience as they want to see more of his actions.

Paragraph three- E-media platform

Ill Manors had a website (now been removed) that was dedicated to all things related to the film. The first visual thing to grab the users attention was the banner. The banner consisted on the main character involved in the Ill Manors film narrative. However, the portrayal of these character were very grime and dark. They seem to give off this criminal like feel due to the tone and the colour scheme of the banner. This links in to the representations of the youth culture. We see a man sitting on the group smoking and this image can generate certain representations which today's society believe to be true. One of which is that the youth cannot look after themselves and turn to criminals a way of entertainment which is evident through the banner portrayal of the characters.

Furthermore, Spectre has a website that looks and feels more professional than the other films (Ill Manors and A Field in England) as it is a long running film franchise, Therefore, it is likely to learn from its past mistakes and perfect its portrayal through all three media platforms including e-media. The website has a lot of synergy present on it. It has a shop section where it sells 007 perfume bottles. This is cross promoting the clothing industry as well as boosting the brands portrayal to audiences. As this is a link on e-media, users can search up the advertisement for the perfume and these can say certain things about the brand itself. According to Dyers 13 lines of appeal, the Spectre 007 brand sees itself as luxury and prestige through the range of products it sells in relation to the film itself, for example the perfume line.

Synergy essay

One convention that is seen in this music video that is typical of other music videos seen in the past is the use of a storyline through both the words as well as footage. This is apparent when the artist (known as Plan B) focuses the majority of this song on the London riots in 2011. In addition, the music video also shows youngsters dressed as criminals doing violent action in society which is a clear indication to the London riots. This is because the majority of 'typical' music videos often portray a certain storyline. These story lines can be either contrapuntal (clips do not match the song) to the music or parallel (make sense with the music. This song made by Plan B delivers a clear message in his music videos which acts as the story-line/narrative of the music video. For example, Plan B says the following, " ...council kids scum..." suggests that the narrative behind this video is societies perception of the youth and ow they effect peoples lives, including the government. There is a key binary opposition seen in this music video, which is 'the government vs the youth'. This binary opposition plays a key part in the narrative of this music video and delivers a powerful message to the consumer to keep them engaged,

Another key convention that is seen in this music video is having Plan B in the actual music video. Although, the majority of today's music videos contain the artist, it is still a convention seen in 'typical music videos'. Plan B is the main person to be seen in the music video a lot where he sings the words to the song as well. By having the artist play in the music video does act as a way to attract the audience even more as they are eager to know how they are singing (compared to their last music video) and how they look etc. In today's society, music video's are gradually beginning to have less screen time of the artist and have the majority of the music video focus on actors who are telling the story through the words that the artist are saying. This form of change in the music videos hasn't happened a lot, but is seen to be widely accepted by the audience and therefore, can likely be a significant change to music videos as a whole.

Finally, another key convention seen in this music video is the build up of a symbolic event. This is apparent through out the music video when Plan B develops his narrative as well as the footage developing the symbolic meaning. Both of these help to build a symbolic meaning which is the power of the youth. The youth is seen tearing up the streets of London showing their power and dominance over the government. It is this symbol and meaning that the music video is developing; to try and get a message across to as many people as possible. In addition, there is synergy in this music video. Plan B has recently made a film (at the time of filming this music video) which is called "Ill Manors". Synergy is cross promotion between two (or more) media forms for example in this music video, it is promoting the film Ill Manors. The music video contains 'cameos (people who do not effect the narrative but are famous people that are in a clip for a small amount of time e.g. Stan Lee in Marvel movies)'. This music video has cameos of the actors from the film Ill Manors and this acts as a way for Plan B to promote his upcoming film by introducing some of the actors gin his music video.

2) Media Representations

One way in which this music video represents London Rioters is in a cruel and unfair way. This is apparent in the music video, where children are dressed up as hoodlings and cover their face with a bandanna to cover their identity. These connotations and props used within the music video all point at a negative view point of the London Rioters. Furthermore, the portrayal of the youth in this clip accentuates the fact that youngsters are lay breakers and are out of control as they are seen destroying public properties as well as vehicles. Medhurts theory come into this, the ideology of the police force and youth. The police are represented as dominant and that they are going to resolve the situation, whereas the youngsters are represented as the dangerous and disobedient ones that need to be stopped. In addition, Richard Dyers stereotyping and power is also represented in this music video. Constantly seen in this music videos, references to actual news papers. This supports Dyers theory as it is seen that those in 'power' are stereotyping those who have less power. In this case it is the government who are portraying the youth in such a way, and it is the youth being portrayed like that due to them having less power.

In addition, another way in which this music video represents London Rioters is in a heroic way. This is apparent in the video, where there a a hoodling helping out an old lady cross the road. This is because the video is trying to show society what the youth are 'actually' like and that the media's perception on them is incorrect (as well as the governments). Furthermore, the proffered reading of this music video is that the London Rioters are causing nothing but harm to people's lives and society. However, an alternative perception is (from a youngsters perspective) that the rioters are giving them a voice. The rioters are trying to get all of England's youth to be heard and are acting in such a way to benefit all of them. In a way, the rioters are presented as the heroes (in the alternative way) and the police are presented as the villains who do not want their voice to be heard.

3) Media Audiences

One way audience pleasure that the music video offers is the use of education and informative data. This is apparent, where the music videos shows establishing shots of London and the poor areas of it and what the people nearby do in those areas. This is because this video is posted on YouTube and shared around many social media sites and therefore, it is likely that this video will be in the hands of many viewers around the world. As a result, information about the streets of London during the time can be of use to many people. These events that take place within the music video can have an effect of viewers as they can learn a lot from the life of youngsters in the streets of London as well as the perception of the government. The use of the two-step flow model is shown in this music video as the actual singer (Plan B) is trying to convey his perception of the London Riots in his music video in order to change the mind set of his fans.

Another way audience pleasure that the music video offers is the use of hypocrisy. It is evident in this music video, where there is a contrapuntal tone within this entire music video. On one hand Plan B is talking about the politicians being the cruel ones, however the music video clips themselves is going against that as everyone is seen to be doing bad things. This level of hypocrisy may not be the intention but is still giving out this meaning of the youth being out of control rather than the 'good' people. Furthermore, this can generate societies mind to keep thinking that the youth are to blame for societies current issues as this music video shows how they are rebellious to everyone and that they can cause harm. The hypodermic needle can also be implied with this music video. This is because society have been forced to consume this type of representation on the youth and believe that it is correct rather than countering this argument.

Finally, one way audience pleasure that the music video offers is the use of poverty tourism. This is apparent in this music video, where there is a large group of young kids on the streets and stealing expensive things. These actions all reveal that there is a sense of poverty in this music video in the streets of London. This can attract a large amount of people who are interested in those who are in poverty and this music video acts as a way to promote this. People can gain an interpretation of London and how people are being treated in less known streets such as the one in this music video. Perkins theory can be supported, as we see youngsters stealing things (such as a TV) it is evident that although they are in poverty they are youngsters who dress in a way that threatens people and so it can be a true stereotype to them. 

4) Media Institutions

One way in which the music video helped promote the film Ill Manors was the use of having cameos. Cameos are famous actors who make an appearance in a film or footage for a small amount of time and acts as a surprising moment to the audience. This is evident in this music video as we see many times, actors from the actual film seen within this music video. This acts a cross promotion also known as synergy between both the movie and the music video. The music video tries to promote the movie by having its main stars present during this music video which will act as a way to encourage fans to watch the film Ill Manors. An example of a cameo is Stan Lee, who  appears in many Marvel films (that are linked to the MCU). Furthermore, both the film and music video both share a similar sense of tone. The tone seen in Ill Manors as well as this music video is very much similar which acts as a form of promotion as well as it gives the audience a better understanding and feel of the film if they would want to go and watch it.

Another way in which the music video helped promote the film is the setting and theme that the music video was based on. The music video is set during the London Riots (before the Olympics) and the film (Ill Manors) is set in the same time period as the song. This is apparent in the music video, where we (the audience) can clearly see the rioters destroying the streets of London with flame bottles and using weaponry for defence. Similarly, in the Ill Manors movie trailer, we see many shots of the setting of where the majority of this film will be taking place and it seemed to be near the Olympic stadium. This acts as a form of promotion for the film as it allows the fans of the music video to get a better insight into what the theme of the movie is going to be like (before even watching it). Theme is one of the most important factors to an audience and if it is done right, it can make the promotion very successful similarly, to this cross promotion.

Finally, one other way in which the music video helped promote the film Ill Manors was having their music exclusive to the movie. This is apparent in the Ill Manors trailer, where (towards the end) the new soundtrack from Plan B is played until the title sequence appears. This is another way in which the music video acts acts a promotion for the movie as Plan B has exclusive soundtracks along with this film which is obviously used to attract his fans in to watching the movie (not just for the new soundtrack). Furthermore, the trailer seems to promoting the music video as well  as fans who are familiar with Plan B and come across this trailer will suddenly realise that he has launched a new song without even hearing it in the first place.

Exam question

Many Codes and conventions are used to promote media products and this is evident in Ben Drew's Ill Manors. The film is targeted at the youth demographic and is consumed across the three media platforms; print, e-media and broadcast and synergy is created throughout all three platforms. However, the target audience is not fixed to the film as different media products appeal to a wider and perhaps unconventional audience. Within the print platform, the film Ill Manors has been promoted through a variety of different magazines and newspapers. Ben Drew appeared on the cover of NME magazine, which was initially produced as a rock magazine. Ben Drew, Ill Manor's film director, captures and embodies the stereotypical rapper with an attitude as he is seen with his middle finger up and a cigarette in his mouth, revealing a rather derogatory image. The target audience of the magazine itself would be youths and young adults, therefore this gesture and the attitude would appeal to the young and reckless demographic and the psychographic group of the explorers. This reinforces the negative representation of young people and also creates 'moral panics' as the tag line 'David Cameron... be very afraid' is highlighted across the cover. This reinforces the stereotypes that are fixed to young people and also creates this idea of 'moral panics' as Plan B appears as a threat to society. This as a whole would appeal to the similar working class target audience as the NME magazine is also free, therefore the similar target audience are able to understand more about the film. This is a conventional technique used in order to promote a film to the correct target audience and the fact that it is made entirely explicit that Ben Drew (Plan B) directed the film shows that he is part of the USP of the film. This is a convention which is used to promote a film positively as seen with A Field In England, a 2013 British psychological thriller, as within the print posters, the director Ben Wheatley is seen as the auter of the film and almost promotes the film through him being a successful and experienced director. Both films use their USP to their advantage, which helps the correct target audience to consume their media products. 

In addition, Plan B appears on the cover of Men's Health magazine, however we can explicitly tell from the magazine itself that the target audience would be different. The article not only entertains the reader but also informs them about Plan B's lifestyle and in terms of Blumler and Katz's uses and gratifications theory, Men's health's main aim would be surveillance as the magazine provides the reader with information about dieting. This would portray Ben Drew in a different presentation than within a magazine such as NME. The cover makes Plan B appear in a rather suave and sophisticated way, holding a dominant demeanour as a 'man' rather than a reckless boy. Men's Health holds strong ideologies towards health, lifestyle and fitness, therefore Plan B would not be promoting his film as such but more his lifestyle. The target audience for the magazine would axiomatically be males, most likely the young adult demographic as they would be interested in their image more so than the elder more mature male and therefore the psychographic group of aspirers would be the predominant readership as they are orientated around image and appearance. The fact that Ben Drew talks about his weight loss and his lifestyle would broaden his audience as he is able to promote both his diet but also his film through the talk of his lifestyle as an upcoming director. This would help to create exposure for his media products and also gather a wider audience to consume his media products; an audience that would not necessarily be aware of Plan B as a rapper or director.  

As already mentioned, A Field In England uses similar codes and conventions to appeal to the core target audience of the middle-class ABC1 demohraphic. This target audience is quite different from the Ill Manors' due to the historical content involved within the film. The film poster embodies 17th century England, through the use of the silhouette and the almost sepia looking, washed out colour. The colour of the poster is extremely important with identifying the genre of the film and appealing to the correct target audience. Through this old, traditional worn out colour, an audience would make the assumption that the film is a historical drama. With The King's Speech, the colour of the poster is again very similar as the orange, yellow background connotes the authenticity of the film as the colour looks almost worn out and different. However, it also connotes passion and fire, which signifies the King's determination to speak fluently. Simply from the background colour of a film poster, the audience are able to understand more about the film. This is used as a shorthand to understanding the narrative and therefore is closely interlocked with Dyer's theory of stereotypes being shorthand. The iconography of the microphone is also used to signify the genre of this film and the fact that it is a period movie, due to the authenticity of the microphone. This iconography is evident within the Ill Manors film poster too as Riz Ahmed, the main protagonist, holds a gun, which captures the genre of the film as an urban social realistic film. The use of film poster conventions help the audience to understand the genre of the film as the construction of these film posters help to emphasise the genres. 

Throughout the broadcast platform, Plan B stays true to his own ideologies and values as he appears as adopts the same personality even when the audience is different to his conventional 'fans.' The TEDx lecture that Plan B appears in has an audience that is on the opposite end of the spectrum when compared to the audience that would be viewing his film. The TEDx audience would be middle-class, ABC1 demographic and most fitting in the psychographic group of succeeders. This audience would not conventionally watch the film and therefore creates exposure to a new audeince and therefore understand Plan B's strong moral values and political beliefs. It also creates synergy through this platform as the director of the film is  able to promote his soundtrack and he is able to construct the way he speaks to promote himself as a brand too. This would help the audience understand Plan B as a brand and this would cross-promote himself and his film. Although his audience are middle class and perhaps rather conservative, Plan B himself is still informal and his dialect is colloquial, revealing how he holds strong ideologies for being true to himself. This in itself helps to promote his media products through the use of him as a loyal brand. Also, he appears on SBTV, who's core target audience is very similar to the audience Plan B knows. The youth, young adult, working class demographic would be the predominant viewers of SBTV and therefore may already know who Plan B is and therefore promotes his film through himself once again. Due to Plan B's background of being a rapper and being a political rapper, more specifically, it already gains a fan base for him, therefore creates exposure through his soundtrack, which creates synergy and therefore widens the audience that consumes his media products. 

The final way that the film was promoted was through interviews, this can be seen on YouTube which is a cross promotion with social media and other websites. This is a good method as people can see the characters and grow more attached to them. This is effective as they will be more inclined to watch the film and after watching the series the film was promoted on E4 and so were the interviews on E4. This is synergy between the TV series and the film itself. The series would help promote the film as people who enjoyed the series would find the film more appealing and the interviews also account for the promotion of the film. In conclusion the best platform to promote a film would be on e media which is the most effective way as you can target a wider audience through a short amount of time where as everyone else would be less likely to use any other platform such as print. 

March PPE Learner Response

1) Feedback:

www: question 3 got me the most marks as i am good at identifying media narrative features in a film so i found this question the easiest out of the four.

ebi: question 1 needed more detail and understanding

Q1

The brand hold ideologies which 'inspire change,' therefore the whole idea of people with disabilities can essentially 'inspire change' as they want to lead a normal life and they can. The use of the positive representation reveals Channel 4 as a positive channel that promotes inclusivity. Due to the channel being a public service broadcaster, we would expect it to reflect society and humanity in the correct and realistic way, similar to BBC. Audiences want to see themselves on TV and feel good about being within their society, therefore by focusing on the paralympics and providing them with coverage, it promotes Channel 4's brand image as one of diversity, unity and friendship. This would therefore link to the idea of the uses and gratifications theory as an audience would connect with the people and therefore personal relationships would be formed.In the media, there are a number of things that are within society but left out of the media. Disabled people are seen as invisible on screen and as a marginalised target. Channel 4's motive to 'inspire change' shows difference and a message that can ultimately influence others and young people too. The use of the attitude and aggression presented through the characters and the music choice, would particularly interest a young audience as there is hip hop music in the background. 

Extra points

The shock values are reoccurring frequently thought out the Paralympic trailer, the fact that the lady who has a disability in her limb and is still  being portrayed as a hard working individual triggers the audience to understand people with special needs properly and in more depth ,this is because the audience will realise there is no difference between them and anyone else, this also engages the audience and enhances Channel fours brand image.the fact that the trailer portrays inclusive attracts and because more appealing to a wider range of audience, the fact that they are not excluding any groups and are focusing and targeting a minority appeal makes Channel four seem very liberal and connects people together in a positive way, overlooking their differences and empowering each other in this way