Collective Identity Case Study: Grange Hill

 Grange Hill

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop). [this is also known as iconography]

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

Semiotics

Introduction to  Semiotics

Semiology is an attempt to create a science of the study of signs, systems and their role in the construction and reconstruction of meaning in media texts.

Theorist: Rolan Barthes, Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Pierce.

Semiotics is "the study of signs that help us deconstruct Media Texts". What this means is that we look at representations within media texts

Codes
A system of signs, languages or symbols that allow audiences to decode meaning. In simpler terms, this is a collaboration of signs to implement a meaning behind it. Examples usually derive from technical and symbolic codes, or narrative codes.
In our music video we used varies shots of the man protagonist to show his emotions and feeling towards his love and him running away.
Connotations
The various meanings/suggestions produced by the sign. For example, in our music video created in A2 we used the dance floor to represent the po genre and how it is seen in other music videos (bright colourful uplifting). Our dancefloor helps create a happy mood within the audience.

Decoding
The Process where meaning is deconstructed or 'read' by audiences

Denotation
The physical form of the sign.

Collective Identities: Stuart Hall

Stuart Hall

 

Stuart Hall- Born: Kingston, Jamaica 1932 is a cultural theorist and sociologist.

Theory: Stuart Hall states our personal cultural background influences the way in which we consume media.

Collective Identity: David Gauntlett

David Gauntlett

Theory: " Identity is complicated- everybody thinks they've got one"- David Gauntlett

Key Words:

Representation: the way reality is 'mediated' or 're-presented to us.
Collective Identity: the individuals sense of belonging to a group (part of personal identity)
Mediation
Reality ^^^^ Media
(Exaggeration Sterotypes)

David Gauntlett a professor of media and communications at Westminister Univeristy, author of several books including Media, Gender and Identity (2002) In 2007 he was shortlisted for young acdemic author of the year.

Gauntlett believes you can express your identity in a creative form. For example the lego pieces

Uses and Graification theory

The Thoery: Emerged in the early 70's by theorists known as Elihum Katz, Jay Bulmer and Michael Gurevitch.

They Believe: 'We all have different uses for media and we make choices over what we want to watch'

Four key uses:

1) Information: Find out about society, to satisfy your curiosity.

2) Personal Identity: People watch television in order to look for models for our behaviour

3) Intergration and Social Interation: Use media to find out about the circumstances of other people.
4) Entertainment: For enjoyment or relaxation.

Collective Identity: Stanley Cohen

 

Stanley Cohen 1987 - Moral Panic Theory

"When a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as threat to societal values and interests."

Mods and Rockers

Stanley Cohen looked at societal reaction disturbances involving the Mods and Rockers, which took place in Clacton over Easter Bank holiday in 1964. Mass Media presented the disturbances as a confrontation between "rival gangs"- "hell ben on distruction". Cohen discovered that the amount of vandalism and violence was not that great. In fact Mass Media exaggerated the confrontation and the cameras didn't even get there till the day after. The Mods and Rockers created threat to norms and values fights between their vespers and motor bikes. The media helped plan the next incident in Whitton, by asking "when will this happen again". It was believed that the Mods and Rockers only made the headlines because there was nothing else to cover that day. The Media coverage led to public concern with the Mods and Rockers, this set in motion a deviance set in motion spiral.

Deviant act occurs
Defines as a crime
Operational of news values (Selective)
Crime as news (Selective)

Deviance amplification (Public, News or Crime Control)

Moral Panic - The Law and order campaign

Public defination of crime

The 5 stages leading to moral panic:

1.Someone or somthing is defined as a threat to normal values

2.Threat is depicted as a sterotype by the media
3.A rapid build up of media interest arouses public cocern
4.Authorities respond to threat
5.The panic results in social change

According to Goode and Ben yemuda (1994) the major characteristics of moral panic are the following:

Concern
Hostility- "them and us" Devision in society
Concensus- agreement through society
Disprorpertionality
Volability - the moral panic blows up but quickly short lived

Other moral panics:

1970's- Mugging
1980's- Football hooliganism/skin heads
1990's- Rave Culture, paedophile
2000's- hoodies, binge drinking, terroism

 

Two Step Flow Theory

Two-Step Flow

 

 

Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet analysed the voters' decision-making processes during a 1940 presidential election campaign and published their results in a paper called The People's Choice. Their findings suggested that the information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience unmediated but is filtered through "opinion leaders" who then communicate it to their less active associates, over whom they have influence.

The theory suggest that information through media texts does not flow directly from the text into the minds of the audience unmediated, however is filters through 'Opinion Leaders'. Which is used to express how they feel, therefore leading audience to be influenced differently by the Opinion Leaders than they would by the media.

 

Opinion Leader is a leader for a certain group who gives details and information to lesser active persons in the group.  For example in a office the manager will give information to other head of departments who tfrom there will take the information a change it to their own words and tell the rest of the department. an opinion leader is a leader only for their own group not for all.
 

Katz and Paul seems “the flow of media messages from radio and print to opinion leaders and then the leaders leads the messages to lesser active users in the population”. Through this transformation of message, the leaders may add their opinion on the actual content which may affects the low active users.

 

Main Critism:

• Media measseges reach Opinion Leaders first then passed to followers ( Graphic representation)
• The notion of an Opinion Leader - Certain characteristics make an Opinion Leader but it is not essential that it depends on the 'Subject Matter'
Katz and Lazarsfeld suggest that people are either active Opinion Leaders or passive followers of Opinion Leaders. Also their research is qidely accepted and still highly influential for example advertising is a 'word of month' (best form)

David Buckingham

 

David Buckingham Born 28 January 1930

Discovering the depth of Identity: David Buckingham explores the development of how individuals understand the concept of identity. As a child identity is seen as a simple concept where by a child will simply differentiate between male and female genders

According to David Buckingham, as we grow older our understanding of identity becomes very complex no longer a simple method of just establishing gender.

He notes there has hardly been any empirical research on the ways in which real audiences might understand genre or use this understanding in making sense on specific texts.

He believes that 'Media text reply on audience knowledge of generic codes and conventions in order to create meaning'

Buckingham argues..."Genre is not simply given by the culture, rather it is in a constant process of negotiation and change"

 

In this video we see a protrayal of a sterotypical view of females. We see the in the music video of how the protagonist is domesticated from looking after her child, the house as well as having a the craving for her husbands attention. From the lyrics used in the music video we are seeing woman to only cater for their husbnd and child and not do anything else.

 

 

On the other hand in this music video the female is been protrayed in a different way even with the name of the song it shows that woman are idenpendant. This video allows woman to have more to their life then just catering towards the family, showing how they can have a career.