Unit 1: Media Products and Audiences

How genre theories relate to a media product you have studied? A media product that shows the concept of narrative would be the movie Thor: Ragnarok the trailer, some of the theories that are used in this movie trailer is Jason Mittells theory of industries using genre commercially, Rick Altmans theory of generic pleasures is used in the emotional pleasure, David Buckinghams theory of genres are in a constant state of negotiation and change.  Jason Mittells theory of industries using genre commercially by media producers so that products are financially successful, they do this by showing Thor and Loki speaking to one another and fighting side by side. This is an example of the theory because throughout the avengers movies Loki refused to be with Thor and would always fight him and be on the opposites side to him. However, in the trailer they are shown to be together which then makes the audience excited and making them want to watch the movie , making more profit for the prod...

Thor Ragnarok   Mise-en-scene: 1 colour of the marvel studios logo changes to green to show something bad is going to happen and to signify a villains powers 2 Hela having dark themed make up showing she is the villain  3 Props used are guns, swords, lasers and a hammer showing the audience there is fighting involved  4 Blocking of Thor and Loki standing next to each other showing they might be working together as brothers  Editing: 1 fade editing to change the scene  2 slow motion shot of Valkyrie to show how power she is  3 Shot reverse shot to show the action and intense motions happening  4 Flashback of Hela against the Valkyrie army in the past to show a bit of background to the story  Sound: 1 MARVEL theme song because the audience are familiar with it  2 Hulk screaming when going against Helas wolf showing the audience that he gets angry and fights his full power 3 Dialogue between Thor and Hulk showing them having a deep convocation a...

- Theories Q6b  - Regulatory bodies Q9  - Production techniques Q5,5a Production techniques: Mise-en-scene -> 1 lighting (high key, low key) 2 colour 3 blocking  4 props  5 location Camerawork -> 1 aerial shots 2 long shots 3 close ups 4 wide shots 5 panning  6 tilt 7 high, low, dutch angles (confusion) 8 dolly, tracking shots  Editing -> 1 cross cuts 2 slow motion  3 flashbacks  4 montages  5 graphic match (shape of the next scene) 6 eye line match  7 shot reverse shot  Sounds -> 1 incidental music   2 theme tracks 3 pitch  4 dialogue 

 Passive Audience Theories: negative towards the media  - Hypothermic syringe (Adorno and Horkhelmer 1947) - media has a negative impact, convinces the audience that what they see online is the perfect lifestyle meaning they will spend money to get it.  - Cultivation theories (Gross and Gerbner 1976) - repetitively showing negativity becomes normalised throughout time. (desensitisation, becoming used to graphic/violent images owing to saturation in the media (mean world syndrome)) - Moral panic theory (Stanley Cohen 1972) - media concern of panic in response to media product that is regarded as threatening to certain groups or debasing agreed moral standards with society (PokemonGo) Active Audience Theories: positive against the audience  - Uses and gratification (Denis McQuail 1972)- surveillance, escapism, creating identity, creating personal relationships  - Encoding/decoding model (Stuart Hall 1980) - preferred reading, negotiated reading, oppositional readi...

PRODUCT: Avengers Endgame- Black Widows death  Genre theories:  - Rick Altman 1999- genre pleasures, visceral, emotional, intellectual  - Steve Neil 1995- repetition/ difference to keep it fresh ( change characters genders etc)  - David Buckingham 1993- change in society and cultural develops  - Jason Mittell 2001- genres exploiting audiences to make a profit  Narrative theories:  - Claude - Levi Strauss 1958- binary opposition  - Roland Barthes 1977- narrative codes, enigma codes - Tzventan Todorov 1977- conventional structure - Pam Cook 1985- cause and effect  - Props 1958- character roles  Representation theories:  - David Newman 2006- working class society problematic in the media  - Laura Mulvey 1975- male gaze - Manuel Alvarado 1987- racial representation (sees them as exotic, aggressive, comedic, pitied)  - Stuart Hall 1997- preferred meaning (stereotypes used)