Erins Media Studies Blog

Theories around ethnicity and post colonial theory - Paul Gilroy Colonisation   Creating new settlements on different lands and claiming it (e.g. British Empire) E.g. England colonising India introduced them to cricket and new housing styles; also introduced English to new foods  Post-Colonialism and Racial hierarchies Establishing races in different rankings to establish a societal norm and structure. e.g. in 1800's racial hierarchy was white on top black on bottom. Used to justify slavery and other social agendas.   Media products still follow colonial ideologies, and enforce racial hierarchies.  Another method of forming hegemonic control. Othering  Singling something out as different. E.g. kids without glasses bullying a kid with glasses because they're different

Hyperreality - John Baudrillard  Hyperreality  - Idea that representations within a media text are more real than that which they represent - Some of these representations are simulacrum. This refers to the representation of something that no longer exists, or something that never exists. - Images created more vivid than the issue. Create images so vivid that even if you were never involved you will have an image of it. - Media amplification - "It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real, for the real." Hard to see what reality actually is. What we see in a media product is reality.

Why do producers use binary oppositions? - Create a narrative - Gives a point of reference - Emphasise and exaggerate the oppsoitions What is representation why is it important? - Encodes the ideologies of the producer  - This can cultivate ideologies and stereotypes Nicki Minja - Anaconda  - Young black women sexualised throughout the video. Many midshots focusing on their buttocks as they dance. This emphasises their body shape as curvy. Only shows us this part of them which implies they are sexually promiscuous. - Screen wobble as she dances emphasises the size of her buttocks. - Often low angle shots to emphasise size of buttocks and their level of power throughout the video - Heterosexual young female target audience - Black women could feel falsely represented by the video. Or empowered to embrace that stereotype. Lil Pump - Gucci Gang - Actively resisting threat of law enforcement - Subversive in fun representation of drugs being fun  - Subv...

Vance Joy - Riptide (2013) Australian singer/songwriter signed with Atlantic Records which is a major subsidiary of Warner.  Riptide was his first single and became a platinum selling single and has had roughly 210 million views on youtube. His music is categorised as indie folk-pop genre. Polysemic readings - metaphorical readings, the splitting ice cream could be symbolic of a broken relationship. Therefore the cheery mise en scene presents a creepy and troubling binary opposition Horror film conventions - stereotypically attractive 'horror film victim' breaks free from being tied to a tree. Connotative of kidnapping and a violent threat. Contrapuntal imagery compared to the chirpy pop song Extremely postmodern video - use of distressing horror imagery deliberately positioning the audience in a confusing and distressing situation. Extremely strong link between lyrical content and on screen visuals - an explicit description, perhaps a binary opposition...