Representation of Age - Waterloo Road

At the start of this clip a tracking shot is used as the audience witnesses the teachers feet walking towards the students who are trying to hide an item they recently broke. The camera follows the movement as the teacher, Mr Budgen, approaches the boys making the audience feel the tense atmosphere and suspense as they predict the trouble the students will be in. The director has purposely used this shot to represent the teacher as being more powerful when compared with the pupils showing he contains full control of this situation representing his high level of experience with school kids - this is also portrays his old age. Close ups are also used at the start of this clip when the two students, Finn and Josh, realise they have been caught after the teachers find out about their incident when involving the broken video camera. This shot has been used in order for the audience to witness their expressions and see the amount of regret and sorrow over breaking a school property object. Viewers can also see the amount of mischief on their faces representing the characters as being jokers and hating school - this shows a common stereotype for teenagers and heightens the audience's belief of this type of label.

Diegetic sound has been used throughout this clip through the high usage of dialogue. This is shown when characters are talking to one another and gives the audience ideas about their personalities due to the volume, pitch and tone of their voice. For example, when the three students are walking along the corridor discussing their concern over their friend the viewers understand the amount of anger their friend, Amy, has after she starts shouting towards her peer group. The audience can see the different age groups due to the variety of words used by different characters e.g. teenagers use slang and informal registers to portray their youth whereas teachers are seen to use more standard English and formal words to represent their higher control and power on school grounds. Sound bridge has also been used when music carries on from one scene to another. This has been used when the student runs into the classroom and tells the teacher of the upcoming fight about to happen, fast music starts to play and follows into the next scene heightening the already tense atmosphere and builds an action element. By doing this the director is portraying the students as being stereotypically violent and aggressive, this makes the audience think that all teenagers are seemed to be this way where this is not the case. For young people stereotypes are seen to be negative.

In this clip shot reverse shot has been the main editing technique used, this can be seen when the young boy is offering his help to the caretaker about fixing the broken window. The camera moves from one character to the other and keeps happening until something occurs that the audiences attention needs to be on. For this scene this technique has been used to show the two characters having a conversation and focuses the viewers on what they are saying so they can understand the storyline and can easily pay attention. Due to the student asking for permission it shows the viewers that the characters with an older age have more power and control when compared with the students who are much younger. Continuity editing has also been used in this clip. This is too make the scenes blend together and make it more believable for the viewers, this is important for this TV Drama due to the drastic situations involving the characters. This has been used during the 'fight' scene with some of the characters which is shown through the fast paced cuts. By doing this it builds the tense atmosphere and adds excitement due to the audience knowing that teenagers are fighting against each other.

Clothing shows the audiences the different ages of the characters. For example, teenagers wear the school uniforms whereas the teachers wear formal clothing to show their high position within their school. The uniforms represent the students age and portrays to the audience their expected behaviour so when something bad happens involving the pupils e.g. breaking school property it is too be expected and predicted by viewers. By the characters having separate clothing it shows their different positions and either a lack of power or a gain of power by having a more formal style of clothes. Bright lighting has also been used throughout this clip too show the setting is based in daytime. The teenaged girls have short skirts to show the sexualisation of females and to portray that young girls have a lack of respect for decency, their clothing also doesn't contain any blazers or smart clothing to show their low image when compared with other schools. The setting is portrayed by the characters walking through corridors and the walls containing posters for clubs and notices, this is something that is usually featured in schools.

Downton Abbey - Improvement 2

An establishing shot is used at the start of this clip when the audience get their first look at the huge building where all the narrative is taking place. This camera angle has been used for this particular moment as it sets the scene for the viewers in order for them to understand the location and the setting of the characters position. A medium shot is used during the time that the character 'Daisy' walks down the long corridor while holding the heavy objects. This has been used to show half of the characters body to portray to the audience their different body movements in order to interpret them anyway they want e.g. Daisy shows rushed behaviour by making fast movements, this could display the urgency of the situation and how fast their pace needs to be for their job position. Another camera technique that has been used is an insert shot. This has been shown when one of the character is carrying a set of keys, the camera focuses on the keys while they are still gripped in the person's hand and the background is blurred showing a shallow focus. By doing this it portrays to the audience something of importance and represents the high level of power this inanimate object contains. The camera shot also enables the clip to make smooth transitions between different cuts creating the scene to be portrayed as having continuity and flows from shot to shot. A long shot has also been used towards the end of the clip, this occurs when the paper boy is cycling towards the building. This has been used to emphasize a sweeping location around the subject and showing the viewers where the character is heading. By doing this it enables the audience to understand the storyline and the characters position in society.

Throughout the start of this clip there has been a continuous effect of cuts. This has been used when the character 'Daisy' is walking around attempting to wake the other workers and staff and continues when she is cleaning in the kitchen. By using this type of technique the director is able to show a simplified life for these members of staff due to using the most basic and common editing style. An invisible cut has also been used later on in this clip when the camera is following the character 'Daisy' down the corridor and carries on behind her as she walks through different rooms and the audience witnesses workers doing multiple jobs. The editor has chosen to do this in order to create a sense of everything happening at once and makes the viewers see the different characters doing tasks in order to make the upper class members of the household feel joyful and contain pride. Fast pace editing occurs at the end of the clip when the servants are preparing for breakfast for the owners of the building. This has been done to create a sense of urgency which is influenced by the hand held effect of the camera, by doing this the audience feel rushed and sympathetic towards the workers due to the effort of making sure the meal is of high standards. When the cuts are edited to create a faster pace to the characters movements it adds to the storyline and emphasizes the line between the upper class and working class making the differences between them more noticeable.

This clip frequently shows uses of diegetic sound. This has been shown through the huge amounts of dialogue that this clip contains e.g. when two characters are talking to each other. Diegetic sound has been shown when the head servant is ordering the other servants to increase their pace to make sure the owners of the building receive their breakfast on time. By using this type of sound the audience are able to understand the storyline and focus on the individual characters due to the tone, volume and pitch of their voices. For example, when a characters voice is raised the viewers see the signs of anger, disbelief and frustration. Synchronous sound has also been used in this clip when the audience hear certain things that you would expect to hear if they were in this particular situation. For example, in the kitchen the viewers can hear rushed voices and dishes clanging against each other as the workers prepare for breakfast by cleaning the utensils. These are all sounds that are to be expected in this setting and location. By containing synchronous sound it makes the audience understand what is occurring and can easily follow the basic daily routine for these characters by focusing on the sounds without realising what they are doing.

The clothing in this clip separates the different social classes for the audience which makes it clear the positions of each character within their modern society. For example, the servants are wearing clothes that are portrayed as being distressed, dirty and having a lack of quality - this immediately displays themselves as having little wealth and having a low position in society which explains their current occupation. However the characters who own the building are wearing high quality material clothing that looks highly presentable with the different colours that the servants clothing doesn't contain. By doing this it shows the binary opposition to the viewers and makes them understand which character is from which social class. The lighting in this clip can also represent the different social classes of the characters. For example, when the camera shows the workers downstairs in the basement the lighting is slightly darker and eerie which could represent their lack of control and power in this situation whereas when the camera is upstairs with the Crawley family the lighting is brighter and more ambient to show their stress free life of having no money issues. The setting also determines the characters different positions by portraying the numerous props around the rooms which suggests their wealth.

Theories

Tessa Palmer
According to Tessa Palmer there are a number of assumptions when stereotyping in the media. These 5 assumptions consist of:
1. Stereotypes are not always negative e.g. The French are good cooks.
2. They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful e.g. Upper class are twits.
3. They can be held about one's own group.
4. They are not rigid or unchanging.
5. They are not always false.

In Hotel Babylon there is only a few positive stereotypes regarding the immigrants. The first stereotype noted is 'Asians are good at maths', this is portrayed through the secretary 'Jackie' who has a high positioned job in the hotel. In this job she is seen to be dealing with paperwork and statistics, this shows she is handy when working with mathematics. By the director portraying the character this way it is giving the assumption to the audience that not all stereotypes are negative or downplaying certain ethnic qualities. Later on in the clip the workers are all eating together showing a form of community where everyone works together and respects each other by conforming to one another's help and company. Due to the range of different ethnic groups it shows there is no stereotyping based on people's social class as every character is portrayed as being in the same position which is at the bottom of the social ladder. However you could see this TV show as the white people being more important due to the majority being apart of the hotel staff although this can be deterred quickly due to dark skinned people also having being apart of the community. Stereotypes are also seen as not being false in this clip from Hotel Babylon, this is proven through most of the immigrants being 'black' which is stereotypically correct. The majority of immigrants that come to the UK are dark skinned due to the location where they come from e.g. Syria - this does not mean that all immigrants are black but the general image counteracts reality.

Leon Festinger
The theorist Leon Festinger argues the idea of 'cognitive dissonance', this is when people believe or are adamant of a particular thing unless they are shown otherwise from the media or another source this is due to people seeking certain beliefs or thoughts from others. This is shown from the popularity of Hotel Babylon due to the counter stereotypes and the expectation of the characters ethnicity in relation to their social position and occupation. For example, the audience think of immigrants as being dark skinned and perhaps having an African accent - from watching Hotel Babylon they can back up their expectation due to the majority being this way. However viewers can also see counter stereotypes due to some African characters being highly intelligent and having impressive qualifications which go against the immigrant stereotype. This is proven when a character passes out in the storage cupboard when everyone is hiding and one of the members of the group has the academic capability to figure out her issues and what to do to solve the situation to bring the woman back to consciousness. Many people may watch Hotel Babylon to rethink certain images of different groups within society or perhaps prove their original expectation of particular people thus creating a higher popularity rate for the TV show. Some viewers may do the same thing with the BBC's TV show of Waterloo Road which consists of the story being based in a secondary school in a working class area with students with particular issues. People may watch this show to see whether the stereotypes of teenagers is true or exaggerated.

Alvarado's Racial Stereotypes Theory (1987)

Four key themes in racial representations:

• Exotic
• Dangerous
• Humorous
• Pitied

Exotic
Certain ethnic groups can be represented as being exotic. This is sometimes portrayed through Latino Americans as they are seen as being sex symbols and are represented as being rather explicit. This idea is presented through the usage of their transparent clothing, which is deemed as inappropriate to the rest of society, and controversial behaviour e.g. celebrities such as Shakira which is shown through music videos.


Dangerous
Some ethnic groups can be portrayed as dangerous through the analysis of certain people's behaviour. For example, characters in soaps such as Eastenders with a different ethnic background to others is related to violent and aggressive behaviour e.g. abuse. By this representation through the media it creates an awareness so the audience relates this behaviour to the rest of the ethnic group.  This is a very prevalent theme through Rap music which makes it a very widely 'accepted' stereotype that black males are a very violent ethnic group.


Humorous
Other ethnic groups are represented as being humorous through the use of animation and cartoon characters such as Simpsons. This is a stereotypical view of people who are apart of an ethnic group that has been portrayed through the media for example in films. Some movies with a black American man is tend to be seen to make particular jokes against his race or ethnicity. By doing this it creates a humorous affect for the audience and makes a comedic atmosphere.

Pitied
Adverts and documentaries raise awareness for African people and young children who are in need of water and food in order to survive. By doing this not only is it presenting real problems in the world but also creating an atmosphere of pity within the audience which in turn persuades members to pay and portray beneficial methods so they can help these young children in need. An atmosphere of sadness is also made by audience/viewers identifying the lack of basic necessities some children have compared to themselves.

Roland Barthes - Five Codes

Mark Ritson: The innovative, brilliant marketing for Ex Machina deserves praise, not negativity

The breathtaking marketing for film Ex Machina ticks all the boxes for what great tactical work should achieve, which makes it all the more bewildering as to why the digital crowd has taken such a negative attitude towards it.

This article is worth reading.

LINK

Disney is a conglomerate

Disney is a conglomerate
A media conglomerate, media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet. Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets across the globe.

Disney owns

• Walt Disney Studios
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment
• Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group:
• Touchstone Pictures
• Pixar Animation Studios
• Lucasfilm
• ESPN
• ABC Entertainment Group
• Marvel Entertainment
• Disney Music Group

The media industry is dominated by 'The Big Six'

Just how dominant are 'The Big Six' studios?

Why might conglomerates be seen as a negative?

Global conglomerates can at times have a progressive impact on culture, especially when they enter nations that had been tightly controlled by corrupt crony media systems (as in much of Latin America) or nations that had significant state censorship over media (as in parts of Asia). The global commercial-media system is radical in that it will respect no tradition or custom, on balance, if it stands in the way of profits. But ultimately it is politically conservative, because the media giants are significant beneficiaries of the current social structure around the world, and any upheaval in property or social relations—particularly to the extent that it reduces the power of business—is not in their interest.— 

Robert W. McChesney, The New Global Media; It’s a Small World of Big Conglomerates, The Nation Magazine, November 29, 1999