course work Question+opening paragraph

How does the representation of women differ in music videos depending on the gender of the music artist in western pop music.

the representation of women in music videos varies drastically, depending on the target audience and also the gender of the musician. I will explore how the point of view that the video is shot from (male/female) changes the representation of the women in that video. I will be using Mulveys theory of the male gaze to show how we see the women through the mans eyes and I will be looking at the stereotypes that are used to represent women.
the two texts that I will be using both portray women in very different ways. the first text I will be using is Robin thicke "blurred lines" in which we see women through a mans eyes in which the girls are objectified and sexualised.the second text will be Pink "..............."in which she shows women to be people rather than objects. women appear strong ,independent individuals . this is for her female audience who can aspire and look up to be like her .

bond male gaze

the james bond franchise is a clear example of films objectifying females and forcing the audience to

view women through the male gaze. the scene within die another day when james bond meets the character jinx demonstrates my previous statement by.

the first shot that we see in this clip uses a vignette to make it appear that we are looking though james bonds eyes. the audience is forced to look through the males point of view. this shot through the binoculars focuses on the jinx coming out of the water so here we are seeing the female though his eyes. the first time we see her is from a masculine voyeuristic position. this shot is not showing a true reality as she is in slow motion coming out of the water allowing the camera to linger on her for longer so the males can look at her, she looks very graceful and still has makeup on coming out of the water .this representation is a constructed representation of reality as no one looks like that coming out of the sea and we would not normally get that view of her in reality.

during the convocation between bond and jinx there are lots of double entendre's mostly from bond. when she first gets out of the water he says "magnificent view " actually talking about her. this theme continues throughout the convocation. the camera shot in this scene when he is talking is an over the shoulder shot looking up at him. this puts him in a position of power over her and shows her as a more passive character. he also refers to her in a double entendre as his prey by saying "predators come out at this time...because this is when there prey come to drink" he says this whilst handing her a drink showing what he is really talking about    

representation of males in the film trailer "world war z"

the first time you see brad pitt in the car, he is the one driving showing that he is the head of the family. when the van drives past ad the disequilibrium starts it is the male who get out the car too see what is going o. he is shown to be brave and protective. when he gets out the car he tells his family to stay where they are showing he is the boss and protector of the girls. his wife calls his name when she s scared in the car and he is the only one who does not show fear at the situation. this shows men to be fearless and that the woman needs the man.
all of the people in the trailer either the soldiers or the government officials, anyone in power who is doing something is a man this shows that men run society and that men are powerful and the ones who are in control.
brad pitt is shown as an alpha male in this trailer. he always keeps his cool and is constantly looking out for others. he is always at the front of the crowed and everyone listens to what he has to say.
the way he looks adds to this alpha male representation he has stubble and long hair giving him a very rugged look. he looks quite tough. brad pitt is also a good looking guy this shows that men are not only tough, in charge, take control of a situation and look good whilst doing all of this. this representation is highly constructed as not all men are fearless fighters that look like brad pitt however that is what people are lead to believe through this trailer.
another representation of brad pitt in this trailer is the family man. we see him stroking his daughter and he is reluctant to leave them for his mission showing that he has a caring side and his family are the most important thing to him.
overall in this trailer men are represented positively but also falsely. he is shown as the perfect/ideal view of what a male should be however this target is unachievable in real life. 

Skyfall narrative analysis 

at the start of this clip when the two characters walk in you can identify the villain and hero straight away. first of all through the voice of the villain the character is called Raoul silva he has a very villainous voice deep tone,very calm and in control. he has all the power at this point , he is leading the way and surrounded by his henchmen all dressed in black. however the villain himself is dressed quite flamboyantly showing his power. the hero in this clip is james bond this is identifiable firstly by his manor he is constantly looking around on edge as if looking for a way out. the way bond is dressed is the typical hero/spy dress code with the nice black suit and the dark sunglasses this is a typical feature of the spy film genre and when people see the way he is dressed you know who he is. 

there is a medium shot of both bond and silva starring at each other. they are both at opposite ends of screen. strauss would say that this shows binary opposition between the two of them, the good vs evil that is a recognised feature of this genre. the next shot after establishing this opposition is of the girl tied up.using propps character types she would fit into the princess role. she is tied up,powerless,has blood on her lip and her head id facing the ground . this shows that she is not just the princess but the damsel in distress. she is the heros goal ,save the princess from the villain    

   

Describe niche and mainstream audiences specific text examples

Niche or mainstream 

Niche text: 

is a text that has more specific content  so less people use the text. they are made for people with a very specific interests. because of the fact that not many people watch niche texts they are scheduled off prime time television and are often placed in less popular channels.

An example of a niche text could be "the two thousand year old computer" on bbc4.

The scheduling and placement of this program is far from prime time television. it is on bbc four this channel has much lower ratings so less people what this channel.The show is also on at 00:40 at this time most people will not be watching the television therefore only people that make an active effort to stay up and watch this show will see it so most people wont know it is even on.

subject content: this is a documentary so is mainly information about this historical object. this is a subject matter that most people will not have any interest in or want to learn about.The uses and gratifications for this text is information and learning. this in itself is a niche gratification as most people will want escapism and entertainment. the fact that this show only really has this one gratification cuts down the target audience greatly

audience access: this program will not be heavily advertised on primetime tv so alot of people will not even be aware of this program. A lot of the audience will probably have to watch the program at a different time so they will have to record the show or watch it on demand this makes accessing this show more difficult 

mode of address: this program is a documentary therefore it might not follow a strict narrative convention and people may not like the structure of the show. the show will contain large amounts of information and hard facts so it will be presented in a very formal manner. the language used in this show may be very formal, academic and specialist so onlt certain people will be able to properly engage and understand the text.  

mainstream texts: These are texts that are show to the masses.large amounts of the population will watch theses mainstream texts so they therefore have a large following and make a lot of money. they cover a wide range of interests and are normally more general so that everyone can enjoy them.  mainstream texts often follow specific narrative codes and conventions such as todorovs equilibrium theory. they use this narrative format because people know this format and like the way the story progresses. 

an example of a mainstream text would be emmerdale. 

scheduling and placement. this show is on itv so this is a very popular channel that has a large and varied audience following. emmerdale also starts at 7.00pm this is a primetime tv slot where most people will be sitting down to watch tv with there diner this immediately puts the programme out there to a large audience 

subject content . it has an ensemble cast so nearly everyone can relate to a particular character. the program is about everyday life and everyday situations so everyone can relate to events in the programs and no prior or specific knowledge is needed to enjoy and understand the show. the uses and gratifications that this show provides will be escapism,entertainment and because the amount of people that watch this show it could give an element of social interaction. this show would also provide models of behaviour and possibly reinforcement for personal values. as this program provides so many uses and gratifications lots of people will watch the show as there is so much to be gained from it