Lily's media blog

Formation, Beyonce, and representation The conclusion we shall make is that Formation resists stereotypical representations of black people by presenting black identity as complex and challenging Task - watch What Beyonce Taught Me About Race | Brittany Barron Formation as a reaction to historical racism Slavery was finally abolished in North America in 1865, following the collapse of the Confederacy and the American Civil War. there's still exists great discrepancies in the rights and lives of black and white people in America. Task - study the above image from Types of Mankind  (1854), and answer the questions below: What assumptions are made here about black people and white people?  What purpose does this image serve? Consider the sociohistorical context of the time this image was created. What is this image attempting to justify? Formation as reappropriation

formation- context  Formation makes use of a range of different techniques in order to create meaning for its audience. However, unlike Riptide which can possibly be described as being 'weird for the sake of weird', Formation has a clear and savage political message to present to its audience. Formation makes intense use of the concepts of intertextuality/referential codes and bricolage. The use of bricolage intertextuality - Where a media product or text makes reference to another media product or text. Bricolage - Where a media product is constructed with iconography and conventions from many other texts, creating entirely new meanings. Often used when discussing postmodern media products.  -e.g. a media product  that uses bricolage is a 'mashup'. Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003) Task - If possible, go through Formation and make screenshots of each of the different aesthetic and visual styles that the video demonstrates, including f

Riptide: symbolic readings and the representation of women Symbolism and the representation of women Task - Slowly watch the video to Riptide , and make a screenshot EVERY time a woman is on screen within this video the main character is a woman, has long blonde hair and when ever her face is shown she is always wearing makeup, she is also slim, all of the characteristics fit with hegemonic beauty standards. in all scenes she is there fore presented in a way to highlight her beauty or sexuality, this is most clearly shown in the scene where she takes her swimsuit off highlighting her sexuality. this could be an intertextual reference to films such as Baywatch, where the women are highly sexualised in tight swimsuits, her long blond hair also supports this reference and further reinforces hegemonic beauty standards. this repeated representation of these characteristics and beauty then reinforces stereotypes within the audience, especially when making the same ref

Riptide- analysis, themes and concept  Riptide  by Vance Joy (2013) indie pop song written and performed by Australian artist Vance Joy song was a hit in Australia and abroad, particularly after being featured in a Gopro advert it's straightforward, run-of-the-mill pop music Today's task - analyse and apply semiotic and structuralist theory to the video Riptide , and research the video's intertextual influences semiotics - • Media products communicate a complex series of meanings to their audiences through a range of visual codes and technical codes. These codes can broadly be divided in to proairetic, symbolic, hermeneutic, referential, and so on. • After many years of codes being repeated, their meaning can become generally agreed upon by society. For example, a scar on the face of a character can function as a hermeneutic code, indicating to the audience that they are ‘the villain’. structuralism -     Task: draw two columns, and list ALL

music video starter analysis  riptide- Vance Joy Formation- Beyoncé  music videos are not 'the products' but advertisements of a product they are easily accessible, and free to view   music videos are examples of convergence  convergence is a combination of two [previously separate industries (film(cinema)+ tv(channel)+ music(buy a record))  digital convergence - use your phone to watch a film, stream tv, listen to music, the coming together of two separate industries thanks to digital technology   The Scopitone The Scopitone was a French invention, a video juke-box, combining music and video. Popular in the 1960's, artists now had to record visuals as well as music. E. g.  Chantal Goya - Si tu gagnes au flippe r  (1966) in black and white, with limited locations, not the best quality image, no narrative, still focusing on the music  Generic fluidity - the way in which a form or genre changes over time   Rebecca- Vanity