tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84172871440961058922024-03-13T01:02:24.307+00:00AS and A2 Media StudiesAdvice,information,resources and linksDogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.comBlogger341125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-83641973975321975372014-11-20T00:16:00.000+00:002014-11-20T00:21:41.393+00:00Sainsbury's Advert About the Famous Football Match Between British and German Soldiers During Christmas 1914<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This emotive advert has provoked strong debate over whether it should have been made. With its cinematic feel and its underlying commercialism, Sainsbury's advert is natural fare for a range of Media Units, across several exam boards. It is one of the most striking adverts ever made, where the competitors: Marks & Spencers, John Lewis, Debenhams, etc. seem tamely anodyne in comparison.<br />
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Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-42472366888015184412014-11-09T21:13:00.002+00:002014-11-20T00:17:11.974+00:00The Media and Propaganda<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A great, wide-ranging essay covering the use of propaganda in the media over the last 90 years. /<a href="http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/mind-control-theories-and-techniques-used-by-mass-media/#!prettyPhoto[gallery1]/9/">vigilantreport/mind-control-theories-and-techniques-used-by-mass-media/#!prettyPhoto[gallery1]/9/</a></div>
Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-40659009514691699402013-02-14T17:00:00.003+00:002013-02-14T17:01:38.480+00:00Keanu Reves on "The Future of Cinema"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a good article for understanding how digital technology is affecting film making everywhere.<br />
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<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/14/keanu-reeves-future-of-cinema">http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/14/keanu-reeves-future-of-cinema</a></div>
Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-23974784246402182592012-07-08T17:56:00.000+01:002012-07-08T17:56:35.705+01:00Evernote - the best way for students to organise their notes digitally<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/GmXBY576zD8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
</div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-73729794738061639822012-06-30T11:52:00.003+01:002012-06-30T11:53:25.343+01:00Clay Shirky: How cellphones, Twitter, Facebook can make history<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Clay Shirky's analysis of how new media, like Twitter, Face Book, etc. makes audiences increasingly participatory and not just passive consumers of messages and ideas is important for understanding the impact of Web 2.0 and its heirs. Clay's TED Talk is now three years old yet its relevance and foresight is impressive.</div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-60536876877564925132012-06-26T22:22:00.002+01:002012-06-26T22:24:34.297+01:00David Crystal on It's Only a Theory debunks myths on text messaging, spelling and writing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Brilliant stuff!</span></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-85700841121308632712012-06-26T22:13:00.000+01:002012-06-26T22:15:21.518+01:00A New Literacy: Making Connections in Electronic Environments<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Most young people today are reading and writing more than at any stage before the invention of the telephone, or perhaps even earlier! Web 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0, et al.</span></div>
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</div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-72942644043602075362012-02-14T13:54:00.002+00:002012-02-15T19:23:55.356+00:00Narrative Analysis in Media Studies by Davesgud<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">With thanks to Davesgud for passing me the link for to his excellent, short You Tube Video on Narrative Analyis. I think A2 students will find it useful for analysing their own coursework and other film texts for narrative.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SJfpqVtPHWI" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<strong>I am not teaching Media Studies this year. But I will add useful videos and other helpful materials whenever colleagues ask me to do so.</strong></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-65210817960822397352012-01-24T00:49:00.004+00:002012-01-24T00:54:38.727+00:00Dog Vader<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Volkswagon's clever variation on a recent advertising campaign featuring the <i>Imperial March</i> from <i>Star Wars </i>theme. Definitely post modern!<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6ntDYjS0Y3w" width="560"></iframe></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-66372535480433883212011-12-23T00:53:00.000+00:002011-12-23T00:53:40.196+00:00The Death of Postmodernism and Beyond<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><u>Arguments Against Postmodernism</u><br />
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Dr. Alan Kirby argues that postmodernism is no longer relevant; he present an argument that "pseudo modernism" makes more sense for people born since 1980 than postmodernism. To understand what he means by pseudo modernism you will need to read Kirby's article from 2006.<br />
<a href="http://www.philosophynow.org/issue58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond">http://www.philosophynow.org/issue58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond</a></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-9727634040278979742011-12-17T13:37:00.092+00:002011-12-23T00:38:12.786+00:00Is "Desperate Scousewives" and its genre the choicest post modern TV of our age?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Desperate Scousewives</i>' Amanda Harrington, et al</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's derivative, vacuous, and often unintentionally funny - possibly the TV series and genre of choice for students studying post modern TV in its latest post modern form.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Desperate Scousewives</i> is positioned somewhere between soap opera and documentary; this TV series' "scripted reality" follows the same popular, hybrid genre as "The Only Way Is Essex" and "Made In Chelsea." The show's representation of monied "reality" relies on this new format although it is filmed in the "real" city of Liverpool in locations instantly recognised by Liverpudlians. Alan Kirby's "digimodernism" and the notion of the intersection of "time" and "space" is at work here: its "space" is recognisably Liverpool and it is edited as if it is in "real" time.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have fun spotting its post modern features, including the playful irony of its derivative title, where unlike its US namesake, none of the female characters are even married! The programme's fakeness in its representation of reality is richly evident. its "constructedness" is ever-present: its stilted, self-conscious dialogue is amusing because it is so prefabricated; every aspect of its "characters'" appearance, right down to its female players' eyelashes is false. The show's women look, and behave, like Barbi Dolls. Stereotyping between the sexes is extreme: the men "really" are from Mars and the women seemingly from Venus. Their "characters" are as stereotypical as those who used to feature in<i> Striker</i>, a comic strip on a promiscuous footballer from a well-known tabloid newspaper.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVoNLHHGTqkxa07JStYpZg8xbLAKfuoX2KQQqZlSZ_xDSYYgqeMi6NIyHQBb0Z-NmfKt5iUkjipr1TmOtlaWopin0Kn5_2UHf5TJMUCKlRGLDCZ4mbv3eaQRGCOesKx0fdyCSV19uXPLG/s1600/shoe023A.315125258_std.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVoNLHHGTqkxa07JStYpZg8xbLAKfuoX2KQQqZlSZ_xDSYYgqeMi6NIyHQBb0Z-NmfKt5iUkjipr1TmOtlaWopin0Kn5_2UHf5TJMUCKlRGLDCZ4mbv3eaQRGCOesKx0fdyCSV19uXPLG/s640/shoe023A.315125258_std.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Striker</i> used to feature in <i>The Sun</i></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though its scripted reality is unavoidably stilted the programme's best scenes take place when its "characters" vent "real" emotions; their dialogue suddenly seems spontaneous and spoken by "real people." Ironically, this then becomes what drama should be - a heightened representation of real life. In a recent episode a conversation between two married, gay characters about one of them adopting children while the other was not yet ready for it, seemed "real" as the felt truly emotional. But can these "real people", forget, even in their most emotional outbursts, that several cameras are recording their most intimate feelings which will later be edited for the pleasure of countless "voyeurs" on TV?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Audience reactions to the show have been strong and therefore interesting. Liverpudlians are often frightened that "it will make a show of them" rather like the stereotypes generated by Harry Enfield. Online many say that they are disgusted that "such rubbish" is broadcast and cannot make sense of the show, or think it doesn't compare with shows in this genre they have already watched. But many of these would still watch its next episodes! While the Guardian's Euan Ferguson <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px;">thought "Desperate Scousewives was so bad it was brilliant" and added, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;">I think this will be the finest of the formats so far – I'm already hooked."</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">This was one viewer's reaction who must have a connection with Liverpool:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">"EMBARRASSMENT TO LIVERPOOL These idiots DO NOT represent Liverpool. This is absolutely disgusting and should be axed before it is aired. Why do they always find the scummiest people to be on these ridiculous shows? There is no representation of real life. I'm sick of Liverpool getting bashed just because of the scum they drag out to be on television."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">As for me, I saw most of an episode and realised it potential as a pomo "text" straightaway!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">It seems the show has already created a new fashion trend in Britain - Scouse brows!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://britrish.com/tag/desperate-scousewives/">http://britrish.com/tag/desperate-scousewives/</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll post a chart soon to make it easier to compare the modern with the post modern. Remember, however, that post modern TV, films, adverts, etc. have evolved in their forms and features since post modernism began to take hold from the early 1980s. It would be a serious error to see post modernism in a static manner, as the ways of representing versions of "reality" in a world changed by digital technology is itself always changing.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.e4.com/scousewives/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">http://www.e4.com/scousewives/</span></a></div><br />
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</div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-26731166631710484592011-12-07T15:28:00.003+00:002011-12-07T15:29:29.451+00:00Very good case study for Institutions and Audiences<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Repost of a very good case study.<br />
<a href="http://asanda2mediastudies.blogspot.com/2011/05/exemplar-as-case-study-blog-by-eleanor.html">http://asanda2mediastudies.blogspot.com/2011/05/exemplar-as-case-study-blog-by-eleanor.html</a></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-82421248604281112492011-11-10T20:55:00.000+00:002011-11-10T20:55:35.636+00:00Pearl and Dean - business entrance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Great for <strong>exhibition and marketing issues</strong> in case studies. This is an excellent site for gaining an overview of these areas, too. Explore "Audience," Planning and Buying," etc. and look over their graphics. You can also take advantage of the "Advanced Search" link to find information on audiences/demographics, etc. for past releases. Don't forget to tick the box for "include past releases."<br />
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<a href="http://business.pearlanddean.com/">http://business.pearlanddean.com/</a></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-69182943638005779922011-10-11T16:33:00.002+01:002011-10-11T16:41:10.902+01:00When is a remake not a remake?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Dr. Kermode asks the pertinent questions of a range of films: "when is a remake not a remake but a re-interpretation of the original source material (the novel, etc.)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T376O5RlmBA?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-17365403377652707492011-10-10T16:32:00.003+01:002011-10-10T16:33:42.689+01:00An AS Case Study on "Kick Ass"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Thanks to the young fellow who produced this case study and to Mr Smith to pointing me towards it. <strong>Scroll down to find Stephen's Prezis!</strong><br />
<a href="http://stephenharelcmedia.blogspot.com/">http://stephenharelcmedia.blogspot.com/</a></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-50850203678257272102011-10-08T18:12:00.001+01:002011-10-08T18:13:45.022+01:00A Case Study Exemplar for DNA Films<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: left;"> <a href="http://bromsgroveg322b.blogspot.com/2010/05/case-studies-2-dna-films.html">http://bromsgroveg322b.blogspot.com/2010/05/case-studies-2-dna-films.html</a> <br />
.This is an interesting, well researched case study</div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kTHNpusq654?rel=0&hd=1" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Although the focus of the "analysis" below only touches on some of the video's post modern features, there are still some useful points to be discovered here:<br />
<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/lollymorris/hot-n-cold-textual-analysis">http://www.slideshare.net/lollymorris/hot-n-cold-textual-analysis</a></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-61425345520663514242011-09-17T01:55:00.000+01:002011-09-17T02:01:46.042+01:00Has Post Modernism Been Killed by The Web?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/sep/15/postmodernism-cutting-edge-to-museum">http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/sep/15/postmodernism-cutting-edge-to-museum</a></b><br />
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A taste:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"This is the essence of postmodernism: the idea that there is no essence, that we're moving through a world of signs and wonders, where everything has been done before and is just lying around as cultural wreckage, waiting to be reused, combined in new and unusual ways. Nothing is direct, nothing is new. Everything is already mediated. The real, whatever that might be, is unavailable. It's an exhilarating world, but uncanny too. You look around at your beautiful house and your beautiful wife and you ask yourself, like the narrator of the Talking Heads song: 'Well, how did I get here?" After that, it's only a short step to deciding that this is not your beautiful house and your beautiful wife at all. The world of signs is fast, liquid, delirious, disposable. Clever people approach it with scepticism. Sincerity is out. Irony is in. And style. If modernism was about substance, about serious design solving serious problems, postmodernism was all manner and swagger and stance."</span></div>
Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-87703618341945938242011-07-05T19:54:00.001+01:002011-07-08T18:11:56.234+01:00The Guardian's map of Murdoch's power updated on Twitpic<a href="http://twitpic.com/46quzq">Guardian's map of Murdoch's power updated on Twitpic</a>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-40415042338062616762011-06-11T20:59:00.029+01:002011-07-15T07:59:22.025+01:00What are the modernist and postmodern features of True Blood?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgzfXkj1WOotx3dssm20tcLkDFkRnnXaixM3fbNWOnIy7EcBa2F2Y3oqs7MZ7XPyKCkmTqlEBkk1H1J5M_csD6iLEkLsDq9cyqQbxDz2G_zjsUvZkdBO2bOx3H9rCbPgdQwcwlr5f6FkL/s1600/new-season-4-posters-show-your-true-colors-L-rxDLVR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgzfXkj1WOotx3dssm20tcLkDFkRnnXaixM3fbNWOnIy7EcBa2F2Y3oqs7MZ7XPyKCkmTqlEBkk1H1J5M_csD6iLEkLsDq9cyqQbxDz2G_zjsUvZkdBO2bOx3H9rCbPgdQwcwlr5f6FkL/s640/new-season-4-posters-show-your-true-colors-L-rxDLVR.jpg" width="431px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is one of the posters for Series 4 being released this month.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><b><i>The modernist features of True Blood are mainly related to its adherence to traditional generic conventions </i></b></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">(1) <b>The series’ form is closely related to the soap opera format of several story lines.</b> For instance in Series 3 there were usually up to seven story lines at work within each episode. For example, Sookie is seeking the kidnapped Bill Compton; Tara Thornton is kidnapped by the psychopathic Franklin Mott; Jason wants to be a cop and gets romantically involved with young woman who is werepanther; Eric The Northman wants revenge against, Russell Edginton, the King of Mississippi; the bar owner and shape shifter, Sam Merlotte, meets the family who abandoned him; Lafeyette Reynolds meets a male witch who becomes his new love interest, etc. All of these story lines are present in the story arc for this series.</span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">(2) <b> Soap-like melodrama is a key modernistic element in True Blood’s success. </b>Melodrama, the nineteenth century fusion of drama with melody, that is, of music hall and opera, blossomed with the rise in modernism as a popular element in early cinema and television. The blond, independent Sookie Stackhouse, who is forever placing herself in harms way, is as much a modern heir of Pauline, from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQePGO6Zt4">The Perils of Pauline</a> as she is a character in the American tradition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic">Southern Gothic</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000099;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Like<b> many traditional (modernist) series from the past the show is built on sex and violence. </b>The only difference is that these elements in <i>True Blood</i> are far more explicit and daring than in earlier shows. Some have suggested that <i>True Blood</i> is today what the US programmes <em>Dallas</em> and <i>Dynasty</i> were for the mass TV audiences in the 1980s.</span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">(3) <b>Cliff hangers have long been a regular convention of soaps and other modernist TV series </b>and these are particularly important for <i>True Blood</i> as they keep audiences hooked for the next episodes;<b> </b>cliff hanging endings are even more effective for audiences watching the show on DVD box sets as it can lead to viewers compulsively watching the entire series in a just a couple of sittings!</span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>How can one argue that True Blood is Post modern?</b></span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><b>(1) Like any self-respecting post modern TV series, True Blood is a hybrid TV genre and it blurs, forges, extends and maintains its own genre conventions: </b>the notion of vampires having to be invited to cross thresholds of homes is an extension of the vampire genre; the idea of vampires of being makers and having “progeny” is another and goes further than the old convention of vampires being able to make vampires out of their victims; the Vampire Rights Amendment is like a parable for similar “rights amendments” our times; Audiences are expected to buy into the “reality” that vampires no longer need to drink human blood as they can survive on the newly invented, synthetic blood known as “Tru Blood”; Conventions are blurred further with ”Vampire kings, a Queen, a Magister, The Vampire Authority, The V Feds and anything else the writers are free to dream up; all of which adds to the representation of reality as being hyper real. Audiences are expected to buy into it - and, if they do: after being immersed in the programme for several episodes, they accept its simulacra of our world as the hyper real world of the ironically named, Bon Temps.<br />
<b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><b>(2) The programme is playful with its allegories on life and attitudes in America.</b> Like all good fantasies <i>True Blood can</i> act as a cipher for attitudes to vampires with prejudices towards gays and race. “God hates fangs in the show’s opening credits is easily recognised by US viewers as a play on the homophobia of religious fundamentalists whose protests are often festooned with signs which state that “God hates fags,’ etc. Fundamentalist arguments are played out on daytime TV between the Vampire spokeswoman, Nell Flannigan and the fundamentalist Reverend Newland Junior as they are in America’s “real” world on a range of left-right issues on US shouting match TV. A funny example of the show’s confidence in making points on “real life America" can be seen in the third episode of series three, “Night of The Sun”. (2010); Russell Edgington has killed the Magister, a vampire Spanish Inquisitor, and his Vampire gay lover,Talbot, is concerned about the consequences from the Vampire “Authority”:</span><br />
<div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="color: #666666; font: 14px/17px Arial; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><strong><span style="color: #666666;">Talbot: [<i>to Russell, in a heated argument</i>]</span></strong> You can't buy your way out of everything! </span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><strong><span style="color: #666666;">Russell Edgington:</span></strong> Of course I can. This is America!</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font: 14px/17px Arial; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font: 14px/17px Arial; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>True Blood’s playfulness is also evident in its false narratives in which characters have dreams but the audience is left unsure of the “reality” with which they are presented.</b> In doing so, the “show runner” Alan Ball, loves toying with the audience in this way, in turn, surprising and then shocking them with the possible plot twists the show could take. The programme’s directors also love cross cutting between the show’s various story lines with parallel arguments and violence between characters. Another playful element is the show’s willingness to go back in time to any point in history to reveal how characters became vampires or their motives for carrying out acts of revenge. Eric Northman is shown with his family a thousand years earlier during the Viking age during which he loses his family to werewolves and Russell Edgington. Many post modern texts are comfortable delving into the past to aid the representation of the present. The boundaries between the past and present do not matter and in a remix culture they help create meaning!</span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><b>(3) Sometimes there are intertextual references to other TV shows, etc. </b>but they depend, as with other post modern texts, on the audiences' cultural understanding through age, gender and other cultural capital, etc. However,<i>True Blood</i> only lightly depends upon intertextuality for its post modern credentials.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>(4) True Blood i</i>s one of the VERY FEW shows shown on US or British Television to represent people from a wide social range for gender, class and sexual preferences.</b> This ethnic and sexual diversity is not the tokenism that evident in much of British TV; there are characters for various segments of audiences to relate to. For instance, most of the main characters are working class. Some of the decisions that they make are not always wise but they are multi-dimensional and these characters can be as wise and noble as they are sometimes foolish. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><b>Comment</b></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The vast majority of television commissioned today is still traditional/modernist in style, genre and content. Mainstream TV channels and producers busily select and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: line-through;">create </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">make TV genre programmes around genres which they believe will satisfy audiences, build viewing figures and increase revenue from advertisers. Any subversion in its genre conventions is usually limited in scope as traditional narratives, hardly varying representation and lifeless, unintelligent dialogue is still considered mainstream fare - as that is what the majority of audiences seemingly want. After all, this is where the money is and most of us have to contend with the dynamics of the economic system we are living with: capitalism. Why take a chance on something really new when you take an old formula, give it a slight twist and make money and reputations from it? Such, it would seem, is the thinking behind ITV’s new cop drama, <i>Scott and Bailey</i> with its main twist, a couple of female detective “pals” but with the usual, stereotypical female problems, fits this formula. The trouble is the Americans thought up something similar, and better, in the 1980s with “Cagney and Lacey.”</span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It is therefore deeply ironic that the most creative and challenging TV series today have emerged from the centre of modern capitalism, the USA. The capitalistic element is still there as no one knows how the market TV programs better than they do. But some studios’ philosophy for making TV differs from the mainstream - to the point that they are creating not just successful progammes but some of the most confident, intelligent and daring television on the planet. </span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">HBO’s philosophy is “to be the preeminent source of entertainment experiences that change perspectives, defy expectations and challenge the status quo." And much of this is clearly evident in their hybrid genre series, <i>True Blood</i>. This TV series pushes and toys with genres of romance, vampire-horror, fantasy and thriller. In doing so it lifts the bar for television several notches higher.</span></div></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-22170782377177808432011-06-11T16:45:00.000+01:002011-06-11T16:45:59.007+01:00Two interesting Media Timelines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The first one is by the Bournemouth Media School and it is focussed mainly on the UK<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cemp.ismysite.co.uk/timelines/media/">Media Timeline for People, Technology and Institutions </a><br />
<br />
The second timeline chronicles the growth of media technology over time and is US based.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/timeline/21stCenturyMediaHisoryProjectUofM.html">Media History Project by the University of Minnesota</a></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-39952029218789878312011-05-22T15:18:00.046+01:002011-05-30T23:20:34.445+01:00"Feel The Force:" How is Volkswagon's new advert for the Passat postmodern?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">"The new Volkswagen UK commercial features a pint-sized Darth Vader who uses the Force when he discovers the all-new 2012 Passat in the driveway. It leverages humor and the unforgettable Star Wars™ score to create an emotional commercial." (From the You Tube site). The ad has had well over 38 million hits on Youtube! The advertising agency, Deutch L.A. broadcast the advert during the US's Super Bowl final. The latter is quickly becoming a kind of Oscars for the best adverts.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>How is this advert postmodern? What elements in it appear modern (traditional)? Debate between the two.</strong></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This brilliant TV advert suggests rather than states and it engages audiences playfully on several levels. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using your knowledge of postmodernism and the theory of the active audience, identify the features which makes this TV advert postmodern. Try also to apply a few theorists</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KzJB3ScpWbg?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">This the original US TV advert below. The kid thinks he starts the car with this one.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R55e-uHQna0" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a little help. Nostalgia is a definitely at play, here. So, too, is intertextuality and the theory of Julia Kristeva. The colour coding is significant, as is the cultural and technological interplay between the generations. Also, with its remote start feature the car seems straight out of <i>Star Wars</i>. Yet there are elements in this advert which are definitely modern. Consider its setting, the gender roles of the characters, etc.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what one of the posters said about the US version of this advert from the Althouse Blog.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"E.M. said...</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s a car commercial…really must it become a Cultural Exposition? </span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Because the commercial tells us literally nothing about the car. There's no inherent benefit to buying or owning a VW that's expressed in the ad. There's no differentiator (remote start? please), no unique selling proposition (or I've heard those things called.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's about the human experience, which we are supposed to connect to a brand, VW. It's horribly manipulative, but it's so well done that we don't mind the manipulation, because it comes from a place that seems honest and pure.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/02/so-i-love-this-commercial-because-it.html">http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/02/so-i-love-this-commercial-because-it.html</a><br />
<br />
<b>Need more inspiration?</b><br />
This article from the website below is an excellent analysis of the VW Passat TV advert and compares it with modernist attitudes towards advertising.<br />
<a href="http://www.growthrevolution.com/?p=144">Leveraging archetype to create meaning</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83c6a1ce-3de9-11e0-99ac-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1N5xi7LCf">Review in the Financial Times</a><br />
<br />
Darth Vader from Star Wars film, "The Empire Strikes Back," tells Luke Skywalker "I am your father." The advert playfully reverses the roles in its intertextual reference from the film. There are also strains of "The Imperial March," part of John Williams's famous score from the movie.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/h6sj89xgnl4" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
The making of the advert with bloopers left in.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tM3s37fZZts?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
This TV ad. has already spawned many parodies; this one features a car from another manufacturer.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1jtH4beRWAo?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-70503832239870231962011-05-14T09:05:00.004+01:002011-05-17T08:44:02.384+01:00Case study exemplars: an AS case study blog by Eleanor Watson and a link to a teacher's blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Eleanor's excellent blog on Institutions and Audiences is definitely worth reading before your exams. Have a look, too, at her other pages as she has covered key areas for the exam and looks well prepared.<br />
<br />
Has she researched something that you did not?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://eleanorwatsonlcmedia.blogspot.com/2011/05/case-study-kings-speech.html">http://eleanorwatsonlcmedia.blogspot.com/2011/05/case-study-kings-speech.html</a><br />
<br />
BTW in the nick of time for the exam <i>The King's Speech</i>, has just been released on DVD! It can be had from Morrisons for only 9 quid. See your case study film as it deepens your understanding of your case study. <br />
<br />
Here's a teacher's blog with all-in-one case studies for films. Very interesting work for revision and also a "must-see" before the exam. When you visit click on the blog headings to see the images full sized.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lcasmedia.blogspot.com/">http://lcasmedia.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Best wishes for the exam.</div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-2608162806293390122011-05-14T08:46:00.002+01:002011-05-14T08:46:22.391+01:00A Prezi on Postmodernism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="prezi-player"><style media="screen" type="text/css">
.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }
</style><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="400" id="prezi_eoyiknllfvxe" name="prezi_eoyiknllfvxe" width="550"><param name="movie" value="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"/><param name="flashvars" value="prezi_id=eoyiknllfvxe&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0"/><embed id="preziEmbed_eoyiknllfvxe" name="preziEmbed_eoyiknllfvxe" src="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="550" height="400" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="prezi_id=eoyiknllfvxe&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0"></embed></object><div class="prezi-player-links"><a href="http://prezi.com/eoyiknllfvxe/postmodernism/" title="Introductory lecture on postmodernism, drawing on During, Lyotard, and others.">Postmodernism?</a> on <a href="http://prezi.com/">Prezi</a></div></div></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417287144096105892.post-79133266252431463812011-04-23T23:15:00.000+01:002011-04-23T23:15:10.645+01:00How to design a movie poster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This link from Creative Design has been added to the film poster links.<br />
<a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/05/13/how-to-design-a-movie-poster-with-an-example/">http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/05/13/how-to-design-a-movie-poster-with-an-example/</a></div>Dogberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13066979590321006745noreply@blogger.com0