Yasmin essay on Ethnicity

The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate the effects of Ethnicity in the media and how it is represented.

The beginning of the scene begins with mise-en-scene costume of Yasmin who is of an Islamic background which sets boundaries in what she wears and looks like but in the beginning of the scene she is wearing a low cut top, jeans, heels and a lot of jewellery. This contradicts the Islamic faith as they do not approve of women showing there body or putting on a lot of makeup but still Yasmin does, she also is not wearing a hijab which signifies she is not religious, this signifies that she is rebelling against her faith which is uncommon for an Ethnicity like Yasmin’s as they are stereotyped to surround there lives according to religion. The setting in this scene is in a working class street as in the long shot we see council bins outside her flat; this could represent how she wishes to try being like every other working class person. Also at the pub Yasmin is at the bar which is a common place for working class white ethic people, and the media do not show Islamic ethnic people in a beer advert as it is the morn and rules by the religion that they do not drink, but she chooses to be insurgent of her cultures instructions, which results in the white ethnic people to feel uncomfortable with her drinking and smoking in the pub. The white people are being very stereotypical as they are sitting in groups drinking pints, which is a very working class drink whilst middle class people in the C1 socio economic scale would be drinking wine etc. The props used in this sequence both show the rebellion in her whilst the other shows the stereotype she is trying to avoid which is being a good cook for men whilst looking after the house, the props are cigarettes/drink and a pot of food which she has made for her brother but has not prepared it for him, this shows the respect she still has to her culture but still feels like she should be looking out for herself. The fact that Yasmin is an attractive young woman shows that she is a positive representation for her ethnicity which shows that she is more attractive then the white people in this scene.

The beginning of the scene opens with an over the shoulder shot and then pans around Yasmin to show her reflection in the mirror as she is showing herself as a different person then to what her culture expects of her. Yasmin’s facial expression is shown as she shows no happiness or sadness but is blank and has no emotion to her face, this shows that she is indecisive on whether to defend her culture or abandon it. Then there is a mid shot of Yasmin sitting at the bar with a clear shot of the stoops full of alcohol to show the setting of where she is. Her glass of vodka and cigarettes symbolize her rebellion to her culture and her desire to break away from her responsibilities as a Muslim. It also suggests that the ethnicity of being a Muslim at that time was dangerous. Then a focus pull from a shallow focus to deep focus as it is centred on Yasmin while she defends her faith, but then as she turns around the focus goes deep to create the effect of the working class people’s facial expressions. There is also a 3 shot of the women in the pub staring at Yasmin while she is saying sorry in a forced way which suggests that they are ganging up on her, this makes Yasmin look inferior amongst the white women to show that her ethnicity singles her out from her colleges.

There is an eye-line match of Yasmin looking at her colleges to see if they are staring at her, this reveals that she cares a great deal of what her white colleges think of her because she is insecure about being accepted. There is a shot reverse shot between the white man and Yasmin while the white man is looking down at Yasmin from a high angle, and the white man is being looked up at in a low angle this is to show the dominance and power the white man has in the pub in his ‘territory’, the idea that a pub is a territory for white working class people and not ethnicities that are against drinking such as the Muslim faith reveals that Yasmin would be an outcast. Continuity editing is used frequently to create a realistic Muslim point of view and shows how Yasmin felt and dealt with the situation. The frame of the white man is that he takes up most of the shot whilst we see the back of Yasmin’s head, which shows his supremacy.

The diegetic sound of Yasmin’s voice is that she has a strong Yorkshire accent which is known to be a stereotypical working class area; this shows the contrast of the stereotype that all Islamic people have her cultures accent. Yasmin’s position of being the only Muslim in the pub just after the 911 bombings creates a sense of awkwardness between her and her fellow colleges, but in an attempt to get a sense of forgiveness a diegetic sound of her screaming at a Muslim on TV racial abuse

‘Go back to your own country, paki!’

This is the switch where the audience can clearly see that she has disowned her culture and no longer classes herself as a Muslim; this reveals that she is trying to break the stereotype of being a terrorist and being Pakistani as she didn’t want to be related to the current events. Another diegetic comment made by Yasmin assists her behaviour of attempting to fit into a white working class society

 ‘I haven’t been to a mosque in 5 years, I’m about as Muslim as you’

Yasmin’s actions towards her own culture trigger her colleagues to speak up and a tall stereotypical white working class male approaches Yasmin and makes a remark on ALL Muslims

‘Muslims haven’t done themselves any favours because no one has apologised’

Through this remark Yasmin has then switched from feeling ashamed of her race to defending it by standing up for her, this also enters the stereotype that women are passive and silent; this is also aimed at Muslim women as they are known to not start an argument with a man as it is disrespectful.

‘What have Muslims got to apologise for?’

Yasmin is the contrast of the stereotypical Muslim woman as she shows a dominance and power that is stronger then the white male. Although there are racial remarks made by the white women in the pub directed at Yasmin which no one finds disrespectful but instead funny ‘oh, you like a bit of brown’ which represents how others see the Muslim race and how there think of her culture which is a ‘joke’.

Soap Opera

                          The Way Soap Opera Constructs Reality

The purpose of this essay is to reveal the trend soap operas follow and why they use certain topics to lure there ideal audiances.

The two soap operas I have been studying are Eastenders and Hollyoaks, Even though both soap operas have many attributes in common such as stereotyping characters and a sense of realism, they have one thing not in common, Eastenders is based on a stereotypical working class environment and detects how these working class people struggle with every day aspects whilst Hollyoaks tends to show the brighter side of society.

The themes used in almost every soap opera are all about keeping the audience on the edge of their seat to keep them interested , many topics are successful in undertaking this, frequent topics such as :

• Drama
• Teenage Pregnancy
• Drugs
• Murder
• Health Issues
• Cliff hangers
• love

All of these topics are used every day in soap operas as they occur in everyday life which makes it more believable to the audience if they have experienced it. The program Eastenders has a kind of routine to how they will launch these topics to create the illusion of realism, for example it will carry out drama everyday from the smallest argument in the square to a character finding out they are a father. They use special occasions such as weddings and especially Christmas to reveal the cliff hangers that have been stirring for months, the audience can always expect a big explosion at Christmas time, and it can be revealed that someone has been murdered to someone leaving the soap opera. In Hollyoaks they use a different approach to getting these topics across in there series’ as they use cliff hangers such as gold-digger’s and how the plot unfolds, whilst at special occasions like Christmas time they reveal the build up awareness of topics such as affairs and characters leaving the soap.  A Media theorist called Len Ang also expressed his idea that emotional realism is used as we the audience can relate to it which makes the soap operas simple to believe.

Technical codes such as recurring themes and Archetypal characters are buzzing in soap operas as they are what make the TV show so much more enjoyable to know that there is a familiarity and routine in the soap opera which makes it more realistic. In Eastenders recurring themes is nothing out of the ordinary as we see drama happen every day and every occasion has its explosion of tragedy or even rarely happiness, and we also have the character that seems to be the main attraction of the program like ‘The Queen of Walford’ Peggy Mitchell who has been in the program since it began. However the program doesn’t have its main characters as everyone has equal spotlight, this is similar to Hollyoaks as they also have no spotlight for one or one group of characters, as it wouldn’t be a soap opera about a community, this contributes to the delusion of the soap opera being reality. Sound is an important part of technical codes as is builds up the scene and creates an atmosphere amung the audiance, in soap operas there are no non-diegetic music this is to create the realism of the episode where as shows such as Dexter have non-diegetic music to create suspense but this results in the audience not believing that the TV show is real, the only music that is shown in soap operas are the theme tune and the soap operas montage, in Eastenders the music is calm and has a pace with instruments such as drums and keyboard, this music is to create a realness to the soap opera as the music is basic and does not make it sound professionally done. Whereas Hollyoaks is a livelier theme tune as the pace is faster and the instruments used are more energetic such as drums and electric guitar, as the audience know that electric guitars are usually used in rock bands and this foreshadows to the audience that the soap opera will be full of drama but will have high points. The montage for Eastenders is the camera rising over the east end so it looks like a map, and the main attractions in the east end such as the O2 and river Thames are there so it makes it obvious to the reader that the soap opera is based on the east end, where as in Hollyoaks the montage is colourful and the characters feature in there.  Continuity editing is used in soap operas constantly as it shows how the characters do a routine, for example in the morning the audience could view a shot of a character making a cup of tea in their pyjamas then a continuity shot is used to switch to another characters kitchen where they could be getting ready, this is to show the realism of the daily routine that the characters go though as most people can relate to that routine of getting up in your pyjamas and having breakfast, this editing is to make it as realistic as possible otherwise the audience will not believe it .

Soap opera are praised for their use of theories of realism as they face and reveal taboos that many people do not talk about and are ashamed of such as gay and lesbian relationships and embarrassing health issues such as bipolar illness, soap operas such as Eastenders and Hollyoaks feature these topics on their series as they believe that they should be confronted and change the way people and society stereotype the people who are ‘different’, Eastenders and Hollyoaks are a couple of examples who encourage gay people to feel good about themselves and also tackle religious issues ht may be useful to the audience. These soap operas are successful in creating a ‘realistic’ world as they also use iconography such as in Eastenders they have landmarks that are always present in the series’ such as ‘The Queen Vic’ or ‘The Square’ .  the audience can also consider that the soap opera is factual by how the camera uses its shots and the mise-en-scene used, as the colours used like it costume represent the kind of character wearing it, for example an outspoken character would wear bright colours such as red and a negative character would wear black .the camera uses the same shots and movement most of the time as soap operas are low budget this backs up the idea of realism as special effects are rarely used.

The characters are a vital issue of creating a realistic atmosphere as they are the main attraction of the soap opera and they are the glue which holds the illusion together, the characters represent issues that are hard for regular people to accept , like for children accepting their parents getting a divorce and how to cope, or gay people showing their affection for each other in public, these characters give people who watch the program the strength and guidance they need to face these issues. The characters also have their own catch phrases which sum up there character as normal people do say a certain phrase constantly and people can acquaint that person with the phrase, this gives a practicality to the program. When we see a character experience topics such as tragedy etc they normally get a close up of their face to show there emotion which makes it easier for the audience to feel how that character is feeling.

In conclusion soap operas are based to illustrate topics such as death, romance and drama etc to help the audience if they have ever experienced something similar, also people watch these programs because they are a straight form of gossip as people are instinctively nosey especially women so it is like a relief after they see it , the audience could assume that these soap operas have a more feminine audience as women are interested in the program as it has great gossip and interesting stories involved.

Article For Magazine

The purpose of this article draft is to show how I will improve my skills in writing, and how to attract my ideal audiance.


Alexandra Birchmore

DATE OF BIRTH: APRIL 24, 1988

Who is she?

Waiting for her name to be called among the other hopefuls for the school Christmas play, Alexandra Birchmore felt the anxiety of having to audition in front of her fellow class mates, never knowing how they would react to her voice, standing in the middle of the stage looking out into the darkness with a single spotlight over her she began her song, the feeling of expressing her emotions in that audition shinned through her performance and she ended with a smile on her face. From a young age Alexandra loved to sing and listen to the classics her family would play as she walked in everyday from school, the music her family loved were the classics to the blues, this led to Alexandra’s journey into music and began singing regularly.

Born in the city of London Alexandra began to explore an

Analysis of Kerrang Magazine

The purpose of this analysis on this magazine is to identify what makes the magazine attract its readers and how its attributes such as title box and colours reveal what kind of genre the magazine.

                                    Analysis of Kerrang Magazine

 

By the name of the music magazine ‘Kerrang’ we can tell what genre the magazine is going to be, as the word Kerrang is onomatopoetic, it refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar, for anyone who knows about music they would know that electric guitars are used in genres such as indie and rock, and automatically tells the reader that the magazine is a indie, rock magazine.

It is very common for this magazine to put bands on its front cover but even more commonly the main singer somehow stands out more then the other band members, in this particular issue of the magazine, the very popular band ‘paramore’ are the head story and the main singer Hayley Williams stands out among her other band members,  they all are standing behind her with a straight facial expression while she is bent forward with a smile on her face, she is in the centre of the page which indicates that she is the main feature of the band.  All the band members are giving direct modes of address which give a good atmosphere with the reader as they feel more closer to the bang and feel that the story and messages they send in this magazine are directed towards them, which satisfies the reader

The bands are wearing a dark scheme of costume, to back up there genre of music as rock and indie bands are known for wearing dark colours, although the main singer Hayley Williams makes herself stand out even more with her pink lipstick and orange hair, this shows independence and that she is there to stand out, which can also gain a wider range of audiences as some people may also like to stand out.

The anchorage text in this issue of the magazine is very simple but differs from other issues as the anchorage text just has the bands name in bold white letters and ‘souvenir special’ underneath it , which shows that they are trying to promote the band and its image . This anchorage text would still attract the audience as they would see the anchorage text and would instinctively pick it up as paramore are features inside; the anchorage text is the same size as the magazine title, which shows how important promoting the band is.

The Title of the Magazine’s design is very grunge a it looks smashed , this represents how rock legends smash there guitars at concerts , this comparison of the title name and how it is designed both link to electric guitars, really build up the image of indie and rock trends. This would make the audience agree with the way the magazine is designed and its use of language; as if the audience saw this magazine with a pink background they would feel confused and wouldn’t believe that this was the right magazine, as its image is also what attracts the readers.

The band is shot as a mid shot which is from the top of there legs to there heads, this mid shot is to show the band costume and there body positions including there facial expressions, this is important as it could determine what kind lf band they are and is the most attractive part of the band .

The colour scheme commonly used on Kerrang magazine is black, yellow and red and on this issue of the magazine this colour scheme is carried out as the title is black and the bands costume are very dark, the anchorage text is outlined in black, also the red is used in the magazines puffs and background of the anchorage text, the yellow is normally used for the subtitles underneath the anchorage text. This constant colour scheme creates a sense of familiarity and routine and makes it easer for the audience to find the magazine among others in the shop.

The puffs in this magazine are of the band in different locations, there are 6 puffs of the band and 3 are long shots while the rest are mid shots these puffs of the band help the audience recognise the band and build up the bands image. These puffs are commonly used in magazines as they help the Reader out what is featured inside the magazine and also assist the magazine by helping the reader to buy it.

Analysis Of Elizabeth

The purpose of this essay is to identify how a historical woman represents gendre in the media and how she presents herself.

The scene starts off with a good mise-en-scene representation of lighting and colour as there is a long shot of one of her maids cutting her hair while sobbing, this effect is interesting as it also shows the background of dimness and a few Candice lit. When she is about to enter the throne room she comes through in a long shot to show the landscape behind her which is all light and demonstrates that England’s time of darkness has come to an end.
The scissors are a good use of prop as they are a vital object of her transformation from a young full of life woman to a queen. There is a close up of Elizabeth’s hand in her lap grasping her hair as it gently falls over her shoulders, this reveals the transformation in action and that she is cutting away her old self to be a successful ruler. As she drops the hair in her hands is symbolises the people trying to control her decisions, and shows that by dropping the hair she is dropping their advice and opinions. The audience can see that by her cutting her hair she is trying to make herself unattractive to show any man attempting to marry her to back off as she is queen and no one, even a man cannot take her thrown away.
The setting of where the sequence starts is in a bedroom in a faint light, there is a close up of her face when the maid is cutting her hair and show she is emotionless, which leaves the audience puzzled as to what she is thinking. She looks natural with no makeup on and is without any feminine features now that her hair is cut off which makes it easier for her to make herself unattractive. This signifies how dark England was without her guidance; she is composed and prepared about the procedure. When she is about to enter the throne room all the court were expecting the previous woman who was full of life and let people control her but as she entered the whole room moved backwards for her entry showing her respect.
Her body language and facial expressions in the scene are different as in her flash back she is smiling and looks full of life, but when she cuts her hair she is very blank to show the court that she means business and intends to be a great ruler, she has many close ups in this sequence and had another one in the flash back. At the end where she is sitting on the throne she looks like a painting or a portrait, the painting shows all kings and queens had a painting of themselves and all had to be expressionless. In her flashback there is a two shot of her and her lover which shows how easy it was for her to fall in love, but then when her flashback was over she realised that the only love in her life could be England.
Her costume in her flashback is wearing a white, frilly dress with her hair down blowing in the breeze in a mid shot just showing her facial expression as it is the important aspect, as it shows what and who she used to be. But when she transformed into a queen she wears immense layers of clothing and huge dresses that cover all her body, her makeup is paste white and red lipstick, she looks like a porcelain doll, but untouchable, this is positioned as a long shot to show her whole costume. This symbolises that no man can take advantage of her just because she is a woman, the white dress she wears shows purity to England that she is indeed a virgin. She is now a symbol not a human.
　

Analysis Of Skins Poster Part 2

The purpose of this Analysis is to identify how the media presents a group of teenagers and how the use of mise-en-scene in a poster can reveal everything including the genre of the TV drama.

This Advert for the Skins Series is different from others as it only has one character in the poster, by only him being in the advert he must be a high status character. his facial expression is very tensed as he is holding his breath under the water and also is giving a direct mode of address to the camera so implies to the audience that he could be looking at them and makes the poster appear more interesting, he’s also got no clothes on the top half of his body that we can see, this is a mid shot and just gives the viewers the important and interesting part of the image, which is his face as we can see the emotion he expresses under the water. The way the character is under the water with his arms by his side with no happy expression on his face reveals to the audience that he could be drowning himself and jus by the characters actions the audience is given an insight to the series possible activities,
The Setting in this poster is very intimidating as the characters surroundings are in an old bathroom, where the bath is a dark shade of green with unclean shade of green water , and the tiles on the walls are also a grey/ green colour, but also has cracks in the tiles and has mould increasing which shows that damp is in the room, this indicates to the audience that he lives in a working class environment, and lives in unstable conditions. Also the bathroom has essentials found in a bathroom on the side of the bath such as soap and a razor which brings a realistic image into the viewer’s minds.
The colour used in this poster is continuous as it constantly uses the colour green in the same shade, this accentuates the immensity of the situation as the colour is very dull and there is no light colours to show a happy side to the series, but shows that there will be a great deal amount of jealousy and depression as the dark colour of green is known for this, the audience can see just by the colours of the poster what kind of genre this series will be.
The lighting in the poster is limited and is overpowered by obtuse, green interior design, by the posters layout we can see the corner of a window but can see that no light is being let through, this creates a negative impression for any viewers who think that the series will be a lightened, happy series, as just by the lighting we can see it concludes serious matters such as, suicide and depression.
British made films and series' directors have a repetition of how to create and get across certain groups and how to represent them, for teenagers they have a norm of bad representation as films such as 'kidult hood', 'waterloo road' and 'shameless' show teenagers from a working class background portrayed in a negative way they all are sexually active, steal and are religious, many teenagers view this kind of representation as offensive and think that they should act like this because it is societies expectations of them, this is called self fulfilling prophecy. Audience members may be led by these kinds of series and label teenagers as mischief’s and are wary of them, this could cause chaos as directors don’t think about how this could affect a society, and mostly teenagers as they are prone to labelling and in a working class environment is it common for teens to feel many emotions which a series like skins could affect.

Analysis Of Skins Image Part 1

The purpose of this Analysis is to identify how mise-en-scene can reveal the storyline of a TV show and how the media represented these teenagers.

The Skins cast are made up of a group of young teenagers, the costume in this advert is very sexual as all the cast are only wearing basic clothing which are underwear, this portrays that the series will be very intimate and have some sexual scenes, this shows that although there are teenage actors, that the program is suitable for adults rather then young children. Also the main character in the advert is a young woman in her late teens who seems to be of a very high status in the series as she is the only character who the camera has a full body shot of and she is in the centre of the camera, other aspects such as lighting give away characters status, such as a shadow of a single window letting in light into the dull, dark room, and that light is reflecting on her, which shows she is one of the main characters. Her Facial Expression is very distressed and her make up looks as if she had been crying, and her body posture is facing away from her companion in the bed with her and is faced towards the window, which symbolises that she is a character who has a lot of problems and is unhappy. The Teenage boy in the bed with her has a hat on and glasses, the fact he is wearing a hat reveals that he is insecure and not as outgoing and rebellious like the rest of the characters.
The setting is in a small bedroom with little light coming through, the bedroom is falling apart with the wallpaper disintegrating, and there is a double bed but most of the teenagers are on the floor, this shows that chaos erupted, the bedroom looks like an adults bedroom s it has simple features such as a single picture and lamp beside the bed, where as the stereotype for a teenagers bedroom is to have a messy room with loads of personal touches around the room, such as teenage boys would have posters of there favourite band on their walls or of a naked model  This Clearly shows the teenagers are not in the correct bedroom, this symbolises rebellion. The fact that the advert was filmed in a bedroom supports the suspicion that the teenagers will be spending most of there days in the bedroom doing sexual activities.
An Important factor used to describe a poster or advert is colour which is a part of mise-en-scene, in this poster the colours are very obtuse as the colours are all grey or black colours, the colours look like they have became that way overtime, as the wallpaper is also peeling, this shows that the characters don’t look after there possessions, which makes it easy to presume that they also don’t look after themselves.
The Lighting is limited in this poster, there is hardly any light entering the room and the only light sources are a small light in the corner of the room and a shadow of a window, this strongly displays the characters kind of lifestyle and how they are comfortable and used to being in dark rooms.
This advert for a TV program expresses the stereotype of teenagers today and how they behave and live, this representation can be viewed in two different ways as many teenagers have different norms and values then others, in one way teenagers can take the advert in a hurtful way as they may feel miss judged and could feel as they would need to live up to society expectations, however they could feel that just because a few teenagers act that way that not every teenager should be labelled in the same manor, however another way they could view the advert as a wakeup call, and realise that they live there lifestyle that way and see it as a wake up call , also this poster in my point of view is a realistic serious matter that needed to be addressed , as it does go on it modern day society and can be a norm for any teenager , I believe it is a negative and positive representation , because the poster shows two sides or the teenagers , they show the teens showing rebellion and unacceptable behaviour but also shows that they are unhappy with the decisions they are making, such as the girl dazing outside the window with a yearning expression in both her face and her body language,.