This document discusses various ways that meaning is created through symbolism, technical codes, and genre in media. It provides examples of how colors, settings, camera angles, lighting, and other elements can be symbolic and create meaning without explicitly stating it. Technical codes like props and camera angles are also discussed as a way to create meaning. Common conventions of genres like horror, sci-fi, westerns, and comedies are outlined to demonstrate how audiences understand meaning based on genre expectations. Theories of representation and stereotypes from scholars like Alvarado are briefly summarized.

1. A2 Media Studies
Coursework
Research and Planning
Connor Filby

2. M.I.G.R.A.I.N – Meaning:

3. symbolism
Symbolism is the usage of images and symbols to tell a story to an audience,
it relays meaning to them without telling them directly.
Black is used to represent death or evil.
White often is used to represent life and purity.
Red can symbolize blood, passion, danger, or immoral character.
Purple is a royal colour and is sometimes used as a colour of evil
Yellow can stand for violence, decay, cowardice and perhaps anxiety
Blue represents peacefulness and calm
Green represents nature, purity and the undisturbed

4. Symbolic codes
 Symbolic codes include:
 Setting: an example of setting creating meaning could
be a dark forest, this could mean evil lurking nearby
 Mise en scene: an example of Mise en scene creating
meaning could be a large array of weapons in frame
to create a meaning of danger.
 Acting: an example of Acting creating meaning could
be someone acting relieved, this could mean that
they just managed to escape a bad situation or get to
safety
 Lighting: lighting can create meaning with the colour
of the light and the brightness, such as if there is
a soft glow of red it could mean that there is an
unknown danger that will be an issue later.
 Colour: an example of colour creating meaning could
be a screen filled with red to mean love or blood or
even violence, or a screen filled with black to signify
death or an ending

5. Technical codes
 Meaning can be created by
technical codes in film
 Examples of these technical
codes are via props and camera
angles,
 for example in this image here
we see a close up of a soldiers
face after his freind has been
mortally wounded and is going to
presumably die, we can see the
emotion and every look on their
face because of the close up
shot, the angle shows the second
soldiers injury as well as both of
the mens faces, in the
background we can see a fire
burning in the remains of a barn
or a similar building, this could
provide meaning as the second
soldiers life quickly burning out,
or perhaps it could represent the
destruction and death being
inflicted during this war, it is all
up for interpretation.

6. Colour
representations
 Colours when used in film can
have meanings depending on
how they are used, some
example colors
 Red: red represents blood, love,
passion and violence.
 Green represents life, nature
and sometimes evil as can be
seen in many Disney movies
where a lime mist will emerge
when a villain is introduced
 Black represents death,
nothingness and depression, this
is because in many stories of
death he is portrayed as a
corpse wearing a black robe,
nothingness as black is not a
colour but the lack of colour
and depression because when
people are depressed they feel
down, dark and have what is
known as “ dark thoughts”

7. Representation theorists
Baudrillard – Hyper Reality: “Some texts
are difficult to distinguish in terms of
the representation of reality from a
simulation of reality e.g. Big Brother.
The boundaries are blurred as codes
and conventions create a set of
signifiers which we understand but in
fact the representation is a copy of a
copy”.
Judith Butler – Queer Theory: “Gender
is what you do, not who you are with
the theory contesting the
categorization of gender and sexuality –
identities are not fixed and they cannot
be labelled e.g. potentially
androgynous representations like Gok
Wan.
Carol Clover – Last Girl Theory (Horror):
“In many horror films, like Halloween
typically the last girl that survives is
pure, chaste and virginal while all of
her friends with looser morals have
been killed. Even the name of the last
girl is often unisex e.g. Sidney, Teddy or
Billie and has elements of androgyny
and sometimes also a shared history
with the killer”.
Richard Dyer – Stereotypes Legitimize
Inequality: “A way to ensure unequal
power relations are maintained is to
continually stereotype – GTAV is a
misogynist video game where players
have the opportunity to kill prostitutes
in their own violent way – the game is
entirely male point of view and
arguably serves to maintain dominant
male culture”.
Stuart Hall – Dominant, Oppositional
and Negotiated Readings of
Representation: “Stuart Hall’s theory
(see audiences) is also useful in
understanding how some
representations reflect the dominant
culture e.g. patriarchy, women in The
Sun and in Men’s Magazines like FHM.
Angela McRobbie – Post Feminist Icon
Theory: “Lara Croft, Lady Gaga and
Madonna for example could be
identified as post feminist icons as they
exhibit the stereotypical characteristics
of both the male and female – strength,
courage, control and logic but also are
willing to be sexualized for the male
gaze. This control element of their own
representation is crucial in
understanding the theory”.
Andy Medhurst – Stereotyping is
Shorthand for Identification: “One
way that texts like Waterloo Road
and Skins for example allow for
audience identification is through
stereotyping and giving characters
an extreme representation”.
Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze/Female
Gaze: “Women on the front cover
of FHM are sexualized and
objectified for the male audience
while the same can be said for
male models in perfume adverts,
sexualized for a female
demographic”.
Tessa Perkins – Stereotyping has
Elements of Truth: “Although
stereotyping can have negative
effects often it is based of some
degree of reality but distorted
and manipulated for the purpose
of entertainment values”

8. Stuart halls reception
theory
 Reception theory asserts that media texts are
encoded and decoded. The producer encodes
messages and values into their media which are
then decoded by the audience. However, different
audience members will decode the media in
different ways and possibly not in the way the
producer originally intended.
 Stuart Hall states that audience members adopt one
of the following three positions when they decode
the text:
 Dominant, or Preferred Reading - how the producer
wants the audience to view the media text.
Audience members will take this position if the
messages are clear and if the audience member is
the same age and culture; if it has an easy to follow
narrative and if it deals with themes that are
relevant to the audience.
 Oppositional Reading - when the audience rejects
the preferred reading, and creates their own
meaning for the text. This can happen if the media
contains controversial themes that the audience
member disagrees with. It can also arise when the
media has a complex narrative structure perhaps
not dealing with themes in modern society.
Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience
member has different beliefs or is of a different age
or a different culture.
 Negotiated Reading - a compromise between the
dominant and oppositional readings, where the
audience accepts parts of the producer's views, but
has their own views on parts as well. This can occur
if there is a combination of some of the above e.g.
audience member likes the media, is of the same
age as you and understands some of the messages,
but the narrative is complex and this inhibits full
understanding.

9. Reception theory example
For example we have an advertisement for iPhone
The preferred reading for this advertisement
would be that the audience thinks this phone is
advanced and extremely useful and therefore want
to swap out the phone they may have for this one.
The negotiated reading would be that someone
would find this phone to be useful but refuse to
swap from android or Samsung because they find
those to be more useful, yet they do appreciate
this phones usefulness
The oppositional reading would be that people
think this phone is awful as it does not have a
home button, it breaks to easily and more and thus
would refuse to ever use it outright

10. M.I.G.R.A.I.N – Institutions:

11. The big 5
 The walt Disney company
 Universal pictures
 Paramount pictures
 Warner bros
 Columbia pictures
 These 5 companies make up the big 5, previously known as the big six until Fox
media was bought by Disney for 71.3 billion USD, they run the majority of media in
the modern world, they are large companies that in order to keep their success
they either suffocate or buy out smaller studios that couldn't hope to compete.
They are gatekeepers, they all have a 360 degree status as they are involved in
every branch of media, they are the largest media producers in the world, making
up a huge oligopoly in the media sector


12. What do film institutions do?
 Film institutions are large media producers such as Disney, universal studios and
more, they do multiple things such as marketing, producing films,
Production:
When producing a film institutions must consider budget, actors and setting, budget is
how much money they have allocated to the film for its production, the equipment,
pay of actors and workers, props, transport,
• Budget
• Actors
• Setting
Marketing & Distribution:
Film institutions will produce and put out advertising for their products, either show or
film, they will produce these advertisements and show them across all the platforms
and sectors they have influence and control in to maximize views and profit
Exchange:
Where the product is consumed by the audience

13. Institutional research - production labels
 Production labels are companies that market movies and shows They
engage in a wide range of functions in the film industry such as film
publishing and copyright enforcement

14.  The British Board of Film
Classification is a non
government
organisation founded by the
film industry in 1912 and
responsible for the national
classification and censorship
of films shown at cinemas
and video works released on
physical media within the
United Kingdom. It has a
statutory requirement to
classify all video works
released on VHS, DVD, Blu
ray and, to a lesser extent,
some video games under
the video recordings act of
1984 The BBFC was also the
designated regulator for
the UK age verification
scheme which was
abandoned before being
implemented.
The BBFC

15. M.I.G.R.A.I.N – Genre:

16. Genre:
When watching a film we can put it into a
certain category based on genre, genre being
French for "type" or "class"
we can easily see meaning being created,
because of how each genre can be easily noted
by use of tropes, such as the abuse of one
character until they take out their hate on
others,
characters, such as oblivious college kids who do
not see the killer or monster until it is too late
or a killer who is seeking revenge for an act that
had been done against them,
Standard settings or themes, such as a dark
abandoned mansion or foggy woods with ominous
noises emanating.

17. Genre Theorists:
 Rick Altman – Semantics and Synactic’s
 David Buckingham – Genre in Constant Process of Negotiation and Change
 Daniel Chandler – Genre is Too Restricting
 John Hartley – Genre is Interpreted Culturally
 John Fiske – Genre as ‘Convenience’ for Producers and Audiences
 Henry Jenkins – Genre constantly ‘Breaks Rules’ e.g. evolving hybridization
 Jason Mittel – Industry Uses Genre Commercially
 Steve Neale – Genre as Repetition and Difference
 Keith Grant- the term Genre has 3 major meanings

18. What are some of the codes and
conventions of genre?
what do you expect to see in a
horror/sci fi/western/comedy
etc.

19. Horror
 In a horror film you would expect to see dark
lighting such as the exessive shade under a forest or
the pure blackness of the night,
 jumpscares such as the monster, demon or killer
jumping out of places such as a sewer or from a
place just out of sight,
 screaming, either as background diagetic noice to
build tension, create a scenario or scare the main
character, or an on screen character being killed or
attacked and screaming in fear,
 suspenseful music to slowly build tension, often
being quite loud when compared to characters
speaking so that every pitch change or sudden note
is very audible
 and blood and death, either as an unknown or
background character to set the scene or a
character with buildup and development to shock
the veiwer

20. Sci-fi
 In a Science fiction film you would expect to see aliens such as the xenomorphs in
the “Alien” series or the predator in the “predator” series which may be a few
different things such as an enemy, a benefactor, an ally or a hunter,
 advanced technology such as laser guns, giant robots or vehicles or super advanced
medical systems, spaceships, lasers and different planets.

21. Western
 In a western you would expect to see cowboys,
 a desert town, horses, ranches, draws and old revolvers,
 you would also expect to see a worn young man ride into a crime ridden town and
whip it up into shape by fighting off the criminals and outlaws, he is hurt and
thought to be out for the count but is nursed back to heath when he fights the full
force of the antagonists and wins despite being hurt badly.

22. Comedy
 In a comedy you would expect to see lighthearted characters and a lack of any
serious tones within the film, there would be weird camera angles, odd sound
effects, odd facial features made to help push the comedy,
 exaggerated and clumsy movement and less serious conversations in order to
preserve the fact that it is a comedy and is made to be light hearted and funny.

23. Sub-genres
 Sub genres refers to a cross between two or more main genres
 such as a romantic comedy, an action sci fi, a sci fi comedy, and more, the list of
sub genres is very long and is hard to name them all as many sub genres are made
of already existing sub genres

24. What do people say about genre?
 A style of classification that can apply to many different subjects such as art,
film, televison shows, books, music, games and even food,
 the word genre is used as a classification word, in short different genres
mean different themes and such.

25. Why is genre so hard to define?
 Because genre can apply to so many different things and is not focused on just one
area for example films,
 almost all forms of media and many other things have genres and all of these
groups define it differently so there can never be one true definition.

26. M.I.G.R.A.I.N –
Representation:

27. The Alvarado theory,
Manuel Alvarado
 The Alvarado theory is based
upon racial stereotypes and
said stereotypes in action in
film production, these
stereotypes include:
 Exotic
 The pitied
 The humorous
 The dangerous
 He created his theory to
show both the positives and
negatives of each of the
stereotype category he
made, he showed how they
were used in film and
television.

28. Alvarado theory, exotic
 This stereotype links closely to what theorist
Stuart Hall called 'the secret fascination of
'otherness' – this is the way in which the
media represents people who are different
from us.
 This can be viewed both positively and
negatively but is usually a construction by
the text. The 'exotic' stereotype presents the
individual in terms of how they look, what
they wear, what they eat and their 'different'
customs
 This can be negative as calling their customs
and such “exotic” may be rude as whilst it
may be unfamiliar to many of us, it is quite
normal and is just tradition to others, for
example wearing a baseball cap may be
normal for many people however for others it
may be unusual, so it would be ‘exotic” from
their perspective.

29. Alvarado theory, the pitied
 In certain texts ethnic
minorities are stereotyped as
vulnerable and as victims.
 This is true of many newspaper
and television news reports of
developing countries, this is
largely because the only time
certain countries appear in the
news is when they are linked to
disasters, for example famine
and earthquakes.
 Similar representations are used
for charity campaigns in order
to shock the audience into
action.

30. Alvarado theory, the
humorous
 In the context of certain texts, for example situation
comedies and film, the audience is encouraged to
laugh at the ethnic stereotypes contained within the
text.
 These stereotypes have often been built up over
time and, as with all stereotypes, they exaggerate
recognisable features and attributes.
 In the early days of sitcoms racist humour was seen
as an acceptable way of making people laugh.
 This is no longer the case but texts like Citizen Khan
have attracted a range of views about the
programme which was written by British Muslim Adil
Ray. It was one of the most complained-about
programmes to Ofcom with accusations that it
stereotyped the Pakistani community in Britain.

31. Alvarado theory, the dangerous
 Alvarado states that some texts
represent ethnic minorities as a threat to
society and they are often blamed for
social problems.
 Immigrants are stereotypically
represented as benefit cheats and
scroungers.
 The ghettoization of some social groups
reinforces the idea of difference as they
become marooned communities who are
seen as apart from the norm. Some
newspapers manipulate the readers' fear
of the unknown by grouping together
individuals under the common title of
'immigrants'. This lack of personalisation
makes it easier to blame them for a
range of social problems

32. Laura Mulvey and the
male gaze
Laura Mulvey is a feminist film theorist from
Britain, best known for her essay on Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema. Her theories are influenced
by the likes of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan,
whilst also including psychoanalysis and feminism in
her works. Mulvey is predominantly known for her
theory regarding sexual objectification on women
in the media, more commonly known as “The Male
Gaze” theory.
Being one of the most notable film theorists in the
world, her ideas and clear proof of misogyny in film
opened up the eyes of many, and in 1975,
something that people simply accepted was finally
questioned. Although Mulvey‘s theory has helped
identify issues with gender in film, why do we still
have the same issues decades later? Why do we still
see the same roles for women in film and television
reused over and over again?
The Male Gaze theory is where women in the media
are viewed from the eyes of a heterosexual man,
and that these women are represented as passive
objects of male desire. Audiences are forced to
view women from the point of view of a
heterosexual male, even if they are heterosexual
women or homosexual men.
From the feminist perspective, this theory can be
viewed in three ways: How men look at women,
how women look at themselves and finally, how
women look at other women. Typical examples of
the male gaze include medium close-up shots of
women from over a man’s shoulder, shots that pan
and fixate on a woman’s body, and scenes that
frequently occur which show a man actively
observing a passive woman.

33. M.I.G.R.A.I.N – Audience:

34. The hypodermic
needle theory- Harold
Laswell
 The Hypodermic Needle Theory is a
linear communication theory which
suggests that media messages are
injected directly into the brains of a
passive audience. It suggests that
we’re all the same and we all
respond to media messages in the
same way.
 This way of thinking about
communication and media influence
is no longer really accepted. In the
1930s, many researchers realized
the limitations of this idea and some
dispute whether early media
theorists gave the idea any serious
attention at all. Nevertheless, The
Hypodermic Needle Theory
continues to influence the way we
talk about the media. People believe
that the mass media has a powerful
effect. Parents worry about the
influence of television and violent
video games. News outlets run
headlines like ‘Is Google making us
stupid’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto led
teen to kill’.

35. The uses and
gratification theory-
Elihu Katz
The uses and gratification theory is an approach
to understanding why and how people actively
seek out specific media to satisfy specific
needs.
It is an audience-centred approach to
understanding mass communication.
It assumes that audience members are not
passive consumers of media and do not just
blindly enjoy everything they are shown and
demand specific media.
The theory discusses the effects of the media
on people. It explains how people use the media
for their own need and get satisfied when their
needs are fulfilled. In other words, it can be
said that the theory argues what people do with
media rather than what media does to people.
Also, this theory is in contradiction to the magic
bullet theory which states that the audience is
passive.
This theory has a user/audience-centred
approach. Even for communication, say –
interpersonal, people refer to the media for the
topic to discuss among themselves. By referring
the media, they gain more knowledge and
exposure to the world beyond their limited
eyesight.

36. The cultivation theory, George
Gerbner
The cultivation theory suggests that the more
time people spend 'living' in the television world,
the more likely they are to believe social reality is
the same as the reality portrayed on television.
The theory argues that the media generally
presents an image of the world that does not
reflect reality. Television images are an
exaggeration or fantasy of what actually exists.
There is a disproportionate number of handsome
gentlemen, beautiful women, crime, wealth and
violence. As a result, people end up perceiving the
real world in a distorted manner and viewing
actuality through a ‘television perspective.’
Television offers a plethora of ideas and
conceptions on a variety of social and cultural
dynamics like race, gender, sexuality and more
Over a period of time, a fixed image of various
groups of people is formed and viewers start to
absorb these ideas which they then use as a map to
navigate through life. This constant exposure to
the media content cultivates specific values,
beliefs, attitudes and desires in people. These
newly preconceived notions shape their perception
of the world and they ultimately influence how
others perceive them. People, therefore, end up
unconsciously shaping their thought processes and
behavior based on what they consume. In today’s
world, people are increasingly starting to depend
on television more than any other medium to
understand the intricate web of the norms, values
and mindset of the society in which they live.

37. Passive audience theory
 A passive audience is likely to accept the messages encoded in a
media text without any challenges and therefore more likely to
be directly affected by the messages. The audience accepts and
believes all messages in any media text that they receive. This is
the passive audience model. They accept the preferred reading
and don't question it. In this model the media is seen as
powerful and able to inject ideas into an audience who are seen
as weak and passive

38. Active audience theory
 An active audience engages, interprets and responds to media in different
ways and is capable of challenging the ideas within the media piece, they do
not just sit back and watch what is given to them with no opinions or
complaints, they choose what to watch, are specific on their tastes in media
and will interpret things more creatively, if there is something they deem
worthy of criticism then they shall criticize it with intent to make future
creations or episodes better.

39. Hypodermic needle theory
 This hypothesis was established sometime in the 1920s or early
1930s, it hypothesises a communication theory that proposes that
media signals are specifically implanted into the minds of passive
viewers. For example news networks within the united states of
America are biased and may push their views on other people, such
as their opinion on abortion laws, religion, immigrants and more.

40. Cultivation theory
 The cultivation theory was created by George Gerbner in the 1960s it examines
the long term effects of television. The theory suggests that the more times a
person stays in the world of television the more likely they are to believe that
their own reality is the same as the reality portrayed by the showings on
television, Gerbner also suggested that those who watched television for
extended periods of time would see the outside world to be a cruel place and
therefore become very hesitant on leaving their comfort zone to do new things.

41. The two step flow theory
 The two step flow theory was made by Katz and Paul Lazarfelds, it says that
there is an opinion leader who gets information from a media source.
 The opinion leader then passes it to other people. This could cause a bad
influence on other people if they heard negative things about it from the
opinion leader this could affect the reputation of the content resulting in
low views.

42. Stuart hall and
the reception
theory
 Reception theory is a version of reader
response literary theory that emphasizes
each particular reader's reception or
interpretation in making meaning from a
literary text.
 Essentially what this means is that each
viewer can see a piece of media and
interpret it entirely differently than
another viewer, a prime example of this
would be the recent “burger king sexism”
twitter drama, I personally saw it as an
attempt of dark humour by using sexist
stereotypes to draw in the audience and
then do a as I like to call it “bait and
switch” in which they will quickly change
the meaning all together just by providing
more context, I found it humorous but
risky.
 Many people on twitter saw it as burger
king actively trying to be offensive and
sexist and thus burger king received a
large amount of criticism and hate,
backfiring completely on what burger king
originally intended.

43. The moral panic theory
 The moral panic theory, created by Stanley Cohen in 1972 states that moral panic
happens when someone or something is defined by the media as a threat to the
values or interests of society. Moral panic can play an important role in enforcing
alarm, even by just reporting the news. In extreme cases, moral panic creates
mass hysteria within the community. The general public start to believe whatever
is being reported on is occurring everywhere in society
 An example of moral panic would be news stations claiming that a group known as
HAMAS was in fact a terrorist organisation and sought to harm innocents, civilians
and American citizens, the organisation itself however has put out statements
saying that its goal is to drive out Israeli occupation and return Palestine to a
Islamic state.

44. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
 Maslow's hierarchy of needs has five sections:
 Self-actualisation, people would be motivated by a character they've seen in a
movie or a celebrity posting about their lives. they'd have the desire to achieve the
absolute best they can and media would motivate them.
 Psychological needs: food, water, shelter, sleep, clothing, reproduction and air
 Esteem: recognition, strength, freedom, status, respect and self esteem.
 Safety needs: resources, health, employment, personal security and property
 Love and belonging: a sense of connection, a family, friends and a group they can
connect to

45. M.I.G.R.A.I.N – Ideology:
 a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms
the basis of economic or political theory and policy

46. Ideology: Marxism
 Definition of Marxism: Marxism is the political and economic belief that there is no social classes and that
every person within the society works for a common good, and class struggle is theoretically gone. The
theory is that this will eliminate the social gap between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and this will
eventually lead to communism. the person who created this theory is Karl Marx. Marxism was first
theorised in September 1844
 Positives of Marxism: it has equal gender roles, equal education access and health care as part of its
foundation, It protects the rights of the union, and instead by being exploited by its managers, Marxism
encourages the formation of unions to stand up for personal rights. This is an advantage as it shows how
people who choose this ideology have freedom to express their rights.
Choosing to be Marxist reduces the tendency of debt, as communities choose to work together to achieve
success as all people provide for one another.
 Negatives of Marxism: it tries to abolish religion, it negatively effects the educational system, Marxist
philosophy on education sees economics lying at the root of human activity therefore they do not agree
with the curriculum construction and examination system, it limits opportunities for entrepreneurs as you
are basically working for the government, limiting diversity. Almost every time Marxism was used it lead to
communism which is believed to lead society without anyone being motivated, lowering the economy
 Effects of Marxism in media: it is believed that very wealthy business owners would instruct editors and
journalists to put across certain messages to audience. This would spread dominant ideology that questions
the power and privilege of the bourgeois

47. Ideology: socialism
 Definition: Socialism is a a political and economic theory which believes that the means of making, moving and trading
wealth should be owned or controlled by workers. This means the money made belongs to the people who make the things,
instead of a group of private owners, so every person in the community has an equal share of the various elements of
production
 Positives of socialism: Socialism creates a society that focuses on economic equality, there is a reduction in poverty when
socialism works.
The presence of universal healthcare improves the living standards for all citizens. it is possible within a socialist society to
create higher levels of social cohesion because the general welfare of everyone is the priority.
More equality often leads to improvements in social cohesion. When a society has more equality in it for the average person
this helps to stop inequality, therefore, the existence of monopolies and oligopolies. As a result, there is more cohesiveness
that develops over time.
Environmental protections can be implemented more readily. “One of the most common actions taken with this advantage of
socialism is a regulatory reduction of pollution. Even though the activities that create the desired result will lower the levels
of profit earned, the long-term existence of an industry that can provide excellent jobs is worth the investment to the
average worker.
 Negatives of socialism: Socialism creates a significantly higher tax burden for individuals. When an economy has a high rate
of progressive taxation, then there are more disincentives than benefits to consider when working or creating a business
opportunity.
The creation of a welfare state can lead to industrial disincentives. This means that a socialist government is too giving to its
citizens, allowing it’s people to be more relaxed about earning their own money. This can lead to poverty in the future.
Unions can exist in socialist countries to create divides between workers and owners. However, this only occurs if the
government is working on strengthening trade unions as that will create a bad relationship between the government and its
people almost as if it was ‘’ us vs them’’
It reduces innovation opportunities for the society. A socialism-style government structure tends to focus on internal needs
rather than new possibilities and ideas. This however, limits the options for innovation because there is little engagement
with the government to develop new concepts. It forces the government to do all of the spending. Therefore, more imports
may become necessary to maintain the status quo. If this issue continues for some time, then trade deficits can lead to high
levels of debt
 Effect of socialism in the media, many media outlets especially in he united states use the idea of socialism as a definite
negative, describing it as un American and with how they talk about it it sounds as if it is a gateway to either Marxism or
socialism because of their aged and stereotypical views that they wish to push on other people

48. Ideology: liberalism
 Liberalism is a political philosophy or worldview based and founded on ideas of liberty and equality
for all, it holds freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free markets, civil
rights, democratic societies and gender equality all in very high regard
 Advantages of liberalism: Provides individual freedom such as freedom of speech, most if not all
liberalists fight for equality, they want more cultural diversity in schools, workplaces and
everywhere, liberalism promotes economic growth for the country in a way that does not take
advantage of others including other countries, it preserves human rights and holds them in very
high regard.
 Disadvantages of liberalism: The market can be very inconsistent, it is very over-dependent on
everyone working together and does not take human nature into much account in that manner,
liberalists expect other counties to all come together for the greater good completely ignoring the
fact that many of these countries do not want to work together for a multitude of reasons.
Government criticism, many governments around the world criticize liberalism heavily because they
believe it is not realistic to have it as a governmental system, thus they are unwilling to try it,
meaning it is difficult to see it in use. Cultural issues, many governments around the world were
originally formed around religion or certain beliefs or traditions which may conflict with if the
government was liberalist.
 Effect of liberalism in media: many news outlets, movie producers and television producers have
been pressured by liberalism to be more inclusive, include more people of colour, more people with
disabilities, people with sexualities other than heterosexual and more, if a show is not very
inclusive and does not have much in the way of diversity many liberalists will likely complain and
direct criticism towards the show, it can however get to a level where it is simply unnecessary and
pointless.

49. Ideology: capitalism
 Capitalism is an economic system in which private individuals or businesses own capital goods. It is
also a political system in which a country's trade and industry is controlled by few private owners.
 Advantages of capitalism: with capitalism there is more economic freedoms than other political
ideologies such as Marxism, people have more input on what is happening to their money, and this
can lead to more political freedom as well. Another advantage of people having the freedom to do
what they want with their money is that people are able to set up a business if they want to and
can provide goods and services without being heavily restricted, this creates competition between
companies, which benefits consumers because the companies in attempt to constantly make
themselves more appealing than their rivals they decrease prices to get more sales, making their
products cheaper than if it were a few select providers.
 Disadvantages of capitalism: Many people don't care about others concerns about inequality and
oppression as they are too busy trying to succeed in life and live comfortably as a capitalist society
is very competitive and thus being kind could be seen as a weakness and taken advantage of,
meaning people do not have time to care about one another because if you are to care too much it
could ruin you. Most billionaires and rich individuals in positions of power over workers very often
take advantage of this power and do immoral things simply for the sake of making just a little more
profit, workers will be laid off, have their pays reduced, their schedules will be precisely designed
so that they cannot come together and discuss, unionising can be severely punished and more, this
is highly immoral and scummy, and yet these rich owners can do this as capitalism lets them get
away with it. Most capitalists do not care about the external damage they inflict as long as their
profit margins are steady or rise, they would destroy whole forests if it meant their profits would
remain intact, this severely damages the world and yet they do not want to do anything about it
because that would not be profitable.

50. M.I.G.R.A.I.N – Narrative:

51. Narrative:
Narrative creates meaning in media because of
how it is being narrated, if there was a film about
a bank robber who is planning a heist and the
narration describes them as horrible greedy
monsters whom want only money and power then
the audience will dislike them and think of them
in only that way,
however if the narration describes them as a poor
person whom has been kicked around by society
and the government and this being his only
choice then he would receive pity and sympathy
for his situation.
Point Break

52. Todorov's Narrative Theory
In 1969, Todorov proposed a theory which he believed was applicable to all films. He
believed that all films follow the same narrative pattern going through 5 stages. These are
the Equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again the equilibrium.
Equilibrium
The equilibrium is the first stage of Todorov’s theory. This stage is found at the beginning of
the film, where everything is as it should be and the characters lives are normal.
Disequilibrium
The second stage is the disruption stage. This is when the state of equilibrium is disturbed
by an event occurring.
Acknowledgement
Next, Todorov believes that the film has an acknowledgment stage, where there is
recognition of the event that disturbed the equilibrium.
Solving
The solving stage is the part of the film where there is an attempt to repair the damage of
the disruption that has been made.
Equilibrium
The final stage, is the equilibrium stage again. This is the part where there is a return or
restoration of a new equilibrium.

53. Propp's Character Types
 The Villain — struggles against the hero; usually an older, ugly, sly and manipulative
male.
 The Dispatcher — sends the hero off on his quest.
 The helper — helps the hero in their quest, usually less good-looking or clever, but
essential to their success.
 The Donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical or essential object
in order to aid them on their quest
 The Princess — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry
her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is
often ended when he marries the princess, thereby thwarting and beating the
villain. The princess tends to be beautiful and good natured, but ultimately weak
and passive, a pawn or prize to be won.
 The Oracle – an older wise figure, usually male, who provides essential wisdom,
information or clues to aid the hero on his quest

54. Propp's Character Types continued
 The Hero or victim— young, brave and strong, traditionally almost always male;
quick to accept his task and commence his quest; reacts to the donor, wins and
weds the princess.
 8. False Hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

55. What is a trailer, a teaser trailer and what's the difference between the 2?
 A trailer is normally a short video on an expected movie release,
a new season of a show or even a new video game title,
normally featuring scenes of the product, characters that
appear in said product, they usually provide basic information
on the film such as who stars in it, the characters in said film,
the setting and most of the time even the basic story, they
usually can last from 2 – 5 minutes, a teaser trailer is a much
shorter version of a trailer that shows normally only one or two
scenes with the main character in them, they usually are
between 15 seconds and 1.5 minutes and act as a way to get
people exited and be eagerly anticipating the actual trailer and
from there the film itself.
 An example of a teaser trailer from the lion king:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CbLXeGSDxg
 An example of a normal trailer from the lion king:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36oE0EBeESM
 We can see the difference between the two is that the teaser
trailer is one minute and thirty three seconds long, the trailer is
three minutes and forty seconds long.

56. How have trailers evolved over the
years?
 Trailers over the years have changed as well as the films
these trailers are for, as an example the batman series
has changes massively, in the year 1966 this was an
advertisement for a batman film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc5C8ihR7DQ
 As can be seen the advertisement acts as a sort of
infomercial on what the film will be, with the characters
introducing them and being extremely presentable for
the advertisement, they seem much brighter and cheery,
it is much more cheesy and doesn’t seem to take itself
seriously, in contrast to this a newer film in the batman
series, the dark knight, released in 2008
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXeTwQWrcwY
 We can see that the situation is a lot more dark, serious,
it seems to be much more action packed with explosions
fire and more, we can also see that costumes have
evolved as well, the batman looking a lot more
armoured and militaristic compared to in the 60s.

57. How trailers have become more contemporary
 In trailers for films set in the modern day we see use
of daily modern things such as mobile phones, tablets,
drones or other such technologies without there being
an extreme emphasis on the use of these devices and
not as much emphasis on these devices being
extremely advanced as people have become more
used to them, this small detail really makes these
adverts seem more like real life as there is not that
much of a deal about these devices, just like in real
life.
 In advertising for movies and such characters are
becoming more relatable or at least more realistic and
less dramatized, they feel more genuine, like they are
real and are not just actors
 An example of a film with the inclusion and relative
focus is countdown, a movie about an app that tells
you when you are going to die, it is more modern day
and uses a every day item to most people as a plot
device, this makes it slightly more relatable compared
to if it were an ancient artifact or some other
unfamiliar device

58. What makes a good trailer?
 A good trailer catches peoples attention and excites
them for the advertised film, enough so that once
the film releases, said people want to go and watch
it as soon as they can, a good example of this would
be avengers endgame:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcMBFSGVi1c
 People were ecstatic when this advertisement came
out, they could not wait until the release of the film,
there were theories made by everyone on the topic,
people made videos on what they thought would
happen in the film and other people watched them,
when the film finally released it broke records, for
example, it holds the title for biggest global opening
weekend with $1.2 billion, best domestic launch with
$357 million and strongest international bow with
$866 million, it also holds the title for highest
grossing film of all time, part of this may be due to
other factors, but were it not for the advertising and
build-up from Disney and marvel over this film then
its great success at release may have been impacted

59. Are independent films up to the same standard as
Conglomerates
 Independent films are most of the time not up to the same
standard as conglomerates, this is because conglomerate made
films usually have a large amount of funding in their production, a
prime example of a comparison between a conglomerate made
film and an independent made film is Disney’s "beauty and the
beast” which released at a similar date as “before I fall” made by
Jon Shestack productions and a small company called
Awesomeness.
 Before I fall was not very successful as a film, there were not
many people going to see it as many people had never even heard
of it, this is because these independent producers could not
afford advertising to the same scale as larger producers, they
could not afford well known actors and thus couldn’t promote
their films through large followings on social media, they did not
have the same camera quality, editing capacity, lighting quality
and microphone quality as larger conglomerates such as Disney.
 Disney's beauty and the beast however was very successful, Disney
could afford vast amounts of advertising, they could afford to
have well known actors play roles within the film, such as Emma
Watson to play one of the main roles, the inclusion of famous
actors such as Emma Watson inevitably pulled more people to
watch the film as these actors spread word of the film on their
social media, Disney could afford every luxury when it came to
filming, they had the best cameras, the best lighting, the best
microphones, the best editing and more.
 In conclusion whilst they are capable of producing good films,
independent producers do not have the same budget as large
conglomerates and thus cannot afford to make films of the same
quality.

60. Why do films include movie posters?
 Most if not all films have movie posters as a way of showing
what the film is about to a potential audience, as well as
showing them what the film will look like, for example,
batman the dark knight, the poster shows us batman
dressed in an armoured bat suit standing in front of a
building with a fiery bat symbol burning on it, this shows
that within the actual movie there may be destruction, fire,
explosions, disasters and more, perhaps the fire has a
significant presence in the movie, it could create a new
villain or kill a significant character.
 The smoke that is present could represent confusion,
clouded judgment, not being able to see crucial things and
more, it is all up for interpretation of the viewer.
 To conclude, films include movie posters so if someone is
trying to decide on what to watch at a cinema, sees the
movie poster and finds it interesting then it may sway them
into choosing to watch said movie over other films showing.

61. Why is it important to include branding across
movie promotional packs
 By including branding of companies such as Coca
cola, Ford, Ferrari or other companies within a
film advertisement it is also creating advertising
for them, and in order to get this advertising
these large companies pay large sums of money so
that their brand name is seen by large scale
audiences, this money can then be used by the
studio on the film, investing the money back into
the film to make it better
 A good example of this is Jurassic worlds new
entry to the series, we can see in the poster alone
that in the centre of the poster a velociraptor is
standing on top of a Jeep car, this is a prime
example of branding in a promotional pack,
unfortunately the official trailer has not released
yet, only a teaser trailer, so I am unable to use
that as an example.

62. Analysis of Trailer 1:
mission impossible, fallout
 The trailer begins with a quick sequence of action scenes with intense music playing in the
background before a sudden blackscreen that fades into a title screen of the name of the film
and then shows a landscape of Paris, suggesting that the film will find itself set in France at
some point, then a medium high pitch low volume piano begins playing as a man is narrating
calmly, he suddenly stops as another man begins talking, presumably to the main character of
the film as more intense music beings playing and climbing, some action scenes, vehicles,
people and more are shown in quick succession, a man talks about how the main character
keeps being used by his government and cast aside, and how what if one day he has had
enough, perhaps suggesting in this film the main character rebels and fights back against his
previous commanders, there is then a brawl in a bathroom between the main character and two
other men in suits, more action scenes are then shown in quick succession, some being the
same as the ones shown in the beginning before a title screen is shown and the trailer ends.
 The meaning of the trailer in my eyes is that the main character has faced enough abuse from
their employer and is fighting back against them by searching on their history and removing
assets of their employers to weaken them and make them vulnerable so he and his friends can
strike, whilst his employers have dispatched a team to neutralise him.
 The institutions that produced this film are paramount films, skydance and bad robot, the main
contributor in terms of budget in this film production I assume to be paramount as it is the
largest corporation of the three, the other two are not exactly small but are not to the same
level.
KEY
CONCEPTS:
Meaning
Institution
Genre
Representatio
n
Audience
Ideology
Narrative

63. Analysis of Poster 1: mission
impossible, fallout
 from the poster we can see the main characters upper torso
and face enlarged in the background, in front of them is the
Eiffel tower, half of a helicopter in the bottom right corner
and 4 people, 3 of them are looking at the camera, the first
man is dressed in black and has a handgun, the woman is also
dressed in black and seems to be on the side of the first
man, the other two dress more casually and do not have as
much black in their outfits.
 Taking a look at this poster we can assume the two people in
black are the antagonists of this story, the two men dressed
more casually may be friends or allies with the main
character. We can also see that the film must take place
even if not permanently in Paris with the inclusion of the
Eiffel tower, the helicopter may be a key plot point within
the films story or is used or represented in a way that
significantly affects the story.

64. Analysis of Social Media Page
1: mission impossible fallout
The social media account for
the mission impossible series
promoted the release of the
film very heavily and
constantly updated what
platforms it was released on to
keep potential audiences
invested, this was the most
relevant of their dozens upon
dozens of posts, they stated
what platforms it could be
watched on, whom was in the
film and even the roles played
by these actors, my analysis
would be that they want to
ensure as many people as
possible knew about the film
and saw it, they are still
promoting it to this day.

65. Branding: mission impossible fallout
 After the release of the film paramount pictures negotiated a
deal with a company that owned popular game at the time pubg,
this partnership meant that the game was allowed to use
characters from the film as in game avatars, this was prime
advertising for the movie as it was being incorporated in modern
culture such as video games that were popular at the time.