Task 4 contextual analysis 1

Units 4, 5, 24, 31 - Task 4 Lauren Rosenfeld, Ben Karrass, Millie West, Ben Goldstone &
Nikon Ahamed
Contextual Analysis 1 - Vice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EscjYGHKHxM
The Rise of Acid Attacks in the UK: VICE Reports is a documentary, published on 17
July 2017, detailing the rise in acid attacks in London. We are analysing this as it is
similar to the topic we will be doing our social action project on, which is the rising
crime rates. We will analyse the four different technical elements, which are
camerawork, editing, sound and mise en scene, and we will also be looking at
theories that relate to the documentary.
Camerawork - Lauren Rosenfeld
The episode begins with an exterior aerial shot to
establish the city which the documentary is set in -
London, and pans upwards, giving the audience a
clear view of the city. This is followed by a series of
quick close ups, starting with an out of focus phone
screen, to a street sign of Mare Street, and a few
shots of motorbikes speeding past, whilst the
interviewer narrates, to create a story for the
audience. These shots set the scene of the type of
area which the interviewer is in, which appears to be
chaotic and busy. A close up of the interviewer is
then used, to establish who will be walking us
through the documentary and she is the only one in
focus, highlighting the importance of what she is
saying.The rule of three is not followed when she is
talking directly to the camera, and she is in the
centre of the frame, which shows the importance of
the interviewer's words. Whilst she is narrating,
there are several mid shots of her walking around
being on her phone, not expecting anything to
happen, which relates to what she is talking about.
There is another pan of the city, whilst stating a fact
of 1800 acid attacks which have been reported, this
shows the scale of what is happening in such a
large city.
CCTV footage is also used within the introduction to
the documentary of people throwing acid at others
and beating eachother up, whilst the presenter
continues to explain facts of acid and that “Britain
has the worst record for acid attacks”. This allows
the audience to see acid attacks taking place first

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hand and from a real perspective that they may not have seen before.
Due to the CCTV footage being blurry and of a lower quality, this may make the
audience on edge and agitated to see real people being affected, especially as they
may feel they are spying on these people. The CCTV footage also adds to the
realism of the documentary, further showing to the
audience how prominent acid attacks are becoming.
We then cut to a mid close up of an acid attack
victim. A hand held camera is used, giving a shaky
effect and adding to the verisimilitude. This is
followed by a close up in slow motion when the
victim is putting on the mask, emphasizing the
movement and emotions and a close up of a bottle
of acid, with the corrosive symbol prominent. A
close up shot reverse shot is then used, with the
presenter and an unknown person whose face and
voice has been distorted, which makes the audience
anxious as we do not know who this person is, but
they seem dangerous. This ends the introduction,
which entices the audience to watch on to find out
who this mystery person is.
In the next series of shots, there is a lot of camera
movement with tracking/panning around, as we
follow the presenter to the outside of a club where
an incident took place, shown through a close up of
the club sign. This is followed by several pictures of
the night it took place, again, giving the audience a
different perspective. An aerial shot is used again, to establish a change in location,
focusing this time on houses instead of the city. There is repetition of the CCTV
footage of an acid attack, giving it more context for the audience. An extreme long
shot is used of kids playing football and the school, to show that this could happen to
anyone and it did as the presenter states, but this further shocks the audience that
someone would attack kids. We then cut to the presenter in the back of a moving
car, which adds to the fast paced nature of the video. A close up of the presenter is
used on a handheld camera, creating a more intimate setting, with her and the
audience. In one interview with a man from an acid survivor charity, there is less
camera movement, so that the audience understand and take in the importance of
his words. Close ups, shot reverse shot, over the shoulder shots and two shots are
used here, showing the presenter agreeing with him and to draw attention to what he
is saying. The same camera shots are used with the second interview of the
documentary with the acid attack survivor. As the man recalls the event, a
reconstruction is shown through the use of panning, tracking and the camera
movements are emphasised through slow motion, emphasising danger. Only the
legs of the men are shown, which puts the audience in the man's position as he did

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not see their faces. It is also blurry, connoting that the man was
‘jumped’, and did not know the attack was about to happen. As we cut back to the
interview, a mid shot is used, which shows the body language of the presenter, that
she is accepting and open. An extreme close up is
used of the man's face in a picture, detailing his
scars, which shocks the audience and makes them
feel uncomfortable. A slow motion close up is used
when the victim is putting the mask back on, and the
process of what the man does daily for the burns,
which can make the audience share the experience
of the man and create sympathy. Here, only the
man is in focus, showing his significance.
Another ariel shot is used panning down,
establishing a change in location again. Here, the
presenter walks in and out of a hardware store
shown through a long shot. A close up is used
showing the products that she was able to pick up
and a pan up to her face shows shock of how
readily available the products are. An extreme close
is used as she reads the precautions on the bottle,
which further disturbs the audience. An extreme
long shot is used of kids playing, connoting to the
audience that they to could be possible victims of an
attack. Then, a series of close ups are used of street
signs, as the presenter tells the audience of another
attack, however there were no arrests. Another ariel
pan is used, establishing a change in location again,
and sets the scene for the third interview. A tracking
shot is used with the interviewee in focus, again
highlighting the importance of his words. Hand held
unsteady shots show the surrounding area, which
makes the audience uneasy as the interviewee
speaks. A low angle is used looking up at flats,
creating an eerie atmosphere. In the last parts of the
interview, a close up is used when the man states
what should be done, which makes the audience
focus their attention on him.
To establish a change in location, another ariel shot
is used of Stratford, as we meet a former gang
member. A series of shots focus on a CCTV
camera, litter and a barbed wire fence, creating a

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dangerous atmosphere. A tilted angle is used as we meet the current
gang member, which suggests imbalance/instability. A low angle looking up also
suggests that he is unsafe, whereas a high angle is used of the presenter showing a
significant size difference and her weakness. High
angle shots of the rain falling to the ground are also
shows, creating a gloomy atmosphere, especially
due to the unsteady hand held camera shot and
darkness. Towards the end of the interview, the
presenter states what shocked her the most and a
close up is used to show her shock. A tilt down is
used to establish the new location of a police station,
and we track the presenter as she walks to the
interview. For the interview with the policeman, only
close ups are used and a tripod is used, creating a
sense of formality and professionality. Lastly, the
interview ends with shots of the high street from the
moving car, showing an exit from the location, and
extreme close ups of the acid attack victim to
enforce the message. A final pan of the city is used
to end the documentary.
Tsjeng begins the documentary by talking directly
into the camera, this is called ‘breaking the fourth
wall’. The use of the ‘breaking the fourth wall’ makes
the shot direct. It creates an interactive, engaging and involved feeling for the
audience.This, in turn can make them question their own point of view on the
subject. Breaking the fourth wall is used one a number of occasions throughout the
production and most commonly when the most emotional scenarios in the
documentary occur. These are when the statistics are announced. This is almost a
way of manipulating the audience to show them how important the topic is. Whilst
she explains the topic of the documentary relevant recorded images and images
appear. This is called a sound bridge. The term used for when narration is used as
the sound to overlap with a relevant or necessary text or image. In this instance, the
images shown include Zing Tsjeng texting, a shot of ‘Mare Street’ and motor cycles,
implying that she is talking and illustrating a negative subject. Breaking the fourth
wall is a necessity for all documentaries, as there needs to be someone to address
the audience directly.
Editing - Benjamin Karrass
During the post Production of “The Rise of Acid Attacks in the UK: VICE Reports”
they include many effects for edition that make their production special and stand out
more to their audience. Vice uses many different effects such as fading in and out to
move to a different scene that may relate to the narration. During the beginning of
the Vice documentary editors use a lot of cuts to show location on where the events

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take place to make people aware if they live in that area. This is
important for viewers because it can help them be more
aware of their surroundings if they live in the area, for
them to know its their area street names are shown and
also the narrator tells us that a lot of attacks often occur
in east london. Also during the documentary at the
beginning they include clips of CCTV footage with attacks
that have happened on the streets to show people that it
can happen to anyone. A lot of the cuts used during the
show are to show location of places where the events
may take place.
At one part of the documentary we are being told a story
of someone's attack and as the person is narrating it we
are shown a clip of what the event may have looked like
and to show effect the editors do this in slow motion to
build up the suspense of the viewers, the editors also
made the footsteps in slow motion as it can show the
audience the people who attack can be anyone and can
fit in with strangers. Often slow motion is used in action
films to highlight a key scene or dramatise a shot/a
character but for example in this documentary it shows
the effect of that attack this man had to go through.
During the whole show the editors use narration over
different clips while people are not in the scene, this
allows people watching to see different clips of the area
while someone talking over it explaing the areas of the
attacks. Also some points in the documentary narration is
used to tell a story while actors play the story. While Zing
Tsjeng interviews someone who has been related to crime the editors make sure
that their voice is modified and their face is blurred to keep the person's identity safe.
The person being interviewed has requested to keep his identity safe, so the editors
need to take this into account and make sure people cannot recognise him. They do
this by blurring his face out and also changing the sound of his voice to make him
unrecognizable to the public.
As the company logo comes up on the screen it enters fast
to show effect. The clip that is showing of the unidentified
man freezes and the logo comes in with a drop in effect
fast and then switches to another box with the name of the
Episode “Acid Attacks” during this the picture in the
background also changes to a caution sign with acid on it
to show the effect of acid on the body. Throughout the whole documentary the
editors would add the names and occupations of people and their jobs at the bottom

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of the screen when introducing new people to the episode, this allows
viewers to see what people get involved with the crime of acid attacks and what help
the people may be getting to stop the attacks from occurring.
Although the editors added the company logo at the start
of the documentary it is important for them to watermark
their product so it doesn't get copied by any other
company without vice’s permission. To allow this not to
happen the editors have added Vice’s logo at the top of
the documentary in the corner throughout the whole
episode. However at the end of the episode they have also
included a bigger logo and a copyright symbol next to the
2017 company name. Although vice have their logo placed
in places during the episode to stop copyright they also
need to make sure they don't do any copywriting
themselves so when any products are used in the episode
the editors would need to blur the label to stop any
copyright claims from happening. They do this for the acid
products that have been bought. During the documentary
music is important and editors need to make sure that the
music is placed in the right places at the right moments.
For example certain scenes would need joyful or upbeat
music. During the episode cuts of trees and roads have upbeat music to up the
mood as it has no need to be down, but when something sad is happening such as
the story of an attack the music would change to low and sad music. During the
editing the editors have added shots of websites showing more information based on
the attacks, this can show the audience watching
where to find more information and ways of helping
people who may have been affected by an attack.
As the credits are shown the clips behind it are in
slow motion, this works with the credits as they are
shown slowly. Also the music while the credits are
showing are mysterious to end the episode on
yourself asking questions on how you would help
people who have been affected by acid.
Sound - Millie West
Vice is an informative documentary style company who aims their videos and
content at audiences around the ages of 16 and above. This may influence the
choice of mode of address used by the host and other featured participants.

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There are many different forms and types of sound used in the media
production, ‘VICE - The Rise of Acid Attacks’. The programme begins with a
haunting score in the background. This is low key, dark, and ominous, non-diegetic
music that wouldn’t seem out of place in a horror movie. This is used to create a
spine chilling effect on the audience, helping to
prepare them for the graphic scenes to come.
Another purpose of this music is to prepare the
audience to see out of the ordinary images such
as those who have disfigured faces as a result of
acid attacks. The use of this music, which was
added during post production, is used to create a
tense, suspicious and serious atmosphere.
Setting the mood from the start is a very important aspect of a production, as it
establishes the general tone of how the producers want the audience to feel when
watching their production.
Throughout the course of the documentary, Zing
Tsjeng hosts, interviews and narrates the
production. Her oriental, welsh, yet common accent
shines through when she is speaking. She tries to
speak in a formal manner to emphasise the
seriousness of the subject yet, it makes her accent
slightly difficult to understand. She uses a monotone
voice throughout the production, this also
emphasises how intense the subject truly is. This is
one of the many reasons that she was chosen to be
the host of this documentary.
Whilst she explains the topic of the documentary,
the production employs a sound bridge, which
shows the viewers specific, relatable images. In this
instance, the images shown include Tsjeng texting,
a shot of the ‘Mare Street’ street sign (shown above)
and motorcycles zooming by, implying that she is
talking and illustrating a negative subject.

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Following this, light incidental music is played throughout the most part
of the production. This non-diegetic sound is similar to music from a horror movie,
yet the sound doesn’t feel out of place. This style of music is used by editors
together with producers to get under the audience’s skin to scare them and make
them feel on edge. This in turn helps to emphasise the horror of the topic and
importance of knowing about the rise of acid attacks and the consequences that they
can have on people’s lives.
During the CCTV footage of a man getting attacked by acid is embedded into the
production, nondiegetic commentary is incorporated to explain further about the act
and its consequences. The non-diegetic narration
helps to further explain and make clear exactly what
is occurring and aid the audience through to help
them understand the seriousness of the subject. This
use of a sound bridge is used throughout. Whether it
be during the showing of CCTV footage, content
found on social media or images and content filmed
by the production crew, the use of the sound bridge
is helpful and useful for the audience to see examples of the dramatically increasing
issue shown.

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The general pattern of the production is split between narration and
interviews. All of the interviews are all diegetic and synchronous, emphasising the
realism of the situation. Throughout some of the interviews, sound bridges are used
to help emphasise the content of the interview. In one of the interviews in particular,
the voice of the interviewee is deepened and edited to
hide his identity. This creates a mysterious atmosphere.
This technique is also employed in order protect the
identity of the victim. The dialogue is quite chilling and
the anonymity enhances this, making the audience
wonder who the man is, increasing the mysterious
atmosphere created at this point in the production.
Throughout some of the interviews, low sound, hums,
eerie or tense music is played to help to create the
intended atmosphere, most likely one of tension,
seriousness and / or horror.
After the brief introduction about the production and
what the document consists of, the ‘VICE’ logo gets
edited in to slam on the screen. The suddenness of the
logo hitting the screen is both synchronous and non-
diegetic. This is because as the logo hits the screen the
sound of the slam comes with it, making it a
synchronous piece of sound, yet the sound is edited in
and cannot be heard by characters and is out of the
text's own world making it non-diegetic. The logo also
begins to flicker, just like the effect of an old movie. The synchronous and non-
diegetic sound, matches the moving image. As soon as the image stops, so does the
sound, making it completely synchronous, yet again the sound has been edited to
stop, making it non-diegetic.

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Use of no music and non-diegetic sound is to add to the atmosphere and feel of the
documentary. The producers and editors decide to add
sound that is out of the media’s own world to affect how
they would want the audience to feel. The use of no
music helps to aid the concentration of the audience to
focus on the participants and/ or host featured in the
documentary and this means that the viewers can fully
take in and gasp what he or she is saying.The sound of
a soul voice can amplify how important the message that is trying to be portrayed is.
Asynchronous sound is used often throughout the production. This helps the
audience to understand the seriousness of the topic is. There is no need for extra
music and so the use of asynchronous sound helps to portray the fact that
unfortunately there are many atrocities that happen on a day to day basis, but that
never stops us from going going about our everyday life. Although it may slow us
down, the use of asynchronous sound implies that
although these negativities occur, life goes on. For
example, the car noises portray the message that
citizens from all different communities from across the
world, still continue to move forward. The busy streets
and buzzy atmosphere all show how London life, as
well as life in other communities still continues.

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Verisimilitude is also used throughout the course of the production.
This is sound that creates realism in a piece of media. Namely, the sound of wind,
moving branches, trains passing by, bird song, rain and car noises. Most of these
noises are asynchronous, meaning that the sound is suitable to the content but is not
used in time with the actions (as the actions are not seen for the sounds to occur)
and they create a sense of reality - which they do. Some however are synchronous,
meaning that the sound is in time with the action, for example the camera focus’ on a
tree and only then do we hear the branch movements
and wind. The sounds are diegetic as they can be
heard by other characters and come from a source
within the scene. As some of the sounds may be hard
to pick when recording, they may have been intensified
in concentration to make them clearer and easier to
hear.
Different examples of ‘mode of address’ are used
throughout. The definition of mode of address is the
way that the media text speaks to the audience. One
example of this is when Zing Tsjeng is in a cab (the
location), and is explaining where she is going. Her
body language isn’t so relaxed. Although she is sitting
down, she is quite upright, and this can make the
atmosphere one that is both intense and serious and give off that message to the
audience, and make them feel on edge.
Another example of mode of address, is during an
interview. Both the interviewer and interviewee are
sitting down on the couch, and yet again in a not so
relaxed manor. They both seem to be on the edge of
their seat, which may consequently make the audience
feel the same way. Both people used in this scene speak in one tone, one that is
slow, deep and monotone. This can have an incredible effect on the audience, as the
way one speaks can have a large impact on how the audience may be intended to
feel. For example, the use of the monotone dialogue can create a very serious
atmosphere and again make the audience feel tense.

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The third and final example of mode of address used in this
documentary is when Tsjeng is walking and talking about both the victims of acid
attacks, and how easy it is to buy such awful substances. This mode of address is
similar to another mentioned, the situation where we are inside the cab with our
narrator, this is because in this situation, we are walking with her, whilst she explains
to us, that she is on her way to try and buy acid, to see just how easy it is. This
creates a huge sense of reality, that there is nothing too formal occurring, and the
use of synchronicity and diegicity also helps to aid the realism too. Tsjeng talks to us
directly, and as the audience, we are comfortable with that as it makes us feel
involved and part of her investigation.
Towards the end of the production, violin music is heard. The use of this non-diegetic
sound that is edited in as incidental music also has a big impact of the audience and
atmosphere. The music occurs whilst our host announces the terrible statistics for
this ever increasing, horrific crime. Again, this creates a tense and shocking
atmosphere for the viewers and audience of the documentary as the statistics are
worse than ever. Consequently, this can create moral panic.
Finally, at the end of the documentary music, also known as sound for drama has
been edited in. The freaky, intense, scary, yet somber music is edited in at the end
of the production, whilst the credits are shown. The
use of this non-diegetic sound, that cannot be heard
from a source from within, and is outside of the text's
own world, is used to leave the audience feeling quite
low, due to the awful personal stories and statistics
shown, throughout the documentary. The
documentary finishes and the music comes to an end,
leaving a cold atmosphere.
Mise en scene (Colour design, costumes, decor, props) - Ben
Goldstone
Each prop has a different meaning some more important than
others. For example the mask on the main character face shows
that he has to always wear that from a terrible accident that was
taken place. A mask hides his identification as he lives in a bad and
rough area which means it shows he is either being looked for as
he was involved in an acid attack to a girl. A mask is very important
because then it hides who he is incase he is being looked for. But he mentions that
an acid attack isn't dealt in a good way. It doesn't get reported to the police because

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it’s just the natural neighbourhood and as its block war they don't tell
the police because another fight would just happen. When acid was threw on to the
girl it may not have been reported because of what the girl could have done first.
Sometimes it's just random from crazy people. He is also in a puffy coat with his
hood up with represents he lives in the hood and he’s a gang member. The lucozade
bottle had acid in which tells us how easy it is to get acid
and not get caught with it wherever we are. It shows us how
dangerous it really is how anyone can have it anytime. This
is a very
important
prop
shown

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The costumes each character wear each show a different meaning. So
the man in the hood is represented as a thug because he is covered up and hidden.
Another character is wearing white uniform which represents that he's involved in the
london metropolitan police and white shows good. The documentary is based in
london but it's based in poor areas which show us audience that attacks are usually
involved in either these areas or most people that are involved in gangs are to be
found in areas like this. When the main lady Zing Tsjeng is walking around she is
always walking around areas that are in poor areas in london. This uses stereotypes
because it shows that she was on the look to find people to talk about acid attacks
happening in the UK but she looked around areas that are in the hood and are very
informal. Hackney is a dangerous and lower class area. Lots of gang come by
Hackney it's a common place to
find stabbing and crime.
The documentary is based in areas such as
Hackney because the documentary itself is about
acid attacks happening so they chose a place like
hackney because lots of gangs are involved. The
lighting is very dull and dark and it seems very
urban. Throughout the documentary it's cloudy
and it just seems very dark. As Hackney is
naturally a poor area it's generally always dark.
Mise en scene (Lighting ,design, make up, location/setting both of us) - Nikon
Ahamed
Lighting

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The episode begins with an establishing shot of the scene which
establishes the place and the timing in which it has been set (London). It starts at
night and some lighting may be used to record at these timings and this links with the
topic which is the rise of acid attacks as the
makers wanted to indirectly tell us that acid
attacks are most likely to occur at night times.
But seen as no evident editing can be seen the
producers probably tried to reflect naturality
which helps out the budget as getting lighting kits
for specific scenes may get expensive.
Furthermore, as the main victim comes into
place, we can see that during the interview with
him the lighting and the colours used instead are
more live and bright, walls are white resembling
the innocence of the victim who in this case got
attacked for no reason based on his explanation.
During the interview we also had some shots of
the place outside the cinema where the guy
interviewed got attacked and this contrast in key
lighting emphasises the difference a set place for
an attack can have compared to a calm and safe
place indoors in a house.
Afterwards, during an interview with a person
who commits aggressions (with acid as well) we
can see the overall colour of the environment
turning blue which may be due to the rain giving
this dull effect, but this helps the mood and the
pace of the interview to make it scarier and more
in context as an actual guy from a “gang”
probably is being interviewed. Previously to this
scene it was not raining and it is noticeable that
as the previous guy introduces the interviewer to
the “aggressor” the weather starts to change
which sets better the next scene and changes the
lighting slightly as mentioned before. Then after
the interview, the lighting stays the same as it
outlines the interviewer’s opinions and final
thoughts which are still negative.
Make up
There is no specific use of make up which leads to it being really simplistic as there
was no need for it. In order for it to appeal to the audience and make it more realistic
they have not used as much makeup to keep the naturality and embed the idea of

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naturalism. Perhaps some make up has been used on the main
interviewer and this is a common thing that gets done as it helps the final product as
the reflection of the light on the face-skin is not that visible with proper make up.
Location
The location being used is Newham, in London
and the producers have focused on this place
as based on their research it was the place with
the highest rate of acid attacks in London
meaning they’ ve raised awareness not only to
the people in that location, but also to other
people who might need those information before
going in such places. Streets and places shown
are just what people see commonly in their
everyday life
Which incentivize the fact that there is no
specific location in which you may be attacked with acid, it could happen anywhere
without you realising it.
Also location chosen are only actual places outside where things are being issued
and this reflect again the naturalism of it as scenes are not forced to be filmed in
studios or other places where external editing gets added afterwards.
Theories
Uses and gratifications - Ben Karrass
Uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why and how people
actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. An individual may have
different needs such as: personal identity, these are people that watch the media to
fulfill their needs for companionship and to form relationships with others. Another
need is personal identity where people would watch content to find out more about
themselves and to relate to the media. Lastly it includes surveillance as it will allow
people to find out about things going on in the world that may relate to the people
watching.
In the rise of acid attacks we are about to notice that the Uses and gratifications
theory, firsty the show includes Surveillance as we are being told different things that
are occurring in the world and what change needs to be made. It fulfills the need for
surveillance as people can find out new information based on the media production,
people will be able to find out where the attacks are happening and also know what
is going on for the attacks to get better. The rise of acid attacks also fulfills the need
for entertainment as audiences can escape their everyday lives and can be put into
another section of the world.

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Decoding - Ben Goldstone
The audience is both the sender and the receiver of the message. Tv producers
seek to audiences to find out what people enjoy the most for tv programmes. It helps
producer to write a script for a tv programme because they know what the audience
want. Once the TV programme is created the audience provides feedback to the
producers resulting in the producers to then continue to produce what they were
doing or create something new that they think the audience will like. Decoding is a
very helpful process because the producers want to make something that they think
will make good money so the feedback they get from their target audience helps
them in so many ways because producers need to focus on entertaining people.
When a message is meaningfully decoded it will then serve its purpose to either
inform, persuade, entertain or restrict the receiver with a very cognitive, emotional,
ideological or behaviour consequences.
The audience decode the meaning depending on what they feel about the tv
programme and think about it. Along will how they have lots of great technologie with
them to use. Stuart hall suggests that there are three ways the receiver can decode
the message, being a dominant reader which means when the receiver accepts and
reproduces the code to the producers, negotiated reading when a code is broadly
received but only partially shared with the producer and also oppositional reader
which means when the receiver understands the reading but rejects the code.
Encoding - Nikon Ahamed
Encoding involves the theory invented by the theorist Stuart Hall who in 1973 stated
the theory of Encoding and Decoding. Based on the theory, as the audience
engages with the media text he/she will understand a particular text accordingly to
their social information and state. Therefore the producer will want to include certain
elements to make the viewer/consumer more engaged with the text which is part of
Encoding as producers are the ones who want to convey their messages to the
audience. When the message of the product gets encoded in the product it will then
get delivered to the audience when consuming it and it’s the producers’ job to make
the message easily understandable as well as cognitive and compelling for the
audience.
For example, the music being used here include non-diegetic sound which has been
added to match the scenes and shot being cut as well as editing as fade aways are
being followed with the external sound; this has been made by producers to make
viewers feel more tense and in the documentary as the music used keep the level of
suspense and tense high. As the producers used sound to make the viewer feel
specific emotions it also makes the audience eager to know what will happen in the
following scene or shot. This all link to the message the producers are trying to send
to the viewers as emphasising those scenes through the use of music may impress

Nikon Ahamed
more the audience and therefore tell them the message which is to
beware of acid attacks.
Moral Panics - Millie West
The ‘Theory of Moral Panics’ was invented by a man called Stanley Cohen (1972).
This was the idea that a piece of media would focus on the negative aspects of a
subject or story and exaggerate them. This, consequently makes the subject seem
like a ‘widespread issue’. This new ‘issue’ is then able to control the public through
fear, and and can, as a result, create separations of groups in society.
In regards to acid attacks, they are shown in this documentary as easy to do,
meaning that it is easy to buy the substances necessary to carry out an attack, as
well as physically, they are quite simple to do. The moral panic in this issue is also
enforced by the statistics showing a rapid increase in numbers regarding the amount
of attacks that happen. This means that the subject and stories of incidents get
spoken about more, and they get more exposure which makes the topic more likely
to become subject to moral panic. There is a strong East London focus whereby
those who feature are from either Asian and Black heritage. It is evident that there
are only few if any caucasians featured in the production. As a result of this moral
panic, people are more reluctant to go out onto the streets - especially in East
London, simply out of the rational fear that they could become a subject of an acid
attack incident.
Equilibrium Theory - Lauren Rosenfeld
In 1969 Todorov produced a theory which he believed could be applied to any film.
He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through
stages called the equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again
equilibrium.
There are five stages the narrative can progress through:
1. A state of equilibrium.
2. A disruption of that order by an event.
3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.

Nikon Ahamed
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.
5. A return or restoration of a new equilibrium.
The Rise of Acid Attacks in the UK: VICE Reports, has elements of Todorov's
equilibrium theory, but does not follow it exactly. For instance,there is a state of
equilibrium in the beginning, as we are introduced to the presenter, and this is not
disrupted. However, there is then a disruption, as we are shown pictures and videos
of an attack happening. The third stage - recognition, is not followed, as there is
recognition of the disruption from the beginning and throughout the rest of the
documentary. The fourth stage is followed, as the presenter interviews professional
people, in an attempt to stop attacks. Lastly, we do not return to equilibrium, as the
attacks have not stopped, and we see the victim again, which leaves the audience
anxious, instead of calm.

Task 4 contextual analysis 1

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Task 4 contextual analysis 1