Gender Reprisentations

In the programme Cagney and Lacey (taxi cab murders) The female leads in the programme are represented as strong independent women but also quite sexualised, this is represented in a positive way however, as the character that is conscious about her image and is quite sexualised character is still a high ranking undercover cop and isn't a "blonde" type of character as she can take care of herself.
Also in the programme you can see that aside from the ranks, the women are treated as equals to the men and join in in the banter and jokes showing that there are also seen as equals by the men.
Although the main characters in the programme are seen as positive reprisentations the extras and in sighting characters are seen as negative representations. For example, in the episode the two cops are undercover as taxi drivers, and a woman steps into one of the cabs and proceeds to talk about problems she has with her husband whilst sorting her make-up/hair. this is seen as negative as it shows a woman that is too scared to sort out her problems so she just talks about it to other people, sort of a cry for help.

Album covers

Album Annotations

Evaluation - From the covers that i have analysed, i have learnt that most alternative rock artists use simple images and photos for their covers. Some artists such as QOTSA use exclusively artwork on their  covers, where as bands like that Arctic Monkeys and Mallory Knox use symmetrical photos and simple art on the cover.

Textual Analysis

(only the first 2 minuets)

Audio Codes: The sounds throughout the clip are mostly non-diegetic heavy, dark, echoing sounds with some tapping to establish the gravity and seriousness of the programme from the start. The sound also seems looped, maybe to represent the long repetitive drive. When the mysterious character steps out of the car the heavy echoing sound stops and just leaves the bass and tapping sounds making it seem quiet, you can only hear the music and the characters actions. 

At around 1:00 you hear the lights turn off on the bridge, obviously you cannot actually hear lights turning off but this simulates the sound of the switch, to show that someone has turned them off instead of a power cut etc. The music also stops at this point again, showing how serious this is.

In the scenes without the mystery character in, there is very quiet music until the character leaves the bridge, then there is no non-diegetic sound, giving the character kind of their own theme tune. 

Visual Codes: Most of the clip is the character driving, maybe just making the drive seem like it took a while, but this also cuts to shots of the street, making the viewer aware that the driver is now in a rough type of area. At around 45 seconds you see the bridge in the distance, showing its significance, and then the driver looks at his wrist to check the time, showing that he has the whole thing planned. then there is a long shot of the bridge when the lights turn off. After the lights turn off it cuts to some people in a CCTV type room and they say that the lights have turned off looking very concerned, the driver also looks unfazed by this. The driver then opens his boot and you can only see the boot open nothing else, making it look like it opened on its own, making it again more mysterious, showing something significant will be in there.

AS Media Task

Reprisentions

Class

This article is a positive representation of the working/under class. It shows a 28 year old mother that instead of going out and buying expensive gym equipment, used household objects and turned them into weights and hurdles etc. It is shown positively as it depicts this woman as a role model for people like her, it shows how loosing weight (and in such an innovative way) can make you feel better.

Gender

In the popular tv show and movie The Inbetweeeners, The main characters are predominantly male, and are represented in a negative way. This is shown as in almost every episode the boys use swear words constantly, abuse each other at every chance they get, and always seem to get in to worst situation possible sometimes even breaking the law. You can also see this in characters that arnt the same age such as Simon's dad who always has stories about sex.

Age



The Breakfast Club is a film about five kids from different friendship groups that all get detention on the same day and become friends, but implies that they are all the same and shows the age bracket in a negative way. It does this by showing them misbehave in school. They talk back to teachers, discus who is a virgin and other sexual topic, and even do drugs at one point.

Race

In Channel 4's My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, the race Romany Gypsies are represented in a negative way as they show the tax dodging, benefit fraud Gypsies instead of the ones who make honest livings. It also depicts them as being very extravagant and shows their demeaning opinion of women in society by saying they are not aloud to work and holding on to old fashioned ideas.

Sexuality
 


In the show Sons Of Anarchy, you get to see the life of a biker gang, but it isnt the bikers that have the strongest sexuality, its Clay's wife, she is married to the leader of the biker gang, and although Clay is the leader, she can boss people round without anyone even looking back at her. Showing that she is in charge and she knows it.

Audience Task

Audience

The audience for the famous US TV show Breaking Bad is diverse. The target audience for the show is  adults, but the following is 16+ even though the show is about adult themes. 

Gratifications

The gratifications for the show are different because of the wide audience, the show allows you to escape from your own life to see and experience the lives of the characters in the show. The show is about a chemistry teacher (Walter White) who develops cancer, and to pay for his treatment uses his experience in the chemistry profession to make methamphetamine, a class A drug, and has to get the help of an ex-student (Jesse Pinkman) to distribute the drug. The programme also shows the impact it has on Walters family, and the changes the characters go through because of the greed that develops. Because of the diverse audience some people might identify with the characters in it, whether its a family member who has cancer and the worry that Walters family feel, or even the changes that Jesse goes through from not wanting the trouble anymore.

Construction/Media

The show is constructed from a fictional story, it focuses on the two characters (Walter and Jesse) but it also shows the people involved with them and their side to the story, for example the main police officer that the show focuses on is Walters brother in law, so you can see the side that is worried for him, and the the cop that is trying to catch him.