uses and gratifications in - Peaky blinders, Lost and Mad men

Uses and Gratifications in Peaky Blinders,     Lost and Mad Men 


study the uses and gratifications theory and question, which gratifications audiences would gain from each of your studied texts

Identify

justify your answer with clear kinks to technical conventions, responses or sequences from the narrative

Justify 



Peaky Blinders 

Personal identity- finding reinforcement for personal values 
Identify and justify- At some point the narrative we discover Ada, the sister of the Shelby brothers, is pregnant with Freddy's baby. The twist in the narrative is that Freddy is a communist and is also Tommy's best friend who Freddy saved during the war in France. In one scene in the text we witness Aunt Polly taking Ada to the train station to be taken to have an abortion. This suggests in this particular time period it was looked down upon to have a child when not in a marriage, as during this scene Freddy proposes to Ada and Aunt Polly seems to be happier. This allows the consumer to find reinforcement for personal values due to the fact that in modern day society having a child out of marriage is not as negative, Allowing the audience to see the positive elements in modern day society. 


Entertainment-  Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment 
identify and justify - Towards the beginning of the text we consume a scene which involves the shelby brothers and the gypsy brothers in a domestic. during this seen we see complex cinematography of  Tommy Shelby taking off his hat which has a knife on. This allows us, the audience, to gain an insight into how people in Birmingham in 1919 lived, and more importantly how gangsters such as themselves would act in those circumstances. the use of the slow motion in this scene is used to allow use to see and be educated in how they lived. using such detail as this to allow us to notice the small elements of life in 1919. This is used throughout the narrative to make the text as accurate on the time period as possible. Another scene which involves gaining intrinsic cultural enjoyment is the seen that invokes Tommy and Grace talking outside, the audience consume the noise of the machinery in the background. This is diegetic sound used for an active audience to notice the technical conventions used to make the text as authentic as possible. 

how does peaky blinders attract its target audience

peaky blinders is a 6 episode series of a text based on the time just after world war 1 in 1919. the text demonstrates events and how people felt at this time. the text was aired on bbc two which is known for targeting an active audience. due to its historical content peaky blinders is a very high brow text, however the mainstream conventions within the text. one could argue that the use of the baseline building up and quicker to express the feelings of the main character, tommy shelby,could be aimed at a passive audience due to the producer physically portraying how the character is feeling in which is frequently used in main stream texts.

However the use of cinematography in the text could also be to attract a mainstream audience. The use of high production value prominently shown the fight scene, attracts an active audience due to the lighting and carefully constructed camera angles allowing this audience to deconstruct to the scene without the music to show them how they are feeling. `They do this by just the use of camera shots and high value lighting. however the producer has included the fast paced modern soundtrack in this text to also attract the passive audience. the use of the juxtaposition between the modern music and time era

Lost

Lost

One could argue that the intended audience for the very popular television programme "lost" is a mainstream, passive audience. This maybe due to context due to the fact that at the time of recording these series, issues occuring atthe time were events such as the 9:11, in which the majority of the world was aware of.

However the first convention that makes me believe that this text is aimed at a passive, mainstream audience is the use of the none linear narrative. Though this may have been regarded as as niche technical convention a while ago, the fact that more and more mainstream television programmes are using it, the more popular and frequent it has become. for example this king of structure is also used in the very popular disaster based text "the walking dead". An example of this is at the beginning of  the episode when the text starts off after the plane crash and the characters are in the jungle, however as the begin to talk about the crash the narrative jumps back in time to when the characters are on the plane. This kind of narrative is used in this particular text to let the audience easily get a grasp of all of the characters own stories gradually through the narrative. it is particularly used at the beginning of a brand new series for of the characters to show their identity and importance to the role.

Another factor that suggests the text is intended to a mainstream audience is the propp character roles, in one segment of the text a male character says to another character named Jack: "you're the hero" therefore implying that he takes on the role the hero. Another section of the text shows a girl lying in her bikini. The camera pans slowly up her body for scopophilia, this implies she takes on the role the princess.

Fish Tank - Clip 2

Fish Tank - Clip 2

The text fish tank holds connotations, narrative themes, technical conventions and character roles of a social realism film. The text demonstrates various techniques that help the audience to draw into the narrative and gain feeling as if this the text is real life. the producer of the text achieves this by using the camera and lighting as if you were in person looking at the circumstances yourself,

At the point the text mia has broken into the run down, abandoned flat, which is iconic for a social realist text, we view an establishing shot form the back whilst she is dancing. The miss en scene used within the shot is iconic of social realism. the cider on the window sill looking out at the council houses, this shot very much establishes the texts title fish tank. Mia is stuck in a community that consists of the under class and cheap alcohol that she can not escape. The fact she dances looking out of this window is a constant reminder that she is bound to this life style. The natural lighting with in the shot gives the audience a sense of realism as it allows you to view the shot as if you were there. This also links to the consist digetic sound through the text, however more importantly the  diegetic sound f breathing and the music with in this shot which also allows the audience to become part of the shot. The digetic sound and natural lighting are typical technical conventions of a social realism film.

There are various shots of hand held camera work whilst the protagonist Mia is walking. in this particular shot Mia is walking down the isle of flats after she walks out of her home. The long shot helps us to establish the poor conditions she lives in and allows to view her circumstances allowing the audience to have empathy for her. Th shadow depth field used at the point when she is watching the male doing tricks in a park allows us to view what she is viewing exactly how she is and exactly how the human eye would.

The Hunger games- sci- fi conventions

The Hunger games- Sci- fi conventions

The narrative theme of anti- establishment ideology is present in The Hunger games. This is seen in a particular scene when a military like force are surrounding district 12 moving them into the reaping. This scene shows the children of district 12 lining up waiting to be picked, it shows the wealthier district in a negative light as they choose these children to fight until the death, punishing them as they tried to rebel against the wealthier district thus linking to the concept of Hegeomy. A hegemonic society is shown within the text as we view the binary opposition between the poor people of district 12 and the wealthy people, dressed in nice clothes, from the ruling district. The hegemonic attitude is shown through the fact that the ruling district is overpowering the poor by fear. This shown through the use of camera shots as the close ups of the children's faces from district 12 portray fear during the reaping. Primrose, the younger sister of Katniss who is the protagonist in the text, is a strong example of being ruled by fear of the wealthy district as she gets emotional over the reaping and fears what is going to happen.

A technical convention which frequently occurs in the sci-fi genre is quick cuts this occurs in the Hunger Games.

Noir conventions in Drive

         Noir conventions promenant in "Drive" 

2011's film "Drive" holds various conventions of the film noir. The conventions are demonstrated through the narrative structure, technical conventions and character roles. As the text is modern, set in a sunny city with fast modern cars, the text doesn't hold the mise en scene conventions of a typical noir film. 

In the first scene we viewed of the text we witness a family at a dinner table with the fathers friend present. At this particular point the mother and father are talking about how they met in which is a positive subject. However a binary opposition is made due to the use of the non diegetic sound of sinister music. This is a convention of a noir film as the themes usually base around fear, violence and paranoia which conjures  up these feelings due to the music. This binary opposition is created to foreshadow the sinister events later to come in the text. During the same scene the camera pans on to the fathers friend, the protagonist, who is shown in a low key lighting. the low key lighting allows a shadow to form on his face which shows half of his face lit and the other half not lit up. This is conventional of a noir film as the low key lighting highlights the themes of depression and sadness that are usually present in noir film. The lighting used in this scene also portrays the good side and the bad side of the cynical protagonist present in the text. The use of the low camera angle facing up to the protagonist gives the character a sense of power and shows his importance in the text as this is the first low camera angle we see. 

In oir film the protagonist is usually very cynical with a fatal flaw. In the next scene we very the protagonist breaking into a car in the city whilst people are around, this gives the audience a sense of not caring. This is shown in noir film as at the time when noir film was set it was the time of the cold war 1950's, people started to care less as they felt they were going to die anyway.The fact that the character was breaking into a car, therefore showing he is a criminal, it becomes his fatal flaw in the text. The noir film themes are also shown in this text through the narrative. After the male dies, when he and the woman attempt to rob a shop, the protagonist questions whether woman did the right thing by walking out in the other male. This raises the themes of paranoia and mistrust in the text. 

INVESTIGATION

Investigation

How women are represented in Men’s fragrance advertisements to sell their fragrance?

During my investigation I am to going analyse, using primary and secondary data, how females are represented in fragrances advertisements with a male target audience in order to help sell their products. The texts I will be investigating are Dolce&Gabbana's men’s fragrance Light Blue campaign (2013) and Calvin Klein’s men’s fragrance Eternity campaign; both have contrasting representations of females. To do this successfully I will assist my investigation by applying various theories: Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze, the Cultivation theory and post modernism.

Firstly I will explore if the female in Dolce and Gabbana's campaign light blue is stereotypically represented. Furthermore I will be questioning if female objectification occurs and does it gratify to its intended audience? I will also study what the brands sell apart from the product and in addition to this is it essential to sell a hyper reality and aspiration to successfully promote. I will then go on to explore Calvin Klein’s eternity campaign, applying the same aims.

Due to primary analysis I have discovered to help sell the products within the Light Blues campaign (2013) the producers have attached a narrative, which contains, a love story between the male protagonist, in the advertisement and the objectified woman. In advertisements, one could argue, woman can be represented as sexually objectified to a male to help sell the product as by creating a hyper reality through editing photos, men feel if they purchase a fragrance they will gain a woman who looks flawless. “She represents the Dolce&Gabbana woman: a self-assured beauty who her lover cannot resist" (1). The producers of the text are suggesting that the male cannot resist her due to sexual appeal rather than other intellectual assets a woman may have. Therefore degrades the woman as she  must use her sexuality to gain a male. The sexually objectification towards a female is expressed through the mise en scene and technical conventions, her facial expression is considered sexual as her mouth is open, her eyes portray a sense of power as she is scowling though only possess power due to sexual objectification. The fact that she leans on the male, with her head on his shoulder, creates connotations of reliance and need linking to the fact that that women require a man. The quote reflects how the role of women is to gain a males attention. Though this primary data reflects prominent stereotypes of women being passive towards men the text also reflects the male

gaze theory.  “97% of everything you know about yourself, your country and your world comes from a male perspective as only 3% of clout positions in advertising are women" (8). As suggested in this quote majority of advertisements we see are from a males view therefore we are cultivated to believe what we see is how the world actually is, and that this is what women are. This is reflected through the the technical conventions in Dolce&Gabbanas (2013) light blue video campaign as the camera emphasises the females body parts due to the use of close ups on her specific parts that high lights sexuality. “The camera becomes the mechanism for producing an illusion of Renaissance space, flowing movements compatible with the human eye, an ideology of representation” (11). The fact that the camera pans up her body gives her a sense of power, again, through sexuality as she stands over the man as he is getting out of the water.  In addition to this, this reflects the quotation “Brunettes represent exotic, sexual desires” (2) by putting women into a category like this, they are able to over power them.  The fact that the text is a television commercial means women also have to view the text as well, as the text highlights women’s sexuality, women view the text as men do. Meaning they are viewing themselves as sexual objects. One could also argue that years of cultivation and post modernism has created a prominent ideology that women have to look a certain way to conform to their role, Expressed in advertisements such as these. This has created controversy in the world of feminism. Due to the theory of the male gaze it exaggerates women do not get to view women from their perspective as very few women control media we endure: “Females own 5.8% of all TV and 6% of radio” (8).

 The text uses subliminal technical and visual codes to gratify their selected audience
due to the repetitive connotations of women being portrayed as sexual objects, it cultivates people to believe that women are simply sexual objects. “There are 22 ESPN sports channels” and “fox news corp, a board 16, 1 of are 16 are women” (8). This emphasises the fact our opinion leaders who are cultivating are beliefs are men as the majority of what we see is male dominated. This is demonstrated in this particular text as the female is represented in a sexual way and the male is seen as masculine, which the majority of men aspire to be.  Cultural hegemony describes domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class. The ruling class are the upper/middle class, men and white (9). Feminists have even theorised this into hegemonic masculinity: “why, in specific social formations, do certain ways of being male predominate, and particular sorts of men rule?" They do this as by degrading women, it suggests they keep women below them therefore have no competition. This links to the fact that the ruling class do this as an attempt to control the masses beliefs. As society is a big viewer for the media such as television, film and advertisements, the ruling class use the media to portray their views therefore control the masses(9).

However the second text I have studied subverts from this archetype of female representation, although at times still represents a negative stereotype of women being domesticated and viewed as carers.  My texts preferred target audience is males, though the text suggests it is for an older male who is most likely to have started a family. As we still view in from a male perspective women are domesticated and therefore viewed as carers in advertisement: “56% of women in adverts were shown as domestic housewives and only eighteen different occupations were shown for women, in comparison to forty three for men”(11) . A Hegemonic attitude is also applied here as the male is being represented as dominant and the woman is represented as the carer, which is how men view women in some cases. Calvin Kleins Eternity campaign conforms to the concept that women are domesticated and therefore certain stereotypical gender roles as the woman is not viewed sexually as we cannot see her body, but however with children therefore represented as a mother. The fact she has her head on the child shows elements of being possessive over the child. Her face does not show any expression of sexism, on the other hand she is looking down at both the children and male therefore showing her devotion to being the stereotypical mother/house wife.  Although the man also looks domesticated being around children, he represents dominance as his family crowd him as if he is most important. The fact they are leaning on him creates connotations that they rely on him, again suggesting the woman especially is domesticated.  This differs from my first text “Dolce&Gabbanna Light Blue” as the first text subverts this stereotype. However conforms the fact that women are sexualized in advertisements for men.

The text subverts from the typical sexual objectification of women that some would argue is most prominent in certain narratives:  “Traditionally, the woman displayed has functioned on two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium” (11). Mulvey suggest that in most cases the woman is represented as the meaningless sexual object that has no significance (11) which is implied through the visual pleasure in narrative cinema.  This subverts this stereotype and takes a different approach by still expressing male perspectives as males also view women as the domesticated carer they have power over due to the archetype that has been created. Calvin Klien’s Eternity Camaign still has connotations in common with the first text as men are in power, so still represents women as the weaker sex. Hegemony also applies here as both texts suggests cultivation of men influencing our beliefs has become prominent. The text shows how as it is 97% of men that control the media (8), we seeing their perspectives which is to create a weaker image of women for them to be most powerful: “we replicate the world we grow up in” (8).
One could argue that the norm is men are most dominant and in charge, and this shines through in advertisements and the media as men dominant not only their family and the business world, but also the media itself. “70% - 85% Men also dominate the production side of television, so it is hardly surprising then, that the masculine or patriarchal ideology is presented as the norm”. To a certain extent this advertisement adheres to this ideology though female and children are smiling and not looking directly into the camera, the male has the controls as he looks into the camera implying he has an identity and the woman/children are just part of the male. The fact the male isn’t smiling also indicates sexuality which reflects the patriarchal society that we live in and that the male are the ruling sex. Whereas the women are the secondary sex that are represented in a derogative way or seen as nothing but a wife and carer.
Through this research I have discovered our society is male dominated which is demonstrated through the Media. Women have been become objects of sex to be able to sell products, if they are not sex objects they have become part of the ideology that they are simply just mothers/wifes. This is due years of cultivation from men ruling our beliefs and perspectives as we view their personal views through the media, this is through fact that it is mostly men that work in the media. Especially my two chosen texts are male dominated due to the fact the products were made by them, therefore we view the world through a male perspective. However what helps sells these male fragrances is a hyper reality of perfectly structured women, for my first text, and the idea of a perfect good looking family where the male dominates everything. Which in a modern day society may not apply, so this again has created a hyper reality.