Tuesday 29 March 2011

Home learning and independent study

1. Look at the post below and make a point of reading the materials linked there. You might want to draw a few key points out of the article on Representations of Women on Television (this looks at adverts and TV drama / soaps).

2. Watch an episode of Ugly Betty, preferably from series 1 or 2, and make some notes on Betty's Character. End with a reflective response to:
IS 'UGLY' BETTY A STEREOTYPE?
You can work in pairs here but please post your notes individually.

Monday 28 March 2011

UPDATED Collective Identity - Materials from one neat place

Dear all,
I have gathered a few key posts from previous weeks here, starting with the slides on Uses and Gratifications, then Stuart Hall, the vids on Women and advertising, the link on US TV drama characters, and some of the links from the 'Materials' page. Another way to quickly get all relevant posts is of course to click on the relevant label.
Let me know if there is anything else you want to see here.
PS: You can borrow any of the films we have mentioned in class to watch at home properly (ALiens series, Terminator as well as many others).
Don't forget to watch some of Knocked Up for your next essay.

- Media effects and Uses and gratifications presentations

- Collective Identity - Stuart Hall on Representation and the Media

- Media mag article - Stuart Hall

- Collective Identity - Women in advertising

- Representation / Identity - videos to watch

- The Portrayal of Women on Television - article by Helen Ingham

- US TV Drama - better female roles: With The Big C, Nurse Jackie and Weeds, US TV has given us women who are more than just Mistresses A generation of American leads are getting comedy from cancer, chaotic nursing and drug-dealing. When will the UK catch up? Read the article here

- Presentation on representations of women in magazines

- The Impact of Social Media on Women's Self-Image and Self-Representation

- The Future? The Expression of Female Identity Through New Media

- Scroll down this page to find 2 presentations - one on Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze and one on Feminist Film Theory

- ARTICLE JUST ADDED: Older women unhappy over their portrayal in films, survey shows Sixty-one percent of women aged 50-75 want more focus on their sexual desire, according to UK Film Council poll

How many of you have conducted that survey of women around you by the way? It would be a welcome addition to your arguments!

Friday 25 March 2011

Lynx Advert - What they did next!

Angels are falling from the sky
Men’s deodorants have all but worn out the sexy-dame-falls-for-the-scented man tactic, and their advertising campaigns have become not only tiresome but indistinguishable from each other. Lynx has upped the ante with the use of digital technology. The Lynx Excite’s Fallen Angel campaign has not only got the tongues of lots of boys wagging, it also caused quite a stir in London.
The angels were spotted at London’s Victoria station, where travellers were able to interact with the (virtual) angels through augmented reality technology. Word of the fallen angels spread through the station so quickly that soon hundreds of people wanted to have their turn too. Lucky travellers got to dance with and hug the sexy virtual creatures!
Under the campaign’s tagline, “Angels are falling from the skies – and it’s all down to the irresistible scent of new Lynx Excite”, men are encouraged to entice the archangel to also fall from the skies: “But one angel remains, trapped alone in heaven – archangel Kelly. Could you be the one that Kelly Brook falls for?”
The fallen angels at Victoria were just the beginning of the campaign that includes a game, available on FaceBook (http://www.facebook.com/lynxeffectuk), which brings Lynx girls directly into game-play. And, by scanning unique QR codes, gamers can access exclusive content including a trailer featuring model Kelly as a fallen angel.
The game application allows challengers to interact with Kelly (even choose her underwear) to unlock different levels of the game. After unlocking these levels, gamers receive personal messages from Kelly and users are also personally included in the film!
The campaign, a partnership between Oil Studios and Mind’s Eye Media, is successful because it is entertaining and interactive, and is refreshingly different from other campaigns. The angels in London got travellers of all ages and sexes excited and while the game might not draw a huge crowd, the brand awareness that the campaign is creating is fantastic.


Read the post here and comment at the bottom if you wish.
(From La Resistance, COUP's blog)

Friday 18 March 2011

Timely article for you to read!

Women, gay and black people still shown as stereotypes in film, says study
Older females portrayed as sexless while homosexuals and ethnic minorities also suffer, says extensive survey of opinion

Read article here.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Home Learning Due in 22.3.11

1. Conclusions of your Magazine Investigation.
Please take a look at this PPT to support your research (I am not the author)


2. Complete the exam practice essay set in the lesson.
“Representations in media texts are often simplistic and reinforce dominant ideologies so that audiences can make sense of them.”
To what extent is this true of the social group you have studied?


Do read the exemplar essays and moderator's comments.

Friday 11 March 2011

Home Learning for Tuesday 15th March

1. Trace the development of the Bond Girl - Use an early Connery film, then a Moore (not necessarily the one with Grace Jones; look at the silly ones that followed), one with Brosnan and maybe one with Craig to finish. What emerges? What is changing and what remains the same?
Refer to your Gauntlett article (boxed, distributed in class)
2. Look at the emergence and evolution of the strong "action" female character with the Alien and The Terminator series, with Ripley and Sarah Connor respectively.
How did they develop as characters? In what sense can we call them "strong characters"? Do they lose their femininity as the films unfold or simply present a new definition of what it means to be female.
Refer to Berger and Mulvey as a starting point.

Monday 7 March 2011

James Bond video for international women's day shows 007's feminine side

Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench team up for two-minute film highlighting the need for gender equality
Article here.

Saturday 5 March 2011

Collective Identity - Women - Work due in

Reminder:
- Research task set before half-term - Find out how women feel they are represented and how it affects them (aim to complete by week beginning 14.3.11). Use more than one research method.
- Exam practice question set in last lesson - due in next lesson: To what extent do you think that contemporary representations of a particular social group mirror current social attitudes towards that group? Two media to use for examples: adverts and music videos.

Also have a look at this article - it focuses on TV Drama which we haven't really tackled yet this year in detail.

With The Big C, Nurse Jackie and Weeds, US TV has given us women who are more than just Mistresses
A generation of American leads are getting comedy from cancer, chaotic nursing and drug-dealing. When will the UK catch up?
Read the article here.