His Dark Materials: Language and Representation

Language and close-textual analysis

 1) Write an analysis of the episode - using your notes from the screening in class. Make specific, detailed reference to moments in the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots and movement, editing, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.)

Camerawork, editing and sound: They use non-diegetic music a lot during the episode to create tension or mystery.  There are close-up shots of Mrs Coulter to show her dominance and power

 Mise-en-scene: Their costumes are quite simple and plain to show how they're either from the same world or just normal human (like will). Mrs Coulter usually wears red and has a red lip, the colour red has connotations of power, dominance and high position.

 Narrative and genre: The genre is fantasy. Its made clear because during the episode there are multiple scenes of the witches and of lyras daemon. They use enigma codes and binary opposition a lot. 

2) How does His Dark Materials fit the conventions of the fantasy TV genre?

They use a political narrative theme where they criticise religion an power. The Magisterium is similar to the Catholic Church and other religious groups. Their focus in the episode is to stop Lyra and take control of them. The whole idea is quote sinister which supports His Dark Materials being a part of the fantasy genre.

They also use iconography where the witches fly in to save the other witch who is being tortured. 

3) Applying Propp's character theory, what character roles do some of the main characters in His Dark Materials fit into? 

The villain is Mrs coulter, the helper is Will, the hero will be Lyra.


4) What enigma and action codes (Barthes) can you find in His Dark Materials? Make specific, detailed reference to the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.)

The enigma code could be the talking daemon and the constant talk of other worlds, there is a lot of non-diegetic music to show how ominous the moment is, when Will and Lyra are chasing the girls there is a low angle shot to the determination lyra feels.

5) What examples of binary opposition (Levi-Strauss) can you find in His Dark Materials? How do these create narrative or drama for the audience? 

good and evil, hero and villain, boy and girl. Villain and hero create drama because people want to know whether or not lyra will be safe or if Mrs coulter will find her. 

Representations

1) How are women represented in His Dark Materials? Are gender stereotypes reinforced or subverted? Think about Lyra and Mrs Coulter here.

Women are represented as strong and dominant. This is shown where Mrs Coulter disturbs the magisterium meeting and takes control over the meeting and also when Lyra is brushing will off and walking ahead of him which suggests her importance over his.

2) How are men and masculinity represented in His Dark Materials? Think about Will and Lee Scoresby here.

Men are represented as weak. This is shown through Will having giving into lyra and doing what she says, she is represented as a stronger character than Will

3) How is age (e.g. teenagers; adults) represented in His Dark Materials? Does the show reinforce or challenge stereotypes about young people? Think about Lyra and Will plus the abandoned children they meet. Also think about Mrs Coulter and other adults.

the stereotypes of age in his dark materials are challenged because the young teenagers are represented as mature and independent whereas a lot of teenagers now rely on their parents or older siblings for small things. 

4) How is race and ethnicity represented in His Dark Materials? Are stereotypes reinforced or subverted?

The stereotypes are subverted because there is a coloured women who has control over Mrs coulter and puts her down because she saves Mrs coulters hostage 

5) What representations of the world can you find in the episode - is it like real life? A fantasy world? Something from the past or future? Give examples from the episode.

The magesterium reprsents the government dictating peoples lives.

children having to live alone and fend for themselves represents parental neglect.

Magazines and Music Video assessment learner response

 Magazines and Music Video assessment learner 

WWW: This is a strong assessment with good depth to your answers and the potential to score even higher. Well done!

 EBI: Exam technique: question focus. Identify the key words in the question and then focus totally on them

 (e.g. design/layout)

Q1: 2/2

Q2: 3/8
Q3: 3/6

Q4: 3/3

Q5: 4/6

Total: 15/25

Grade: 5

3) Look specifically at question 2. Use the indicative content in the mark scheme for question 2 to write three connotations of the design and layout of Tatler.

-the denotation of one central image directly addressing the audience enables the audience

to see the aspirational Tatler reader – an upmarket, sophisticated woman

-cover star Emma Weymouth is mixed race suggests that Tatler is moving with the

times and responding to cultural changes in Britain around gender

-cover star Emma Weymouth is mixed race suggests that Tatler is moving with the

times and responding to cultural changes in Britain around gender

4) Now look at question 3 - Heat magazine. Use the indicative content in the mark scheme to write three ways celebrities are represented in Heat magazine.

-presented as important and desirable – this is the latest gossip that readers

have to know about.

-Harry and Meghan feature prominently – the ultimate celebrity couple for Heat combining

British Royalty with American actress.

-Female celebrities feature more prominently than male – perhaps reinforces gender

stereotypes regarding women expecting to take part in gossip about relationships.

5) Look at question 5 - Arctic Monkeys and audience identity. This is a real AQA past question with lots of potential answers given in the mark scheme. Choose three answers that specifically refer to the Arctic Monkeys CSP and write them here. 

-The audience might watch music videos to reinforce values and behaviour. The lead singer

seems to not care about the filming of the music video, rarely making eye contact with the

camera and stating at the beginning ‘don’t believe the hype’. The audience gain a sense of

identity as they can relate to the lead singer’s both nonchalant and rock and roll

representation.

-The audience can gain a sense of identity as they recognise something of themselves or

relate in some way to the group. The band are dressed in standard teenage rock band garb

of plain t-shirts, jeans and trainers, a look that can be easily replicated by fans or is already

worn by them. They are not really offering a performance, it is more of a jam session with

them showing their musical prowess to their friends which is something the audience might

also do

-Music videos might represent artists as role models that fans can aspire to be like thus

allowing the audience to gain a sense of identity. The band are represented as ‘everyday

lads’ with typical clothes, costumes, acne. They make eye contact with each other and look

to be having a laugh. The audience might feel they are achievable role models

6) BLACKPINK - How You Like That didn't come up in this assessment. If this CSP comes up in your end of Year 1 exam, what three things about BLACKPINK and How You Like That could you try to include in your answer?

Their use of costume in the music video

The separate behind the scenes they made to go with it

The choreography.

Dr Who, An Unearthly Child-Audience and Industry

 Language and contexts

1) Write a summary of the notes from our in-class analysis of the episode. 

Camerawork and sound: the camerawork is mostly over the shoulder when there are conversations happening. There are some close up shots as the directors wanted the audience to connect with the characters and be able to see all the emotion on their faces. 

Mise-en-scene: Susan is represented as a typical 1960s teenager who listens to pop music and wears casual clothes. She also has a "tantrum" close to the end where she is trying to get her grandfather to let her teachers go. The junkyard is seen as dark and has a lot of weird strange objects scattered around within it.

Narrative and genre: The genre is SCI-FI. This is clear because Susan often mentions space and we also see the TARDIS. There are uses of an enigma code throughout most of the scenes.

2) How can we apply narrative theories to this episode of  Doctor Who? 

Todorov's Equilibrium: at the beginning of the episode everything is normal until they find out where Susan lives and meets her grandad.

Propp's character theory: The teachers are represented as false heroes as they're trying to save Susan but Susan doesn't actually want to be saved because she doesn't need saving. Susan's grandad is represented as a villain.

Barthes's enigma and action codes: Action code- the TARDIS taking of and the effects after that. Enigma code when you meet the grandad and he doesn't make a move to stop the teachers calling the police.

Levi-Strauss's binary opposition: good v evil, old v young, human v alien.

3) In your opinion, what is the most important scene in the episode and why?

in my opinion the most important scene in the episode is when we meet the grandad because we the beginning of the episode is leading up to meet him. He is the main focus of the show and when we finally get to meet him we get to see what kind of guy he is.

4) What genre is An Unearthly Child and how can you tell? Make specific reference to aspects of the episode.

Sci-fi, its got the TARDIS in it and Susan makes inhumane hand movements and references to the past/future.

5) How does An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical contexts of the 1960s?

the hair and makeup represent the time era, the bad camera angles and overexaggerated acting suggests how low budget the show was.

Representations

1) What stereotypes of men are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

The stereotypes of men being more powerful than women  is reinforced as the lady teacher asks the man for help and the grandad also has control over Susan because he is older. The doctor also ignores Barbra and pulls Ian to the side so he can talk to him.

2) What stereotypes of women/girls are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

the stereotype of women being weak is reinforced because Barbra asks Ian for help, Susan is also told by her grandad not to have a tantrum.

3) How do the representations of young people and old people in An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical context of the 1960s? 

In the 1960s women were very dependent on men however young people had more freedom which is shown in the beginning with a background character who is wearing makeup and jewellery. 

4) What representations of race/ethnicity can be found in Doctor Who: An Earthly Child? Is this surprising or not? Give reasons for your answer and consider historical / cultural context (the 1960s). Has this changed in more recent series of Doctor Who?

There are no coloured people in Dr Who which is not surprising as racism was very very big in the 1960s and you wouldnt usually see a coloured person on  TV.

5) How is social class represented in An Unearthly Child? Think about how education and knowledge is presented in the episode.

Everyone in episode is middle class and all the kids we see go to school meaning that the education was average but Susan is more knowledgeable due to her ability to time travel.

Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

 Audience

1) What do we know about the Arctic Monkeys audience? Think demographics, psychographics and how they got into the band.

Arctic monkeys appeal mostly to lower/working class white people. They were friends from school and formed as a band in 2002.

2) What audience pleasures are offered by the music video for I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor?

the audience get to know their favourite band and see them performing.

3) Pick out three particular shots, scenes or moments in the video that would particularly appeal to Arctic Monkeys fans. Why did you choose those moments?

0:02-0:08. I picked this scene because the band introduces themselves as Arctic Monkeys, this gives the audience a personal connection with the band as they're being directly addressed. 

0:08-0:12. I picked this scene because it shows the lead singer going to the drummer. This gives their fan an idea of how close and friendly the name is with each other.

2:31. I picked this scene because it the camera pans out giving the audience a full view of the whole band.

4) How did fans take a leading role in making Arctic Monkeys famous back in 2005?

they used their CDs and shared their music online through platforms like MySpace.,

5) How are fans positioned to respond to the band? What does Arctic Monkeys want fans to think about their video?

 Fans are positioned to enjoy the music video, at the start of the video Alex introduces the band which shows that the music video was made for audience pleasure and also to grow their audience.

Industries

1) How did the Arctic Monkeys first achieve success and build up their fanbase?

They distributed homemade CDs that they burned themselves. They played small gigs at local pubs and eventually got put onto MySpace.

2) Why was P2P file sharing and MySpace an unexpected aspect to Arctic Monkeys' early success?

Arctic monkeys formed as a thing for friends to do and they never expected to get as much attention as they did.

3) How does the rise of Arctic Monkeys differ from how BLACKPINK were formed and became famous?

Blackpink formed as a band made by YG Entertainment so their fame and success was a 50% guarantee. The members of Blackpink were also strangers whereas the members of Arctic Monkeys were friends from high school and they never expected any major fame to come of their music or performances.

4) Who is Arctic Monkeys record label and how many copies did they sell of their debut album? Why did they choose an independent record label?

Arctic Monkeys signed a record label withy Domino Recording Company, they didn't want to sign with a major label because they didn't want to lose creative control over their music. They sold around 360,000 records of their first debut album in the first week of release. 

5) Looking at the wider music industry, has the internet been a positive or negative development for record companies and artists? Why?

The internet has been a positive development for the music industry because now people can promote their music on platforms like Tiktok and Instagram and they'll be able to release their music on Spotify and YouTube.