Media Mock Revision/Plan
Liesbet Van-Zoonen argues that media language encodes how male and female characters act in media products. Explore how representations position the audience in Humans and Les Revenants
Knee Jerk Reaction
Feminist Theory: Lisbet van Zoonen:
Gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products and the idea of what is male and female changes over time. Gender is also constructed through cultural and historical context. Additionally, she states that woman's bodies are used in media products as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, reinforcing patriarchal hegemony.
Feminist Theory: Bell Hooks:
Feminism is the struggle to end patriarchal hegemony and the domination of women and feminism is not a lifestyle choice, it's a political commitment. She also said that race, class and gender determine the extent to which individuals are exploited and oppressed.
Gender Performativity: Judith Butler:
Feminist Theory: Lisbet van Zoonen:
Gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products and the idea of what is male and female changes over time. Gender is also constructed through cultural and historical context. Additionally, she states that woman's bodies are used in media products as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, reinforcing patriarchal hegemony.
Feminist Theory: Bell Hooks:
Feminism is the struggle to end patriarchal hegemony and the domination of women and feminism is not a lifestyle choice, it's a political commitment. She also said that race, class and gender determine the extent to which individuals are exploited and oppressed.
Gender Performativity: Judith Butler:
Identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and expressions that we perform every day.
While there are biological differences dictated by sex, our gender is defined by this series of acts. These may include the way we walk, talk, dress and so on.
Therefore, there is no gender identity behind these expressions of gender.
Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual. It is outlined and reinforced through dominant and patriarchal ideologies.
Madonna/Whore complex: Sigmund Freud:
Freud developed a theory to explain men's anxiety towards women's sexuality, suggesting that men define women into on of two categories: the Madonna (Women he admires and respects) and the whore (women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects).
The Madonna is typically virtuous, nurturing, saintly and sexually repressed.
The whore is sensual, sexualised and desirable without purity.
Reception Theory: Stuart Hall:
Preferred Reading:
The 'right' reading of a text, which can be enforced by positioning.
This concept has to be approached carefully: often texts intentionally have multiple meanings/readings, and of course, as we have discovered, audiences can potentially get whatever they want out of any media text.
Hall categorised audience response into three separate groups.
These groups can help us to understand whether or not an audience sticks to the preferred reading, or if they decide to make their own decisions as to how to decode a text.
Dominant Reading:
The audience agrees with the dominant values in the text, and agrees with the values and ideology it shows.
Negotiated Reading:
The audience generally agrees with what they see, but they may disagree with certain aspects.
Oppositional Reading:
The audience completely disagrees with what they see, and rejects the dominant reading.
Key Scenes:
Humans:
33 mins (Leo in brothel).
Les Revenants:
Stabbing Scene in underpass.
Scene where Viktor follows Julie home.
Lisbet Van Zoonen's theory is correct in this scene because of the fact that although Viktor is a young child be is portrayed as a dominant male figure because of the lighting in the scene. Due to the fact that the scene is set at night there is no lighting except for street lamps making the scene very dimply lit and eerie. This makes Viktor appear dominant because it makes the scene very similar to a scene where a man would be taking advantage of a woman. The audience would be used to seeing scenes like this, especially in a horror/drama, but with an adult male following a defenceless woman in the night. Additionally, the non-diegetic music during this scene adds to the eeriness this accompanied with the long shots lasting for a long time creates a creepy mood
Intro Plan
D: Define (key terms)
A: Argument (make your argument clear)
C: Context (year created, producer, genre etc)
Viktor and Julie Scene
Underpass stab scene
Humans scene
Conclusion
Non-diegetic sound is very suspenseful and seems like we are watching a horror film
continuous use of low-key lighting
This scene is conventional to a horror film
It could be argued that Les Revenants performs generic-hybridity by combining aspects of horror which can therefore appeal to multiple audience s
The close up long tracking shot of Mr Costa walking through the hall is a proaeiretic code as we expect something to jump out to him, but round the corner is his wife sitting innocently
The establishing of the grey concrete flats where Julie lives suggest that she may be in danger as she lives in threatening areaa
Julie never appears threatened, when she sees Viktor standing there she simply says 'whats he doing there?' This demonstrated that Julie is pretty no nonsense, aware and laid back. This is further anchored through the mise-en-scene of her costume ; she is wearing baggy oversized jumper with collar and baggy jeans, she is very casual and relaxed. She doesn't conform to gender stereotypes- we cannot see her figure at all.
Julie doesn't have overly expressive facial expressions, she has bags underneath her eyes, she looks a bit messy - she is not stereotypically, hegemonically attractive.
However, she looks stereotypically french, which will appeal to a french audience.
In her apartment, she has her own drawings on the road suggesting she an artistic and creative person. She has stacks of books, suggest that she is academic and intelligent (mature student).
She seems like more of a relatable character to an older student who has creative aspirations.
When Viktor arrives on her doorstep there is a binary opposition between Viktor and Julie.
Setting - Bus shelter - low-key unnatural blue lighting coming from an electronic advert is cold and threatening. Julie is sitting by herself in the middle of the night forming a proairetic code as we think something bad might happen to Julie. Despite this Julie doesn't look like she cares.
The static long shot long take where victor comes up in the background behind the glass is highly typical of a horror film.
Little kids are the ultimate binary opposition. Viktor is out by himself in the middle of the night. He forms a binary opposition with Julie as he is well-presented and clean but Julie is scruffy and dirty.
Madonna/Whore complex: Sigmund Freud:
Freud developed a theory to explain men's anxiety towards women's sexuality, suggesting that men define women into on of two categories: the Madonna (Women he admires and respects) and the whore (women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects).
The Madonna is typically virtuous, nurturing, saintly and sexually repressed.
The whore is sensual, sexualised and desirable without purity.
Reception Theory: Stuart Hall:
Preferred Reading:
The 'right' reading of a text, which can be enforced by positioning.
This concept has to be approached carefully: often texts intentionally have multiple meanings/readings, and of course, as we have discovered, audiences can potentially get whatever they want out of any media text.
Hall categorised audience response into three separate groups.
These groups can help us to understand whether or not an audience sticks to the preferred reading, or if they decide to make their own decisions as to how to decode a text.
Dominant Reading:
The audience agrees with the dominant values in the text, and agrees with the values and ideology it shows.
Negotiated Reading:
The audience generally agrees with what they see, but they may disagree with certain aspects.
Oppositional Reading:
The audience completely disagrees with what they see, and rejects the dominant reading.
Key Scenes:
Humans:
33 mins (Leo in brothel).
Les Revenants:
Stabbing Scene in underpass.
Scene where Viktor follows Julie home.
Lisbet Van Zoonen's theory is correct in this scene because of the fact that although Viktor is a young child be is portrayed as a dominant male figure because of the lighting in the scene. Due to the fact that the scene is set at night there is no lighting except for street lamps making the scene very dimply lit and eerie. This makes Viktor appear dominant because it makes the scene very similar to a scene where a man would be taking advantage of a woman. The audience would be used to seeing scenes like this, especially in a horror/drama, but with an adult male following a defenceless woman in the night. Additionally, the non-diegetic music during this scene adds to the eeriness this accompanied with the long shots lasting for a long time creates a creepy mood
Intro Plan
D: Define (key terms)
A: Argument (make your argument clear)
C: Context (year created, producer, genre etc)
Viktor and Julie Scene
Underpass stab scene
Humans scene
Conclusion
Non-diegetic sound is very suspenseful and seems like we are watching a horror film
continuous use of low-key lighting
This scene is conventional to a horror film
It could be argued that Les Revenants performs generic-hybridity by combining aspects of horror which can therefore appeal to multiple audience s
The close up long tracking shot of Mr Costa walking through the hall is a proaeiretic code as we expect something to jump out to him, but round the corner is his wife sitting innocently
The establishing of the grey concrete flats where Julie lives suggest that she may be in danger as she lives in threatening areaa
Julie never appears threatened, when she sees Viktor standing there she simply says 'whats he doing there?' This demonstrated that Julie is pretty no nonsense, aware and laid back. This is further anchored through the mise-en-scene of her costume ; she is wearing baggy oversized jumper with collar and baggy jeans, she is very casual and relaxed. She doesn't conform to gender stereotypes- we cannot see her figure at all.
Julie doesn't have overly expressive facial expressions, she has bags underneath her eyes, she looks a bit messy - she is not stereotypically, hegemonically attractive.
However, she looks stereotypically french, which will appeal to a french audience.
In her apartment, she has her own drawings on the road suggesting she an artistic and creative person. She has stacks of books, suggest that she is academic and intelligent (mature student).
She seems like more of a relatable character to an older student who has creative aspirations.
When Viktor arrives on her doorstep there is a binary opposition between Viktor and Julie.
Setting - Bus shelter - low-key unnatural blue lighting coming from an electronic advert is cold and threatening. Julie is sitting by herself in the middle of the night forming a proairetic code as we think something bad might happen to Julie. Despite this Julie doesn't look like she cares.
The static long shot long take where victor comes up in the background behind the glass is highly typical of a horror film.
Little kids are the ultimate binary opposition. Viktor is out by himself in the middle of the night. He forms a binary opposition with Julie as he is well-presented and clean but Julie is scruffy and dirty.
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