Critical Context
Audience
Passive & Active Audience
Cultivation Theory
This is the theory that suggests the exposure to media subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality.
Narrative
Tzvetan Todorov
Todorov suggested that all movies follow the same narrative which are separated into 5 stages. These are Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, Acknowledgement, Solution, New Equilibrium.
(Narrative techniques)
Auteur
An auteur is a film director who influences their films so much that they have an individual style that is so unique that it gives them a personal and noticeable stamp. Some of the aspects that a director can change to convey their uniqueness is the lighting, camera-work, staging, editing, cast music and genre.
Genre
Genre can relate to any type of media. There are key genres in film, such as, Action, Horror, Romance and Sci-Fi. One of the things that can effect genre the most is stereotypes. Each genre will have a stereotype, for example, the Romance genre commonly uses the 'falling for someone you just met' stereotype, it is commonly repeated and joked about. Horror films have a lot of stereotypes, these can be anything from race, to sexuality, to weight and appearances.
Gender & Representation
Gender can be represented in different ways in media as their is multiple sides of the story.
Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory
The male gaze theory, also known as the feminist theory, is the masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer. A great example of of the male gaze in media is Scouting For Girls' "She's so Lovely" official music video. Not only is the band and song name aimed at women, but the entire song follows a young beautiful woman who is being drooled over, followed and flirted with by men.
The Beckdel Test
This test theorieses that two women in a movie, tv show or and other media texts are incapable of having a conversation without mentioning a male. This theory is related to the Male Gaze theory through the idea that women rely on the presence and power of a male figure.
Another way of look at it is to imagine that you are asked to write a paper on a topic that you know nothing about. It is important that you should start with research in this case to learn more information about the topic - additionally, researching and learning more will later come in handy as the resources that you looked at online could be cited into your work if you later decide that they are useful in your writing.
You can identify an academic source by the author's credentials, the list of references and by looking at who the publisher is - for example, wikipedia is not a great academic source as anyone can write and edit a wikipedia page, however, a published book such as a dictionary has relevant and reliable information.
There are four main types of sources:
All of these sources must be cited correctly using the Harvard Referencing System. You make a short hand reference, a brief indication of the source, within the text immediately following the use of the source. This will create a link to a complete list of all the cited referenced that you have used in your text, this is found at the bottom of your text - this allows the reader to locate and follow up on the original texts if they want to.
The short hand citation should look like: (Tyrrell. K, 2001)
The fully cited referenece should look like:
Tyrrell, K., 2001. The Serial Killer in Cinema. Alternative Law Journal, [online] 26(6), pp.274-278. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1037969X0102600602?journalCode=aljb [Accessed 3 March 2020].
Citation
Passive & Active Audience
- A passive audience decodes the media text and chooses to accept the information without challenging it, they are less likely to get involved with the product and its 'fandom'
- A active audience "engages, interprets and responds" to the media text and will challenge the decoded message (Audience appeal, 2020)
- A negotiated audience has a more neutral approach to the media text
Desensitisation
Desensitisation is a process of how the audience reacts to media violence and commonly, the logic is applied to how often an audience is exposed to violent material - often, the audience will show signs of aggression, stress, anxiety and sometimes arousal. (Krahé, 2011)
Cultivation Theory
This is the theory that suggests the exposure to media subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality.
Narrative
Tzvetan Todorov
Todorov suggested that all movies follow the same narrative which are separated into 5 stages. These are Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, Acknowledgement, Solution, New Equilibrium.
- Equilibrium - this is the first stage of a story and normally starts with an introduction to the main character(s) and shows them living a normal life
- Disequilibrium - this is the second stage, it is the first stage in which something will go wrong (a disruption)
- Acknowledgement - every film has an acknowledgment stage, this is the recognition of the disruption of the equilibrium
- Solution - this is the attempt to repair the damage of the disruption (this can happen multiple times until the disruption is resolved)
- New Equilibrium - this is the final stage, the part of the story that returns to or the restoration of a new equilibrium
Claude Levi-Strauss
Levi-Strauss' theory implies that everything has an opposite. For example:
- Good vs Evil
- Young/New vs Old
- Rich vs Poor
- Black vs White
- Male vs Female
- Clever vs Dumb
- Fast vs Slow
- Human vs Non-Human/Supernatural
Vladimir Propp
Propp's theory describes that each character and their roles are given for a reason, and that the decisions and actions of these characters help develop the storyline. These roles are:- The Villain - tries to stop the hero in their quest. Takes the 'prize' (aka the Princess) that the hero needs to rescue.
- The Donor - prepares the hero for their quest
- The Helper - offers to help the hero in their quest, can also be a 'sidekick'
- The Princess - this is the person that is saved by the hero, commonly marries the hero and can be kidnapped by the Villain
- The False Hero - this character appears to be good, but turns out to be evil and possibly working for the Villain
- The Dispatcher - this is the person that sends the hero on their quest
- The Hero - this is the person that is sent on the quest, the main character that the audience follows. They save the Princess/prize and usually defeat the Villain
Auteur
An auteur is a film director who influences their films so much that they have an individual style that is so unique that it gives them a personal and noticeable stamp. Some of the aspects that a director can change to convey their uniqueness is the lighting, camera-work, staging, editing, cast music and genre.
Genre
Genre can relate to any type of media. There are key genres in film, such as, Action, Horror, Romance and Sci-Fi. One of the things that can effect genre the most is stereotypes. Each genre will have a stereotype, for example, the Romance genre commonly uses the 'falling for someone you just met' stereotype, it is commonly repeated and joked about. Horror films have a lot of stereotypes, these can be anything from race, to sexuality, to weight and appearances.
Gender & Representation
Gender can be represented in different ways in media as their is multiple sides of the story.
Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory
The male gaze theory, also known as the feminist theory, is the masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer. A great example of of the male gaze in media is Scouting For Girls' "She's so Lovely" official music video. Not only is the band and song name aimed at women, but the entire song follows a young beautiful woman who is being drooled over, followed and flirted with by men.
The Beckdel Test
This test theorieses that two women in a movie, tv show or and other media texts are incapable of having a conversation without mentioning a male. This theory is related to the Male Gaze theory through the idea that women rely on the presence and power of a male figure.
Acedemic Writing
Formal Writing
Formal writing is possibly one of the most important writing skills, which means when you are writing in a formal academic style you must avoid writing in jargon and slang - furthermore, try not to use abbreviations. Informal writing can include the use of writing in the first person (it is important to write in third person (no use of gender preferences, 'I' or 'you'), direct personal statements & imprecise word choices and the use of colloquialisms (this is basically jargon and slang).
Essay Structure
Introduction
The introduction is a general statement which introduces the topic of the essay and captures the readers interests. Here, it is important that you convince the reader that your essay question - and the answer to that question - is really important and/ or interesting. In the latter part of your introduction, you should explain the structure of your essay to your reader. Your essay may turn out to be more successful if you write the introduction after you have written the main body of the essay - this is because you will know what information you have included and it will help you explain the structure of your essay in the latter part of your introduction.
Body
This is where all of your important infomation should be discussed/ argued. You should aim for the information to be expressed in chronological order based on the events on which you are explaining. For example, my 'What Happened to the Slasher Genre?' question, I would start by talking about the most memorable and noticable start of the slasher movies (The Golden Age, 1978-1984) and gradually moved towards the latter years of the 20th Century, all the while explaining my way through the genre.
Conclusion
Repeat the main message of the essay, but try not to use the same words you have used previously. Reitorate the question to your reader whilst also answering it. Try to summarise the main points of the essay and lead on to your final statement. There should be nothing in the conclusion that is surprising or new to the reader, the purpose of the conclusion should be to summarise so that the reader is left with a clear idea of your argument.
Acedemic Sources
Sources are extremely important when writing an acedemic essay. It is equally important that the sources are credible - these credible sources are books, documents and other published texts that have been peer-reviewed.Another way of look at it is to imagine that you are asked to write a paper on a topic that you know nothing about. It is important that you should start with research in this case to learn more information about the topic - additionally, researching and learning more will later come in handy as the resources that you looked at online could be cited into your work if you later decide that they are useful in your writing.
You can identify an academic source by the author's credentials, the list of references and by looking at who the publisher is - for example, wikipedia is not a great academic source as anyone can write and edit a wikipedia page, however, a published book such as a dictionary has relevant and reliable information.
There are four main types of sources:
- Books
- Academic Journals (such as essay papers written by students and tutors)
- Magazines
- Websites (these have to be reliable, not slideshare or prezi)
There will always be advantages and disadvantages to each of these source formats.
- Books - these are normally credible/ reliable because they will have to be proof read before being published. However, books can be outdated and can tell multiple sides of a discussion/ argument so it depends what you are looking for, additionally, if you are unable to gain access to a library, then buying lots of sources can become expensive
- Academic Journals - normally written by professors & students and are updated regularly. These journals could become perspective based but will likely go into more detail than a published book
- Magazines - these have new information everyday as they are published constantly, they are easily accessable and engaging as they have more facts and less writing
- Websites - these have not been published and are less likely to have been peer-reviewed - it is also possible that the website is posting fake news. However, these are easy to access and normally offer free information
All of these sources must be cited correctly using the Harvard Referencing System. You make a short hand reference, a brief indication of the source, within the text immediately following the use of the source. This will create a link to a complete list of all the cited referenced that you have used in your text, this is found at the bottom of your text - this allows the reader to locate and follow up on the original texts if they want to.
The short hand citation should look like: (Tyrrell. K, 2001)
The fully cited referenece should look like:
Tyrrell, K., 2001. The Serial Killer in Cinema. Alternative Law Journal, [online] 26(6), pp.274-278. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1037969X0102600602?journalCode=aljb [Accessed 3 March 2020].
Citation
Audience appeal. (2020). Retrieved
02 07, 2020, from BBC Bitesize:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zg24frd/revision/3
Krahé, B. (2011, April). Desensitization to Media Violence: Links With Habitual Media Violence Exposure, Aggressive Cognitions, and Aggressive Behavior.Retrieved February 24, 2020, from NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4522002/
Argyrou, S. (n.d.). Todorov Theory.Retrieved from selinaargyrou.wordpress: https://selinaargyrou.wordpress.com/todorov-theory/
Narrative techniques.(n.d.). Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zgydhv4/revision/1
Argyrou, S. (n.d.). Todorov Theory.Retrieved from selinaargyrou.wordpress: https://selinaargyrou.wordpress.com/todorov-theory/
Narrative techniques.(n.d.). Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zgydhv4/revision/1
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