Collective Identity Revision game

Question 1

What three elements must you include in your Collective Identity essay?

Question 2

Who said this?

"Identity is complicated - everybody thinks they've got one."

Question 3

Who said this?

"People are increasingly curious about our own construction of identity, which is one of the reasons why people buy magazines and self-help books, and watch 'people shows' on TV, and also one of the reasons why people are interested to do courses in media or sociology or psychology."

Question 4

Who said this?

"We should never confuse changes in the media with changes in real life. However I do think that popular media can take a leading role in this kind of social change. On its own, the media can't transform people's attitudes, but I think it can help to chip away at people's prejudices."

1.ANSWER2.Historical – dependent on

the requirements of the topic, you must summarise the development of the way Britishness is represented in film in theoretical contexts.

3.Contemporary – examples from five years before the examination.

4.Future – you must demonstrate personal engagement with debates about the future of the way Britishness is represented / issues that the topic relates to.

ANSWERDavid Gauntlett

ANSWERDavid Gauntlett, 2001 ANSWER

David Gauntlett, 2001

Question 5

Who said this?

"Identity is an ambiguous and slippery term."

Question 6

Who said this and why?

"What to do? How to act? Who to be? These are focal questions for everyone living in circumstances of late modernity - and ones which, on some level or another, all of us answer, either discursively or through day-to-day social behaviour."

Question 7

Who said this and why?

'Techniques of the self' or 'arts of existence' as 'those reflective and voluntary practices by which men not only set themselves rules of conduct, but seek to transform themselves, to change themselves in their singular being, and to make of their life into an oeuvre that carries certain aesthetic values and meets certain stylistic criteria'

Question 8

What are the FIVE practices you could be asked about for Question 1a?

ANSWERDavid Buckingham, 2008

ANSWERAnthony Giddens, 1991, on how media products can be used as part of the construction of a 'lifestyle' and a 'narrative of the self'

ANSWERMichael Faucault, 1984, on how media may contribute to the cultivation of the self, and also lead people to monitor and police themselves and their projected identities

ANSWERDigital Technology Creativity Research and planning Post-production Using conventions from real media texts

Question 9

What are the FIVE media contexts you could be asked about for Question 1b?

Question 10

How many of your portfolio pieces must you refer to in Question 1a?

Question 11

How many of your portfolio pieces must you evaluate in Question 1b?

Question 12

What three stages of your production should you write about for Question 1a?

ANSWERGenre Narrative Representation Audience Media language

ANSWERBoth – and anything else you have made, even at home.

ANSWERONE

ANSWERPre-productionProductionPost-production

Question 13

Name the genre, director and year this BBC series was made:

Pride & Prejudice

Question 14

Name the genre, director and year this film was made:

East is East

Question 15


Bend It Like Beckham

Question 16


In This World

ANSWERPride and Prejudice (Romance/Drama, Simon Langton, 1995)

ANSWEREast is East (Comedy/Drama, Damien O'Donnell, 1999)

ANSWERBend It Like Beckham (Comedy/Drama/Romance, Gurinder Chadha, 2002)

ANSWERIn This World (Drama, Michael Winterbottom, 2002)

Question 17

Name the genre, director and year this film was made, plus a 2011 film by him:

Eden Lake

Question 18

Name the genre, director and year this film was made, plus a well-known 2002 film by him:

Ae Fond Kiss

Question 19

What genre of film is director Ken Loach known for?

Question 20

Name the genre, director and year this film was made, plus the year it is set in:

Children of Men

ANSWEREden Lake (James Watkins, 2008, also directed 'The Woman In Black', Drama/Horror/Thriller, 2011)

ANSWERAe Fond Kiss (Drama/Romance, Ken Loach, 2004, who also directed 'Sweet Sixteen', Crime/Drama, 2002)

ANSWERSocial Realism

ANSWERChildren of Men (Adventure/Drama/Sci-fi set in 2027, Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)

Question 21


This Is England

Question 22


Slumdog Millionnaire

Question 23


Fish Tank

Question 24

Name the genre, director and year this film was made, plus the year in which it is set:

Made In Dagenham

ANSWERThis Is England (Crime/Drama, Shane Meadows, 2006)

ANSWERSlumdog Millionaire (Crime/Drama/Romance, Danny Boyle, 2008)

ANSWERFish Tank (Drama, Andrea Arnold, 2009)

ANSWERMade in Dagenham (Biography/Comedy/Drama, Nigel Cole, 2010)

Question 25


The King’s Speech

Question 26


Disney’s ‘Alice In Wonderland’

Question 27

Name the organisation that has replaced the UK Film Council in terms of funding British films.

Question 28

What funding scheme has recently been introduced to encourage British film-making?

ANSWERThe King's Speech (Biography/Drama/History, Tom Hooper, 2010)

ANSWER'Alice In Wonderland' (Adventure/Family/Fantasy, Tim Burton, 2010)

ANSWERThe BFI (British Film Industry)

ANSWERMore generous tax breaks for British films, or for films made in the UK

Question 29- Representation

Define a ‘chav’. Does this person actually exist?


What was the nickname for the women’s 1968 strike at the Ford Plant in Dagenham? How might you regard this from a feminist point of view?


How might mise-en-scene be relevant to representation of a particular social group?


How might sound and editing be used to represent a particular social group?

ANSWERA mass-media created stereotype According to Wikipedia, The stereotype of a Chav includes wearing branded designer sportswear.[11] Stereotypical attire might be accompanied by some form of gold jewelery otherwise termed 'bling'

ANSWERThe Revlon Revolution – could be seen as glamorising the women who were striking, also detrating from the atual issue of equal pay.

ANSWERMise-en-scene - can be used to represent a group positively or negatively. Clothing may indicated a specific stereotype associated with a particular social group. In fictive texts such as films, filmmakers are deliberately manipulating an image or representation of something real in order to stamp their own artistic and creative seal upon it. For example, filmmakers can make a place seem inviting and pleasant by choosing to film it on a beautiful summer's day and lighting it in a certain way. Or they can make a place appear menacing by filming it as a dark, stormy place lit in such a way as to appear gloomy and full of shadows. Eden Lake, for example, begins as a peaceful idyll in the early summer sun then degrades into a much colder, bleaker forest, with the trees looking like prison bars.

ANSWEREditing - A film may be edited to seem as if we are looking at the world through a character's eyes, which may make us feel closer to them as we experience their emotional reactions. Think of the young boy in 'This Is England'. Sound may be used with a particular theme tune (Romeo in Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo and Juliet') or a voiceover that makes the viewer naturally empathise with the speaker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportswear_(activewear)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewelery


Give an example of ‘hyperreality’ created by the mass media.


What is feminist film theory and how might it be useful in discussing the representation of any social group?


What is ‘The Male Gaze?


How might you recognise a postmodern text?

ANSWERWe receive our view of the world increasingly through the media in the information age. For example, many of us experienced the August 2011 riots in a very real sense (ie we were there); but we also saw them through media institutions. As such, the events were mediated to us through the media. This process enables the mediators to withhold certain information, and even the choice of creating an image that is altered for their own purposes (blaming the 'hoodies'?). They can replace authentic reality with a manipulated hyperreality.

ANSWERFeminist film theory - the way women act and are treated in the media. This also provides the analytical tools to consider how class, race and nationality are represented in the media. The representation of women has been a key area of development in film theory.

ANSWERThe male gaze. This concept stems from the 1970s when theorists such as Laura Mulvey concluded that the camera was often positioned to reward the point of view of the male viewer, who is able to voyeuristically able to gain visual pleasure from viewing female characters. Directors such as Alfred Hitchcock have been criticised for 'objectifying' their female subjects. Additionally, violence towards women in films such as 'Psycho' (Hitchcock, 1960) can be read as revealing a deep-seated mysogyny.

ANSWERHow to recognise a postmodern text:1. They don't pretend to be wholly realistic, and often draw attention to the fact that they are fictitious - a character may stop the action and talk to the camera.2. They deliberately mix genres, and will borrow from music videos, tv, animation and other forms.3. They often refer to other films (a process called inter-textuality).4. They often rearrange or disrupt strict linear narratives with a clear beginning and end, and prefer circular narratives and open ended narrative closure.5. They sometimes contain stories within stories or films within films.6. The often involve characters that feel disconnected or alienated from their environment, and distrust authorities.


What is ‘bricolage’?


What does theorist Baudrillard point out about the postmodern world?


What is Marxism?


What is Barthes’ theory of semiotics?

ANSWERExample - bricolage, a postmodern term applied to the mixing together of different genres, is used in 'This Is England' and 'Made In Dagenham' where we see a mixture of news footage at the beginning of the film.

ANSWERTheorist Jean Baudrillard has been dubbed 'the prophet of postmodernism'. Baudrillard, in 'Simulacra and Simulation', examines the phenomena that in the postmodern world (post-1900), audiences are so saturated with representations that these now precede perceptions of the actual, subtly challenging them in the process. For example, victims of 9/11 frequently described their trauma as the twin towers collapsed as "...like a film..." As media products become increasingly sophisticated, people may choose to spend their lives in the predictable comfort of cyberspace rather than in the actual world of relationships, pain, mishaps and confusion! Think about the popular weekend activity of 'Larping' (live action roleplaying) and the film 'Role Models'. See 'The Matrix'.

ANSWERMarxismThis theory has introduced the concept of political aspects into discussion about film. This involves the ideas of Marx and Engels on foregrounding the discussion of class and power. Many films have elements of class struggle and issues surrounding capitalist society. Films like 'Made In Dagenham' can be seen from a Marxist perspective because they depict characters struggling with monetary or class constraints.

ANSWERBarthes - semiotics, enigma codes, 'steak and chips'Barthes, a French media theorist writing from 1950s to 1970s, developed the theory of semiotics - where any text is a complex bundle of meaning which can be unravelled to create a whole range of different meanings.

Question 41– Narrative

What is Barthes’ ‘enigma code’?

Question 42-Narrative

What is ‘the hypodermic syringe model’?


What is ‘the uses and gratifications’ model?


What is Todorov’s ‘theory of equilibrium’?

ANSWERThe handiest code to refer to in essays is the enigma code - found in all successful texts from 'Bob the Builder' to 'CSI'. These codes are constructed to attract and hold the attention of the audience, usually be creating a mystery or puzzle which the audience want to see solved - why has this man been murdered?

ANSWERthe theory that the audience are passive receivers of media messages that they interpret uncritically. This theory is popular when there is a moral panic, such as the case of Jamie Bulger, a toddler who was brutally murdered by two other children. The two killers' defence rested on the fact that their young minds had been corrupted by 'video nasties' that showed horrible violence as fun (aberrant decoding).

ANSWERMedia theorists Blumler and Katz put forward the idea that audiences put media texts to their own uses, instead of being manipulated by them. Here are four distinct uses to which audiences put texts:

1. To reinforce personal identity2. To find companionship and meaning by being part of a group: going to the cinema and discussing the latest movie with friends. 3. People also use media texts to find out about current affairs and information.4. Finally, people use the media to communicate with each other. The Internet is of course the biggest way this is done.

ANSWERTodorov's theory of equilibrium - basically, the pattern where many narratives begin with a state of equilibrium, which is then disrupted by an event, forcing characters to face up to the disruption in order to reclaim equilibrium.

Question 45 – Narrative and Genre

What is Prop’s ‘theory of character function’?

Question 46 – Narrative and Genre

What is ‘binary opposition’?

Question 47 - Genre

Who said “Genre is a type” and when?

Question 48 - Genre

What is ‘genre’?ANSWERPropp's theory of character function - where characters and events can be seen as constructs to drive the narrative. Propp set up a list of character types with clear functions: the hero, villain, donor (who gives the hero some magical key or information), helper (assists the hero on the quest), heroine (used by the villain and a reward for the hero). See all Disney Princess films, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings.

ANSWERLevi-Strauss and binary opposition – Claude Levi-Strauss identified a narrative system of 'binary opposites' in which symbols and ideas exist in relation to their opposites, with which they are in conflict. The theory is that this helps us draw meanings from a text, such as the need to side with a character who is 'good'. Typical binary oppositions are Good v Evil; Male v Female; Us v Them (Think 'Eden Lake', 'Ae Fond Kiss').

ANSWER"Genre is a type" (Chandler, 2001)

ANSWERThe study of genre has often focused on film, where certain codes and conventions have been identified. These are recurrent character, narrative and visual tropes (patterns) that can be identified over a series of films. For example, if we consider the horror genre, we can identify key components that tell us we are viewing that type of film. For example, use of the supernatural, gory scenes, shots from behind objects, through windows, at odd angles, use of a vulnerable female character, music to add tension, sometimes an 'unhappy' tragic ending.

Question 49 – Genre

Who said this and when?

‘Genre is not... simply "given" by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change.'


What is ideology?


What is ‘hegemony’?

Question 52 – Film Language

What is ‘film language’?

ANSWER'genre is not... simply "given" by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change' (Buckingham 1993),

ANSWERSimply put, ideology is the ideas behind a media text, the secret (or sometimes not-so secret) agenda of its producers. It is important to be able to identify the different ideological discourses that may be present in even an apparently simple photograph.In sociological terms, ideology is a body of ideas or set of beliefs that underpins a process or institution and leads to social relations. These sets of beliefs are those held by groups within society, and the prevalent ones are those held by the ruling/dominant groups.

ANSWERHegemonyIn any society the accepted and agreed beliefs are those of the ruling class, i.e. the class which is the ruling material (with all the money) force is at the same time its ruling intellectual (with all the ideas) force. Christianity is the main historical example (think of how many legal systems take Christian moral values as their basis). Football currently has hegemonic status in the UK - glance through the sports pages and see what coverage other sports get - and everyone is expected to understand and accept its national importance.This is how hegemonies take hold: a majority decide to 'fit in' with the cultural values and ideas of their time and place and the minority keep their objections quiet. Hegemony is about consent, and one of the things it consents to is inequality - us and them. The media can either maintain or challenge this.

ANSWERFilm is a language all its own, a way of communicating using images which is understood around the globe. Like any other language it has rules and conventions which can be deconstructed, and, through deconstruction, understood.

Collective Identity Revision game

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