Month: May 2016

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Moving into the 1990s, an era on the cusp of a new millennial, much of the music was focussed upon new technologies, and the social and cultural progression that came with it. At the forefront of the 1990s was Mariah Carey, whose singing talents and prolific writing made her the top-selling artist of the 90s and one of the top three most commercially successful artists of all time, grouped together with Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Mariah Carey’s rise to fame throughout the 90s coincides with the movement of third wave feminism, which strove to re-structure feminism and bring intersectionality to the fore; addressing issues of sexuality, race and the binary construction of gender. A woman of African American and Irish descent, Carey’s undeniable presence within the music industry is telling, and prescient of further gains that were to be made by the communities she represented.

As noted by Rolling Stone editor, Jann S. Wenner, ‘it [was] obvious… that the major music story of 1997 was the rise of women artists.’ Although between 1979 and 1984, female artists averaged just 20% of all top 50 hits, female artists were beginning to become more prominent figures in music, paving the way for future women.

Whilst the diversity of themes within Carey’s music represents femininity with complexity, it ultimately exists within the broader patriarchal framework that pervaded the time, and is hence reflective of this. Many of Mariah Carey’s songs are centered around love, or geared towards heterosexual relationships, as they pine over men. As asserted by sociomusicoligist, Simon Frith, the prevalence of such themes within music work to repress female sexuality by interpreting it through the code of romance. The ubiquity of these themes in music contribute to the one dimensional representation of women as passive beings, in which female aspirations are subordinately channeled solely towards the attainment of a heterosexual relationship. However; converse to this is the overt sexuality present in such songs as ‘Touch My Body,’ and empowerment of those such as ‘Make It Happen,’ which subvert the common passive portrayal of women, through the ownership of female sexual identity, as Carey assertively directs precisely what is to happen, rather than being passive to the wishes of a man and conforming to patriarchal representations of gender through this. Such songs can be connected to the wider societal trends of female empowerment that were prevalent within society at the time, thereby reflecting the gains of third wave feminism within them, and furthering the movement through its promotion.

Alternately however, sociologists such as Jean Baudrillard, contest that such thinking may constitute false consciousness, as the supposedly reclaimed sexuality of Carey’s songs simply present a false sense of self-determination, and in actuality, work to perpetuate misogynistic definitions of femininity by conforming to the male gaze, as they ultimately exist within the dominant ideological framework of patriarchal society, and this construction of society is reflected in her music. As asserted by popular music academic Nicola Dibben, however, while this may be true ‘by working within the forms of the dominant ideology, compromised materials [such as Carey’s music] may allow listeners to situate themselves amid competing ideological forces in a way that reflects the tensions of lived experience,’ thereby ultimately working to further the movement of gender equality, by conveying the true complexity inherent in gender and sexuality.

Whilst reflecting the third wave feminist movement and current society through the representation of gender and sexuality in her music, Mariah Carey also engages with discourse surrounding ethnicity through the intersectional feminism of the 90s, which strove to advance the position of minoritised women of colour in society. As Nicola Dibben writes ‘musical materials are socially and historically constituted: [they] have a ‘history of use’ such that particular materials come to be associated with, and take on the meanings of, particular musical and social contexts and functions.’ Carey’s prominent blend of pop-gospel vocalisations with R&B, along with her seminal collaborations with rap artists harks back to her roots and the deep-seated cultural history connected with rhythm and blues and rap music. This refusal to shy away from her African American heritage in her music foregrounded the contributions of black artists throughout history, and shone a light on talent that had historically been overlooked or co-opted and popularized by white individuals, more often than not, white men. Through this, Carey refused to perpetuate what feminist writer Bell Hooks refers to as the ‘commodification of otherness,’ wherein ‘ethnicity becomes spice, seasoning that can liven up the dull dish that is mainstream white culture.’ The construction of Carey’s music and musical artefacts, including music videos, did much to further the objectives of third wave feminism, facilitating racial equality through the deliberate and authentic celebration of historically minoritised musicians of colour.

Ultimately, while the overwhelming success of one woman cannot possibly encompass or be representative of all feminist strides throughout the 90s, Mariah’s place in music is testament to a changing society, reflecting the climate of third wave feminism that her music is a product of; with her own success as a young, black woman, working as a powerful social actor, paving the way for others.

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Wells, A 2001, ‘Nationality, Race and Gender on the American Pop Charts: What Happened in the ‘90s?,’ Popular Music and Society, vol. 25, no. 1, 221-231.

Dibben, N 2002, ‘Constructions of Femininity in 1990s Girl-Group Music,’ Feminism Psychology, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 168-175.

 Springer, K 2007, ‘Divas, Evil Black Bitches, and Bitter Black Women – African-American women in postfeminist and post-civil rights popular culture’ in Brunsdon, C & Spigel, L, Feminist Television Criticism: A Reader, 1^st edn, McGraw-Hill Education, UK, pp. 71 – 91.

Lister, L 2008, ‘Divafication: The Deification of Modern Female Pop Stars,’ Popular Music and Society, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 1-10.

Ganz, C 2001, Mariah Carey – Biography, Rolling Stone, viewed 20 May 2016.
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/mariah-carey/biography>

Ross, L 2011, The Origin of the Term Woman of Colour, Womanist Musings, viewed 23 May 2016.
<http://www.womanistmusings.com/origin-of-term-woman-of-colour/>

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Genre in A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

As an Iranian, spaghetti-western, vampire, horror film, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a perfect example of genre mixing, as it samples elements from an array of differing genres in order to create the one unified piece. Spoken in Persian, with English subtitles, the film is firstly falls into the foreign film genre, its use of subtitled dialogue adding to the mystery of the film, and capturing, and holding, the viewer’s attention. The film is also attributed as being a spaghetti-western, as it draws largely from traditional western films, as evidenced by the consistently deliberate cinematography, and use of standoffs throughout the film, seen whenever the girl encounters a new victim. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night furthermore follows the conventional character composition of westerns, with slight twists and ambiguities that blur the lines between character tropes, and further, morality: Atti the prostitute takes on the role of the ‘whore,’ Saeed as the ‘villain,’ and both Arash and the girl are, dubiously, disparate depictions of the ‘cowboy’: characters who, whilst being the film’s protagonists, ultimately err on the side of good despite engaging in highly morally dubious activities (drug dealing and murder respectively). The film’s vampirical element could lend it to the fantasy element, however the girl’s dark depiction draws more from classical vampire films such as Nosferatu and Dracula, and thus may be more correctly classified within the horror genre. Horror aspects, identified by their ability to shock, or ‘horrify’ the audience, can be seen throughout the film, most notably within Saeed’s death scene, in which the girl bites off his finger, and then slowly torments him with it, before going in for the kill. The film’s use of suspense leading up to the girl biting off Saeed’s finger, and the impending sense of doom created thereafter, combined with the terror of Saeed, are classic emotional indicators of the horror genre. Ultimately, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a highly stylized example of effective genre mixing, drawing upon the conventions of a range of differing film genres and the styles inherent within them, to create what stands as a highly unique film.

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Looking at the rough cut audio pieces from other tutorial members, the importance of good diction becomes evident. To hold the attention of an audience, a piece must be engaging, and a large part of this may be attributed to the voice that is used. A dull, monotonous speech is painful to listen to, whilst a dynamic and colourful one is far more arresting.

As noted in the tutorial, sometimes, even with a highly engaging voice, other elements are needed in order to make an audio piece captivating. Pauses are vital, long enough to create suspense and add drama, holding the audience’s attention, but short enough so as not to be awkward. Often music, soundbites and sound effects are used to create a certain tone within the piece and create texture within, changing up the audio enough to retain audience attention.

We plan to use a variety of different sound elements within our audio essay, including interviews / speeches, readings, found footage, music, newsreel and a voiceover. Hopefully these will draw the essay together to create a cohesive and coherent piece capable of holding audience attention throughout.

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Group project update.

I am doing the voiceover for the audio essay.

I have been working on researching and writing up a piece on how changing technologies have effected the distribution and reception of news broadcasting, explored using the case study of the recent attacks in Paris.
It was at this point that I decided that there is far too much information on the internet.

 

 

 

Now I must whittle what I have down into a five minute audio presentation.

Wishing myself luck.

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Little shop of horrors.

This afternoon we went to see the new production of Little Shop of Horrors. A truly engaging, colourful performance, with fantastic production design and costuming, it was very interesting to see how stories translate onto the stage, versus on the screen.

What really stood out was the incredible difference in approaches to performance between stage and screen.

Actors on screen are able to be far more subtle when attempting to convey / portray a certain mood, as audience emotion may be manipulated further to correspond with a particular scene through the use of additional emotional cues created by various cinematic techniques; lighting,music, camera angles, editing etc. However, in theatre, the emotional state of the characters must be made perfectly clear to the audience, hence the tendency towards ‘theatrical’ performance, wherein actors emotions are made plain, dramatised to an extent that it would impossible to misconstrue.

This type of performance has become inherently connected with theatre, and has a long-standing historical connection with the medium, traditionally used as a caricature of society.

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Project planning.

In this week’s tutorial, we went over our outline for project brief four. As a group, we devised an outline for the audio essay, based around the overarching topic question that we refined last week as: How have changing technologies effected the distribution and reception of news broadcasting? 

The audio essay is centred around a specific example, as we decided to use the media portrayal and reaction to the recent Paris attacks to explore this idea, and we are currently focussing on this. Once we have the audio essay underway, we will move on to sort out the video essay, which will be a more general exploration of the topic, focussed on the history of mediums and implications of technological change over time.

Currently, the outline for our audio script is, roughly, as follows:

Intro – Take audio of new reports from the Paris Attacks. News footage / recount of the paris attacks timing. Overlaying of audio, fast cuts, goes quiet before formal speech begins.

Speaking of mediums and media technologies, changing place of news within new media through paris attacks example.

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ABC News 2015, Paris attacks: Eyewitnesses describe terror that unfolded, ABC News, viewed 8 May 2016. <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-14/paris-attack-in-quotes-victims-describe-terror/6941448>

The article uses first hand witness accounts of the attacks in Paris to present its audience with a picture of the events as they unfolded. At the beginning of the article is a small section detailing the number of people killed, along with the location of the attacks. This piece of more objective journalism acts as the article’s introduction, giving scale to the attacks and setting the rest of the piece in context, informing the reader of what is to come. The remainder of the article consists of photographs from event’s aftermath, as well as direct quotes from eye-witnesses, which describe the attacks and detail their experiences on the ground.

This article may be construed as quite subjective, as the images and quotes have been deliberately selected in order to curate a particular image. The article attempts to relate the events of the Paris attacks, as well as the city’s subsequent tone, through the use of highly qualitative descriptions from those that were there during the event, including such passages as ‘bullets in heads, blood everywhere, dead people everywhere. Right now it feels like it’s not real, that it’s a bad dream, a nightmare.’ The absence of evaluative supporting commentary from the article’s writer does however lend the piece authenticity, and reliability as a source, as it consists of quotes from eyewitnesses.

Whilst the article is not overly useful in procuring the particular details of the events in Paris, it is beneficial for the audio essay in that it proffers personal insight into the attacks and provides examples of the types of audio commentary that will be able to be found to aid in setting the tone of the piece.

Dimmick, J; Chen, Y & Li, Z 2009, ‘Competition Between the Internet and Traditional News Media: The Gratification-Opportunities Niche Dimension,’ Journal of Media Economics, vol. 17, issue 1.

This article examines the use of online news media, compared with the use of news in traditional news media, to explore the way in which changing news technologies have effected traditional media sources, and how the public’s interaction with them has also changed. It examines the effects of displacement that digital news media outlets have on traditional media sources, and furthermore looks at possible ways this shift may be remedied, and both mediums enhanced, by looking at distinctions in the way each form of news is utilized and interacted with.

This article further informs the argument present within the audio essay, which explores how changing technologies have effected the distribution and reception of news, whilst furthermore offering methods of change and projections of future developments, which could be useful to incorporate, or otherwise used to inform the piece generally.

Some of the findings present within this article are limited, as, despite being supported by other papers on similar topics, some of the article’s results are based upon a telephone survey conducted within the Columbus, Ohio, metropolitan area, with just 211 respondents; which presents bias within the results, as the sample size is relatively small, and impacted by the socio-economic influence of the limited area surveyed.

Dueze, M; Bruns, A & Neuburger, C 2007, ‘Preparing for an Age of Participatory News’, Taylor and Francis Online, vol. 1, issue 3.

This article is useful in detailing the changing way in which news media is created; now as the product of a multitude of sources and viewpoints, offering a diverse and complex view of subjects, when compared to the relatively small number of sources that go into the creation of traditional news content. The article details the way in which news media is changing and evolving as new technologies create new ways of sharing, and therefore accessing, information.

This article will be of great use in the audio essay, as it speaks to the question precisely. Whilst it does not contain any research pertaining to the way social media and online sources were used during the Paris attacks, which is the subject for the essay, it does however contain theory that can be applied to the events, as the attacks in Paris may be used as a case study through which to understand theories produced by the research in this article.

It is a piece of comprehensive research, drawing its findings from a range of differing case studies produced in a number of different countries, and the products of varying social climates. The information presented by the article can therefore be assumed to have a fair amount of credibility as the research is adequately thorough.

Fenton, N 2009, ‘News in the Digital Age,’ in The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism, Routledge, UK.

This chapter of The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism makes up one part of a highly diverse book which covers a multitude of aspects relating news media, its history, and the changes and challenges it faces in the new age, as Natalie Fenton puts it, the ‘digital age.’ This section of the book is not only about the way in which news media has changed over the years, but also talks about the various other forces; cultural, social, economic, that have contributed to and influenced this transformation. It is a more in depth look at the reasons behind the shift from traditional to digital media than presented by many of the other articles viewed, and furthermore studies the effects of the changing media landscape, breaking down the aspects of advancement; interactivity, diversity, speed and the expanse of the online environment, to discuss the changing way in which news is constructed, by whom, and whether this is a good thing. Whilst discussing varying arguments pertaining to this, the author ultimately concludes that, while digital media holds great potential, its infancy as a news platform means that content is often driven or influenced by other forces, such as advertising, marketing, design, technical, budgets and time, as online news platforms struggle and compete against one another in the digital space, and that because of this, news is not yet better off for the technical transformation it has undergone in the digital age.

This article is useful, as it presents as slightly alternate argument to some of the other articles looked at for the purposes of assessing the changing environment of news media. It is approached from a differing viewpoint from those previously looked at, as it examines the underlying causes of the shift in news media platforms, whilst also looking at the way in which the pace of this change has influenced how news media is now presented to the audience, whereas other articles have looked simply at the correlation between the change in news media presentation, and the differences present in the content produced here as compared to that presented by traditional media sources. While this article does stray from the topic of the audio essay slightly, it will provide good background for the article, which will bring depth to the topic discussed and better inform the argument overall.

Published in a reputable source, this piece is highly credible, as added to by the vast amount of research that it has curated to produce the chapter. Whilst the piece is very reliable because of these reasons, it does not undertake any original research, but simply pulls information from a variety of differing sources to support the argument that is being made by the author. This may constitute a form of bias. Furthermore, as this is just one chapter within a large book of diverse opinions, some other chapters may present alternate arguments to those presented here, as they are produced by different viewpoints.

Johnson, T & Kaye, B 2004, ‘Wag the Blog: How Reliance on Traditional Media and the Internet Influence Credibility Perceptions of Weblogs Among Blog Users,’ Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 81, issue 3.

This article discusses changing views towards traditional news media sources, as it explores the relative levels of credibility users assign to weblogs and internet content, as compared to traditional news sources such as newspapers. It furthermore looks at the differing natures of weblogs and traditional media, commenting on the presence of bias, and the differing forms of bias within each media type (personal or corporate, respectively), and how these effect users’ views towards each news form.

The article is useful as it reiterates some of the findings of ‘With Facebook, Blogs, and Fake News, Teens Reject Journalistic “Objectivity”,’ which thus adds to the credibility and consequent usefulness of both articles, and as a result, bolsters the arguments presented in the audio essay, whilst lending the piece a more in depth perspective on the topic.

As the study is based upon asking weblog users online whether how they viewed traditional versus web-based media, there is evident bias in the findings, as results may have been significantly different if newspaper users were asked which form of media they found more credible, and therefore preferred. More so than the ‘With Facebook, Blogs, and Fake News, Teens Reject Journalistic “Objectivity”’ study however, this article makes adjustments in its research, controlling for demographic and political factors, thereby ensuring a more accurate depiction of trends within its results.

Marchi, R 2012, ‘With Facebook, Blogs, and Fake News, Teens Reject Journalistic “Objectivity”,’ Journal of Communication Inquiry, vol. 36, issue 3.

This article examines the changing way in which news is accessed and disseminated, concurrent with changes in news platforms caused by the advent and growth of online technologies. Further, it also examines shifting trends in the types of news media people are accessing most often, and their relation to similarly shifting media technologies.

This article is very useful to the topic of news media looked at in the audio essay, as it provides clear examples of the way in which evolving media technologies have changed the makeup of news media, and furthermore forced its transformation in order to be relevant within the online landscape.

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, the article is generally credible. Its research was conducted primarily through interviews with teenagers, those who have grown up with both traditional and new form digital media technologies, thereby accruing results from those who have equal access to either form of news media. However, while they do sample from a diverse group of teenagers, with varying social, economic and racial backgrounds, the results are based upon a sample size of just 61, which is relatively small when compared to the vast amount of people that access news worldwide. Hence, the capacity of the article to serve as a definitive indicator of shifting trends within the field of news media is limited.

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Documentary may never be wholly objective. Even if not attempting to create a direct or explicit argument, a documentary film’s structure is used to persuade the audience towards a particular viewpoint. An example of this may be seen in Brian Bolster’s 2014 film, One Year Lease, which presents a series of answering machine messages from an insistent landlady. Whilst providing no direct commentary on the subject, the film’s structuring ensures that the viewer is left with the film maker’s intended impression. Here, phone messages and excerpts from phone messages, are played in quick succession. This editing, in combination with the naturally fast pace of the landlady’s speech, portray the the subject as incessant, overly-invested and absurd. If edited in a different way, the landlady might have been portrayed in a different light. The film’s use of imagery further aids in the creation of the subject, as Bolster employs simple, clean, aesthetics with predominantly still or locked off shots, that contrast with the fast-paced audio in order to create a juxtaposition that highlights and ultimately heightens the near manic nature of the subject’s phone messages. All of this furthers the characterisation of the subject and the director’s intention in convincing the audience the strangeness of the situation that he was placed in.

One Year Lease is furthermore an example of the way in which of
documentary films are often created through a blend of documentary genres, as it falls in between the categories of compilation film, direct cinema and portrait, lending itself to synthetic documentary, which combines aspects of these to create the film. This is the case for many documentary films, such as Werner Herzog’s 2005 film Grizzly Man, which pieces together documentary footage from the film’s late subject, original interviews with his friends and family, as well as aspects of nature and portrait documentary to create a synthetic film which is a blend of all of many different genres into one cohesive whole.

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Personality tests.

I work at a media company as a copywriter and production assistant. In the process for getting this job, I was required to take a personality test, to see if I would fit into the workplace and be able to work as a part of the team. The swot analysis that we were asked to do at the beginning of our group project reminded me of this, and I realised how powerful these sort of exercises are as tools for learning how to best cultivate an effective group dynamic.

I decided to take the myers briggs personality test, and while not wholly accurate, it interestingly, attributed my personality type (ENFP) with many of the same strengths and weaknesses that I said of myself in the swot analysis.

 

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In The Age of Innocence, Scorcece’s film style shines through in his meticulous attention to detail; every aspect of the film is used to convey further meaning to the viewer, as Scorsese curates the mise en scene throughout in order to symbolise or make references to add depth to the film. The recurrent use of freeze frames, coloured lighting and voice over narration distinguish The Age of Innocence as characteristically Scorsesian. Despite departing from the era and subjects of his usual films, The Age of Innocence remains identifiable through the employment of these motifs, in combination with its subject matter. The use of Scorsese’s favoured filmic techniques shape the viewer’s reactions throughout the film and thereby force the audience to contemplate the complex thematic issues presented to them. Masculinity and moral ambiguity are key themes throughout the film; themes that characterise much of Scorsese’s work, as he appears to be drawn to the exploration of these issues as illustrated in his other films, including Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), which all contain markedly similar subject matter, thereby forming a large part of what makes Martin Scorsese’s films stand out as his own.

Tribality is another prominent thematic aspect shared by these films. In The Age of Innocence, many of the issues created throughout are caused by the tribal culture of the period, which was rife with restrictive social convention and familial obligation. The divisions created between the characters by this tribal mentality is reflected in the film’s mise en scene as Scorsese’s use of lighting, sets and costumes, are used to clearly define the boarders between families and social groups, and consequently enhance the film’s narrative, as they both reflect the personalities of the characters, reinforce to the audience their obligation to their allotted ‘tribe,’ and through this, shape both our opinions of them and attitudes towards them. Ultimately, it is this exacting attention to detail and common curation of filmic techniques and themes form the style that Scorsese has become renowned for.