3 texts representing gender

1. channel 4s "cure me I'm gay".

the representation of males in the programme is primarily lead by our perception of the presenter, Christian Jessen. he is an openly gay doctor who is embarking on a journey to expose gay cures and see if they have any effect. the opening of the programme has been constructed to show the audience the types of treatments he will take through the use of a montage sequence. the non diegetic music is un melodic and appears to be just tones. there is then a over shoulder shot of him throwing up and the music changes and becomes a lot darker; from this the audience will decode the text and react to the enigma codes used at the beginning of the show. the short shots of him taking treatment are the enigma codes, the shotsonly last for a few seconds making the audience intrigued and wanting to see more.

2. flo rida "how i feel".

this music video represents males positively and as being powerful and successful. the opening establishing shot is an ariel view of las vegas with rich colours and lights. the shot slowly pans round keeping the casinos and night life central to the frame. it then cuts to a low angle shot of and expensive collectable car pulling in to a casino and being met by a beautiful woman. as the woman walks towards the car her legs are purposely objectified, which adheres to the ideology of las vegas; that being things are won and she appears to be the trophy woman. the video then cuts to another low angle shot of flo rica stepping out the are and on to the red carpet. there is a strong use of visual codes  with the choice of clothing, he is in a blue velvet suit which connotes wealth. he is then joined by what look like his entourage all dressed in black, instantly the viewer decodes the characters as it enables them to see that this man is important and is about to take on more money.

3. Ok magazine cover.

targets

in the exam i failed to complete the last question. this was because i struggles to choose my own items to talk about in the previous one. to improve i need to:
. learn about theories and apply them in the exam
. talk more in depth about the items given and relate better to the question
. pick my own items and study them, that way i will know what to talk about in the second and third question
. revisit the language used when analysing articles in the exam
. make sure i write a quick plan before i start to write, allowing me to know what points to hit and how to pace my essay.

this program targets a male audience. the show is about taking a small toy and making a full size motor bike out of it. stereotypically the man is the one who builds and constucts; the show follows the saying "boys and their toys". the age ranges from 15-40+ as younger boys may be interested in the making and inventing new things and the older men or the dads may have hobbies where they build and construct in their sheds. the presenter james may also gives the impression that older men or "big kids", as he calls himself and other middle aged men, can enjoy the show.

Homefront trailer

in the trailer we see a clash of masculinity between the men. also it appears that the american male is represented as being small minded and violent, for instance we see the young boy in the park bully the girl by taking her hat and pushing her; all his friends think its funny but then she stands up and beats him up. stat ham being british is shown in a different light; he works for the government but is not working a case, we get the impression that he has lost his wife and now looks after his daughter. this shows his character to be caring and morally just. franco on the other hand plays a meth cooking killer as he pursues after stat ham to avenge his son being beaten up. his character is clearly trying to prove his masculinity by threatening to beat statham up. he is the complete opposite to stathams character in the sense that he is against the law but is fought back with violence.

Cagney and Lacey

Here we see women being represented in a positive way. the two main protagonists, Cagney and Lacey appear to be two plain clothed cops in new york. this instantly give them power and is backed by images of them arresting men and outsmarting them. there one point where there is a long shot of them walking out of the subway and they are flashed by a man, none of them take any notice and carry on walking; this tells us that they have a very strong attitude towards their work and are not shock by men acting like fools. in the intro we also see that one of them has a husband as there is a mid shot of him leaning in the car to kiss her and give her lunch to take to work. right at the start we see in the visual codes given in the still images that they carry guns and have police badges; both connote power. in the tracking long shot of them walking we see them wearing plain colours and sensible clothes, and not giving the sex appeal by showing their bodies.

album covers

album art inspiration

this here is a style that bruno has used before in this doo wops and hooligans album art. there is the painted textured background with a stencil looking print of a silloughete of bruno. His name, top right seems to be the same as the page behind therefore another stencil. i like this silloughete stencil look, its something that can be played around with

here is the doo-wops & Hooligans album front cover. again the ame painted looking background with his name being missed by the smudged paint.

this is the album booklet cover. we can see that it follows the same style as the front but with an edited image of bruno. same colours and same swirly rocket pattern.

this is the back of the album. very simple. just the p[ainted yellow on the badge background that is showing through. it is like a wall has been painted but not very well and is patchy. at the bottom it then has the barcode with the credits, this will be who produced the album, where it was recorded, studio label, songwriters ect.

Audience Task

Intended Audience

The intended audience for peppa pig is 3-5 years old. the episode is only 5 mins long making sure that the child doesn't looses concentration and become bored. having the child's attention is crucial as there are moral lessons within the story and for the show to sell it has to entertain. i think that a child over the age of 5 would possibly find the content lacking in more complex dialogue and the story or theme to simple. many children at the ages 5-8 have quite a steep learning curve and can start to understand children's rights and wrongs in society and conversation with people become more fluent.

Gratification

The episode contains conversations between the family using only simple English. this makes the story easy to follow. Also the narration we here is a chain of short descriptive sentences, and spoken at a fairly slow pace giving the child time to listen to what is being said and also time to enjoy the visuals. The colour scheme is very wide and unrealistic; the colours seen are very vibrant and eye catching. Children love to see a wide mix of colours, therefore the screen play itself grabs the child attention. the fact that the cartoon is drawn in a way where it looks un-neat and quickly hand drawn makes it more relaetable to children of a young age as the drawings they do themselves would have the same sort of look to them.

How its constructed

the cartoon has a linear story, therefore it is very simple for the child to follow. the layout of the cartoon is almost 2D, so when the characters move we always see a side on version of them. the episode only lasts 5 mins in which time we have a begining middle and end. on their journey home we see the car turning into a boat. this is a clever construction of imagination as the child will be wowed by the car transforming. i believe the clip leaves alot of room for children to add their own imagination into it, this could be why the backgrounds are so plain; so the children can, in their head, add more to that world.