News Article

Following the tragic events in Paris this weekend the Metro covered the topic tastefully. I think it is important for the event to be reported sensitively due to the amount of people that lost their lives and those that lost their loved ones. 

Amongst other news, The Xfactor also managed to be very sensitive around the issue deciding that finalists Lauren and Monica should change their song choices for 'movie week' as the lyrics were deemed insensitive. 

Simon Cowell also interupted the live recording of the show to wish for viewers safety - ‘In light of what happened in Paris we’d like to send out thoughts and prayers to everyone affected in Paris, last night,’ Simon said. ‘Please stay safe.’ 

Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/15/the-x-factor-simon-cowell-makes-last-minute-song-choice-changes-after-paris-attacks-5503196/#ixzz3raxv6jel

News Article

The Daily Mail reports that there is a serial sex attacker in the South London area.  Over the past 22 days there have been 8 other sexual assaults in the Brixton and Clapham area, all taking place within 1.5 miles of each other. Two men were arrested under suspicion however have since been released on bail. 

I think the media has dealt with this case relatively sensitively releasing positive statements from Chief Inspector of the case Tony Hirst 'I would like to reassure the public that we have increased police patrols in Clapham and Brixton areas.' I find this better than scaring the public simply to make a good story and therefore the Daily Mail show they are thinking of their readers, also telling people to be cautious 'Always call police if you feel in danger'.  It is also reassured that night time patrols have increased and gave further advice to women to 'remain vigilant when travelling at night'. 

Saving The Cyber Sex Girls and Race Riots

Stacey Dooley investigates Saving the Cyber Sex Girls:
Saving the Cyber Sex Girls is a BBC3 documentary presented by Stacey Dooley. The show explored how young girls are being exploited and sexually abused online, particularly in the Philippines. Themes explored throughout the documentary include sex, social class, age and poverty. Poverty was a dominant theme and consistently referenced. Dooley looked at how a lack of income can force families to using their own children for sex trafficking, showing the true extent of their desperation. Children as young as five were described to being forced to perform sexual acts on webcam with some being shipped off to meet with foreign men that would later pay for sex. Dooley was clever in the way she spoke to victims to enable the audience to see their thought processes and if they think of themselves as being exploited. At one point in the show Stacey visited an internet cafe and spoke to a fourteen year old girl that had recently lost her virginity to a man that had flew to the Philippines especially to pay for sex with her. The show explored how these arrangements are often made on Facebook, a social media site that is so popular and can be so innocently used  it is hard for the audience to believe such terrible deals could me made via.  

To further investigate the cyber sex industry Dooley visits an organisation that created a fake online persona - ten year old Sweetie. In less than two months the character was contacted by more than 20,000 predators that wanted to make sexual arrangements with her or asked her to perform explicit acts. Sweetie's creators were able to trace 1,000 of these paedophiles and 110 were found to be British. Shockingly, out of the 1,000 predators contacted there were only 6-8 prosecutions.  

Overall Dooley concluded that the boom in cheap internet access and the extremely low age of consent at 12 is what makes the Philippines the perfect grooming ground for cyber sex. I like Stacey's Dooley's way of reporting as she can give a true insight into problems without being intrusive. She enabled the audience to see the extent to which young girls are being exploited and gave not only their side of the story but their perpetrators by visiting a local prison. 

Reggie Yates' Race Riots:

Race Riots USA is a recent documentary made for the BBC and presented by Reggie Yates. Yates investigates how black people are treated in American society, particularly in the town of Ferguson. The show was mainly focused on the death of Michael Brown a black eighteen year old who was killed by a white police officer Darren Wilson on the 9th August 2014.  The documentary featured footage of the riots that followed the death of Brown and how the town has been segregated between black and white ever since. Themes explored throughout are race, police brutality and also the representation of black people and white police officers in the news especially.

  I really liked the style of the documentary how it took the audience around the town and allowed us to see where the event unfolded. Reggie also visited a lawyer linked to similar cases, a charity shop opened after the death of Brown and also a large portion of the show was dedicated to Reggie meeting Brown's friend Clifton who had to watch his friend's body remain in the road for four hours. Moreover, I like how the documentary featured facts to help the audience develop their opinion such as the ratio of black to white people in Ferguson being at 70% to 30%. The show also looked at the protesters aiming to clear Wilson of his reputation who believe that although Brown was killed he wasn't innocent as he had stolen from a local shop, therefore possibly put himself in that situation at his own risk. My favourite part was watching Reggie be put in a crime situation and given a simulated gun. This was to test if he would succumb to pressure and reach for his gun - which he did.   

News Article

The Ministry of Defence has been critiscised by animal rights campaigners for using bear skin for their ceremonial head gear worn by the Guardsmen of Buckingham Palace. The Independent reports that a total of 127 bearskins were ordered by Defence Officials in 2014 alone (released by the Freedom of Information Act).  The headgear worn by the Guardsmen are 18" in height and use real fur from Black bears killed in Canada. 

Personally, I am undecided on the matter as it could be argued the bear skin headgear is tradition as British soldiers have worm them for over 200 years due to representing the victory over Napoleon's bearskin wearing Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. On the other hand, designers such as Stella Mcartney and Vivienne Westwood have offered to design suitable alternatives for real fur that could be as equally symbolic. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mod-attacked-by-animal-rights-campaigners-over-use-of-bearskins-a6699036.html

Trip to the BFI London Film Festival

On Wednesday 17th October we attended the BFI London Film Festival, Southbank, to watch a series of short films followed by a question and answer session with the directors and producers.  The collection of short films was named 'New British Shorts' for which there were six films totalling to 43 minutes.

The first film was 'Operator' directed by Caroline Bartleet and lasted around 6 minutes. The film is about how Gemma wakes to find her and her son trapped in their house which is on fire. The film was very intense from the beginning despite the operator's calm and collected tone. The film starred two well known actresses Kate Dickie and Vicky Mclure and could be described as drama or even a thriller as the audience only hear the incident and have to imagine it for themselves.

The second film 'Otherwise Engaged' was a short comedy directed by Alicia Macdonald. The short starred Hannah Arterton and Mark Quartley. The film runs for five minutes and in that time explores the themes of social media and the role technology plays/ effect on 21st century relationships.

The third film was a four minute documentary called 'Lines' directed by Cecile Emeke. The films cast discussed the lyrics to certain songs and how a group of women interpreted them. The themes explored would be music and reflection as the individuals reflected on childhood hits such as the work of Destiny's Child, and how they're understanding of the songs have change and developed.

The next film was 'Copycat' directed and produced by Charlie Lynne. The short lasted 9 minutes and was made entirely from VHS clips. Lynne's short film explores the connection between Rolfe Kanefsky's 'There's nothing out there' and Wes Craven's 'Scream'. The film loosely resembles a documentary centered on the belief that after Kanefsky's film was overlooked so he passed it on to Craven's son, to which five years later Scream (extremely similar to Kanefsky's film) was released and a global success.

The fifth film was C.T.R.L directed by Mariana Conde.  The film is three minutes long and similar to 'Otherwise Engaged' explores the theme of technology and its impact on relationships. The genre could be consider comedy as humour is created through the film only featuring dancers and how love interests can be manipulated by a phone app as if there were characters in a game.

The final film 'Black Sheep' directed by Christian Cerami was the longest of all the shorts, at sixteen minutes. The film resembled a documentary however a very6 informal one following two teenager brothers as they attend an EDL protest. The film itself could be consider controversial due to the view points conveyed throughout.

What were your favourite films?

 My favourites would have to be Operator, Otherwise Engaged, Copycat and Black Sheep. I equally enjoyed 4of them because they were each unique and kept me engaged throughout. I liked how Operator was extremely intense and showed a side of the Emergency Services I had never seen before. In addition, Otherwise Engaged was very light hearted and made me laugh. More importantly, Copycat fascinated me as I really liked how Lynne has edited all the old recordings together, then added his own voice over to tell his story. Furthermore, Black Sheep caught my attention as it was so controversial. I appreciated how Cerami got the two boys to be so comfortable in front of the camera and we were therefore able to hear their true opinions and moreover how vulnerable and susceptible to influences they were.

What interested you about what the film makers had to say?

I enjoyed getting to hear the stories behind the film makers work however I think some were more helpful and informative than others. The directors and producers of Operator had some good advice to do with costs and casting, whilst the director of Otherwise Engaged was very helpful in discussing the pro's and con's of attending film school.

What elements of the films do you think you could use in your coursework?

 For my coursework I am looking at representation for which I think was featured in all of the six films depending on how you look at them. I am looking to investigate the representation of disability which could be quite controversial, similar to Black Sheep however less so. In this case I could look at how the director dealt with a difficult topic and the ways in which he was sensitive and tactful in delivering his message.

News Article

"Lion will be CUT OPEN in front of children as young as FOUR during public dissection at zoo". - The Mirror

The Mirror reports with a warning of graphic content that a Lion is to be dissected at Odense Zoo in Denmark. Through its reporting style it is implied that The Mirror are disgusted by the idea and very against it. They refer to the lion as 'the beast' and emphasise that 'children as young as four will have front row views' this is not only exaggerating slightly but again followed by the repetition of 'public dissection' to draw a reaction from the reader. The article is very informing in that it includes quotes from a zookeeper there 'We believe in sharing knowledge.'

Personally, although I think the article exaggerates the situation slightly, I don't disagree that it is very wrong. The Mirror suggests that the dissection will be on the local high street and that children are being forced to watch it, however at the end of that day it is an optional experience and it is taking place under strict conditions. I think that although it is extremely uncomforting to think about, there may be some usefulness in it to training veterinarians and zoo keepers. 

Kingsman and Skyfall Comparison

Kingsman: The Secret Service was released in January 2015 starring several big name actors including Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Caine. The British made film was directed by Mathew Vaugn and based on the 2012 comic books of the same name by Mark Miller and Dave Gibbons, in total generating around $412 million. Skyfall is the 23rd film in the James Bond series and was released in 2012. The film recruited Daniel Craig as Bond and also stars Judi Dench. It became the highest grossing film in the UK at the time generating over $1,000 million.

Kingsman: The Secret Service and Skyfall explore similar themes and ideas, however differ at times as well. Both films are British made, both follow Todorov's theory , and overlap in genres such as Spy and Action films. Kingsman  can also be referred to as a coming of age film as it shows the evolution of Eggsy a boy who works his way up in the secret service. It could also be listed as a comedy due to certain parts of the film being solely for humour, for example Samuel L Jackson's lisp and the 'arsehole' scene.Interestingly, CinemaBlend reports that it was Jackson's idea to have his character of Valentine with a speech impediment. He explained to director Vaugn that he has suffered with a lisp when he was younger and it drove him to want to succeed. 'If you're Steve Jobs and you've got money, you've got power and you've got everything you want - but you've still got this god damn stutter and lisp, and people aren't 100% taking you seriously, it can take you to that next level of going mad.'  Contrastingly, Skyfall explores a genre of its own in that it could be classed under Thriller or Adventure. Despite both films being Action, Skyfall seems to conform to the genres conventions more with significantly more car chases and explosion than Kingsman, none the less Kingsman does include several such as the police car chase at the beginning of the film. Amongst similar themes between the two are saving the world and becoming a hero. Both main protagonists Bond and Eggsy, although very different, succeed in 'saving the world' as it were.

The two films overall convey opposing political views. Both films showcase the dominant ideology. With Bond being a white, heterosexual, middle aged man, clean shaven and in a suit. He is also a protagonist with great power, skills and authority suggesting the dominant ideology is the criteria for his abilities. Similarly, Harry Hart is of the same nature however Kingsman is about embracing 'Eggsy' a boy despite his low social class being able to become/ being considered for a Kingsman. Vaugn here conveys social realism through Harry Hart's left wing political views and through the film in general including characters of a working class - unlike Skyfall. 

There are positive representations throughout Kingsman with disability represented through Gazelle who has blades for legs. She uses this in her favour as she fights offthe kingsman and protects Valentine, although failing to do so against Eggsy in one of the final scenes. In addition, there is also a positive representation of females throughout as Roxy a woman, much smaller in weight and height than the other contenders, manages to win the position of Lancealot showing capability over men who are suggested to be seemingly more able. On the other hand, Skyfall over sexualises women as the mysterious lady is tied up and a game made of trying to knock the whiskey from her head. Bond's colleague Eve Moneypenny is also shown to shoot Bond instead of the opposition. In addition to her being shown to not be able to do what she aimed to do, she becomes a sexual object. A scene by which Bond is shaving, a masculine act, she takes over shaving him suggesting women are below men, before he unbuttons her blouse without consent. 

News Article

From 5th October there has been a new law enforced in England that says supermarket shoppers will have pay 5p towards each plastic carrier bag they use. Personally, I agree that the new law could be successful in stopping litter and waste as intended whilst the money received does all go towards charity. 

However the TaxPayer's Alliance believes that overall it will cost families £1.5billion over the next ten years, averaging around £67 a year for each family. The Mirror newspaper have an article online stating all the ways in which families can avoid the 5p charge. Although this in a way is them discouraging giving to charity, I think it is a helpful article for most families as they suggest ideas such a reusing bags and looking out for free bags.

Carers bullied and abused frail woman at care home.

Two carers Adam Hunt and Raquel Pritchard were filmed tormenting a frail and vulnerable patient, 68 year old Bridget Mcdonald. The two carers were sacked after Mcdonald's two daughters set up a secret camera after they noticed a change in her behavior. At one point during the clip Hunt is seen shouting at Bridget and swearing.  One of her daughters is reported to be disgusted saying 'It is heartbreaking to see my mum look so scared and confused while they treat her in such an appalling way.”  

Personally, I think this is appalling as there have been many cases of this. I think the watch on care homes should be stricter and staffs treatment of patients should be regularly checked.  It is disgusting to think that the only way behaviour like this is caught is through deception and hiding cameras in a patients room, regular checks should be made to avoid this. I believe punishment is due to the carers and that simply losing their jobs isn't enough.

Fruitvale Station - Genre, Representation, Narrative

Fruitvale station is an American drama film directed by Ryan Coogler in 2013. It's genre would be a drama based on real life events - the death of Oscar Grant (played by Michael B Jordan) who was killed in 2009 by police officer Johannanes Mehserle. The narrative follows Oscar Grant who was unarmed and then shot in the back by  two police officers, he then died several hours later and therefore one of the police officers was charged with involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to eleven months in prison. The narrative follows Grant as he plans a new years resolution to free himself from a life of crime and provide a better life for his girlfriend Sophina (played by Melonie Diaz) and daughter Tatiana. As the audience see Grant begin to turn his life around, the tragedy that is his death occurs just after midnight on new years eve meaning his resolution is no longer. 

The genre would be a biography drama about Grant's life and his death.It is also a narrative feature film as its whole narrative consists of telling a fictional story. The film stays true to the real events remaining realistic throughout opposed to having regular conventions of action and crime films. 

The representation throughout is of the events that happened that night. The police are represented to be racist in their convicting, as they only demanded the black people leave the train and prematurely decided it was them that had started the fight. Contrastingly, Grant was represented to be the opposite to what the police presumed. He was shown to be getting his life back on track and be a family man willing to learn from his mistakes to better his family. This created sympathy amongst the audience as we had been following his journey of self improvement. Themes throughout include the brutality of the police force, racial discrimination and familial relationships. Unfortunately there have been similar cases to Oscar Grant's in the past, all of which seem to link in with the themes portrayed in this film. 

I really enjoyed this film as it was not what I expected it to be. It was very eye opening and I thought Coogler was right and clever in featuring actual footage from the event. This helps bring home to the audience the seriousness behind the story and how Oscar Grant was a real man, innocent and killed for no reason. Overall I was fascinated by the film as it told the story so well and realistically.

The Last Leg and Fox News

The Last Leg is presented by Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker. I think the show is clever in the way it gives an alternative look at the weeks news. I like how it shows the highlights of the week and then the three presenters will discuss the news adding their own opinions and speaking more freely than regular news reporters. I watched the clip about the UKIP manifesto. The three presenters talking about the policies such as abolishing inheritance tax. The show is presented in front of a live audience and their laughter can be heard throughout. I like how they were light hearted in their comments and they often make jokes towards politicians. I also like how they bring on guest stars and asked how they think Nigel Farage is being portrayed in the media so that the audience get serious news but with humour as well.

The Fox news clip I watched was about the two officers that got shot during the Ferguson protests. The clip was captioned 'Two officers shot last night outside the Ferguson Police Dept' which I think is very to the point and insensitive.  They interviewed a protester live from outside the police department to which the reporter asked outright what he saw of the shooting, and then began to call the protester by his first name saying 'Ivory, you should be saying this is wrong'. I think this is really unprofessional as the news reporter should just be accepting his opinion opposed to questioning it.

Black Mirror and Misfits

Misfits and Black Mirror are both produced by channel 4. The shows are similar in that they are both based on a future world and therefore come under a science fiction/ supernatural and dystopian genre. Both look at how society's future could be in jeopardy if over ruled by supernatural powers as seen in Misfits and overuse and dependency of technology in Black Mirror.

 The narratives of the two TV shows differ in that Misfits has more or less the same cast in each episode of one series. Misfits focuses on a group of young offenders and these characters are recurring throughout each episode. Alternatively, Black Mirror has a new narrative each episode. For example the first episode is about the power of technology and the internet on blackmailing the Prime Minister,  whereas the second episode has a whole new narrative about a talent show and the 'price of fame'. A similarity between the two shows is that each episode - whether or not linking on from the previous one - follows a unique plot line and one which therefore aids its genre of science fiction. I think this makes the shows stand out against regular dramas and makes them more appealing. They offer the viewer an exciting and alternative view on the world we live in. I think Misfits is aimed at a younger audience to Black Mirror as it is centred around a group of teenagers to whom a teen audience could relate. Whereas, Black Mirror to be targeted at an older audience due to some of the harsher and more disturbing scenes such as the ones seen in the first episode. 

Misfits mainly represents youth culture as it is about a group of young people. Youths are represented negatively from the beginning as the group of teenagers are young offenders on community service and have therefore committed crimes. The representation of Kelly, a character of low social class, is for her to be a stereotypical 'chav' with lots of jewellery, lots of makeup and her hair in a high pony tail. She is also shown to have bad language and a bad attitude. The representation of the teens does however change throughout each episode as the viewer begins to learn why each person committed their crime and then begins to represent them as the misunderstood teenagers they are. On the other hand, Black Mirror represents normal people being exploited. For example, the character of Abi in the episode '15 million merits.' The world is powered by people cycling on exercise bikes and character Bing sees an opportunity for Abi to escape this world of 'black mirrors' by auditioning for a talent show. She is represent as an authentic and normal human being with a talent for singing, however due to society's dependency on technology and this particular talent show she 'goes through a filter until nothing natural is left'.

News Article

A driver has been described as 'psychtotic' by The Daily Mail after driving through the city of Graz at up to speeds of 90mph. The 26 year old driver injured at least 34 people and killed three people - one of which was a man who married only two weeks ago. The driver not only harmed shoppers and passers by with his wreck less driving, he proceeded to get out of his car and stab innocent bystanders. It is suggested that the 'deranged assassin' was suffering from marital problems.
In my opinion the Daily Mail did good coverage on the story but rather than explaining the background behind it they just reported on the events that had happened, such as one of the victims killed being a four year old boy. 

Coursework Idea

1500 words - Genre/ Representation/ Narrative

Representation of disability in the media
Negative representations compared to positive ones.

How is disability represented both positively and negatively in the media?

Negatively - music videos / pity narratives

Positively - Parlaympics/ Documentaries ('living with...')

• Physical disabilities
• learning difficulties
• pity narratives

Theory of everything
4th July

News Article

Following the alton Tower's incident on the 2nd June whereby the ride Smiler was involved in a collision, news reporter Kay Burley interviewed the CEO of the theme park for Sky News. Viewers were out raged by the interview she conducted with Nick Varney saying that it was 'grossly unfair' and 'bullying'.  Viewers initiated a petition too have Burley sacked and it has now reached 50,000 signatures. One viewer Emma Stylianou claimed she was 'disgusted' and that 'SKY should be ashamed.' TV regulator for Ofcom reported 1,100 complaints after the interview was aired with Burley making statements such as “They went to have a fantastic day and they have potentially lost a limb. You won’t tell us if they have or not.” 
Personally, I think that as a news reported Burley should have acted more professionally and should know how to conduct a professional interview. She could have been more sensitive about the matter and allowed Varney to talk as there were reports of her interrupting him.