Half Term Revision Session

There is a half term revision session on Wednesday June 6th in G34 from 10am until 2pm.
All A2 Media Students can attend. Hosted by SP.

Media Portrayal of Young People Research

Here is a useful link to some research about the effects of negaitive media coverage on young people.

http://childrens-research-centre.open.ac.uk/research/NCB%20final%20report.pdf

Sket Analysis

Background

Sket (2011 dir. Nirpal Bhogal) reveals the disturbing sub culture of violent girl gangs in London. The film challenges many contemporary films, which merely focus on male teen gangs. It was made in consultation with real life gang members and the intention of the film is to offer an authentic reflection of life in a girl gang. The director argues that the film was created for young people as they feel the life they lead is poor and wanted some form of escapism, which they could relate too. This is what Bhogal aimed to do (Independent, May 2010).

It represents collective identity in many ways -

- Clothing – puffer jackets, hoodies, trainers
- Language – street language used ‘sket’ and ‘shank’
- Their identity is shown through the music – grime genre
- Setting – urban area, graffiti, top deck of buses
- No maternal figures in their life so look to one another for an identity.
- No respect for authority – shown in many scenes such as: beating up ex lover in broad daylight, Shaks says to Kayla ‘why didn’t you go to the police’ to which Kayla replies ‘is there any point?’, no punishment is given to the girls at end of film
- Anti Social behaviour – shown throughout the film when the girls bash into passers by, beat up innocent passers by and also steal from shop.
- They hang around the estate during most of the film and the girls do not appear to be in education or employment.
- At the beginning of the film Kayla gets attacked by male teens and people on top deck of bus do not rush to help – could the reason for this be the fact that they are used to this kind of behaviour or are too scared to challenge the violent behaviour they witness?


Link to previous texts
Quadrophenia/Clockwork Orange – Scene at the start of film was said to be reminiscent of Alex and his Droogs when they beat up tramp. Kayla is searching for an identity and wants to belong to a group after the death of her mother and finding herself in a new city. At the end of the film she meets up with her estranged father and she loses the hoody and appears to wish for a better life – much like Jimmy.
London riots – Links to the idea of broken Britain and failure of penal system (which were cited reasons for the riots in August). It reinforced the message of gangs and anti social behaviour as seen in the London riots. It also showed urban, concrete estates and the fact that young people are excluded from mainstream society.

Link to theory
Identity is not given and is constructed and negotiated. Gauntlett.

David Buckingham - Reading the Riots

Riots

View more PowerPoint from petefrasers

Very useful presentation from David Buckingham.

Riots made worse by media coverage

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a373637/england-riots-made-worse-by-media-coverage-finds-report.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/mar/28/uk-riots-twitter-facebook

The summer riots across the UK last year were "made worse" by rolling TV news channels and social media such as Twitter and Facebook, according to an independent panel set up by the government to examine the roots of the unrest.In a report published on Tuesday, the Riots Communities and Victims Panel said social networking and TV footage of police officers watching people "loot at will" helped fuel the disorder in London and other UK cities.

Sket Write Up

Analyse the poster for Sket
What does this image suggest about the film, in terms of the:
a. characters – their identity as individuals and as a group
b. setting
c. story
How does it suggest these things?
How does this poster image fit with the ways girls tend to be shown in film posters, or on magazines, or on TV? Explain your answer, using examples where you can.

3. How are the girls represented in the film? Complete a brief character analysis for Kayla, Danielle and Shaks.
Use specific examples from the text. Pick key scenes and focus on how camera/mise en scene/sound create meaning.

4. Discuss the themes within the film and consider how these contribute to the collective identity of young people.
See previous PP slide and add your own thoughts.

5. Overall, does this film fuel or challenge negative representation of identity?

6. Consider links with other case studies we have studied and also link understanding of Sket with any relevant theory.

Panel concludes that riots were fuelled by a lack of opportunities for young people, poor parenting and suspicion of the police

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/28/verdict-uk-riots-stake-society

Have a read of the above article taken from The Guardian about a recent report into the reasons for the riots.

"When people don't feel they have a reason to stay out of trouble, the
consequences for communities can be devastating – as we saw last
August," said Darra Singh, chair of the panel.

Consider this when discussing the wider social implications of collective identity.

Plan B Interview - NME

http://bcove.me/9ijom63w

Interview with Ben Drew about his song iLL Manorshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Plan B: 'Find out what kids are good at. It will change their lives'

Another useful article from The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/17/plan-b-speech-british-youth-tedxobserver?CMP=twt_gu

"See, this fuels the fire. If you call kids words that are derogatory to them just because they are unlucky enough to be born into a family that couldn't afford to give them the education that you had, they're going to hate you. Of course they're going to hate you and you're going to hate them because of their actions. And it's this vicious circle that goes round. By calling these kids these words you push them out of your society and they don't feel part of it. You beat them into apathy and in the end they just say: "Cool, I don't care. I don't want to be part of your society."

And then the riots happen, right? We've got a generation of youths out there on the streets. The weather is hot, it's nice. They ain't got nothing to do because all the community centres have been shut down. And all the money that was put into summer projects to keep these kids monitored and occupied [has gone]. Their parents ain't going to take them out of the country on holiday. You've got a whole generation of kids that do not feel that they're part of this society and they start rioting and looting. And taking the things that society has made them feel are the most important things. Sheldon Thomas [former gang member and mentor] said: "If you ask how we became a society where young people think it's OK to rob and loot, I respond how did we get to a society that cares more about shops and businesses than lives of young people." That's some strong words right there."

Plan B: Voice of a generation

Below is a link to an article on Plan B and iLL Manors taken from the Independent [Saturday 17th March 2012].

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/plan-b-voice-of-a-generation-7575736.html

It would be useful to read through the article to get a picture of what Ben Drew hopes to achieve through his record.

He says: "If anybody wants to talk to me about how I think we can change these things I'm ready."

They say: "With less talent, or worse luck, Drew could have been among the rioters." Dorian Lynskey, writer

Plan B - making a stand about representation of young people

Take a look at http://www.time4planb.co.uk/splash2012/

After watching the video and listening to the Plan B interview on BBC 1 Extra consider the following:

- Does the video fuel negative representations of youth collective identity? Or does the video and lyrics together attempt to challenge these negative views?
- Can you offer textual examples of how young people are represented in the video?
- Are there any instances in the video which show authority abusing their power?
- What was Plan B trying to challenge through his lyrics and video for iLL Manors?
- What does Plan B hope to achieve through his music and film?

Social Media and the London riots

Using your research so far discuss the following questions:

• How far were the responses of the rioters themselves given space in the media?

• Given the general framing of young people as the key participants in the events, how much space was given to young peoples’ voices – and what sorts of young people were given space to respond in the media debates?

• To what extent did social media challenge or confirm representations of youth identity in the mass media during the time of the London riots?

• Discuss the positive and negative.

• Use examples and theory to illustrate your argument.

Future debates about youth collective identity

Has the representation of youth changed from past to present?

Or are we going to have the same representations as we had before? Demonisation of youth

The norm, both in the past and currently, is for older creators to construct representation of youth. So is this the future - younger writers/directors getting involved to create more truthful, relevant representations?

Do you really think representations of youth will change?

Will truthful, relevant representations be found on the internet where UK youth are already in control (to a certain degree) of how they are represented through Youtube and Facebook?

Does the media demonise youth?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_week/7742067.stm

Useful college blog on Collective Identity

http://collectiveidentity.posterous.com/

Take a look at this college blog and see what they have been studying for collective identity. Not all of it is of use but you can gather some good ideas!

Law and public disorder article

Read the article to the end.

List (bullets) the methods the police can now use to deal with public disorder.

Answer the following using supporting evidence:

- What are the reasons given for the police using such methods?

- What are the arguments against this?

- Is the report biased or unbiased?

- What are the key messages and values given by the report?

- Do you think the article would start and social or moral panics?

Look at the images:

1. - Do the images of the rioters refer to any particular social group?

2. - Is this a fair representation of the content of the article?

3. What impressions do you get of the police from the images selected?

4. As a young person in British society, how do you feel about this article?

5. - If you were a reporter, would you do anything differently? Explain.

6. - Who do you think is the target audience for this article?

7. - Is it a fair representation of the social groups discussed?

London riots summary write up

Overview of Contemporary Case Study

- What were the context of the riots?
- What were the reasons given as to
why youths were involved in the riots?
- Were youths given a fair and unbiased representation in the
press coverage of the riots?

Applying Theory

- How can the coverage of the London
riots be understood in relation to the ideas of Stan Cohen?
- David Gauntlett stated that “Identities are not ‘given’ but are constructed and negotiated.”

- From the research which you have conducted into the coverage of the London Riots, to what extent is the representation of the collective identity of youths constructed by the press?
- Consider for and against argument.

See PP on D2L for further information

London riots case study write up

Below is London riot activity. Mkae sure that you embed YouTube clips together with your analysis of the coverage. These will form case study examples which will help your exam answer so make sure that these are completed in some detail.

• Collect and embed examples of news coverage of the London riots from YouTube.
  - For each news report discuss how youths are represented.
  - Who do the reporters interview?
  - What images are used in the broadcast? What does this suggest about representation of the riots?
  - Is the broadcast biased?
  - Are youths given a fair voice?

• Collate a selection of stories and images from online news reports from broadsheet and tabloid press and post onto blog.
  - Analyse the images and sensationalist/emotive language used.
• - How does the article construct representation of youth identity?
  - Is the broadcast biased?
  - Are youths given a fair voice?
  

You will find the presentation on D2L.

Initial Research of Newspapers

Representation of ~Youth in the Press

Activity1

· Look at a selection of newspapers.

· List the stories which involve youth and youth culture.

· Which of these stories are negative and which are positive?

· Choose 3 of your stories to analyse further with your partner.

Activity 2

· In pairs analyse the language and images used within the article.

· What sensationalist or emotive language is used?

· What images accompany the article?

· What would the language and images suggest about the representation of youths and youth culture?

Activity 3

· Each group should present their findings to the rest of the group.

· Did you notice any difference in the language or images used in tabloids or broadsheets?

· Post the analysis of the articles on your G325 blog.

· Don’t forget to include newspaper, date and title of article before posting findings on blog.

Historical Case Study - write up guidance

Interesting analysis of themes within the film:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/aug/18/reel-history-quadrophenia-riot 

Create an analysis of Quadrophenia (1979) using the prompts below:

Key Theory summary

1. Offer a brief summary of Dick Hebdige and his idea of 'subculture'.
2. Discuss Stan Cohens ideas. Define what is meant by a moral panic & deviance amplification.

Focus text analysis

Quadrophenia (1979) dir. Franc Roddam

1.Discuss the representation and ideological values of Jimmy, Steph and Kevin. Use textual examples to back up your point made.
2.What examples of mise en scene reinforce the idea of youth culture?
3.What ideologies are present within the film?
4.How can Dick Hebdige and Stan Cohen’s theory be related to this film?


Extension activity: Clockwork Orange (1971)1.Discuss the background to the film.
2.How was the film reported by the press and how did the youths of the time relate to
the film?
3.How can Stan Cohen’s theory be related to this film?

The PP is on D2L should you need extra information