60 second flim competition

Ill Manors-Plan B

Ill manors. What an amazing music video. It was created by the British rapper Plan B. It shows the protest and frustration from the youths of today. The track was realised on the 25^th march 2012 as a lead soundtrack to ill manors, a film written and directed by Plan B.

The song was written in reaction to the 2011 riots across England, and specifically Plan B’s perception of society’s failure to nurture its disadvantaged youth.

Plan B’s preferred reading is changing the perception of the general public’s view on the youths of today which the media has created.

Stereotypically, we relate youths from urban areas of cities to gangs. Our association of gangs is drugs and violence. These images that have been constructed via different media platforms. Plan B wants his audience to look deeper into the reason as to why these youths behave in this way.

As said previously, we link youths with gang culture. Violence; they believe that they are unheard. They unsure how to communicate their aggression and frustration appropriately. They don’t have respect for authority because authority doesn’t have respect for them. Imagine, feeling like no-one is listening. You’d feel so small. Gang culture also acts as a sense of family. In Plan B’s ted talk he said most of ‘us’ come from a ‘dysfunctional families’. Therefore, they turn to the life of gangs to make them feel wanted and needed. Finally, drugs. This is a major part of gang culture. Its where the money comes from. I guess, in a way, it’s a coping mechanism or even an escapism. An escape from the reality of just scraping by or being kicked to the side of society by the government and other authorities.

Ill manors is set in the sub-urban areas in London where they tend to be living in absolute poverty, labelling is as a ‘concrete jungle’. This suggests that they are animals. Implying, that they are out of control. This is the media message which is put out to the general public causing a negative view on the youths. Due to the lack of money, it makes them disheartened and ashamed encouraging them to loot. This was shown clearly in the London riots in 2011. Youths broke into retailers such as JD, Footlocker and SONY. Stealing expensive clothing, shoes and technology. all the things that they may desire to have, and this was their chance to have it.

Going back to 2011 London riots. It started because an alleged drug dealer Mark Duggen was shot dead by a police officer. It began in Tottenham but spread out across different areas in the city. Such as, Hackney, Brixton, Peckham, Enfield, Battersea, Croydon and Ealing. The reason why it spread is because youths saw the opportunity to express their frustration towards the police and the government. Terror was set out on the streets, petrol bombs, breaking into shops, violating the police officers. It brought attention to the youths but it was the positive attention that they needed. The stereotype of a CHAV was brought to light. Plan B say the word CHAV stands for ‘Council Housed and Violent’. The concept of the word CHAV has changed over time.

Media Language - Use of the camera

Basic camera shots

Extreme long shot - a view of a shot which is from a considerable distance, so that people appear in indistinctive shapes. We often say this is an establishing shot.

Long shot- a shot of a person from head to toe. Typically, shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings.  

 Mid shot- a shot of someone from the waist

upwards 

Close up- a shot of a person shoulders upwards

   


  Extreme close- a shot of a persons facial features only

 Two shot- this is a shot of two people in a frame

 Point of view- a shot of someones point of view

Basic camera movements

Tracking shot- the director stands still while the camera moves in and out


Sideways tracking-  a person is moving and the camera is tracking the movements sideways


Tilt shot- camera is tilted up and down to get a shot of an object which could be high or low

Zoom shot-

Arc shot- camera moves around the person
Crane shot- camera gradually increases in height and shows a wider angle of scene

Panning shot- panoramic shot to show everyone in the shot

Basic camera angles

     Over the shoulder- an over the shoulder shot is a shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person.
















       High angle- camera is at a high angle to make the person/ object seem smaller.


Low angle- the camera is at a low point to make the person/object seem bigger/taller

The Media and Me

We talk about the media a lot. There is so many different forms of it. We can access it every minute of the day. I believe it's had a massive impact on our daily lives. As society evolves different forms of media are used less and less because there is more ways of receiving information instantly.

One form of media that I think isn't used as much in my generation is print reads such as newspapers. When I was younger, back in 2005/2006, my dad used to get the news paper everyday. This, was his way of finding out information on what was happening in the world. I don't read the newspapers. The reason for this is because I can receive live updates on the news app on my phone... for free as well. I feel the newspapers have a very negative impact on their audiences. For example, The Guardian and The Times shows negative views on muslims. They imply that all muslims are terrorists which influences their audience to behave in a certain way. Different newspapers have different political views. During the uk election for prime minister The Sun showed negative views against Jeremy corbin. The reason for this is because they are a conservative supporting newspaper. They will produce all the 'against' arguments of why not to vote for the labor party. Bearing in mind over 29.03 billion people read The Sun. That is a enormous amount of people that they're going to influence.

  

Another form of media is advertisng. It's around us 24/7. On Facebook, on Instagram, the television and on the tube. Everywhere we look is advertisement, but how much actually influences us to purchase a product. An advertisements teams aim is to persuade us to purchase that companies products. They do this by celebrity endorsement. For example, Joe hart (Head and Shoulders) and Gary Lineker (walkers crisps). This has a positive impact for the brand because if the audience looks up to this celebrity they're more likely to purchase that product. Fashion trends I think are shaped through celebrities because it gives you the confidence to follow that persons trend. You think, 'well if that person has them trainers then I need that pair of trainers.' Sometimes, need are more wants. This is in order to fit in with today's society.

A music video. You don't really see much of them today. They're still there, we just don't tend to view them as much. This is due to apps such as Spotify and Apple music. I think music videos can be very powerful. They can influence people to behave in a certain way. A music video that I enjoyed and was influenced by was Formation- Beyonce.

A strong message Beyonce is trying to put across to her audience is about gender equality and social class. Artists have a wide audience, so many people. An artist can use a music video to influence their audience in a positive way (hopefully). Beyonce made me question a lot about myself. That I needed to stop caring so much about what people thought of me. It also made me more aware about how common racism still is. Especially, in places like America. I will admit, some music videos have a negative impact on our behaviour. For example, drill music. It comes across in a very aggressive manner. People believe that because of the increase of drill music being produced over the last year is one of main reasons for London's crime and murder rate to spiral out of control. This is due to gang rivalry and postcode wars. 

The internet has been evolving since 1983. It's the most powerful thing in the world. The people of today couldn't live without it. Don't know how to spell a word? Google it. Want to know how to bake a cake? Youtube it. we need the internet. it become apart of our daily lives. I feel the internet has shaped my identity in many different ways. I don't believe it has made me anti-social because I enjoy going out and actually seeing my friends but, it has also broadened my understanding of different conflicts in todays society.

Do you remember when you last played a video game? If you asked me this last week I'd have to have a good think but surprisingly enough, I played the wii last night with my friend. The wii, wow. tech is so much more advanced now compared to when the wii first came out in 2006. I was fixed to it. I got it for Christmas. What I like about the wii is the games aren't aggressive but yes ok they're competitive. As witnessed last night. I don't think video games has a massive impact on me as an individual but that changes as you ask different people. Video games now are so evolved. Gamers sometimes believe they're in the fantasy world of G.T.A because they play it for 12 hours straight. It's the same with drill music. People have started to think that the violence shown in video games may cause the gamer to reciprocate this behaviour in real life situations. Stuart hall suggests it's about how we encode and decode information. He's saying we choose whether to internalise the behaviour shown or to differentiate between real life and fantasy.

CLICK HERE  TO VISIT THE G.T.A HOMEPAGE

There are many genres of magazines, fashion is an obvious one. I read a lot of fashion magazines because that's the industry I want to go into once I've finished my academic studies. When reading an issue of vogue, Elle or cosmopolitan I notice things. These models used are what we perceive as 'perfect'. They're our role models in a way. They're our idealistic versions of our self. My teacher mentioned that in one issue of the magazine Elle, the first 29 pages was just adverts. Advice on how to get your teeth whiter or how to make your skin clearer. They produced these advertisements with celebrity endorsements such as Nicole shirzinger (considering she has flawless skin already). I think magazines add huge amounts of pressure on todays society. The pressures of being 'perfect' and if you're not 'perfect' then you're seen as ugly. Again, it's how you interpret the images and information you're seeing before you. Magazines are not the realistic version of someones self.

Learning new skills

I can write in my blog.

I can insert a image into my blog.

I can embed a video into my blog.






I can add a hyperlink to my blog.
CLICK HERE  to go to the vogue website.

Year 12 Media Induction

Why study the media?

Why study the media? It’s a part of our everyday lives. Mobile phones, everything at the tip of our fingers. Dangerous indeed! Apps like Instagram and Facebook providing images that deceive us and break our self-esteem. It’s crazy, photo-shopping your body so other people's perspective changes. The young girls that actually look up to you and will do ANYTHING to look like your photo shopped self. 94 percent of teens use social media daily. 74 percent of teens use multiple platforms of social media. Yes, I do have social media. I like to think that’s a silly question to ask a person of my age. I use it to communicate my thoughts or feelings on situations that are happening in today’s society. I don’t use social media to the point where I question myself against the Instagram models. The reason for this is because I understand that what I see on my 4.7-inch screen isn’t always how it is. We can all do them angles that get rid of a body rolls and double chin but at the end of the day, you’re still in the same skin as before. People only post their perfect version of themselves.

There was a cosmopolitan magazine cover the other day of a plus size model in a swimsuit. Some people are quick to judge or make negative comments. In my eyes, I see that as so much more inspirational than a photo shopped picture of a person we perceive as ‘perfect’. If more magazines did campaigns like cosmopolitan did the young girls of today would feel more confident in themselves. We just need to show them that is ok to not look like these ‘perfect’ models because we are all perfect in our own way. in a way, there is negatives to this as well, because at the same time we shouldn't aspire to that. the message cosmopolitan were trying to put across was for us to feel comfortable in our own bodies but at the same time it is unhealthy. a staggering 64% of adults in the UK are classified as 'overweight'. the government is attempting to decrease this percentage for obvious reasons. meaning is cosmopolitan publishing this as their front cover really a good idea?

Media has been around for many years now but, it has evolved crazy amounts. The first form of media that was ‘broadcast’ to a wider audience was a printed book known as the ‘diamond sutra’. It was printed in china in868 AD. The phrase ‘media’ began to be used in the 1920s. The notion of ‘mass media’ was generally restricted to print media up until the post-second world war, when radio, television and video were introduced. I feel media is always so negative. Everywhere you look its bad news. War, murder, economy and politics. Nothing is ever celebrated. I don’t tend to read the news for this reason. I do have the news app and I do check it sometimes but it’s all so depressing. Its constantly trying to manipulate us and influence us to form opinions. Everything we do is influenced by the media because it’s so in our face. There’s not a moment we can just stop and get away from it.