Collective Identity

David Gauntlett and David Buckingham are influential writers concerned with the relationship between media and cultural identity:

• "A focus on identity requires...attention to...media and technologies...used in everyday life, and their consequences both for individuals and for social groups" - Buckingham (2008)
• "Thinking about self-identity and individuality can cause some anxiety...is individuality just an illusion? Maybe we are all incredibly similar, but are programmed to value minuscule bits of differentiation." - Gauntlett (2007)

DEBATE: should innocent people have any reason to worry about carrying an identity card?

Abstract ways of thinking about identity: the clothes we wear, the media we consume; the people we like.

• "the presentation of self" - Goffman (1990) talking of how others see us

People make assumption of minority groups, such as Muslims or The Police, due to their collective identity: traits of a similar nature that one identity share.

ISSUE: is 'straight-acting' a safer 'way-of-being'?

Dogma 95

Dogma 95, created by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterburg in 1995, is an avant-grade film making movement that has been criticised for being a disguised attempt at trying to gain media attention. However, Von Trier and Vinterburg state they produced the 'Dogme 95 Manifesto' as a set of rules to create film making based on traditional values of story, theme and acting. Therefore no advanced technology or special effects are to be used. On the 22nd of March 1995 in Paris, the Dogme movement was anouncced when von Trier was called to publicly discuss the future of film at the 'La cinema vers son deuxieme siecle' conferense. When fellow directors Kirstain Levring and Soren Kragh-Jacobsen joined von Trier and Vinterburg, the 'Dogme 95 Collection' was formed. Due to its accessibility the genre gained international appeal. The Dogma inspired unknown film makers as it stated any one, with out being dependant on commissions and Hollywood budgets, can create a recognised film. It raised awareness among audiences of the art, essence and effects of film making.

Goals of the 'Dogme Collective':

• to purify film making by excluding the use of special effects in production and the use of post-production modification entirely.
• film makers must concentrate on the actor's performance and the story of the piece.

The application of these aims in film making are believed by the Dogme Collective to engage the audience on a better level as there should be no distraction of over-production.

From these goals, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg produced the 'Vow of Chastity' that any Dogme film must follow:

1. Filming must be done on location and any props needed must be found on location - not brought in.
2. Only diagetic sound can be used.
3. Hand-held cameras must be used opposed to static cameras, movement is permitted. Filming must take place where the actions is, not the other way around.
4. Filming must be in colour. No special lighting permitted.
5. Optical work and filters are permitted.
6. The film it's self must contain no superficial action, i.e. murders.
7. The film must take place here and now: temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden.
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, aspect ratio of 4:3 - not wide screen.
10. The director must not be credited.

Ideologies and Discourses - the Marxist Approach

Ideology:

• a set of ideas which gives account of the social world
• relationship of these ideas to the way that power is socially distributed
• the way they are posed as 'taken for granted' ideological assumptions from the natural world

Marxism:

Walter Benjamin, a German-Jewish intellectual described Marxism as "art in the age of mechanical production".

Leading up to the 1789 Revolution, Marx argued that ideas are not free floating but instead, systematically linked to social power. In the 19th century, he questioned the supposedly 'natural' but unequal order of things by analysing the new profit and market dominated system: Capitalism, as well as the rising manufacture industrialists and the working class. Marx emphasised the importance of class difference or people's different relationships to the means of production: do they 'own' or 'work for'. He argued the working class had the power to change history through their united action and used the concept of ideology to account for how the Capitalist class protected its economic issues:

- The 'dominant ideas' of any society are those which work in interest of the ruling class to secure it's rule or dominance.

- He argued a 'base-super-structure' model of the social role of institutions such as the media existed; the ways in which the basic needs of a social order meet determine it's superstructure.

- The dominant class is able to make workers believe that existing relations of exploration and oppression are natural and inevitable.

Gramsci and 'hegemony':

Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) created the term 'hegemony' which was a development of Marx's theory and became a new way of thinking how dominant value systems change throughout struggle. Gramsci argued that particular social groups struggle for ascendancy using persuasion and consent where as Marx emphasised on the imposed dominance of the ruling class and the determining power of the economic base.

'Reality'

A plan for a modern social realist, British New Wave film 'Reality' including a storyboard for the teaser trailer:

Reality

View more presentations from slelliott.

Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh OBE is an English writer and director of theater and film. Born on 20th February 1943 in Broughton, Lancashire, Leigh had a working-class northern up bringing. He studies theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with a scholarship in 1960 and began his acting career with the Royal Shakespeare company. In the later 1960s, Leigh became a theater director and play write but it wasn't until the 1970s that Leigh made the transition to television plays. Some of his earlier productions such as 'Nuts in May' (1976) and 'Abigale's Party' (1977) humorously satirised middle-class manners and attitudes. As Leigh moved into the 1980's, his plays focused more on working-class families and had a starker, more brutal nature. 'High Hopes' (1988) and 'Naked' (1993) are good examples of Leigh's new themes. A commitment to social realism is evident throughout Leigh's work. His television plays portray 'Kitchen Sink Realism' that developed in the late 1950s; they explore the domestic relationships between ordinary people that are hugely affected by a crisis towards the end of the film.

Leigh's style of working is very unique to Social Realism. He works from improvisation instead of writing scripts. These sessions take place over a few weeks where the actors and actresses build their characters and many of the story lines from nothing but a brief sketch of ideas from Leigh. Working with only a small selection of actors including Alison Steadman who he went on to marry, Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville, Leigh ensures that his improvisation sessions will be successful as he knows that these can work well in his style.

Leigh has won many prizes at major European film festivals, most notably he won 'Best Director' at Cannes for 'Naked' in 1993. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008.

British Social Realsim

The UK has a strong legacy of fiction that attempts to portray issues facing ordinary people in their social situations. Social realist films should not be thought of as a genre but instead, an approach. English film director Ken Loach is associated with Social Realist Films and suggests he merely tells stories which he hopes will 'resonate' with the public. Mike Leigh tends to avoid being labelled to a form of realism although like Loach, Leigh uses no scripts and total improvisation which is a technique strongly linked to Social Realism.

Murry's definition of Social Realism (2008), "the work of film makers today who may be creative, but are always grounded in the actuality of the events within their social contexts - waiting to examine the social realities that these fictional stories and people grow out of. Our experience as audiences is a constant frisson of recognition".

'Frisson' leads us to the idea that social realism is often uncomfortable to watch. In many social realist films the main theme is the complexity of exploration. These films represent different issues so therefore can not be collectively summarised as being typically of how the UK is viewed on screen. However, the themes they explore are common in relation to location.

British Cinema

The ways in which Britain is represented on screen are hugely influenced by economic and political contexts, e.g funding, the relationship between USA and UK film, dilemmas for producers, audience shifts and government agendas.

We need to consider:

• British films as cultural products
• A range f commercially successful and critically acclaimed films on release with regard to directors, styles and audience responses
• How films represent the changing nature of Britain and it's people
• Does British Cinema suffer from a 'burden of representation'?

The British Film Industry

British films are split into four categories:

• Category A - an entirely British film funded by UK finance
• Category B - majority UK funded
• Category C - co-funded by the UK and the US
• Category D - US films with some creative input from the UK

UK films share a language with Hollywood...but is this a benefit or a stumble block? Roddick argues, "Every memorable achievement to come out of UK cinema since the war has come out of some one's desire to sell something, not to sell" (1999).

Our government defines success on the Hollywood model: 'bums on seats'. Films get money from the Film Council and the National Lottery if they seriously set out to or actually achieve this.

Film directors such as Mike Leigh, Shane Meadows, Ken Loach and Michael Winterbottom face the dilemma summarised by Stafford (2002), "The choices for British producers are: make low budget British films directed at mainstream British audiences, hoping that the 'peculiarly British' subject matter will attract overseas audiences who will see films as unusual.

The Burden of Representation

Linking to British Film in relation to collective identity, the 'burden of representation' describes the way that the history of social realist British film can weigh on the shoulders of new film makers and producers. E.g, 'Bend it Like Beckham' blends realism, authenticity and stereotyping. Where as some British films, such as 'East to East' have concerned Muslim critics about the representation of 'traditional' Muslim values through the depiction of inflexible patriarchs, 'Beckham' represents Punjani identity through a well-worn depiction of a wedding and 'Jess' breaks away from the stereotype by wanting to play football.

'The Hero With A Thousand Faces' - Joseph Cambell

First published in 1949, Joseph Cambell's 'A Hero With A Thousand Faces' is a non-fiction, seminal work of comparative mythology. In the book, Cambell explores and evaluates the journey or monomyth of the archetypal hero that originates from the world of mythologies:

• 'A Call to Adventure' - At the beginning of the monomyth, the Hero is in his/her ordinary world and time when they receive a call to enter an unusual world of strange powers and events.


• 'A Road of Trails' - If the Hero accepts this call, he/she will then face challenges and tasks that could potentially end with fatalities. They may have to face these trails alone or might have assistance.


• 'The Goal or Boon' - If the Hero survives the challenges, he/she will receive a great gift. This gift often results in the discovery of important self-knowledge.


• 'The Return to the Ordinary World' - The Hero must then decide whether or not to return home with his Boon, but this would mean leaving the unusual world.


• 'The Application of The Boon' - If the Hero returns home successfully, he/she can use the gift or Boon to change their lives for the better and improve the ordinary world.

Most myths contain all of these stages, however, some explore only a few or focus one one alone. These five stages are usually separated into three sections: 'Departure' which involves the Hero's venture into the quest, 'Initiation' deals with the Hero's adventures along the way and 'Return' deals with the Hero's return home with the knowledge and skills he/she had acquired along the way.

Post 2006 Films that explore Myth - Inception.

Inception (2010)




Inception, (2010), is an American Science Fiction film written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan. The plot intricately explores myth to a great extent, seducing the audience into the unknown magical world of invading the mind of the dreamer whilst the fast editing entices the audience from the opening shots, creating an overwhelming sense of apprehension and tension throughout the film.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio who plays the protagonist Dom Cobb, a skilled thief, the best in the dangerous art of extracting information from the subconscious minds of his victims whilst they are at their most vulnerable state: dreaming. Cobb's rare ability has made him an international fugitive and he has had to leave his past and his loved ones behind in order to be a successful, covert player in the world of corporate espionage. In exchange for his old life that he longs for, Cobb must perform one last impossible job: inception - the reverse of the perfect heist, his team must accomplish the planting of an idea into the mind of his client's competitor.

Through this process of travelling through dreams, pain can be felt but death results in awakening; this idea alone is very mythological and mystical. The entire concept of working within the unconscious mind of another is exceptionally mythological as it has connotations of magic and the process is unknown in our reality, therefore creating a sense of anxiety in the audience.

Myth and Established Genre...'Western'

The 'Western' was the earliest established genre known to the world of film. Its has had some infamous directors and titles such as Clint Eastwood with his classic 'Unforgiven' (1992), John Ford with 'The Searchers' (1956) and Sergio Leone with 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968). These men greatly influenced the world and most definitely the media of today. The history of the Western derives solely from America's history and its development in the early ages of the cowboys and red Indians in the 16th century onwards. When the original white men discovered the Native Americans they became known over time as 'The Founding Fathers' who were puritan in belief. They settled in the East and in the 17th century developed the train. This enabled them to travel West over the Rocky Mountains and further discover the world of the Native Americans. This area became known as 'The Wild West' due to the confrontation between the Founders and the Natives. It became known as the 'Promised Land' with the dream of 'freedom under one God'. This myth inspired directors and writers into making and producing films that formed the category 'The Western' that re-lives classic moments of history or simply portrays the day to day life and excitement of the Wild West. More Western films were made from 1910 - 1960 than any other genre of films to this day. Therefore, although the Western was the first established genre of all times, it is now thought of as an exhausted genre and not many new Westerns are made in the current film industry.

The opening of 'Once Upon A Time In The West' - Sergio Leone (1969)

• 'Once Upon A Time In The West' intertextualises other Westerns, the writers took lines out of other films and put them into 'Once Upon...' in places that had maximum focus of the audience and usually in ironic situations to ensure fully that the viewer would realise.
• It is a very post-modern film as at the time it was made, it upset mainstream conventions of traditional narrative structure and characterisation.
• The power of the western characters is purely mythical as the original strength and fear that the settlers had over the natives has been exaggerated in time and the connotations of cowboys and their power now stand as far superior to the actual power they originally possessed.
• The shot at approximately ... through the doorway looking out to the wild west is one of the most famous shots out of all western films. It is testament to John Ford, he's a director that follows the Auteur theory whereby the film reflects the directors creative vision.
• The juxtaposition of extreme close-ups and long shots used quickly within the same scene increases tension and apprehension in the mind of the viewer and intensifies the meaning behind the actions of the characters.
• The opening of the film is mostly complete silence which portrays the barren landscape and also creates suspicion and apprehension. When the fly lands on the man's face, this silence is exaggerated, furthermore this moment contrasts sharply to the arrival of the train which represents civilisation: a completely different emphasis to the barren, lifeless landscape previously shown.

Metanarrative and "The Reign of Fire" (2002).

Many metannaratives are visible in the film 'The Reign of Fire' (2002), directed by Rob Bowman. The opening is set in London - which in it self has many connotations. Bowman has included many metanarravies to foreshadow future events and create apprehension and tension in the first few minutes. Some of the metannaratives and their connotations are:

- Pigeons swarm across the sky in the opening shot, hassle for the boy:

• symbolises escape - foreshadows mother and son trying to get up the lift later in the film when they are attempting to escape the fire from the dragon.
• flying of pigeons foreshadows flying of dragon and the hassle they are causing the boy is a mere hint of how much trouble and danger the dragon will cause.

- Focus of a man lighting a cigarette effortlessly:

• the same action is performed later on and the match is blown out but an unknown force - anxiety is created in the mind of the audience as to what caused it.
• on a simple level, this action emphasises the stereotype of the British Worker they are trying to create.
• the extreme close up focuses on the flame the match feeds, foreshadowing the later fire, furthermore, the control of the flame of the match contrasts sharply to the out of control, ragging fire that the dragon breaths.

-London Underground, Westminster:

• underground culture conveys secrecy, lies and mystery...all of these notions are emphasised upon the audience which builds up tension in the audience. Secondly, the word 'underground' its self foreshadows the appearance of the dragon as they life in underground or cave-like locations.
• Westminster equals power and authority in Britain. This is later lost to the dragon who has control of the situation and the people are let helpless in one of the most powerful locations in the country.

Myths and Metanarratives

Myth (dictionary definition): a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

Ideas associated with the myth:

• fantasy
• nature/nurture
• realism
• hyper reality
• legends
• morals
• provides you with a stereotype
• literally involves the person but is a metaphor

Metanarrative (dictionary definition): in postmodernist literary theory - a narrative about a narrative or narratives. Meta meaning 'after' or 'beyond'.

Metanarratives can belong to individual characters as well as the plot as a whole. Many metanarratives can be used at the same time to create a background story that the audience is led to believe...the myth. Dominant discourses suggested by the metanarrative are linked by myths to form stereotypes. Metanarratives are very closely related to allegories, meaning one story told through another, the 'Star Wars' films are very good examples of this where by it is thought that WW2 is being re-told through the characters and plot. The American TV sc-fi drama series 'Lost' is riddled with metanarratives and mythological elements, such as the monster that roams the island. Even in the first episode, the main character 'Jack' is seen stumbling through the rain forest of the desert island holding his ribs as co-character 'Kate' walks into the shot - this scene has the metanarrative of the biblical story of Genesis when Adam is in the Garden of Eden where Eve is created from one of his ribs. Although the story of Genesis is not even verbally referred to in the series through the script, it is shown through physical connotations to the audience, making it a mythological metanarrative instead of a storyline in the plot.

Joseph Cambell, American mythologist, writer and lecturer, had a huge influence on the world of media and in particular the film industry. In his book 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' (first released in 1949), Cambell explores the archetypal hero found in mythologies. This book heavily influenced George Lucas who was the first Hollywood film maker to publicly credit Cambell's work. After Lucas released 'Star Wars' in 1977, he announced that the storyline was partially based on Cambell's works. The character 'Luke Skywalker' was can easily be compared to the archetypal hero Cambell discusses in his books and this linkage was proven somewhat by re-prints of 'The Hero...' using the image of 'Luke Skywalker' on the cover. Maybe without the influence of Cambell, the mythological metanarratives would not be understood or even used as thoroughly as they are today in the film industry.

The Teaser Trailer.

A teaser trailer is a short trailer used to advertise an upcoming and typically big-budget and popularly themed film. Unlike theatre trailers they are fairly short in length, usually between 30-60 seconds, containing minimal but significant moments of footage from the film. Teaser trailers are enticing and exciting: they do not reveal much about the storyline but show enough to create a desire from the audience to watch the film thus creating a hype for the film's release. In order to allow apprehension to build in the public's mind and therefore make them want to buy tickets to watch the film in the cinema, teaser trailers are released long before the actual film that they are advertising. This is the reason for the name 'teaser' as the public are surrounded in the temptation of the trailer for a long time which therefore 'teases' them and encourages to watch the film when it is released. In the modern world of web 2.0, teaser trailers are increasingly focused on Internet users and therefore have to be powerful and gripping in terms of editing and content in order to create an impact on the viewer as the Internet provides fast access to many teaser trailers, enabling the viewer to compare them quickly and easily.

Comparing 'The Dam Busters' trailer with 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' trailer.

'The Italian Job' 1969.

'The Italian Job' Cinema Trailer:

British New Wave: 'This Sporting Life' 1963.

'This Sporting Life' Trailer:


- Director: Lindsay Anderson
- Genre: Drama/Sport
- Setting: Wakefield, Yorkshire
- Plot Summery: Coal miner, Frank Machin becomes the local captain and then loose forward of his local rugby team. He uses widow Margret Hammond for sex and is violent towards her grieving state. They spilt up and she dies of a cerebral hemorrhage.
- Based on the novel 'This Sporting Life' by David Storey

Anderson was reluctant to make this film so soon after 'Saturday Night Sunday Morning' due to it's immediate success and similarity in style.

British New Wave: 'A Kind of Loving' 1962.

- Director: John Schlesinger
- Genre: Drama/Romance
- Tagline: 'A Kind Of Loving that knew no wrong until it was too late!'
- Plot Summery: A young man, inching his way up from working-class traditions via a white-collar job, finds himself trapped by the frightening reality of his girlfriend's pregnancy and is forced into marrying her and moving in with his mother-in-law due to a housing shortage in their Northern England town.
- Production Company: Vic Films (London), Waterhall Productions
- Based on the 1960 novel, 'A Kind of Loving' by Stan Barstow.

'A Kind of Loving' is displays the graduations within the class system e.g Ingrid and her mother look down upon Vic and his family for his father's manual work and old-fashioned pursuits, like the crass band. Ingrid's family's 'modern' appliances emphasise their individual achievement over the post WW2 collective struggle and their superiority.

'Get Carter' 1971

'Get Carter' trailer:



- Director: Mike Hodges
- Genre: Crime/Thriller/Action
- Setting: Newcastle/London
- Tag Line: 'What happens when a professional killer violates the code? Get Carter!'
- Plot Summery: Jack Carter, London gangster, finds out about his brothers mysterious death in a car accident and goes to Newcastle to investigate.
- Based on the 1969 novel, 'Jack's Return Home' by Ted Lewis.

Similarities to 'Saturday Night Sunday Morning':

• factory background
• working class
• industrial
• estate house - small, regimented, monotonous.

Brisish New Wave: 'Room at the Top' 1959.

British New Wave: 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' 1960. Representation of the working class.

'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' Trailer:



A mind map displaying the representation of the working-class as a collective identity in the New Wave film 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' 1960. Click on image to enlarge.

Social Realism and the British New Wave

Social Realism - the most 'typically British' of all film genres.

Social Realism has shown us to ourselves and put the experiences of real Britons on screen.

Early British cinema picked up on the revelation of everyday social interaction. In the years following World War I, the key to national cinema lay in 'realism and restraint', reflecting the tastes of mainly the south-eastern middle-class audience as 'realism' carried connotations of education and high seriousness. Working-class audiences preferred Hollywood genre movies.

Britain's contribution to cinema in the 1930s was of a documentary tradition that would feed into the 1940s. Combining the objective temper and aesthetics of the documentary movement with the starts and resources of studio film making, 1940s British cinema made a stirring appeal to a mass audience. The 'quality film' mirrored a transforming wartime society: women were challenging men for pre-assigned gender roles.

Documentarist Humphery Jennings was responsible for influencing the 1950s Free Cinema documentary movement and the 1960s British New Wave. The New Wave was fed by the 'Angry Young Men' of 1950s theatre, the verisimilitude of Italian Neo-realism and the youth appeal of the French New Wave.

Relaxation of censorship meant characters of factory workers, office underlings, dissatisfied wives, pregnant girlfriends and runaways had sex lives, money worries and social problems. They experienced abortion, prostitution, homosexuality, alienation and relationship problems.

The New Wave was symptomatic of a worldwide emergence of art cinemas challenging mainstream aesthetics and attitudes.

Richard Armstrong

Section B: Contemporary Media Issues

The two issues I will be studying and exploring are:

• Media and Collective Identity
• Post Modern Media

For both of these topics I will demonstrate understanding through case studies, texts, debates and research. This understanding must combine knowledge of at least two media platforms. In order to do this I will look at:

• Different types of media: TV drama, films, posters, teaser trailers, internet advertising, magazines etc.
• Relevant articles from the Media Magazine and related online sites.
• The current role of industry in marketing and producing media.
• The work of some media theorists i.e. David Gauntlett and David Buckingham who wrote about the media and its impact on cultural identity.

An introduction to A2 media studies...Critical Perspectives: Themes

For A2 Media, cover the following questions and tasks...

• How important is the media in society?
• What different roles do the media play in peoples lives?
• Engage with a range of theoretical perspectives on how people use media.
• Know about a variety of research that discovered specific audiences practices and habits.
• Demonstrate a personal position on the issues.
• Take an interest in how people use the media at the end of the first decade of the 21st century.
• Understand how people make sense of and use media products as part of their lives.
• What difference increasingly global dissemination of ideas makes to culture and identity?
• Are our identities becoming increasingly shaped by media in the online age?
• What kinds of regulation are adequate in this web 2.0 world?

Themes of Critical Perspective:

• Regulation
• Democracy
• Identity
• Online Media
• Post Modern Media
• Global Media

For each theme, focus on three areas:

• Historical...understand how relevant aspect of contemporary can be compared to the past.
• Contemporary...demonstrate an up to date, accurate, theoretical and academic analysis of today's media.
• Future...have some ideas of where media is going.

POPULAR CULTURE - the media that ordinary people access in large numbers.

CULTURAL STUDIES - not just looking at texts and what they 'mean' or how they are 'consumed', look at people and what they do with media.

Example of Cultural Studies:

• The impact of broadband Internet on how people use media
• Is there such a thing as 'audience' in this post-modern 'we media' age?
• Dan Gilmor argues web 2.0 allows ordinary people to participate in politics and news via 'citizen journalism' in the form of blogs - their own accounts of real events and comments produced immediately on 'official journalism'.
• 'Long Tail' media production - the proliferation of small chunks of media content at the opposite end of the body to the head.
• Implications of 'long tail' media distribution according to John Hartley, web 2.0 has introduced 'mass literacy' and the idea of mass public schooling.
• Most of us are using the web 2.0 sites to read, watch, play and listen (not to create or upload), which is how we were using 'old media'.

Definitions of culture:

• Made by humans.
• Describes all the various forms of belief, communication, ritual, representation and ideas that the human race uses to make sense of it's existence.
• Is the things humans produce that animals do not.
• The outcome of collective thought.
• Jenks' (2005) four definitions of culture...a state of mind; a collective pursuit of civilisation; artistic and intellectual activity; a social category.
• Everything we might study in the media and produce for the media is culture.

Social Groups:

• To give people a label based on collective characteristics or traits, as opposed to their individual or biological make-up.