Media in context

source

Media studies is an interdisciplinary subject; it blurs the boundaries between different academic subjects, particularly in the way in which it studies the media in wider contexts. 

This approach suggests that the media - that is, it's products and processes - is directly linked to the society that produced them, that the media reflect the values, interests and make-up of the society that produced them.

Analysing the media in the context is to consider what else was happening in that time and place in which the product was made, to consider how those contexts may shape the product and the way audiences interpret it.

In this way, the study of media is in part also the study of a culture, both contemporary and historical. It is also relevant to consider whether the media itself is able to affect the society that produced it. 

The Key Contexts

The key contexts consist of five areas - which may overlap:

• social
• cultural
• political
• historical
• economic

the contexts will also be related to the areas of the theoretical framework with, for example, economic contexts being particularly relevant to the study of media industries and cultural and social contexts informing feminist approaches.

The following suggests some of the initial approaches to analysing the media in context:

-what characterises the society that produced the media? gender equality? class divisions? repression? religious or secular?

-are there any major historical or political events that - war, recession, protest movements etc - that might be relevant?

-if the product was made in the past its useful to know some of the key features of that time, such as major historical events

-Is the product typical of other media products of the time? Does it use typical styles and genres of the period? or does it do something new or experimental?

-What industry produced it? is it a successful industry or faced with economic problems? perhaps it is an industry in decline or a new one emerging in response to new technologies or audience habits?

Placing Media product in Context

Whichever TV programme you're studying, certain approaches and questions will apply. These will help to focus the analysis but also to evaluate the approach of placing products in context.

One approach would be to consider the way in which tv can operate symbolically and metaphorically to discuss contemporary issues; in other words, it might seem to be a generic thriller but perhaps the crime is used to draw parallels with the state of the society in which it took place.

In making a link between a media product and its social and political contexts, you're likely to be reading it ideologically, that is disseminating messages and values about society. This might include context specific to each programme but also the reliance on the reassuring structure of crime solving as a way of representing an - ultimately - functioning society.

It is also worth questioning how strong the link is between the programme and the society that produced it; perhaps the programme has little to say about the real world. Perhaps of greater importance in the construction of the media are the demands of genre and the need for escapism: to forget about day-to-day life.

it's also worth considering that the need to reach a global audience can make references to a specific society debatable. As you will see in the in the study of audience it also very difficult to reach an agreement about the meaning of media products: multiple audience positions and interpretations complicate the relationship between media products and society.

Why do we study the media?

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The first courses in the study of the media in the UK were at universities, in the late 1960s, but the subject only really became established - and popular - in the 1980s when it was offered at A Level (and later GCSE). 

Media studies is not the first subject to be accused of not being a serious subject. Recent examples would include sociology (which is now much more accepted), and the study of English Literature was also initially a controversial one.

The concern with these areas seemed to be based on an idea that something we might do for pleasure - reading or playing video games - is not difficult enough to study, that it is something we do naturally. It could also be argued that any new area for study is likely to be resisted by some, but the criticism of media itself isn't a valid focus of analysis and criticism. 

New subjects tend not to have the perceived certainties of definitions of traditional academic areas such as maths and physics, often made up of approaches from across other disciplines that can make people suspicious of their status. In the case of media studies it is certainly true that it is a subject that borrows from a range of subjects - sociology, psychology, communications, English literature and art history - it might be classed as both social science and a humanities subject, depending on the institution offering it.

It is the case though that since its beginning media studies has amassed a body of critical work and academics associated with it that does distinguish it from other subjects. 

The Theoretical Framework

As an academic subject, media studies has developed its own approach or framework to organising the study of the media, which is referred to as the theoretical framework. 

The framework is organised into four areas: 

• media language
• media representation 
• media industries 
• media audiences

each of which covers a range of theories and arguments.

While elements of each are distinct it's usually productive to think of the different areas as overlapping, with one approach closely related to another. For example, the study of the industrial context of a product is likely to be far more productive when linked to the way the industry targets particular audiences.

Media language

The concept of language is usually associated with written or spoken language, clearly central to the study of literature and drama. In media studies, it refers to a different way of understanding how meaning is created in all forms of communication, not just written and spoken language. 

The most obvious way to think of this is to consider the way that images create meaning: symbols, photographs signs are all forms of mediating the world; they are a form of language.

This idea that all forms of media use language beyond words to communicate is explored through the use of a semiotic approach to media products, which allows an analysis of the underlying meanings of any kind of sign. 

Task: 

What meaning does this photo have?

How have you interpreted the language of the image in order to reach that conclusion?

• this photo represents the police force negatively and the protesters positively 
• The use of long shot positions the scene directly in front of the audience with no high or low angle it feels objective and represents the image as truthful with no audience manipulation
• this is reinforced by the use of natural lighting 
• The police officers wear black uniforms that denote their institution which represents them as copies with narrow singular mindsets. they lack diversity and personality as their faces are covered and the mise-en-scene of their costume makes them look identical. This encourages the audience not to sympathise with them and makes them easier to dislike- prompting a narrative in which they are the villain
• the face shields, chest plates and black protection connotes war and violence representing them as aggressive 
• the protestor wears a long flowing dress, this dress is open and the loose style connotes freedom and peace as the dress itself would be relaxing to wear, especially when compared to the police uniforms.
• her face is uncovered making the viewer recognise her more and the mise-en-scene of her glasses are iconography for intelligence representing her as smart and non-violent, further implementing the narrative shaming the police as an antagonist.
• her shoes her open and impractical, juxtaposing with the bulky war-ready uniform and connoting she had peaceful intentions whilst the police didn't.
• the composition of the photo sets up a binary opposition between the police and the protestors. the mise-en-scene of the green trees and grass in the background connotes peace and natural love, this is the side the woman is standing on. the black sea of fighting uniforms is set in binary opposition to this directly across the frame.
• the background of the photo on the left has a mise-en-scene of people standing far apart, the camera making them look small. this use of blocking and framing tells the audience they are not intimidating or to be feared, they seem the opposite. directly juxtaposing with the policemen
• the mise-en-scene of the grey stone stairs in the middle communicates to the audience there is a separation between these groups, and all the factors mentioned offer a narrative that represents the protestors as peaceful protagonists and the police on the left as violent antagonists.

The application of media language is likely to include the following areas of study:

• how the media languages associated with different media forms (broadcast, print, websites, film) communicate multiple meanings.
• codes and conventions associated with specific genres and how and why these might change over time
• how audiences respond to and interpret aspects of media language (often differently)
• the way media language incorporates viewpoints and ideologies 
• how developing technologies affect media language

Media Representation

The study of representation has a fundamental place in media studies. The key concept - or theory - of representation is central to an understanding of how media texts are constructed by producers and how they are received by a range of different audiences. 

In media studies, representation is understood to be important because of the belief that the image of the world found in media products shapes the way audiences think about specific people and places. In turn, this might have repercussions for how particular groups and places are treated.

The study of representation involves all three stages of creating, distributing and exhibiting a media text; therefore, representation is relevant across all areas of the course. 

In the preceding definition representation as a term doesn't only refer to the finished text but to the processes involved in constructing and receiving the representations.

At each stage of the process, key factors of identity - age, gender, race, class etc - are likely to have an influence. As with the other areas of the framework, processes of representation are also affected by developments in new technology which create opportunities for self-representation and perhaps alter the relationship between producer and audience.

The application of representation is likely to include the following areas of study

• the way events, issues, individuals (including self representation) and social groups are represented through processes of selection and construction
• the different factors that shape the way media producers and industries represent events, issues, individuals and social groups
• the way the media, through representation, construct versions of reality - which may be understood differently by a range of audiences
• How and why particular social groups, in a national and global context, may be under-represented and misrepresented
• How media representations convey values, attitudes and beliefs about the world
• the way in which representations make claims about realism
• the way representations may change over time and the reasons for this

Media Industries

The study of media through an analysis of media industries assumes a link between the media products produced and the industries - including individual companies and producers - that produce them. 

The study of this relationship has its roots in a Marxist approach that sees the context of production, specifically its form of ownership and need for profit, as having a direct effect on the form and content of the media it produces.

Media studies is interested in the characteristics of and comparisons between public service media organisations and the commercial sectors in the contemporary media landscape; this is particularly in relation to the power that media industries have and how they are regulated and controlled.

A contemporary feature of media industries is their status as global conglomerates owning the processes of production, distribution and exhibition across a range of media forms. 

A study of media industries is likely to include the following 

• the significance of patterns of ownership and control, including conglomerate ownership, vertical integration and diversification
• How processes of production, distribution and circulation shape media products
• the relationship of recent technological change and media production, distribution and circulation
• the impact of 'new' digital technologies on media regulation 
• the role of regulation in global production, distribution and circulation
• the effect of individual producers on media industries 

Task: 

-Research the planned takeover of Sky

-Why is the bid controversial? what concerns do UK regulators have about the proposed bid?

-Do you think the power of 21st century fox is a concern? Might it affect democratic processes?

Media Audiences

The effect of media on audiences is one of the most fiercely debated and controversial aspects of media studies and can be broadly characterised as the study of what the media do to audiences but also what audiences can do with the media, quite often formulated as ideas of the active and passive audience.

The role of the media in people's lives and behaviour is something that ahs caused anxiety and resulted in moral panics about the media's effects, particularly on the young and vulnerable, but is also a feature of the media's power to transform lives in more positive ways.

This powerful potential means the study of the relationship between the media and the people who consume it is of great importance, and media studies draws on approaches from sociology and psychology in order to try to understand this complex relationship.

The focus of this study has tended to concentrate on the media's potential to shape people's behaviour ranging from political persuasion to ways of seeing the world and even physical responses.

Anxiety about audience response tends to be provoked by new forms of mass media from tv, video games and, of course, the rise od social networks.

In audience studies, the development of digital technologies has also blurred the line between producer and audience, leading to the identification of a new role between producer and audience- the so-called prosumer.

The study of media audiences is inextricably linked to industry, where the need to identify and target particular audiences is vital and has become the focus of increasingly detailed analysis by industries as audiences have become increasingly niche and unpredictable in response to the increased number of media forms available.

The study of media audiences is likely to include the following;

• how audiences are grouped and categorised by media industries through demographics and psychographics
• the interrelationship between media technologies and patterns of consumption and response
• how audiences interpret the media, including how they may interpret the same media in different ways, reflecting social, cultural and historical context 
• how audiences interact with the media and can be actively involved in media production
• how media organisations reflect the different needs of mass and specialized audiences
• how audiences use media in different ways, reflecting demographic factors as well as aspects of identity and cultural captial

Task:

You are the audience. Think about your own media consumption:

-make a list of the different media you might consume on a typical day

youtube, television, social media (twitter), music videos, adverts, trailers

How many of these did you choose to consume? How many did you receive without choosing to?

a lot of youtube thumbnails you see without choosing, adverts on commercial tv + youtube, adverts on social media 'sponsored' 

What are some pleasure you get from your media consumption?

humour, entertainment, cultural education and perspective, direct communication via texting/talking, fan service, 

Can you think of any postive and/or negative effects of you media consumption?

-sleep patterns shift

-online conflict/hate

-social media addiction becomes time consuming 

-cultivation and encouragement of negative things

What is media studies?

 source: A level media studies essential introduction

Defining the Media

The definition within the subject of media, but also within social and political discussions, is increasingly difficult to pin down.

This is in part due to the proliferation of media forms, a consequence of the development of digital technologies and the changing relationships between producers and audiences. 

The main means of mass communication [broadcasting, publishing and the internet] regarded collectively. 

-a dictionary definition provides an objective categorisation but little sense of how the media function in relation to an audience and vice versa.

In media studies, the term 'media' is most helpfully understood as a process, something that shifts and changes as it is produced and consumed- a form of mediation.

Mediation refers to what media do, and to what we do with the media. It is a term that defines the media as actively creating a symbolic and cultural space in which meanings are created and communicated beyond the constraints of the face to face. Readers, viewers and audiences are part of this process of mediation because they continue the work of the media in the way they respond to extend and further communicate what they see and hear on the world's multitude of screens and speakers.

-Roger Silverstone (2006), an academic who was influential in the development of media studies as subject arguing mediation is central to a definition of media

In this definition, the process of mediation - the construction of meaning - is as much a part of the definition of media as the forms themselves.

The combination of a dynamic process of production and consumption, along with specific forms that we recognise as belonging to the media is a good starting point for a definition. 

In conceiving of the media we also tend to include assumptions about a type of audience (mass rather than individual) that is addressed simultaneously by a mass form of communication. 

While this definition is still often useful in considering the nature and influence of the media (e.g- millions who watch tv programmes like the X-factor or strictly at the same time on a Saturday night) the approach has altered with the changes to the media landscape.

Traditionally, there was a clear distinction between the media that was consumed by a mass audience at the same time (fixed tv broadcast before streaming, morning paper before news websites) and other forms such as novels that were consumed individually at the time a reader chose. 

Part of the concerns about the power of the media was the fact that it was the media institutions that controlled the time and pace of consumption rather than the audience. This relationship between broadcast and consumption as a definition of the media has clearly undergone a major shift with streaming sites allowing 'binging' at the time consumers choose, news websites that are constantly checked and updated and social networks that often rely on very few posters and consumers operating at a particular time. 

Media Forms

The different types of media can be referred to as 'Media Forms'

• Television
• Film
• Radio
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Advertising + Marketing
• Online, social and participatory media
• Video games
• Music video

Traditional Media

Refers to the media forms and platforms that existed before the use of the internet and digital technologies became widespread (approx. late 1990s) 

Traditional media is made up of

• Television
• Radio broadcasting
• Print Media
• Music
• Film

Media Platforms

Is where a media form is presented - broadcast, print, online etc - This is sometimes a fairly simple definition, such as the form of tv being presented on a broadcast platform such as the BBC, but new technology makes this distinction more complicated is facebook a form or a platform? Perhaps the blurring of distinctions is another difference between traditional and new media forms.

The list of media forms is a useful framework to mark out the territory of media studies, but it also suggests the problem of defining forms in the contemporary media landscape. For example, advertising and marketing exist across various forms and platforms; a radio is no longer simply a form of broadcast but has shifted online as a podcast.

Defining producers and audiences

One of the major shifts in the move from traditional to new media has been the breakdown of in the old relationship between producers and audiences. 

The media landscape is undoubtedly still dominated by powerful media institutions (News International, Disney, the BBC etc) but there is also much greater access for individuals to become producers of media content, particularly through online platforms.

Media Institutions

Any company that is responsible for the production, distribution of exhibition of a media product. An institution may be local, national or global, and it may be commercial or publicly funded. In media studies, there is a particular focus on the role of media conglomerates- media companies that usually have a global presence and own many other smaller companies producing a variety of media for across platforms.

 Examples include

• Time Warner US
• Vivendi France
• Bertelsmann Germany

analysing a product

Task: Choose an audio-visual product (music video, advert etc.) and complete a detailed textual analysis. Try to use EVERY technical code and piece of media language we have looked at today. 

You could make sub-headings of;

• Cinematography

• Mise-en-scene

• Sound 

• Editing 

In your analysis ensure when you make a point you explore how it creates meaning. 

MEDIA LANGUAGE - MEANING

Billie Eilish - Therefore I am

• the camerwork is handheld which connotes that the setting is very informal as it follows Billie around
• The mise-en-scene of the setting is very relatable, it's somewhere everyone frequents that is recognisable. the name brands of stores in the background connote a C1-C2 social class, this represents Billie as someone who has not adopted the stereotypical celebrity culture and is relatable which is part of her appeal. 
• The digetic sound in the opening of the escalators and her shoes squeaking are symbols of sounds familiar to the audience, it reflects the diy nature of the video whilst being very unconventional- it's unmelodic and unappealing to hear but it's almost comforting to the audience in the way they recognise it.
• The practical lighting connotes to the audience that the interior has not been modified for filming, whilst this is not the case it addresses the audience is an honest and transparent way, again enforced by the high key lighting which leaves nothing hidden. 
• The editing is extremely slow with minimal cuts, which feels unproduced and natural. 
• the camera following Billie positions the audience as voyeur, as the mise-en-scene of her performance looking away and seemingly unaware of the audience with the use of a tracking shot establishes this
• the male gaze theory is subverted in this video, throughout the video there are no sexual references. she wears a baggy jumper and shorts which covers the sexualised areas of the body and is hegemonically unattractive- she is represented unstereotypically as a woman which further pushes this 
• in the final parts of the song dutch canted angles are used with close ups whilst billie grabs and eats food, the dynamic cinematography feels rough and ungraceful which builds a messy aggressive atmosphere whilst billie eats- representing her in an unconventional way compared to the traditional forms of female representation in the media. She is conveyed in a hegemonically unattractive way, going against the norms and expectations created by the patriarchy. 
• the diegetic sound of her jumping over the counters symbolises the rebellious nature of her actions, it is clunky and hard sounding which connotes a punk ideology 
• throughout the video the subject directly addresses the audience with her facial expressions, lip syncing and hand gestures. it's an aggressive mode of address paired with the lyrics that positions the audience below billie metaphorically and many times literally with the low angled camerawork. 
• billie goes behind the counters of the stores which encodes that she's in power, she's helping herself whilst the camera aligns the audience as powerless stuck on the other side of the counter. 
• the mise-en-scene of the shutters  and lowkey lighting on the stores connote the place is closed, giving the audience an insight to what a place looks like when they're not supposed to be there and encoding rebellious themes.

zoella

 -Key case study

Zoe Elizabeth Sugg

Born 28 March

English vlogger businesswomen and author

Began posting in 2009 to youtube

Went on to amass over 10 million subscribers (11m on one 4m on another)

In 2014 she launched Zoella Beauty- described as the 'biggest beauty launch of the year'

Later launched a range of complimentary homeware products in 2019

reported the two businesses had revenue of £3.8 million per year

Zoella's brand has changed, her original channel was called zoella which got 11 million subscribers, but she stopped posting on zoella and used the channel more zoella, which she renamed Zoe Sugg.

Her last Zoella video is a pizza tasting test, now on Zoe Sugg she posts vlogs about homeware. She's had to move with her target audience.

How does her last video use media language to create meaning?

• Codes and conventions

Cheerful introduction, informal laughing within the first five seconds- edited this way to immediately create a happy atmosphere and establish the tone of the video. Further cements her pure, cheerful, girl next door characterisation.

Collaborating with another vlogger is a common way to gain subscribers and grow your channel- the viewers of that person watch your videos, become interested and then turn into regular watchers.

They're both leaning into the camera, thus the audience, the camera is placed on the other side of the table positioning the audience as directly across from them. the leaning in from zoe and mark feels familiar and the watcher feels welcomed. a dynamic has been created where zoe and mark are their friends.

motivated highkey lighting is a convention of these style of these videos. they light the faces of the subjects making both literally and figuratively, representing them as cheerful and friendly alongside their wide smiles and they make the subjects look more hegemonically appealing.

the video is very very informal as zoe showcases her 'flaws' (ie- the mistakes she makes whilst talking) while this is not an accurate representation of her flaws it creates a closer bond between the audience and zoe. this may be part of the reason tv and film is so threatened by this new wave of online media- they use relatable and friendly techniques to build a parasocial relationship with the watcher, resulting in attachment and, most importantly, engagement

the costumes and makeup are intentionally very casual and 'every day,' whilst they have both made an effort to look hegemonically attractive they have done so subtly. Zoella wears red lipstick which ties into her 'beauty guru' branding, she can't afford to tarnish her reputation with a bare face and lacklustre look- this is shown as usually when is she bare face she will make a quick disclaimer so people know it's not her attempts in make up that look that way.

mark wears a plain t-shirt which looks very casual as well, all these elements reinforce the colloquial tone of the video. they appeal to audiences with their use of reliability and parasocial friendship, if they were all dressed up and representing themselves as rich it was alienate their audience- something that we saw happen with the alfie deyes £1 video.

both subjects wear short sleeves (or no sleeves) which connotes heat and that it's summer further impressing the atmosphere, it's important that the audience feels as absorbed as possible

dramatic irony is used as the audience can see the pizza being eaten but zoe and mark can't, this offers comedic relief.

the light minor music connotes happiness and is a further convention.

the light colour scheme of the video connotes happiness 

the pizza theme to the video represents zoella as the girl next door and not like other girls trope, she frequently talks about her love for pizza throughout the video, this seems like a subversive non-stereotypical representation of women in the video but it's actually turned into a common trope, zoella has a stereotypical representation due with her clothing style and emphasis on looks. the representation of men is subversive, mark is 'camp' and is outwitted by zoe playfully multiple times. judith butler gender. although he fits the stereotype of a gay best friend with his camp behaviour.

zoella lacks complete sexualisation, this reflects her audience and contrasts wildly with her recent promotion of female sex toys 

the video subtly produces a narrative about the lives they live from the products they consume and their buying habits such as zoe "gets pizza like every week" 

 

weird paradox with YouTubers where you rely on being relatable but lose that as you reach more and more success

the entire video is one camera angle, the editing style of jumpcuts linking the shots together that have all been taken in one shot is very conventional of youtube. the editing is very simple and basic overall, it's very easy to look at and take in- childlike. its edited to flow naturally

the outro ensures zoella engagement as she uses a friendly tone, big smile and imperative verbs 'make sure' to encourage the audience to like and comment. she uses field-specific lexis that the audience will relate to by saying 'thumbs up' instead of like.

the video is infantile, like two kids laughing over pizza. this is to appeal to her target audience- she has built up a young fanbase and needs to keep her videos pg. she corrects the word flaccid, needing to maintain the concept she is pure- however outside her video she's had many scandals and controversies. inoffensive cultivation character 

lots of comments praising and enjoying their friendship, people are watching it for the interactions and to get gratification with identification and escapism

shameless brand promotion and really pushing the narrative of a difference between these brands- consumerism + capitalism being pushed onto a young audience 

the video is constructed to seem unconstructed. it has aged differently as now videos are presented as even more natural

there's a team there, they're in a corporate environment, they refer to it as an office. this is a hint to the facade and illusion being broken

humans marketing

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y-DihSqK0eNHXzgWdU-3NdIoE9VuqsVGgE7USt_7yiE/edit?usp=sharing

EXAM QUESTION PRACTICE

 jean baudrillard suggested that 'we live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning' evaluate the extent to which this postmodernist statement applies humans.

step one- underline key terms.

this forces you engage with the concepts and lets you easily come back.

evaluate- not arguing, not disproving EVALUATING

postmodernist- hyperreality 

information-

meaning-

step two- knee jerk reaction

instant honest response

it's clear you need to evaluate, but even if you don't get prompted like this you'll have to demonstrate a point of view.

choose ONE side and ONE point of view, don't change halfway through- have conviction. use one clear and coherent argument

agree- 

humans is a postmodern text, synths are hyperreal version of humans. we can see this is an element of bricolage, borrowing from other texts that are humans. (odi? breakfast scene)

the narrative is paradoxical and fragmented- allows more for information and less for meaning (non-linear, conv for sci-fi?)

representations in this are contradictory and polysemic 

(ANITA- both challenging and stereotypical

-an ideal women (gender performativity)

-also a creepy synth)

now in media, there's much more information, with no black or white fundamentals- grey.

can be harder to tell the difference between what is real and what is not SIMULACRA

is humans itself a comment on the attraction to the hyperreal over the real?

step three- plan

your plan can take any form- MAKE SURE IT'S INCLUDED

you can get marks for it.

plan

-the key theme of ai in the form of synths is hyperreal, this bricolage borrowing from texts in the forms of actual humans is an example of simulacra. odi and the breakfast scene as reference (also links postmodern themes of identity and tech., man v machine, conformity v individualism) SYNTHS AS SIMULACRA

-the narrative values information over meaning using hermeneutic and proairetic codes for spectacle, this conventional non-linear narrative (also relies on audience understanding of sci-fi to decode)

-gender representations GENDER PERFORMATIVITY are both challenging and stereotypical, hegemony, patriarchal society and intertextual references to connote fear and creepiness around the character of anita and her fellow synths

step four- introduction

Definition

definition of postmodern

Argument

knee jerk reaction

Context

release date , channel etc

write

Postmodernism is a concept defined by several aspects, an exploration of such a concept offers many further studies, with this, comes hyper-reality. Hyper-reality offers a perfected version of reality that, in fact, does not exist. In postmodern culture, the boundaries between the real world and the world of media have collapsed. The 2015 show humans, imitates and reflects this culture with its use of narrative, representation and simulacra. The hyper-reality it includes and exerts offer vast amounts of information for its audience to decode, but can be seen as to lack true substance. With the 21st century broadcasters now 'narrowcasters' it easy to recognise these concepts and Jean Baulliard's conclusion as a fast-track used by channel 4 to target the niche audience. 

step five- paragraph structure

one way to structure-

Point

Evidence- where you can bring in media lang, tech codes and scene analysis

Argument- develop point more, bring in theory, concept

[structure]

write

The characterisation of the five synths represented in the first episode of humans is a key example of hyperreality and postmodernism. The synthetics offer a perfected modification of a human, that doesn't actually exist. This use of simulacra is exemplified in the scene where Joe and the youngest child purchase Anita. Close up tracking shots are used of Anita's case being unzipped which builds tension and connotes to the audience that whatever is packaged is of great significance. This is reinforced by the diegetic sound of the zip, which plays on the audience's senses and alerts them further, the metallic noise could also be a reference to the industrial, unnatural 'birthing process' of Anita, edging a sense of a postmodern criticism of metanarrative. Before being revealed to the audience an ideal, hyperreal representation of Anita has already been established. This narrative build-up is resolved when the synth is finally revealed. The use of a reaction shot before a shot of the subject tells the audience how to feel, this use of editing encodes a reflection of the hyperreal culture we currently exist in- she is joyful over a product of simulacra and with it so are the audience. A low close up of Anita's face is used that highlights her hegemonically attractive features and the mise-en-scene of the plastic packaging, serves as a cultural-religious reference. This use of costume is important as it both represents hyperreality in one piece (a godlike hyperreal suggestion that is actually just a piece of plastic) and encapsulates the second example of a criticism of a metanarrative- Christianity. 

We can further link this costume choice to Butler's notion of gender performativity, it is hinted that Anita is the 'perfect woman' from this first shot, in biblical culture a symbol of a motherly figure was the head robe that is replicated upon Anita. We can link the characterisation of the synth to Mary the virgin as not only does she become a mother who didn't birth her children (by filling in the role of Laura), she is also represented as sexually innocent throughout the episode. Particularly when Joe slips the '18+' manual into his crotch pocket whilst she mindlessly irons. To refer to Freud, this is the 'madonna' aspect of Anita's performativity. Whilst the shot-reverse-shot flitting from Joe's face to Anita's behind offers up the 'whore' side. Overall this hyperreal performance of Anita and her gender critics the world's attraction to the hyper-real, the audience is positioned to admire and appreciate Anita due to her established importance and with it are challenged. 

-- go to the blog and find the revision guide, using this pick a question under humans and plan a response