Identities: Feminist theory and blog task

1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

The clothes Beyonce was dressed in also added to the olden time look editing and effects used to make it look as though it was filmed in the 60's. 

2) Would McRobbie view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women? Why?

video reinforces this idea as Beyonce is seen to be dresses in sexual clothing. However this video does have two perspectives because the other side that Beyonce is portrayed as is as a housewife, McRobbies wouldn't think this empowering it is reinforcing traditional values.

3) What are your OWN views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ (Mulvey)?

This video does reinforce the male gaze as a semi-naked women in a music video would appeal to most men but it does empower women because the majority audience for this video would be females and the lyrics for the song is made to empower other females and the dressing up to 'impress' men may not be the only option for Beyonce as it is another empowering technique. 

Feedback

WWW:

·         There is a lot to credit here: many excellent quote clearly some very good research, thoughtful ideas and some moments of critical autonomy. Lots of potential to add two grades to this (only one mark from a c!)

EBI:

·         Written English is concerning: grammar and sentence structure. Look at the errors highlighted on the first page- not good enough for A2 standard.

·         Focus on the question drift in places. You very rarely discuss the second part of your question: impact on audiences. Be careful your textual analysis doesn’t just end up being description – the first Dope scene paragraph is solid but later you just tell me the story.

·         You are missing media theory: where is post-colonial theory? Alvarado? Fanon? Y12 representation theories: Dyer? Medhurst? Perkins? So much to add here!

·         Too much New/digital media with no real link to the question. Cut it to one paragraph and replace it with a strong section on representation theory and black stereotype.

·         You need to learn to introduce quotes. This includes who said/wrote it and the general point the making.

·         Although your quotes are good, you don’t have enough research (Footnotes or Bibliography) to reach the top level. Simple: you need more research!

Evaluation

1) Why did you choose this particular recreation and how does it link to your main production?
music video we recreated shows the representation of young black males. We felt that this would link to our investigations as we investigated the representation of different ethnic minority groups.

2) What difficulties did you face in producing this recreation?

casting  main difficulty we faced and finding the right people to help us shoot the recreation. This was the case as it was hard to rely on people to turn as this recreation required more than 10 people to be in the video.

3) What are the strengths of the production?
we tried followed the same choreography and movement in the video.

4) What aspects would you look to improve?
We would look to improve some of the costume.

5) What lessons will you take from this process that will help you with your main production?
Being able to work at all times and producing at a high quality because of the camera settings. Also, we need to makes sure that the people we need are reliable and will turn to the shooting sessions we do in the course of producing our main production.

6) Now that you are ready to start your actual linked production, explain clearly what you will be creating and how confident you are in delivering this.
We'll be creating a music video with three different running narratives of three protagonists from different ethnic minorities and the decisions they make that will define their character. I am quite confident of delivering this piece of work we get everything right in terms of casting. This is essential as we need these characters to come to life.

Preliminary exercise: Recreation task

Name of the text you plan to recreate:

JME ft Giggs- Don't care 

Scene/section you will recreate:

The first couple shots in the music video. 
Location you will use for your recreation:

The old drama room in F block.

Actors you will require for your recreation:

not too sure yet but i would need around 19 people in the video. 

Props/costumes you will require for your recreation:

i would need people wearing all black. The props that i would need is a Laptop a note pad and a drink. 

Equipment you plan to use:

i would be planning on using the lighting in the room because you could make the room dark with the curtains and this would mean that it would look ruffly similar to the actual video. 
Any other relevant information:

Linked Production

Your Critical Investigation topic: 

How are black people represented in the film Dope (2015) and what impact might this have on audiences?

Your Linked Production brief: 

Create a Music video.

Length/size of production (e.g. 3 minutes, 5 pages etc.): 

3-4 minutes 
Give an example of an existing media text this is similar to what you plan to produce: 


Give an example of an institution that would produce or distribute your planned production:

Linkup TV or SBTV

How would your production reach its audience?

Youtube

Who do you plan to work with on this project?

Myself

Essay Plan tutorial

Question – you’ve changed the question at the top of your plan and it is now too vague and doesn’t include your primary text. This needs to be resolved before you do anything else… the previous question we had was: How are black people represented in the film Dope? Perhaps something about audience effect? E.g. How are black people represented in the film Dope (2015) and what impact might this have on audiences?

Introduction – lay out argument, primary text and any secondary/historical texts you will be discussing. Present your angle/hypothesis – will you be arguing that black representations are negative, damaging and stereotypical? If so, introduce that argument here. You don’t need a backstory for the actors etc. A one-sentence summary of the film will do (like an IMDB plot synopsis). 200 words.

Section 1 – Primary text: Dope. Textual analysis is the key in this section. Media key concepts, film language etc. Very detailed deconstruction please! Associated theories and research. Choose one or two key scenes (2 minutes max each) and analyse the hell out of them. How are representations created and what is it telling the audience? 500 words.

Section 2 – historical text. Boyz N The Hood. Good choice of historical text and I’m sure there are plenty of links there. Get some textual analysis in here too – again, deconstruct a couple of key scenes (perhaps the scene where Furious Styles is talking to the boys on the street corner?) Draw links and contrasts with Dope. Perhaps discuss how these films may seek to challenge negative stereotypes but perhaps accidentally reinforce them? 400 words.

Section 3 – Issues and debates – black representation in the media. This is where your research comes in. Loads of potential here to discuss academic research (BFI books perfect here), Guardian/MM articles. Wider media and social context – what impact do these representations have in society? 500 words.

Section 4 – Effects theory and research. What impact do films have on audiences? If you write this well, hopefully the research will follow on nicely from the paragraph above. This doesn’t need to be as long but bring some theory such as Gerbner and Cultivation Theory. 250 words.

Section 5 – New technology and black representations. Social media, Black Lives Matter campaign. Perhaps discuss self-representations too – do young black males inadvertently reinforce negative stereotypes in their own social media posting? How will this debate look in future? Trump and American right-wing? 400 words.

Conclusion – sum up your argument, snappy ending please! 150 words.

Next steps… update/finish your plan based on this tutorial. You don’t need to stick to the above by any means but hopefully it has at least clarified your thinking and provided a potential structure that will be easy to follow.

I need to have a quick read of your opening paragraph when it’s written but otherwise you are good to go.

This essay has great potential – the key is making sure that the research sections in the middle about black representation in the media and effects theory are really strong. You may need to do a lot of additional research to have enough to write about here.

Publish this tutorial to your blog with your next steps as usual

Introduction

How are black people represented in the film Dope (2015) and what impact might this have on audiences?

Black people in film i feel are misrepresented, always addressed a as a gimmicky gangster or brash women with attitude problems. These roles are what the majority of black people are perceived to be. These controversial stereotypes can be very negative and can be very damaging to the black culture. This essay would undergo the ways in which the film dope (2015) has either reinforced or subverted these common stereotypes.  Dope (2015) is essentially Malcolm a geek, living in the bottoms (rough neighbourhood) with his band mates, where they find it hard to survive and fit in, in a tough area. They accidentally find out they have a large quantities of 'Molly' after they have been invited to a local drug dealers party, that went array.  I have chosen this as my primary text is because it very different to a traditional 'Hood' movies. The movie that i would be comparing it with is Boyz n the Hood (1991). Although, these films were produced at different times with a 24 year age difference, the two are very similar and undergo the same conventions in these Crime dramas. Dope (2015) is also a comedy so there should be some exaggeration in the film because of this.