How the media manipulates our morals and plays a major role in constructing a regressive female identity in our society.

The media manipulates and alters our morals constantly, often subtly but almost always deliberately. This is shown in many different ways but mostly through mainstream media such as adverts, music videos, TV programmes and films. In society today we are manipulated to see women as entities to lust and fanaticise over particularly by men.








An example of female exploitation is shown in the Lynx advert “Fallen Angels”. The young attractive woman (Kelly) is shown to have voluptuous breasts, long thick dark hair and a beautiful face and body to attract the attention of men all over the nation. It works fantastically as the male targeted audience instantly feel as though they require a sense of satisfaction through female attention. This means In order to be noticed by attractive woman, men suddenly feel compelled by the advert to buy the amazing deodorant. But buy conveying women in this way Lynx are cunningly adjusting the morals and ideas men have toward women.

The advertising then says “Will Kelly fall for you?” this degrades woman as it gives the image that woman should fall to man and it entices men to purchase the UK’s bestselling deodorant. Many could argue that if the advertising was derogatory to woman, then the woman in the advert would not have done it as why would she want to make woman look like sexual objects? But as she is a very attractive woman and also that she is dressed in a certain way Lynx have purposely used to attract the attention of the male population.








Not only do Lynx show aspects of a regressive female identity in our society, Gucci and Armani do too when advertising their men’s aftershaves. In many aftershave adverts aimed at men I have noticed a repetitive cycle of female’s almost naked and explicit intimacy at times between men and women. In most cases the male is shown as the dominant person in the advertisement whom has left a gorgeous woman feeling star struck by him. I have also noticed that the woman hardly ever seems to be looking into the camera and more times than not the male is looking directly into the camera with a gaze of gratification and power on his face. This two images below show examples of these.

These adverts show how society’s beliefs can be manipulated easily. Some believe that watching a vast amount of sexualised adverts consistently, that all have the same ideas towards women, unknowingly entices men change their perception on women (this is known as the Hypodermic Needle theory which says that if you keep seeing/hearing something the media injects that belief into our heads which makes us then do the same).








In these adverts there is usually a blonde, slim almost flawless woman who is lusting over the man in a passionate style. This is because the media have created an understanding that blond hair and blue eyes represent innocence and purity. This contrasts the men who are in these advertisements as they often have dark hair and brown eyes which suggests mystery and power resulting in them being seen as the alpha male.








Woman are sexually exploited and are photo-shopped to an extent that makes them seem unlifelike. This means women feel downgraded and derogatory about themselves as adverts show women to be fake. This also gives men unrealistic expectations of women and relationships towards them.


In some jobs males and females have been working in the exact same role but are paid differently because of their sex. This is discrimination through sexuality and it is shown in jobs such as software development, project management, computer systems and human resources. Women will find it difficult to get into certain jobs such as lorry driving, building work and factory work because of the social stereotype of acceptable jobs. Although this problem has been identified and seems to be on the route to rectification, it is still an issue that exists in society.








To conclude, I agree with the statement that the media manipulates our morals and plays a major role in constructing a regressive female identity in our society as many different aspects of media show the same degenerating female image. I also believe that the media contributes to a hidden curriculum which is sometimes unintentionally taught to young people in particular which in effect sways the views and beliefs of youngsters and society.

Media Short Film Images & Videos

 

Below i have put together a few images showing various camera shots that i plan to use in my short film. I have taken close ups, point of views, wide shots and blurred & focused shots as a think an effective short film would include a range of camera shots.

 

This image of a dark street was taken so that i could test lighting and how effective night filming would actually be.

the close up of the phone was taken so i could see how close i could focus into a frame and making it seem professional.

 

this wide shot shows how an image can show detail of many different shapes whilst allowing the viewer to focus on onw point.

 

This image like the previous also shows how a large amount of detail can be in an image yet there can still be a focus.

 

This image creates mystery and intrest as the close up shot engages the audience into wondering who he is and why a close up was used. I have experimented using shots during the day which was more effective than at night.

 

my final which is extremely powerful because it tells the story from the viewpoint of the actual person. i plan to use many different caamera shots in my short film as well as editing to produce a fantastic final piece.

 

 

Media research

 

E4

E4 is a British digital television channel, launched as a companion to Channel 4. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at the lucrative 15–35 year olds. Programming includes U.S. imports such as The Cleveland Show, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, 90210, Ugly Betty, Scrubs and 2 Broke Girls. Other programming includes British shows such as Misfits, The Ricky Gervais Show, Shameless, Hollyoaks, Skins, The Inbetweeners and Made in Chelsea. I have decided to focus my research on Misfits as I believe my brief has the potential of becoming a similar programme.

Misfits

Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television show, on the network Channel 4, about a group of young offenders sentenced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The Misfits series have uniqueness about them which sets them out from every other sci-fi programme airing at the time being. This I something I hope to capture when creating my short film. The image below is from the opening credits of Misfits.

 

The image immediately gives the viewer reason to ask themselves questions. One question might be ‘why doesn’t the person in the middle have a shadow?’ the answer to this question is totally dependent on interpretation. This is fantastic image for an opening credit image as it give the audience motive to understand or relate to the how the characters may be feeling and why they are seen in the way they are.

Also the person on the far left has a shadow which is pointing in a different direction to the rest of the characters this may be because they are different in some way which is also generating curiosity meaning the viewer is interested. This links well to work because I could slowly entice the viewers into watching by giving them small helpings of information. Opening credits are hugely important in the effectiveness of my brief as they set the plot and give an impression of the rest of the story.

A cloudy grey colour is used I think to show that there is no clarity and the shadows are facing towards us meaning the bright, white light is shining from behind them concluding with the reality that their faces would be in darkness. The images match the sci-fi genre of the programme since the people look like cartoon cut outs. The viewer can only see the hands of one character; this may propose that she is the most superior or powerful as we use our hands with most actions we act.

In one scene the camera shot zooms out and we see a character n yellow about to commit suicide on the roof of the community service centre, and a slow soundtrack is played in the background. This is an example of non-diegetic music which I plan to use in my production. The use of the slow playing guitar music helps to elect the target audience of the show. This is as many young people are seen to attend festivals to listen to music with different instruments in and often referred to as indie music.

The characters are stood in a line together which suggests that they might all have something in common with one another although the programme name contradicts this feeling slightly. The characters used within 'Misfits' help indicate the specific target audience, for example, young people(15-35yrs) are presented throughout the programme; this gives the impression that the programme is purposed for the entertainment of young adults.

My research has shown me how camera angles, music types and use of characters can influence and adapt the way an audience will interpret and understand a programme.

 

 

My Logo Design

 

When designing my own effective logo i knew it had to be five things which were: Simple, memorable, timeless, versatile and appropriate.
 
Through research of companies logos such as McDonalds, Apple and Nike i have learnt that a good logo is easily recognisable and allows the logo to be versatile and memorable. Good logos feature something unique without being overdrawn and complicated. I think this is because of the simplicity of many logo's. As you can see i have not overcrowded my logo with colour or various fonts as simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

I think it is important to have a sleek but interesting look, which i believe i have accomplished with having the word 'Prestige' written in Chinese. I have chosen the word 'Prestige' as it means the widespread respect and admiration felt for someone or something on the basis of a perception of their achievements or quality. I think this is a fantastic way to summarise an expanding successful company and it has great expectations to live up to. I have chosen to write the word in Chinese as i feel it will create curiosity and fascination of unique design. 

 Research of Nike has taught me that effective logos must be timeless. A brilliant example of this is Nike as they have had the Nike 'swoosh' logo for over 40 years and it is still highly recognisable all over the world. I trust that my logo will be timeless because of its mystery and unknowing.

I tried testing my logo in different colours but first in black and white to ensure that the logo will look good in its simplest form. Colour is very subjective and emotional. This can distract the audience from the overall design or attract the audience but i noticed that this is highly dependent on situation.  For example to gain the status i wanted for my company/ logo i knew i couldn’t be too vibrant as it may portray a young or childish theme. An example of the appropriateness of the logo is the MTV logo which is playful and joyous but it would not be suitable for a law firm.

 To conclude, i believe my logo has achieved the goal of a sophisticated and intriguing style.

 

 

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