Visual Essay

. The text which I have chosen to analyse for this project is 'Proper Education' by Eric Prydz vs. Pink Floyd. After researching the different theorists for representation, audience, narrative, genre and language, I will apply each theory to the chosen text in this essay. . Laura Mulvey's theory, also known as the 'male gaze theory' does not really fit in with the chosen text as the characters are a group of teenagers, equally split between male and female, and equally represented. The message of the video is focused on education and being eco-friendly, as well as the age of the characters would therefore make any sexualisation out-of-place and unnecessary.  . Richard Dyer

As for the text which I have chosen to analyse, which is a remix of an original song, the star theory may or may not apply depending on who is considered the artist of the song. Pink Floyd were considered to be stars of their era (70s/80s), well-known internationally for their progressive and psychedelic music. They have been cited by institutions such as MSNBC, Rolling Stone and Q in lists for best band/artist of all time, and it is said that their music influenced artists such as David Bowie, Queen and Radiohead. The text which I am analysing is a remix of 'Another Brick in the Wall', the original of which had a large influence on people when it was first released and was even banned in South Africa for being used in nationwide boycotts. This supports Richard Dyer's star theory, as it shows how Pink Floyd are a constructed image who were widely represented through their character/personality and how their ideology and culture had such a huge impact on society at the time.

Eric Prydz may also be considered to be a star, however, he is nowhere near as well-known as Pink Floyd. His most well-known track 'Call on Me' from 2004 topped the UK singles chart for five weeks and earned him a great level of fame. Prydz has three record labels; Pryda, Pryda Friends and Mouseville as well as two/three stage names including Pryda and Cirez D. This formulating of a stage name and persona is a good example of the two components 'Stars as Constructs' and 'Character and Personality'. However, like many other electronic artists, Prydz tends not to be presented in the same way as pop stars where they are shaped by the institutions which they work for, creating an 'ideal' image with 'ideal' values and beliefs.

One of the initial reasons I chose this ancillary text was for its perception of stereotypes. The characters in the video are all teenagers of secondary school age (represented through their clothing) and living in a lower class area. The stereotype against people of this class and age are often negative, categorised into derogatory terms such as 'chavs'. The video begins by leading the audience to believe they are being represented in this way as from the beginning of the video, several teenagers meet as a group (referencing to gangs which are seen as negative and intimidating) where the 'leader' hands them objects such as bricks which the audience may assume are to be used for vandalism. They disband in pairs and begin sneaking into people's homes.

As the video progresses, we see that the teenagers' motives are not to steal and vandalise things, however they use the bricks to put in fridge freezers and toilet cisterns and switch homeowner's lightbulbs for energy efficient ones and so the message of the video becomes clear. There is a clear use of stereotypes to present the characters in such a way that the audience assumes that their actions will be negative, and then the stereotypes are broken to provide an interesting 'plot twist' and put across the message in a more effective and memorable way.

AUDIENCE

For the ancillary text which I have chosen, the general message of the text was about being environmentally friendly and 'going green' by switching things and adopting simple habits in your own home. To put this message across, they used conventional teenage characters in a way that makes the audience judge them and initially assume they have negative motives, however, the characters break these conventions in order to make the message have more impact.

The general message of the text isn't typically one that would cause offence or upset, and so it could be assumed that most people adopt a dominant or negotiated view of the video. Being more eco-friendly is something that is generally seen as a positive thing, and many would agree that spreading awareness is therefore beneficial. 

The text is unusual in the sense that the message it sends out is not subjective to any particular gender, age, race, religion, etc. and therefore appeals to a very wide audience. However, in terms of the genre of the music, the audience which the video is likely to reach would be predominantly young adults who would be likely to be influenced by, and adopt the habits shown in the video. 

Genre Theory

Genre, by definition, is a way of categorising media texts so it allows us to study them based on common elements. The word 'genre' may come from the French/Latin word for 'class', as argued by Daniel Chandler (2001).

Every genre is divided into sub-genres, which break sup a genre into smaller, more specific categories with specific common elements. Barry Keith Grant (1995) suggested that this allows the audience to identify them by these specific elements and they become recognisable characteristics.

Such characteristics are generally variations of the following elements:

• Mise-en-scene (iconography, props, set design, lighting, location, costume, visual effects)
• Narrative (plot, historical setting, set pieces)
• Generic types (typical characters, stereotypes)

David Buckingham (1993)

Genre is not fixed, rather it adapts and changes over time to suit society's needs. "Genre is not simply given by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change".

Steve Neale (1995)

In a similar way to Buckingham's theory on genre, Neale stated that "genres are not 'systems', they are processes of systematisation", meaning that genre is dynamic and tends to evolve over time in order to suit the views and needs of a wider audience.

Rick Altman (1999)

Argues that genre offers the audience 'a set of pleasures': emotional, visceral and intellectual

Intellectual pleasures are often derived from certain genres of film, for example, mystery or 'whodunit' films give the audience a sense of pleasure from figuring out the plot and/or solving a puzzle.

The word 'Visceral' refers to internal organs, and so visceral pleasures are 'gut' responses to how a media text will elicit a physical reaction from the audience such as revulsion, kinetic speed or a 'roller coaster ride'.
Emotional pleasures are quite self-explanatory in that the media text will generate an emotional response from the audience.

Jason Mittell (2001)

Industries use genre to sell products to an audience through common codes and conventions that often make cultural references. It surpasses the boundaries of media texts to operate within industry, audience and cultural practices.

Narrative Theory

Bordwell & Thompson - Story and Plot

Bordwell and Thompson's theory was heavily based on the Russian Film Theory, which distinguished a difference between story and plot. The story, also known as the 'fabula' are all the events in the narrative which we see and infer whereas the 'Syuzhet' or plot is everything that is visible and audibly present before us. The 'Story and Plot' theory states that the difference between story and plot relates to the diegetic world of the narrative and what we, as the audience, are positioned to see.

Sven Carlson - 3 Areas of Narrative Structure

Sven Carlson suggests that music videos can fall into two rough categories: performance and conceptual.

Performance clips can be broken down into three different types, song performance, instrumental performance or a combination of both. Conceptual clips show something else, often with artistic ambitions. 

Tim O'Sullivan - Culture and Society

Tim O'Sullivan argues that media texts all tell us some kind of story about ourselves as a culture or set of cultures. This narrative theory demonstrates how we understand a particular set of constructions and conventions and how they are put together.

Todorov - Narrative Structure

Tzvetan Todorov's equilibrium theory identifies five stages of narrative structure

Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium. Everything is calm and normal.

Stage 2: This state of equilibrium is disrupted by some kind of force

Stage 3: Recognition of the disruption which has taken place

Stage 4: Attempt to re-create equilibrium through action against the disruption or force

Stage 5: A new state equilibrium is restored and established due to the consequences of the reaction

Pam Cook - Narrative Development

Pam Cook identified a structure of the classic narrative system, which should have linearity of cause and effect, a high degree of narrative closure and a fictional world containing verisimilitude.

Audience Theory

Stuart Hall - Reception Theory

Media texts are encoded by the producer which the audience then consume and decode. Whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages, which different people decode in different ways (and not always in the way which the producer intended).

Different factors may change the way people perceive messages, these factors could be:

• Gender
• Age
• Race/Ethnicity/Culture
• Religion
• Current mood
• Personal identity
• Education
• Political Views

Usually, people will either adopt a dominant, negotiated or oppositional view of media texts.

Dominant

The audience view the text in the way the producer intended, they agree with the ideology & the messages.

Negotiated

The audience neither agree nor disagree but they see the point in the messages. Their opinion is neutral.

Oppositional

The audience rejects the reading of the text and will therefore create their own. They may even be upset, angry or offended by the text.

Blumler and Katz - Uses and Gratifications

The uses and gratifications model considers how we as an audience control the media, rather than the other way around, through our own needs and our desire to fulfill them. It is broken down into four different needs:

Surveillance
We feel more secure when we know what is going on in the world around us and therefore gratify this need through watching/reading the news and weather forecasts. It reassures us and we become more passive and accepting of this information. Sometimes, however, false stories can be published which give us a false sense of security.

Personal Identity
Being a subject of the media reassures us of our identity and position in society and helps us to form our personal identity. Since pop stars often become huge role models and they can heavily influence those who consume them (and therefore is the reason why there's such an outcry when they do something wrong).

Personal Relationships
People use the television as a form of companionship, and by watching the same people (or characters) on television on a regular basis we begin to feel very close to them, as though we know them in person. We might even grieve for the loss of the character in the same way we might grieve for somebody we know in real life.

Diversion

Can also be known as escapism, watching television as a way to escape our everyday lives and think about something else. We are diverting our attention to something else.

Hypodermic Needle Theory

The hypodermic needle theory implies that mass media is very powerful and influential and therefore has a direct effect on the audience. The media controls us and our opinions are based upon what the media tells us. The term 'hypodermic needle theory' comes from the idea that the media 'Injects' us with appropriate messages.

A famous early case which supports this theory occurred during the 1930s where a radio broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' performed a realistic news broadcast in order to heighten the effect of the story and people listening assumed the news broadcast was real and Earth was really being invaded by Mars. This case shows how audiences can be very passive towards what they read or hear from the media and therefore this can lead to misinterpretation.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the media was considered very powerful due to the fast rise in and popularity of television and radio as well as institutions taking persuasive approaches in advertising.

It could be said that the Hypodermic Needle Theory suggests that the media is dangerous and the audience are powerless because of the 'injecting' of messages and values directly into mass audiences. People believe what they are told because it is the only source of information for them.

However, it could be argued that this theory is very outdated as the emergence of the internet and the development of technology and the way in which we consume media means we can access a vast amount of sources and are therefore more aware of our society.

Representation Theory

Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze 

Feminist film theory arose as an academic critical approach in the late 1960s as part of the second wave of feminism (first wave = suffragettes)

Laura Mulvey, born 1941, is a British feminist film theorist whose most notable essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema focuses on the representation of women in sexual and objective ways. Her work was initially on Hollywood films, however, this concept of women being presented and viewed as sexual objects is also evident in almost all media texts today.

The main ideas of Mulvey's work state that we are used to women being objectified and presented in a sexual way, made to appeal to heterosexual males, irregardless of the actual gender and sexuality of the individual members of the audience. Women are to be looked at and to look good, and their objectification is to provide men with a scopophilia aspect of voyeurism. She suggests that the narrative within films tends to justify the 'looking at' of women through the use of cinematography (e.g. close-ups) and editing (e.g. eyeline matches). The music video which I have attached below, 'Satisfaction' by Benny Benassi, is a good example of this as the whole video comprises of close-up shots of women dressed in little clothing, posing and dancing suggestively.
.
.

Most media texts have female characters that are subject to the male gaze. In brief explanation, this also links in with the Bechdel Test, a test mainly used against films that asks whether there are more than two women, named and who discuss something other than a man with each other. According to user-edited databases and the media industry, only about half of all films meet this requirement. Although this might not necessarily work with the media text I have chosen for this brief (music videos) since there is generally no dialogue, the Bechdel Test further backs up the theory which Mulvey presents, showing gender inequality in media texts and that female characters are often presented as nothing more than either a love interest or an 'object' to gain.

However Mulvey's male gaze theory, first published in 1975 and revised in 1981, is quite outdated. The rise in feminism has called attention to gender inequality and in a lot of modern media texts, women characters are often equal to male characters or women who present themselves in a sexual way often do it as a form of empowerment. A good example of this is 'Your Body' by Christina Aguilera. Although she is sexualised in the video and the cinematography and editing both support Mulvey's theory, she is using it to her advantage and she continuously displays dominance over the men in the video. . .

.

Richard Dyer - Star Theory

A star can be defined as a very famous and most likely talented person; a celebrity.

Richard Dyer's star theory suggests that stars are images of how society would like them to be, constructed by institutions, in order to make society want to consume them and therefore generate money. He states that "A star is a constructed image, represented across a range of media and mediums". They form a persona which generally isn't a true representation of themselves, however it appeals to a target audience and makes them 'buy into' that identity. Dyer's theory is typically broken down into four key components:

• Stars as constructions
• Ideology and culture
• Audience and industry/institution
• Character and personality

Stars as Constructions

Although the 'stars' themselves may be real people, their images and how they are presented is just a persona, constructed so that society will buy into them. Pop stars are generally more successful and have a greater freedom with this as they generate their own material whereas, it's often more difficult for a film star to formulate an 'image' as their success is dependant on others (film directors, screenwriters, etc.).

Ideology and Culture

The cultural values and beliefs a star promotes is important to their success as a positive attitude will receive well with a target audience, for example, being charitable. Dyer himself states that "Stars represent and embody certain ideologies" and influence this through hegemony (leadership and dominance). If their attitudes are positive, this makes them a more desirable celebrity which society are more willing to consume. 

Audience and Industry/Institution

Industries and institutions are heavy influences on stars, shaping them to what they know the target audience wants. In the case of pop stars, record companies will shape them in a way that they know will make the most money out of the target audience. The audience will consume this image and follow the artist and buy their albums. A quote from Richard Dyer that supports this states that "Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions". 

Character and Personality

Stars build up a character that gives the audience an idea of what people are supposed to be like, based upon the image which they have constructed for themselves (and often an image which is not necessarily true to their 'real' selves). As described in the component 'Audience and Industry/Institution', these constructs are what an audience want to consume and feel the need to conform to.

.

.

Tessa Perkins - Stereotypes

A stereotype is a generalised judgement used to categorise groups of people. They are generally perceived to be quite negative and sometimes offensive towards people of that particular group. Often they are also unreliable and take advantage of those in minority groups.

However, Tessa Perkins (1979) states that stereotyping isn't always a simple process as many of the ways stereotypes are presumed to work aren't always true. She identifies that stereotypes are not always negative, not always false and not always about minority groups, and argues that if they were always simple they wouldn't be accepted culturally.