Research Investigation Final

How men are represented differently in mainstream music 'vs' Alternative 'underground' music.

For my research investigation I have chosen to research into how men are represented differently in mainstream music 'vs' Alternative 'underground' music. "Mainstream music denotes music that is familiar to the masses, as for example popular music, pop music, middle of the road music, pop rap or pop rock". Alternative underground music on the other hand is music that "Opposes mainstream music which is the music of subcultures and exists in genre's such as punk rock, indie rock, alternative/underground hip hop, anti-folk and heavy metal". I have chosen to look at the hip-hop and rap genre because of how it is a very male dominated genre and also the controversy that is caused between artist and their audiences. I feel that the subject of mainstream and alternative music relates a lot to hip-hop/ rap music because of how many male rap artist that get signed and start to create much more mainstream music often get called 'sell outs' because of how their overall representation might change through their appearance, lyrics and in their music videos because of how the money and their record label has changed them to appeal to the mainstream audiences.  I will be making reference to music videos such as; Dappy - Tarzan 2.5 (Versace Cover), Jason Derulo Ft 2Chainz - Talk Dirty To Me and Tyler The Creator - Yonkers.

In the book 'Teaching men and film' the author Matthew Hall talks about Traditional gender roles, traits and values in shown through the media. Male traits include; preferring action to discussion, uses confrontation to solve problems, physical/mental strength and endurance etc. These traits all make the 'stereotypical male' (powerful, masculine, dominant, aggressive, rebellion etc.). Angela McRobbie is also a theorist that talks about these stereotypical roles in her feminist theory and how gender is portrayed in the media as being exaggerated stereotypes. This stereotypical male and these characteristics are shown a lot in the hip hop genre and I feel that many underground artists themselves try to exaggerate these stereotypical representations so that they are a conventional artist in the Hip Hop industry but are also trying to be different by making the representations extreme so that they can gain more fans and try to become the most popular artist who is earning the most money. Some audiences may however find some Hip Hop music videos verging on the edge of becoming a parody video because of how some artist’s representations are very extreme.

We see these male traits take place in an underground music video by an artist called Dappy. The video is called Tarzan 2.5 (Versace Cover), which is a rap video about how he feels he is the 'King of the jungle' (meaning king of the rap/hip hop industry). Dappy use to be a very popular uk artist back in 2009 when he with in a group named NDubz. NDubz went double platinum with their albums "Uncle B" and "Against all odds" and also featured in a chart number one with Tynchy Stryder in the uk with the song "Number 1". In this video we see the stereotypical male throughout the video through miss-en-scene, props, clothing, camera etc. Dappy is represented as a very rebellious, dominant 'stereotypical male' because of how throwing this party and he's got all these girls and guys surrounding him as he raps. The main setting for this video is in this posh, expensive mansion (supposedly Dappy's house). He is shown as masculine (girls stroking his body), powerful (main focus of the party). He is also shown as rebellious in a part in the video when he is shouting at his neighbor down the phone. This is a very unusual example of a rebelliousness and aggression because of how it’s quite a funny scene in the music video and is a reason why this could be seen as a parody.

These stereotypical manners of men are also shown in mainstream music but however are less exaggerated and focus on much more positive representations by showing less rebelliousness and aggression. In the video 'Jason Derulo ft 2Chainz - Talk Dirty To Me' (which is a Rap/ Dance/ Hip Hop mainstream track) we do still see some of these stereotypical representations of men throughout like male dominance, masculinity (also on the album cover, which shows Jason Derulo's abs) and wealth but however see a much more positive and joyful side with hints of some rebelliousness other than seeing aggression throughout like in Dappy's underground music video.    

Mainstream artists compared to Underground artists can't create these crazy/ extreme representations most of the time because they have less freedom when creating music videos for their mainstream tracks. Underground artists are not stuck to a contract with big record labels so they have much more freedom in what music videos they create and what they do with them. In the book 'Studying Popular Culture', the author 'Tim Wall' talks about mainstream artist being seen and shown as 'Stars' in the tenth chapter of the book, which is called 'Stars As Individuals'. He talks about how artists are seen by the audience as 'stars' and that the better persona and representation of the artist the record company show, the more sales they will make. We can tell from this source and from looking at Jason Derulo's music video 'Talk Dirty To Me' that the music video doesn't show aggression, bad language and loads of rebelliousness because the record company don't want to represent Jason Derulo across as being this type of 'Individual' because this won't sell records. However the record company still do want to show him as  a wealthy, masculine and quite dominant male almost like a role model for teenagers that might listen to this music. Quotes from source: 

    "…the media and the music business produce images for artists, and that those artists not only perform music, but also perform a particular star persona" - 'Studying Popular Culture', Chapter 10, Representations. 

    "Our awareness of these individuals, and our knowledge of their fame and talent, is the product of carefully executed publicity campaigns. In turn our knowledge of the star is used to encourage us to purchase records and an array of secondary merchandise". Slightly Further on…. "a record company invests significant sums to gain publicity and reinforce an image they believe will, in turn, ensure greater sales of that stars records" - 'Studying Popular Culture', Chapter 10, Stars as Individuals. 


Underground non-mainstream music has developed over years and many artists now have big fan bases that understand the artist’s representations, lyrics, music videos etc. Many artists also start as underground artist and create one or two mainstream catchy big selling tracks and then you might never here much of them again. Underground artist do this I feel to be able to get more audience from their short mainstream success and make them a fan because the audience likes the representation that the artist is showing in his/her music videos. Artist such as Sappy and other UK rap artists (Chipmunk, Maxsta, Wiley etc) do this also to gain large amounts of money from their mainstream success so that they can use the money the create better music and videos and/or use it to flaunt and spend in their music videos to create a new image for themselves or to bring back the old one before they went into the mainstream industry. Many Rap/Hip Hop artists nowadays get called sellouts and loose lots of fans (and gain new ones) when they create mainstream music because sometimes their image and representation changes due to their success. When the artist then change back to create underground music they have lost many fans so try and create crazy extreme representations (just like Dappy did) to show that they are free and never changed just because of a record label telling them what to do. Some Rap/ Hip Hop artist however do still get well known and very wealthy through just making music when not on a record label and slowly gain a fan base because of how they are different to the everyday conventional representations of Hip Hop artist. Rap groups such as 'Odd Future' (US), 'Cash Money' (US) and 'Boy Better Know' (UK) are examples of well known groups with big fan bases all over the world and who have gained a fan base by having some members of the group that have created mainstream music and also mainly through social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook. These underground groups have also created there own record labels in which they choose their own representation and overall image of themselves because they don't need to worry about keeping their mainstream audience and creating music suitable for the radio and the mainstream industry. According to the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) Twitter and Facebook's most followed and liked pages are music artist. This shows that music nowadays is run by advertisement and about gaining fan bases through these sites and also sharing music on YouTube. YouTube also is dominated by music videos being the top viewed and this is a reason why many alternative/underground artist are creating the so that the can show their crazy representations throughout their music and gain masses of views. 


In the article in media magazine called "Issues of Representation in Contemporary Hip-Hop" the author Phil Dyas talks about Odd Future, especially 'Tyler The Creator' (member of Odd Future) as a solo artist and talks about the different representation Tyler shows other than him being a conventional Hip Hop Rapper who raps about girls, money drugs etc. He also talks about how the music video 'Yonkers' by Tyler The Creator is non conventional because its not glamorous which links back to the point were I was talking about how some underground artist use the money from mainstream success to create high quality and glamorous music videos.  

    "What Odd Future do is push the violence and aggression common in hip-hop’s representations of young black men to its logical conclusion. Tyler, the Creator hints at honest psychological wounds and even the violence shown within their music videos is turned inward. The video for ‘Yonkers’, shot in black and white entirely in one take (a far cry from the glamour common in most hip-hop videos) concludes with Tyler hanging himself. All of Odd Future’s controversial lyrics can be traced not to the hip-hop tradition of ‘thuggishness’, but to an intense self-loathing and introspection more common within alternative genres" - Phil Dyas, Issues of Representation in Contemporary Hip-Hop.

    

After looking at artist such as Dappy, Jason Derulo,Tyler The Creator and the overall genre of Rap/ Hip Hop I have found from my research that male mainstream artist have much less freedom in their mainstream music videos because of the way they are being shown as 'Stars' to their fans and their record label wants to show them as quite positive stereotypical men to target at the young teenage mainstream audience so that the artist and record label can sell the most records and merchandise. I have found that underground artist of the other hand create much more exaggerated representations of themselves because they have freedom and want to show rebelliousness because they are not choosing to be with a record label and that they will appeal to their fan base and not try to target the mainstream audience by changing their representation. However I have found also that some artist such as Dappy and other UK rap artists create mainstream music to gain money to fund creating their underground music for their dedicated fans. 

Bibliography: 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstream#In_music - Definitions of mainstream and underground music.

Source: Teaching men and film 2005 - Matthew Hall, Pages 21&22, Chapter 2 - Background


Source:  http://www.slideshare.net/333manny1995/angela-mcrobbie-theory  &  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_theory - Angela McRobbies Theory 


Source (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4cadIfgk0w - Dappy - Versace Cover Tarzan 2.5


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Dubz_discography - NDubz Discography


Source (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbtPXFlZlHg - Jason Derulo Ft 2Chainz - Talk Dirty To Me


Source: Studying popular music culture - Tim Wall 2003, Chapter ten, Representation & Stars as individuals.

Source: BPI - Digital Music Nation, Pg 4, "Music as a driver of social media entertainment"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_viewed_YouTube_videos - Top Most Viewed Youtube Videos

Source: http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/mm42_hiphop.html


Source (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSbZidsgMfw - Tyler The Creator - Yonkers 

Research Investigation Presentation

Title: How Men are Represented in Mainstream Music Vs Alternative Underground Music

4 Points:

How male alternative underground artist create much more different and maybe negative representation of themselves because of the freedom they have.

Source: http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/mm42_hiphop.html
- Focuses on tyler the creator in the odd future section. Talks about lyrics and how he is a non mainstream artist so is not portrayed as a millionaire superstar like jay-z.
- I can talk about how tyler has freedom in his lyrics and his videos in how he represents himself.

How mainstream artist create music videos for promotion and the artist are represented as stars.

Could focus on mainstream artists such as Jay-z, Kanye West (other big superstars) because of how they are represented as millionaires and are limited to the amount of freedom because how they are tied with a record label and have massive mainstream audiences.
Source: Studying popular music culture - Tim Wall 2003, chapter ten, representation, Stars as individuals.
- Focuses on how mainstream artist are seen as stars and audiences look up to them and are encouraged to by records and merchandise through how they are represented as an individual.

How underground artist go mainstream to promote themselves, gain money and a bigger audiences and then change back to creating underground music.

-Talk about artist such as Eminem and Dappy.
Source: Media, Gender and Identity - David Gauntlett 2002, Music for boys chapter, Eminem: Role Model. 

Stereotypical representations of men in mainstream music.
Can talk about the macho masculine stereotype and how it is used throughout mainstream music to represent men. Can mention Jason Durulo and other mainstream artist who are represented as this stereotype.
Source: Angela McRobbies feminist theory
-Talkes about stereotypical representations of men.
Then can talk about in some genre's or how some artist differ and are represented as more effeminate characters in their music videos or through their lyrics.
Source: Media, Gender and Identity - David Gauntlett 2002, Music for boys chapter, page 221.
-Talks about how boy bands such as Nsync are shown as more effeminate lads who wear make-up and discuss affairs in pop songs and who are not conventionally shown as this macho masculine stereotype.

Music Videos chosen for research investigation.

Underground Alternative Music
Dappy - Tarzan 2.5 (Versace Cover)
-Focused around sex, money, nice house, girls, alcohol etc.
-Negative representations of men, however dappy is shown as the main focus (powerful, wealthy, popular)
-Rapping about anything he wants - is free to say anything and doesn't have to worry about making a catchy chorus or using visual effects in the video.



Mainstream Music
Jason Derulo -  Talk Dirty feat. 2 Chainz
-Bright lights, Video effects, dancing, catchy chorus - reasons why it appeals to mainstream audience
- Does show similar representations as the Dappy video such as: seductive girls (sexual dancing), Jason Derulo is shown as powerful, main focus (girls always dancing on him), wealthy (wearing different clothes all the time etc)
-Different to the Dappy video because of how Jason Derulo is singing catchy lyrics and not saying more about other subjects like Dappy does etc.

I also chose these other two music videos to maybe include in my research investigation because it shows the comparison of how men are represented whilst they are showing their views on similar subjects (young people).



Underground Alternative Music
Plan B - Ill Manors
-Negative representations of men (violent, destructive etc.)
-Only appeals to small audience because of very negative video - No happiness, focuses on violence, hate etc.  


Mainstream Music
Tinie Tempah - Children Of The Sun feat. John Martin
-Much more positive representations.
-Tinie says about how he has had trouble in the past, but now has got fame etc.

Secondary Sources and Points for my Research Investigation

How male alternative underground artist create much more different and maybe negative representation of themselves because of the freedom they have.

Source: http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/mm42_hiphop.html


How mainstream artist create music videos for promotion and the artist are represented as stars.
Source: Studying popular music culture - Tim Wall 2003, chapter ten, representation, Stars as individuals.


How underground artist go mainstream to promote themselves, gain money and a bigger audiences and then change back to creating underground music.
Source: Media, Gender and Identity - David Gauntlett 2002, Music for boys chapter, Eminem: Role Model. 

Stereotypical representations of men in mainstream music.
Source: Angela McRobbies feminist theory
Source: Media, Gender and Identity - David Gauntlett 2002, Music for boys chapter, page 221.

Targets

Targets:

• Complete all independent learning to deadline
• Complete all work to full potential and not just half finished on blog

Target to complete by end of this week:

• Catch Up on all work not completed: TV and Genre Lesson 2  

            

Sherlock Holmes

'How similar are the genre conventions used in the 1968 episode of 'A Study in Scarlet' to the 2010 'A Study in Pink'.

 
  The episode 'A Study in pink' was first broadcasted in 2010 and is a reboot loosely based on the 1968 episode 'A Study in Scarlet'. When watching the 1968 episode and comparing it to the 2010 episode I noticed key parts in the narrative that were rebooted and changed to fit the narrative in the 2010 episode. Firstly the setting and some of the main characters names, personalities and appearances stayed similar, E.g. Sherlock's character dresses very similar in the 2010 episode by wearing a smart suit but however looses the detective cap, the waistcoat, the tie and the pipe. However some of these props and parts from the old Sherlock in 1968 get replaced/ modernised, such as the pipe gets changed for nicotine patches when Sherlock is thinking and the tie gets replaced with a scarf. Sherlock's characters personality and overall persona stays very similar as well with him being very smart and quite confident with his information, also the way Sherlock in both the episodes gets quick angry with himself or really happy when he or someone else such as the killer makes a mistake. However I do feel that the have changed the 2010 Sherlock Holmes by making Benedict Cumber batch act much more cocky and cheeky through the comments he makes. I feel they've done this in the newer reboots to add comedy aspects to the genre to appeal to a bigger audience. 


The character 'Dr. Watson' has also changed quite a bit from the 1968 episode because now he is a much bigger character in the 2010 narratives and holds much more mystery about him and his past through the way he is introduce into the episode 'A Study in Pink'. In the 1968 episode he was less of a main character and he would just follow Sherlock Holmes to keep him company and help him out a bit. However conventions of this character have also been kept such as how in both episodes he is always quite surprised in Sherlock and always wonders how he figures out and gains his information though clues etc. Also Dr Watson talks about the army past in both episodes. Mrs. Hudson has also been rebooted as a character and looks very similar as well through the costume she is wearing in both episodes. I fell her character has been change slightly to much more happy, talkative character as we see in the 2010 episode. As well as characters, we also have the setting of 'baker street' that has kept the same. Also the layout of the small flat is also very similar in both episodes.  

For the episode 'A Study In Pink' I noticed that they have taken many key elements from the episode 'A Study In Scarlet' and have changed them slightly to fit in the new narrative so that it is slightly different and unique. The word 'Rache' that was written in blood on the wall of the room meaning 'revenge' in German was changed in the newer episode and was engraved on the floor and was change so that Sherlock noticed that she missed the 'L' and was meaning to write Rachel.
In both narratives there was also a mistake by the killer that helped Sherlock complete the case in the older episode it was because of a ring and in the newer episode it was because of the phone. I feel that the narrative didn't stay the exact same because of how Mark Gatiss wanted the modernise the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Overall I felt from watching both episodes that the genre of the 1968 episode was more of a detective mystery genre and the 2010 reboot episode has shifted throughout the years and changed to a detective cop drama genre series because of the different conventions and narratives that are used. In the new series we see a lot more of cops, detectives and investigators which reminds me a lot of the crime investigation drama 'C.S.I'. We also see non linear parts of the episodes which explain more and go in depth on the past about characters such as Dr. Watson which gives a drama aspect to the narrative. However in the older episode in 1968, the narrative was very plain and linear and just focused on Sherlock Holmes finding clues to find a killer at the end of the episode.        

Doctor Who: Christmas Specials

The Runaway Bride is a Dr Who Christmas special which aired in 2006. This trailer included David Tennant as the doctor (who was also in the previous years Christmas special 'The Christmas Invasion') and Catherine Tate as donna (Dr Who's new companion). When watching this trailer, I felt that it was very similar to the 'Christmas Invasion' episode because of how it was set in London and also the same Santa villain characters were used. In the trailer we are introduced to this new companion for the doctor (Donna). In the Christmas invasion episode  we were also introduced to David Tennant who is the new doctor. Both these episode are very similar because they use these special episodes to be able to introduce new characters/actors of characters but without affecting the new series.

Voyage of the Damned is the third Christmas special of the new rebooted doctor who series. This episode aired in 2007 and was one of the most watched doctor who episodes of all time. This episode is very different compared to the last two because of how it is a extended episode from the narrative "last of the time lords" and is also based around the historic event of titanic. In this trailer we also don't get shown many props, costumes or location to do with Christmas.

The Next Doctor is the fourth doctor who Christmas special which aired in 2008 of the rebooted series. In the trailer we see a montage of different doctors from the new rebooted series and also the old series. This trailer involves a few clips with dialogue of old doctors talking about regeneration and also change that happens. In the trailer we also don't see much of the Christmas theme throughout and I feel this episode is more to do with character development and inform new audiences more about the regeneration process that happens in doctor who.      

The End Of Time episode Is very different to the other trailers that I have seen because it feel like more of a dramatic episode and from the dialogue we hear in the trailer and the music it almost feel like quite a horror/sad episode. In the trailer we also see a different side to the doctor because he is less humorous and much more serious in the way he speaks. Near the end of the episode we also get close ups of the doctor and hear him say "I'm going to die". 

A Christmas carol is the first Doctor who special with the doctor being played as a new actor (Matt Smith) in the new rebooted series. The narrative for this episode is inspired by the Charles Dickens novel 'A Christmas Carol'. In this episode we see the doctor go back in time to save a falling spaceship and make a character called Karsan. Throughout the episode we see a christmas theme throughout shown through props, weather (snowing), dialogue, costumes etc.

'The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe' is a episode very similar to 'A Christmas Carol' and 'Voyage of the Damned', because of how the narrative plays on a older film/ historic event or book (The lion, the witch and the wardrobe). This episode is Christmas themed because of how straight away in the trailer we get told in the dialogue and see a christmas tree. I feel that they have focused less on using sic-fi conventions because of how its set in the past and included much more action and horror throughout because of how there are many scenes of fire and destruction and we are also scared for the boy.

'The Snowmen' christmas episode is a episode that is very similar to 'The runaway bride' because of how we are introduced to the doctors new companion (Klara). Its a very christmas themed episode because how it is based around snowmen and christmas overall. 

Doctor Who: Love & Monsters

Doctor Who Love and Monsters (2006)

Theory 1 - Robert Warshow from 'The Gangster as Tragic Hero' 1948: 'One goes to any individual example of the type with very definite expectations and originality is to be welcomed only in the degree that it intensifies the expected experience without fundamentally altering it' 

The episode 'Love & Monsters' can be applied to the this theory by Robert Warshow because of how this doctor who episode includes much more originality and balances out the episode by using less sci-fi conventions and including much more comedy and romance conventions than the doctor who series normally would through the use of characters and overall narrative. This episode I feel has included to much originality to the point were we see less of our expectations of the sci-fi series. Comparing this episode to other Doctor Who episodes I felt that many sci-fi elements of the series were not included and felt that in other episodes the balance between sci-fi and other genres tended to shift much more to sci-fi. I felt this episode was more balanced because even though there was a lot of comedy and romance, the overall narrative did include a lot of sci-fi conventions as well by still using the main series iconography, such as the 'Tardis', the 'Sonic Screwdriver' and the use of an alien villain.    

Theory 2 - Rick Altman from 'Film/Genre 1996: 'Not all films engage spectators' generic knowledge in the same way and to the same extent. While some films simply borrow devices from established genres, others foreground their generic characteristics to the point where the genre concept itself plays a major role in the film. 

The episode also reflects Rick Altmans theory because of how conventions of comedy and romance have been included through the characters they have used and the overall narrative. In this episode the comedian Peter Kay was playing the main alien villain (The Abzorboloff). Rick Altmans Theory talks about how different audiences interpret differently. In this episode many fans (Whovians) of the Doctor Who series felt that because using the comedian Peter Kay in a comical way by playing a northern alien character, they felt that it was a parody episode/spoof. Digital Spy's Dek Hogan criticised Kay's performance, calling the Abzorbaloff "a marvellous idea and it's a pity his creativity was absorbed by a turn from a visiting comedian". Stephen Brook of The Guardian stated that he "hated" the episode, describing it as a "parody of Doctor Who fans". However other public viewers/ non hardcore fans of the series, including myself, might interpreted this differently because of how if they don't watch doctor who a lot or never they wouldn't know the original narrative structures, the amount of sci-fi conventions used and the use of iconography or characters used in the narrative. Romance elements were also used through the use of the group in the narrative called 'LINDA'. The group 'LINDA' was also interpreted as a parody by a lot of fans, because they felt it was a negative representation of them. Romance was shown throughout the narrative with the characters Elton and Ursala. Adult humour was also included at the end of the narrative when Ursala's face was on a slab and Elton was talking about how they still have a sexual relationship which audiences will interpret differently according to there age.      

Music Video Research Proposal

For my research investigation I have chosen to research into how men are represented differently in mainstream music 'Vs' Alternative 'underground' music. This will help me to be able to know ways in which I should represent male character(s) in my music video production. I have chosen to look at the hip-hop and rap genre and look at big well-known artists creating mainstream music and comparing the representations in their music videos with alternative underground artists music videos. I chose to look at the hip/ hop rap genre as a reference in my research investigation because of how it is a very male dominated genre and also the controversy that is caused between artist and their audiences. Many UK rap artist that get signed and start to create much more mainstream music often get called 'sell outs' because of how their overall representation might change through their appearance, lyrics and in their music videos because of how the money and their record label has changed them to appeal to the mainstream audiences.

These are the hunches that I feel I am likely to find out about my investigation due to experience of listening to mainstream and alternative music and also watching the music videos: I feel that Mainstream male artist will have more structured music videos that will include all aspects such as narrative, performance, use of lighting & camera affects, etc. Lyrics and hook/chorus will be very catchy. They will be represented in a positive way by rapping/ singing less about negative problems and involve less or no swearing so that their song will be appealing to a wide audience including young children. However a lot in hip hop/ rap videos, especially American hip hop, women get sexualised by wearing revealing clothing and seductively dance around the men. The chorus/ hook of the song will probably match with the music video by repeating clips. Also the music videos will have a much higher budget and look more visual impressive than underground alternative artists videos. Underground alternative male artists are going to be represented in their videos as much more honest about themselves and their music. The subjects they will rap/ sing about will probably be about crime, poverty, fame, money, drugs, girls, cars, guns etc. Will have more freedom in what they do, wear and say in their music video because they are not trying to please mainstream audiences.

Tarzan 2.5 Versace (cover) came out late September and is by a rapper and singer called Dappy, who used to be a very mainstream artist when he was in a very successful group called N-Dubz. Since Dappy has split with the group he has released one track that became mainstream back in 2011 called, No Regrets. Since then Dappy has focused more on creating underground alternative Rap that has been published on the leading youth broadcaster 'SBTV'. Music videos have been released such as 'F**k them', 'Tarzan 1,2 and 2.5', 'Intro' etc.

I chose to analyse this track (Tarzan 2.5) because of the controversy that happened when it got released. About a week after this video was released it got removed from YouTube because of the news clips at the start of the video showing Dappy getting harassed by paparazzi as he entered court. In this video Dappy is represented as a very rebellious, dominant male because of how throwing this party and he's got all these girls and guys surrounding him as he raps. The main setting for this video is in this posh, expensive mansion (supposedly Dappy's house), Different locations also are used throughout the video such as outside his garage, on his bed, in his house and outside by the pool. The people we see in this video are mostly women and there are about 4-5 men that are normally around Dappy, dancing and drinking. The other men are also represented as dominant, powerful, rich characters because of how they all have gold chains and women surrounding them dancing seductively. However even though the other male characters are shown as powerful characters, Dappy is the main focus and is represented as the most 'stereotypical man' in the video because of how he is shown as masculine (girls stroking his body), powerful, aggressive and rebellious (Raps about not agreeing with his neighbour). These are stereotypical manners of men which Angela McRobbies's talks about in her feminist theory. The women in the video are also represented as being seductive and various close ups are shown in the video of the women which is talked about in Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' Theory. In Dappy's lyrics he also refers to women as 'hoes' and 'bitches' whilst they are stroking and hugging him, this is also talked about in the feminist theory as women being weak and subservient to men. These theories also apply to mainstream music, E.g girls are dancing around Jason Derulo in his new music video called Talk Dirty To me. 

Angela McRobbies's feminist theory is about the stereotypical gender roles in the media. Men being shown as masculine, powerful and aggressive. Women being stereotyped as weak, subservient to men and playing traditional roles in society. Also could use Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' Theory which explains how women are sexualised in the media, especially film and music videos, are used to 'gaze' at making men or the gazer superior. Jonathan Schroeder who is another theorist in 1998 also talked about his view on this 'male gaze' theory, "to gaze implies more than to look at - it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which gazer is superior to the object of the gaze". These theories I feel will be very useful because I will be able to apply them to other genre of music as well and use them further for how I will represent males in my further production.  

I chosen to also use an article from 'Media Magazine' called 'Odd Future, Stranger Past – Issues of Representation in Contemporary Hip-Hop' which Phil Dyas talks about and explores the issues of representation in Hip-Hop music. He talks about the history of hip hop and how its change and also talks about a American rapper called 'Tyler The Creator who is part of an American rap/hip hop music group which just sits outside of mainstream rap, however still have a massive fan base. Phil Dyas talks about tradition of the 'thuggishness’ stereotype and how other artist such as Tyler The Creator, jay z etc. represent themselves.

I feel for my primary research that I am going to include the use of observation by watching a lot of music videos to see how men are represented in more genres and other types of music videos and I am also going to create questionnaires so that I can find out other peoples opinions on the matter of how men are represented in music videos. I will be looking for qualitative information and distribute the questionnaires to a variety of people from different backgrounds, ages and genders.

Potential Sources

Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' Theory.

Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' Theory which explains how women are sexualised in the media, especially film, music videos and magazines. "The male gaze occurs when the camera puts the audience into the perspective of a heterosexual man. It may linger over the curves of a woman's body, for instance. The woman is usually displayed on two different levels: as an erotic object for both the characters within the film, as well as the spectator who is watching the film". Jonathan Schroeder who is another theorist in 1998 also talked about his view on this 'male gaze' theory, "to gaze implies more than to look at - it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which gazer is superior to the object of the gaze".

Angela McRobbies's Feminist Theory.

Angela McRobbies's feminist theory is about the stereotypical gender roles in the media. Men being shown as masculine, powerful and aggressive. Women being stereotyped as weak, subservient to men and playing traditional roles in society such as mums, nurses etc. This theory will help me to identify if music videos represent men as the stereotypical masculine role. 

Doctor Who Analysis

For this Doctor Who analysis I watched Crimson horror on BBC iplayer which was original first broadcasted on the 4th of May 2013. Crimson Horror is episode 2 in the 7th series of Doctor Who and was written by Mark Gatiss. In this episode of Doctor who the narrative is about a mysterious apocalypse called the crimson horror set in victorian Yorkshire in 1893. I felt that this episode was a very conventional sci-fi episode however did also include some elements of romance and comedy throughout. In the beginning of this episode we are introduced to some of the main characters in this episode that find, help and save the doctor. Jenny Flint (a young woman),  Madame Vastra (Lizard) and Strax (goblin alien creature) also known as the paternoster gang are three main characters in this episode and are characters that have featured in other doctor who episodes as well. Recurring characters are used a lot in doctor who and is very conventional for this sci-fi series. Two of the characters are also alien creatures which is very conventional in all sci-fi Tv shows/films.

Straight away at the beginning we are shown a pan up shot of a setting and also text on screen to tell us in which era of time the episode will be set in, this is something that does happen sometimes in doctor who to show us were it is set so that it can cut straight into the narrative and not have a long introduction showing the doctor arrive at the place in the tardis. This makes it so that we don't see the doctor straight away in the narrative, which is a conventional factor that happens a lot in the doctor who series. In this episode the doctor is shown before the intro, however only in a photograph which the camera fades into and then the theme song intro is shown. One of the first characters we are shown is also the main antagonist 'Ms Gillyflower', who is the evil character who tries to spread the leech virus.

We are also told in the narrative a main setting called 'sweetville' which is a caged of town area where all the good, sweet and perfect people go to get brainwashed instead of getting put in a red leech liquid called 'the crimson horror'. I feel that the narrative of this episode and the idea of 'sweetville' reminded me a lot and has connotations of Hitler and how he wanted the perfect 'aryan race' in concentration camps.

I feel that the Mise-en-scene of this doctor who episode was very conventional because of the use of a past time location and the use of aliens and creatures. In doctor who episodes it is very rarely that you see the narrative mainly set in present time and or no use of time travelling because the tardis/time travelling are two main factors of this series and without these in episodes it would make the show less conventional as a sci-fi and not appeal to the fan base/audiences. The use of costumes in this episode have been used very well because of how they change costumes, hair etc when they go to different era's/dimensions.

The representation of women in the episode differs a lot through characters and is overall very balanced out so that the characters appeal to the audience and so that negative stereotypes are not shown. The main female character, clara, even though she is a companion and follower of the doctor she has a big impact on the decisions they make together as a team and is also shown in this episode as much more violent, outgoing and sometimes a bit more masculine than the doctor because of the actions and decisions she does. E.g she tries to fight of the army of brainwashed people by violence and also uses a chair to break a machine instead of the doctor using his sonic screwdriver. She is also shown as a very independent character and someone that stands up for her rights, because when clara saves the doctor, the doctor quickly kisses her and clara then slaps him. The representation of genders changes a lot throughout the whole of the doctor who seasons and episodes because of the different doctors and companions they use. In this series the actor playing the doctor is Matt Smith who is represented throughout the series and this episode as a very fast paced, smart, funny and romantic character. The companion in this series is clara who is being played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.         

Research into TV and Genre (lesson 2)

Cop/Detective - DCI Banks  

DCI Banks, ITV1, review by Gerard O'Donovan 10 Oct 2012 (Reviewing the first episode of the new series of DCI Banks). "There was one standout moment in tonight’s opening episode of a new series of DCI Banks (ITV1) when Stephen Tompkinson, in the role of North Yorkshire major crimes detective Alan Banks, called round to his wealthy brother’s house and found a Porsche 911 in the garage. Slipping into the leathery embrace of the driver’s seat Banks forgot himself for a moment, gripped the steering wheel and emitted a low, throaty growl"........ Link for rest of review.

Cop/ Detective - Murder, She Wrote


Natalie Haynes's review on the character Jessica Fletcher (Main detective character in Murder, She Wrote) "The Murder, She Wrote character manages to stumble across 264 episodes' worth of crime scenes – and solve every one of them"

Sci-Fi

Stargate: Universe


Guardian - Anna Pickard Review
"You're probably aware of Stargate. There are several films, TV series, animated series, novels – you might have watched and read them all. Or you might just have watched them go by in the distance and thought they probably weren't for you. As with a lot of genre TV, people who like it tend to really, really, like it – while people who haven't ever sat and watched anything branded "Stargate" will assume they're too late to the party to bother and not watch it...."


Star Trek - The Next Generation


Phelim O'Neill review - Guardian
"It was a show that few predicted would last one season, let alone seven. Trying to recapture the glory of a long cancelled sci-fi series from the 60s seemed like hubris; replacing William Shatner's virile Captain Kirk with balding, 47-year-old Yorkshire man Patrick Stewart, described by the LA Times as an "unknown British Shakespearean actor" appeared sheer insanity. But, after a few shaky seasons of variable quality, it worked, equalling the bottled lightning of the original and in many ways surpassing it"

Research into TV Industry (Lesson 1)

The top five major TV channels in the UK are BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. 

BBC One's main audience is the majority of the British public. The BBC show a whole range of different TV genres such as Drama's, Comedies, Documentaries, current affairs, news, entertainment and factual to reach a big majority of the British public. ITV has a variety of channels that include different content for different audiences. ITV shows a variety of genres of shows just like the BBC including the biggest entertainment events, to original drama, major sport, landmark factual series and independent news, ITV2 targets 16-34s with a range of entertainment programming, ITV 3 is a Drama based programme which targets older audiences, ITV4 is a sport entertainment channel targeted at a male audience and CITV is for a young child audience. Channel 4 Is a channel that is targeted at a young adult audience aged 18-30 along with its over channels which include E4, More4, Film4 and 4Music. Channel five is targeted at two audiences for difference times in the day. Early mornings consist of kids TV aimed at 3-11 year olds and throughout the day and evenings the audience changes to aim more at a much older audience around 25+.

BBC one is the UK's most watch channel and showcases Britain's most talented, popular and most loved programmes. The BBC try to reach a wide audience by trying to show a variety of channels and genres to entertain, educate and inform. BBC 1 shows genres such as drama, entertainment (talent shows etc), comedy, specialist factual, documentaries, featured series, news and current affairs. BBC say on there website that they try to reach the whole of the British public and show a bit of everything to keep people watching and to make everyone come together and share the greatest TV moments.  

The BBC (British broadcasting company) was created in 1922 and is the largest broadcasting company in the world. BBC is very different to other TV channels through the way it earns its revenue because the BBC earns money in the UK through TV licensing, government funds and also other commercial businesses that the BBC run. Within the UK everyone who owns a TV gets charged annual TV license. A percentage of this fee gets paid to BBC to fund their channels and the amount of this fee gets decided by the British government and parliament each year which is normally around %50 with other small percentages getting paid to commercial channels such as ITV and also radio. Each household in the UK that owns and watches TV gets charged around £145 each year. Last year the BBC got paid around £3.6million in license fees, £269.7million from government grants, £1.1million from commercial businesses and also £75million from other income such as over seas broadcasting. From earning £5,102.3 million last year this is the reason why BBC do not show adverts on their channels to gain advertisement revenue just like commercial TV channels do.

When looking at the TV schedule for 10/15/2013 I looked at the 5 main channels in the UK,  BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV 1, Channel 4 and also Channel 5. I noticed that in the early hours of the day around the times 6am-9am, channel 5 was the main channel to show kids programs such as: 'Bananas in Pyjamas' and 'Fireman Sam'. Channel 4 also show kids programs in the morning such as 'The Hoobs'. However this was only on at 6am - 7am, a much shorter time than channel 5. Throughout the day channel 4 then shows programs aiming at different audiences such as older people and mothers who look after there younger children. Cooking, property and quiz shows are shown such as 'A Place in the Sun: Home or Away', 'Countdown' and 'Gordon Ramsey's Home Cooking' is shown to appeal to the older and mother audiences.

In the morning the BBC have their 'Breakfast' show which runs for 3hours starting at 6am every morning. BBC Breakfast is aimed at the British public, mainly working adults that leave for work at around 8-9 and want to know about news, business, sport, culture etc. After their breakfast programme, the BBC then show a Bunch of different British shows about housing, lifestyle, British problems etc. such as 'Fake Britain', 'Bargain Hunt' and 'Real Rescues'. BBC 2 is quite similar to BBC1 with its daytime TV but tends to show more quiz shows and some comedy shows other than focusing on British problems like BBC1 does. I feel that BBC are trying to reach a much older intelligent audience by showing quiz shows such as 'The Weakest Link' and 'Mastermind'. And  older adult comedies such as 'Allo 'Allo!' and 'Are You Being Served'. BBC1 and 2 programmes on in the daytime are a lot of the time repeats that have been aired before on the BBC.   

 

ITV1 is quite different to all the other TV programmes because of how mainly all they show is a bunch of different chat shows with sometimes the occasional news between programmes. The main chat shows they show are; 'Lorraine', 'This Morning' and 'Loose Women'. The chat shows are a lot of the time aimed at women because they are trying to entertain and appeal to the mother audience.        

At around 6pm is when all the channels start to change and shows less daytime TV and start to show much more of a variety of channels such as news, soaps, comedy, Entertainment, sport etc. because of how they are trying to appeal to a wider range of audiences.