How typical are your chosen texts of their genre?

Fish Tank (2009) is very typical of the social realism genre.

Fish Tank was filmed in Tilbury, in Essex, in a run down estate called Mardyke. This area was renowned for its high crime rate and anti-social behaviour, as it is an underprivileged estate. Since Fish Tank was made, the estate it was filmed in has been renamed to Orchard Village and it has been given funding for re-generation. With the knowledge of where the film was made and the type of reputation the area has, helps Fish Tank to be successful in the social realism genre.

In the scene where Connor gives Mia the video camera, Mia fiddles with the camera and learns how to turn it on and work it. This is followed by Mia filming Connor getting dressed, and smelling Connors aftershave - giving him her opinion of it. Subsequently, Connor pulls Mia over his knee and playfully slaps her on the bum. This is foreshadowing what will happen later on in the film, when Mia and Connor end up having sex. This is typical of social realism because it is all filmed with a hand held camera, and it is all very raw and natural. Flirting between a teenager and her mothers boyfriend are not something that is seen in mainstream happy-ever-after films, and so this means that it is a gritty, social realism film as it is very real life.

Fish Tank is not a film that fits into the Propps theory of narrative as there are no clear heroes or villains. Mia is the protagonist who wants to get away from a dysfunctional, down-ward spiralling world of anti-social behaviour and no future. Mia is constantly walking very fast, as if she is trying to get away, but is going nowhere. In the opening scene where she confronts a group of girls that are dancing in a park with some bare-chested boys looking on, she is filmed on her own, isolated away from everyone else.

Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts. [30] LOST

Lost appeals to it's target audience by using common conventions such as music. The non-diegetic music in Lost is used as an indicator for when the audience should feel certain things. For example, the music in the scene where the group that go on a hike to get signal for the radio come across a threat, that turns out to be a polar bear, in the jungle that is running towards them, the music indicates when the audience should react in which ways. The music gets gradually louder as the conflict between Sayid and Sawyer builds as they are arguing over whether they should turn the radio on or not. As the argument develops, the music starts to focus on shots of the polar bear when it is charging towards them. As the shots from the polar bear cuts to shots of the group, who are running away in opposite directions, the music is quieter when the group are in the shot. The music builds up as the group are running away, with the assistance from screams from the group. Alongside the quick cuts and the fast editing of the scene, the music builds a considerable amount of tension and fear within the scene as it progresses.

There is never a full shot of the polar bear on its own, the audience only ever see quick shots of small parts of the polar bears body - this appeals to its audience as an enigma code because as there is a shot of the polar bears head, it is left to Kate to confirm that it is in fact a polar bear. As soon as Kate confirms what the audience already knows, there is a straight cut to adverts, which will make the audience feel a need to know more. This will mean that the audience appeal is successful in the way of keeping their audience interested.

Tracking shots of the mise en scene while the group are walking through the jungle will make the audience aware of where they are and the degree of which they are lost and in the middle of nowhere. The crane shots allow us to get a high view of the location, and also allow us to get a sweeping view of the group and the order in which they are positioned - with Kate being a clear leader. The camera works makes the characters a prominent part of the programme, with it highlighting their fear when the polar bear comes charging towards them. The characters fear is made clear as the camera switches from smooth, tracking crane shots, to a hand held camera, which appeals to the audience in the way that they are likely to feel in the scene. The hand held camera builds tension as it allows us to get a feel for the scene as if we were there, or as if it is from a characters point of view. This appeals as it indicates that the camera work allows many different interpretations of the programme, with different points of view, which allows depth and involvement for the audience.

Sawyer is the character who stands aware of the bear and shoots it point blank. Before Sawyer does this, he is portrayed as a bad guy, an antagonist, which makes the action very important and changes our opinions of Sawyer. This part of the scene will appeal to the audience in many different ways. Sawyer will appeal to females as he is a strong, attractive man who is brave and fearless and stands up to the polar bear and saves the group. He will appeal to a male audience because they may want to be like Sawyer, attractive, brave, fearless, and so they will watch this in admiration.

Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts. [30] MADMEN

Mad Men is a cable programmed made by AMC in America, which is showed on Sky Atlantic in England, which is a paid for view satellite channel. Mad Men does not get billions of viewers for every episode, it gets around 2 million viewers per episode, compared to the 20 million viewers that watch American Idol for example. Although it does not get the most viewers, Mad Men has won numerous Emmy Awards, including the Best Drama 4 years in a row. John Hamm, Elizabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks (Don Draper, Peggy and Joan) all submitted Episode 11 of Season 5, 'The Other Woman', for the Emmy Awards, with the intention of winning Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. The Advertising for Mad Men included a line saying 'the four time Emmy winner is back', which shows that although the programme doesn't get the most views when compared to its competitors, it has won awards and has a strong fan base behind it that appreciate the programme for it's representations of the 60's, its nostalgia and its stylish approach.
Mad Men appeals to its audience by being sophisticated and stylish. With it being set in the 60s, Mad Men will attract an audience that may have been from that era or are interested in history for example. The 60s has been very influential in television, with the 60s being iconic. It was also the time that women rose up, and started fighting for equal rights, and it was also the time of great change, with Martin Luther King fighting for 'black rights' and feminism, as well as JFK and many other things. Mad Mens audience will also be interested in the style of the 60s, as the style is coming back into fashion.
Mad Men could also be critically analysed along the lines of Propps theory. Propp theorised that there are certain roles in films and programmes - there's the hero, the villain, the femme fatale etc. Don Draper, portrayed by John Hamm, is certainly the hero majority of the time. Especially in the episode i am referring to - episode 11, season 5, The Other Woman. Draper is portrayed as chivalrous and heroic when he tried to persuade Joan not to go through with her plans with the Jaguar dealership. By trying to stop Joan from selling herself, Draper comes across as respectable and a gentleman. But when his wife, Megan, goes for an acting job that involved travelling for long periods of time, he becomes very much a dominant male, and tries to throw his weight around. Draper also comes across as respectable when he trusts Peggy to land a deal with a company for him. Although Peggy is a very important part of Drapers company and his life, he takes her for granted and treats her terribly. When Peggy stands up for herself about the campaign she landed, and why she can't help with the Jaguar campaign that Draper throws money at her. This belittles Peggy and makes her feel unappreciated and taken for granted and so she takes an offer of another job at a rival company. It is when Megan stands up to Draper, and when we find that Joan has already gone through with her plans and when Peggy leaves the company that it is clear that women are gaining strength, and rising up, becoming feminists. This rise in 'girl power' will attract a female audience in the way that they will like to feel empowered and they will appreciate watching how feminism came about as they are the product of feminist campaigns and equal rights. Men will be interested in Mad Men because the women are all very attractive and strong and dress to their advantage, they look appealing and nice at all times and they will like to look at them. Men will also want to be Don Draper, in the way that he is strong and powerful and successful.

Explore the impact of digital technology on your selected industry. [30]

Lady Gaga was the most viewed artist on YouTube until Justin Bieber took over.
Lady Gaga is also the most downloaded artist in the world.
She calls her fans her Little Monsters and interacts with them on Twitter on a regular basis.
Her most viewed video is Bad Romance with nearly 510 million views.
Her debut album, The Fame, was released in 2008, with 14 songs on it and 5 singles to be released - one of which was released before the album.
Just Dance was released before the album to raise awareness of her debut and to market and build a fan base for her. The video was released virally on YouTube and has obtained 156 million views. This was her cheapest video.
The game title Just Dance was derived from Gaga's Just Dance, however, none of Gaga's songs are in any of the games.
Google did an interview with Gaga called 'Google Goes Gaga'.
                _______________________________________________________________

Radiohead released an album called In Rainbows in 2007 and they stated that fans could pay whatever they wanted - some paid nothing, some paid £20, this album was only for download until they brought a CD out later on.
Radiohead released King of Limbs in 2011, 20 years after Nirvana's Nevermind. They released King of Limbs a day early on February 18th as a download only, at a set price of £6.
King of Limbs was later brought out on CD, and then a special edition where they sold posters, miniature artwork, vinyl, CD and download.
Radiohead released King of Limbs without a recording label and proved that you don't need a label to make it.
They released the video for Lotus Flower a week prior to the release of the album, on their YouTube channel and website. This meant that their viral fans would see their song and then realise an album is due.
The video for Lotus Flower was directed by Gareth Jennings, and was the only video they have done for any songs on the album.
Gareth Jennings directed Son of Rambo and also directed videos for Sound Garden and many others.
                _______________________________________________________________

Nirvana was a Grunge band from the 90's.
They released Bleach in 1989 under the record label that was Sub Pop. Due to the time that this album was released, downloads were not available - therefore there was no technological interaction.
They later released Nevermind under DGC in 1991.
This album was also not available for download until about 10 years later.
Since then, Nevermind has been re-released on it's 20th anniversary, re-packed and re-mastered on CD, vinyl and download.
                 _______________________________________________________________

Technology has had a positive impact on Lady Gaga in the way that she reaches most of her fans and she markets herself with a strong use of technology. Gaga maintains a strong and loyal relationship with her fans, which she calls her 'Little Monsters'. She feels strongly about fans and she feels as though without fans, she'd have not made it as far as she has. She was the most followed person on Twitter until Justin Bieber took over. Lady Gaga also manages to maintain a strong bond with her fans by making lots of television appearances and addressing her fans in the audience directly. When Google did an interview with her, she walked on stage and someone shouted that they loved her, she said she loved them back. This is the kind of relationship she likes to have with her fans which is rare as many other stars are very cold towards their fans.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SCREAM
Item 1:Scream (Movie)
Item 2: Scream review http://www.the-filmreel.com/2011/04/15/scream-1996-review/
Item 3: Slasher movie information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slasher_film
Item 4: Clip of Randy telling the rules of a horror http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-q-AWD_8AY
Item 5: Website/information about post-modernism https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9id-Rdi1rJqZDlhMzgzYzUtMTk3Ni00YzJmLThiNTMtODRiYTJmODgzMjRh/edit?hl=en_US
Item 6: Website about stereotypical characters http://horrornews.net/41413/top-10-most-stereotyped-characters-in-horror-films/
Item 7: Clip of Tatum being killed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdYmIIbYoH0&feature=plcp
Item 8: 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture' John Storey - Pearson Education 2001
Item 9: Website about the music within a horror film http://www.eng.umu.se/monster/john/sound_music.htm
Item 10: Youtube clip of Billy Loomis (Ghost Face) being shot (From 4.30 onwards) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA2f8_4gWRg
Item 11: Youtube clip of Scream 2 in the film class http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzKYNZY9Hpk
Item 12: Definition of Postmodernism http://www.thefreedictionary.com/postmodernism

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
Item 1a: The Cabin in the Woods
Item 2a: 'We should split up' scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmfHJaYMFeg
Item 3a: 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture' John Storey - Pearson Education 2001
Item 4a: Website about stereotypical characters http://horrornews.net/41413/top-10-most-stereotyped-characters-in-horror-films/
tem 5a: Monster scene from The Cabin in the Woods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN5YDtkmxsk
Item 6a: Elevator scene in The Cabin in the Woods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xXIiqnHCY
Item 7a: Website/information about post-modernism https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9id-Rdi1rJqZDlhMzgzYzUtMTk3Ni00YzJmLThiNTMtODRiYTJmODgzMjRh/edit?hl=en_US
Item 8a: Website about the music within a horror film http://www.eng.umu.se/monster/john/sound_music.htm
Item 9a: Paying homage definition http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homage

To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?

Fish Tank is a social realism film made in east London.
It is typical of it's genre because it is made with a hand held camera, and it has very little editing.
Throughout the entire film, the hand held camera follows Mia, the main character, and if it's not following her, it is on her so that we are looking at her from someone else's point of view. The hand held camera makes the viewer feel as though they are in the film, as though it is real and that the viewers are onlookers.
The lack of editing means that the shots are usually very long and drawn out. This is typical of social realism because it makes the shots more realistic. It makes the viewer feel as though they're in the film because life doesn't have any editing, and neither does this film.
The actors in the film have very regional accents, they are very broad and obvious as to where they are from. This is conventional of social realism because it is natural and there is nothing done to change the voices of the actors. This maintains the social realism effect. This is also social realism because it shows that the film wasn't made in a studio or edited to be changed. It shows that the film was made on sight, that it was real people and real places.

Research Investigation

To what extent can Scream and The Cabin in the Woods be regarded as postmodern horror films?

The horror film genre has been ever changing since it was created and one of the most recent and most popular changes is a wave of ‘postmodern’ horror films. Postmodernism is "relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes." (Item 10). "That gives the movie a sense of reality as the characters are watching and talking about the horror films that we, the viewers, watch ourselves." This is a quote from a Scream review (item 2). This shows that throughout Scream (Item 1), there are references to other films that the viewers will have seen. This is post-modern because it is intertextual.

Slasher movies have been in production since the early 1930’s but they gained popularity in the 60’s and continued to gain popularity throughout the 70’s and80’s. “In the 1990s, the horror genre was almost dead.” (Item 3) it goes on to say that Scream attracted a new audience and was a critical and commercial success. Scream was the first film to really push the boundaries of horror at the time it was made. Scream had a lot to contend with when it was made, there were many, many other horror films that had already been made and these had already been smash hits, and they are still referred to now, for example The Exorcist. This is what makes Scream post modern; Scream often refers to other older horror movies, and actors that had iconic roles in the horror movie genre. It is also a parody of Halloween (Item 3). For example the scene in Scream where they are at the house party and Randy and a couple of other none-starring actors are sat around a TV watching Halloween, Randy starts talking about the rules of a horror film (Item 4). This is post modern because there is reference to another horror film within a horror film (Item 5) and also talking about the rules of a horror film isn’t done in any other film, the rules are none spoken, people just know them. This makes Scream different because it is telling you what is going to happen.

The Cabin in the Woods (Item 1a) is a film full of funny remarks, it is smart and witty but it is also a serious film. These are all postmodern sub-catergories; irony, wit, smart remarks. Like Scream, The Cabin in the Woods isn’t a typical horror film; there is a scene in the cabin after Jules has been killed and the remaining characters are in the cabin, where Curt says they should all split up (item 2a). This is when the witty and sarcastic character, Marty, questions this with ‘really?!’ (item 3a) This is an ironic and witty example of postmodernism within the film. This also shows that all the characters are typical (Item 4a), Marty being the sarcastic, witty and smart stoner, Curt being the ‘jock’, Jules being the ‘blonde’, Dana as the equivalent to Sidney from Scream and Jamie Lee Curtis; she’s the virgin, and Holden as the geek. These are all typical characters, just like in Scream, but Dana and Marty break the stereotype.

Throughout The Cabin in the Woods, there are intertextual references to other horror in the way of the monsters that are sent to kill the characters (Item 5a). For example: there is a man with saws in his head, this is similar to the killer called Pinhead in Hell Raiser. There is also a cobra which is similar to Anaconda, a ghost similar to that is in Poltergeist, zombies that could be from any zombie film like Dawn of the Dead, the angry tree from The Ruins, bugs could be from The Mist, the people in white masks could be from The Strangers, and the list goes on. All these killers are similar to them of all these different movies and more. This is post modernism because these different horror films and killers influence The Cabin in the Woods, and like Scream, it references different horror movies throughout (Item 3a).

Scream uses typical horror movie characters (Item 6) as well as The Cabin in the Woods; Sidney as the virgin, Tatum as the blonde, Randy as the geek, Stu as the joker and Billy as the jock. This is a clip of the scene in Scream where Tatum gets killed in the garage (Item 7), this proves that she is the blonde girl but also offers a different take on it because she actually fights back and becomes the victim. Having said this, Stu and Billy also have another side to their characters, they are also the killers. This is different to other horror movies, because throughout the film, hints are made towards Stu and Billy but there is also doubt about other characters even though it is blatantly obvious. This is post-modern because it is making fun of other horror films, it is breaking all the rules whilst, at the same time, making all the rules clear and obvious, it is being ironic (Item 5).

Scream is post-modern because it is a hybrid of horror and comedy (Item 6). A hybrid is where two genres are mixed together. You can tell that Scream is a hybrid genre because of the funny aspects in the film but also the horror aspects. For example when Stu is on the phone to Sidney at the end of the film and Stu asks if Sidney is going to tell his parents about what he has done, and then he says ‘they’re gonna kill me’. This adds an element of comedy to the film because it is ironic that Stu is the fool of the film and also that he is dying when he says it. An aspect of horror in the film is when the killer rings Drew Barrymore’s character Casey and says ‘do you like scary movies? …cause I wanna know who I’m looking at’ this adds suspense and disrupts the equilibrium.

The Cabin in the Woods is similar. Although it is not a hybrid, it takes reference and influence from other horror films and filters them in. This is intertextuality because it is one text referring to another text. For example, when they are in the glass lift going through all the monsters, there are many monsters that are in other horror films. "They offer a 'false realism', films about other films..." (Item 3a)  this supports the intertextuality because intertextuality makes a film slightly more surreal, offer a slight de ja vu effect - as if its happened before. Like the monster people in white masks – taken from The Strangers, the dinosaur could be from Jurassic Park etc. (Item 6a). The fact that The Cabin in the Woods contains reference to other horror films makes the film slightly unpredictable in the way that if you haven’t seen the films it references, then you don’t know what the monsters will do.

The music and sound effects in both Scream and The Cabin in the Woods (Items 8a and 9) are post-modern too because the same music and sound effects will be used in any generic horror movie; ‘A series of films that uses a short melody as a symbol for its monster is the Halloween series’ (Items 8a and 9). It is said that Scream is a parody of Halloween. This is slight intertextuality because it is one thing that is used in many things, past and present. Throughout both films, familiar sound effects are used, such as creaking floor boards and a long silence leading to a loud, startling sound. These are common horror movie conventions which are post-modern because they are featured in so many horror films. The sound effects and music are important in horror films to build tension and create a certain mood. Without the music and effects, horror films would be dull and the scary aspect of it will be lost.

Another sub-category of postmodernism is being reptetitive. The scream films are very repetitive, the sequels are all similar in story line and all the killings are along the same style. This is postmodern because it is copying a copy of a copy (Item 8). As similar as the killings are and as the sequels are, they have slight differences. This happens when things are recycled again and again; there will be more tiny changes with every copy. Similarly, Cabin in the Woods recycles regular conventions of horror; for example, when Curt says they should split up. This has been recycled and copied over and over again, throughout horror films and even Scooby Doo.

Paying homage is another sub-category of postmodernism. It means paying tribute or reverence (Item 9a). The Cabin in the Woods pays homage to different horror films in the way that it takes influence from different monsters (Item 7a and 5). Scream pays homage to a variety of different films such as Halloween, Friday the 13^th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Prom Night. All of these are in turn referred to at different times throughout the film. At the house party scene where Tatum dies, there are multiple occasions where you catch a glimpse of the TV, and there is a horror film playing. The horror films have Jamie Lee Curtis in them, because at the time Scream was made, Jamie Lee Curtis was a big horror film star. This is post-modern because it is not only intertextual but it is also paying pastiche to other films that have influenced it (Item 8). It is also ironic as Scream is poking fun at these horror films for being so predictable and ordinary.

An example of irony in Scream would be the clumsiness of Ghost Face, the killer. It is playful and ironic that the killer is as stealthy as the typical killer in a horror film. The killer is not a typical murderer. Typical killers are perceived as having super human strength and are meant to be un-kill-able, but Ghost Face is not super human. In typical horror films, the killer never dies either, so when Ghost face gets shot, he doesn’t die straight away, he gets up again and again. Gale shoots Billy Loomis (Ghost Face) when he is attacking Sidney, he is on the floor with Randy, Gale and Sidney looking down at him and he sits up as if to attack them again, Sidney shoots him in the head (Item 10). This is ironic because Ghost Face gets shot multiple times but because he keeps getting back up, this is making fun of the convention that the killers don’t die.

The Cabin in the Woods is an example of simulation because it is an example of the influence television has on every day life (Item 3a). Television is a massive part of the film because the film has a very ‘Big Brother’ feel to it. This is proved by the amount of the unrealistic things that happen in the film and by the effect of the two main characters in the offices that overlook what is happening in the Cabin. Quoting Jean Baudrillard (Item 3a): “the dissolution of TV into life, the dissolution of life into TV”, this supports what I said because Baudrillard studied simulation and he too came to the realization that “It's a perfect example of life imitating art imitating life” (Item 11). That is said in Scream two, during a film class. This relates to Scream and The Cabin in the Woods because both of these films strongly focus on the fact that life is televised to the point that there is no longer any difference between what’s real and what isn’t.