‘Sherlock’- Opening Sequence Analysis

This opening sequence of Sherlock is clearly in the setting of London as at the beginning it shows London landmarks and life. London is known for high crime rates which may suggest the show is revolved around crime. This is the only time when bright colours are used as the rest of the opening is shown in dim lighting and mainly uses dim colours, for example the colour black is used often. This colour used may symbolise death and darkness as well as give the audience an insight as to what the show is about. However the colour has different representations and may not connotates death, for example in China white represents death. There is a flash of an image of a gun which connotates violence and death, thus reassuring the assumption that this show is based around crime. There are no facial expressions or body language showing, creating a mystery of who the characters are for those first viewing it.

The first edited word inserted into the sequence is ‘Sherlock’ in capital letters and a bold font. The typeface appears to be a worn texture, suggesting roughness as well as harshness. This being the first word also suggests its importance. The next two texts are of the two main actors in a similar typeface, however it is not as bold, this is the same for the rest of the text. There is also written text such as ‘bomber’ and ‘connection’. This choice of words emphasises it being a crime solving based show.

The framing of this opening is mainly close ups and mid shot, however they occasionally zoom in and out, possibly acting as a magnifying glass, typically associated with Sherlock. This opening sequence may represent the mind of Sherlock, making the audience more interested in the show as an insight to the main character is already given. For example the image of the gun could signify murder in Sherlock’s mind. The only full face shown in the sequence is a males; Sherlock’s, possibly representing men in a dominant position as intelligent quick thinkers, supporting Goffman’s 1972 theory. This image of Sherlock could also represent ethnicity as he is white. People who are white are stereotypically dominant and superior and also more intelligent, linking to the representation of gender. Not only does this represent gender and ethnicity, is also represents age. Sherlock appears to be a middle aged man, and those who are older stereotypically tend to be wiser and well educated, they also represent responsibility and independence.

Watch here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HsxGygknNE

Representation: Sexuality

 

This bus advertisement shows a positive representation of sexuality as it suggests it should not be a huge deal what a persons sexual preference is. Its use of exclamatory language also emphasises the urgency for equality between heterosexuals and homosexuals.The contrast of the red back ground and black and white text also makes the ad stand out, showing its importance. This is a representation of sexuality as it clearly shows a positive presentation of homosexuality and supports it. 

 

These Ghana newspaper headlines clearly show a negative representation of homosexuality by using unfavourable words like ‘filthy’. This may also shows the different views on sexuality in different places/countries. These newspaper headlines represent homosexuality in a dismissive manner, for example one headline says ‘Homos are Filthy’ and another says ‘Gays can be Tried’. These headlines use declarative language to convey homosexuality as negative, unlike the bus advert above. Some may agree with these headlines while others may see it as a homophobic attack and strongly disagree with the headlines. 

 

 

This is a representation of two men raising a child, as shown in the picture above, in ‘Modern Family’ the American TV show. This puts homosexuality in a more positive light as it shows that two men or two women can have and raise a family. Some viewers, for example some religious people, may think that this goes against usual social ‘norms’ as it is supposedly a man and a woman who raise a family. Other viewers may completely agree with this representation of two men raising a family and see it as a positive presentation of homosexuality. However I feel the preferred reading of this representation is a positive one, where they want to show that all sexualities are equal.

There are few negative representations of sexuality from what I have found which may be based on the more favourable views on all sexualities in the 21st century. 

How do news values affect what we read in our newspapers?

How do news values affect what we read in our newspapers?

News values greatly affect what people read in newspapers, for example according to Galtung and Ruge frequency is important in terms of news values, because if the stories are out of date, the readership may not find it relevant and therefore the newspaper may not be sold. Also, according to Shultz. relevance is important in news values as it shows cultural importance. However these are not the only news values according to Shultz, Galtung and Ruge.

Shultz also analysed news values, categorising them into 6 different dimensions; status, identification, proximity, valence, consonance, relevance and dynamics. He suggested that all of these dimensions showed different sections of news values. These can be shown in almost every newspaper story, for example dynamics is shown when a headline is shocking to the readership when reading a news paper which links to valence, where controversy is used in the story to make the reader react in an aggressive way. Galtung and Ruge also support this with one of the news values they identified, unexpectedness, when an event is highly unpredictable and is then more likely to make it into the news.

Galtung and Ruge also identified other news values, including threshold meaning how big the news is and if it is big enough to get into a newspaper. This is shown as there are a lot of stories in newspapers that are important and news worthy, for example sports news and interesting real life stories. As long as it has a high threshold for the area in which the newspaper is sold, it will be in the paper, however if it is a small and un-important story it is unlikely to be in newspapers, showing that news values affect what is read in newspapers.

Galtung and Ruge identified many news values including reference to elite nations which is when nations are culturally closest to our own, the more coverage it will receive. This is shown in newspapers as they are more likely to publish stories culturally closest to them for example The Daily Mail report a lot on immigration in Britain. Similar to this Galtung and Ruge identified reference to elite persons, where the media pays more attention to important people. This may link to the amount of attention newspapers, like The Sun ect, put on celebrities and celebrity news.

Shultz, Galtung and Ruge identified news values that are shown in the media and this has affected what is read in newspapers. As they are shown throughout newspapers and without them, newspapers may not be as interesting without values such as unexpectedness/dynamics and threshold/relevance.

The Huffington post

Ownership- Private ownership (parent AOL)

Founders- Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, Jonah Peretti and Andrew Breitbart.

Political views- liberal/left commentary outlet

Foundation date- May 2005

The site offers news, blogs, and original content and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media and local news. 

Target audience- Can vary dependant on the articles, as it includes celebrity news and health and beauty as well as science articles and more. They also have a section for students. 

Where it branches out to- Brasil, Canada, Deutschland, Spain, France, Italy, Japan, UK and the USA.

The Huffington post is available for the iOS and Android. It also allows the reader to share articles via google+, Reddit (younger audience), and Stumble Upon.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ 

 

 

An un-happy family

This image shows and un-happy family. This is because the features of this image are mostly negative for example facial expressions. All facial expressions in this image show unhappiness, boredom and tiredness, this may have connotations of being un-motivated or stressed. Body language is also an important aspect of this image that tells me this photograph shows an un-happy family. For example the little boy in the image has his arms crossed, seeming closed off from the family. The younger girl has her hand on her face, implying boredom and tiredness. The Man in this image has his fisted hand on his head, suggesting he is tired and stressed, however the woman’s clasped hand in the image may suggest she s concerned. The staging of this family also implies un-happiness. They are all very separate from each other, going against a happy family’s closeness and proximity with each other, hugging ect. They also have their backs to each other which may also suggest tension and unstable relationships within the family. 

Readership in ‘i’

Based on the adverts I have seen in the newspaper ‘i’, I have created a character profile suited to the types of adverts I have seen in this newspaper. For example I saw a lot of car and travelling adverts along with many adverts for sales and deals along with a few coupons too. This is a small example of the type of readership I think would suit ‘i’ based only on  their adverts.

 

Values of ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘i’

The ‘i’ has a slightly higher political and financial percentage with 11.7%. The ‘i’ is very different from ‘The Daily Mail’ with readership as the readership of the ‘i’ is more likely to be those interested in politics, business and finance. Also 7.02% of the newspaper is sport which may also suggest their main readership is male. This newspaper includes a page of advice suggesting their readership may be a younger one than ‘The Daily Mail’. The ‘i’ is 13.2% adverts however their adverts include banking and insurance which may propose that their readership are more financially prepared than ‘The Daily Mail’s’ readership.

‘The Daily Mail’ shows a high percentage of sport showing that their readership is mostly males who enjoy sport such as football. Their is little on health and beauty with 6.5% which could appeal more to women proving the newspaper is more male based in readership. The highest percentage of the newspaper is adverts with 22.3% of the newspaper taken over by them. The adverts are mainly for sales and even include coupons suggesting their readership may not have a high income, this may also suggest why the tabloid is only 60p. This tabloid also includes a high percentage of celebrity and sensational news with 16.7% and a low percentage of finance and politics with 11.2% this suggesting their readership may be more interested in scandals and celebrities than politics ect.

 

 

Tessa Perkins

Thoughts on stereotypes

Assumptions of stereotypes:

• Stereotypes are always erroneous in content (usually wrong)
• They are normally negative concepts
• They are about groups with whom we have little or no social contact; by implication, therefore they are not held about one’s own group
• They are about minority or repressed groups
• They are simple
• They are rigid and do not change
• They are not structurally re-inforced
• The existence of contradictory stereotypes is evidence that they have errors but of nothing else
• People either hold stereotypes of a group (believed them to be true) or do not
• Because someone holds a stereotype of a group, his or her behaviour towards a member of that group can be predicted.

Tessa believes that stereotyping is not a simple process and contains and number of the assumptions above that can be challenged.

She identifies five-

• Stereotypes are not always negative.
• Stereotypes are not always about minority groups or the less powerful.
• Stereotypes can be held about one’s own group.
• Stereotypes are not rigid or unchanging.
• Stereotypes are not always false.

7. Looking back on your preliminary task, do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

 

 

E-Mail

 

Representation

Representation- How something is re-presented to the audience through the media to help the audience make sense of it. (Who is being represented, how are they being represented and why are they being represented like this)

A stereotype is commonly held idea about what certain members of society are like e.g. All Asians are good at math. Media texts heavily rely on stereotypes to help create ‘characters’ quickly and effectively. They use signs and symbols form a common understanding for the audience (dominant ideology*) to make the stereotypes easy to understand.

Femininity- A set of characteristics, behaviours or roles traditionally associated with girls or women.

Masculinity- A set of characteristics, behaviours or roles traditionally associated with boys or men.

 

*Dominant Ideology- The dominant ideology denotes the values, beliefs, and mores shared by the majority of the people in a given society; the dominant ideology frames how the majority of the population think about the nature of their society