Friday, 24 April 2015

Representation of National Identity


The Pride (2014) trailer represents Welsh people in the 1980s to be very close-minded, at first, with shots of them being in pubs and talking to each other in a very sort of friendly way. The shot of the town shows it to be quite small, and a sort of "everyone knows everyone" community which is conveyed through the mise en scene of the friendly expressions, body language and actions they take to each other in the pub scene. The stereotype of it being a small town is furthered when the LGBT group arrive in the town, and its shown that a lot of them are close/small-minded and a bit against either the movement in general, or just of change, though it also reflects how other Welsh people might be or act, reinforced when one of the older locals says "I've got a question about lesbians..." and is then quickly shut down by one of the leaders of the group. The stereotype is changed to very unwelcoming and harsh, as it was in the 1980s for LGBT groups, with a particular scene where one of the Welsh women says that the gays are "Here to further their own agenda" which discredits the help they've been doing up to this point, though not without reaction from one of the LGBT leaders. This stereotype is later challenged when it's shown that the miners accept them shown through the mise en scene of one of the LGBT activists and one of the miners shaking hands.

Rihanna's music for the song "American Oxygen" shows a compilation of very important events to America, such as the MLK speeches, his death, the Ferguson shootings, 9/11, the numerous riots that have taken place, police brutality, and the KKK and more. It helps to show the American dream, with scenes of people winning baseball, or of Barack Obama, the first black president, but it also shows the underbelly, with the Ferguson shootings, and the macing of peaceful protesters. The use of the quick camera chang

Friday, 17 April 2015

Debate/Election

The language is formal, talking about politics seriously, though still being off-handed and shaming the Labour party through their use of visual codes and language. By saying "Runaway Jihadi's Father is Labour Activist" they make a link between the Labour party and terrorism, which is a very controversial subject which has been a hot topic for a few months with ISIS and the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Because Ed Miliband's photo is larger than the actual suspect to the arrest, it makes him seem worse, and more guilty than the actual offender.

The Mode of Address is formal, since the Daily Mail are trying to post a slam article against Labour, if it was informal, it wouldn't be taken as seriously. By using formal language, they stress the importance of the subject, even though the Labour Activist isn't important enough of a supporter, or integral to the campaign to be named in the headline, like an MEP or other Labour supporters might be.

The people in control of the messages and values in the text are the writers, and editors, Chris Greenwood and David Williams, though they are biased in favour of the Tories.  The ideologies and messages don't directly support the Conservative party, but they make the other parties look worse, making themselves look like the lesser of two evils.