Practise News Exam

Episode Walk Through

Deutschland 83 Character Narrative

Deutschland 83 Poster

-       Direct mode of address, mid close up of the boy, main character? He’s split in half, one side make up light, other side dark and miserable. 

-       East- western. Binary opposite, 2 different sides of Germany.

-       Divide in colours and pictures, both sides seem happy, 

-       

     East- Barbed wire, shows danger, threat, restriction, like a prison, iron fists, black, white, grey, red, represents violence, linear construction, basic flats, squared, founder of communism Lenner Karl marks, 

-       Western- Space invader, 80’s, imported fruit, freedom of love, 

-       Character is in front of the text 

-       Grass- soft, smooth structure, concrete- rigid structure

-       Both have the wall, same character, 

-       Sophisticated audience, font and colour, yellow, happy both sides. 

-       Immature, wealthy audience. 

Deutschland 83 Trailer

 

What are the various readings and interpretations of the advert?

-       2 tribes by Frankie goes to Hollywood

    Quick editing, fast cuts, lots of action

-      Codes we get- why has he got 2 sides to him?, guns

-      Powerful women for the 80’s

-      Soldier and spy

East Germany in the early 80's

• When the 80s rolled around it was pretty clear to everyone that the socialist system was not great, compared to the capitalism of West Germany.
• You must picture that in East-Berlin people had access to better and more modern houses and food. Lots of huge housing areas had been built and if you wanna may it like that Berlin was the most “intercultural” place in East Germany.
  
  
  
• The East was heavily run by the government which meant that people had a lack of freedom in how they lived their life. Everything was controlled, their social life, their work, what they said and what they did. People wanted to escape the East in order to have more freedom and the ability to express their views without being scared of being imprisoned or punished. 
• Instead of being taught English as it is a world language that is usually taught in schools across the world, students were taught Russian. Something like show and tell which gave them the opportunity to talk to each other about their lives. 
• Many classes included socialism views which taught children basic etiquette and how to work together. For example, pioneer classes where each child would bring in something like show and tell which gave them the opportunity to talk to each other about their lives. 
  
  
  
• As a result of this the Capital, Berlin was also divided into east and West.
• For the first 7 years after the split, people were allowed to travel between the borders which let many people in the east move to the west.
• There was a space between the wall called the death strip were people would be shot dead if entered.
• There were several checkpoints that people could cross between, mostly Uk and Us people. One was called Checkpoint Charlie used primarily by Americans.
• Poverty was also a big thing as people could only afford the bare essentials. Brands did not exist and the state created its own industry for nearly everything.
• 
  
  
• The West contained modern ideas with the allied countries of the Us and Uk. This meant they had popular culture such as western music, fashion and ideals. 
• It stood for 26 years but in the 1980s many started to criticize the wall. In a speech from Ronald Reagan, the American President, he stated 'Tear down this wall!'

How Netflix changed tv and How Netflix is Killing Traditional TV

Stranger Things Language

Language…

Mise en scene:

-Byer’s house – dim lighting, brown clothes, 80’s interior

-Yellow phone contrasts and stands out… communication

-Bennys diner is when eleven seeks shelter

-Woods heavy rain

-Nancys bedroom

 -Choppers, torches, shines on elevens face (theme of light throughout)

Sound:

-Non digetic sci- fi instrumental sound emphasises tension when they find Evelen.

-Joyce on phone screen digetic sound of mysterious creature.

-Off screen sound of pot was in bennys diner to on screen of bennys washing

-Off screen digetic knocking disturbs in the narrative and raises alarm.

-Non digetic contrapuntal song song commences as soon as benny is shot- white rabit jeffferson find song. The volume and pace increases as eleven runs away.

-Nancy’s room- Choice of song Africa toto is contrapuntal- romantic mood 80’s theme.

(-In continuous moments throughout the episodes we are presented with numerous non-digetic sound instrumentals. Usually in a sci-fit creepy manner it helps add atmosphere to the scene. For example…)

Camera:

-extreme close up of phone shows extreme panic

-High angle looking down on social worker- patriarchy

-most camera shots of the young people were eye level shows equality amongst them and the audience.

-long shot of connie when the gun shot then goes to a close shot of eleven to demonstrate panic.

-Two mid shot of Jonathon and Joyce close on the sofa signifies closeness in relationship.

Editing:

-Jump cut Nancy room/ promimity/ intimacy

-Connie pace of cuts increases- panic

-SFX electric bang from phone communication with will and sci fi other

-shot reverse shot

-order of then narrative- multi stranded narrative underlines the lftvd conventions. In the scene- happening mostly simultaneously except eleven’s escape and discovery. Linking characters at the end of the episode.

Essay writing:

Representation!!!!!

Discuss the ways the extract constructs the representations of…

Point

Example from scene

Explore

   CEMS (Camera, editing, mise en scene, sound)

    Re focus on question and audience.

   Compare

Stranger Things- Fandoms

Netflix and Technology

Representation Essay Stranger Things

How are different social groups represented in the sequence you have analysed?

What role does the use of media language, signs and signifiers have in constructing and presenting these representations as real?

Make a plan, go through the doc link and see what other students wrote for their scenes, take notes.

Your response must:

1. Answer the question.

2. Use key terms learned to date.

3. Give a range of examples from the sequence to support your ideas. THIS IS THE AREA YOU TEND TO LOSE MOST MARKS IN - CAMERA, EDITING, MES, SOUND

How to write Essay (Paragraph)

Point (fragmented open ended)

Example (boy missing and find 11 in rain)

Specific

Analysis (camera shot and editing, mise en scene textual analysis)

Theory/ Terminology

Answer the question

In the TV Drama Stranger Things there are many representations featured throughout. One of the main representations in the storyline are teenagers and the different types. There are two different types of teens one being the pre- teens, who are Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas and are represented as the stereotypical nerdy, excited, pre- pubescent youths. We can imply this because throughout the first episode, before Will goes missing, they are all playing a board game getting heavily excited and enthusiastic about being together. This shows how much they enjoy hanging out with their friends and than be with their families just like the stereotypical young teen. We can also know they are enjoying hanging out with each other by their facial expressions and the close ups used by the camera to show their faces lighting up with interest after every game movement. Concentration was another expression on the boys faces suggesting they had a serious side to them making them all very similar and with a close friendship. The teenage representation is shown again through their use of language when they shout at one another the word “pussy”, which is a word often used when throwing a insult and potentially showing power. By using this term, they show their ages because ‘pussy’ is most commonly used by young teens to show power of an opinion. This reinforces the audience how close and honest friends they are. When Mike’s mother tells them to stop playing later on in the scene, they are represented as a stereotypical grumpy teen. This shows that when told what to do the boys moan are not happy due to their age and the fact they are having fun hanging out.

The other type of teens represented are the older, more mature ones showed through Nancy and Steve. Nancy is represented as the typical ‘girl next door’, unpopular high school girl who is always studying and always wants to make her grades. This is shown through her fashion taste, wearing long skirts and high necks, being represented as a teen who is well dressed and cares about her appearance.  Its is also shown by the slow panning of the camera on her body in order to show off her 80’s styled clothes and her innocent face. However Steve is the complete opposite ‘bad boy’ rebellious teen, who in the storyline is trying to get with Nancy. He is represented as this through his clothing choice; roll necks, clear up, gelled back hair and a repeated smirk throughout the first episode. Steve is represented as a ‘trouble maker’ teen because in the narrative he distracts Nancy from studying and is a bad influence on her. This is a stereotypical real representation of teens because many incidents like this happen all the time within the youth making the characters more realistic to the audience.

The authority in the town is another representation featured in the drama and is through the Sheriff. He is represented as the typical lazy sheriff who sleeps, smokes and gives off a laid back persona. This is because in one of the opening scenes the camera slowly rises and it shows the sheriff laying on the sofa with mess all over his house and being late for work. This instantly makes the character seem real as he fits the stereotypical lazy, unorganised sheriff making the audience feel like they know him. The lighting also helps represent him because it is dull and the whether looks miserable. However due to the fact its fragmented throughout the episode, our opinion changes about him and we find out he lost his daughter changing his representation to a more softer, caring character. This makes the audience feel sympathy for him and shows the series may have more to offer and find out.

Media Language- Stranger Things

Representations in Ep 1

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cIgPCChMGMyrf2bl85u-gFB-VpjNy79kdA4Gy6eZGcg/edit?usp=sharing

Constructed realism - All media we see isn't realistic due to editing, CLAMPS, POV etc.
Dominant ideology - Everything is run by rich, white, christian, men - Western, capitalist, heterosexual, able-bodied.

All media products are 'Constructed' -

• They are made by a producer with a specific intention to create a certain meaning 
• Producer hopes intended target audience will interpret and accept the meaning unquestioningly. 

Producers use different elements/conventions of media language to construct these representations.
Producers of different LFTVD's may use different elements of media language to:

• Offer different representations
• communicate different ideas and viewpoints

Stranger Things main Representations:

• Don't trust who you are supposed to (I.e. the government)
• The two main narratives; Will disappears and Eleven 
• the supernatural - The fan, portal, monsters, scientists etc. 
• Binary oppositions - Old fashioned town with new sci-fi.