Narrative Essay Plan

Introduction:
As part of our AS Media project we created a 3 minute film opening about a group of childhood friends who are starting high school whilst trying to stay connected through the club they have together.
There are four main characters, each with different personalities, who have been friends since they were children. They started a club when they were younger as a place they could all go when they had family or personal problems; in this club they would play old school board games and just get away from it all.

Para 1:
We wanted to ensure that our narrative was interesting for our viewers and so we used Levi Strauss' theory of binary opposites to help structure our narrative.
The binary opposites we used:
Children / Teenagers
Indoors / Outdoors
Conflicting personalities within the group
Our group / other teenagers at school
Boys / Girls
Binary opposites were extremely important as we were able to show conflicting elements in our narrative and create some excitement through conflicts such as Boys vs. Girls and our group vs. other teenagers.

Para 2:
As well as Strauss' theory we needed to decide on the arc of the plot so we looked to Todorov's theory of equilibrium. We wanted to keep our plot interesting so that our viewers would not get bored. In order to do that we would have to come up with our normal equilibrium before deciding on the disruption.
We decided that our film would begin with scenes of happiness between our four friends: everything is good as they start high school and they still go to the club together. The disruption would come predominantly from their new school as some of the group become popular and the group falls apart. As two of the friends became more popular, the group begins to split up and forget about the rest of the group and their club. High school would present challenges for all members of the group which becomes clear as the narrative develops. But soon enough they realise that the only friends they need are each other and they break the typical stereotypes they are pigeonholed into. Following this, the equilibrium is restored and the narrative is returned to its original equilibrium.
This is how we used Todorov's theory to influence the narrative of our film opening.

Para 3:
The final elements we needed to consider when developing our film opening's narrative were the enigma codes, what we wanted to keep from the audience and what we wanted to slowly reveal throughout the narrative.
Within the film opening itself we hint at one key enigma code: will they stay friends?
This enigma code was to be prominent throughout our film and hinted at towards the end of the film opening. We hinted at this by saying at the end of the film opening "We never expected things to change…" This was an important code to get across to the audience as it would be key in keeping the audience interested in our film because they would want to know what happened to our friend group.

Most Influential Teenagers

According to Vogue the top ten most influential teenagers in the world are:

1. Kylie Jenner, 19 (USA)
2. Malala Yousafzai, 19 (Pakistan, Lives in the UK)
3. Barbie Ferreira, 19 (USA)
4. Chloe Grace Moretz, 19 (USA)
5. Camila Cabello, 19 (USA)
6. Simone Biles, 19 (USA)
7. Maisie Williams, 19 (UK)
8. George Matus, 19 (USA) 
9. Katie Ledecky, 19 (USA) 
10. Luka Sabbat, 18 (USA)

My list of inspirational British teenagers:

1. Laura Trott- Olympic Cyclist 
2. Andy Murray- Tennis (was 25 in 2013)
3. Emma Watson- Actress and Activist (was 25 last year)
4. Maisie Williams- has spoken about feminism and the refugee crisis
5. Louisa Johnson- won XFactor, is a good role model to young girls
6. Little Mix- young girls look up to them 
7. Tom Holland- new Spider-man
8. Sophie Turner- actress in Game of Thrones
9. Daisy Ridley- played a strong heroine character in Star Wars
10. Thomas Brodie-Sangster- actor in Game of Thrones and Love Actually 

In Real Life notes

Characters:
Tobin (20)- Video Games Addiction
Thomas (14)- Cyber Bullying
Tom (15)- Online Love
Paige (15)- Phone Addiction
YouTubers- New Celebs
Ben/Ryan (15)- Porn Addiction

Issues Addressed:
- Privacy
- Sharing information
- Consumer/Capitalism
- Not going outside
- Pretend Self Image/Friends
- Bullying
- Addiction
- What is technology replacing?
- Looking up?
- Creativity (e.g. football game, app design)

Representations for Collective Identity essay:
- Nerds
- Demonisation of Youth
- Vulnerable Teens
- Screen Obsession
- The Future
- Empowered Voice
- Normal/Ordinary (Majority of Teens)
- Historical sub-cultures

Pros and Cons of the Internet

Pros	Cons
Socialising	Cyberbullying and Trolls
Audience comments	Keyboard Warriors
Information/knowledge	Don't know the source of all information
Down time/relaxation and entertainment	Porn addiction
Shopping	Look up- become obsessed with screens
Social contacts/travel	Hackers
Organisation and events	Online gambling
Charities- no make up selfies ALS ice bucket challenge	Sugar daddy- grooming
Crowdfunding	Body image- control women, make up tutorials
	Increase in stereotypes- Kardashians

List of possible visual texts (Channel 4 shows)

Shows on Channel 4 which involve British youth:

• Black Mirror (2011-)
• Fresh Meat- Seasons 2, 3 and 4 (2012-2016)
• Friday Night Dinner (2011-)
• Raised by Wolves (2013-2016)
• Misfits- Season 4 and 5 (2012-2013)
• Stage School (2016)
• Drifters (2013-)
• Chewing Gum (2015-)
• Glue (2014-)
• Youngers (2013-2014)

Youngers (2013-2014)
Two main characters: Yemi and Jay

• Yemi is a smart, capable 16 year old boy who wants to get out of his neighbourhood and become something more; do more with his life. 
• Jay is a stereotypical teenager who wants to become the next big thing in music- rap music. 

First Episode:

We see the two boys go off to collect their GCSE results; Yemi is hoping for good grades so he can get into Chairwood College and study music production (despite his parents wanting him to be a lawyer or doctor) where as Jay is not really that bothered by them.

When they collect their results, Yemi receives all A grades where as Jay fails nearly all his exams. Jay acts as though he is not annoyed but it is clear that he did not expect to do so badly.

It is clear that the boys are polar opposites but they both share a love of music and so enter a local music talent competition to see whether they have what it takes. 

Jay (left) and Yemi (right)

Possible Case Study: Some Girls

Some Girls was a British Teen Sitcom that began airing in 2012.
The show is about four girls (Viva, Saz, Holly and Amber) who struggle with relationships, friendships and teachers.

The groups in the school:

• Pretties
• Misfits
• Sweaties: Amber, Holly, Viva and Saz

Amber
Positives: she is active and plays for the school football team alongside her friends, she is loyal and supports her friends
Negatives: she is the typical dumb blonde, is boy obsessed (constantly talking about boys- Brandon), she doesn't focus at school

Viva
Positives: she plays for the school football team, is smart, a peer councillor and leader, on the anti-bullying council, has ambitions to changer her life and be better, looks out for other people- woman with child, presents a positive image of teenage girls
Negatives: tries to changer herself and her personality when she meets Rocky

Saz
Positives: comes from a religious family- shows diversity, is smart and intelligent, in the beginning her world doesn't revolve around boys but as the show develops she becomes more like her friends whilst still staying true to herself
Negatives: she is judgemental towards Holly and Amber, typifying them and stereotyping

Holly
Positives: defends her friends and families, is smart but comes from a challenging background and so is faced with people who think she won't ever be anything more than she is
Negatives: has anger management issues, gets involved in fights at school, plays the typical chav role, gets suspended at school regularly

Quotes:
"Just cause we life on an estate, we aren't all single mums with drug problems."

Media Language Essay

During the creation of our cross-media package for our A-Level Media project we made sure to focus heavily on conveying the appropriate meaning to the audience through the camera work, sound, editing and mise-en-scene of our music video and ancillary tasks. 

One key message which we were able to portray through the choice and execution of the mise-en-scene was the unstable mental state of our artist in the music video. We did this by meticulously controlling every element of her appearance and her surroundings as well as her attitude and facial expressions. In the opening few shots of the music video you can see our artist dressed in all black with very minimalistic makeup and hair. We chose to dress her and present her in this way as this would create a huge contrast to how our artist, Ivory, is presented later in the music video. The simplicity of her image at the beginning of the music video was chosen to convey her calm, and stable mental state which is paralleled by the slow start to the song, as well as to provide the appropriate contrast to her later, unhinged image. Furthermore, we wanted to convey her mental state and personality through her surroundings which can be seen to change as her mental state changes with the development of the song. She starts out singing in very open and rural surroundings which was a very important code to have present throughout the opening of the song. We chose to have her in these surroundings because it represents her clear and open mind in the beginning of the song which is an image that is contrasted during the choruses of the song when Ivory can be seen in very rural but broken locations with wild scenery and foliage.
Her makeup, hair and clothing changes throughout the music video as the audience witnesses the change in Ivory’s mental state. In the first shot of the first chorus, the audience can see a dramatic change in Ivory’s image as she now has crazy, messed up and tangled hair as well as smudged red lipstick. There are also differences in her facial expressions and overall attitude as she adopts a deranged and crazy look in her eye as well as very angry and frustrated body and arm movements. The changes in her look (the messy hair and smudged lipstick) have connotations of an unhinged personality as she no longer cares about her appearance and so has visually adopted this new mental state.
Ivory’s two mental states which are explored during the music video can be attributed to Levi Strauss’ theory of binary opposites being crucial in order to make a narrative interesting. We found that, after conducting audience feedback, our target audience found the two binary opposites of Ivory’s mental states a very appealing narrative as it was different and interesting to watch unfold as the song went on. The combination of these changing factors amounts to the audience instantly understanding that Ivory has changed with the commencement of the first chorus (conveyed through the changes in clothing, makeup, hair and emotion).

The camera work was a very important tool for us to help convey meaning to the audience throughout the filming of our cross-media promotional package. We chose to have a wide variety of shot types throughout our music video including several close up and extreme close ups, mid shots and long shots. The consistent change in camera angles and shots helped us to convey the meaning of the music video as well as the thoughts and feelings of Ivory. Through the camera work we were able to break the fourth wall of media, establishing a new connection between the artist and the audience. One example of this is a close up shot at the beginning of the music video where Ivory is seen looking forward before staring directly at the camera. This subtle change in code allowed us to infer that Ivory is aware she is being filmed thus breaking the fourth barrier. The look to camera was made even more powerful and prominent during the editing stage as we were able to slow it down thus increasing its impact on the audience. This simple close up shot helped to establish the theme of this music video and gave early hints that not was all as it seemed and that Ivory was beginning to show signs of psychosis.

Furthermore, the camera work seen in this music video allowed us to demonstrate Levi Strauss’ theory of binary opposites by showing the unstable side to Ivory during the chorus and second verse.

When the chorus begins we chose to have a mid-shot of Ivory against the backdrop of the overgrown pond as we thought her appearance and actions mirrored her environment which was a meaning we wanted to get across to the audience through the choice of camera work. Similarly, within the chorus we consistently changed the camera angles and framing to keep the audience enthralled and invested in the music video thus providing an element of the escapism as explored by the uses and gratifications theory.

We did this by changing and cutting between different shots and camera angles including a mid-shot by the pond, a high angle close up and a high angle wide shot. By cutting between these meticulously planned camera shots were able to increase the tension and were able to sustain our audience’s interest throughout the chorus as we were constantly changing their view point of the artist. This was an important code for us to convey as keeping the audience entertained and interested would be crucial in ensuring Ivory’s future success as well as the success of this music video and single.

 

Finally, similar to breaking the fourth wall following the close up shot which features in the beginning of the music video, we continued to address the fourth wall throughout the music video; especially towards the end of the music video as Ivory became more unstable. On two occasions we used camera work to heighten tension and convey Ivory’s thoughts and feelings. After the first chorus Ivory can be seen smashing the camera upwards towards the sky with an angry emotion on her face. Similarly, to end the music video we chose to have Ivory smash the camera to the ground and walk past it into the distance. These two examples of Ivory, not only psychologically but physically, breaking the fourth wall were crucial in conveying the meaning of the entire music video. These two moments, especially the shot at the end, epitomise and are the defining moments of this music video as they convey the truth and unstable nature of Ivory’s personality.
Our choice to not only address but break the fourth wall was a way of interpreting and conveying Barthes’ theory of action needed to make a narrative interesting. By smashing the camera, we created a dramatic action which enticed and enthralled our audience, making them want to watch the whole music video to see what Ivory would do next.
Camera work was an extremely important tool in conveying the emotions of Ivory throughout this music video as our varied choice of shots and actions allowed us to establish and reaffirm the narrative of the music video.

The editing was another extremely important tool that helped us convey meaning to the active audience who would watch our music video. We wanted to explicitly get across Ivory’s deteriorating mental state as the song developed, which we were able to do successful through the editing.  We used a lot of standard cut editing but intertwined some creative and unique editing techniques which really enhanced the viewing experience and helped us to tell Ivory’s story. One example of this was in the first chorus when Ivory sings the line “You can’t wake up, this is not a dream”. When she sings this line we edited her hand and arm movements in a way which made them move faster and look more erratic. This was done using Adobe Premiere Pro and is a technique which can be seen more than once during the chorus and second verse as Ivory begins to show her unhinged nature. This was the perfect code to help convey the message we wanted to, thus we were using the theory of the hypodermic syringe as we slowly began to show the audience a different side to Ivory, through editing, camera and mise-en-scene, so that they would understand who Ivory really is.

We also studied Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory whilst coming up with the idea for our music video and concluded that his theory of thought beats would be addressed and demonstrated throughout our music video. We were able to do this through our editing of the clips in time with the beats of the song.
Before the second chorus there is a sequence of consecutive, quick beats which we used as the base for our thought beat editing. We cut a series of different, extreme close up shots in time with the beats to amplify and accentuate the beats of the song. This was an effective technique which we used multiple times throughout our music video to demonstrate our understanding of Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory as well as to convey certain meanings to the audience.

Similarly, our editing helped to amplify the meaning of the lyrics which further helped us to convey meaning to our audience. We were able to edit her hand actions in time with certain lyrics which we felt were important and needed to be amplified or defined. For example, when she sings the line “With your face so made up, living on a screen”, we edited her movements to make it seem like her head twitched which amplified the importance of this lyric. We were also able to keep her singing throughout which was extremely effective in conveying the meaning of this lyric to her and to the audience.

Editing was an extremely crucial tool in conveying meaning to our audience because, through intricate editing techniques and settings, we were able to amplify, and convince our audience of Ivory’s deteriorating mental state.

Sound is the final code we used to convey certain connotations which we deemed vital for the audience to understand whilst watching our music video. We used sound, combined with editing, to convey meaning and to correctly identify the arc of the narrative. After listening to the song and understanding when the beat dropped, the chorus began and when there

6+ were dramatic intervals we were able to determine where we would change the narrative and expose Ivory’s other side. This then helped us to properly storyboard and outline the arc of the narrative and when we would introduce the new image of Ivory to the audience (messy hair, dark clothes and smudge lipstick).
We also analysed the song to understand its genre and the artist we were creating around it. This was a vital part of our cross-media promotional package task as in order to understand the artist we were creating we had to ensure we got the song genre right. We concluded that the genre of the song was indie/pop which we derived from the lyrics, the tone and our analysis of similar artist’s songs. With this understanding of the genre we were able to influence our editing, camera work and mise-en-scene decisions throughout the music video project. Sound played a vital role in our media language as it influenced and determined much of our other choices which further helped us to convey meaning to our audience.

In conclusion, every single method of conveying meaning, camera work, editing, sound and mise-en-scene, was extremely important in doing so throughout our music video, ‘Like Me’. However if it was a choice between all four the most effective tool in conveying meaning would be mise-en-scene as it was the most visual way to highlight that Ivory’s personality had changed. Camera work, editing and sound were all extremely important in helping us to convey subtle messages but it was the definitive change in mise-en-scene (her hair, makeup, clothing and setting) which was the most important and effective in convincing our audience of the change in Ivory’s mental state.

Representations of Youth in the News

Theories:
Gatekeeping: Editors act as the gatekeepers of news
The decide what news they deem worthy and print it- all based on newsworthiness
Role of the editors is to select news stories that are relevant to them and their audience, what do people want to read about?

News Values:
Our perception of what constitutes an event is culturally determined and not a natural occurrence
Newspapers choose which events are important over others depending on our culture

News articles I have found:
Positive:
Teenagers are worried about their future after Brexit: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/brexit-latest-teenager-worry-future-edelman-trust-barometer-a7602626.html 
Not all teenagers are depressed or obsessed with their image- stop telling them they're victims: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/teenage-girls-depressed-stop-telling-them-they-are-victims-janet-street-porter-a7339156.html  
Budding engineer who was a "positive and bright" teenager dies aged 16 after aggressive brain tumour returns: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/budding-engineer-who-positive-bright-10038233 
Meet the inspirational young people who have bravely broken free from their troubled pasts: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/meet-inspirational-young-people-who-10029427 
Inspiring teenager received the Teenager of Courage award at the Pride of Britain awards in 2014: http://www.prideofbritain.com/history/2014/cissy-adamou 
Alice Pyne: http://www.prideofbritain.com/history/2012/alice-pyne
Inspirational teenagers to take to catwalk at Manchester Airport for charity: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/inspirational-teenagers-take-catwalk-manchester-12778694
These teenagers built their own mental health app: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39303006/these-teenagers-built-their-own-mental-health-app

Negative:
Quad bike stolen after teenagers attack farmer in West Lothian: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-39205332 
'Teddy Bear ecstasy" hospitalises Wythenshawe teenagers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-39192373 
Violence spreads through young people like a 'contagious disease', scientists find: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/violence-spreads-teenagers-contagious-disease-scientists-find-knife-crime-london-a7487081.html 
English teenagers 'are the most illiterate in the developed world', report reveals: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/english-teenagers-are-the-most-illiterate-in-the-developed-world-report-reveals-a6841166.html 

Teenager in court charge with murder of 47-year-old man: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-39353801
Teenager charge with urinating on a war memorial in Fife: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-39340483

Representations of British Youth 2012-2017

Films that involve British Youth and their representations:

2012:
My Brother the Devil
Streetdance 2
Broken
Life just is
Now is Good

2013:
How I Live Now
Another Me

2014:
Back in the Day
God Help the Girl
'71
Before I Disappear
The Quiet Ones
Plastic
Kingsman: The Secret Service (positive and negative)
X+Y
The Inbetweeners 2 (positive and negative)

2015:
The Falling
A Dozen Summers
The Bad Education Movie
Just Jim

2016:
Kids in Love

TV Shows that involve British Youth and their representations:

• Bad Education (positive and negative)
• Some Girls (negative)
• Fresh Meat (positive and negative)
• Outnumbered (Later Seasons)
• Wolfblood
• Beaver Falls
• House of Anubis
• Glue
• Pramface
• Switch
• Waterloo Road
• Fleabag
• Friday Night Dinner
• Black Mirror

1980s Youth

British Youth 1950s-2010s

1950s
The 1950s was a key turning point for British youth as people began to challenge old social and cultural norms thus leading to increased affluence and freedom, particularly for the youth.
With Britain's rising affluence the influence of jazz, rock and roll and new movies and television all became more prominent within society.
The television broadcast of the Queen's coronation in 1953 increased TV sales.

Teddy Boys: typified by young men wearing clothes that were inspired by the Edwardian period. They subverted from societal ideas and were negatively portrayed by the media thus gaining a reputation of rebellion and violence.

Took inspiration from American music and television including Elvis Presley (Jailhouse Rock), Eddie Cochran (Summertime Blues and Bill Haley (Rock Around The Clock).

One key influence was James Dean whose most notable works include East of Eden and Rebel Without A Cause. He epitomised an age that had previously not existed, gratifying the youth with a character they could finally relate or look up to.

1960s


1970s


1990s


2000s
Music: Invention of the iPod introduced a new era for music.
Birth of YouTube and MySpace and the increase in legal music streaming sites.

Post-Brit Pop: After the success of British rock bands in the 90s there was still a heavy focus, at least during the early 00s, on bands such as Radiohead, Blur and Oasis. Their success laid the foundation for bands such as Coldplay to usher in a new era of Brit pop.
Female Singers: Female artists such as Amy Winehouse, Natasha Beddingfield and Adele were extremely successful as well as American female singers including Beyonce and Lady Gaga.

Icons such as Eminem had a huge cultural impact on society with his music video 'Stan' being heavily criticised and even banned for its violent storyline of a deranged fan who kills his pregnant girlfriend and himself.

The Noughties was the decade which saw the rise of Pixar films; all of which achieved huge box office success (Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Cars). The 00's also introduced the Harry Potter film franchise to the world which soon became the most successful movie franchise of all time before being beaten by the untold success of the Marvel franchise.
Popular Films: Mean Girls, Superbad, St. Trinian's and Shaun of the Dead.

The Birth of the Chav: an informal British derogatory term meaning a young lower-class person who displays brats and loutish behaviour and wears real or imitation designer clothes.
On-Screen: Little Britain, St. Trinian's and Some Girls.

2010s
Boom of Social Media sites: Vine, Instagram and Facebook.
Varied music influences in the UK Charts.
Disney buying Lucas Films and the Marvel franchise had a huge impact on the film industry with the untold success of the new Star Wars films (The Force Awakens and Rogue One) and the increasing and consistent success of the Marvel film franchise (The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy).
Rise of Netflix, Amazon Prime (Amazon Fire Stick).

World Events:
London Riots in 2011 increased the fear of 'hoodies' and 'hoodie horror' as the media quickly sensationalised those involved in the riots spreading fear in society.