i-D Magazine - what these iconic photos of 90s teens in their bedrooms can teach us about being young today

"Perhaps because there's such a physical component of identity formation in the 90s images, while teens today might accomplish that more online.But it's very different when you're describing your various identities on digital platforms to when someone is in your space asking you things. The pressure of constructing multiple identities online is a very different kind of pressure, because you're aware of how you're being seen, so you can curate a self for each site and do it multiple times a day. It requires self-consciousness; you're in charge of that persona and are trying to create a unified presence."

Really interesting glimpse into the creation of identity through objects and self vs the media.

Read the article here

(Have a great bank holiday weekend!)

Mr Lane

Attack the Block and Identity

"In many ways Attack the Block reflects the hegemonic representations of youth identity, namely that young people and teenagers are defined as belonging to gangs, with lives dominated by crime, violence, anti-social behaviour, and conflict with adult society and the police. These mediated representations of youth identity can be read in many different ways, with the complex anti hero character of Moses who begins the film by mugging an innocent woman, but ends it by renouncing his criminal past and his desires to be a drug dealer. Whilst reinforcing the dominant reading of youth in the media, as the urban street gang, uneducated, using slang, alienated and disaffected, the film ends with the youth characters 'saving the world'. As David Gauntlett states, this "Identity is complex" and the collective identity of the youth characters in the film can be read in many different ways, as both a deviant threat and in a more compassionated preferred reading, one where young people and adults are forced to work together as seen when....." 

One example of how this dominant reading of the deviant alientaed youth identity can be seen to be mediated is in The Daily Telegraph's article about Attack the Block's star, John Boyega who plays Moses.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11561512/Star-Wars-The-boy-from-Peckham-who-stormed-Hollywood.html

Leading to this rebuttal from the actor himself. https://twitter.com/johnboyega/status/591738915733798912

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/dec/13/star-wars-force-awakens-john-boyega-stormtrooper-observer-profile

• How does The Daily Telegraph chose to present John Boyega (And therefore youth) ?  
• What aspects of his identity do they chose to focus on and selectively amplify? 
• What does this show us about how hegemonic (dominant) cultural values and identities are mediated (presented by the media)?

Collective Identity Questions - how they are connected

Here are this weeks notes, showing how each question for the collective identity section of my exam are interconnected.

Click to enlarge

CLASSWORK AND REVISION FOR FRIDAY 29TH APRIL

Hi,

In preparation for next week's mock RESEARCH the theories of these leading music video theorists.

Bullet point the essential points of their theory and post examples FROM YOUR OWN WORK to exemplify them.

Sven E Carlsson - see revision notes post below for a link to this theory
Michael Shore
Steve Archer
John Stewart

and
Laura Mulvey (not a music video theorist but should be considered if you have featured women)

BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS THESE THEORIES IN YOUR NEXT MEDIA LESSON.

REVISION NOTES FOR QUESTION 1B EXAM

If you want to write about your music video for this question then you need to revise Andrew Goodwin.  As he talks mainly about what makes music video a particular art form you can use his 5 categories to discuss theories of Audience, Representation, Genre, Narrative and Media Language.

Make notes on your blog using the 6 bullet points below with SPECIFIC EXAMPLES from your own work to match each category.

ANDREW GOODWIN'S THEORY

1. Music videos represent Genre characteristics: a rock band should be performing in the music video - how did you do this?
2. Relationship between and visual and lyrics: what is being said is being literally or metaphorically represented visually in a specific camera shot
3. Relationship between music and visuals: shots change in synch with drum beats
4. Record company’s demands: close up of artist, star image.
5. Voyeurism and the notion of looking: any explicit references to this in the mise-en-scene?
6. Intertextual reference: any implicit representations in your video to other texts?  Link this to your audience.

OTHER MUSIC VIDEO THEORISTS WHICH YOU CAN USE.

Make notes on Sven E Carlsson's theory summarised below (it's a little like Levi Strauss!)

What is music video? Sven E Carlsson's theory summarised

Website you can use to answer the questions