FORD (MR) MEDIA (AS)

The image above will take you to an article about Super Hero fans and the film Kick-Ass. It goes so far as to claim the characters are: " psychopaths, severely damaged and mentally shredded." Worth a read as it will add another element to your written work.

Click on the image above for an interesting article on Hit Girl. It should help you form a more considered opinion of her as a character. This will help with your latest essay.

After watching Kick-Ass you need to write about the film in relation to the 7 key areas of representation: Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Sexuality, Social Class, Physical Ability/ Disability, Regional Identity. Also refer to the 4 key areas of Textual Analysis: Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition ,Editing ,Sound, Mise-en-Scène.

The cast talking about the film from their perspective. They provide some interesting insight into character influences.

Kick-Ass is a 2010 superhero/action-comedy film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who co-produced the film with actor Brad Pitt, and co-wrote the screenplay with Jane Goldman. The film's general release was on 26 March 2010 in the United Kingdom and on 16 April 2010 in the United States. The film tells the story of an ordinary teenager, Dave, who sets out to become a real-life superhero, calling himself "Kick-Ass". Dave gets caught up in a bigger fight when he meets Big Daddy, a former cop who, in his quest to bring down the drug lord Frank D'Amico, has trained his 11-year-old daughter to be the ruthless vigilante Hit-Girl.

A politician telling the truth. Links to the discussion we had on class last week. Thanks to Dale Luck for the link.

Apologies for missing today's lesson. Your task is to think about how age is represented in the media. Remember that most characterisations presented to us by the media are stereotypes. This makes them easy to recognise and understand. This applies very clearly to notions of Age in the media. As you know teenagers get a particularly rough deal from mainstream media. The same applies to the old. In pairs you need to make a very brief list of the most obvious stereotypes for both groups. Then you need to choose a young or old character from a TV drama and make a presentation based on their representation. Add as much detail as you can. Include pictures and clips to illustrate your points.Think about how fair and accurate the representation is. As a class you need to make sure you all look at a different character and that some of you look at older characters. We'll look at these presentations tomorrow.

How is the representation of ethnicity constructed in this extract?

Apply the following to the film Let The Right One In  : Todorov/ Propp/ Levi Strauss. Also refer to: mise en scene use of sound (including music)  camera work the representation of both characters and place Click on image above for opening section of the film. Use the menu bar on Youtube to rewatch the section again if necessary. Submit work on paper to me as well as embedding a version on your blogs.

Create a profile for a disable character (Film or TV). Explain what the disability is? Is it portrayed accurately? How is the character represented? Is it fair or realistic? Apply as many elements of theory (see posts below) that you can manage.

Tropic Thunder : Film Clip - Nobody Goes Full Retard - watch more funny videos

The media continue to enforce disability stereotypes portraying disabled individuals in a negative un-empowering way. In his 1991 study, Paul Hunt identified 10 stereotypes that the media use to portray disabled people: The disabled person as pitiable or pathetic An object of curiosity or violence Sinister or evil The super cripple As atmosphere Laughable His/her own worst enemy As a burden As Non-sexual Being unable to participate in daily life Shakespeare (1999) presents a potential reason behind the use of one of these stereotypes: "The use of disability as character trait, plot device, or as atmosphere is a lazy short-cut. These representations are not accurate or fair reflections of the actual experience of disabled people. Such stereotypes reinforce negative attitudes towards disabled people, and ignorance about the nature of disability" In other words, the disability itself is often used as a hook by writers and film-makers to draw audiences into

Dominant notions of disability: the individual model The societal view of disability generally conforms to the individual or overcoming or medical model of disability. This holds that disability is inherent in the individual, whose responsibility it is to ‘overcome’ her or his ‘tragic’ disability. Often this ‘overcoming’ is achieved through medical intervention, such as attempts at ‘cures’. For example, top wheelchair athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson was forced as a child to wear heavy leg callipers which gave her blisters, rather than being offered the simple and practical option of using a wheelchair. This approach to disability aims for the normalisation of disabled people, often through the medicalisation of their condition. The social model of disability This distinguishes between impairment (the physical or mental 'problem') and disability (the way society views it as being a negative). It holds that impairments are not inherently disabling, but that disability is cause