Lo3 macro meanings

 Denotations 

Connotation (connotes / signifies)

3 theoretical concepts 

.Genre 

.Narrative 

.Representation

Genre theory 1.

Steve Neale (1980) repetition and differences 

“Genres all contain series of repetitions and differences, differences are essential to the economy of the genre.”

A product and genre are defined by two things:

.how much it conforms to its genres individual conventions and stereotypes.

.how much the product subverts the genres conventions. 

Dead by Daylight (horror/action)

.genre is a horror action hybrid As you are a survivor being chased by a killer having to complete tasks and run away or be sneaky

.this is subverted by the fact that you can play as both the victim and the killer flipping the stereotype of a horror game to let you be apart of both ends. 

Genre theory 2

.Emotional pleasure 

.Intellectual pleasure 

.Visceral pleasure

1. Anahowa. An emotional anime/ through voice acting. Non diegetic sounds and the narrative 

2.scorpian. Makes you think. 

3.fast and furious. Wow factor a lot of explosions and visual spectacle 

Genre theory 3.

Jason Mattel states that genres “are exploited by media producers so that products are financially successful.”

.”genre is a way of exploiting an audience”

Examples of this are the abundance of super hero movies that are being pumped out each year, with the same characters and story plot threads all advertised to kids and teens. 

Also is the fast and furious movies that have become blockbuster hits.

Thinking back as well the amount of vampire movies that where coming out during the early 2010s prove this 

Genre theory 4.

David Buckingham (1993)

Suggested that “genre must respond to socio-economic and cultural change”

E.g

Broke back mountain has elements of western (settings, objects and props dress code) to develop an emotive romance about two men and their love for each other. 

Call of duty games or FPS titles in general, have change there aspect of gender norms and allows there player bases to change the gender of there character even in world war settings in which women didn’t fight in. 

Narrative theory 1.

Binary opposition 

That things/objects/qualities that are directly parallel and opposite help to understand and fuel each other. 

The idea can be applied to media products and the characters within them. 

E.g hero vs villain in many superhero movies 

Narrative theory 2.

Pam Cook argues that traditional Narratives have a linearity of cause and effect, with an overall trajectory of enigma resolution 

E.g any superhero movie where the parents die at the beginning and he has to over come that to become stronger. This is used a lot in movies

Narrative theory 3.

Conventional structure 

Classical and conventional structure.

Beginning middle and end/ characters will change in some way e.g: learn something or become a better person.

-Step one/equilibrium 

-Step two/equilibrium has been Brocken

-Step three/quest to fix it 

-Step four/continues the climax 

-Step five/resolution and new equilibrium

127 hours 

Linear however uses flashbacks many times which are non-linear narrative 

-Step one the character goes to Grand Canyon enjoys his time

-step two equilibrium breaks he’s trapped in the rock now 

-step three spends his time trying to survive 

-step four climax he cuts his arm off

-step five returns home new equilibrium he’s safe and learns a lesson on life and how to live 

Narrative theory 4.

Roland Barthes (1977) Narrative codes 

Action code - actions in narrative that tip the viewer off on what to expect as the narrative progresses 

Enigma code-puzzles or problems in the narrative that  Only tip the audience off a little bit to give a sense of mystery 

Representation theory 1.

Laura Mulvey (1975)

Women are represented in the media from a heterosexual male POV as they are sexualised and represented as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male gaze.

E.g black widow

This links to voyeurism 

Representation theory 2.

Manuel Alvarado (1987)

Suggested representation of ethnic minorities are limited 

Exotic/ the other 

Pitied 

Humerous 

Dangerous 

E.g newspapers, the Muslim terrorism pages that scared the mainstream audience into thinking all Muslims are bad 

Representation theory 3.

Institutions try to fix the meaning of a Edson or event portraying bias and demonising a certain people 

Such as press twisting the truth to gain clicks and streams. 

Cultivation theory (the more we see it the more we believe it)

Representation theory 4.

David Newman 2006 working class as society’s problem 

Newman argues that when the media represents the working class it is generally labelled as a problem eg. Welfare cheats, drug addicts or criminals.

Working class groups are often subjects of new moral panics and are demonised as the problem.