Research Tutorial

Mr Halsey Tutorial Feed Back

The tutorial was based on the research aspect of the media proposal and i am a little bit behind so i need to start the research we discussed as soon as possible plus I would need to dedicate 20/30 to complete research to a high standard. Additionally i would need to separate blog post for my research using the structure from the last part of the project proposal. Start with primary and secondary texts, documentaries (titles and links),  Online (articles and links), books (check shelf - at least two prefect books for my essay) and journal articles.

Media proposal

Media proposal

Working title:

To what extent does Hip hop artists glorifying violence and misogyny effect audience behaviours?

Angle

What impact are hip hop artist glorifying violence through their lyrics and music having on their audiences and views towards women? On the other hand it can be argued that artists are moving with the times and that it is simply a moral panic of the 21st century.

Hypothesis

My hypothesis for my critical investigation is people listening to hip hop change their views and behaviour towards violence and women as a result of the content of these songs and videos.

Linked production piece

Music video

Ø  Don’t Panic  – Released in 2014 by French Montana

MIGRAIN

Apply the Key Concepts to your texts/topic by using the questions from the Summer Research Project to help you. (Include at least five bullet point/key concept). Include as many media keywords as you can.

Media Representation

1.       Who is being represented (In what way? By whom?)

 In the music video "Don't panic" there are a lot of representations of people for instance the female/women at the beginning of the music video is tied up by a male in a mask, make up running and crying reinforces the dominate gender stereotype that women are vulnerable and weaker than males. Another representation that is reinforced is those males are more violent than females as there are predominately males carrying weapons such as knifes and hammers. Additionally, French Montana is represented as rich and in control which is the typical representation of male rappers which is the image they try to portray to their audiences.

2.      Why is the subject being represented in this way?

 The music video is explicit which shows the rich and luxuries life of rappers as cars and women are displaced to reinforce the dominated representations that they live a life of fantasy that only the rich and famous are custom to. I believe that the representation shown in the music video is accurate but on the other side I also think that this is not reflective of society as behind all the money and fame they have the same problems as normal people for example they can get addicted to drugs or even go bankrupt. Additionally, the main reason why i believe this is that there are other rappers that don't rap about violence for instance drake sings songs relationship based not violence so i don't think that it’s fair to label every hip pop artist as rapping about and encouraging violence in their lyrics and music video. 

There are a number of opportunities that exist for self-representation by the subject for one because it’s the rappers song and he says the option to base his song on anything but decides to base song on violence where he says "nigga" over 40 times showing that he’s superior and above the law as if a "normal" person says anything remotely similar then they would be in considerable trouble. Moreover, the black people in the music video have had the opportunity to represent them self’s positively but they chose to show the dominated representation of black males as violent and criminals.

Media languages and forms 

In the music video there are a variety of mise-en-scene for instance there are different settings (locations) used that are in the music video for example car parks and isolated buildings are used to reinforce the theme of the music of horror and to install a sense of fear to the audience. This enables the audience to relate with the song visually and it would further enhance the understanding of the song to the audience. Additionally, there is a big significance in the costumes and props that are in the music video for example the costumes they are wearing are hoodies, jeans and designer shoes which is what most young males wear in today’s society . Also the costumes are mainly dark colours to connote fear and evil which ties in with the music theme. The props include clown makes which is seen to be creepy and scary and also weapons such as hammers and chain saws which all contribute to the theme of the music video. Moreover a lot of cinematography and camera work used throughout the music video. There is a lot of close up’s on the clown masks and weapons to further reinforce the theme of the music video. 

Narrative 

How is the narrative organised and structured?
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?

Genre 

To what genre does the text belong?

Ø  The music video belongs to the genre of rap and hip pop 

What are the major generic conventions with the text?

Ø  Editing for example collage of different of different settings

Ø  Promoting the artist French Montana 

Ø  Camera shots for example low angle shots, close ups, medium shots etc 

Ø  Intro and outro  

Ø  What is the generic theme? 

Ø  Violence 

Ø  Wealth

Ø  Power 

Ø  Dominate  

Ø  Control

To what extent are the audiences generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?

- To a large extent the text does fulfil the expectations of the audience as they would expect it to contain a lot of violence, money, girls and cars which are all in the music video. The music video does conform to the characteristics of the rap and hip pop genre as rappers and singers want to show off their wealth and power. 

Does the feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meaning and associates do they have? 

-The music video "Don't panic" does feature stars such as French Montana who is a big name in the rap and hip pop industry and is associated with other big names such as meek mills, lil wayne, rick ross etc. Another star that was feature in the music video was khloe kardashian who is associated with one of the most famous families in the world the kardashian family. She is associated with a lot of big names such as her sisters and also she is dating French Montana. 

Media institutions 

What is the institutional source of text?

French Montana is the founder and CEO of cocaine city records (coke boyz). In 2012, he signed a joint venture recording deal with Maybach music group and bad boys records. Additionally, Maybach music group albums are distributed by Warner Bros Records, which took over distribution following the expiration of a deal with Def Jam Records. Who controls the institutions above does matter for a number of reasons for instance as he’s CEO of his own record label he can decide when to release songs where as in a joint venture he has to talk to other to see what date to release songs. 

How has the text been distributed? 

The music video is distributed on French Montana’s official vevo youtube channel where he's other music videos are located. In albums and mix tapes wise warner bros records distributed them and would be available on iTunes and etc.

Media values and ideology

There are a number of major values and ideologies that are portrayed throughout' the music video for example of the values and ideologies is that rappers are rich and superior to other people. Moreover, another dominant ideology is that males are more power than females as only the males are carrying weapons whereas only one female in the video holding a weapon. However, this music video is basis as it only shows the rich and powerful but hides the problem that they face for example drugs, relationship issues etc. 

Media audiences 

 SHEP

Social - This has effected people socially and the music industry has changed with the times 

History - The music industry use to be regarded as "realist" and they raped about their life and they struggles they faced but in the modern day they rap about violence and how they get "bitches" and money. 

Economic - Rappers are getting a lot of money now even though in my opinion  the music industry is dropping off and the music has become more dumb down to attract a wider range of accidence as they  use simple lyrics while in the past they use metaphors and alliteration. 

Political - jay Z helped obama with his campaign

Issues/Debates

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using the Media A-Z to help you think about this:

Representation and stereotyping

Media effects

Moral Panics

Ø  This stereotype was developed by Stan Cohen to explain the way in which the media focus on the behaviour of  social groups or an event can be inflated by sensational reporting and repeated use of stereotype leading to public over reaction or panic at a suppose threat to society. This links relates to my study because to an extent I think that the media portray music and rappers negatively and keeps reinforcing the stereotype of rich and selfish. Additional, to a large extent people argue that music is not getting more violent but the number of people that have access to it on multiple platforms. Also violence towards women media is frown upon and when Chris brown assaulted Rihanna the media were displaying his bad qualities and portraying him negatively but in other cases such as his fans found ways to defend him while other people wanted justice which caused a moral panic in society to question if rappers get a pass on violence in general and towards women.

Ownership and control

Regulation and censorship

Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century

The effect of globalisation on the media

Theories

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using keywords/specific theorists' names from the Media A-Z:

Ø  Semiotics

Ø  Structuralism and post-structuralism

Ø  Postmodernism and its critiques

Ø  Gender and ethnicity

Ø  Marxism and hegemony

Ø  Liberal Pluralism

Ø  Colonialism and Post-colonialism

Ø  Audience theories

Ø  Genre theories

Ø  Contemporary Media Landscape

Explain how your study fits into this.

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media texts

What your main focus will be, E.g.:

Ø  Call of Duty

Ø  Grand Theft Auto

Other media texts

(At least five related examples)

TV documentaries

Research videos online, e.g.:

BBC One - Panorama, Addicted to Games? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlmj0

Academic texts/books

(a minimum of five, including author/full title/year, e.g.:)

Barrie Gunter: The effects of video games on children: the myth unmasked (1998)

James Newman: Playing with videogames (2008)

Nancy Signorielli: Violence in the media: a reference handbook (2005)

Peter Vorderer, and Bryant Jennings: Playing video games: motives, responses, and consequences (2006)

Internet Links

1.       At least FIVE from Media Guardian or Guardian Culture or another newspaper website.

2.      At least FIVE from university websites/academic papers online. Use Google Scholar as a starting point.

3.      Any other relevant sites/articles - the more the better.

Use our archive of previous top-grade Critical Investigations to help you.

You have two weeks to complete this detailed proposal before you need to start your research in depth. Good luck!