House of cards

House of Cards

Language -  mise-en-scene, camera work, editing, sound

Industry

Audience

Representation - female, male, young, old, etc

Definitions

Drama:  What is TV drama? TV drama is a broad genre. At its simplest, it is fictionalised action in narrative form.

Long form TV drama: Long Form Drama is a term coined to describe the recent shift of interest towards television series of high quality that many consider to have replaced the cinema as a focus of serious adult entertainment. Unfolding over multiple episodes, hours, and even years, these TV shows are seen to provide a content, often dark and difficult, and an innovative style that strain against the conventions of cinema as well as network television.

Media convention:  A code is a system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning. In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following: technical codes - all to do with the way a text is technically constructed - camera angles, framing, typography etc. verbal codes.

A code is a system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning.

In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following:

•technical codes – all to do with the way a text is technically constructed – camera angles, framing, typography etc

•verbal codes – everything to do with language -either written or spoken

•symbolic codes – codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotation level verbal codes. 

Genre:

A genre is basically the category of any type of art or literature, for example categories of movie would be comedy, horror, thriller etc.

Genre Hybridity

Some media texts are hybrid genres, which means they share the conventions of more than one

genre. For example Dr. Who is a sci-fi action-adventure drama and Strictly Come Dancing is a talent,

reality and entertainment show.

verbal codes ...

Synopsis  -   A brief summary of the major points of a written work

Barthes’ Narrative Codes

Roland Barthes

Narratives like a ball of string

Roland Barthes was a semiologist.

If you imagine a text is like a ball of string, can it be unravelled in one way or in many ways?

Open or closed?

texts may be

• ' open ' (i.e. unravelled in a lot of different ways) or

• ' closed ' (there is only one obvious thread to pull on).

Barthes also decided that the threads that you pull on to try and unravel meaning are called narrative codes and that they could be categorised in the following five ways:

The Hermeneutic Code  --  ENIGMA CODE

• The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader.

 • The purpose of the author in this is typically to keep the audience guessing, arresting the enigma, until the final scenes when all is revealed and all loose ends are tied off and closure is achieved.

The Proairetic Code

 (ACTION CODE)

• The Proairetic Code also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen, and which hence gets the reader guessing as to what will happen next.

Action code - applies to any action that implies a further narrative action. For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. 

• The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work as a pair to develop the story's tensions and keep the reader interested. Barthes described them as:

• "...dependent on ... two sequential codes: the revelation of truth and the coordination of the actions represented….."

The Semantic Code

• This code refers to connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word.

The semantic code - any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotation.

Eg

A rose can be a romantic symbol, as well as being the new labour symbol.

What genre is the media text

What sub genre is the media text

List the main characters.

–President elect Garrick Walker,

–Linda Vasquez The President’s Chief of staff, woman, Latino! ”tuff as a 2 dollar cheque”

–Frank Underwood, narrator (to the camera) protagonist/anti-hero House majority whip – “keep the sludge moving.”

–Claire Underwood  (Owner of Charity Clearwater Initiative) – dependant on Franks electoral success (Sandcorp) 

–Zoe Barnes Journalist at Washington Herald

–Michael Kern – Recently elected  secretary of state  (frank’s rival)

–Peter Russo -    drink driver,, solicitation, use of controlled substances.

–Doug – Frank’s sidekick.

Editing

Sound

Camera work

Mise-en-scene

Summary-

• Set in Washington D.C.
• Political drama.
• First shot - dog dies, sets the tone.
• Makes character look cold - Frank Underwood is the protagonist
• Shows how politics is ruthless
• Frank meant to be secretary of state but is betrayed- story of revenge against Garrett Walker
• Russo is having an affair with his secretary. Russo is an alcohol and drug addict, soliciting, cheater, and drink driver who constantly finds himself in trouble with the law- Frank has taken him on as an "errand boy" in blackmail.
• Zoe is a up and coming journalist, struggling in the workplace, and his looking for "eyes and ears" in the White House. Frank being photographed looking at Zoe's assets, she uses this to her advantage to use Frank as her source.
• Claire Underwood is the manager in a charity who is struggling with funding the wages of workers, while she is trying to widen the scope of the reach of her charity.
• Juxtaposition - church scene vs sex scene.
• Doug fishes out education bill from from bin to give to Zoe.

Watch series 1 episode 1 of the 2013 House of cards

Identify the main character(s)

Identify the sub-genre(s) of the drama

Discuss the genre conventions of this type of drama

House of cards is a political drama centred around the character of Frank Underwood, with several sub-characters with their own stories that link to Frank. Frank is a congressman and democratic party whip, who was promised the job of Secretary of State after backing the presidential candidate, Garrett Walker, upon his success in the elections. Frank has been betrayed by Garrett and his team and have betrayed Frank in doing so, and therefore he plans to get his revenge against Garrett and his team. Frank's wife, Claire Underwood is the owner of a charity, and is looking to expand the scope of its reach, meanwhile at the cost to her staff, as she does not have enough funding to keep her employees with her, and is therefore attempting to get politician backing to help expand her charity. Frank is also connected at the end of the episode to the character of Peter Russo, who is is political representative, is a cheater, as well as an addict and repeat offender of the law. He is blackmailed by Frank Underwood after being arrested for drink driving and soliciting, and Frank makes him his "errand boy" in his scheme for revenge. Zoe Barnes is an up and coming journalist who is struggling to become a seriously published journalist. She comes into contact with Frank at a symphony event, when Frank is photographed staring at her assets. She uses this to her advantage and asks that Frank become her 'eyes and ears' in the the White House, and that she is able to use him as her source. Frank manages to take a education bill and hands it to Zoe to publish. This getting out in the press is of huge inconvenience to many important political figures linked to Garrett Walker, and this is the beginning of Frank's plot against the newly inaugurated president.

Other genre hybridities include Family dramas-

A popular and well-worn genre, the family drama centres on conflicts at the heart of family life and family relationships. Not to be confused with family-oriented drama, family dramas can touch on such adult topics as incest and political violence.

Thriller conventions

Family drama-

A popular and well-worn genre, the family drama centers on conflicts at the heart of family life and family relationships. Not to be confused with family-oriented drama, family dramas can touch on such adult topics as incest and political violence. Though some American directors such as William Wyler, Orson Welles and John Ford have produced some defining works in this genre, the family drama carries a particular potency in Asia where the conflict between duties to family and individual desires are more charged. Other Hollywood examples of this are in films such as the Godfather and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Steve Neale’s theory of Repetition and Difference.

•Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the economy of the genre.

•Neale states that the film and it’s genre is defined by two things:

–How much is conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and stereotypes. A film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre.

–How much a film subverts the genre’s conventions and stereotypes. The film must subvert convention enough to be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film.

In House of cards, there is no hero, they all have their own objectives and ambitions. There is no clear hero as of yet which is a break from the normal conventions of the genre in order to make it more unique and interesting to the audience. There is the family drama elements within the relationship of Frank and Claire. 

Thriller conventions

What is a Thriller?

 ► Uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements

 ► Includes many sub genres: Mystery, Crime, Psychological, Political and Paranoid.

 ► Atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder.

► Society is seen as dark corrupt and dangerous

► Literary devices like plot twist, red herrings, and cliff hangers 

Political thriller conventions

•POLITICAL THRILLERS 

A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle. They usually involve legal plots, designed to give political power to enemy, while protagonist has to try to stop the enemy. They can involve national or international political scenarios. The common themes are: political corruption, terrorism, and warfare. Political thrillers can be based on true facts such as the assassination of John F Kennedy. In political thrillers there is usually a strong overlap with the conspiracy thriller. For example in the 2012 film Argo, the protagonist has to rescue the American hostages from Iran. 

IDEOLOGY CONSUMERISM

Codes and conventions 

A code is a system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning.

In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following:

technical codes – all to do with the way a text is technically constructed – camera angles, framing, typography etc

verbal codes – everything to do with language -either written or spoken

symbolic codes – codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotational level – all the things which draw upon our experience and understanding of other media texts, our cultural frame of reference.

codes can create feelings to the audience through effects and techniques, for example rain in a film and a woman looking upset can make the audience feel bad for the woman and be emotional.

Conventions are what you would expect to see in a certain genre, for example: in a fantasy genred film you would expect to see maybe unicorns, demons, hero’s/villians, strange settings, basically things that are fictional and unreal in our world.

The codes and conventions in media can be separated into 3 groups

Technical (e.g camera angles, movements & shots),

 Symbolic (e.g clothing, colours)

 Written and audio (music etc).

These three distinct groups give the text meaning and determine the response of the viewer.

Michael Jackson essay

Analyse how the Billy Jean music video by Michael Jackson represent or subvert black stereotypes of black identity.

Billy Jean music video is telling a narrative of a man who has been accused of fathering a child, but he denies it, and this short film, rather than a music video, it is edited in the style of a film noir. It has been made to look like a noir in how there is the black and white edited colouring, the trench coats, the low key lighting and the false setting of a noir film. This applies to the black stereotype of how black people are typically portrayed as the dangerous group of people, who are investigated, however we see this countering the stereotype of black men as the story progresses, as we see the paparazzi being the antagonist, and Michael Jackson as the hero protagonist. His outfit resembles a respectful, young man who appears as the "guy next door" that you could trust, or would be proud to bring home to show your family.

This is in comparison to the black representation we see of Ricky James seen in the "super freak" music video who is seen conforming to the stereotype of black men being hyper sexualised and magnets to women. The Billy Jean music video battles the stereotypes of black men, rather than feeding into them. We see Michael as a "Musical innovator", not a common thing for black artists in the music industry, however we see him as a dancer, which in certain respects is a stereotype now associated with black people, but not in the same way it applies to Michael Jackson, as he had an original style of dance. This is however a stereotype that has since stuck. There is also the elements within the music videos of Michael Jackson disappearing, or tiles changing colours when he walks on them, or a homeless man becoming a well dressed gentlemen when he shows him some generosity, but all of this plays into the stereotypical roles of black men playing the "magical negro". This was a long standing tradition in cinema in the US, with the "magical negro" being a person with special insight or mystical powers. There was also the stereotypical black actor roles in films such as the sidekick to a white man, however, we see Michael being the male lead, and the white paparazzi being the secondary character, again, breaking from the tradition of the time.

The whole video is edited in a way that looks, again, like a noir film, but within the setting, it gives off the vibe of almost a gangster film. This was a common stereotypical role for black actors to portray at the time, as they were associated with gangs, yet we are mislead by the immediate belief we have, as we see that Michael is not a gangster, just an innocent man, made to look guilty. This is an important factor, as this has been done intentionally to show that first impressons are not always correct, and the mise-en-scene is there to mislead us initially, and then show us how we were wrong as the story progresses. Again, the camera work has been filmed in a way that aims to make it look like a spy thriller, with the panning shots, the dim lighting, filmed to make the whole thing look very criminal to the audience. It has ben filmed to look exactly like a film, but instead a shorter condensed down version of the story the narrative is telling us.

The fact that he is dressed in what looks like a prom suit, almost reflects the innocence of this character, as we can see that  he is a young man, and when you are young you are still associated with innocence, and this is what he is mirroring. This again, counters the stereotype that he has been associated with, and in the context, of being guilty of fathering a child that he swears in not his. There was the stereotype of black artists fathering many children, and he adamantly denies it, and this is what the music video and the lyrics are saying.

Several of the lyrics give a clue as to what Michael is trying to tell the audience through this music and the video. "Dance on the floor, in the round" could be a reference to a sexual relationship with the character of 'Billy Jean' and again, links to the stereotype of black musicians fathering many children. However, this is what Michael denies to have taken place, and defends himself. "Forty days and forty nights" could be a biblical reference to Jesus fasting for forty days and forty nights. Michael Jackson had a strong religious background and he wants to express that within his music. There is a second link to the Bible with the lyrics of "so take my strong advice, remember to always think twice", as it is almost like a biblical parable as there is a moral to his story. He wants people to learn how to act and to be responsible and listen to what others tell you to do.

This music video has been filmed to show Michael's innocence in this case in his life where he was under real accusations of fathering a child he denied was his. This video was also filmed to show the innocence of the people who had been stereotyped in a certain way for many years. It is a political stand against the way black people had been portrayed over the years, and turning it around in a positive way.

Minecraft

Minecraft

Key Terminologies:

Media industry: How the media industries’ processes of production, distribution and circulation affect media forms and platforms.

Media audience: How media forms target, reach and address audiences, how audiences interpret and respond to them and how members of audiences become producers themselves. 

Digitally convergent media: Video games consoles are an excellent example of a digitally convergent device, you can not only play games but access social media, surf the internet, stream films and TV content and upload content into cloud based servers. Cross-media content helps maximize profits and also improve reach to new customers.

Production: This refers to all phases of designing, developing and making the media product;.

Distribution: This refers to all processes linked to delivering the media product to audiences both through tangible (disc) and digital (Cloud based) media.

Consumption: Explores the way in which the media text is used by audiences for pleasure but also explores the rise of user generated content across several platforms.

WHAT IS MINECRAFT?

•Minecraft is the second most successful video game of all time behind Tetris.

•It was created and designed by Markus Persson,
a game programmer, who also developed and published the game through his company Mojang. A full version of the game went on release in November 2011.

•To date, well over 121 million copies have been sold across all platforms, including over 27 million PC copies, making it the biggest selling PC game of all time. 

The success of the games market.

–The UK’s   US$4 billion;

–China,   US$24.4 billion

–America’s   US$23.6 billion.

•A recent report by the UKIE1 suggests that the global games market is now worth in excess of US$100 billion.    

•In comparison to traditional media like film, radio, print and television, video games are much younger, exponentially growing since the 1970s.

•Minecraft’s Swedish creator, Markus “Notch” Persson started creating the game in May of 2009 having been inspired by similar games such as Dwarf Fortress, a single- player construction and management game; his goal was to produce a Role Playing Game variation.

•Minecraft’s initial reception wasn’t commercially viable, seen more as a niche product for players with expert knowledge of computers and programming. 

                                                                                                               

Pewdiepie

80 Million subscribers

Most recent mine craft video from 2015 on how scary mine craft is, had 14 million views, 355k likes and 12k likes.

Does comedic videos for gamer adults, not younger kids. Doesn't do tutorials, does humour videos.

Has 19.8 billion views as of January 2019

Worth $20 million in December 2018

Creates videos now on memes, comedy videos, and created merchandise.

Stampy

Does 'lets plays' episodes, demos. total viewing is 6.8 billion 

Yogcast

Has 7.2 million subscribers

Made famous  by having an argument with the creator of Minecraft.

This causes people to create their own media inspired by Minecraft as seen in some of these accounts such as PewDiePie, as they see the game plays or tutorials or comedy videos and see they success of these people and want to join this you tuber gaming community. This promotes Youtube as people join this community of gamers, as well as you tubers. Preston Playz for example has 8.1 million subscribers and creates videos on how to complete certain maps and sections of mine craft, giving them a total viewing figure of 38 million views. 

How it interests gamers

Generating codes to improve the programme.

Through forums, one being entertaining, or because they show you genuine tips on playing the game.

There are certain resources such as how to mine for gold or emerald, etc.

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The establishment of Minecraft Marketplace is a great example of the industry listening to their audiences (fans) and allowing

• the trade of different maps, textures and ‘add ons’ in a legitimate setting.  - Look up Minecraft Market Place and discuss the opportunities for users to make money from their use of Minecraft

•The nature of the game has also allowed audiences to learn new skills, such as programming.

https://marketplace.minecraft.net/en-us

Minecraft Marketplace is a way to browse and purchase community made content from within the gameBrowse, download, and play new Minecraft skins, textures, maps, and more from the Minecraft community in the Minecraft Marketplace. Content purchases in the Marketplace are made using a currency called Minecraft Coins, which is purchased in the game store.Skins are divided into areas that act as the surface area of the character (for example, the front head area, left leg area, etc.).

Celebrities, such as Lady Gaga, reference Minecraft in her music video such as GUY, which gives celebrity endorsement to the game is elf, as when people see her as a fan, they will be interested in also playing it. 

Minecraft Realms are hosted on specialised servers by Mojang.

The terms and conditions require users to comply to the following regulations:, it must:

•not be offensive to people;

•not be illegal or unlawful;

•be honest and not mislead, trick or exploit anyone else nor impersonate others;

•not infringe anyone's copyright or other rights;

•not be racist, sexist or homophobic;

•not be bullying or abusive;

•not damage our or another person's reputation;

•not include pornography;

•not include advertising.