Dissertation Presentation

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WHAT’S MY CHOSEN TOPIC?

Topic: Filming to express a specific view.

My point: The way the media purposely films in a specific way to back up what they’re trying to show and say in the film.

Refined: An exploration as to how the media purposely portrays a fixed ideology in the last 10 years, especially within documentaries

WHAT POINTS AM I MAKING ABOUT THIS TOPIC?

Working Question: To what extent do documentaries mediate dominant ideologies in the last 10 years?

Hypothesis: Some film platforms use mediation to purposely make some of the audience to become opinionative and to believe the point which the media platform is trying to make, particularly through the use of the camera and scripting.

Method: Finding 4 examples of documentaries between 2005 to 2015. 2 which are at the newer end of the decade, (2015-2013), and to which are at the lower end of the decade (2005-7).

POTENTIAL EXAMPLES: BENEFITS STREET

• Argues for the essay. A program which has proven to be controversial (http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9116701/britains-dirty-secret/)

• Article says how there are 31,000 petitions signed of protest

• Mentions how it’s fixed and that the Channel purposely makes those seem in poverty more than they actually are

• Reports saying that they made them wear and act the way they are purely for entertainment. This shows how the program may use mediation to make the viewers believe that Britain does have areas of poverty shown in the program, making the program more interesting

• More importantly, mediation is used here to get the audience engaged and to become opinionative as to what they see, making it more entertaining.

POTENTIAL EXAMPLES: BLACKFISH• A documentary film which explores how killer

whales in sea parks such as ‘Sea Life’ are being treated.

• The documentary has a clear perspective: it is to protest against the captivity of killer whales by showing the deaths and injuries by a killer whale called Tilikum (and other whales).

• This documentary therefore follows mediation: some of the audience may turn against killer whale captivity as they learn about how dangerous the whales are plus how it is cruel. For example, the program shows how small the whale’s living pools are, the way they are treated (they show them with bruises), and footage of the whales sad.

• The program has led to the sea park ‘Sea World’ to loose a huge amount of visitors plus an increasing petition to free the killer whales.

POTENTIAL EXAMPLES: IDIOT’S GUIDE TO POLITICS

• This one-off documentary revolves around young people people not voting – going into detail about some of the reasons why young people don’t vote.

• However, this documentary too can be an example of mediation as it goes into how young people don’t vote BECAUSE they don’t know what to vote for, or don’t like anyone running to vote.

• For example, the program purposely has interviews with young people asking why they don’t vote, as well as picking out promises parties have made which weren’t promised. They even film pranks on certain parties which have policies which have failed or ‘lied’.

POTENTIAL EXAMPLES: RELIGIOUS

• Religious is a one-off documentary where Bill Maher goes out to learn about religion in some of it’s extremist ways.

• This has been very controversial as the documentary is almost a mockery of all religions – Bill learns about these religions and simply mocks them purely for entertainment.

• This is a clear example of mediation as it’s clear that this has been filmed to almost ‘dig’ at religion.

• Such mediation is even reinforced through the documentary cover, shown to the right, where you can also see how semiotics are used to reinforce this mockery.

POTENTIAL THEORIES/IDEOLOGIES

Mediation: The way some films purposely film in a specific way to reinforce their viewings and opinions. For example, Blackfish focuses on the cons of the killer whale captivity – it chooses and ‘mediates’ this view purposely.

Dominant Ideology/Hegemony: The main view – one which is agreed on by the majority of people. For example, a dominant ideology in Life and Death Row would be that they should be punished for they're crimes. This can be used to back up how mediation may challenge dominant ideologies, or be used to reinforce it.

POTENTIAL THEORIES/IDEOLOGIES

Moral Panic: The idea that the public become anxious from a potential threat or danger of society. This could link to how Life and Death Row may fuel a moral panic that some of these murderers may not all be in prison/caught, or how people may be worried about legislations not being met in politics

Hypodermic Needle: The theory that the media ‘injects’ messages into the audience’s mind (similar to mediation). For example, Blackfish ‘inject’ this idea that killer whale captivity must be stopped.

POTENTIAL THEORIES/IDEOLOGIES

Reception Theory: The theory how the audience may respond differently to one another, and can be split up into different sections. This can be used to argue for and against my essay question.

Semiotics: The way the audience interpret signs and symbols differently. This too can be used to back up points made and other theories, similar to reception theory. For example, you may get a different message/interpretation of Idiots Guide to Politics compared to someone else

RELEVANT READINGS

• Mediation & Protest Movements. Bart Cammerarts• Life After New Media: Mediation as a Vital Process. Sarah

Kember• Semiotics, An Introduction Arthology. Robert E. Innis• Media Studies: Institutions, theories & issues. Pieter

Fourie• Media Studies: Media history, media and society. Pieter

Fourie• Reception Theory. Robert Holub• Folk Devils & Moral Panics. Stanley Cohen• Moral Panics. Kenneth Thompson• Moral Panic and the Politics of Anxiety. Sean Hier

CHAPTER 1

• Discussing what mediation is, and how it is becoming more evident since the last 10 years

• Exploring briefly into dominant ideologies – what they are, linking to how it is dependent on the passive audience

• How mediation is more effective and evident within documentaries: what techniques are used to position some of the audience in a deliberate way?

CHAPTER 2

• How mediation can fuel a moral panic, often because it is controversial.

• That mediation almost ‘injects’ these ideas and views into the audience’s mind.

• Semiotics are used in a certain way to create these biased opinions

• How mediation is entirely dependent on the type of response from the audience, linking to reception theory.

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CONCLUSION

• How most films within the last 10 years have clearly been mediated – possibly because of modernization and how everything is becoming more diverse and there is a high competition in TV to be recognized and be effective

• However argue that mediation is dependent on how you read film/TV: linking to reception theory and whether you are a passive or active audience.