post essay 2 please

Essay 1 Feedback

High Level 3 - Roughly equates to a low B.
Interesting read, nicely written. I would say you need to add in about Karl Marx and the revolution not happening because people had become so passive. I would also say something about identity again at the end to tie up with the introduction. Well done.

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Does the mass media have a significant amount of power over its audience, or does the audience ultimately have more power than the media?

Does the mass media have a significant amount of power over its audience, or does the audience ultimately have more power than the media?

Media is one of the central elements of contemporary life, as well as gender and sexuality remaining at the core of what we think about identities. The media contains many different images of men and women and messages about sexuality today. It is thought that these ideas will have some kind of impact on our own sense of identity.

One of the biggest debates is about the impact that media has on society, a lot of people have had their opinions on which is the greatest; media power, or people power. Many theorists have taken part in this debate, but the two most celebrated representatives of each side of the arguments are Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) and John Fiske (1939- ). Adorno’s writings argued that the media had more power over society, whilst Fiske believed the audience had more power.

I think it is understandable that Adorno thinks the media is so powerful, as he witnessed it first hand when he fled to Frankfurt in the 1930’s around the time the Nazi’s came to power, because of the way that Hitler used mass media and propaganda to change opinions. He referred to mass media as the ‘culture industry’ and thought it was a well oiled machine producing products in order to make a profit. However, Adorno didn’t like referring to media businesses as ‘mass culture’ as he believed the products were not culture produced by the people, but the culture consumed by the masses is imposed and distributed by the culture industry.

In 1947 Adorno and his colleague Max Horkheimer wrote the book ‘Dialect of Enlightenment’, which contains the essay ‘The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception’. Adorno argued in his book that media products can never be art, as they are commodities because of their commercial text, and that all products of the culture industry are exactly the same because they are what the people want and people will pay for more of the same thing, because they like it and enjoy it.

Axis is Awesome, the Australian comedy group also proved this point with their comedy sketch, called four chords, in which they show how big hits from over the years all use the same four chords and just different lyrics, it is a real eye opener, as it shows you all songs are the same. There is no choice, it is just an illusion. We might think that the media offer a range of different forms of entertainment and giving different types of people the different genres they want, but Adorno and Horkheimer also commented on this by saying ‘Something is provided for all so that none may escape’ (1979: 123) They are basically saying that anyone who is in search of entertainment has to acknowledge what the culture manufacturers offer them, and accept it. So to sum up, we can choose what we like but from a limited range that is presented by the culture industry. Adorno wrote ‘Our consumption merely fosters the circle of manipulation and retroactive need in which the unity of the system grows even stronger.’(ibid: 121)

On the other hand John Fiske argues that is the audience, not the media that has more power. Fiske is a fan of popular culture, and was one of the most influential media scholars from the 1970’s to the 90’s. In 1989 he wrote a book called ‘Understanding Popular Culture’ in which he wrote: ‘Popular culture is made by the people, not produced by the culture industry.

All the culture industries can do is produce a repertoire of texts or cultural resources for the various formations of the people to use or reject in the on-going process of producing their popular culture’. So he is basically saying that the media sends out their messages, but it is the audiences own decision how they interpret the message. He wanted to show that people are not drones, and they are all individuals with their

own tastes and opinions, and they are not existing as a mass audience, as he thinks its ridiculous to think that culture in manufactured. He also wrote that ‘Culture is a living process. It can be developed only from within; it cannot be imposed from without or above.’ He argues that people chose what they want to watch and listen to, and that they are not forced, and that what’s popular is not what people have been forced or tricked into liking, but what people genuinely like.

However, he does agree that our choices are limited to an extent, but he argues that audiences interpret different meanings from texts, and that most text contains the preferred reading, but also offers potential for audiences to interpret their own meaning and bring what they want from it. He believes that the audience are not just consumers, but they get happiness and their own meaning from their message that they construe. Fiske believes that media could leave to a social change from all the diversity and difference it’s promoting with the ideas and meanings people bring from it. Some people think that Fiske is too optimistic with his views on the impact of media and how it could progress.

Personally I agree with both, but I am slightly swayed towards Adorno’s argument, as I believe there is far more evidence to back up his case. I also believe a lot more people are beginning to understand this, such as Axis of awesome, who I spoke about earlier, as they recognized all songs as being the same and decided to show it in a very clever way. There is also another song that shows this, called Like, OMG Baby by DJ Earworm, which has all the famous songs from the past year in one, it shows how similar they all are. It can also be shown in films, as they all have the same story line in each different genre, such as love stories and horror films; they are almost predictable from the start.

In the film Swordfish, at the beginning John Travolta is talking about how easy it is to make a film, because they are all predictable and how all films are the same, however the film ruins it by then being a predictable film, just like all the rest. However, you couldn’t have a film without a happy ending, because people wouldn’t like it, and therefore wouldn’t pay to see it, so it would not be popular, and would be unsuccessful.

In conclusion I think that people are so used to the music they listen to and films, that they are not open to listening or watching anything other than what they already are, so the culture industry makes a lot of money by producing more and more of the same thing, however when there is a new idea or something different they adopt the idea and use it again and again, so there is never anything different.

Short Film Proposal - Redone

Title: Dancer Off Her Feet
Director: Sophie Tyndall

Synopsis: (Convincing outline for your story)
My film is going to be a documentary on my sister and how she coped with finding out she had arthritis at 16, and how she is still following her dream to becoming a dancer.
At age 16, Alex had a skiing accident, which led to 8 months of treatment. Just as she was about to resume her dance training, she found out she had arthritis. My documentary is about how Alex has struggled to overcome her illness and live out her life long ambition to become a dancer. Within my short film Alex reveals that being a dancer is who she is and nothing will stop her succeeding. It is a film about perseverance and dedication and how it’s not just a hobby, it’s her identity.
I am going to start the film by showing a clip of Alex dancing to music, the music will then slightly fade and the interview, where she speaks of how she coped with the illness, and how it affected her and her dancing, will begin over the music, and then I will make a transition from her dancing to the interview, so that it runs smoothly, there will then be photos of Alex dancing whilst the interview moves on to her mother speaking about how the family coped with it. Then there will be an interview with her dance teacher who says about how well she coped and overcame the illness and got right back on top of her dancing, strengthened up as a dancer, and a person, and is still persevering with her dream.

Who are the target audience?
Anyone that has struggled to overcome fears, illness and adversity. I want this film to be an inspiration for everyone to show anything is possible if you just persevere. I think most dancers would be inspired by this film as they would realize not to take their bodies for granted and how lucky they are. I think that anyone who is interested in performing arts, will be interested in Alex's story as it shows great courage and commitment through great suffering.

Which short films have you looked at to help you get ideas?
Time of your life:

http://www.britfilms.tv/short-films/short-film-channel/time-of-your-life
A young boy taking life for granted until it was all cut short. I liked the way the life was just moving around the boy and how the camera captured the action while the boy stood still being your main focus. I thought this was a really good way to show how life is moving around him, and he is just standing still taking it all for granted.

I watched some other ones but none seemed at all relevant to what I am doing.

They include:

http://www.britfilms.tv/short-films/short-film-channel/a-day-in-the-life

http://www.britfilms.tv/short-films/short-film-channel/coincidence

What message do you hope the audience will understand from your film?
Never give up, and to always be optimistic, because you never know what the future holds. I also think most young people would be surprised to find out that you can get arthritis at such a young age, as most people think it’s an old people’s illness. It will make people aware that an illness can strike at any age, and can have life altering effects.
I hope that when people see her dance, they are inspired and think wow, if a girl with arthritis can do that, then you should never give up on your dreams. I hope to give people hope and inspiration from her story.
Setting(s):
Her dance college, and the dance studios there, and maybe her changing room for the interview, or her bedroom.

Cast: Alex Tyndall

Gina Tyndall – her mother

Laura Watford – her dance teacher


Crew: Sophie Tyndall

Short Film Proposal

Title: Dancer Off Her Feet
Director: Sophie Tyndall

Synopsis: (Convincing outline for your story)
My film is going to be a documentary on my sister and how she coped with finding out she had arthritis at 16, and how she is still following her dream to becoming a dancer.
At age 16, Alex had a skiing accident, which led to 8 months of treatment. Just as she was about to resume her dance training, she found out she had arthritis. My documentary is about how Alex has struggled to overcome her illness and live out her life long ambition to become a dancer. Within my short film Alex reveals that being a dancer is who she is and nothing will stop her succeeding. It is a film about perseverance and dedication and how it’s not just a hobby, it’s her identity.


Who are the target audience?
Anyone that has struggled to overcome fears, illness and adversity. I want this film to be an inspiration for everyone to show anything is possible if you just persevere. I think most dancers would be inspired by this film as they would realize not to take their bodies for granted and how lucky they are.

Which short films have you looked at to help you get ideas?
Time of your life:

http://www.britfilms.tv/short-films/short-film-channel/time-of-your-life
A young boy taking life for granted until it was all cut short. I liked the way the life was just moving around the boy and how the camera captured the action while the boy stood still being your main focus.

I watched some other ones but none seemed at all relevant to what I am doing.

They include:

http://www.britfilms.tv/short-films/short-film-channel/a-day-in-the-life

http://www.britfilms.tv/short-films/short-film-channel/coincidence

What message do you hope the audience will understand from your film?
Never give up, and to always be optimistic, because you never know what the future holds. I also think most young people would be surprised to find out that you can get arthritis at such a young age, as most people think it’s an old people’s illness. It will make people aware that an illness can strike at any age, and can have life altering effects.

Setting(s):
Her dance college, and the dance studios there, and maybe her changing room for the interview, or her bedroom.

Cast: Alex Tyndall

Gina Tyndall – her mother

Laura Watford – her dance teacher


Crew: Sophie Tyndall