Representation of Ethnicity

-
In all the text I've looked at (Band Aid video, Oxfam advert and the Beast of No Nation movie) they is a strong use of close-ups specifically extreme and big close of the faces of people in crisis. They are depicted as always being in crisis whether it be famine, war or lack of clean water. There is always a lack of costume on the people no matter what the crisis there are in is.

Furthermore, in third world countries, they are represented the same thought different adverts. In the Band Aid music video, we can see that they are being portrayed that there is not much to do apart from them needing our help. This is repeated through the fact that in most adverts, everyone is unclean and they all lack with the amount of food and water that they have. It is then put down to us for helping to look after them by the money we can donate, and that the money we donate spirals to crops being made, selling crop, making money, going to school and on and on; it all starts from a small donation. There are many close ups, which show all of the illnesses and diseases people may have, also the long shots show the neediness of everyone and the shapes of them show how malnourished they are.

The Oxfam advert shows the audience the struggles that some people have to deal with and what has already been done. They repeat the benefits that have come from small donations like the well that is mentioned frequently. The advert uses the shot of a woman collecting a bucket of water from the well using a low angle shot. The voiceover consistently says "this is the well Oxfam have built thanks to two pounds a month from someone like you, during the shot. The advert is telling us that we have already made a difference.

We see the breakout of a civil war and then the child Agu become alone as his family get killed. This brings the viewers to realise how serious everything is as he has to leave his home with nothing. The commandant finds Agu and takes care of him, during Agu's time with the commandant we get to see how corrupt these countries are and how little development there is as even when they're in the villages it is still very sparse and rural. 


Comments

  1. louie franzini6 December 2017 at 03:34

    Band Aid:Need to backup your points by providing evidence e.g. the different types of camerawork, sound and editing used.

    Oxfam: Refer to different camera shots (close-ups and long-shots), however you need to provide more in depth analysis of what the effect is of using the camerawork not just the denotation.

    Need to add another paragraph of representation in A Beast of No Nation e.g. how the country is portrayed and the repeated use of violence.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vance Joyce- Riptide, Is this video Post Modernism?

-
Image
Is this music video postmodern? Postmodern media rejects the idea that any media product or text is of any greater value than another. All judgements of value are merely taste.  Anything can be art, anything can deserve to reach an audience, and culture ‘eats itself’ as there is no longer anything new to produce or distribute.  The distinction between media and reality has collapsed, and we now live in a ‘reality’ defined by images and representations – a state of simulacrum. Images refer to each other and represent each other as reality rather than some ‘pure’ reality that exists before the image represents it – this is the state of hyper-reality.  All ideas of ‘the truth’ are just competing claims – or discourses and what we believe to be the truth at any point is merely the ‘winning’ discourse.  Postmodernism is also said to reflect modern society's feelings of alienation , insecurity and uncertainties concerning identity, history, progress and truth, and the break-up o
Read more

7 principles of structuralism

-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUKsZQezo3c Deleuze, G. 1. creation of a new domain (1:30) 2. local or positional (2:44) 3. idea of difference (3:16) - pattern/ discrepancy/the boarder between them/ things that are different get our attention. 4. status of structures (4:31)- structures are not real/ "structures are real but not actual" / money is a real thing because its physical but is not an actual thing. it represents earnings/ not abstract/ wedding ring not only expensive jewellery but important and symbolic  5. possibilities of different structures (5:42)- different structures and systems interact, contain, and reflect each other 6. driving force of structures (6:55)- structures evolve and can be dynamic/ a code is an institutionally stablished structure/ close up of painting is what she is looking at. something that exists in film institution . 7. the subject and agency (7:50)- humans interact with the structure and constantly re-organise/ e.g. reorder friends who
Read more

Vance Joyce- Riptide, Codes and Conventions

-
Image
Code and Conventions of Indie folk: Every music genre has various codes and conventions which are followed when creating music videos. With regards to camerawork there is a frequent use of long shots, which show the artist playing an instrument; establishing shots and shots of scenery (for example country side etc.) and close-ups of the artists. In terms of miss-enscene, lighting is varied - ambient lighting or fairy lights/lanterns are also used - the lighting choices usually match the mood of the song; the choice of clothing is usually fairly mainstream/normal, this varies from pop music as artists usually dress up with this genre. Editing for indie folk music videos is usually described as 'subtle', soft focuses are used often and are predominately used on the artists' face and the location and videos usually end with a fade to black. In terms of general codes and conventions, there may not be a strong link between lyrics and imagery but there is a m
Read more