Research on relevant historical texts...

Representations of Characters in Kidulthood:

I will be looking into the representations of the characters in Kidulthood and how they were presented in the past and compare to see whether these representations are being reinforced within the film or challenged in ADULTHOOD.

Moony:
Moony's character in Kidultood is a stereotypical representation of teenage boys as he is seen as violent, aggressive and sexually minded and active. This shows that in Kidulthood he is reinforcing this stereotype of teenage males and presenting them in a negative manner rather than positive. For example, we see this stereotype being reinforced as he picks a fight with two guys in a street and gets involved when beating up the main protagonist in the film ADULTHOOD, Sam in his own house.

However, his character does challenge this stereotype as he is more into his education and striving to do well for himself and get far in life. he challenges this stereotype further as he deals with revenge in a different and positive manner rather than the path that Jay has chosen to take.

Jay:
Jay's character in Kidulthood also reinforces the stereotypical view on teenage boys as being aggressive, sexually active and violently orientated. We see this in the film as he tries to have sexual intercourse with Claire in Sam's house and then beats him up straight afterwards.

However, his character in Adulthood reinforces the stereotype further as he is seen as a drug dealer and has more violent outbursts within the film than before and has vengeance in his mind and heart. For example, as he attempts to do a drug deal with the middle class man, he becomes very aggressive with him and forces his finance to flash him and ends up robbing them both. This shows that his character reinforces these representations in more depth and has progressed in a more negative manner.
Although this is due to the fact that he is not dealing well with the death/murder of Trevor.

Claire:
Claire's character in Kidulthood reinforces the stereotype of teenage girls being promiscuous and sexually active. We see her acting promiscuous as she is intimate with both Sam and Jay in Kidulthood, which shows she is unable to be committed. This shows that these stereotypes of teenage girls are being reinforced by the British media in a negative manner and adding more fuel to the fire and giving the media more ammo to reinforce these negative representations. By doing this, it creates a more unconstructive and negative image for teenage girls.

Although, in Adulthood her character does challenge this stereotype as she is seen holding a steady relationship and getting on with her life and doing well for herself. This shows that Noel Clarke is aiming to challenge these stereotypes and representations the British Media have given to teenagers, both males and females.


Although we don't see her character in the sequel, Adulthood, Becky reinforced the stereotype of teenage females as promiscuous, drug orientated and we even saw some scenes of her doing sexual actions to get some drugs. This then gives a negative image of teenage girls as she presents them in a unconstructive, off putting and degrading manner. This then portrays and puts a strain on the audience into thinking that all teenagers act this way, by doing so it portrays them in an unconstructive, demeaning and corrupting conduct.
Even though we don't see the main female protagonists taking part in this, there are scenes of bullying in Kidulthood. For example, the scene with Katy being beaten up in the class room by a group of girls. This shows that some females are aggressive and violent in some senses. This is also reinforced and seen in ADULTHOOD as we see Lexi being verbally and physically abused by girls in the hairdressers. This shows that not just teenage males are aggressive and violent orientated but also females.

This is being presented in the Media a lot more as we see more girl gangs being merged as well as male gangs. This also shows that Bullying is being put forward to media audiences and portraying that it is a serious issue and is progressing further and at times ends in serious consequences as we see in Kidulthood, when character Katie commits suicide due to this matter. This is brought to the attention to the media audience that it is a serious offence is getting worse each time.

This portrays that realism is used in the film, KIDULTHOOD, as serious topics such as bullying and the use of drugs are presented and brought forward to the media audience's attention, although you can say that the media do exaggerate these particular stereotypes and construct them to their liking and in a way to give a shock factor to gain people's attention and bring it to their attention of how teenagers act in an in describable way.

Research on Moral Panic Theory...

Moral Panic has four distinctive characteristics and features and the are the following:
Concern - There must be awareness that the behaviour of the group or category in question is likely to have a negative impact on society.

Hostility - An increase in hostility towards the group in question and they become "folk devils". A clear division forms between "them" and "us".

Consensus - Though concern does not have to be nationwide, there must be widespread acceptance that the group in question poses a very real threat to society. It is important at this stage that the "moral entrepreneurs" are vocal and the "folk devils" appear weak and disorganised.

Dis proportionality - The public is given statistics that are disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the accused group.

Volatility - Moral panics are highly volatile and tend to disappear as quickly as they appeared due to a wane in public interest or news reports changing to another topic.

This then shows that there are common and typical characteristics and features that make the Theory of Moral Panic recognisable when it is being used. Individuals or groups have been shown and presented as Moral Panics, for example various actions taken place in Western Countries such as 9/11 and 7/7 bombings created moral panic about Muslims and the exaggeration of the actions of Muslims, which then puts a strain on the audience into thinking that all Muslims are terrorists.

10 Relevant Keywords for my Text...

Equilibrium: The harmonious state that often exists at the start of a narrative before disruptive or transforming elements are introduced. This narrative theory is useful and helpful for my text as it applies and links to my texts narrative, as I have applied the theory to my text.

Hypodermic Theory: Hypodermic theory is an early attempt in the 1930s and 1940s to explain the effects media texts have on audiences. This audience theory is useful as the news media (both digital and print) inject the audience with the idea that the teenage group are seen as a threat to the public, which this then creates moral panic within the society.

Male Gaze: Is a theory found by Laura Mulvey in her essay "Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema", to describe what she saw as the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience. This theory is relevant and useful for my text as the females in Adulthood are seen as sexual objects for the male audiences pleasure through the use of provocative clothing such as Claire. This then shows that is helps to reinforce the male gaze theory that women are presented in a certain way for the male audience's visual pleasure.

Mediation: Is the means by which, through the use of representation, a media organisation and it's employees stand between an event and the public perception of that event. This keyword is useful and relevant for my media text as the British Media do tend to mediate teenagers in a negative manner, which then allows the audience to believe that all urban teenagers are like this, which then stereotypes the whole group image of teenagers in a negative way.

Moral Panic: Moral panic is a concept and theory developed by Stan Cohen , which is when a group of people are reported in an exaggerated way within the media, which creates panic in society. This key theory is relevant to my media text as Moral Panic is emphasised in Adulthood as it exaggerates the actions of teenagers, which puts a strain on the audience into thinking that all inner urban teenagers act like this.

Representation: Representation is the process whereby the media construct versions of people, places or events of how we see gender or social groups in a particular way through the transmission of media texts to an audience. This is a relevant keyword as my text is about the representation of teenagers and how they are being presented in the British Media.

Todorov: Todorov is a Bulgarian theorist who is the founder of the equilibrium narrative. This is a relevant and useful theory as I have used this theorist that I have related to my text and have applied his equilibrium theory to my text.

Uses and Gratifications Theory: This is an audience theory, developed by Jay Blumler that focuses on "what people do with the media" rather than "what the media does to people". This audience theory is useful and relevant to my text as people (specifically teenagers) could use Adulthood for their own personal use and identify themselves within certain characters.

Youth Culture: Any youth subcultures from the 1950s through to the present day, including aspects of dress, behaviour, music preferences and relationships. This is relevant to my text as I am looking at the youth culture of teenagers and how they are being presented in the Media.

Self Evaluation...

Attainment: 2
I think that my attainment is at a good standard as I am in lessons at all times and give my all in lessons, I also think that I can achieve more, I can do this by trying harder at all aspects of this subject such as SHEP.

Effort: 2
I think I am putting a lot of effort into my Med 5 topic and all work that has been set and I also think that I present my work, both home and classwork to the best of my ability.

Punctuality: 1
I am always be on time to lessons as I try my best to get to lessons either early or on time.

Submission and quality of homework: 2
I think that my homework is produced and done to the best of my ability and to a good standard that is expected, my homework is always on time, except for one time I didn't complete my homework that was set.

Ability to work Independently: 2
I think that I am able to work independently and do work well independently, however I do at times ask for some guidance at times from others.

Quality of Writing: 2
I think that my quality of writing is at an average standard, but do think that I can improve on this to a better and higher standard and my ability.

Organisation of Media Folder: 1
I am well organised with my media notes and sheets that are given to me and all these notes and sheets are in chronological order.

Oral Contributions in Class: 4
I do contribute to class discussions, but at times I do not say anything at all and just keep quiet.

Standard of Med 5 Blog: 2
I feel that my Med 5 blog is to a good standard as I do post up all work set and do some of my own work in terms of MIGRAIN Analysis of trailers but I do need to add more information and more research on my topic in terms of SHEP.

Standard of Med 6 Blog: 2
I do the work that is set by my Med 6 teacher and do post up all my work that is set and I take part i all the Med 6 quiz's, so I feel the work is to a average standard.

WWW:
-I am always on time to and attend all of my lessons
-Do good amounts of work on my Med 5 Blog
-I always submit my work on time and to an average standard.

EBI:
-I contributed a lot more in classes
-Make improvements on my Med 6 Blog
-Research more on historical topics

Action Plan....

My 10 Point Action Plan: Begins on the 24Th October:

-Watch my film text again(24th October). COMPLETED

-Complete all work set on Blog (24th October). COMPLETED

-Research more into my Theorist Stanley Cohen(26Th October). COMPLETED

-Highlight Key points of the reviews on Adulthood(26Th October).COMPLETED

-Gain a better understanding of SHEP and begin to relate it to my independent study text. (27th October) COMPLETED

-This point links to the above which is to, Research more into my relevant texts for example: Kidulthood. By doing so I will be using SHEP as I will be researching a historical media text that relates to my study and how the representations and stereotypes are shown in them and examine whether they are being reinforced or challenged in my text, Adulthood (28-29Th October).COMPLETED

-Re-phrase/ change my independent study title (28th October). COMPLETED

-Use more Book research(30Th October). COMPLETED

-Prepare to Plan out how I will begin to answer my question (2ND November). COMPLETED

-Think of and plan a brief conclusion for my Independent Study(3rd-4Th November). COMPLETED

Theorists/ Theories...

Stanley Cohen and Todorov:

One theorist that I will be looking into mainly is Stanley Cohen who was the founder of Moral Panic.Moral panic is when a group of people are reported in an exaggerated way within the media, which creates panic in society. Moral panic is emphasised in Adulthood as it exaggerates the actions of teenagers, which puts strain on the audience into thinking that all inner urban teenagers act like this. However the film does go against some stereotypes through characters such as Moony, Alisa and Claire and even Sam. Another theorist that I will be looking at is Todorov’s theory of the equilibrium. I have linked this theory to Adulthood:

¨Equilibrium:Sam gets out of prison after 6 years being locked up for Trevor's murder

Disruption:Sam gets confronted and attacked by a man who ends up stabbing him and then tells him someone is coming for him and his family.

Realisation of Disruption:Sam begins to reminisce of all of those people he knew before he was sent to prison.

Attempt to Repair:Sam starts his search of those he knew before he went inside to gain and get information of who it is that is seeking him and his family, he starts with Claire.

New Equilibrium:Sam just about gives up his search until those people seeking him and his family find him.

Self-Assessment of Blog Work

AO1:
I am familiar with this assessment as I studied Key Concepts (MIGRAIN) in the year before and am good at producing MIGRAIN analysis and linking all concepts together. I have used this assessment when analysing trailers and clips from my media text and have produce a full MIGRAIN analysis of my film on my blog and even in my power point presentation. at the beginning, I wasn't good at this assessment, but with more practice I have developed further and am getting better at it. To keep improving I will be practicing more of this concept to help me better myself and improve my down sides.

A02:
With this assessment, I will be using the acronym S.H.E.P, which stands for Social, Historical, Economical and Political. I will be applying this to my media text, but however haven't begun to do this as I am still getting familiar with this assessment objective and will be applying it to my media text. I will be using historical as I will be looking at older films and how different the representations and stereotypes of teenagers are presented in these historical texts to my media text.
A05:
So far in my research I have researched the representations of teenagers in films, but I have also considered their representations in other media formats such as newspapers, programmes, news and documentaries. I have also researched how they have been challenged in the media but also these representations are being reinforced. This shows that I have gained research for both sides of the argument showing whether they are being challenged or reinforced. I have completed my research with film reviews of ADULTHOOD from various media industries such as the media guardian and others. Some of these reviews do mention the way in which teenagers are being represented, which would be useful for my independent study as I could show both sides of the argument and show if these representations are being challenged more than being reinforced and vise verse.
So far I have analysed and produced a MIGRAIN analysis of two clips from my media text, to show two types of representations of both males and females, such as the portrayal of male teenagers being violent and the representations of teenage females being promiscuous. I haven't yet began to analyse historical texts linking to my media texts such as KIDULTHOOD, but am getting there by researching further on these texts.
Synoptic Ability:
When analysing film clips and trailers, my med 2,, which I studied last year, was really helpful as I already knew how to use and apply these key concepts to my media text and was able to draw up a detailed analysis of my film and film clips too. Narratives we studied last year such as Propps theory and Todorov's theory proved to be very useful as I have applied Todorov's theory to my film.
Critical Autonomy:
So far I am working independently but also asking some teachers opinions on what to do and how to better my work and improve it. However, I have studied and gained my research and have began to analyse it. I have looked at previous med 5 blogs to help gain some information and help from them and also used past topics I studied last year as they are related and linked to my media text and independent study and useful to answer my questions. I update my blog on a regular basis and visit the media guardian website on a regular basis.
Quality of Written Communication:
I am well organised with my blog and have structured it well. I began with posting up a brief summary of my independent study proposal and my hypothesis. I am organised as I have produce all work needed to be done on my bog in order and I have touched on my media terminology and will improve on this. I would need to start to highlight key points and quotes from my research that I have copied and pasted. Before posting up my work I also do a spell check and make sure everything is in order.