a2 - vampire film interview and trailer

here's an interview with the director of the byzantium film mentioned yesterday - he's got some interesting stuff to say...

look at the quotation on the film poster - 'twighlight for grown-ups'


and here's the trailer for the film...a female vampire as the protagonist in a love story...should be lots to say about that in the exam...

a2 - new vampire film!

what better way to revise than heading to the cinema this weekend?


here's a review of the new film byzantium

if i get a chance to see the film, i'll post some notes, but otherwise - use the key concepts and critical approaches as a way in...

a2 - the role of technolgy in news reporting

the recent events in woolwich have highlighted the role of technology in the reporting of news to the public.

here's an excellent article from the guardian which explores this crucial issue.

the key concepts of DISCOURSE, NARRATIVE and TECHNOLOGY are all essential to developing our understanding of how this shocking event is being reported.

a2 - selling punk to the masses

here's an apparently serious short video teaching you how to dress like a punk, but in a 'chic, appropriate' manner...!

remember the quotes from john fiske in your marxism booklet about how capitalism seeks to  ‘remake commodities, to take ownership’ selling us back our own innovations at a high price? 

fiske says that ‘signs of resistance’ are ‘quickly incorporated into the dominant system, thereby robbing them of any oppositional meaning.' 

(quotes taken from John Fiske – Understanding Popular Culture)

watch the video.

what exactly does punk mean?

when is punk no longer punk?

why does the guardian feel like it has the power to tell us how to dress?


 


 

a2 - george michael, celebrity culture, and constructed 'news'

here's a bbc interview and news story about an accident involving george michael.

watch the video and read the story

what does this suggest about our obsession with celebrity culture?

in what ways has the coverage of the story been constructed, and who is in control of the construction of the story?

look at how katherine fox is represented in the video and the still images - how do you react to this representation?

think about issues of FEMINISM here, as well as DISCOURSE  and MODE OF ADDRESS. 

consider the idea of the news as  a CONSTRUCTED METANARRATIVE

a2 - sexing up air travel to sell people plane tickets...

here's an article about virgin airlines' attempts to 'sex up' air travel in order to sell tickets.

why is the writer angry?

 is she right to be angry?

think about FEMINIST ideas here, as well as the key concepts of DISCOURSE and  NARRATIVE.

a2 - selling shirts through objectification

here's a brilliant article from the website www.businessinsider.com about how clothing advertisements objectify women but not men...

(warning - there is some partial nudity)

why do you think the ads are like this?

think here about key concepts such as DISCOURSE, MODE OF ADDRESS, as well as the concept of MALE GAZE...

a2 - anti-ageing - the lengths people will go to...

here's an article from the guardian on the idea of anti-ageing.

very interesting for lots of reasons:

where does the METANARRATIVE come from that getting older is a bad thing?

what does it suggest about our CONSTRUCTED IDENTITIES?

remember the quote about beauty, perfection and plastic surgery from the POSTMODERNISM booklet...? 

how might feminists approach this idea? consider concepts such as MALE GAZE and other theories from your FEMINISM booklet?

MARKET LIBERALISTS and MARXISTS would have a lot to say about this, too - the concept of FREEDOM OF CHOICE, FALSE NEEDS, FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS, COMMODITY FETISHISM...

as - question 3 texts and images

here are four images  - a magazine cover, a cd cover, an advertisement and a press shot from a newspaper.

Following on from the work we were doing last lesson, a good revision activity would be to try to apply all of the ideas from the worksheet and also from the Reading Texts and Images booklet to these texts.