Media Forms: What techniques do the
video use to establish the setting and engage the audience?
The music video was set in an estate run by the council in
East London. Images were used from the 2011 riots to make it more realistic.
The location was near to the Olympic village which Plan B intended to use to
show the audience the other side of all the pristineness of where the Olympics
were held. He portrayed the harsh reality of what goes on with youngsters. This
engaged the audience because in 2012 all the lime light was on the Olympics, it
was a great tourist attraction, however with Plan B releasing the music video
he displayed acts of violence and vandalism around East London. Considering
this the Olympics were watched worldwide, Plan B created a very controversial
video because he didn't put the violence in a bad light. The song was written
in reaction to the 2011 riots which was a good way to engage the audience as
people would want to know why the teenagers/adults rioted, looted shops and
vandalised the streets of London. Also why they would react in the way they
did, to make the society understand. The setting was mainly in a rundown area
being the council estate which engaged the target audience for the music video
which is 15-25 year olds who probably live in council estates as they could
relate to the video and the lyrics of the song. Actual footage is used from the
riots which would probably engage the rioters as they would be able to say they
were there and not care about the consequences of their actions.
Media Representations: How is
gender/ethnicity/age represented in the video?
In the music video there are all males who are represented
to be anti-social and come from unprivileged backgrounds and have nothing better
to do than vandalise. They are seen as a threat to society in the music video.
The ethnicities that are shown are white and black males who are mainly
stereotypically the threat when something about crime is shown on the news.
They are shown as criminals most of the time and the good is never shown which
is what Plan B’s message in the video is.
This is almost the ‘female gaze’ which is the theory of Laura Mulvey
however the males are not shown as ‘heroic’ but as the’ villains’. The hypodermic needle theory suggests that
information is injected into the society through the media, in this case they
are showing how teenagers from deprived backgrounds act anti-social, what is
being shown in the video is the stereotypical image they are given. Therefore
this is injecting information into the society. The ages represented are mainly
teenagers/adolescents which are also stereotypical for the age group of 15-25
to be acting anti-social. Levi Strauss’ suggests that representations in the
media are informed by ideology and that some things are included and others are
left out to create a dominant or preferred representation. In this music video the
visual aspect of it creates dominant representation of youths that live in
estates.
Media Institutions: In what ways is
the video typical of music videos and what values does it promote?
According to Gillian Dyers lines of appeal which is what is
used to create brand identities and attracts their target audience, this music
video uses self-importance and pride to relate to the target audience which
deals with the audiences social needs. This video is typical of music videos as
the visual aspect of it creates a story and has a message to it. Clips from the
riots in 2011 are shown which creates a sense of realism to it and values of anger
and violence are portrayed. However the lyrics tell a different story which is
typical of music videos as lyrics have a moral to the story. The lyrics suggest
that teenagers are neglected in society and are only viewed in a negative
light. Music videos depending on what they are about link with how fast paced
the shots are, in this case the shots are quite fast paced and is a typical way
to represent what the video is about and how it makes the viewer feel. These could
connote values of anger and misbehaviour or violence and crime.
Media Audiences: Who does this
text/artist appeal to and why?
This artist appeals to mainly teenagers who come from disadvantaged
backgrounds who come from the demographic group of D and E who are lower class
and mainly unemployed or on low wages. These people who come under the
psychographic group of strugglers can relate to the music Plan B produces as he
talks about their everyday lives and raps in their favour. He suggests that
these people are not given a chance in society therefore it would appeal to
them, Plan B is a voice for them therefore they are his main target audience.
Due to the ‘hypodermic needle theory’ this suggests that the media injects
information into the audience which is true according to Plan B, he is trying
to stop this and raps about these teenagers in a positive light which is why
his music appeals to them. In the music video he shows images of politicians in
a negative way which is also another reason he appeals to youngsters as they
feel betrayed and don’t feel accepted in society because of the way politicians
make them out to be and this is why they have no respect towards authority.
This links with the dependency theory which was pushed forward by Rokeach and
Defleur, this theory suggests that people have become dependent on the media which
determines their views on people such as teenagers. These are mainly
stereotypes which are what Plan B is trying to get rid of. One use of
gratifications which audiences get from the media is ‘personal identity’ which
teenagers find themselves reflected in for being anti-social.
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