Critical Investigation Quotes and Books.

To What Extent Is Ethnic Diversity and Multiculturalism Ultimately Celebrated In Contemporary Hollywood Movies, With Particular Reference To "Crash".

• Hartley, John (2002) Communication, Culture and Media Studies London: Routledge
• Creeber, Glen (2004) Fifty Key Television Programs New York: Edward Arnold

"Presenting a successful, middle class, African American family, clearly believing in parental authority, male primacy, old fashioned sexual morales and respect for elders, The Cosby Show." p179

• Gerrard, Jones (1992) Honey I'm Home Sitcoms, selling the American dream, New York: St Martins Press.
• Pam Cook and Miere Bernick. The Cinema Book, London: The British Film Institute.

"Whiteness is constructed as the norm"

"Such films conventionally oppose the chasity and virginity of white womanhood to the vitality and sexuality of the black women" p361

"Lola young argues convincingly that white and black film makers find it hard to challenge stereotypical images of black women"

• Sanders, John, The Film Genre Book (2009) Auteur Leighton Buzzard
• Bignell, Jonathan (2004) An Introduction To Media Studies, London: Routledge p122

"The way in which an individuals actions are determined is by social class, economic position and ideologies of gender or race"

• D, Buckingham (1987) Public Secrets Eastenders and its audience London p56

"black and asian characters in eastenders can be critisised of carrying stereotypical roles"

• D, Buckingham, (1996) Moving Images, Understanding Children's Emotional Responses o Television" Manchester: Manchester University Press

"The crucial question is not wether eastenders black characters are realistic, but how the serial invites it's viewers to make sense of questions of ethnicity"

• Sanders. John The Film Genre Book

"Crash is a dramatic movie, exploring the representations of race and ethnicity with a variety of techniques" p130

Current Google Insights trends: Michelle Obama, Tiger Woods

The name of Michelle Obama is the top trending topic on Google Insights on November 30.

Searches for America's first lady, Michelle Obama, peaked on November 25 after searches for the term "Michelle Obama" on Google Image Search returned an image of Michelle Obama morphed with an ape as the top result.

The term continues to rise in search popularity as people heatedly debate Google's search results. Some suggest Google is responsible for promoting hatred and racism by including the image in its results while others claim removing offensive search results would restrict free speech and would promote an "internet dictatorship."

Professional golfer, Tiger Woods, was involved in a car accident on November 27, driving search queries for his name into the second place on Google Insights' list on November 30.

The search terms with the most significant growth worldwide in the last seven days as measured by Google Insights, recorded on November 30 at 9:30 AM GMT are:

1. michelle obama (+3,950%)
2. tiger woods (+1,500%)
3. adam lambert (+1,000%)
4. black friday deals (+550%)
5. black friday (+200%)
6. google wave (+120%)
7. best buy (+100%)
8. black friday 2009 (+80%)
9. walmart (+60%)
10. target (+60%)

Robert Fisk: Reasons for Alec Collett's death remain buried in Bekaa

It's amazing what a body can do. Back in 1986, after Alec Collett's corpse was videoed swinging from a noose – we had to assume this gruesome piece of cinema showed him, for his face was covered – the Lebanese concluded that the British freelance journalist was killed in revenge for Margaret Thatcher's decision to allow Ronald Reagan to air-raid Libya from airbases in the UK. That's what his killers had told us. Three other hostages – an American librarian and two British teachers – met similar fates shortly after the American aircraft had attacked Tripoli and Benghazi, killing scores of civilians including Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's adopted daughter.

But this week, with the help of British intelligence agents – and why they should have been involved, no one, of course, has explained – Collett's body has been recovered in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. And praise has been heaped upon the British as well as the Lebanese government by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. So one British Government lets the Americans use British bases to kill Libyans – and another British Government laps up the gratitude of the UN for digging up the victim's body.

The details of Collett's original 1985 kidnapping were almost mundane. He was writing about the suffering of Palestinian refugees in UN camps and was returning to Beirut one March afternoon when he was stopped by armed men close to a checkpoint of the Shia Muslim Amal movement (whose boss is now, quite by chance, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament). Collett's sin appears to have been simple: he was carrying two passports, in one of which was an Israeli stamp – because he had also been visiting refugee camps in the occupied territories.

Teachers Face Institutional racist claims

Black and minority ethnic teachers face an "endemic culture of institutional racism" in schools, research found today.

About half of BME teachers say they have faced discrimination during their careers, according to a study by Manchester University and Education Data Surveys.

And seven in ten BME teachers and school heads believe it is harder for BME teachers to gain leaderships jobs in schools.

The study examined the experiences of more than 500 BME teachers working in state schools in England to analyse how discrimination affected their careers and chances of getting senior posts.

It concluded that the majority of BME teachers did not believe that the teaching profession was inclusive.

"Foremost, and most worrying, it is clear that the incidence of discrimination reported by BME teachers and leaders within the school system is indicative of an endemic culture of institutional racism," it said.

The findings show that male BME teachers cite discrimination as the greatest barrier to their leadership ambitions. Among women it was the sixth biggest barrier.

Almost two thirds (65%) of African teachers said they had been discriminated against, compared with two fifths (40%) of Pakistani teachers and a third (34%) of Indian and Caribbean teachers.

Four fifths of those questioned said they were "very" or "reasonably" ambitious, according to the report, which was commissioned by the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services and the NASUWT teaching union and first reported in the Times educational Supplement (TES) today.

The biggest barrier to promotion for both men and women was workload.

Steve Munby, chief executive of the National College, said: "While there is no doubt that some of those sampled had experienced discrimination, which is obviously unacceptable, this does not mean that the system is institutionally racist.

"Although discrimination on the grounds of race was cited by all as in the top ten barriers to achieving career aspirations, workload and confidence were the first and second most cited barriers overall."

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: "This report reveals the true extent of the problem of racism and discrimination which, regrettably, is still all too pervasive in our schools.

"Systematic ethnic monitoring at local authority and national levels must be undertaken to enable BME teachers' career paths to be tracked and the barriers to their progress on the leadership scale to be identified and removed.

"This research is an important start in unlocking the way in which discrimination operates and should help in identifying what needs to be done to create greater fairness and transparency in the way that teachers' skills and potential are recognised and rewarded.

"Institutional discrimination must not be allowed to flourish. It is robbing the schools of too many talented and dedicated teachers and potential leaders."

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "It is absolutely unacceptable for any teacher to be discriminated against because of their race, age, gender or religion - there's no place for it in any workplace. Local authorities and employers must deal with it by law - no ifs or buts.

"We know there is more to do to break down the barriers stopping black and minority ethnic teachers from achieving their full potential, as the report highlights.

"That is why we are, through the National College, developing training programmes to support promising BME teachers develop leadership skills and encourage them into leadership roles. With Ofsted, we have set up a scheme for BME school leaders to shadow Ofsted inspectors to help boost confidence and increase aspiration to progress to headship."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/cadbury-dairy-milk-cleared-racism

• The advertising agency had cleared Cadbury's of racist advertising.
• The advert got complaints about how African people were people stereotyped.
• The ASA felt the stereotypes were not harmful, even though created on purpose.
• They also argued that most ads use stereotypes.
• Cadbury's "Trident chewing gum" years ago was banned due to the complaints about it being racist and stereotypical.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/12/bbc-radio-turban

• Sam Mason was recorded being racist on the phone to a taxi service.
• He didn't want anyone with a turban to pick his daughter up as he thought she would be "freaked out"...
• He argued that he was not racist because he works for the BBC!
• He was then later suspended 24 hours later =).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/oct/02/tvnews.raceandreligion

• More than half of ethnic people think they are being represented badly by the t.v
• 51% of them felt the coverage was poorly presented.
• The poll was carried out by YouGov, on 780 ethnic Britons.
• We need to take responsibility and initiate a significant sea change in the culture of our newsrooms that is reflected in the make-up of employees, how stories are sourced and ultimately in the way stories are told. A quote from Simon Sharps, ITV director of television.
• Channel 4 did the best job according to the survey, at covering ethnic minority stories.
• Trever McDonald was rated the most trusted reporter.
• The BBC was the most watched provider of news.
• Fewer than one-third - 31% - of ethnic minority viewers wanted a news programme aimed specifically at them.

The BBC Article

A snail could crawl the entire length of the Great Wall of China in just slightly more time than the 200 years it will take for women to be equally represented in parliament. That was just one of a series of striking statistics from the Equality and Human Rights Commission in their Sex and Power report published last week.

It added that women hold just 11% of FTSE directorships, with the judiciary and others also strongly criticised. At the BBC, the figures are a bit better - almost 38% of all senior managers are women - but it does bring into sharp focus the challenge the whole media industry is facing to improve diversity among its workforce.

Tomorrow's Guardian Ethnic Media Summit is a chance to debate what is arguably our most pressing diversity issue - ensuring more talent from ethnic minority communities reaches the upper echelons of broadcasting. The growth particularly of young ethnic minority audiences, is soaring - way above the population average - making them a critical cultural and business challenge for everyone in our sector.

Things are definitely changing but still not quickly enough. The whole media industry needs to look afresh at what more can be done.

So why does a white, middle-aged bloke like me feel compelled to write about this? As the BBC's chief creative officer, overseeing our programme production made in-house, I believe passionately that only by drawing on the talents of every part of society can we best reflect the lives and concerns of our diverse audiences on screen.

We must do more and the BBC is certainly redoubling its efforts. And though ethnicity is very important, it is only one part of this story. We must also think in terms of age, disability, gender, social class and regional difference.

That is why I think the historic changes to move a significant proportion of BBC network production out of London to places such as Glasgow or North West England over the next decade might be key to all this.

We will transfer large numbers of staff from London but we will also recruit many new faces - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add something substantially new to our gene pool of talent, to change the BBC's DNA a little.

We seem to be moving in the right direction, increasing opportunities for people from ethnic minority backgrounds at most levels.

The proportion of our staff from ethnic minorities is 11.5% - again comparing very well with both public and private sector organisations including the civil service, health service and the police. But as the Edinburgh Television Festival heard, still not enough people make it into senior management roles, particularly as controllers and commissioners.

The BBC has looked closely at the barriers to progress and announced new schemes to tackle them - costing £3m over three years.

Firstly, we need to change the way we recruit. We are dramatically increasing the outreach work we do - in community groups, colleges, schools and through open sessions across the UK - to encourage under-represented groups to apply to the BBC. I recently worked with an energetic bunch of young students, mainly from ethnic minority backgrounds, who were introduced to the BBC by the University of Central Lancashire - from the former mill towns of Blackburn and Preston, not places we'd traditionally think to look for the next generation.

Then we need to be better at retaining talented individuals and supporting them in reaching their full potential and moving into senior roles. Our new mentoring and development programme, which offers greater one-to-one and intensive personalised support, is so important. In addition, our new trainee production scheme, which has just kicked off, and our journalism trainee schemes, have a strong diversity focus, so we are providing clearer pathways into all parts of the BBC.

On screen, we must constantly strive to reflect as accurately as possible the rich cultural mix of the UK.

Earlier this year BBC non-executive director Samir Shah criticised what he called "inauthentic representation" of ethnic minority communities, citing the Ferreira family in EastEnders.

It is unfair to highlight one five-year-old example from a drama series that remains the most popular programme on television among ethnic minority audiences. This example fails to reflect many other aspects of our work, particularly our in-house drama output. Our continuing drama series, including Holby City and Casualty, have led the way in casting diverse talent, in leading roles as well. Though we do not always get it right, overall we have much to be proud of.

The BBC set up the Writers' Academy, under John Yorke, four years ago, increasing the number of writers from diverse backgrounds working on our biggest programmes, including some of our continuing drama series.

In addition, programmes such as Criminal Justice, No1 Ladies Detective Agency, Life Is Not All Ha Ha Hee Hee, Shoot the Messenger, the entertainment series Last Choir Standing and a lot of our children's output have also been praised for the way they have represented diversity or addressed issues faced by communities from different backgrounds.

Part of this is ensuring we get closer to audiences when making programmes. For example, White Girl - part of BBC2's groundbreaking White Season - told the story of a white family relocating from Leeds to a predominantly Asian community in Bradford. Here the production team worked very closely with the community to ensure a sensitive and accurate portrayal.

In an increasingly globalised creative economy where competition will intensify, it is only by understanding our diverse consumers that we can stay relevant and survive. The BBC prides itself on keeping in touch with its audiences - to do so successfully we'll need to keep making changes, and fast.

Marxism and Hegemony

Hegemony refers to the total cultural, economic and political dominance achieved by the ruling elite in a society. One feature of this is that once a group creates "hegemony", their viewpoint becomes accepted by society and is very rarely questioned. One example of this is men are seen as more powerful than women in society, and stereotypically we could say that men have obtained hegemony. Marxism, or Scientific Socialism, is the name given to the body of ideas first worked out by Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). In their totality, these ideas provide a fully worked-out theoretical basis for the struggle of the working class to attain a higher form of human society--socialism.

Another example of hegemony is in 1979 where the conservative party gained hegemony as the obtained power and created policies transforming the economy.

Critical Investigation and Linked Production with 5 key words

Critical investigation- The representation of females in hip-hop videos

Linked production- An opening to a documentary discussing the issues of female representations in hip-hop videos.

Deep focus- A camera technique that allows both near and far objects from the camera to be in focus at the same time.

This is important as it is a very tough skill to master, and could be used very effectively in a documentary to convey meaning.

Low Angle Shot- a shot where the camera approaches the subject from below eye level.

This could be key as when doing a documentary on representation, lower angled shots connote power, which is used frequently in hip-hop videos. For example 50cent-P.I.M.P, a variety of low angle shots are used to connote his power over the females in the video.

Male Gaze- Laura Mulvey's term used to describe what the camera shows in a male's point of view. Therefore the females are also forced to identify with what a male would see.

This term is important as again it shows how women are represented in texts, which is vital as that is what the critical investigation and linked production purely focus upon.

Dominant or Hegemonic reading- A response to a text in which the reader shares the value system of the text and accepts the preferred meaning without questioning it.

This is key as some women may not feel offense to females representations, and just choose to accept it as the texts forces them to.

Documentary- Any film about real life as opposed to being fictional.

It is important to understand this as someone about to produce a documentary will need to understand how they are constructed, for examples the conventions of voice overs, variety of shots ect. This will need to be done to produce and effective and professional documentary.

Presentation Evaluation

My presentation in my view was well prepared and had the correct information in it. My overall score was 11, which I think was to high, personally I feel i should have got at least a 8 or 9. My reasons for this is that the information i gave in my presentation was well presented and relevant. For example i had key information on more than one theorist, which related to the text i am studying. Also i included much more media terminology, such as Binary oppositions, media language. The media language on my production was well studied, as i linked it very well to the text and found key examples. I also added important images and detailed descriptions about them, for example the shot of Joker in jail. I talked about connotations and lighting, which not many other people did.

Also with the feedback given from the class, I saw that they thought i understood the text well and explained key issues well. Again some pointed out how i described the images and used media language to help. Another point where they thought i did well was in the use of media language to explain the different character roles.

However there were also some points where i clearly need to improve on. The length should of been longer, and the pace also slower. As i read to fast and only had 8 slides overall. I also should have included a conclusion and introduction, which would have helped make the presentation flow. Another criticism and where i could improve next time was the amount written on the board, it was a little too much, although i did improvise and not read it straight off. And finally slides should be more linked to help the overall flow of the presentation.

Overall i think the presentations analysis was very good, i explained clearly and used a lot off key media terminology. However the actual delivery of the presentation could be improved, eg by adding more images and getting more involved with the audience.

Another Review On The Dark Knight

Rather than have everyone skip ahead, first let's talk about Heath Ledger. He's the linchpin of "The Dark Knight," and he's terrific. Director Christopher Nolan wanted to make an action movie that was different from other action movies - darker, more twisted, more despairing, more bleak - and he has mostly succeeded in this latest Batman installment. He can thank Ledger for a lot of that.

"The Dark Knight" rides on Ledger's performance as the Joker. So does a lot of audience hope, and that's another element at work here. There has never been a situation quite like this: Audiences for the biggest blockbuster of the summer are flooding in, not just hoping an actor will be good but also expecting and needing him to be absolutely amazing. They want something profound, to put alongside Ledger's Ennis in "Brokeback Mountain." They want the fabled gift that arrives six months after the loved one's death.

Ledger's performance can't live up to that. Perhaps no performance ever could, but especially in this case, with the limits built into the role. Nolan and his collaborators set out to deepen the action-movie form, but the Joker remains in essence a great comic book character, not Iago (or even Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"). Nor will audiences find some of the other things they may be unconsciously looking for - a valedictory aspect or a suggestion that the role was eating the actor alive. The truth is, Ledger's death was a surprise to everybody, and "The Dark Knight" neither hints at it nor makes sense of it. Nothing could.

But shelve those outsize expectations, and, suddenly, Ledger's performance opens up. He comes onscreen and electrifies the movie. With his smeared lipstick and painted white face, he is every clown who ever terrified a child. He speaks in a measured, Middle American accent, enunciating his words carefully, a voice that could tell bedtime stories in hell. (He seems, actually, to be imitating Al Franken.) His simplicity is fascinating, and as the movie goes on, that simplicity in itself becomes genuinely frightening.

One shot, in particular, crystallizes everything that Ledger and Nolan were working for in "The Dark Knight." It's a shot that deserves to be anthologized, YouTube-ized and immortalized: The Joker is in the foreground, walking toward the camera, playing (and really, that's the only word) with a bomb detonator. Huge explosions are going on behind him as he walks toward us, stiff and happy and hobbling, like a toddler. He's a child, and this is pure id. At the heart of existence isn't creation, but chaos.

Not everything in "The Dark Knight" lives up to or even serves such moments of grim clarity. In many ways, and certainly more than "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" takes the form of a standard-issue action movie. It's a little too long (though never boring) and confusingly (though beautifully) shot. It's overly plotted and has too much rapid-fire cutting. Nolan had big ambitions for the movie, but before he made "The Dark Knight" into a smart action film, he wanted to make sure it functioned perfectly well as a dumb one. He could have compromised less, and should have.

Still, he has taken on a serious subject and a genuine fear. If "The Dark Knight" is about anything, it's about civic catastrophe and the fragility of our institutions in the face of blind, consuming evil. The evil is the Joker, and no one knows what to do about him - not the good guys, like Batman (Christian Bale) or the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and not even the bad guys, like the mob boss played by Eric Roberts. The Joker doesn't play by the usual rules, because he isn't motivated by self-interest. In the words of Alfred the Butler (Michael Caine), he "just wants to see the world burn."

This time out, Bale is almost a mere member of the ensemble, the first among equals that includes Morgan Freeman as Bruce Wayne's operations chief and Gary Oldman as Lt. Gordon. Skillfully, the movie shifts our attention to Eckhart, who, as Gotham's idealistic young crime buster, has the movie's most involved journey. As our focus shifts, so does that of Bruce Wayne's sweetheart, Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who sees in Harvey the possibility of a stable, happy life.

With its frenetic pace and its many concessions to blockbuster formula, "The Dark Knight" is by no means a complete success. But the more it reveals its dark heart, the better it gets, and at times it seems just a step away from achieving something extraordinary. In the end, it's no leap forward, but it's certainly a step in the right direction: an action blockbuster extravaganza that's sadder than sad and never pretends otherwise.

This is an important review as it focuses on both the negatives and positives of the film. For example it states that the film has too many fast shots, however i feel it needed this to keep up with the action packed in the film.

A film Review By The Times

“Batman” isn’t a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about. That’s because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production. This film, and to a lesser degree “Iron Man,” redefine the possibilities of the “comic-book movie.”

“The Dark Knight” is not a simplistic tale of good and evil. Batman is good, yes, The Joker is evil, yes. But Batman poses a more complex puzzle than usual: The citizens of Gotham City are in an uproar, calling him a vigilante and blaming him for the deaths of policemen and others. And the Joker is more than a villain. He’s a Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies.

The key performance in the movie is by the late Heath Ledger, as the Joker. Will he become the first posthumous Oscar winner since Peter Finch? His Joker draws power from the actual inspiration of the character in the silent classic “The Man Who Laughs” (1928). His clown's makeup more sloppy than before, his cackle betraying deep wounds, he seeks revenge, he claims, for the horrible punishment his father exacted on him when he was a child. In one diabolical scheme near the end of the film, he invites two ferry-loads of passengers to blow up the other before they are blown up themselves. Throughout the film, he devises ingenious situations that force Batman (Christian Bale), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make impossible ethical decisions. By the end, the whole moral foundation of the Batman legend is threatened.

Because these actors and others are so powerful, and because the movie does not allow its spectacular special effects to upstage the humans, we’re surprised how deeply the drama affects us. Eckhart does an especially good job as Harvey Dent, whose character is transformed by a horrible fate into a bitter monster. It is customary in a comic book movie to maintain a certain knowing distance from the action, to view everything through a sophisticated screen. “The Dark Knight” slips around those defenses and engages us.

Yes, the special effects are extraordinary. They focus on the expected explosions and catastrophes, and have some superb, elaborate chase scenes. The movie was shot on location in Chicago, but it avoids such familiar landmarks as Marina City, the Wrigley Building or the skyline. Chicagoans will recognize many places, notably La Salle Street and Lower Wacker Drive, but director Nolan is not making a travelogue. He presents the city as a wilderness of skyscrapers, and a key sequence is set in the still-uncompleted Trump Tower. Through these heights, the Batman moves at the end of strong wires, or sometimes actually flies, using his cape as a parasail.

The plot involves nothing more or less than the Joker’s attempts to humiliate the forces for good and expose Batman’ secret identity, showing him to be a poser and a fraud. He includes Gordon and Dent on his target list, and contrives cruel tricks to play with the fact that Bruce Wayne once loved, and Harvey Dent now loves, Assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The tricks are more cruel than he realizes, because the Joker doesn’t know Batman’s identity. Heath Ledger has a good deal of dialogue in the movie, and a lot of it isn’t the usual jabs and jests we’re familiar with: It’s psychologically more complex, outlining the dilemmas he has constructed, and explaining his reasons for them. The screenplay by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan (who first worked together on “Memento”) has more depth and poetry than we might have expected.

Two of the supporting characters are crucial to the action, and are played effortlessly by the great actors Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Freeman, as the scientific genius Lucius Fox, is in charge of Bruce Wayne’s underground headquarters, and makes an ethical objection to a method of eavesdropping on all of the citizens of Gotham City. His stand has current political implictions. Caine is the faithful butler Alfred, who understands Wayne better than anybody, and makes a decision about a crucial letter.

Nolan also directed the previous, and excellent, “Batman Begins” (2005), which went into greater detail than ever before about Bruce Wayne’s origins and the reasons for his compulsions. Now it is the Joker’s turn, although his past is handled entirely with dialogue, not flashbacks. There are no references to Batman’s childhood, but we certainly remember it, and we realize that this conflict is between two adults who were twisted by childhood cruelty — one compensating by trying to do good, the other by trying to do evil. Perhaps they instinctively understand that themselves.

Something fundamental seems to be happening in the upper realms of the comic-book movie. “Spider-Man II” (2004) may have defined the high point of the traditional film based on comic-book heroes. A movie like the new “Hellboy II” allows its director free rein for his fantastical visions. But now “Iron Man” and even more so “The Dark Knight” move the genre into deeper waters. They realize, as some comic-book readers instinctively do, that these stories touch on deep fears, traumas, fantasies and hopes. And the Batman legend, with its origins in film noir, is the most fruitful one for exploration.

In his two Batman movies, Nolan has freed the character to be a canvas for a broader scope of human emotion. For Bruce Wayne is a deeply troubled man, let there be no doubt, and if ever in exile from his heroic role, it would not surprise me what he finds himself capable of doing.

Scenes From The Movie

Batman The Dark Knight

Media Representations

• Many of the characters are represented in different ways.
• Batman...Hero e.g shown saving people and beating the "villains" in car park scene.
• The Joker(Villain)...Evil representation...immediately shown with bank robbery scene at the beginning of the movie. Also with killing his own hench men, shows he is cold hearted.
• Rachel Dowes...The love interest in the movie. Represented as a strong female, hence her job and clothing. Can be seen as a Binary opposition (strong female/typical blonde female) (princess)
• James Gordon...Represented in a positive way, shown helping Batman. According to Propps character theory he is seen as the Helper.
• Lucius Fox...Propps character theory can show us that Morgan Freeman plays the role of the Donor, as he supplies Batman with many gadgets to help him on his way.
• Harvey Dent/Two Face...At first represented as a good character, who has a attraction to Rachel. However as the plot emerges he is later seen as Two Face, another criminal. Represented as someone who wants revenge, hence the make up and computer effects to make him look evil. He could be seen as a false hero.
• Alfred...Plays the role of the helper, he is always at Batmans aid when he is needed.

Media Languages and Forms

Each character is represented in a specific way to emphasise their role within the narrative. For example, Rachel is represented as a strong female, which is going against the stereotype we normally see in comic book genres and action movies. The connotations of Rachel are important as they show her to be strong, and may not need Batman's help in the movie. This plays a key role as it is clear they have a love relationship as well as a friendship.

There is one main chance of self representation, where Batman is asked to turn himself in, or the Joker promises to keep killing. This is hard for Batman as he can't reveal his identity but needs to protect Gotham.

Non Verbal Structures Of Meaning

Clothing...For each character a specific costume is used. Rachel is shown in upper class clothing, connotes that she has a good job and is strong. Bruce Wayne is also shown in the same manor, suited and booted as he has an image to up hold as Gotham City's main business man. Joker is also shown is a 3 piece purple suit with extravagant make up, which connotes his psychotic mind and abnormal behavior.

Some of the main Propps used are of Batman's gadgets. These all show his power and money as ways of getting crime out of Gotham City. However they can also be shown as his weakness as without them, he may be seen as a normal citizen.

Positional Communication...Throughout the movie Batman is shown many times at low angles which connotes strength and power. And when he is not in power and his enemies are, the mise en scene becomes much darker and camera angles change.

Mise En Scene is very important in this movie, it plays a key role as it shows how power switches between good and evil. For example when Batman is shown on top of a building at night, the camera pans around showing the rest of the city. This could connote his isolation at that time, as many people in the narrative think Batman is bad, like the police department.

Soundtracks...The soundtrack is fast and slow according to the mood the film is in at that moment, this helps create tension and grips the audience. Also throughout the film many times a soundbrigde is used, where two shots are linked by the music. Again this creates tension and links with the fast flowing nature of the movie, which is key as it it full of action which is typical of a comic book film adaptation.

Sound and Visual Techniques...Editing is key in this movie. It is very rare that we see a dip to black or white, many of the scenes are linked by direct cuts. This adds pace to the movie as it is a very intense and fast moving movie. Also camera positions are important, many shots are used to show the city of Gotham. They are constantly high angled shots showing a vast variety of structures, this connotes that it is a very urban city and the one thing standing out is Wayne Enterprise. Sound again is used to mainly create a tense atmosphere, e.g. loud bangs and and quick sounds help create a quick pace rhythm which syncs with the shots and storyline. In some shots the soundtrack is played when people are talking, e.g. throughout of the whole of the bank robbery scene at the first 10 minutes of the movie, which is a great way to start and gives us an insight to the narrative.

How is the narrative organised and structured?..

The narrative shows how power shifts between good and evil. Through most of the movie, Joker seems to be in control and Batman is conveyed in a negative manor.

The audience is sometimes left to use their own judgement on Batman. Throughout the movie Joker kills people, due to Batman not revealing his identity, and this leaves the audience to question his morals. Should he be letting people die, Why does he no reveal himself?, these are a few enigma codes created for the audience by the narrative. This is clearly the disequillibrium in the movie (Todorov) as the main hero has encountered various obstacles.

Villains and Heros?

In the movie it is very clear who is good and who is evil. Joker we clearly see is psychotic and evil as he is always killing. He even goes as far as dressing into a nurses outfit. This connotes he is insane and evil. Batman is clearly shown as the good guy as he is trying to save everyone. Mobsters are also stereotypically shown in suits and in large gangs with main members. This shows us they are villains. The mobsters are shown to be the money role in the narrative. They have power and money and also want to stop Batman. Therefore they form an alliance with Joker and forms a clear binary opposition(Strauss) of good v.s evil. However Harvey Dent is shown to be on the good side, and as the narrative roles on he edges to the evil side.

The role of sound, Music, Mise en Scene and Editing.
These are all used to create a dramatic effect to fit in with the narrative. Mise en scene, e.g when Rachel and Harvey are shown, they are often at court and offices, this connotes they are middle class and earn a lot of money. Wayne Enterprise building is also shown, which again shows wealth of Bruce Wayne. Batman's layer is shown and connotes how Batman wants to isolate himself and not be seen which is why it is underground. Editing, quick shots and soundbrigde all help in creating a quick pace. The music used changes when there is a power shift, or when a villain is on screen. This helps us identify good from evil, as well as creating a more dramatic effect for the audience.


Major Generic themes in the movie: Love, Action, Violence, Betrayal, Death.


Genre: Action/Comic Book. We can also percieve this film to be of a hybrid genre, as it is has conventions of a thriller, action, comic and romance genre.


Generic Conventions, Are they fulfilled?
An example of a generic convention is Batmans Costume, most superheroes are expected to have some sort of costume. Another is for the Hero to have a hidden identity, again this is fulfilled by the text as Batman is also Bruce Wayne and only a few people know of his 2 identities. A key generic convention is the love interest of the movie. Rachel is captured by Joker, which is expected stereotypically, the villain gets hold of the Hero's love. However death is not always expected in comic book movies, but in this movie much death is shown, which helps us relate to the title, "Dark Knight".


One of the main things associated with the film is DC comics, the institution that invented Batman. And Batman himself is the Star, however Heath Ledgers Joker was an Oscar nominated performance. And was quite different to the take of the old joker, much darker.


The name of the media institution is DC COMICS.




Media Audiences.
The target audience stereotypically with comic book movies would be young. However this movie holds a suprisingly yet gripping dark twist, that may not capture the eye of a young child. However one way we can see that it is adressed to the slightly older audience is the institution and how old it is. DC COMICS have been releasing comics long before someone in their teens was born, which indicates it could be targeted to a slightly older audience. This is backed up by the vast violence and bloodshed shown in the text.
By watching this movie, we can assume that the target audience is into dark movies, with themes of death and betrayel. Therefore we can almost say this movie is a thriller, which stereotypically we do not think of as a comic book movie.


Some reviews on Batman:Dark Knight.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/jul/25/actionandadventure1
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/article1365223.ece


Both of these articles are useful as they are both from leading newspaper industries, The Sun and The Gaurdian. Each outling why the film was so brilliant, especially the performance by Heath Ledger.