Sunday 16 December 2007

Summary of Laura Mulvey: Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)


Laura Mulvey says that the propose of film is to engage the audience by using images and spectacle. She says that in order for this to work the psychoanalyses theory is used for this. This means that we as an audience view what we subconsciously desire. What we keep within our unconscious mind (and what appears in our dreams) is what we may begin to loom for in our viewing material.

She also talks about Scopophilia (the pleasure of watching) being used to appeal an audience. As Freud suggested, that an individual passes through various stages such as going from the oral and anal fixation to the genital stage where they reach adult maturity. Basically, childhood obsessions can cause personality complexes during adulthood.Scopophilia also links to the desire of an adult to view things that seen as taboo or culturally forbidden.

Jaques Lacan states that a child mirror stage where they see themselves through the eyes of their mother. Then as they grow up they adopt a personal identity and gain an Independence and believe that what they view in the mirror is perfection. This perception then goes onto what they view as adults and what they want to see. Mulvey says that the typical audience member feels a narcissistic pleasure from identifying themselves with the protagonist of the movie.

Women however, are seen usually as sex objects that are there to give sexual pleasure to the audience member (to-be-looked-at-ness'. Men identify with the male character (the hero usually) and therefore see the female character as sexual aid for pleasure (Freud). Mulvey calls this the 'the look' or 'the gaze'. She says that this is either voyeuristic (women are seen as beautiful and virtuous) or fetishistic (women are seen as sexual beings). There is however, more female fetishistic viewing than male fetishistic viewing and this links to our society being patriarchal.


Spectator Gaze: Audience views subject on screen.

Male Gaze: Male viewing the female voyeuristic or fetishist

Female Gaze: Women gaining pleasure from male viewing.

Intra-diegetic Gaze: When the character from the text looks upon the audience.


How this links with my text (Green Street) :-
I found that the theory of Laura Mulvey links into my study in the way that it talks about film texts being predominately patriarchal. The text 'Green Street' has more men than women as football is a male dominated sport and this shows the way in which it's target audience will mainly be male as they will go for a sense of identification with the characters in the movie. They will also gain pleasure from viewing this text because it may be an image of what they view in their unconscious mind (in their dreams) where they imagine violence etc as men usually do.Women in my text are not shown as the typically sexual women that are usually represented in male dominated movies. They have a more motherly image than a sexual image, this therefore contradicts Laura Mulvey's theory as for my text, male viewers (target audience) don't go for 'the male gaze'.
I could however, use Mulvey's theory in my text for the representation of men. Mulvey says that a text incorporates what we as viewers may contain in our subconscious mind (violence, death, danger, rebellion) and i will link this to how men could gain pleasure from viewing the characters in my text being represented as violent and rebellious.


Friday 30 November 2007

Response to Grades

Overall, I think that my grade for media wasn't very good and that I could do better defiantly. I think that I maybe did deserve the grade that I got because my attendance hasn't been very good but now I know that this is something I need to improve. My grade has gone down by one since my last report so that's not so good also so I will defiantly pay more attention to the areas I need to improve on.

Sunday 25 November 2007

Notes from Book

-> Film as 'Window to the World': The media, it was argued, are manipulated by the ruling patriarchal ideology and what is seen as natural, as clear-cut and obvious, is in fact construct produced by society. This ambivalence about the 'meaning' of film and other media suggests its interpretation by the audience may be different to that intended by the film-maker.

-> Masculinity as unproblematic: Defining the masculine as the 'norm' and the female as 'the other' may be valid at a patriarchal norm in Hollywood classic cinema, but if gender is a social construction then constructions of gender in film are not absolute and therefore are far more complex.

-> Masculinity is associated wih voyeurism, action, sadism, fetishism and the controling narrative, whilst femininity is associated with passivity etc. Yet these clear distinctions belie the acute anxieties and paradoxes which emerge when studying fil; the binary opposites of masculinity and femeninity are in fact much less opaque than may at first be apparent.

-> The male hero in in classical hollywood cinema is usually recognised as powerful. He signifies omnipotence, mastering the narrative, being in control, sadistic rather than masochistic. Neale argues that the elements of violence and voyeurism in Antony Mann's films in fact suggests a 'repressed homosexual voyeurism'.

-> The myth presented regarding masculinity is that it is natural , normal and universal. This myth is repeated by stories and images we see in the media and especially Hollywood films. Yet despite the certainty, the surety with which masculine identities are portrayed, closer examination reveals that masculinity is much less stable and much more easily undermined than previously thought.

-> Barabara Creed (1987-65) suggests that the muscle-bound hero of the 1980's cinema can be understood in terms of post-modernity, of playing with the notion of manhood, and argues that the muscular hero is a 'simulcra of an exagerated masculinity, the original lost to sight'.#

->Generic Pleasures: Genre works to stabilize or regulate particular desires, expectations and pleasures offered by the cinema. On this account, while genre is not simply an institutionalised strategy to delimit choice, if we choose to watch, say, a horror film then we expect certain pleasures in return.

-> The masculine body as spectacle and performer, having a performative function, is a key theme of Hollywood film, particularly action films of the 1980's.
Hard (1988) reflects on the lack of control for the male in the workplace, where the hero finds himself in impossible situations controlled by incompetent bureaucracies.

An Introduction to film studies (third edition) : Nelmes, Jill (2003), England, Routledge

Other books I looked at:-
March of the Hooligans: Soccer's Bloody Fraternity (2007), Brimson, Dougie: England, Virgin Books

Bring Out Your Riot Gear - Hearts Are Here!: Gorgie Aggro, 1981-86 (1999): Ferguson, C.S, Terrace Banter

Who Wants It? : Henderson, Chris (2000) :England, Mainstream Publishing
Research

Violence genre
Action heroes and heroines are cinematically constructed almost exclusively through their physicality, and the display of the body forms a key part of the visual excess that is offered in the muscular action cinema. Such an emphasis on physicality has, opened up a space in the action cinema for black performers who have been almost totally excluded from other Hollywood genres. Stereotypically defined through the body and a variety of kinds of performance, blackness is already coded in terms of spectacle.
The aesthetics and industrial development of Hollywood cinema in recent years provides an important context for thinking about the action cinema. An examination of contemporary American film production reveals both changes and continues with the 'Classic Hollywood' of the past.
Tasker, Yvonne (1993) : England, Routledge; 1 edition

Useful website:-
*
Racial Violence and Representation

Youth Pride
When there are three women for every two men graduating from college, whom will the third woman marry?
This is not an academic question. Women, who were a minority on campuses a quarter-century ago, today make up 57 percent of undergraduates, and the gender gap is projected to reach a 60-40 ratio within a few years. So more women, especially black and Hispanic women, will be in a position to get better-paying, more prestigious jobs than their husbands, which makes for a tricky variation of "Pride and Prejudice."
It's still a universal truth, as Jane Austen wrote, that a man with a fortune has good marriage prospects. It's not so universal for a woman with a fortune, because pride makes some men determined to be the chief breadwinner. But these traditionalists seem to be a dwindling minority as men have come to appreciate the value of a wife's paycheck.
A woman's earning power, while hardly the first thing that men look for, has become a bigger draw, as shown in surveys of college students over the decades. In 1996, for the first time, college men rated a potential mate's financial prospects as more important than her skills as a cook or a housekeeper.
In the National Survey of Families and Households conducted during the early 1990s, the average single man under 35 said he was quite willing to marry someone earning much more than he did. He wasn't as interested in marrying someone making much less than he did, and he was especially reluctant to marry a woman who was unlikely to hold a steady job.
Those findings jibe with what I've seen. I can't think of any friend who refused to date a woman because she made more money than he did. When friends have married women with bigger paychecks, the only financial complaints I've heard from them have come when a wife later decided to pursue a more meaningful -- i.e., less lucrative -- career.
Nor can I recall hearing guys insult a man, to his face or behind his back, for making less than his wife. The only snide comments I've heard have come from women talking about their friends' husbands. I've heard just a couple of hardened Manhattanites do that, but I wouldn't dismiss them as isolated reactionaries because you can see this prejudice in that national survey of singles under 35.
The women surveyed were less willing to marry down -- marry someone with much lower earnings or less education -- than the men were to marry up. And, in line with Jane Austen, the women were also more determined to marry up than the men were.
You may think that women's attitudes are changing as they get more college degrees and financial independence. A woman who's an executive can afford to marry a struggling musician. But that doesn't necessarily mean she wants to. Studies by David Buss of the University of Texas, and others, have shown that women with higher incomes, far from relaxing their standards, put more emphasis on a mate's financial resources.
And once they're married, women with higher incomes seem less tolerant of their husbands' shortcomings. Steven Nock of the University of Virginia has found that marriages in which the wife and husband earn roughly the same are more likely to fail than other marriages. That situation doesn't affect the husband's commitment to the marriage, Nock concludes, but it weakens the wife's and makes her more likely to initiate divorce.
It's understandable that women with good paychecks have higher standards for their partners, since their superior intelligence, education, and income give them what Buss calls high "mate value." They know they're catches and want to find someone with equal mate value -- someone like Mr. Darcy instead of a dullard like the cleric spurned by Elizabeth Bennet.
"Of course, some women marry for love and find a man's resources irrelevant," Buss says. "It's just that the men women tend to fall in love with, on average, happen to have more resources."
Which means that, on average, college-educated women and high-school-educated men will have a harder time finding partners as long as educators keep ignoring the gender gap that starts long before college. Advocates for women have been so effective politically that high schools and colleges are still focusing on supposed discrimination against women: the shortage of women in science classes and on sports teams rather than the shortage of men, period. You could think of this as a victory for women's rights, but many of the victors will end up celebrating alone.

http://www.rlnn.com/ArtJan06/MalePrideFemalePrejudice.html

Useful Websites:-
*Male Pride
*
"Male Spirituality": A Feminist Evaluation

Youth Subculture
The emergence of this thing called "youth culture" is a distinctly 20th-century phenomenon; the collision of increased standards of living, more leisure time, the explosion of post-war consumer culture and wider psychological research into adolescents all contributed to the formation of this new social category defined by age. Previously, the rite of passage between childhood and adult life had not been so clearly demarcated -this is not to say that young adults didn't have their own activities before the invention of Brylcreem and crepe soles (youth gangs were common in Victorian Britain, for example) but it hadn't before been defined or packaged as a culture.
Once "invented", the "youth culture" provoked a variety of often contradictory responses: youth was dangerous, misunderstood, the future, a new consumer group. British post-war youth culture emerged primarily in response to the American popular culture centred on rock 'n' roll. The 1955 film Blackboard Jungle, with its soundtrack featuring Bill Haley And The Comets' Rock Around The Clock, was a defining moment, inspiring people to dance in the aisles (and some to slash seats). The fear was not only of hoodlums but also of the creeping Americanisation of British culture.
But the impact of imported US films and music did not lead to cultural homogenisation; instead, it inspired a series of spectacular - and distinctly British - youth subcultures from the mid-50s to the late-70s: teds (quiffs, Elvis, flick-knives, crepe soles, working-class London origins circa 1953, drug of choice: alcohol); mods (Jamaican-rudeboy/Italian-cool style, US soul, purple hearts, The Small Faces, scooters, working-class London origins circa 1963, drug of choice: amphetamines); skinheads (Jamaican ska, exaggerated white, British, working-class masculinity, contrasting starkly with middle-class hippiedom of the same period, boots, braces, shaved heads and violence, sometimes racist, late 60s origins, drug of choice: amphetamines); punk (Sex Pistols, spit, bondage, swastikas, circa 1976, drug of choice: glue and amphetamines).
Drug use became a feature of youth subcultures from the Mods onwards - not just any old drugs, but ones that characterised and defined the subculture in question. Mods chose speed because it made them feel smart and invincible; it also gave them the energy to keep on the move, awake at all-nighters (and through work the next day). Later, within rave culture, drug use - this time, ecstasy - was central to the point of being almost obligatory.
Dick Hebdige, acommentator on youth culture, argues that the multicultural nature of post-war Britain was crucial to the formation of many subcultures; each one, he says, should be seen as a response to the presence of black culture in Britain, the ska/rudeboy-inspired two tone movement being a particularly vivid example. The tribes were created through the amalgamation of particular types of cultural goods; music, fashion, hairstyles, politics, drugs, dances - with their boundaries defined through crucial choices: Vespas or Harley-Davidsons, speed or acid, Dr Martens or desert boots. But then, youth culture is full of contradiction: the desire to express individuality by wearing the same clothes as your mates, and rebelling against capitalism at the same time as being a perfect capitalist slave.
Britain also led the way in the study of youth, and its celebration of creativity and resistance, though these studies, naturally, have their favourite subcultures, often overlooking others. (Still, the kiss of death for any subculture is to be "understood" by a sociologist.) By the late 70s and early 80s, youth subculture began to change, and became less gang-oriented. The regular emergence of new subcultures slowed down, and the first major period of revivals began. It became difficult to identify distinct subcultures, rather than just musical styles. In fact, something weird happened: everyone started behaving like a teenager. By the 90s, "proper" grown-ups had started to complain that contemporary youth were dull and conformist, and the music of small children became the preferred choice of most teenagers - Pinky & Perky dressed up as Steps.
Today, there are still plenty of new genres of music, but they don't have such visible subcultures affiliated to them. Even something as recent as 80s dance music and rave culture - after its initial, Smiley-faced, ecstasy-fuelled unity - fragmented into a multitude of sub-genres with no definable set of cultural attributes. Despite society's consistent attempts to regulate youth culture, perhaps the main cause of its demise in recent years is the extension of adolescent behaviour until death by the Edinas and Patsys of this world. Youth culture is now just another lifestyle choice, in which age has become increasingly irrelevant.


Useful Websites:-
*Youth Culture
*List of Youth Cultures
*The Youth Subculture
Blog Buddy Meeting #2

After our second meeting, my blog buddy and I decided to research further into these 3 areas:-

1.) Subcultures - This is because the two groups that we are studying are both part of subcultures that make their own decisions away from society and follow the rules and values of their leader.

2.) Binary Oppositions - In both of our texts there are binary oppositions constantly appearing to ruin the equilibrium and state of the movie.

3.) Representation - Both of our texts raise the question of representation of young males and this is why we have chosen this as an area of study. This article is useful to the both of us because it explores the issue in detail.
Some more Key Words!

A
Actuality - showing events as they actually are.

This is something that I will be taking into account while doing my study because its what my question is based on (the actuality of football hooliganism in Green Street).

M
Moral Panic - Public feel a threat by the behaviours shown on screen.

The topic of football hooliganism is very threatening to the audience it occurs in reality and will help me to look further into this.

A

Archetype - Often repeated character type.
The character of Pete is very common in reality as well as in movies concerning hooliganism as he is the alpha-male and strong-minded. His decisions drive the group in the film.

B
Binary Opposition - Two opposing characters in a text.
Both firms are headed by two leaders who are against each other. This is useful because it reflects real life oppositions.

D
Disaster Movie - A movie that goes from equilibrium to disequilibrium constantly.
The movie 'Green Street' has a lot of disequilibrium's rising from states of normality and this is how the reality of the football firms are.

E
Empathy - This causes the audience to sympathize with characters.
The film has a lot of times when the audience sympathizes with the situations the characters must face. I can use this to explore the sensitive sides to hooligans in reality.

H
Heritage film - Based on historical pieces.
The film 'Green Street' connects to the heritage of football hooligans from those before them. This helps me to see how this heritage changes over time.

P
Prejudice - Judging and having views on certain characteristics of people.
In reality people assume negative things about hooligans but I will look into why these prejudices are.

S
Subjective Shot - A shot that looks as though its coming from the character's view.
The film has many shots when the character of Matt is looking at the opposing side fearfully but then in the end his view changes. For example, 'Millwall' running towards him in the end but he doesn't care even though the subjective shot creates fear in the audiences hearts.

S
Symbiosis - Partnership between different people.
Pete and Matt are two completely different people but they come together in the movie to make a team together.
10 Links...


Website: This is an article about the outcome of a football riot in Italy and how it led to a death of a civilian. This relates to my study because it shows the effects that hooliganism has on society.

Website: This is useful to me because it has pictures of football riot events at various matches and can give me a visual insight to what it's really like.

Website: This website gives me the chance to see the various types of representations and stereotypes linked to the group that I am studying.

Website: This is a blog that is based on 'The Football Factory' by a previous student and it will be useful with my study because it is based on a very similar text and has a lot of detail to help me compare as I am also looking into 'The Football Factory' for an extra text in my study.

Website: This is a news website that has loads of articles to help me with my insight into the reality of football hooliganism and how the media report it so that I can see how people themselves perceive it.

Website: This websites links other countries into football hooliganism. Here there are some comments also being made by people to help me see the two sides of it. The media VS The people...

Website: This is a look into how hooliganism can be stopped and avoided ... It has plenty of comments that show the views of normal people towards this type of violence.

Website: This website shows the way that representations of hooligans in the media are sometimes offensive to the public because they are inaccurate and invalid.

Website: This is a website that shows the different football teams and their firms and is useful because it shows how widespread it actually is.

Website: This shows me the history of football violence and also how it originated and by whom. This will help me because it lets me know hoe it has changed over time.

Monday 19 November 2007

Blog Buddy Meeting #1

During our meeting, me and my blog buddy 'Lamia' decided to look into Youth, Violence and Pride for our research as well as 'masculinity' for our research...

1.) Youth Subculture-> We chose youth because the age group that we are both studying are predominately young and both in a stage of 'coming-of-age'. We also think that youth is useful to look into as it will help us explore the various stereotypes that come with being a young male from diverse backgrounds.

2.) Pride -> We also found that youth links into 'Pride' as this is something young males begin to idolize when they are in the transition of becoming men and in both our texts 'pride' is an ongoing theme within the youths. It is also usualy at the root of the violence and by exploring this we can understand how this relates to real life.

3.) Violence (Action: Genre) -> We then decided that we should also look into 'violence' because this is something that our movies both incorporate and involve. All three of these subjects connect to both our texts and we think that it will be very useful for us to look into these to help us in our study.

Sunday 18 November 2007

Research on 'Masculinity'



An Introduction to film studies (third edition)...by Jill Nelmes


Representations of Masculinity
'Masculinity' is a concept that is made up of more rigid stereotypes than femininity. Representations of men across all media tend to focus on the following:
Strength - physical and intellectual
Power
Sexual attractiveness (which may be based on the above)
Physique
Independence (of thought, action)
Male characters are often represented as isolated, as not needing to rely on others (the lone hero). If they capitulate to being part of a family, it is often part of the resolution of a narrative, rather than an integral factor in the initial equilibrium. It is interesting to note that the male physique is becoming more important a part of representations of masculinity. 'Serious' Hollywood actors in their forties (eg Willem Dafoe, Kevin Spacey) are expected to have a level of 'buffness' that was not aspired to even by young heart-throbs 40 years ago (check out Connery in Thunderball 1965).
Increasingly, men are finding it as difficult to live up to their media representations as women are to theirs. This is partly because of the increased media focus on masculinity - think of the burgeoning market in men's magazines, both lifestyle and health - and the increasing emphasis on even ordinary white collar male workers (who used to sport their beergut with pride) having the muscle definition of a professional swimmer. Anorexia in teenage males has increased alarmingly in recent years, and recent high school shootings have been the result of extreme bodyconsciousness among the same demographic group.
``He [Charles Andrew Williams] e-mailed us and told us that he just wanted to come home and that it was just awful over there. They were teasing him, calling him 'country boy.' He didn't dress right, he didn't look right. He was skinny, they called him gay,'' she [a friend's mother] said. "
Full Story Here
As media representations of masculinity become more specifically targeted at audiences with product promotion in mind (think of the huge profits now made from male fashion, male skin & haircare products, fitness products such as weights, clothing etc), men are encouraged (just as women have been for many years) to aspire to be like (to look/behave in the same way) the role models they see in magazines. This is often an unrealistic target to set, and awareness of this is growing. Read about the increasing influence of men's magazines here and here.
Whilst some men are concerned about living up to the ideal types represented in magazines, others are worried by what they perceive as an increasing anti-male bias in the media. There is growing support for the idea that men are represented unfairly in the media - read a selection of articles
here and here.
Masculinity in Crisis
Journalism of Gender
Masculinity in advertising

http://www.mediaknowall.com/gender.html

also look at http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/men_and_masculinity/masculinity_defining.cfm

Sunday 11 November 2007

'Bibliography: Books'

Benton, William (1768) : Encyclopedia Britannica (Volume 18). Scotland, Society of Gentlemen in Scotland

Hammerton, Sir John (...) : Practical Knowledge For All (Fifty Educational Courses). The Waverley Book Co. Limited

(...) (1989) : The New Joy of Knowledge. Oriole, USA

Frosdick, Steve and Marsh, Peter (2005): Football Hooliganism. Willian Publishing, USA, Canada

Benton, William (1768) : Encyclopedia Britannica (Volume 12). Scotland, Society of Gentlemen in Scotland

Fetzer, Scott (1991) : My World Book. World Book, Inc, Chicago, USA

Gall, Caroline (2005) : Zulus: A Football Hooligan Gang, Milo Books, England

Benton, William (1768) : Encyclopedia Britannice (Volume 13). Scotland, Society of Gentlemen in Scotland

Nelmes, Jill (2003) : An Introduction to Film Studies. Routledge, England

Pennant, Cass (2002) : Want Some Aggro?. Blake Publishing, England

Sunday 4 November 2007

Blog Buddies

Blog Buddy 1: Lamia

The reason that I have chosen Lamia as my blog buddy is because our studies are both based on 'representation'. She is doing a study on the representation of young black males and I'm doing a study on 'football hooligans' who are also males. I think that this will be useful for the both of us because our studies are very similar and I think that it will also be useful with our 'representation' module to see how people are labelled and for what reasons.


Blog Buddy 2: Simran

The reason that I have chosen Simran as my blog buddy is because we are both doing similar studies which are both based around British males. Also our question is very similar as it looks at whether the representation and stereotype of the groups being studied are actually true. The texts that we are usuing are also very similar to each other and therefore it will be useful for us to work together.


Monday 29 October 2007

...More Key Words!...

A
American Dream
- A myth that says, 'USA is the land of opportunity'.
Elijah Woods character aspires to have this dream but his dream is turned around when he meets the hooligans.

C
Continuity editing - Editing done in chronological order to create realism for the audience.
The film has continuity editing throughout and this creates a sense of realism for the audience.

D
Deviance -
Acts that are unaccepted in society
The concept of football hooliganism is seen as deviant and therefore is frowned upon in society.

H
Human interest
- A topic that appeals to the audience
Football hooliganism is a topic that will keep the audience interest and will appeal to them because it is a real concern in society.


I
Infotainment - Mixing news with entertainment to dumb down hard news for the audience.
In 'Green Street' there is a great connection between the world of journalism and football hooliganism and the war between the two are made clear to the audience throughout.

P
Propaganda - A text created to reinforce certain norms and values upon an audience.
The movie promotes camaraderie and loyalty as well as pride and family, through the relationship between different characters, especially Pete's and Matt's.

Wednesday 24 October 2007

WWW

1.) The detail in my blog and making my research clear in my own words.

2.) The amount of images that make my blog more creative.

3.) Wider area of research , e.g, articles and websites


EBI

1.) If I link my work to other texts and draw comparisons.

2.) If I do more research in other areas, such as the history of hooliganism.

Monday 22 October 2007

*Self Evaluation*

Attainment - C
So far this year I think that I have been successful in improving my blog by doing independant research and this links in with my improvement in class also.

Effort - 3
I do think that I have made good effort in the course so far, but I do feel that I could push myself more.

Punctuality - 4
I do beleive that my attendance to lessons hasn't been consistant, however I am never late to lessons.


Submission and quality of homework - 2
I have been completeing all the tasks set on the Macguffin blog, but there have been times when there's been technical problems, but in the end I manage to work round them.


Ability to work independently - 2
I am very capable of working independantly in class and outside of class, expecially in this module as it is an independant study.

Quality of writing - 2
I have immensly improved in my writing skills since last term and have also added alot of detail to my blog. There is however always room for more improvement!

Organisation of Media folder - 2
My media folder is always organised and I do bring all the correct things to lessons, but sometimes I may forget a few plastic folders at home as I may be working from them.

Oral contributions in class - 4
I think that I should be more vocal in lessons and say more of what is on my mind but I tend not to which I think is my downpoint, but there are times when I do speak up even though it's not very often.


Standard of Module 5 blog - 2
I've added alot of detail into my module 5 blog and have kept upto date with the tasks set. But I think I need to do a little bit more independant research.

Standard of Module 6 blog - 1
So far there hasn't been much work to do on this blog but I have done what was set.

Sunday 14 October 2007

...Task Six - Analysing A Scene...

Scene coming soon!

The scene that I will be analysing is from the 2005 movie ‘Green Street, directed by Lexi Alexander. It is a movie that explores the world of football hooliganism and it is set in a typical London urban setting where football hooliganism is an issue.
There are a lot of close-ups used in this scene because a lot of emotions are portrayed in the scenes. The scene opens with Matt asking the protagonist, Pete questions about his firm ‘The GSE’ and football hooliganism in general. As this is happening the camera zooms into his face to show the intensity of his words. While this is happening Matt looks up at Pete as if to show his admiration for him and to portray the fact that he is idolizing him, while Pete only idolizes his football team. This outlines the significance of the issue and how it influences both characters. When the argument breaks between Pete and his brother the camera begins to shake highlighting the violence in the film and how it occurs away from the hooligan society as well. To add to the realism of the film the scene incorporates no diegetic sound since it would create a typical Hollywood atmosphere to the film and since the movie’s topic is not a usual Hollywood subject it would not be authentic. The shots used also add to the effect of the authenticity as they are quick cuts which take the audience from one shot to another without any fancy editing to divert their attention from what it is important to the scene. Therefore the scene is non-linear since it has no flashbacks or interruptions to the narrative. This also lets the audience know that the film will be shown after the watershed and aimed at a more mature audience that will be forced to face the issue of football hooliganism. The lighting in the scene has not been made to look glamorous or bright because the whole idea is to create a rough and violent atmosphere where anything can happen. It adds to the film’s genre of drama where dark colours are used to create tension in the atmosphere.
Pete is supposed to be the hero of the film but his heroism is challenged when he is given the blame for Matt’s bruises. The audience themselves are challenged to think who exactly is the real hero, Pete or Matt.
The audience of this film would be primarily male adults as the violence in the film would be an attractive feature to film and also the patriarchy which is shown through the way that Matt’s sister even though she is older than him is told to keep out of the conversation. When the baby cries she is shown running up to see to him and this reinforces the female’s typical role of a mother. Pete’s brother’s initial assumption that Pete had been leading Matt astray portrays the stereotyping that members of these elite’s face. He instantly believes that Pete involved him with ‘The GSE’ when really Pete was just trying to help him from being beaten up by an opposing firm.
However, Matt’s condition is in fact foreshadowing events to come in the film. Pete’s view of his firm is also informative for the audience as he talks about it in a way that removes the violence that is attached to it. This is useful to divert the audiences attention from all the crime linked to football hooliganism.
The social issues raised within the scene is when Pete swears in his sentence and a man who looks of an upper class status gives him a look showing that he minds language like that being used around him. We can see the difference between the statuses of both Pete and this man because of Pete’s position leaning against his knees talking to matt in ‘cockney slang’ and wearing sports gear, while this man is sitting up reading a broadsheet dressed in a suit. This outlines the fact that situations like this do occur in society where people label others in their minds by a small amount of proof. However, Pete challenges this view when he offers his seat to a female stranger when he sees that she is struggling with luggage. His actions are not motivated by the fact that she is a young woman because as soon as she takes his seat he carries on his conversation with Matt and this shows the audience that even though he is constantly being labelled by people he does still have some good qualities about him. The scene incorporates ideology of every firm being linked to politics. This is shown through the whole aspects of different firms against each other battling for the top place and reputation just like political parties do. Pete’s leader status also enforces this in the movie and his binary opposition with the leader of Mill wall also shows how they both have different views and opinions. Although there are some things that move away from the football and link into personal issues such as ‘The GSE’ killing Tommy Hatcher’s son in a riot.

Wednesday 10 October 2007

...10 Key Definitions...


A
Antagonist - The protagonist's opposition who is usually the villain of the text.
In 'Green Street' the protagonist, Pete, is constantly being taunted and opposed by the antagonist of the film, Tommy Hatcher, this is what creates the binary oppositions (relating to Todorov).

C
Coming-of-age-film - A film that represents the transition of a person from one state to another, e.g. adolescence.
Matt Buckner, one of the key characters in the movie experiences himself transitioning into a rough and rigid member of 'The GSE' after arriving in England as a geeky and easily-scared Harvard student.

D
Disequilibrium - The disruption of the narrative when a new challenge or character is introduced to the film.
The film constantly has disequilibrium's when two different firms collide causing a disruption in the narrative.

I
Icon - A sign or image that represents the film's ideology or what is sacred in the film.
The West Ham sign appears repeatedly in the movie as it is what is idolized in the movie just like the other football team signs appear to represent each firm.

M
Montage - A series of shots or clips occurring one ofter the other in a film.
There are a quiet a few montage sequences when the fights take place and also when different characters are in different places and the audience is being shown where they both are.

N
Non-linear narrative - A movie consisting of flashbacks and events from the past.
There are many times in the film when there are flashbacks into the past, e.g the time when Pete's brother remembers when he was a member of 'The GSE'.

O
Opinion leader - Someone who has the highest authority and leads others.
Pete Dunham is the opinion leader in the film as he is the head of 'The GSE' and everyone listens to his commands.

P
Patriarchy - A male dominated society or ideology.
'Green Street' is based fully around men and their world associated with football. The only female in the film, Claire Forlani, is shown to be a housewife and mother which shows her fulfilling stereotypical female roles whereas the men are out fighting and also working. There are no heroines in the movie or and female members of the football firms.

S
Stereotype - Categorizing people in certain groups or classes by just basing your ideas on what you believe to be general.
Football hooligans are always shown to be disruptive and uneducated. My whole study is based on their stereotype and to see whether they are represented correctly or just based on their stereotypes.

V
Voice-over - The dubbing of a character's or narrator's voice over events in the text.
Elijah Wood's character, Matt Buckner narrates throughout the film. The audience see events through his eyes.

Sunday 7 October 2007

...Delicious Links...


BBC - Violent Sport
This link will help me to see where the violence linked to sports comes from and which other sports also have violence in them so that I can compare them to football.

Rotten Tomato Reviews
This page gives me the chance to look at reviews written on the film 'Green Street', that I am studying. They are various opinions on the film which is useful to help me focus on the authenticity of the representation of football hooligans.

Empire - Football Factory

This link is useful for me to research the movie 'The Football Factory' that links into my study of football hooliganism. It provides me with reviews and key information to look into.

Empire - Green Street
This is a link that will provide me with research into 'Green Street'.

Youtube - Liverpool VS Man United (1985)
A video showing how hooliganism used to be in 1985. This will give me other visual aids for my research.

IMDB

This site has the great information that I will be needing to research into all the films that I am studying.

Wikipedia
This is most important as it has alot of information about my subject. It provides me with SHEP context that links to my study.

Total Film
This is a review this time about the movie's DVD, it is key to my research as it has equal information about all the films that I will need to look into.

ALLUC
I can view my film on this site as I do my work in order to gain relevent info and check things over.


Wider Context - Philip Alan
This site will help me to study in depth with the wider context and it is key to my study and to the module.

Sunday 30 September 2007

This scene shows the meeting of both the key characters in the movie, Matt and Pete. Here the difference between them is apparent to the viewer as you can see that Pete has the upper hand whereas Matt is still naive to his world. At this point Pete wants nothing to do with Matt except from getting the money off him that his brother gave him. However, when Pete realizes how little Matt knows about his world he decides to let him join him for match day as he thinks that he is missing out on so much. The langauage used in this scene helps to outline this difference and the other way in which this difference is shown is through the way that both of them are...the way they walk and the way they talk.

This scene is taken from the end of the movie when the long awaited battle against 'The GSE' and 'Millwall' takes place. This scene is important to the film since this is what the audience is left waiting for throughout. The music is contrapuntal in this scene and it works because it helps to create a sense of sorrow in the audiences heart as opposed to happiness that the violence is taking place. By this time the audience no longer wants there to be a fight against both sides because they have come to identify with both Matt and Pete and they know that something bad is going to happen...

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Media Audiences

The text is aiming to appeal to an audience consisting of adult men. The reason for them being adult is the fact that there is a lot of violence incorporated in the movie causing it to be an 18 rated film. The film is also based on a very manly subject, this is why it is also aiming at men as they prefer violent and action movies over romance or comedies. The secondary target audience could be adult women also who may be interested in the topic of football hooliganism or who may even like the actors within the movie.The audience of the movie could be assumed to be football mad guys who support a specific team themselves. Or they could also be seen as people who are open-minded to such movies and to violence. The audience is assumed to be attracted mainly to the film's storyline rather than who made it or who is starring in it. However, seeing a movie that has Elijah Wood within it alongside British actors for the first time could prove interesting also.
As this is a Hollywood movie, the audience could be considered to be large as it would have been distributed in well known cinema's whereas if it was a independent film it may not have done as well. I had no assumptions of the movie before I saw it because I had never seen anything like it before. It was enjoyable because it takes the audience on a journey along with Matt Buckner who is also new to the life of football hooliganism. It helped me to see different perspectives of these peoples lives and see what causes them to enter the world of 'football hooliganism'. It incorporated everything that I would expect from action/drama movie...


Media Values and Ideology

The movie's major values come from each firms obsession with their football team. It is important for them to be able to keep these values respected when it comes to other firms. We as the audience begin to assume that there is nothing within the text that over powers the violence and crime, but the other side of hooliganism is portrayed also. The side that explores the dilemmas of these people and therefore we are helped to see more sides of their lives rather than just assume...

Media Institutions

The movie's institutional source is Universal, Oddlot. Films by Universal usually contain a significant amout of action in them as well as drama. It institutionalizes contemporary movies that relate to the MTV generation. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American Film Studios. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles and Burbank. Universal is the second longest-lived studio in Hollywood (Viacom's Paramount Pictures is the oldest by only a month).


Genre

The genre of 'Green Street' is drama/action. The drama comes from the things that happen indoors around the family whereas the action comes from the violence and fighting during the football matches. The way that death is incorporated into the movie also adds to its drama .
The major iconographic features of the text are the things that relate directly to football. For example the West Ham sign and the Millwall sign that represent both sides. Hatred, death and deceit are some of the themes explored in the movie. Various characters bring each of these to the film, for example Matt Buckner brings the deceit to the movie, his hidden journalism past comes into the picture.
The audience expect death and violence from the movie but in the end are left with more than that. There is friendship and brotherhood that is developed throughout the film and also the transition of Matt.
The director Lexi Alexander, is a new up and coming director who is not well-known in the industry. The protagonist, Pete is played by Charlie Hunnam who is known in Hollywood but not as much as Elijah Wood who plays Matt. Elijah Wood has said in an interview that Green Street is not typically a film that he would go for, he wanted to challenge himself.



Narrative

The film follows Matt through his own personal journey from being a reserved, shy and sensible American guy into a rough, loud and confident member of 'The GSE'.The audience is able to relate to the protagonist, Matt because he is a 'fish out of water' in Pete's world.In 'Green Street', all the characters that like Matt are the seen as the good people and all those who dislike him are seen as the villains, for example Pete takes a shine to him so therefore he becomes the hero of the movie. Bovver on the other hand always suspects Matt and treats him like an outsider, this therefore makes him the villain of the film as he is seen as a threat for Matt. The identification in the film comes from Matt's ability to see himself within Pete. He can relate to the fact that they both have enemies and that just like Pete has his older brother to consider in what he does, Matt has his sister. The alienation comes from Matt's entrance into a new world where everyone and everything is different from what he has in America. The only thing that he can familiarize himself with in the movie is his sister.The main themes of the narrative is the whole topic of football hooliganism. Every firm values it's football team and is ready to die for the sake of protecting its reputation...

Media Languages and Form

The film's denotative meaning is based upon the way that the 'hooligan' lifestyle effects each person. The way that death and hatred become linked to football show the audience how the key characters in the film cannot help but end up in bad situations where they lose each other or the people that they love.
The importance of the connotative meaning in the film is based on each character's own life. For example, while Matt is in University he is framed by his roommate for taking drugs and at the time doesn't stand up for himself. When he meets Pete he realizes how afraid he has been all his life to take a stand for the things he believes in and by the end has been on a self-searching journey.
What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?

Throughout the film the relationship between Matt and Pete changes. In the beginning, Pete is rough with Matt and is not interested in getting to know Matt. Then, he begins to get closer to Matt and becomes softer with him, he helps him instead of being rough with him while his good friend 'Bovver' cannot bring himself to accept him into the firm because he is suspicious of him. Matt himself by the end of the movie turns into a real man finally and goes along with 'The GSE' to fight their enemy, 'Millwall'. His actions while fighting become more tough and wild whereas before he would think before making a move.
Also, in 'The GSE' the members express friendliness through patting each other on the shoulder and giving each other a brotherly hug and they portray their dislike through pushing someone up against the wall and threatening them to keep certain people out of their territory.
The setting of the movie is in UK, East London. This is a typical place for the movie to be set since this is where these crimes usually take place. The pubs and streets add to the authenticity of the movie's representation of football obsessed England.
The language used is 'cockney slang' as this is the way people talk in the area of East London. Matt's character however speaks in an American language which makes him look more literate and intelligent compared to the other characters. The music is typical British rock which are not by well-known musicians.One of the songs in the movie, 'One blood' is by the actor Terrence Jay, who plays the character of 'Jeremy Van Holden'.
The recurring image of the 'West Ham United' sign is a symbol to express the importance of 'The GSE's' beliefs. This keeps the films ideology apparent to the viewer.
When fighting scenes occur the camera begins to shake to represent the adrenaline rush that the guys are experiencing. However when there is something serious occurring there are no quick cuts or any zooms as this makes it more interesting to view the film in two extremes.
Media Representations

The movie 'Green Street', represents the world of 'football hooliganism'...it shows the lives of men that devote themselves to football and support a particular team. However, it also shows the other side of their lives where they earn a living and have their own problems within their families. The film's protagonist is represented by, Charlie Hunnam, who plays the character of 'Pete Dunham'. He is the head of the GSE (Green Street Elite) that support West Ham United. Pete's character is represented accurately, since he is shown as a wild football leader as well as a normal guy trying to support himself during the week as a history teacher. He messes up along the way because of his lifestyle and his brother sometimes has to help him out.

The character of Matt Buckner, played by 'Elijah Wood' is the opposite of Pete. His character is supposed to be naive and innocent as he enters into Pete's world. This representation is also accurate because Matt is influenced by the GSE and ends up joining his firm. The reason that I think this is accurate is because situations like this occur in real life, where innocent guys are lured into 'gangs'. In 'Green Street', Matt aspires to be like Pete and begins to idolize him as the film goes on...

Sunday 23 September 2007

Grierson...
(Creative treatment of actuality)

It is important for me to look into the level of creative treatment that has actually been contained in the movie. By comparing what I view in the film and what I have gathered in my research I will be able to see the extent to which the movie has been changed and been distanced from reality in order to help me see exactly how real the representation of the people who perform these crimes is...

World Cup 2002 - Football Hooligansim - Russia VS Japan

Authorities in Moscow are to stop televising World Cup games on giant outdoor screens after thousands of football fans went on the rampage in the city, leaving two dead and many others injured.
The violence happened in the centre of Moscow on Sunday after Russia went down 1-0 to Japan, severely denting the country's chances of progressing to the second round of the tournament.

Football violence is a growing problem in RussiaThousands of fans had been watching the game on an outdoor screen in Manezh Square.
After the final whistle blew, many threw bottles and attacked cars while chanting the popular football slogan Forward Russia, as the violence spilled into other parts of the city centre.
Politicians blamed the events on poor planning by the local authorities.
"Everywhere in the world where fans go on rampages, the police thoroughly prepare for it," said liberal deputy Sergei Mitrokhin.
"But here the organizers of this event were just irresponsible."
Rampage
A 20-year-old man was found stabbed to death in the square, and a policeman who was seriously injured by rioters died in hospital early on Monday.
Three of the injured are in a serious condition; in all, about 50 people were hospitalised, including 20 police officers.
A number of vehicles were set alight near the lower house of parliament, where windows were broken.

The defeat is a major embarrassment for Russia
Crowds rampaged down the street towards to the headquarters of the Russian security services, smashing shop windows and setting fire to cars.
There had been only a small police presence, and reinforcements did not arrive until almost an hour later, when most of the rioters had left the area.
Firefighters arrived first, and the rioters attacked their trucks.
Photographers and cameramen were also reported to have been beaten.
Five music students from Japan who were attending the 12th Tchaikovsky competition were attacked, and one was slightly injured.
Crackdown
The BBC's Jonathan Charles, in Moscow, says such violence is highly unusual for the city.

Several cars were set alight
Special forces police were brought into the centre of Moscow to bring the situation under control.
Interfax quoted Moscow police as saying 60 people has been arrested.
The authorities have vowed to track down those responsible for the trouble.
Our correspondent says Russia's football hooligans are a growing problem.
With their distinctive shaved heads, they model themselves on their British counterparts, even down to the wearing of Union Jack T-shirts.
World 2006 Hooliganism - Germany VS England

English and German World Cup fans violently fought in the streets of Cologne, Germany surrounding their teams' games. Over a dozen German police were hurt. Several fans, including 15 English fans, were detained. The English have a long history of soccer-related violence. The country actually banned almost 3,800 known troublemakers from leaving England for the games.

FOOTBALL HOOLIGANISM - Steve Frosdick and Peter Marsh

Football has been associated with violence ever since it's early beginnings in thirteenth century england.
Throughout the seventeenth century we find report of several hundred football players destroying drainage ditches and causing mayhem in the town. By the eighteenth century the game took a more overt political significance. A match in Kettering, for example , consisting of 500 hundred men per side was a scarcely disguised food riot in which the object was to loot a local grain store.
Walvin (1994) reported that 'In 1829, a French man who saw a football match in Derby asked "If this is what they call football, then what do they call fighting?".


Foreign fields - a documentary by the BBC

This programme examines the growing social impact of hooligan groups in Italy and Argentina - as they become increasingly politicised and organised.
The programme gains unprecedented access to the shadowy and often violent world of the hooligan groups attached to two of the world's most glamorous clubs - the Irriducibilli of Lazio in Italy and the Barras Bravas of Boca Juniors in Argentina.


Filming openly and undercover with the hooligan leaders, Foreign Fields examines the growing social impact of hooligan groups around the world - as they become increasingly politicised and organised.

In Argentina, five people have already died this season in football-related shootings, with dozens more casualties. The season was even suspended against a backdrop of widespread social disorder.

Using extraordinary footage filmed with the hooligans, the police and during riots around the stadiums this season - the film shows the growing influence of these groups on the clubs and the players themselves.

Players like Diego Maradona, who talks for the first time about his friendship with the hooligans of Boca - his first and favourite club.

We also talk to players and hooligans in Italy about the growing influence of racist and far-right groups on the terraces that the hooligans control.

The Lazio hooligans: the Irriducibilli - now have their own merchandise, and businesses - organising all the stadium banners and meetings with the players - many of them international stars - and the club.