Section A: Theoretical Evaluation Production.
1a) Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills have developed over time [25]
From AS to A2 I managed to advance my skills in the use of digital technology to complete my two briefs successfully. In AS I created a two minute opening sequence for a film Noir film including titles. In A2 I had to create a music promo package including a music video, digipak and advert for ‘Good Time’ by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen. I will discuss how my skills have developed throughout the two years of creating my two different briefs through the use of digital technology.
During pre-production I used websites such as Youtube to research into what to include on both our briefs. In AS I simply searched for ‘Film Noir films’ in the search box which brought up an average choice of videos to watch. This was very simplistic for me to use in AS as I didn’t have much of an idea on what to search for for ideas. However, in A2 because we had more freedom in the form of choosing our music genre I could search for videos such as ‘indie music videos’ or ‘owl city – fireflies’ to find specific videos we needed for inspirational ideas. My use of youtube had improved during the two years as I could be more open on what I could search for which provided me with more information and evidence to include in our music video and also for the use of Blogger which was used throughout the whole project in AS and A2. Blogger had the same functions in both years, to post updates and posts however in A2 it was essential that we posted more posts on our blog than in AS. At the beginning of the use of Blogger in AS I found it difficult to link different posts to different pages and sync various other creations from websites such as Slideshare which took up more time to get the hang of than expected. In A2 because I had gained the knowledge of how to share different presentations from other websites and link different posts to different pages on my blog, this saved me time which gave me the opportunity to upload more posts for A2.
In AS and A2 I used Final Cut in order to arrange and create the final piece of our two minute opening sequence and music video through post production. At AS there were only the basic essentials that I managed to include in our opening sequence. One of the most simplistic tools that had to be used were the different layers, in AS I only used two layers, one for the soundtrack and another for the footage. To resemble an original film Noir film I decided to make the full footage in black and white. I done this in final cut by using the ‘fade’ action and changing the color balance through hugh and saturation. I also managed to have a little mess around with the software by looking at different transition effects to change from one scene to another. I managed to gain my knowledge of Final Cut in A2 as to create our music video I had to be more adventurous of what tools I should use. In second year I managed to use more complex essentials within Final Cut such as including more layers and locking the different layers by pressing the padlock at the left hand side of each layer. This prevented the locked layer from moving around when altering and arranging other layers and sequences. I also used the speed tool in A2 which changed the speed of the clips which was essential for our music video in order for the soundtrack vocals to be in sync with our lip syncing. This wasn’t used in AS as there were no scenes that needed speeding up or altering. During the production in AS we used a Sony Handycam which had simple functions and was fairly easy to use. This was handy for our first brief as the only functions we decided to use when recording was zooming in and out. In A2 we used a more complex and professional camcorder, Panasonic handycam. This camera had more functions to use and was also in HD which made our footage look more professional and clear. Like AS we still used the zoom for various scenes but we thought of other camera adjustments and effects such as hand held in some scenes. Due to the camera having more advanced functions one of the essentials we used which we didn’t have the opportunity to in first year was the shake control. For scenes where we used the camera free-hand the shake control helped prevent our footage looking too frigid and shaky. Due to the more advanced camera in A2 this meant we could be more creative and rely on its extra functions more compared to AS where the camera had to be locked on a tripod to prevent it shaking. Thanks to the Panasonic our footage was much clearer.
Another form of software I used during post-production in both AS and A2 productions was Photoshop. This software was essential in AS to create a professional company logo and in A2 in order to create our digipak and advert. In AS we used Photoshop to create the company logo. Again there was little knowledge on how to use the different tools in first year so the basics that were used was the ‘duplicate layer’ tool which you produce by pressing ‘Ctrl + J’. This duplicated the layer which we could then alter. We also used the text tool which was found down the left hand columns, this was used to create the text for the name of our logo ‘Lunar Productions’. Although there were other functions such as ‘transparency’ we already had an idea of our logo in our minds and certain other functions didn’t need to be used. In A2 I developed my skills in Photoshop massively. As well as using the duplicate layer I also used ‘surface blur’ to make the skin tone of the two artists on the CD and digipak look smooth and professional. I found this tool by going into ‘filter’ – ‘blur’ – ‘surface blur’. From there I could alter the heaviness of the surface blur to prevent making the skin tone look too smooth and fake, it took some time to get this correct but the outcome was near to perfect at the end. In first year the duplicate layer was only used once, however in A2 there were several layers included, one for a duplication of the image of the artists, another for the background, another for the text and a final one for the different brush tools to be used on. With the use of more layers I could again mess around a bit and be more creative. I managed to alter the transparency so you could see the artists slightly faded which was something I never would of thought of in AS. A final use of a function used on Photoshop in both AS and A2 was the us of text. As said previously we used the text format to create the title of our company logo, however in A2 I found out I could download a wider variety of fonts created specifically for Photoshop. This made me have a wider choice of text to use which would be relevant to our Indie-pop genre.
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
iLL Manors Lyrics
Let’s all go on an urban safari
We might see some illegal migrants
Oi look there’s a chav
That means council housed and violent
He’s got a hoodie on give him a hug
On second thoughts don’t you don’t wanna get mugged
Oh sh*t too late that was kinda dumb
Whose idea was that… stupid…
He’s got some front, ain’t we all
Be the joker, play the fool
What’s politics, ain’t it all
Smoke and mirrors, April Fools
All year round, all in all
Just another brick in the wall
Get away with murder in the schools
Use four letter swear words cause we’re cool
We’re all drinkers, drug takers
Every single one of us buns the herb
Keep on believing what you read in the papers
Council estate kids, scum of the earth
Think you know how life on a council estate is,
From everything you’ve ever read about it or heard
Well it’s all true, so stay where you’re safest
There’s no need to step foot out the burbs
Truth is here, we’re all disturbed
We cheat and lie its so absurd
Feed the fear that’s what we’ve learned
Fuel the fire, let it burn
Oi! I said oi!
What you looking at, you little rich boy!
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door
Don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
For real
Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!
You could get lost in this concrete jungle
New builds keep springing up outta nowhere
Take the wrong turn down a one way junction
Find yourself in the hood nobody goes there
We got an Eco-friendly government,
They preserve our natural habitat
Built an entire Olympic village
Around where we live without pulling down any flats
Give us free money and we don’t pay any tax
NHS healthcare, yes please many thanks
People get stabbed round here, there’s many shanks
Nice knowing someone’s got our backs when we get attacked
Don’t bloody give me that
I’ll lose my temper
Who closed down the community centre?
I kill time there used to be a member
What will I do now until September?
School’s out, rules out, get your bloody tools out
London’s burning, I predict a riot
Fall in fall out
Who knows what it’s all about
What did that chief say? Something bout the kaisers
Kids on the street no they never miss a beat, never miss a cheap
Thrill when it comes their way
Let’s go looting
No not Luton
The high street’s closer, cover your face
And if we see any rich kids on the way
We’ll make ‘em wish they stayed inside
Here’s a charge for congestion, everybody’s gotta pay
Do what Boris does… rob them blind
Oi! I said oi!
What you looking at, you little rich boy?
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door!
Don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
For real
Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!
We’ve had it with you politicians
You bloody rich kids never listen
There’s no such thing as broken Britain
We’re just bloody broke in Britain
What needs fixing is the system
Not shop windows down in Brixton
Riots on the television
You can’t put us all in prison!
Oi! I said oi!
What you looking at, you little rich boy?
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door!
Don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
For real
Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!
We might see some illegal migrants
Oi look there’s a chav
That means council housed and violent
He’s got a hoodie on give him a hug
On second thoughts don’t you don’t wanna get mugged
Oh sh*t too late that was kinda dumb
Whose idea was that… stupid…
He’s got some front, ain’t we all
Be the joker, play the fool
What’s politics, ain’t it all
Smoke and mirrors, April Fools
All year round, all in all
Just another brick in the wall
Get away with murder in the schools
Use four letter swear words cause we’re cool
We’re all drinkers, drug takers
Every single one of us buns the herb
Keep on believing what you read in the papers
Council estate kids, scum of the earth
Think you know how life on a council estate is,
From everything you’ve ever read about it or heard
Well it’s all true, so stay where you’re safest
There’s no need to step foot out the burbs
Truth is here, we’re all disturbed
We cheat and lie its so absurd
Feed the fear that’s what we’ve learned
Fuel the fire, let it burn
Oi! I said oi!
What you looking at, you little rich boy!
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door
Don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
For real
Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!
You could get lost in this concrete jungle
New builds keep springing up outta nowhere
Take the wrong turn down a one way junction
Find yourself in the hood nobody goes there
We got an Eco-friendly government,
They preserve our natural habitat
Built an entire Olympic village
Around where we live without pulling down any flats
Give us free money and we don’t pay any tax
NHS healthcare, yes please many thanks
People get stabbed round here, there’s many shanks
Nice knowing someone’s got our backs when we get attacked
Don’t bloody give me that
I’ll lose my temper
Who closed down the community centre?
I kill time there used to be a member
What will I do now until September?
School’s out, rules out, get your bloody tools out
London’s burning, I predict a riot
Fall in fall out
Who knows what it’s all about
What did that chief say? Something bout the kaisers
Kids on the street no they never miss a beat, never miss a cheap
Thrill when it comes their way
Let’s go looting
No not Luton
The high street’s closer, cover your face
And if we see any rich kids on the way
We’ll make ‘em wish they stayed inside
Here’s a charge for congestion, everybody’s gotta pay
Do what Boris does… rob them blind
Oi! I said oi!
What you looking at, you little rich boy?
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door!
Don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
For real
Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!
We’ve had it with you politicians
You bloody rich kids never listen
There’s no such thing as broken Britain
We’re just bloody broke in Britain
What needs fixing is the system
Not shop windows down in Brixton
Riots on the television
You can’t put us all in prison!
Oi! I said oi!
What you looking at, you little rich boy?
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door!
Don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
For real
Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
London Riots Case Study - Final Write Up
Overview of Contemporary Case Study.
1. What were the context of the riots?
The context of the riots in London were to make youths look bad in the mass media by showing footage of them smashing up police cars, burning buildings and had images of youths walking in front of flaming vehicles as main headlines in newspaper articles, along with only showing one side of the story. There were a wide variety of articles, news interviews and live footage all showing and giving a negative impact on the image on young youths, the media did not ask for a reason from those causing the commotion why they were doing it. They just made them look bad and the riots out of control.
2. What were the reasons given as to why youths were involved in the riots?
Firstly, the riots took place during the school summer holiday which is one of the main reasons youths managed to be involved. Problems such as social exclusion and not feeling involved or equal with adults and other authorities also had an impact on the youths, this could be due to the areas which they live in, such as rough council estates and have been brought up in families who struggle with money issues. These issues can lead to bullying the individuals and make them feel like the only way they can stand up to the people making fun of their culture, lifestyle and background is to start a commotion that would make them look like they have more power than others think. Youths are also a form of 'gang culture' and are seen as the type of teenagers and young adults that cause trouble and commotion, which therefore they felt to stick to this definition and relate to their group they had to prove the judgements of the term 'youths' right and what better way to prove this than start a riot? Due to modern society there has been a lack of male role models in family households due to family breakdowns. As noticed in all riot footage and photos the main gender involved in causing these riots are males. Due to having no father model at home the boys have no-one to look up to and follow their steps, therefore there is lack of control from them.
3. Were youths given a fair and unbiased representation in the press coverage of riots?
From all the articles and news reports there are more interviews from reporters showing footage of the youths causing trouble and hearing opinions from the public who are not involved rather than interviewing or listening to the opinions of the youths causing the commotions and finding an understanding to why they are doing what they are. In the very few interviews with small gangs the outcome and replies from them are sarcastic remarks which many people believe is expected from gangs. In one interview the reporter continuously asks questions to a small gang who had not been involved in the rioting and were just going home after a day out of town. Even though the reporter heard their story they still didn't stop trying to make this in particular group look bad which didn't give a fair view of gang culture and individual youngsters.
Applying Theory.
1. How can the coverage of the London riots be understood in relation to the ideas of Stan Cohen?
Stan Cohen has a theory that all youths are 'folk devils' which is just another way or naming or judging a certain group. From his theory, relating it to the London riots you can see the media putting the same image of youth and gang culture across by using headlines describing youths as 'thugs' 'gangs' and 'yobs'. These all have a negative impact on what they are relating these words to. This shows that, like Stan's theory, the mass media are instantly putting a name to these groups of young adults and teenagers without finding a background to their story or taking into account each persons individuality. Stan Cohen then goes on to describing a 'moral panic' which he describes as when an event becomes a threat to society. Again relating this to the London riots there was constant footage of burning buildings, large groups of gangs breaking into shops, attacking police vehicles and going over the top with violence. These events would usually be handles by high authorities such as the police force as their actions are becoming a hazard to the rest of society and the lives of people who are innocent and have nothing to do with these riots. Using Stan Cohens theory in the London riots through the media, and in the media in general, makes the whole situation look and sound much worse than it is which attracts the attention of the public eye and believe that the events taking place really are that bad which is what the mass media want to keep viewers attached to the stories along with making gang culture have a bad name.
2. David Gauntlett stated that ''Identities are not 'given' but are constructed and negotiated''.
From the research which you have conducted into the coverage of the London riots, to what extent is the representation of the collective identity of youths constructed by the press? Consider for and against argument.
FOR
One newspaper and broadcast linked to this article gave a 'youth' the chance to voice their opinion on why the riots are taking place and why they are being involved in them. The young youth made a comment on how the death of Mark Duggan made him want to get revenge on the police for what had happened. In relation to David Gauntlett's theory the youngsters identity has been constructed because of the situation he has faced and explained to the reporter. Although his opinion seems a pretty powerful reason for why he is joining in with the riots, I don't think many people would take his side to his reason as although many people who face powerful anger when an event such as a loss of a loved one happens and they feel they should defend and stick up for them, many people would not have the courage or even consider going to extremes, it is mainly all mouth no action which is why this boy has had such a bad image due to him standing out and doing different to what others would do.
AGAINST
Other newspaper articles and broadcasts gave their own opinions to the riots and didn't take into consideration any reasons from the public or chances for others to voice their opinions. Due to all of these articles portraying a bad image of youths and gang culture, those reading the articles would immediately agree with the opinion of the broadcaster or narrators opinion in the newspaper article, even though they had no idea what each individual was like to be able to have a true image of them. Gauntlett's theory related to the teenagers in the London riots as for teenagers and youngsters, mixing in and fitting into a category to be accepted is a major thing, therefore to fit in with everyone else taking part in the riots, which the media suggested the majority were young 'youths', teenagers felt they had to change their identity completely to fit in, even if it was something they weren't comfortable with, being accepted is a key importance for people their age. However, not all young teenagers are inspired by this. Many of them may just want to be themselves and not become influenced by the riots at all. Sadly for them, these stories are not put into news reports and therefore those individuals who are wanting to be the complete opposite to the rest of the youths causing trouble, they are still labelled as being bad people and are immediately categorized and given a bad image.
1. What were the context of the riots?
The context of the riots in London were to make youths look bad in the mass media by showing footage of them smashing up police cars, burning buildings and had images of youths walking in front of flaming vehicles as main headlines in newspaper articles, along with only showing one side of the story. There were a wide variety of articles, news interviews and live footage all showing and giving a negative impact on the image on young youths, the media did not ask for a reason from those causing the commotion why they were doing it. They just made them look bad and the riots out of control.
2. What were the reasons given as to why youths were involved in the riots?
Firstly, the riots took place during the school summer holiday which is one of the main reasons youths managed to be involved. Problems such as social exclusion and not feeling involved or equal with adults and other authorities also had an impact on the youths, this could be due to the areas which they live in, such as rough council estates and have been brought up in families who struggle with money issues. These issues can lead to bullying the individuals and make them feel like the only way they can stand up to the people making fun of their culture, lifestyle and background is to start a commotion that would make them look like they have more power than others think. Youths are also a form of 'gang culture' and are seen as the type of teenagers and young adults that cause trouble and commotion, which therefore they felt to stick to this definition and relate to their group they had to prove the judgements of the term 'youths' right and what better way to prove this than start a riot? Due to modern society there has been a lack of male role models in family households due to family breakdowns. As noticed in all riot footage and photos the main gender involved in causing these riots are males. Due to having no father model at home the boys have no-one to look up to and follow their steps, therefore there is lack of control from them.
3. Were youths given a fair and unbiased representation in the press coverage of riots?
From all the articles and news reports there are more interviews from reporters showing footage of the youths causing trouble and hearing opinions from the public who are not involved rather than interviewing or listening to the opinions of the youths causing the commotions and finding an understanding to why they are doing what they are. In the very few interviews with small gangs the outcome and replies from them are sarcastic remarks which many people believe is expected from gangs. In one interview the reporter continuously asks questions to a small gang who had not been involved in the rioting and were just going home after a day out of town. Even though the reporter heard their story they still didn't stop trying to make this in particular group look bad which didn't give a fair view of gang culture and individual youngsters.
Applying Theory.
1. How can the coverage of the London riots be understood in relation to the ideas of Stan Cohen?
Stan Cohen has a theory that all youths are 'folk devils' which is just another way or naming or judging a certain group. From his theory, relating it to the London riots you can see the media putting the same image of youth and gang culture across by using headlines describing youths as 'thugs' 'gangs' and 'yobs'. These all have a negative impact on what they are relating these words to. This shows that, like Stan's theory, the mass media are instantly putting a name to these groups of young adults and teenagers without finding a background to their story or taking into account each persons individuality. Stan Cohen then goes on to describing a 'moral panic' which he describes as when an event becomes a threat to society. Again relating this to the London riots there was constant footage of burning buildings, large groups of gangs breaking into shops, attacking police vehicles and going over the top with violence. These events would usually be handles by high authorities such as the police force as their actions are becoming a hazard to the rest of society and the lives of people who are innocent and have nothing to do with these riots. Using Stan Cohens theory in the London riots through the media, and in the media in general, makes the whole situation look and sound much worse than it is which attracts the attention of the public eye and believe that the events taking place really are that bad which is what the mass media want to keep viewers attached to the stories along with making gang culture have a bad name.
2. David Gauntlett stated that ''Identities are not 'given' but are constructed and negotiated''.
From the research which you have conducted into the coverage of the London riots, to what extent is the representation of the collective identity of youths constructed by the press? Consider for and against argument.
FOR
One newspaper and broadcast linked to this article gave a 'youth' the chance to voice their opinion on why the riots are taking place and why they are being involved in them. The young youth made a comment on how the death of Mark Duggan made him want to get revenge on the police for what had happened. In relation to David Gauntlett's theory the youngsters identity has been constructed because of the situation he has faced and explained to the reporter. Although his opinion seems a pretty powerful reason for why he is joining in with the riots, I don't think many people would take his side to his reason as although many people who face powerful anger when an event such as a loss of a loved one happens and they feel they should defend and stick up for them, many people would not have the courage or even consider going to extremes, it is mainly all mouth no action which is why this boy has had such a bad image due to him standing out and doing different to what others would do.
AGAINST
Other newspaper articles and broadcasts gave their own opinions to the riots and didn't take into consideration any reasons from the public or chances for others to voice their opinions. Due to all of these articles portraying a bad image of youths and gang culture, those reading the articles would immediately agree with the opinion of the broadcaster or narrators opinion in the newspaper article, even though they had no idea what each individual was like to be able to have a true image of them. Gauntlett's theory related to the teenagers in the London riots as for teenagers and youngsters, mixing in and fitting into a category to be accepted is a major thing, therefore to fit in with everyone else taking part in the riots, which the media suggested the majority were young 'youths', teenagers felt they had to change their identity completely to fit in, even if it was something they weren't comfortable with, being accepted is a key importance for people their age. However, not all young teenagers are inspired by this. Many of them may just want to be themselves and not become influenced by the riots at all. Sadly for them, these stories are not put into news reports and therefore those individuals who are wanting to be the complete opposite to the rest of the youths causing trouble, they are still labelled as being bad people and are immediately categorized and given a bad image.
Monday, 11 March 2013
Newspaper Article - London Riots: A Year Later
The 'Metro' news site published an article one year later discussing how youths now want to voice their opinion and be heard.
The headline was
''London riots one year anniversary: Young people want their voices heard''
Using the term anniversary to describe the london riots a year later makes it seem like the riots will be something to celebrate or remember each year. When we think of an anniversary we usually think of positive events such as marriages however this article alters the definition and the term anniversary is more related to the definition used when we think about past tragedies such as 9/11 or remembrance Sunday.
Under the header they still use an image that puts a negative label on youths, but uses a person of authority walking in front of the flames.
The article uses words such as senseless violence, criminality and copycat violence to describe what happened during the riots. Using the phrase senseless violence makes the riots sound like those causing the commotion didn't take into consideration the after effects of what they are doing, while copycat violence makes it seem like the youths and others taking part were doing it because they wanted to fit in and copying off what everyone else was doing would allow them to do this and feel accepted rather than standing out for doing nothing. The article still uses the word hoodies to describe the appearence of the youths, again giving a negative of them. One part of the article reads ''rolling news showed 'hoodies' in pitched battles with police, looting and setting fire to cars''. This puts the image across that all the rioting was caused by all the youths.
Further down the article it then goes into talking about the young people voicing their opinion one year later. The Metro say they asked four young people from Brixton-based youth-media hub to give their view on what happened. They ask these four youngsters what its like being a young person these days and what their plans for the future are.
The first young person, Celeste houlker, 21, said 'The riots have shaped the way young people are perceived today, but many of these perceptions have existed for a very long time. The nation is constantly told young people lead lazy, easy lives, that we binge drink, we're materialistic, our exams are easy and we're self-destructive since we're killing each other left right and centre. The riots engrained these perceptions even more'. From this quote we can see clearly that this young person doesn't follow other typical youth expectations language-wise as they used more complex words such as perceived, materialistic, engrained and perceptions. Words of which many stereotypical 'youths' would of never heard, therefore putting a more positive look on youngsters education-wise and not seeming as s'stupid' as people think they are.
They then stated 'But here's the thing, the majority of young people didn't take part in the riots. Why? Because despite these perceptions most of us are brilliant human beings doing great things for ourselves, were not all criminals'. This statement from the youngster gives their opinion straight and defends the young teen culture. This statement has a strong view towards teenagers and makes those reading the article have a second thought about how they are perceiving 'youths'.
During their last sentence from the interview she says '..students are striving to do well, while many are volunteering in their community as peer mentors and youth leaders.' From her statements she manages to prove a point about young people having high ambitions and doing work to help the community, not to tear it apart.
The second young person to speak for the interview was Zindzi Rocque Drayton, 22. She stated the following. 'Before the riots I was optimistically applying for work experience and jobs, eager to make use of my fresh English degree.' She proves her point from this sentence that not only do young people have the ambition and chances to graduate from university and education, but they still try to continue making the most of their education and what they have learned by applying for jobs rather than throwing it all away.
Her second words were 'As the year progressed my hopes of a graduate job diminished as I was rejected from the retail Christmas temp positions and with no paid work since graduating fro university I signed on to Job Seekers Allowance - £30 of my weekly £50 went on travel so that I could work full time, unpaid, in the name of ''experience'' From her point here she proved that she is still struggling and in need of help just like many others, yet still she has determination. Again showing that young people still need help and don't all go vandalising and causing havoc when they feel aspects of their life are going downhill.
The third interviewee, Christian Adofo, 23 stated 'Young people were portrayed in a negative manner and the images looped on TV didn't dispel the stereotype and as a result young people have been blighted by the riots. The vast majority of young people are challenging their enthusiasm into something positive, yet the good work doesn't get exposure.' He stated later 'So I've become more politicised in response to the media and ruling classes making sweeping statements about young people and the riots. my message would be: we're here, talk to us, listen to us so we can all learn from last summer and create something positive from the wreckage'. From his statement we can see he is blaming the media for young people having such a negative label and passes his message on as a way of trying to encourage media to give young people a fair chance instead of portraying the 'youth' stereotype to all young people.
The final young person to be interviewed was Ellas Wachenje, 13. His comments were 'When I left my house the day after the riots, reality hit - Brixton High Street was trashed, Foot Locker was burned out, Gamesmaster was smashed up and Currys was empty of all technology'. This section described the view of the damaged the riots had caused from a young boy's point of view, with popular shops which attract boys to, such as Gamesmaster and technology in Currys showing his individual desires have been wrecked, something that he is thankful for being there has gone, showing he is against what has happened with the most popular shops to him being completely wrecked. He then speaks about his thoughts on how the riots were portrayed. '..It wasnt just young people it was adults too. Yet the police, government, media and public blamed young people and turned us into the bogeyman' This again links to his first statement and the anger he felt not only with stored being wrecked, but also with the way his youth culture has been portrayed. Due to him being the youngest his opinion is still similar to the others and even states that adults were taking part aswell, which is something the media never mentioned straightly, all the articles and broadcasts were all focussed on young people and youths. His final words in the interview were the following. 'Now it's summertime again and it's important that young people go to youth projects and get off the streets during the holidays. The riots took place during the summer, when young people are bored, so we need to occupy our time productively. If I could speak to David Cameron I'd say, 'focus on this country', because while youth clubs are closing and jobs become scarce, the spent £1.25bn in Libya' 'I hope the whole country is united through London 2012, gets behind Team GB and feels like they are part of it even if they don't have tickets' These final parts of his statement come across very strong from what he has said, stating figures that David Cameron spent proves that he has intelligence and can learn easily, rather than how the media make it look, like young people don't pay attention to the important factors and cant focus.
Overall, from this article I feel that how the media have portrayed the London riots has not been fair to young people and youths as from the statements from this article it is obvious that there is a larger number of young people who have a strong, clear, good head on their shoulders and having the media making them look bad can reflect on their future goals. If these articles were produced at the time the riots happened then young people would feel like they have a much fairer say on things and the public would have been seen in a different light this past year.
You can read the full article here
The headline was
''London riots one year anniversary: Young people want their voices heard''
Under the header they still use an image that puts a negative label on youths, but uses a person of authority walking in front of the flames.
The article uses words such as senseless violence, criminality and copycat violence to describe what happened during the riots. Using the phrase senseless violence makes the riots sound like those causing the commotion didn't take into consideration the after effects of what they are doing, while copycat violence makes it seem like the youths and others taking part were doing it because they wanted to fit in and copying off what everyone else was doing would allow them to do this and feel accepted rather than standing out for doing nothing. The article still uses the word hoodies to describe the appearence of the youths, again giving a negative of them. One part of the article reads ''rolling news showed 'hoodies' in pitched battles with police, looting and setting fire to cars''. This puts the image across that all the rioting was caused by all the youths.
Further down the article it then goes into talking about the young people voicing their opinion one year later. The Metro say they asked four young people from Brixton-based youth-media hub to give their view on what happened. They ask these four youngsters what its like being a young person these days and what their plans for the future are.
The first young person, Celeste houlker, 21, said 'The riots have shaped the way young people are perceived today, but many of these perceptions have existed for a very long time. The nation is constantly told young people lead lazy, easy lives, that we binge drink, we're materialistic, our exams are easy and we're self-destructive since we're killing each other left right and centre. The riots engrained these perceptions even more'. From this quote we can see clearly that this young person doesn't follow other typical youth expectations language-wise as they used more complex words such as perceived, materialistic, engrained and perceptions. Words of which many stereotypical 'youths' would of never heard, therefore putting a more positive look on youngsters education-wise and not seeming as s'stupid' as people think they are.
They then stated 'But here's the thing, the majority of young people didn't take part in the riots. Why? Because despite these perceptions most of us are brilliant human beings doing great things for ourselves, were not all criminals'. This statement from the youngster gives their opinion straight and defends the young teen culture. This statement has a strong view towards teenagers and makes those reading the article have a second thought about how they are perceiving 'youths'.
During their last sentence from the interview she says '..students are striving to do well, while many are volunteering in their community as peer mentors and youth leaders.' From her statements she manages to prove a point about young people having high ambitions and doing work to help the community, not to tear it apart.
The second young person to speak for the interview was Zindzi Rocque Drayton, 22. She stated the following. 'Before the riots I was optimistically applying for work experience and jobs, eager to make use of my fresh English degree.' She proves her point from this sentence that not only do young people have the ambition and chances to graduate from university and education, but they still try to continue making the most of their education and what they have learned by applying for jobs rather than throwing it all away.
Her second words were 'As the year progressed my hopes of a graduate job diminished as I was rejected from the retail Christmas temp positions and with no paid work since graduating fro university I signed on to Job Seekers Allowance - £30 of my weekly £50 went on travel so that I could work full time, unpaid, in the name of ''experience'' From her point here she proved that she is still struggling and in need of help just like many others, yet still she has determination. Again showing that young people still need help and don't all go vandalising and causing havoc when they feel aspects of their life are going downhill.
The third interviewee, Christian Adofo, 23 stated 'Young people were portrayed in a negative manner and the images looped on TV didn't dispel the stereotype and as a result young people have been blighted by the riots. The vast majority of young people are challenging their enthusiasm into something positive, yet the good work doesn't get exposure.' He stated later 'So I've become more politicised in response to the media and ruling classes making sweeping statements about young people and the riots. my message would be: we're here, talk to us, listen to us so we can all learn from last summer and create something positive from the wreckage'. From his statement we can see he is blaming the media for young people having such a negative label and passes his message on as a way of trying to encourage media to give young people a fair chance instead of portraying the 'youth' stereotype to all young people.
The final young person to be interviewed was Ellas Wachenje, 13. His comments were 'When I left my house the day after the riots, reality hit - Brixton High Street was trashed, Foot Locker was burned out, Gamesmaster was smashed up and Currys was empty of all technology'. This section described the view of the damaged the riots had caused from a young boy's point of view, with popular shops which attract boys to, such as Gamesmaster and technology in Currys showing his individual desires have been wrecked, something that he is thankful for being there has gone, showing he is against what has happened with the most popular shops to him being completely wrecked. He then speaks about his thoughts on how the riots were portrayed. '..It wasnt just young people it was adults too. Yet the police, government, media and public blamed young people and turned us into the bogeyman' This again links to his first statement and the anger he felt not only with stored being wrecked, but also with the way his youth culture has been portrayed. Due to him being the youngest his opinion is still similar to the others and even states that adults were taking part aswell, which is something the media never mentioned straightly, all the articles and broadcasts were all focussed on young people and youths. His final words in the interview were the following. 'Now it's summertime again and it's important that young people go to youth projects and get off the streets during the holidays. The riots took place during the summer, when young people are bored, so we need to occupy our time productively. If I could speak to David Cameron I'd say, 'focus on this country', because while youth clubs are closing and jobs become scarce, the spent £1.25bn in Libya' 'I hope the whole country is united through London 2012, gets behind Team GB and feels like they are part of it even if they don't have tickets' These final parts of his statement come across very strong from what he has said, stating figures that David Cameron spent proves that he has intelligence and can learn easily, rather than how the media make it look, like young people don't pay attention to the important factors and cant focus.
Overall, from this article I feel that how the media have portrayed the London riots has not been fair to young people and youths as from the statements from this article it is obvious that there is a larger number of young people who have a strong, clear, good head on their shoulders and having the media making them look bad can reflect on their future goals. If these articles were produced at the time the riots happened then young people would feel like they have a much fairer say on things and the public would have been seen in a different light this past year.
You can read the full article here
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
London Riots Newspaper Article - Daily Mail
This article from the 9th August 2011 uses the header ''We ran for our lives as thugs ambushed bus: Chaos across the capital as orgy of violence rages on''. Just from the storyline the mass media have used context which creates a moral panic to the public and makes the story sound like folk devils are becoming a threat to the public of London from what they are doing. By using words such as thugs, ambushed, chaos, violence and rages gives the impression that whats going on is serious and out of control. These choice of words are very emotive as they express just how severe the actions going on are. They could have used words such as teens instead of thugs, trouble instead of chaos and continues instead of rages but these words are fairly simple and dont get a strong enough point across. When you hear the word thugs you tend to think of people who are a threat to anyone, robs people and cause fights and trouble. This makes youths have a negative identity. When you think of rages you tend to think of something which is out of control and can't be dealt with easily. This relates to the riots well as there was very little control from anyone of high authority such as the police, the youths rioting had more control over them because of how violent they are. The headline from this article is fairly biased as by using the word thugs to describe youths doesn't give a fair example of what the entire population of teenagers and youth culture are like, not all young people follow the same route.
Just a few sentences into the article is a paragraph on the trouble happening in Hackney, where the article read ''Masked rioters on BMX bicycles armed with batons attacked a crowded London bus during the evening rush-hour last night, chasing terrified commuters as they tried to escape.
The thugs, some as young as eight, forced the driver to stop the double-decker by pelting it with champagne bottles stolen from a nearby Tesco.
About 40 passengers – some carrying screaming toddlers – burst out of the exits and sprinted away.''
These few sentences present a bad image of youths, not just teenagers though, even children as one section says 'some as young as eight'. From this we can see that all the havoc going on is inspiring children in some form of way to copy what they are doing, mainly because young children an vulnerable and will copy almost anything they see. This also gives the area of Hackney seem rough seeing as children are getting involved here. Describing the rioters as being masked and on BMX bikes gives some of the typical points you expect to see from youths. Like mentioned before, with the rioters being masked the impression of them could be that they are ashamed of their identities themselves but continue to do what they are doing to keep up what they think is their real identity although they know that they would be found out much quicker if their facial appearance was visible. Describing their actions on the attack of the bus as them being armed with battons and having stolen champagne bottles from a nearby Tesco to threaten and force the driver to stop the bus, even though there were commuters with young children on board gives an even worse image of youths. One of the main reasons from this is because of their actions and what they wanted to achieve while small children were at risk! Nobody in the right mind would want to put an innocent persons life at risk but especially not a young child! This goes to show that from this part of the article the youths have no respect for themselves or anyone else and their actions have gone way out of control. With the time of day being the evening rush hour this makes the youths out as to not care about how busy the area is or how many people witness it because firstly, they are masked so their identity cannot be easily recognised, and secondly they know they have more power over the public from the trouble they have caused in the past during the riots.
From this article youths are not given a fair voice as all the pictures show them rioting and there is no interview with any of them asking why they are doing what they are so we dont get to hear their side of the story, just the impression the press and the media want to give them.
You can see the full official article here
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
London Riots Newspaper Tabloids
The Daily Telegraph and The Sun use an image of a local jumping from her apartment away from the flames to try and save her life. This image is powerful as it shows that even those who are innocent are being involved and having their lives put at risk. From what is visible from the image of the women, they are seen as feminine and helpless compared to a male who are seen as bulk and strong, which could possibly link to why there are people reaching out to catch her, if this were to be a man he may not of had much support unless he was a young boy or elderly man. If it was a youth there would be very little help from the people as thats who the public are blaming for the cause of these riots. This gives more fear in the mass media for the innocent people.
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