Responses

Responses to Misfits Analysis

The detail is v good and you have included most things, however no music is mentioned

Very good introduction with video, maybe more detail of some theories

Good notes on individual characters

Good gifs, fab descriptions, loads of info without being boring, seperated well, good ratio of text to images, good layout, brief narritive structure, more info needed, no 3act structure. Good inclusion of stereotypes

The gifs make it instantly eye catching and keep attention throughout. terminology, descriptions and explanations are detailed and relevant giving all necessary info! could change text colour.

Good analysis of characters and clear understanding of representations and stereotypes/ Gifs keep us interested and make the text less intimidating. Good use of colour. Detailed evaluation. Could explain theories more.

Next time I do this I will try to use the names of theories more, and use more colour in text

Misfits

Misfits-Series 1 Episode 1-Narrative Structure, Stereotypes and Character Roles

The Cast + Their Stereotypes

 Curtis

Curtis's power is to turn back time, it seems he is burdened due to his past, as his power reflects the fact he wants to turn back time to change the fact he was caught with drugs at a race and banned from his running. He wears his jumpsuit around his waist and has sporty trainers, he seems to adhere to his black sporty stereotype, however he does seem to think he's better than the others, shown by his leaning on objects and his clear, middle class accent. He seems to be a good guy and thoughtful of women, as when Nathan says to Simon he isn't going to get the girls, he seems considerate and kind. When he isn't in his jumpsuit he is in sportswear and this reflects his sporty and shows the regret of his previous actions.

Kelly

 Kelly's power is to hear thoughts, it seems she is very insecure, as her power reflects the fact she is worried about other peoples views on her and her "chavvy" appearance. She wears gold jewellrey and hoop earrings, hair scraped back and heavy make up. She seems quite masculine and this subverts the normal female stereotype , she seems at home in a typically masculine shirt. She also does adhere to her chav stereotype because of her dress style and accent, however she does seem reasonably intelligent. The camera seems to look down on her a lot, seemingly to show her insecurities.

Simon

 Simon's power is invisibility, because he is ignored and considered the weird child, so his power reflects the fact he turns "invisible" when ignored. He wears his jumpsuit entirely done up and has entirely slicked down hair, which seems to show he's maybe middle class, along with this clear, almost posh voice. He adheres to his loner stereotype, but neither adhers nor subverts masculine and feminine stereotypes. However he seems to have quite a passion and temper when danger or fear arrive, as shown when the probation worker attacks them. His own clothes are also buttoned up and it does show his kind of odd way of looking at life.

Alisha

  Alisha's power, which is probably the most useless of the "heroes", is to create sexual arousal on touch. Her power reflects her personality of a vain, crude party girl, and portrays her as a very vulgar character. She wears her jumpsuit with jewellrey, a fashion belt and seems to want to show off as she wears a bright bra and throws her chest forward, immediately throwing sexual and flirtacious connations at the viewer. She adheres to most female stereotypes as she seems like she can't do anything without a man, she requires Curtis's help to escape the probation worker and seems like an object. She seems to look down on the boys, however, as she is aware of her power over them in these situations.


Nathan

 Nathan's power is unknown at this point, which shows that for all his cockiness he isn't as "special" as the others. He wears his jumpsuit half done up, seems messy and dirty, and is very cocky and loud. He adheres to his witty loud irish stereotype and his loud, bold statements tell us lots about his personality. When he argues with his mum he is shown at a high angle, dehumanising him. However despite his cockiness he seems like a loner just trying to be noticed, it seems he isn't happy with himself and wants to be something he's not.There is a lot of cuts to show his frantic nature when annoyed, and he seems sexist as he constantly speaks about women as objects. He is a bit of a comedy character, however it seems he can be serious att times.


Character Roles + Narrative Structure

 They are the heroes, despite their anti-heroic personalities ( they don't seem to conform to a general hero stereotype). The fact they seem to be modern teens, which is also the target audience allows them to be related to. The danger and 'villain' seems to be represented mainly by red and blood, even after the care worker is killed we see quite a lot of red and the burial of him seems otherworldly and blurry.

The structure of the show is very non-linear , with time travel a key element. However the show does apply to some structure.
Equilibrium at the start, starting community service.
Disruption when the storm happens and they kill the care worker
Recognition when they realise they have powers and need to stick together.
Reparation when they bury the worker
New state at the end as they get back to community service.

Binary opposites are used with heroes and villains and predators and prey. the music seems to build prior to the chase and leads to the cuts between highlighting the build up of fear and tension. High angle of the loud characters such as Nathan however, quieter characters like Simon are looked down upon by the camera.Nathans humour helps to make the show more attractive to viewers. There isn't much narrative closure, however characters are believable and relatable and it does work as a chain 

Hillsborough disaster

The Hillsborough Disaster-15 April 1989

The Hillsborough Disaster has recently had its 23rd anniversary. The deaths of 96 innocent football fans that day have impacted so many people around the world. I'm not going to type the details of what happened that day, rather give my opinion on the cover up done by the South Yorkshire police.

The fact that the truth has laid dormant for so long is something that really puzzles me. How could something this big simply be completely twisted and hidden from public viewing for so long? I know for a fact that some hatred towards Liverpool fans has come because of this cover up and I expect it has affected a lot more people than some expect. I honestly thought the accusations from the police were ridiculous, how the newspapers could run such an article is really stupid. Looting from corpses? Urinating on police officers and the dead? Even video clips from the disaster show people desperately trying to get out and in every interview there seems to be no evidence of the interviewee's being drunk, like was accused by the police.

I'm rambling a bit, but I think this is a completely ridiculous cover up by the police, the supposed defenders of society, what kind of an example does their behaviour set to others? If your police are breaking the law why shouldn't you? I honestly can't believe the injustice towards these Liverpool fans who have had to live in the torment of the fact they have been blamed for these people's deaths. At least the truth has surfaced now, better late than never, i suppose.

Media Questions

Why represent the police in this way?

The police are represented in this way in the clip to show the brutality of reality, that even the supposed protectors of lifestyle and holder of order can be harsh and cruel. Not everyone wins. The police seem to be presented as faceless robots, incapable of doing anything other than following orders and unable to see the state of peril the immigrants are in. They also are represented like this to make a stark contrast between the police and the immigrants and it immediately turns them into the antagonists.

Why represent the immigrants in this way?

The immigrants are represented in this way to sympathise with the watcher and to flip your usual stereotypes on what an immigrant looks and behaves like. They seem like the ones being mistreated and the use of their scared faces and emotion allows you to relate to them a lot more than the faceless, emotionless policeman who's only aim is to "do their job"


What stereotypes are being adhered or subverted?

The police and the immigrants are definately subverted as you'd expect the immigrants to be the antagonists, however this simply isn't the case. The blonde woman on the front desk is challenging the usual blonde stereotypes as she shows some brains and smartness to quickly alert others of the policemen's arrival. Adam is subverting many stereotypes of immigrants as he proves he is smart and is a trained docter. Characters like Gino, however adhere completely to their stereotype, an Italian waiter, and this does show us despite many characters challenging their stereotypes some simply do not.

Purpose behind mediation?

The purpose behind mediation is to entertain us, which is the end goal in all TV Drama's, also it seems another key reason is to challenge our stereotypes and preconceptions of many things we take as fact, such as the "heroic" policemen and the "job-stealing" immigrants. The final reason is simply to inform us and show us other ways of thinking.

First Media Lesson

First Media Lesson

What does being clever mean?  was the first question asked when the lesson started.

After some discussion the conclusion was that there was no definition to being clever, it was all a matter of opinion and what you saw as clever, everyone could be clever in a different way, whether it be academical or practical.

After this a story was told about two students with the same GCSE grades, itchy and scratchy

Both were the same in academics but had been taught in different ways, Itchy had learnt by learning all the tricks and exam plans, basically just copying and doing what he was told to do. Scratchy had learnt in groups and done a lot of varied work, so when both students lost their jobs he was easily able to adapt and retrain to be something else, so easily found another. Itchy however, struggled and simply couldn't retrain, all because of the way he was taught in school.

This showed that learning is good when its varied and this is the main thing I took from the lesson