The Hunger Games (Sci-Fi Conventions)

     The Hunger Games is a clear adventure film, but has clear conventions of the Sci-Fi genre. The narrative theme of anti-establishment is present within the film. This is seen in a particular scene when the children of District 12 are being forced to sign up for The Hunger Games, with guards surrounding the outskirts to ensure no-one escapes. A film is then shown discussing how the 'minors' fought back against the higher living and the government, and The Hunger Games are more or less their punishment for going against them. A low angle shot is often used to show the children looking up to Effie up on stage, and then a high angle shot to show Effie looking down on the children, this is done to show that Effie and the government have the power, emphasising the ideology and theme of anti-establishment. The guards surrounding the children of District 12 all had weapons, ensuring they would do as they told them, a similar usage iconography is used in the film District 9, where the humans are forcing the aliens to leave their homes by threatening them with weapons. The usage of this shows us that this is a polysemic narrative, a passive audience can simply watch the film and enjoy, and an active audience can decode the film and see that it is about corruption of the government and them abusing their power and treating 'minors' badly.
    

Drive (Film Noir Conventions)

     The film Drive is a Crime/Drama film, however, certain conventions within the film could make people argue that it has elements of film noir. Throughout the film, the majority of the time, especially with close ups of the characters faces, the lighting is dominant, and the majority of the time, it is low key. Straight away with the first clip we are shown with Driver sitting around a dinner table with Irene and her family, the scene cuts to a close up/mid low angle shot of Driver with a shadow across one side of his face. We are shown this for a reason, it shows that there are two sides to this character, one side is that he is the protagonist, the good guy, who does good things, however, the dark side shows that to achieve these good things, he must do bad things. This is often seen in film noir, like the opening scene of Sin City, where half of the assassins face is shown lit up, and the other half in darkness.
     Then we get our Femme Fatale, Blanche. Blanche is first introduced with a mid shot, sat down, smoking a cigarette, a very typical shot to show a Femme Fatale in noir films, Cook also introduces her with 'she is very beautiful'. During the robbery scene, as the robbery is about to take place, the character Standard walks up to the Pawn Shop, the usage of the tracking shot enables us to see the neon signs, which is another noir convention.
     After the robbery scene and car chase, Driver and Blanche are then shown in a slightly lit motel room. As Driver and Blanche watch the news, Driver starts implying that Blanche is working for someone else, and accuses her of this and threatens her, the narrative theme then leads to mis-trust and paranoia, a common theme within the film noir genre. As Driver stands up, the camera stays level with Blanche, as we see his fists tighten, he then slaps Blanche and holds her down by her throat, us as an audience could almost fore-see this, as earlier in the scene where everyone was eating dinner, half of Drivers face was in darkness, and this scene now is the dark side of Driver. The use of non-diegtic music in the dinner eating scene also helped us fore-see this, as it was very dark and sinister. Blanche then stands up and goes into the bathroom, we see Blanche in the toilets with lighting from the blinds shining on her, another film noir convention. Then a slow motion effect is added as a police man with a shotgun appears outside the bathroom window, pointing the shotgun towards Blanche. The police officer then kills Blanche, this once again shows the theme of mis-trust and paranoia, as the double crosser Blanche, has been double crossed by the police.
    Later on in the clip, Driver goes to see Cook. The scene is introduced with Driver walking from the darkness into the light, as he comes closer, we see he is holding a hammer, at this point, the sinister music we heard earlier is played once again. Driver confronts Cook and breaks his hand by bashing it with the hammer multiple times, Cook drops to the floor and Driver gets a nail out and places it on Cooks forehead, the camera focuses on Cooks face, scared and hurt, and then cuts to Drivers, showing his anger, this once again refers back to the lighting in the earlier scene, where half his face is in darkness, we are once again seeing Driver commit a dark action.
     The Protagonist (Driver) gives off typical noir character conventions, for example, after both his partners were dead, he was left with the money, Cook said he should just keep the money, and run away, he told him no, and he would stay and help Irene, this is typical of noir, as in noir films the protagonist doesn't care about himself, and only cares for his Femme Fatale and does things for her, unfortunately, this often leads to their death.

Research Project

How has the punk rock genre evolved in it's musical conventions and ideology, concentrating on both Blink 182's & The Clash's self titled albums.

     It could be argued that in recent times Punk Rock music has evolved, but not just in its musical genre conventions, also its lyrics and ideology. The Clash were a very popular, typical, Punk Rock band who were part of the "first concrete punk rock scene and it appeared in the mid '70s in New York." [3]. The Clash's music contains a hardcore style and rebellious lyrical content. 16 years on, the Punk Rock band 'Blink 182' were formed. Arguably both bands are categorised and grouped within the same genre, but both are very different bands. In this investigation I shall be analysing how the Punk Rock genres musical conventions and ideology have evolved by focusing on both the self-titled The Clash album [2] and the self-titled Blink 182 album [1].

     I will use two theories to help me investigate this issue, Post Modernism and Uses and Gratifications. The Post Modern theory suggests that nothing is original, "we live in a postmodern age where ‘things’ no longer seem original, rather their context or use supplies the originality." [9], certain genres are slowly diluted by various concepts and conventions being taken and re-mixed into something allegedly new, it is the "breaking of traditional frames of genre; overthrowing category" [6]. Postmodernism is present in the Punk Rock genre, as various aspects of the genre have been changed where others have stayed pure. The uses and gratifications theory says that not all viewers are passive and texts provide beneficial uses. The theory "states what people do with media rather than what media does to people" [5], this could be a use, for example, gain information from it, or a gratification, for example, to be entertained. I will use this theory to compare what uses and gratifications people got from the so called original punk and the modern punk we hear today.

     Typical Punk Rock gratified the audience by entertaining them with its distinct musical conventions, these included things such as fast paced hard edged music, stripped down instrumentation, distortion on guitars, "in the beginning, punk rock songs were usually fairly short" [4] and often politically related lyrical content. "The main instruments used were the electric guitar and drums." [4]. Punk rock vocals often sound nasal "and sometimes sound more like shouting than singing, which can bring even more emotion to the songs." [4] Bass guitar lines are often uncomplicated, the typical approach is a relentless, repetitive forced rhythm. Drums typically sound hard hitting and heavy, and often have a minimal set-up. The typical objective is to have the recording sound un-manipulated and real, reflecting a live performance.

     Since The Clash were one of the first Punk Rock bands to be formed, they adhere to the majority of the traditional musical conventions. In their first album, which was self-titled, the song 'White Riot' punk musical conventions are very clearly present. The only instruments used in the track are vocals, guitar, bass and drums, the basic instruments used typically in Punk songs. A huge amount of distortion is used on the guitars, this is because the guitar amps back in the 70's weren't brilliant quality, so Punk bands decided that they would over use distortion purposely to give it a different style, which is a common convention used within the Punk Rock genre. I discussed earlier how Punk tracks are often very short, White Riot is under 2 minutes long, along with other tracks in the album such as 'What's My Name', 'Career Opportunities', 'Protex Blue' & '48 Hours'. The vocal style in the track 'Hate & War' are very typical of the Punk genre, especially in the chorus when 'Hate and War' is sung, it is very nasally, and actually shouted rather than sung, typically Punk. The song 'What's my name?' is a very fast hard edged track, and it's also very short, making it seem even faster, but the constant driven bass line gives it that conventional fast hard edged style which is often used within the Punk Rock genre. All the songs used in this album have a very similar playing style and sound, especially with the drums, the drums, like typical Punk Rock tracks, are very dry and heavy, and from all of these conventions and styles used in the tracks, when listening to the album it sounds like you're hearing it live, it's very un-manipulated and gives it that realism. The album was recorded 10–27 February 1977 at CBS Studios in London and National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England. The Clash are definitely considered a typical Punk Rock band when it comes to the typical music conventions.

     When reflecting on early punk it is easily identifiable, as it stuck to more rigid conventions, however, modern day punk has arguably become Postmodern. 26 years after The Clash released their album, Blink 182 released their self-titled album, stated by many as a Punk Rock album "This c.d is heart warming and fun at the same time. It fuses old skool punk, with new pop punk." [10] Blink 182 do conform to a few of the typical Punk Rock musical conventions, however, some would argue that the Punk Rock musical conventions have become diluted, "this album really reset the bar in the pop-punk genre. [10] Blink 182 do conform to typical Punk music conventions, every song in Blink 182's album includes nasally lyrics, because of the way the lead singer 'Tom De-Longe' sings. He has that typical Punk voice. Also in this album the lyrics are shouted, rather than sung, like The Clash in the majority of their tracks, this is mainly in the chorus' of the songs 'Feeling This', 'Obvious' & 'Violence'. The track 'Go' conforms to a couple of the typical Punk Music conventions, it is very fast paced, starting off with a very heavy instrumental, consisting of a driven harsh sounding guitar & bass line and the drums using the cymbal, snare & kick drum. Like all Punk Rock songs, the guitar has distortion on it, "the most technical way to define punk rock is a genre of music, usually played at a high tempo with distorted electric guitar" [7], this is present in tracks such as 'Feeling This', 'Obvious', 'Violence', 'Stockholm Syndrome', 'Down' and 'Go'. All of the tracks in this album use the typical Punk instrumentation, vocals, guitar, bass and the drums, this is heard in some of the tracks in Blink 182's album such as 'I Miss You', 'Stockholm Syndrome', 'Down', 'All Of This' and 'I'm Lost Without You'. However, there are certain songs that go against the stereotypical Punk music conventions, for example, 'I Miss You'. When analysing this song, I would not have labelled it as a Punk song. Straight away from the sound of the drums I could tell this was not Punk, the drums are clear and smooth sounding, with the use of jazz brushes and what sounds to be a cow bell, these all subvert to the typical Punk Rock conventions as the drums are supposed to sound heavy and dry and give off the feel of a live performance. Instead of the usage of an Electric Bass, a big double bass is used, to give it the acoustic jazz feel that Blink 182 were going for, this once again goes against typical Punk Rock conventions. Blink 182 were able to make Punk a much more mainstream genre, as they were including other instruments and effects to enable a wider range of people to be entertained, for example, including a jazz style to their track 'I Miss You' making it a hybrid, showing that Blink 182 made the Punk Rock genre a more Postmodern genre, as lovers of two different genres could listen to this song and gain entertainment from it.


     It could be argued that Punk ideologies have also become diluted. Originally, Punk ideologies were primarily concerned with individual freedom, which tends to conform concepts such as individualism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism and free thought. [8] "Punk culture originated as a movement of shock, rebellion, and discontent; and from certain points of-view, it has evolved into an overt socio-political movement." [8] Lyrically, Punk Bands often express their discontent with certain individuals that tamper with their freedom and/or free speech, this could be seen as Punk Bands being 'rebellious'. They also discuss moral standings on wars and other problems to express their hatred towards lack of equal rights and people giving up their lives.

     The Clash conform to many of these ideologies, with lyrics which discuss many social and political problems. In their track 'White Riot', the lyrics of the chorus are 'White riot, I wanna riot, white riot, a riot of my own, white riot, I wanna riot, white riot, a riot of my own'. This is repeated throughout the track, this adheres to typical Punk ideologies and this genre, as it helps represent them as rebellious and to believe in anti-authoritarianism, showing that they are willing to go against the law and fight for equality and rights. In The Clash' track 'Hate & War' even from the title you can see that this is a typical punk song, the first line of the song is 'Hate and war the only things we got today', this shows the Clash' discontent with society today, that all they ever see are hatred between others, and war, this links back with typical Punk ideology, showing that they conform to Punk. Another track that shows Punk Ideologies in the lyrics is 'Career Opportunities' with the a line in the second verse, 'I hate the civil service rules', this shows anarchism, the belief in abolishment of the government and that they are unfair and the rules they give are un-just, this, as stated earlier, is a common ideology within the Punk genre. The song 'Cheat' consists of a few of Punk ideologies, it has an element of individualism and free thought. 'Don't use the rules, they're not for you, they're for the fools' is the first line of the last verse, this shows the concept of individualism and free thought, because The Clash are implying that no-one needs to tell you what to do, you should be your own person and do your own things and be an individual, these are all ways in which The Clash adhere to typical Punk ideology. The track 'Police and Thieves', a very similar title to 'Hate and War', consists of the lyrics 'Police and thieves in the streets, scaring the nation with their guns and ammunition', this shows The Clash' discontent with the way people are treated, and the fact many acts lead to violence, once again this conforms to Punk ideologies. The Clash are a very typical Punk Rock band in terms of using lyrics to express their Punk ideologies, and in a way, this is very clever, as the audience can personally identify with the things they are saying, creating a bigger and wider audience for their music. The Clash also drew in a huge crowd of fans because of their rebellious attitude in songs, people listened to them for pure entertainment and escapism, it was exciting for them, they were fighting back, and their anarchism gave them hope.

     Blink 182 use some Punk musical genre conventions, but they do not conform to Punk ideology. The Punk ideologies that The Clash had, have disappeared in modern punk. In the track 'I miss you' the chorus more or less Modern Punk ideologies. 'Don't waste your time on me, you're already, the voice inside my head, I miss you, I miss you'. Rather than Blink 182 singing typical Punk ideology and conveying things such as anarchism, they sing about personal problems, like personal romance and relationships, this is very different ideologies to The Clash, as The Clash discussed social problems, whereas Blink 182 discuss love. Another example of this is in Blink 182's track 'I'm Lost Without You' at the end of the first verse, 'Are you afraid of being alone, cause I am, I'm lost without you, are you afraid of leaving tonight, cause I am, I'm lost without you'. This once again shows non Punk ideologies, Blink 182 subvert from typical Punk ideology. Due to the fact that modern day punk now concentrates more on personal problems, it draws in a huge audience, as most people will be able to personally identify with the songs, and the lyrics sung, and people will listen to this to feel more part of something, to almost socially integrate. Many would argue that the majority of Modern Punk is like this, not just Blink 182, Modern Punk has become a Post Modern genre, mixing genres such as pop, people often refer to punk as 'Pop Punk', as mainstream pop talks a lot about love and personal problems, which is what Blink 182 do in their songs.

     The Punk Rock genre started off with very simple musical conventions, trying to get a very un-manipulated sound and make it sound like a live performance, however, this approach has decreased due to bands such as Blink 182, as they use instruments such as the double bass, and give the drums a very jazz feeling effect in songs by using brushes on the snare to give it a clean sound, rather than the 'norm' heavy, dry effect, enabling the genre to become much wider and Postmodern. The typical Punk Rock ideology was very rebellious, and involved things like anarchy and individualism, social problems. Whereas now, modern day punk, those ideologies have completely disappeared, as now bands such as Blink 182 talk about much more personal problems, like losing girlfriends, and needing a girl to be happy, making the genre much more mainstream, as everyone in the modern day has these sorts of problems, this is how Punk Rock has evolved. "The biggest difference I would say is that at one point, at least for me, punk rock represented a gathering point that was in spite of what mainstream America had to offer and the whole idea was not to go along with it and it was definitely not about financial success or being involved with the music industry or any of that kind of stuff. It was completely in opposition to all that kind of stuff, so that's rather different now." [11]

1. http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Blink-182-Blink-182-Album/EC0D1AFA1B0EBA3848256DAA002BDAF4
2. http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Clash-The-Clash-Album/2B320D12057FA825482568AB00335E00
3.  http://punkmusic.about.com/od/punk101/a/punkhistory2.htm

4. http://www.entertainmentscene360.com/index.php/history-of-punk-rock-music-8586/

5. http://communicationtheory.org/uses-and-gratification-theory/

6. http://postmodernmusic.blogspot.co.uk/
7. http://toobbox.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-punk-rock/ 
8. http://axio-rock.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/punk-ideologies.html
9. http://www.20three.com/2013/06/yeah-get-real-originality-and-authenticity-in-a-postmodern-age/
10. http://www.metacritic.com/music/blink-182/blink-182/user-reviews
11. http://www.punkrockacademy.com/stm/int/im.html

How typical is Sin City to it's genre(s)?

     The film Sin City is considered to be a hybrid, a film with two genres, these are Film Noir & Comic Book, two unique and obvious genres. There are many conventions within this film to show that these are the genres of the film, such as characters, themes, mis-en-scene and iconography, etc.
    Film Noir is a genre that reflects a certain time period, The Cold War. The Cold War was basically a war that involved no violence or killing, it was just a time leading up to another possible war. This made the majority of people, like policeman, very corrupt. This is shown throughout the film Sin City, enabling us to see this is film is Film Noir, for example, about 15 minutes into the film the protagonist John Hartigan is shot and killed by his partner, this shows mistrust, paranoia, and corruption. There is also another scene that shows this when Marv is sleeping with Goldie, and when he awakes she is dead, and the killer has escaped, the police then show up and Marv has been framed for the murder of his own lover, this once again shows the mistrust and corruption of the time it was set.
     Like I said before, Sin City is a hybrid, it consists of two genres, Film Noir, and the other one is Comic Book. Comic Book conventions, unlike Film Noir conventions, are very obvious, they include things such as the Classic Propp Characters and extreme usage of special effects and over exaggerated non diegetic/diegetic sound. We more or less know straight away that this is a comic book film, because when John smashes through the door, the door breaks so easily and is propelled across the room, this shows the emphasis on special effects and lack of a reality, which is a huge convention of Comic Book.
     In the film there is a non-linear narrative, basically a narrative that doesn't follow a specific order, it isn't chronological. We see this in the film quite distinctly, because at the start of the film, John is murdered, but then about half way through we see him alive again with a villain that another protagonist killed, non-linear is a huge common convention used in Film Noir. Characters in the film also determine what kind of genre the film is, for example, the protagonists in Film Noir films often contain a physical or mental flaw, John has a heart condition, which is a physical flaw & Marv has a mental flaw which he needs to take pills for, he often questions whether what he sees is a reality. Marv is quite a down to earth kind of character, and is very depressed, this reflects the time in which the film was set, and says things such as "Hell is everyday waking up and not knowing why you're here" this shows the kind of character Marv is and also is a convention of Film Noir, as during The Cold War this is how the majority of people felt.
     Because of the fact this is a hybrid film, conventions within Sin City are often diluted, for example in typical Comic Book films, the protagonist is the perfect hero, never produces any kind of crime, never kills anyone, just captures the bad guy and arrests them and saves the day, however, in Sin City, this convention is diluted slightly because Film Noir is present, and the protagonists in Film Noir films are cynical, they do good deeds, but often torture their victims and kill innocent people, which brings me onto my next point about the iconography of the film and the characters. The protagonists all wear trench coats, this symbolises a cape, which obviously is a convention of Comic Book, but to show this convention is slightly diluted by Film Noir, when Marv tortures a suspect for information, he takes off the trench coat, to show he's no longer really that stereotypical hero anymore, he is doing bad things, for an overall good result.

To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?

     The chosen text I have studied is the film Fish Tank. Fish Tank is social realist film, which the majority of time show a realistic portrayal of British society. Fish Tank is very typical of it's genre with it's usage of technical codes, for example the hand held camera, a hand held camera is used in the majority of the scenes in the film to add to the realism, as if you're actually there with them. An example of this would be when Mia finds out Connor has left, and she runs out the house to try and find him, normally in a high budget mainstream film, running sequences are presented with lots of different camera angles, fast editing, etc. Where is in Fish Tank, a single hand held camera is used by a camera man running behind her to add to the effect that we are actually there with her, you see the camera bobbing up and down like you would in real life.
     Another technical convention used in Fish Tank to show that it's a social realist film is the use of diegetic sounds and the lack of non-diegetic sounds. In reality, there is no soundtrack to your life, so to add to the realism of the film, no non-diegetic music or sounds were used at all. In the scene where Mia, Mia's Mom & Sister and Connor are all in the car on the way to the lake to go fishing, diegetic music is used coming from the radio, this is more or less the only music you hear throughout the entire film, to once again add to the realism.

Narrative

"All texts follow similar narrative structures, how true is this of the film Taken?"

     The majority of films produced follow very similar narrative structures, Todorov has a theory that films all follow the same structure throughout the film, starting with an equilibrium, a disruption, the recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption & then everything is fixed and repaired and we return back to an equilibrium.

The film Taken is a very good example of this theory, it starts off with Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) buying a gift for his daughters birthday, Kim (Maggie Grace) and attending her party, everything is well and everyone is happy, this is the equilibrium. 






Kim then decides to go on a band tour across the whole of Europe following U2, she asks her Dad, but tells him she's only going to Paris, as he is a very paranoid man as he is an ex CIA agent and has seen the world and knows what it's like. The disruption begins when Kim is taken in her hotel by men who intend on putting her on drugs and turning her into a prostitute. 

According to Todorov, the next step in this narrative structure would be the recognition of the disruption, in this film that does happen, however, the recognition is pretty much instant, as Bryan is on the phone to Kim as she is taken. One of the men who have taken her pick up the phone and Bryan threatens him, with a very well known line which is "I don't know who you are, but if you don't let my daughter go, I will find you, and I will kill you" this is the recognition moving onto the next step which is the attempt to repair the damage.
  

The attempt to repair the damage is more or less shown throughout the entire film, as Bryan does his research, and attempts to find his daughter Kim, not letting anyone stop him in his way, killing many men in the process.

Bryan then kills the man who is keeping his daughter hostage and using her as a prostitute, after he is killed, they hug, and everything is restored and he takes her home. Bryan then takes Kim to a famous pop stars house, a pop star Bryan helped protect at her concert because he was part of security and Kim is a huge fan of hers. Because Kim wants to be a singer, she said she could come visit and she would listen to Kim and see what she sounds like and help her follow her dreams, which is, as Todorov said, the return to the equilibrium.

    

Western Films

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly are typical of it's western genre through it's conventions such as it's visual symbols. Straight away you are aware of the genre of the film because of the characters and what they are wearing. The characters all wear typical 'cowboy' outfits, with Hats, boots, etc, this connotes that they are in fact cowboys. Characters in a western are also well known to have facial hair, mustaches in particular, which all characters in this scene had. Guns are also shown in this scene, each character has one, which connotes a stand off which is a typical western convention. The location also tells us the film is a western, as the scene is set in the desert, which is a typical location for westerns to be placed.
In terms of the narrative there is always a hero, the one who wins the stand off and kills the enemy and triumphs and rides off on his horse, in this film, that character is Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood is a very iconic character of America and is often associated with the Western film genre.
Age is represented on this scene, all the men in this stand off Western scene are all middle aged, and they are all shown as very dominant and powerful, as during the stand off technical codes are used like close ups of there faces, and their faces show determination and power.

The Male Gaze

The James Bond franchise is a clear example of film objectifying females and forcing the audience to view females via the male gaze.  The scene within, "Die Another Day" when James Bond meets the character Jinx demonstrates my previous statement by creating a visual pleasure with usage of Technical elements. For example when Jinx comes out of the water a slow motion effect is added to give a Socophillic effect. This then forcefully puts you in the Male Gaze as you are forced to linguir on her body for a longer period of time, who at this point is objectified. This creates a hyper reality, as you don't view women in slow motion, however much you want to. This is creating a constructed representation of women, with no identity, just for visual pleasure. This is then extended even further when Jinx leaves the water as she sways her body from left to right as she walks to pick up her towel, this is once again done to create that Socophillia effect, as in reality no woman does that. This film is creating a re-constructed representation of women. Later in the scene a close up of Jinx's face is shown, she is wearing make up to emphasize she is attractive, if a women wore make up to go swimming, when she got out the make up would be running all down her face, this yet again creates a hyper reality, it's almost as if we are in a Patriarchal Society, where men dictate the rules. The usage of Non Diegetic music gives the scene a kind of dream feeling, like Bond is in paradise and is in control, creating a hegemonic idea. Jinx is quite obviously a passive character, she is a character used purely for visual pleasure, just to be looked at.

My Uses & Gratifications

My favourite TV show is 'Two and a Half Men'. I watch this show for entertainment, social intergration & also I can personally identify with some characters. I get entertainment from this show from it's comedy elements & slight adult humour, for example when one of the characters is upset he has his face down on the table, and his brother walks in and says 'if you knew what I'd done on the table recently you wouldn't put your face down on it' and instantly he jumps up, creating adult humor which I enjoy in shows, but at times there is a lot of drama, which I also enjoy. Me and my friends tend to discuss the episodes and have a laugh about certain parts, which links into social integration. But also on the show is a son, who is around my age and him and his friends get into lots stupid situations, which at times, I can relate to, so I enjoy seeing what kinds of things he does, which relates to personally identifying with the characters.

Representations in Film Trailers

Taken

This film trailer shows representations of genders, it shows the male as very dominant, masculine and skillful, with lots of power, for example when Liam Neesons character is trying to get information from a man he is forcing him to talk by punching him repetitively in the ribs, however, the women are shown as easily dominated and weak, as the daughter gets taken by men, once again showing the men have the power. This trailer also shows a negative representation of Paris, as that is where this is set, and is also where the girls get taken and turned into prostitutes.

Audience

A niche audience:
A niche audience is a certain specific audience, a small audience that would be interested in a certain text.

A mainstream audience:
A mainstream audience is a much wider range audience, certain programmes that a lot people of can either gain information from or get a certain gratification out of.

Examples of niche media texts:

MUTV is a niche media text because even though Football is very very mainstream, this particular channel concentrates on a specific team, meaning only people who support Manchester United will tune in to this channel. It's also niche because it's a channel that costs extra to buy, and not everyone will be willing to spend extra, so only true Manchester United fans will tune into this channel.

Classic Fm is also a niche media text because Classical Music isn't a very popular music genre, mainly the elderly like this type of music, so they're really the only kind of people that will be tuning into this radio station and listening to the music.

Kerrang Magazine is quite a tricky one because it could fall under both a niche media text & a mainstream media text. The reason for this being mainstream is because Rock music is a still a very popular music genre spread across both genders and all ages, however, there are certain people who dislike rock music, so they wont buy this magazine, also, the majority of the elder fans of rock wont buy these magazines because they can't really personally identify with the people in the magazine as they are mostly quite young, this is what makes Kerrang Magazine a niche media text.

Examples of a mainstream media text:

The X Factor is a very mainstream media text as it is shown on ITV 1 at 8pm on a Saturday Night. ITV is a very popular channel so many people will watch, and on a Saturday Night no-one will be at work so the majority of people will be watching TV. On the show are a wide range of contestants, so everyone is able to personally identify with the people on the show. This also gives off a huge amount of entertainment with things like Comedy & Drama. There is also an element of social integration, where people the next day will talk about what happened on the show, and if you didn't see it, you will feel left out. Also, ITV is a free channel to view, so this will attract even more people.

Friends is a mainstream media text because it has numerous amounts of genres involved, like Comedy, Drama, Romance, etc. It is played on E4, quite a popular channel. The characters are both male and female so the audience will be able to personally identify with the characters. There is also once again an element of social integration. E4 is also, once again, a free channel, attracting more people.

Big Brother is a mainstream media text because it is reality TV, so straight away people will be able to personally identify with the people in the show, also, the people picked for the show are very different, black people, gay people, etc, so straight away it will attract a much wider range of audience. Big Brother is shown on Channel 4, which is free, attracting more people. It is shown at around 9pm, 'prime time' as it is known as because it's the time the majority of people will be at home watching TV.