Essay

How are Beyonce Knowles and Britney Spears represented within the media?

Up until the 1980’s women were portrayed and seen as the less dominant of the sexes from the society’s perspective, there would be clear binary opposites between women and males, being that women were only seen as a “male gaze” and a mother or wife, never an independent woman who provides for herself and her family – she would always depend on a male. Whereas, the males would be rough and ready, the more dominant and successful. But after this era, the boundaries changed in society and women were able to have the same traits as the men – they could now be seen as successful women and stars as well as the ideal wife, mother and role model material.

Women would always be objectified as “the body” or the “gaze” within the media and this analysis of women was consistent. Laura Mulvey (1975) argues that “the dominant point of view within cinema is masculine, especially where a woman is concerned. The female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to provide erotic pleasure (voyeurism), and ultimately a sense of control over her".

Worldwide phenomenon’s Beyonce Knowles and Britney Spears are prime examples of the “male gaze” in the media today because not only are they highly successful, independent women that have worked hard for what they have achieved, they are beautiful women who are popular with both the male audience and the female audience. Both women have been in the public eye and not far from the tabloids throughout most of their life, from being young teenagers they have been in music videos and films looking elegant and very appealing to their audience.

An example of Beyonce portraying herself as the ‘’male gaze’’, would be in her music video for ‘Dance For You’. From the very beginning of the video, Beyonce is constantly teasing us which instantly entices us and makes us want to keep watching. Throughout the video her clothing is short, revealing and constantly hugging her voluptuous figure whilst she sings lyrics like ‘I wanna show you how much you got your girl feeling good’ and dances seductively for her partner. We then begin to see close up shots of the male and his reaction towards Beyonce, which is always positive and satisfied and he is always paying 100% attention towards her. But then, we then get tracking shots and close up shots of Beyonce looking directly at us and singing to us. This direct mode of address satisfies us as viewers and keeps us engaged to make us continue feeling as if it is us that she is teasing and taunting. The video consists of seductive and sexy dance moves, sexual related lyrics and various different types of camera shots in order to see Beyonce at her best. As well as this, for a vast majority of the video, there is a spotlight on Beyonce which ensures that all eyes are on her and it enhances her beauty for her audience. The male barely moves and his eyes are constantly on her and it is clear that he is satisfied with the performance she did for him which leaves us as viewers satisfied too.

An example of Britney Spears portraying herself as a “male gaze” would be in her music video for “Toxic” where she too seduces and takes charge of her male opponent as well as wearing sexy revealing outfits and singing sexual related lyrics such as “I’m addicted to you, don’t you know that you’re toxic”. As well as this, she sings to her audience which entices and gains attention from the male audience. As well as seducing the males within the music video, she is using the direct mode of address throughout the video which entices her audience and makes them feel as if she seducing them. Whether it is the males within the music video or her audience, Britney Spears has full control and all eyes are on her. As an audience, we feel satisfied after seeing Britney looking sexy and dominant.

Both videos from Beyonce and Britney prove that they are a positive representation of femininity, they both dominate their male opponent and make them feel good, which shows a positive change in representation for females, rather than them being the typical housewife, they can be sexy and the more dominant sex.

Within the media today, we are told and shown of what the “ideal woman” should be; slim, sexy, beautiful and successful. According to Studying the Media; An Introduction, articles, news reports, photographs and other media would be seen as “providing step-by-step instructions into how to achieve womanhood, with two main roles being central to that status: 'wife' and 'mother'’ which would help a woman achieve “perfectness” which would include being a good wife, a good mother, overcoming misfortune such as a personal crisis, and as well as that, being an independent woman.

Beyonce and Britney are both mothers and are or has been a wife, who are both independent and hard working to provide for their families and be seen as the independent woman.

Beyonce Knowles has been married to worldwide superstar, Jay Z for five years and been together for ten years. In 2012 they had their first child Blue Ivy Carter which gained full attention of people all over the world and up until this point, the couple kept their private life as much out of the media as possible, they were very private but still satisfied their fans with collaborations and videos with each other such as “Crazy In Love” and “ Upgrade U” but after a year of their daughter’s birth, Beyonce began to let her fans in on what is her “greatest achievement” – her daughter. She began putting pictures of her family on Instagram and created a documentary called “Life Is But A Dream” in early 2013 which focuses on her life. Before her documentary premiered, Beyonce featured on Oprah’s Next Chapter and we see Beyonce like we never have before. She not only discusses her passion and successful career of performing but she emotionally in-depth discusses her unconditional love for her daughter, husband and family and archi-footage of the family in her documentary. In the interview, Beyonce emotionally states that “I’m a mother and it’s what I am the most proud of and having my daughter just made everything make sense to me. I cannot imagine my life now if I didn’t have my daughter. My story for “Life Is But a Dream was not complete or ready to release until I had my daughter”. She continuously discusses with Oprah her love for her family, her passion for her career and life which portrays Beyonce as both, a great mother who loves her daughter but keeps her safe from the media, a loving wife who respects and admires her man and as well as that, an independent woman. Oprah describes Beyonce as a woman who “balances between being the fierce independent woman as well as being a woman who loves and adores her man and a loving mother”.

Britney Spears however, is not always portrayed as the better mother or lover. In July 2004 she became engaged to a dancer, Kevin Federline who she had known for only 3 months, who was already involved with another woman. In 2005, she gave birth to their first child Sean Preston Federline and her second, Jayden James Federline in 2006 before filing for her divorce two months later. A newspaper article from Daily Mail in October 2007 showed Britney Spears in a very negative way –  the newspaper report discusses, Britney Spears losing full custody to her two children due to drug abuse, poor parental skills and her families fear for her safety and well-being. The article also includes images caught of Britney Spears by the paparazzi hounding her when she is struggling, rather than seeing her defend herself and protecting her children and because we do not see the protecting side of Britney Spears, the paparazzi continue to take advantage and portray her in negative ways. She is described as a “drug abuser”, “terrible mother”, a “train wreck” and “embarrassing”. Britney Spears might be successful in the music industry but articles such as this, show that Britney Spears has not achieved womanhood by being a good mother and wife.  
  

A2 - Essay Plan

Title- 
How does Beyonce Knowles and Britney Spears represent females within the media? 

Proposal- 
For my coursework, I am going to research and present the ways in which women within the media are represented, specifically looking at two very famous women, Beyonce Knowles and Britney Spears. 

Why I am doing this research-
I am undertaking this research because both women are very popular and have a huge fan base but I am interested in their differences between one another, as well as their similarities. 

Where my material will come from-
I am going to look at several different resource material in order to complete my investigation. Such as, books, music videos from the artists, posters, interviews from the stars and newspaper/magazine articles based on them. 

1st Resource Material- Book (for bibliography)

O’Sullivan, T., Dutton, B. & Rayner, P., (1994). Studying the Media, an introduction. Edward Arnold: London

- "The concept of representation embodies the theme that the media constructs meanings about the world, and in doing so, help audiences to make sense of it. For representation to be meaningful to audiences, there needs to be a shared recognition of people situations, ideas, etc" 

(Footnote - Tim O'Sullivan, Brian Dutton & Philip Raynor - 1994 - Page 113) 

-"The objectification of women's bodies in the media has been a consistent theme in analyses of women's representation. Laura Mulvey (1975) argues that the dominant point of view within cinema is masculine, especially where a women is concerned.The female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to provide erotic pleasure (voyeurism), and ultimately a sense of control over her" 

(Footnote - Tim O'Sullivan, Brian Dutton & Philip Raynor - 1994 - Page 134)

-"Women's magazines could be seen as providing step-by-step instructions into how to achieve womanhood, with two main roles being central to that status: 'wife' and 'mother'. 

-"Marjorie Ferguson (1983), surveying changes in women magazines in post-war Britain, identifies two main changes. First, there has been a shift from 'getting and keeping your man' to 'self-help'. This involves 'achieving perfection' (being a better mother, lover, worker, cook and staying slim) and 'overcoming misfortune' (such as physical or emotion crises). Second, the role of paid worker or 'independent woman' has emerged from the mid 1970s in magazines like Cosmopolitan." 

(Footnote - Tim O'Sullivan, Brian Dutton & Philip Raynor - 1994 - Page 138)

Second Resource Material - Music Video's

1. Beyonce Knowles - Dance For You (Released 2011)
 For bibliography: Beyonce Knowles. (2011). Dance For You. [Online Video] November 27th. Available from : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGc9n6BiWXA.

2. Britney Spears - Toxic (Released January 13th 2004)
 For bibliography: Britney Spears. (2004). Toxic. [Online Video] October 24th 2009. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU

Third Resource Material - Album Covers

Album Covers

Fourth Resource Material - Promotional Posters

Beyonce - Promotional Poster for Pulse perfume 

Britney - Promotional Poster for Radiance perfume

Fifth Resource Material - Interviews

1. Beyonce: Oprah's Next Chapter With Beyonce (Released 2013)
For bibliography: Oprah's Next Chapter. (2013) Beyonce. [Online Video] Febuary 17th.
Available from: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxkbu5_oprah-s-next-chapter-beyonce_lifestyle

2. Britney: Dateline Interview (Released 2006)
For bibliography: Dateline. (2006). Britney Spears. [Online Video] September 4th 2011. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmKZdo2FR8c

Sixth Resource Material - Articles 

Beyonce: Marie Claire Article - http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-claire/features/society-celeb/article/-/19190897/beyonce-talks-marriage-and-motherhood/

Britney: Glamour Magazine Article - http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2008/12/britney-spears-starts-over

Daily Mail - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-485067/Suicide-watch-Britney-loses-kids--goes-tanning-salon.html

Evaluation Report (1)

Evaluation Report

Georgia

Pre-Production

In order to create a good script for my six-part British TV Series, I had to undertake several research tasks to find out exactly how to write one, what to include and what it should look like.

I started by jotting down ideas for the potential television programme, this included thinking of what genre it would be, the basic storyline and character types. My idea of a TV programme was based on a young teenage girl who is obsessed with a celebrity icon but problems occur every time she gets the chance to meet him, but her rebellious attitude does not allow her to miss it, she is willing to do anything to get what she wants.

To establish whether or not my initial idea would work, I created a questionnaire to hand out to members of the public to find out what kind of television programmes appealed to them, this was an important part of the process as it portrayed people’s interests and views of my idea. If my initial idea appealed to them and what I can do in order to make it more appealing to my audience. This was a helpful part of the process because I could then take their opinions and ideas and include them in my first draft of the script which I then went on to create. But, I was only able to include the basic storyline because research on how to properly create a script had not been carried out yet.

After creating my first draft, I was able to identify that it was not looking like a screenplay and undertook some research to find out the generic conventions of scripts, to do this I thoroughly read and compared two script examples to establish how they are developing and becoming a successful storyline. I read the scripts to an episode of the American Sitcom, Friends and an English, reality/drama, Eastenders. By doing this, I established several similarities between the two scripts, being that, both of the scripts included stage directions that where within brackets so that they was not mistaken for monologues, when a new scene was about to begin, it said ''CUT TO'' or ''CONVERT TO'' to make it clear that a new scene/setting is going to take place, they were both clearly set in a realistic environment and both programmes last up to approximately half an hour. By looking at the similarities between the two scripts, I was able to realise that what they had in common was what I should include in my TV Script.

Whilst watching television, I realised several similarities and differences between, American Sitcom, “Friends” and British Soap, “Hollyoaks”. I identified that there were an average of ten main storylines that occurred in either of the television programmes, an average of twenty scene changes and an average of fifteen characters that appeared. This impacted me when it came to creating my second script because I were able to take this research and add more storylines to my programme to develop it more, put in more locations to add more realism to it, include more characters to involve within the storylines.

Subsequently, I was then able to create my second draft. I took the research from the two television programmes into consideration and was able devise them in to my second draft to improve it slightly before carrying out more research.

I then undertook more research and created a focus group test which consisted of asking five people to read my second draft and answer six questions about it to try and help me improve my third draft. I asked them open questions to allow a more specific response to help me improve. By asking these questions, I was able to take their responses into consideration and explore them to help me further on in the Pre-Production process and create a script that fit the generic conventions. The third draft was then created.

At this point, my script still was not looking like a screenplay, so in order to get my script up to those standards, I carried out more internet research, this included establishing how to lay out a script for a British Television Programme and other guidelines such as the specific font type. I identified how to properly create and lay out the script and it impacted by fourth draft. I then went on to create my fourth draft and included as much of the research that I could. For example, the font type being “Courier” and the font size being “12-Point”, as well as that, how and where to include stage directions, how to introduce a new character and so on. By now, the script was beginning to visually look like a screenplay.

To find out whether my fourth script was successful and up to the correct standards, I had to get people to act out my script so that I was able to watch and analyse thoroughly to identify flaws within the script. I noted down what I thought could be improved and took that into further consideration. I identified that there was some difficulties within the wording and the time pace seemed to drag on. This allowed me to revise over my script and adjust it adequately the final time.

I decided to do this particular genre and style of a Television series for a target audience of children and teens aged between 12-17 because the storylines included are ones that they could relate to. For example; the typical teenage tantrums and behaviours and conflict between the children and their parents.

Production

The next task to undertake was to create a DVD cover for the release of the series, followed by a promotional poster to advertise for the series that we had previously created.

The first thing I did was researched and analysed three DVD covers. The DVD covers that I analysed were; “Being Human”, “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air”. By analysing these specific DVD covers, I was able to identify what conventions to include in my DVD cover when I came to create mine. By looking at the cover of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, I interpreted that this specific programme would include comedy and drama; this impression was given because of the image we have placed on the front cover and the background colours. We have a clear picture of the main protagonist, Will Smith and it is clear that he is the main protagonist in the show because of his individual image placed at the very front of the cover – I decided to take this as an idea from my DVD cover and use bright place the main protagonist right at the front of the DVD cover, signifying their importance. The family are placed further back in the picture and are looking in Will's direction. Their individual facial expression comes across as either happy or laughing at Will or the smiling and laughing at him - further leading to us having a sense of comedy again, or disappointed and angry with him, which would then create enigma for the audience too because we want to know why ones are mad and why others are laughing – because of the style of my television series, this impacted my idea because including the same facial expressions in reaction to my main protagonists behaviour, it could portray the same idea to my audience. We are also given the idea of stereotypical teenagers, due to the fact that he has a smug look and looks as if he does not care and the clothing; being tracksuits and chains. I also decided to take this idea and have my main character, who happens to be a teenager looking as if she does not care either and look mischievous.

When looking at the DVD cover of “The Big Bang Theory”, I liked the font that they used and the colours used; broad, capital letters are used for the title which gives the impression that it isn't particularly girly because it isn't fluent and nice colours, it's black and red which may portray a sense of mischief or bad behaviour and due to my series including mischief, I wanted to have a bold lettered title with a “dangerous” colour, such as red.

When looking at the DVD cover of “Being Human”, the female character can be interpreted in two ways; one being that she is a representation of the male gaze by her seductive facial expression and her mysterious side, or infact that she is a representation of masculinity due to the fact that she is comfortable in the prescence of two males, there is no other females and there is no representation of 'the body' shown in her on this picture which shows masculine strength. I wanted to take this idea for my DVD cover and make my picture of my female character look dominant and mysterious – creating enigma for my audience.

I then began to design thumbnail ideas for my DVD cover, I did this by drawing up eight brief sketches of different ways that I could structure my cover, I then chose my four favourite ones and drew them out again and adding annotations of what colours would be used, the main features and so on. I then chose my two favourite ones and drew them bigger, fully annotating them and drawing the pictures out properly to get a better idea, in order to carry out a focus group test, involving myself asking other people, preferably around the target audience age, which one looked better. By looking at audiences opinions on my DVD covers, I was able to create a DVD cover to suit my audience.

I then followed the same procedure when making my DVD poster, I l researched and analysed promotional posters for a television series, being; Shameless, Prison Break and Criminal Minds. By doing this, I was able to again identify what conventions to include when it came to me creating my promotional poster and take ideas from what I see on these promotional posters. By looking at the poster for the American TV show Criminal Minds and looking at the characters placed on this poster, I realise that the lighting behind them is black, creating a shadow on one side of each of the characters face - this suggests to me that they all have a different side to them, for example they might be serious when it comes to work but they are nice people, or that they might have something to hide. I wanted to take an idea like this for when I came to create my promotional poster and use a black background to either create a sense of danger and mischief or use it to shadow the main protagonist to again make her look mischievous and sly. I then decided that I wanted to include similar styles to what I decided for my DVD cover. Likewise with the pre-production stages and getting ideas for my DVD cover, undertook another focus group test in order to gain more specific responses involving their opinions on my ideas. I was then able to take their suggestions in to consideration and make the amendments that I needed to in order to create my promotional poster.

The demographic of my television programme is young people aged from 12-17 years old. I had to take this in to consideration when creating my DVD cover and promotional poster and ensure that the aspects featured suit the target audience as well as the genre of the television programme, this includes the use of colour, font style and character positions.

For my DVD cover and promotional poster, I used a black background with red, bold font to portray the idea that my television programme could contain mischievous behaviour and although the main protagonist is a female and it contains female teenage drama, it is not typically girly and by using a black background, it makes the images and font stand out clearer. The use of font is also formal and simplistic, it is rounded and bold which is clearly readable and visible to the eye which will attract my audience, the font I used was “impact” which is similar to the researched DVD cover of “The Big Bang Theory” which was also effective. Also, the use of the “VIVA” channel logo also determines the demographic. After carrying out research, I am aware that this specific channel is aimed at and appeals young people and it mostly features teenage or children programmes.

The DVD cover and promotional poster use various visual and technical codes. The use of the main female protagonist on the front cover of the DVD cover portrays the fact that everything is going to be based around her, her facial expression is smug and makes her look mischievous which is a stereotypical trait of young teenagers which the alternative audience being elder people or adults and parents will have against young people. The main protagonist is the only character placed on the front of the DVD cover and the promotional poster; I chose to do this so that she was a representation of the young youth in today’s culture.

The editing and the use of a black background highlights the female protagonists face and makes her look angelic. The sharp contrast makes her look this way and appear to be brighter, symbolising that young people are full of life but the use of the red lipstick on her and the red font, symbolises the idea of danger and trouble.

The theory of Roland Barthes narrative codes suggests that the DVD cover and poster use the semic code. This is due to the use of facial expressions and body language used; the target audience who can refer to these are able to interpret it and make their own connotations and values, again reaching the demographics needs.

Additionally, this leads to the audience affect theory of uses and gratifications. My television programme will engage with the media because of the use of “surveillance” – my audience would use this as means of voyeurism and an insight of people similar to themselves, they will be able to relate to at least one event within the programme, whereas the alternative audience would use this as a means of curiosity of what young people are like and get up to – creating stereotypes. The use of “escapism” which the audience will use as a means of entertainment. Also, the use of “personal identity”, the viewers will be able to form an identity based on what they like and project themselves, like the main protagonist and due to the age of the target audience being young teenagers, the use of “personal relationships” are also portrayed because they will be able to discuss the television show with people around their similar age group, creating word of mouth and hopefully a wider audience.

Furthermore, media theorist Laura Mulvey suggests that females and males are used in the media for pleasure and argues that the media relies on voyeurism, making the male or female characters a “gaze” that the audience are attracted to. The female protagonist in my television programme could be seen as a male gaze in the eyes of teenagers due to her blonde hair, red lipstick and mysterious attitude.

In conclusion, the DVD cover and promotional poster required adequate and deep research in order to suit the audiences needs and interest and make it to the best of potential. Without all of the research on DVD covers and promotional posters, mine would not of been able to of been created due to the fact of myself having no knowledge on how to.

Microsoft Publisher Design (Poster)

Focus Group

After drawing up my initial ideas for a TV Poster, I had to show several people my final 2 annotated and more detailed pictures and pick which one was the best in order to create a proper poster on the computer, the chosen idea was...

Thumbnail Design Ideas for Poster (hand-drawn)

Firstly, I did 8 thumbnail designs with brief ideas on where the title was going to be placed, the pictures, the blurb and etc. Here they are....

Then I chose my best 4 and annotated them....

Then I chose my best 2 and drew them out in better detail....

TV Poster Analysis 3

Prison Break

By looking at this TV poster for a programme, I am given the interpretation that this particular TV show is along the lines of crime/action/mystery. I am given this idea because of the lighting, it is very dull and suttle and has numerous shadow edits, especially on the male at the right hand side. Half of his face is shadowed, giving the impression that he has something to hide or there is another side to him. This character is also placed in front of the other male, perhaps showing that he is more superior to the other male. He also seems to be in more dull colours than the male at the front, hes in black and white where as the male at the front has his skin colour and the colours of his clothing.

We cannot judge the front character by his clothing because we can only see a midshot of his chest and upwards. But, it appears to be almost like a prison suit that he is wearing, partly backing up the theory of mystery within this programme. His facial expression is very serious and looks as if he is not to be messed with, where as the male at the back of the picture appears to be less superior, it looks as if he is tied up because we can see chains near his body, giving the impression that these two particular characters may have had some rivalry between them. With this character, you only see half of his face/body from the side so again, we are not able to make a full judgement but it does give the idea that he too may have something to hide. Both of these ideas create enigma for the audience because we want know if and why there was any rivalry and what they have got to hide.

The Mise En Scene on this poster appears to be very dull lighting and a simple setting, perhaps in a prison cell/bathroom, again adding to the sense of mystery. The lighting is very dark, but the stream of light coming from the window creates shadowing on both of the characters.

The title of this particular TV Show is randomly placed between the two characters in a small, bold font. However, the colour of the title is red giving the impression that danger is involved.