ILL MANORS MUSIC VIDEO: EXAM QUESTIONS

              

media forms - competed on paper

media representation 

Many representations are made throughout this music video, firstly the representation of men has been negative, this is the alternative representation as men are stereotyped to be more violent and aggressive than females, this is an exaggerated version of male characteristics and therefore links with Dyer's theory of stereotyping as he claims that stereotypes are exaggerated versions of the truth and is applied to the whole group - as shown in the music video, as men had dominated the aggression shown. Plan B has also challenged this theory, because some females were shown in the video, being involved in anti-social behaviour and his challenges the 'lady-like' stereotype which is of them being calm, kind and well behaved. In addition gender is also represented once again but linked to Berger's theory on ways of seeing, as he stated that 'men act and women appear'. This theory links to the music video because what is happening is that the men are being aggressive and 'acting', and the females shown are mainly just being sidekicks, and not doing much - therefore they are just appearing whilst the men act. Race has also been represented in a alternative and dominant representations, firstly because the man shown leading the crowd in the video is a British white boy - PLAN B, who wouldn't usually be stereotped./known to behave aniti-socially. This also links in to stereotypes and Medhurt's theory of stereotypes being used as a shorthand for us to identify things, in this case it would the youths being seen negatively as they are seen wearing hoodies and trainers, through the media clothing of such type have been stereotyped as being negative. Therefore when the youths are seen wearing trainers and hoodies we see them in a negative way. Furthermore, this also links in to Cohen's theory of folk devils and moral panic. as we see the youths behaving badly and creating chaos it shows it fuels the stereotype that all youths are bad are no good to society, this creates a moral panic as people begin to believe this as that is how youths are always portrayed in media. The majority of the music video is made up of teenagers and youths, this to the audience connotes that all teenagers are bad and useless as they are shown behaving badly and doing things that would go against the norms and values of society for example, they are seen rioting. Dyer's theory of ''those with less power are being stereotyped by those with more power'' can also be applied in this case as Plan B suggests that the politicians and the media are stereotyping the youth in order to manipulate the public to believe the youth are 'scums of the world'.

 

media institution - In what ways is his video a typical music video, what does it promote?
The music video is a montage video which means that it is a load of scenes that have been put together to create a video clip. i believe that a montage video has been used to show a fast paced life style as the scenes cut very quickly, also as it is a montage video and the type of music that is playing could connote that the people in the music video live broken lifestyles or they come from broken families.

We also see an alternative lifestyle being shown in the music video as usually we would expect to see a very glamorous music video with fancy cars, big houses, lots of money and half naked girls, but in this we see the total opposite of that. This has been done to sow what life is really like and what life is actually like for the people living in such areas. It also adds to the fact that it is a low budget music video but with a lot of meaning, as when Plan B is rapping he doesn't promote a negative lifestyle he talks about the actual problems that these youths are facing and why they are doing such things. furthermore most people would think that this a entertaining music video but when you focus on what is being said it is actually an educational music video, as Plan B is trying to get a message across of why teenagers and youths behave the way they do and why they do such things.

media audiences- Who does this text/artist appeal to and why? 

I think that this music would appeal to teenagers, youths and people that live similar lifestyles to the ones shown on the music video, as they would be able to relate to the situations that are being shown in the music video. They may have also been a part of some of the things shown in the music video e.g. the riots. It would relate to a C1, C2, D, and E 14 - 25 Demographic. People of that age and demographic that would be most likely to understand the circumstances of the people shown in the music video.