Sin City being my chosen text is classified as a Hybrid of Film Noir & Comic book genre, making Sin City a post modern text, this means that the genres conventions are mixed to create a new appealing genre to appeal to a wider range of audiences.
Sin city is a film made in 2005 based on a graphic novel which focuses on street wars between groups of prostitutes and mercenaries, violence, romance and horror is openly expressed in this film, it contains elements of various genres allowing it to attract many audiences.
Film Noir is known as black film in french, this genre consists of dark but modern features, this was expressed in Sin City by low key lighting, the majority of the film was black/white with key subjects such as the colour red in high contrast to create denotations & connotations for the viewer, making the film more appealing and creating suspense for the audience.
In the scene which involves the first action/fight scene with Hartigan, typical conventions of Film Noir are displayed. During the fight sequence the contrast & brightness is kept low, the scene remains in black & white to change the mood of the audience and represent dark danger by having flashing lamp posts and many other conventions such as rain and thunder with lightening effects. when Hartigan is betrayed by Bob and shot continuously, No audio sound of Hartigan in pain is played, instead a non diegetic voice over is done of Hartigan in a masculine, deep voice discussing how he's been betrayed by his 'partner' Bob in his attempt to rescue the little girl. Diegetic sound is used throughout scene with rain pouring down in the dark streets, a girl crying at the death of Hartigan and gun shots; all these are typical conventions of Film noir.
the comic book genre is openly reflected in Sin city, Unrealistic/superhuman abilities on characters such as Mark represent this genre. In the scene where Mark is framed for Goldie's death, unrealistic stunts are performed by Mark to escape the scene (e.g jumping down the flight of stairs whilst getting shot), he then jumps across roof tops and finally he survives multiple bullet wounds relating Mark to a superhero, in reality this is clearly not possible therefore making this scene a typical Comic book genre text. The structure of the scenes are also related to this genre (equilibrium, new equilibrium & disequilibrium)
Friday 16 November 2012
Wednesday 7 November 2012
'What can an analysis of the representations of Chris Brown and 50 Cent reveal about stereotypical attitudes to contemporary music?'
Akshay's Research Investigation
'What can an analysis of the representations of Chris Brown and 50 Cent reveal about stereotypical attitudes to contemporary music?' These artists music genres create a great influence in the current modern society, they target the majority of young audiences across the world, stereotypical values are reflected on each of the artist to create a role model for many of their audiences. Representation for these celebrities are strictly unique to make them socially acceptable, allowing them to be popular. Attitudes to contemporary music tend to change regularly for audiences, however for the artists they stay the same throughout, creating a strong, expressive artist. By doing my research I am looking to find out how deeply the impact of Chris Browns & 50 Cents music has on its audiences and society.
For my research investigation I chose to analyse two media texts, the texts includes 2 album covers, both by different representatives. The 2 artists chosen for the album covers were rappers Chris Brown and 50 Cent, these are two competitive artists with a different style and representation, for example the style of music and individual identity differs from a normal teenagers or a young adults life, they create motivation for different types of targeted audiences; however, they both create similar type of music (RnB, Pop and Hip Hop). The aim for my research is to compare and contrast the two album covers (F.A.M.E by Chris Brown & Get Rich Or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent) and reveal how they appeal to different types of audiences and how this effects their behaviour considering masculinity.
For my research investigation I chose to analyse two media texts, the texts includes 2 album covers, both by different representatives. The 2 artists chosen for the album covers were rappers Chris Brown and 50 Cent, these are two competitive artists with a different style and representation, for example the style of music and individual identity differs from a normal teenagers or a young adults life, they create motivation for different types of targeted audiences; however, they both create similar type of music (RnB, Pop and Hip Hop). The aim for my research is to compare and contrast the two album covers (F.A.M.E by Chris Brown & Get Rich Or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent) and reveal how they appeal to different types of audiences and how this effects their behaviour considering masculinity.
The theories that will be applied for my research will be uses and gratifications and issues of representation, I will be focusing in detail on how targeted audiences (such as teenagers and females for Chris Brown as his music is more soft and expresses love songs the majority of times, and young teenagers to young adult aged men for 50 Cent as his music is far more aggressive and male dominated than other artists) react to the music created by these two artists and how it effects their lifestyle, norms and values along with how the audience interpret the text.
One of the main issues which arise from the representation from these two artists concern masculinity, both artists appeal differently to different groups of audiences. In some cases 50 cent appeals more as a dangerous and evil type of character due to his style, music and past, as reviewed by many audiences;[16] where as Chris brown appeals as more of an 'cool' and 'non violent' towards his audiences, this is because Chris Brown didn't go through as much of a struggle as 50 cent,[11] various reviews and conventions are created based on how he is represented on his music videos, this creates a female-friendly character for Chris Brown and strictly masculine for 50 cent.
Masculinity is a major issue in the media as it reflects on the behaviour on the male gender which listen to the artists music, for example, the male audiences that listen to 50 cent are likely to be more aggressive and verbally aggressive as 50 cent tends to swear often in his songs e.g 'P.I.M.P', comparing this to Chris Brown, he has a reputation for being more friendly and less aggressive as he has a more emotional approach with his songs e.g 'with you'. The artists became role models for their audiences creating a huge fan base, which then act and behave the same way as they do in their songs, as people resolve their life mottos around lyrics and participate in buying merchant goods such as T-shirts based on their role models to relate or show appreciation.
I looked closely at the album F.A.M.E by Chris Brown and Get Rich Or Die Tryin' by 50 cent by analysing songs on the album with in depth research on reviews and feedback from many other artists in the same genres. On the album F.A.M.E Chris brown created a number of mixed genre songs such as RnB with a mix of Hip-Hop and Pop and romance [11] 'She ain't you', 'beautiful people', 'next to you', many of his songs feature artists which appeal to a variety of audiences and both genders, e.g Justin Bieber 'Next to you'. However, opposing audiences create conflict for his songs due to their personal opinions [15], Strictly masculine males believe that Chris brown is not suitable for the Rap/hip-hop genre of music due to his previous songs and who he features with on his tracks and his personal identity (were he's from, how he behaves, who he targets his music at), Chris brown has many talents which include acting dancing and singing, expanding his professions allows him to appeal to a variety of audiences with similar tastes, for example dancers with an interest in his music like street dancers, he creates inspiration for many of his audiences, this separates him from 50 cent which is limited to his professions.
50 cents album Get Rich Or Die Tryin' represents 50 cents lifestyle, he always has a masculine theme by the way he looks (90s gangster clothing, snapback durag etc), his personal identity (aggressive attitude towards music, focuses on nothing but money) and power over the music industry, he was known to be the 2nd richest artist at one stage just below Jay Z, making him a rival. 50 cent differs in various ways and forms from Chris Brown as he's represented by the media as less socially friendly in his songs, due to 50 cents history, being brought up in a violent urban estate in New York Queens, facing money problems which got him arrested for dealing drugs, he was also shot 9x and survived, recovered and dominated the music industry[12]. His behaviour is stereotyped as a typical 'gangster' and 'dangerous or violent' male from the South Side of New York, as well as wealthy, his album GRODT' being a hit in various countries around the world shows how his audience has reached a wide range [12]. 50 cent tends to target audiences which have been in a struggle in their life, to help motivate or influence fans by creating deep meaningful lyrics (e.g from the song 'Many Men'), this highly effects his audience as they interpret what he says and try to fit it in their lifestyle, e.g some of his lyrics from 'High all the time' encourages the uses of drugs.
Although 50 cent may be represented as a dark, vivid by the pictures in his album covers, he appears a not so educated male, however another reason for success in his career involved his business partnerships with Reebok and Coca cola, this changed personal opinions from competitors such as Jay-Z and many fans [12] as well as being a successful rapper and influencing young adults or teenagers he's managed to influence professional boxers into business men like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, 50 cent's also a shareholder of 'Vitamin Water' and many other merchandises, as well as being a solo artists he's the CEO of the music group 'G-Unit' which includes many successful rap artists [18] this suggests that he was for more intelligent and succesfull than it appeared.
Chris Brown's album cover for F.A.M.E (1) contains many enigma codes, for example the various amount of bright colours associated with the rainbow, the connotations a reader would get from this would be a joyful, happy and a unique album, implying change as a person; in a marketing view, these effects could also work on the consumer as they could be attracted easily to the album cover. Chris Brown has used an artistic approach for his album colour by using graffiti-slang type font and artistic styled colours and a picture-collage in the background, all these codes are representing a different type of male as an artist. F.A.M.E stands for Forgiving All My Enemies, this supports the fact that he is trying to change as an artist to perhaps become more friendly towards his fans and competitors. Chris Brown having a poor history with Rihanna (domestic violence allegations) could have been the cause for this album cover name as a form of apology or implication of a new man. As a role model, this convinces fans or potential listeners to be encouraged to be more apologetic and create changes in their lifestyle, becoming more socially friendly and less aggressive.
I have found from my research that Chris Brown has various types of audiences (from both genders to a various age group of people) around the world, songs such as 'International Love' (which sold 500,000 copies within 3 weeks based on total album sales)[11] aimed for audiences across the world allows his music to spread and become more popular not only in america, but other states, both genders appreciate his work, they are deeply influenced by his actions therefore making him a potential role model[14]. The titles for his songs[11] are all associated with 'love' and 'emotions', therefore i believe the album is targeted at females and the emotional males at a teenagers-young adults age; e.g 'Wet the bed' & 'She ain't you' idolizes him as a male with a high sex appeal.
50 Cents cents album cover for Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (2) represents danger and brings the thought of 'bulletproof', i know this because on the album cover the main picture is 50 cent behind a bullet hole which had been shot from the glass, these enigma codes imply that he may be 'wanted' or he believes he is 'bulletproof', 50 cent appeals to his fans in a strictly dangerous and violent way by creating deep and violent lyrics, for example in the song 'Many Men' he talks about the murder of his enemy 'He shot me, 3 weeks later he got shot down'[13], this may imply that he is well protected and focuses on revenge, allowing him to become unique and gain a strong personal identity. He believes that he is overly masculine which results to him being represented as a dominant male. 50 cent is known by professionals business partners and close peers to be highly intellectual and smart, his approach to music differs from many of his competitors therefore making him successful [12].
GRODT' was more of a motto for 50 cent, this motivated him and fans to make money by any means, his album name represents this 'Get rich or die tryin'. This album being a hit highly effected the population of audiences in the hip-hop genre as it was strictly motivational and referred to 50 cents lifestyle of success. the song title 'Patiently waiting' and 'If i cant' in this album reinforce the fact that he is trying to bring motivation into the society, a lyrics from this song "if i cant do it, homie it cant be done" shows a sense of confidence and strong motivation, this attitude allowed him to release a positive influence on the society. This has led me to believe that this album is targeted at those which are struggling financially or those who can relate to his life, the style and lyrics of his songs makes it more suitable for mainly males as most of the songs associate with prison/sex/swearing & struggle of financial problems.
'What can an analysis of the representations of Chris Brown and 50 Cent reveal about stereotypical attitudes to contemporary music?', in reference to my research investigation, from reviewing music videos and fans feedback, I have managed to assess that both artists have a different approach and contribution towards the attitude and behavior of audiences in their targeted music genre. This makes both artists different in various ways from dominant masculine (50 cent) attitudes to soft but determined attitudes (Chris Brown), I have learnt that audiences interpret both artists attitudes and messages in different ways, but both artists are effective to their audiences. RnB being a soft and less aggressive culture and Hip-hop being a aggressive and masculine culture makes it difficult to compare as they are both differentiated in audiences eyes. Chris brown being a mix of both genres makes him difficult to evaluate as his audience range is broadened where as 50 cent is strictly hip-hop/rap, allowing him to become more stereotypical. Reviews from popular music industries reviews reinforce the fact that minimal conflict occurs and the artists appeals to many audiences[17].
[1]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/ForgivingAllMyEnemies.PNG - F.A.M.E album
[2]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9d/Get_Rich_Or_Die_Tryin%27.JPG - GRODT' album
[11]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.A.M.E._(album) - Chris Brown
[12]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Rich_or_Die_Tryin%27_(album) - 50 Cent
[13]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D3crqpClPY - 50 cent - many men music video
[14]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdXesX6mYUE - Chris Brown ft Pitbull - international love
[15]http://thatgrapejuice.net/2011/03/album-review-chris-brown-fame/ - Chris Brown FAME reviews
[16]http://www.metacritic.com/music/get-rich-or-die-tryin/50-cent - 50 Cent GRODT' fans reviews
[17]http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3045-get-rich-or-die-tryin/ industry review
[18]http://www.singersroom.com/content/2007-06-14/Hip-Hop-News-50-Cent-Making-Millions-on-Vitamin-Water-Sale-But-Not-400-million/ - 50 cent vitamin water deal
Masculinity is a major issue in the media as it reflects on the behaviour on the male gender which listen to the artists music, for example, the male audiences that listen to 50 cent are likely to be more aggressive and verbally aggressive as 50 cent tends to swear often in his songs e.g 'P.I.M.P', comparing this to Chris Brown, he has a reputation for being more friendly and less aggressive as he has a more emotional approach with his songs e.g 'with you'. The artists became role models for their audiences creating a huge fan base, which then act and behave the same way as they do in their songs, as people resolve their life mottos around lyrics and participate in buying merchant goods such as T-shirts based on their role models to relate or show appreciation.
I looked closely at the album F.A.M.E by Chris Brown and Get Rich Or Die Tryin' by 50 cent by analysing songs on the album with in depth research on reviews and feedback from many other artists in the same genres. On the album F.A.M.E Chris brown created a number of mixed genre songs such as RnB with a mix of Hip-Hop and Pop and romance [11] 'She ain't you', 'beautiful people', 'next to you', many of his songs feature artists which appeal to a variety of audiences and both genders, e.g Justin Bieber 'Next to you'. However, opposing audiences create conflict for his songs due to their personal opinions [15], Strictly masculine males believe that Chris brown is not suitable for the Rap/hip-hop genre of music due to his previous songs and who he features with on his tracks and his personal identity (were he's from, how he behaves, who he targets his music at), Chris brown has many talents which include acting dancing and singing, expanding his professions allows him to appeal to a variety of audiences with similar tastes, for example dancers with an interest in his music like street dancers, he creates inspiration for many of his audiences, this separates him from 50 cent which is limited to his professions.
50 cents album Get Rich Or Die Tryin' represents 50 cents lifestyle, he always has a masculine theme by the way he looks (90s gangster clothing, snapback durag etc), his personal identity (aggressive attitude towards music, focuses on nothing but money) and power over the music industry, he was known to be the 2nd richest artist at one stage just below Jay Z, making him a rival. 50 cent differs in various ways and forms from Chris Brown as he's represented by the media as less socially friendly in his songs, due to 50 cents history, being brought up in a violent urban estate in New York Queens, facing money problems which got him arrested for dealing drugs, he was also shot 9x and survived, recovered and dominated the music industry[12]. His behaviour is stereotyped as a typical 'gangster' and 'dangerous or violent' male from the South Side of New York, as well as wealthy, his album GRODT' being a hit in various countries around the world shows how his audience has reached a wide range [12]. 50 cent tends to target audiences which have been in a struggle in their life, to help motivate or influence fans by creating deep meaningful lyrics (e.g from the song 'Many Men'), this highly effects his audience as they interpret what he says and try to fit it in their lifestyle, e.g some of his lyrics from 'High all the time' encourages the uses of drugs.
Although 50 cent may be represented as a dark, vivid by the pictures in his album covers, he appears a not so educated male, however another reason for success in his career involved his business partnerships with Reebok and Coca cola, this changed personal opinions from competitors such as Jay-Z and many fans [12] as well as being a successful rapper and influencing young adults or teenagers he's managed to influence professional boxers into business men like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, 50 cent's also a shareholder of 'Vitamin Water' and many other merchandises, as well as being a solo artists he's the CEO of the music group 'G-Unit' which includes many successful rap artists [18] this suggests that he was for more intelligent and succesfull than it appeared.
Chris Brown's album cover for F.A.M.E (1) contains many enigma codes, for example the various amount of bright colours associated with the rainbow, the connotations a reader would get from this would be a joyful, happy and a unique album, implying change as a person; in a marketing view, these effects could also work on the consumer as they could be attracted easily to the album cover. Chris Brown has used an artistic approach for his album colour by using graffiti-slang type font and artistic styled colours and a picture-collage in the background, all these codes are representing a different type of male as an artist. F.A.M.E stands for Forgiving All My Enemies, this supports the fact that he is trying to change as an artist to perhaps become more friendly towards his fans and competitors. Chris Brown having a poor history with Rihanna (domestic violence allegations) could have been the cause for this album cover name as a form of apology or implication of a new man. As a role model, this convinces fans or potential listeners to be encouraged to be more apologetic and create changes in their lifestyle, becoming more socially friendly and less aggressive.
I have found from my research that Chris Brown has various types of audiences (from both genders to a various age group of people) around the world, songs such as 'International Love' (which sold 500,000 copies within 3 weeks based on total album sales)[11] aimed for audiences across the world allows his music to spread and become more popular not only in america, but other states, both genders appreciate his work, they are deeply influenced by his actions therefore making him a potential role model[14]. The titles for his songs[11] are all associated with 'love' and 'emotions', therefore i believe the album is targeted at females and the emotional males at a teenagers-young adults age; e.g 'Wet the bed' & 'She ain't you' idolizes him as a male with a high sex appeal.
50 Cents cents album cover for Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (2) represents danger and brings the thought of 'bulletproof', i know this because on the album cover the main picture is 50 cent behind a bullet hole which had been shot from the glass, these enigma codes imply that he may be 'wanted' or he believes he is 'bulletproof', 50 cent appeals to his fans in a strictly dangerous and violent way by creating deep and violent lyrics, for example in the song 'Many Men' he talks about the murder of his enemy 'He shot me, 3 weeks later he got shot down'[13], this may imply that he is well protected and focuses on revenge, allowing him to become unique and gain a strong personal identity. He believes that he is overly masculine which results to him being represented as a dominant male. 50 cent is known by professionals business partners and close peers to be highly intellectual and smart, his approach to music differs from many of his competitors therefore making him successful [12].
GRODT' was more of a motto for 50 cent, this motivated him and fans to make money by any means, his album name represents this 'Get rich or die tryin'. This album being a hit highly effected the population of audiences in the hip-hop genre as it was strictly motivational and referred to 50 cents lifestyle of success. the song title 'Patiently waiting' and 'If i cant' in this album reinforce the fact that he is trying to bring motivation into the society, a lyrics from this song "if i cant do it, homie it cant be done" shows a sense of confidence and strong motivation, this attitude allowed him to release a positive influence on the society. This has led me to believe that this album is targeted at those which are struggling financially or those who can relate to his life, the style and lyrics of his songs makes it more suitable for mainly males as most of the songs associate with prison/sex/swearing & struggle of financial problems.
'What can an analysis of the representations of Chris Brown and 50 Cent reveal about stereotypical attitudes to contemporary music?', in reference to my research investigation, from reviewing music videos and fans feedback, I have managed to assess that both artists have a different approach and contribution towards the attitude and behavior of audiences in their targeted music genre. This makes both artists different in various ways from dominant masculine (50 cent) attitudes to soft but determined attitudes (Chris Brown), I have learnt that audiences interpret both artists attitudes and messages in different ways, but both artists are effective to their audiences. RnB being a soft and less aggressive culture and Hip-hop being a aggressive and masculine culture makes it difficult to compare as they are both differentiated in audiences eyes. Chris brown being a mix of both genres makes him difficult to evaluate as his audience range is broadened where as 50 cent is strictly hip-hop/rap, allowing him to become more stereotypical. Reviews from popular music industries reviews reinforce the fact that minimal conflict occurs and the artists appeals to many audiences[17].
[1]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/ForgivingAllMyEnemies.PNG - F.A.M.E album
[2]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9d/Get_Rich_Or_Die_Tryin%27.JPG - GRODT' album
[11]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.A.M.E._(album) - Chris Brown
[12]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Rich_or_Die_Tryin%27_(album) - 50 Cent
[13]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D3crqpClPY - 50 cent - many men music video
[14]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdXesX6mYUE - Chris Brown ft Pitbull - international love
[15]http://thatgrapejuice.net/2011/03/album-review-chris-brown-fame/ - Chris Brown FAME reviews
[16]http://www.metacritic.com/music/get-rich-or-die-tryin/50-cent - 50 Cent GRODT' fans reviews
[17]http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3045-get-rich-or-die-tryin/ industry review
[18]http://www.singersroom.com/content/2007-06-14/Hip-Hop-News-50-Cent-Making-Millions-on-Vitamin-Water-Sale-But-Not-400-million/ - 50 cent vitamin water deal
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