Gauntlett's theory of indentity.

There are two parks to David Gauntlett's theory. The first part is that the audience get a sense of their own identity through the media products they consume in their day to day lives. this can involve films, TV programs, magazines or News papers. His idea is that the person who consumes these types of media get an idea of who they are and who they want to be through how the media presents these things. An example of this is if a young boy watches a football montage on YouTube. that montage may give ideas on how he wants to play football and what skills he wants to try and perfect himself. Gauntlett believes that in the past the media was more simplistic through how men and women were stereotypically presented to the world. Men were usually shown as strong, tall working men while the women were shown as housewives who do things like cleaning and cooking. However, in the modern day and age Gauntlett believes that the diverse through how the way gender is presented has changed. It is more different and challenging for people to realise. 

To a high extent I do agree with this statement because many different movies, TV shows and magazines represent women and men in an ideal way (self-portrayed). David Gauntlett used examples such as Spiderman 3 and Knocked up as evidence to how the media play a role in the shaping of individual self-identities. The whole idea to Gauntlett’s theory is that there is a more openness to gender roles in media. This can involve traditional gender roles now being more diverse than ever before. Many famous male roles in popular UK TV shows. A huge example of this is Doctor Who, through how they have had a male actor as ‘Doctor who’ but in the recent season there is now a women acting as ‘Doctor who’. This highlights that media changes as the years go on. Many shows are now swapping genders to please the media as in the modern day there are many people requesting equality between women and men.  

The difference between sex and gender is that sex refers to someone, whereas gender describes the characteristics that a culture delineates as masculine and feminine. Gauntlett notes that everyday actions reinforce and reproduce a set of expectations. It is this set of other people's expectations which make up the 'social forces' and social structures'. We can use these to construct aspects of our identity, to fit in with other collective identities or feel alienated if we appear different. Gauntlett discusses that it is because of this faith in the way we 'expect'; things to be, that some people are so shaken when others challenge the taken-for-granted consensus about how, for example how men and women behave. This all highlights that the world may not be ready for change through how people portray themselves to the world. 

Comparison of both advertisments.

Compare the ways in which media language elements have been selected and combined in your 2 allocated advertisements - 

In the Shelter advert there are 3 pale looking individuals sort of sighing towards the camera. Shelter are an organisation that help the homeless by seeking donations from other people. In the Shelter advert there is close - ups of all 3 people. they all seem to look like they have tears in their eyes, which may indicate them being pain or even anxious because they are homeless. These people are obviously actors but they way they are presented in the advert is mainly rough and scared. The man has an unshaven beard which may indicate that he is 'living rough'. this connotates that he may be miserable or even depressed from the fact of being homeless. From the use of the word 'we', it may indicate that the women on the far left of the advert may be a single mother caring for her children. This is also a stereotypical view towards a broken family because women are always considered to be the carer of the children if the father leaves. The use of the darkness surrounding the actors may be used to highlight that they are alone, or even that they feel like they are alone because they have nowhere else to go. This is also connotated through the use of 'I' for the women on the far right of the advertisement. Also, the fact that there are no famous people being used in the advert makes the advert more powerful because it shows that anyone can become homeless, even people close to others.

In the WFF advert there are Tuna fish in a dark ocean promoting the fact that the fish are becoming extinct. The use of the darkness surrounding the fish may highlight the fishes future. It connotates that the fish are living in 'dark' times are they are being hunted to extinction. From the use of ‘I’, the advert makes it seem like it’s a personal message from the tuna fish as it uses first person.  This is used to make people feel sad about hunting the tuna fish. This is done as a final attempt to make people feel sad about hunting the fish. On one of the Tuna fish, it is wearing a Panda mask. Panda's are currently an endangered animal. this highlights that WFF are trying to show Tuna fish as an important animal like panda's. This may also highlight that WFF are trying to show that tuna fish are important by linking them to Panda's which are popular animals around the world - maybe to try and make people like tuna fishes even more in order to make people stop hunting them. The problem is that Tuna is a very popular food around the world, therefore people want to keep eating it, which leads to more and more being hunted. Tuna fish usually travel in tribes, but in the advert there are only 10 tunas. WFF have done this to show that the number of tuna fishes are depleting fast. The font for the advert is very bold. This may be done to make it stand out for the audience to be able to see it straight away (eye-catching). 

Overall, although both the adverts are presented differently, they are actually quite similar. Both adverts ask for help to stop either homelessness or extinction. Both adverts use similar methods as well, such as surrounding the people and the tuna fish in darkness, to create a dramatic affect. Both the fonts are very similar as well - bold and eye-catching. This is done in order to catch the eye of the audience, so that they will read the message portrayed in the advert more easier. This is done as an attempt to encourage people to help those in need - and in this instance, the people who have became homeless and the close to extinction Tuna fish. 

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy.

1) 1 second into the video there is an extreme close up on Chinese stress balls in a gang members hand, which is quite ironic because gang members are mainly considered as dangerous and brutal individuals. 11 seconds into the video there is then an Ariel shot of a Hispanic gang. This could be done to represent different gang cultures in America during the 1990s. The Ariel shot then pans towards a child playing with a toy gun. This may represent violence in the young community of America. The child is also standing on a dirty street which could highlight that the child may live in a rough area. This could all link to the gang culture surrounding him because stereotypically gangs mainly control rough areas. The area is also covered in graffiti which also shows that the area is an rough area. 26 seconds in the camera tracks towards the moving singer as she walks down the street. There are many people standing around which may indicate that they do not have jobs because they are standing around in the middle of the day doing nothing. All the people are wearing clothes from that time swell. for example people are earring baggy khaki trousers and vests. This highlights mis-en-scene in the video. The camera also seems to be carries by one man instead of on a piece of expensive equipment. This could highlight that Massive Attack did not have a large budget for the video. However, that could be the whole style of the video because it is based in the 1980s, so the camera man may have been told to make it seem less professional to make the video more interesting.  Also, at 1 minute and 15 seconds into the video a man with no legs is riding around on a skateboard which does indicate that the man cannot afford to get health insurance. This again highlights how broken the area is.
2) Throughout the video African American men, women and children are presented in the rough area. This may have been done highlight that African American people live in rough areas throughout America. However, this could be done to indicate that even though these people live in a rough area, they do still matter. Considering this is based in the 1980s, there is no racism presented in the video. Many of the African American people are wearing smart clothes like shirts, jeans and proper shoes. This is done to show that even though they live in a rough area they still live good lives. This is great use of Mise-en-scene because the clothes the people are wearing sort of tells a story about these people, making the video more realistic because it shows the real world instead of only showing specific parts if the world. Hispanic Gangs are also presented in the video wearing stereotypical clothing of gang culture from that time. For example they are wearing the black coat with edges on it with a vest underneath with the baggy trousers. This is most likely done to keep the people in the time period for the purpose of the video. This is again a great use of Mise-en-scene because the directors obviously thought  of what the people should be wearing from that time period to kind of create an image for the audience watching. Also, the way the camera quickly pans away from the Hispanic Gang may show that they aren't really important to the video, highlighting that they may not of been that important in that time period. The main protagonist in the video is an African American woman walking don the street. The camera tracks in front of her throughout most of the video which highlights that she is important and a significant person in the video.
3) The main character is an African American women. This could highlight that the artist is trying to show that even in the 1980s when racism and sexist views were still an occurring thing, that she is still as important as any other person. In my eyes, this is incredible. Also, from the fact that the camera is tracking this African American woem throughout the entire video, again shows that she is important.