Introduction to Newspapers

Tabloid and Broadsheet
- A tabloid is a newspaper with a page size smaller with more focus on topics like sport and TV. 'Soft news'
- A broadsheet is a new paper with a larger page size with more focus on topic like politics and education. 'Hard news'

The Sun - Tabloid
The Daily Mirror - Tabloid
The Daily Express - Tabloid
Daily Star - Tabloid
The Guardian - Broadsheet
The Daily Telegraph - Broadsheet
Morning Star - Tabloid
The Times - Broadsheet

Compare and contrast the front cover of a tabloid and broadsheet featuring the same event.
The image in the tabloid is bigger than the image used in the broadsheet and it uses a lot more of the front page. The headlines also have larger text in a tabloid compared to a broadsheet and the language  used to more over exaggerated.

Mid-market Newspapers
- draws an audience through the entertainment happening in the world.
The amount of text is minimal
The number of visuals is also minimal but the size of the image is relatively big
The tone in a mid-market newspaper is informal
The content and types of stories headlined are stories that have become popular in the media especially social media.
The language is also informal.

The reaction by the newspapers' about England's victory against Panama was all the same. They were all bias and the language used in the headlines was over exaggerated.

Newspaper Branding
How does the newspaper create brand identity?
In the Daily Mirror and The Times newspaper headlining the story about Theresa May. The Daily Mirror from their headline "How can we ever trust Mrs U-turn?" has a completely different view on Theresa May compared to the The Times whose headline was "Mainstream May reaches out to Labour heartlands". Daily Mirror is opposed to Theresa May and what she says and The Times is in support of Theresa May. The tone that the Daily Mail uses is quite negative but the tone The Times' uses is quite the opposite.

Media Language

Newspaper Conventions
Headlines
"So what the hell happens now?"
- the paper is questioning the politics of the prime minister based on Brexit.
- hyperbole
- curious
"Blood on his hands"
- murder/crime
- mystery
" World Cup of Fraud"
- about the World Cup/fraud

Vance Joy - Riptide - Representation of Gender

Instances when women are presented as 'objects'
There is evidence of voyeuristic treatment of the female body as in one shot a woman with her body to the camera undressing out of her swimming costume and there are a number of instances where we see disembodied, isolated sections of woman's bodies such as bare feet running away or feminine hands being dragged out of shot. This voyeuristic treatment supports Andrew Goodwin's theory that there is frequent reference to voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The video relates to the idea of the male gaze, which is a theory by Laura Mulvey. The male gaze is a concept of second wave feminists in which the camera are put into perspective of a heterosexual man, thus allowing for the objectification and the sexualisation of women. This is evident in the video as one of the female actresses fit the stereotypical view of beauty. Additionally, the lyric supports the visuals (Andrew Goodwin's theory) "I was scared of pretty girls". The music video doesn't challenge the sexuality of women in this industry. bell hooks' can be used as a stimulus to explore the seemingly contradictory messages about gender in the video. 

Lip-sync section of Riptide 
Throughout the music video, there is a repetitive scene which shows a woman performing. After every shot, the face and the scene created changes. We see her make up smudging across her face. Also, the lighting which is low key becomes dimmer after each scene. We can argue that after every shot the pressure builds up in her life or the stress in her life increases which is reinforced by the smudging of the make up on her face. Also, whatever she is going through probably has negative connotations because of the low key lighting. In the first shot, the woman is supporting social norms of beauty and glamour but after she challenges the gender norm after the first still shot because she's not viewed as an object in a western patriarchal society (Van Zoonen - feminist theory). In terms of the progression of the facial expression in the still shots, she becomes more and more distressed. The lip-synching woman also clothes at her own neck and we see what seems to be blood over her hand. 

What other representations of women are featured in the music video?
In the opening line of the music video "I was scared of dentists and the dark" there is a close up of a female looking scared with a metallic contraception in her mouth that suggests she is in a dentist's chair. 
In one shot a woman with her back to the camera undresses out of her swimming costume. The video supports the view of a patriarchal world and reinforces the stereotypical objectification of woman. 
Along with the representations of women the music video also present a number of scenes that offer images of violence, such as a female hand being stabbed by a knife and a gun being pointed off screen. 

Representation of Men
"I wanna be your left hand man" is a corruption of the well-known phrase "right hand man". While the right hand is considered more steady and dependable, the left hand is more a wild card that always keeps things exciting. This is also an allusion to marriage, as you wear your wedding ring on your left finger and hold your wife's left hand when walking down the aisle. The man clearly wants a closer connection with her. The visuals following the lyric "I wanna be your left hand man" as a whole come across as aggressive. In the first shot, the use of the whip pan emphasises his aggression towards the microphone. The shots showing the action of cutting, grabbing and holding a gun all relate to this idea of man dominating something. The shot with the female hand and the knife shows that the woman is self-harming herself. The male hand is different from the female hand because the male hand is dominating where as the female hand is being hurt and is not in the position to fight back so the hand is basically giving up. 

Vance Joy - Riptide - Montage

Riptide - Narrative Codes and Conventions

1. Are there any elements of coherence in the narrative? (Potential theories/ideas to use: Todorov and Postmodernism)
Todorov's narrative theory basically states that most story's or plot lines follow the same pattern or path. The music video does this in the chorus because there is a pattern of a women singing next to a standing microphone. After every chorus the performance with the lady progresses. This is the only part of the music video which is consistent. The rest of the music video is linked to the lyrics of the song. The music video for the most part rejects a clearly defined narrative. There are some coherent narrative structures but for the most part the sequences deliberately lack narrative coherence.

2. What 'message' does the video contains?
 The video can be interpreted according to social convention. One example being the pile of dollar bills which relates to the lyric "oh, all my friends are turning green". Barthes view that constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident through the connotations of the colour green in relations to money. This has achieved Barthes' status of myth through a process of naturalisation which might allow for complicated readings of the image.

3. The opening line "I was scared of dentists and the dark" is interpreted explicitly with a shot of a female looking "scared" with a metallic contraption in her mouth that suggests she is in a dentist's chair and followed by a shot of a light swinging in a darkened room.

4. "Oh, all my friends are turning green"
"I want to be your left hand man"
"I was scared of pretty girls"
"Running down to the riptide"

5. "Lady, running down to the riptide/taken away to the dark side". Both these lines are metaphors, that come together to imply one idea. A riptide is an offshore current that often traps beach goers and causes them to drown. The set of metaphors is telling us that the girl is starting to get herself into bad situations and embracing a new one.

6. The music video is presenting itself as a short film. The song is sending its listeners a message about the inevitability of a relationship, and how you cannot rely very much on an acquaintance that you have, as you will probably be let down and disappointed. It's saying that we shouldn't rely too much on something.

7. Feature films
Western films (cowboys)
Horror films
Baywatch - when the woman is turned away from the camera and is undressing.

Vance Joy Riptide - Postmodernism

To what extent could this music video be considered postmodern?

Vance Joy Riptide music video is a postmodern music video. There is an example of intertextuality in the music video. The mise-en-scene suggests the conventions of of a western film and also supports Barthes' referential code. There is a long shot of a desert-like setting and a cowboy wearing stereotypical costume associated with a cowboy for example a cowboy hat. Also, the use of the horror imagery deliberately positions the audience in a distressing situation. There is a close up of a woman being dragged out of bed. The woman looks very distressed (evident from her facial expression) as her eyes and mouth open extremely wide to emphasis the emotions she is feeling. Also, just before the scene finishes she reaches out to the camera to suggest that she's looking for help. Another example of a horror film convention is when the stereotypical attractive 'horror film' victim breaks free from being tied up to a tree. This connotes the event of a kidnapping or a violent threat. There is a medium shot showing the woman escaping from the rope. This event of a woman repeatedly being dragged off the screen by unseen forces and a character going missing in a dark graveyard. There is an example of voyeurism when there is medium shot showing a blonde woman removing a one-piece yellow swimsuit. There is also a slow zoom on to her naked back. This is also an example of intertextual reference to some of the early James Bond films and the film 'Baywatch'. It positions the audience in a voyeuristic perspective which forces the audience to consider Van Zoonen's notion of a male gaze.

Applying Goodwin's theory to Riptide

The first point made by Andrew Goodwin was that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. Vance Joy Riptide is under the genre of indie folk. Most indie folk music contains a frequent use of long shots which often show the artists performing in a concert or playing an instrument. This music video challenges this point because we never see the artist Vance Joy as an important character in the music video. Also, in most indie folk music video there are a lot of establishing shots showing scenery (an example being the country side). In this music video there are various establishing shots one being the establishing shot at the beginning of the music video showing a blue sky. The second part of Andrew Goodwin's theory is the fact that there is frequently reference to motion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There is evidence of voyeuristic treatment of the female body as in one shot a woman with her body to the camera undressing out of her swimming costume and there are a number of instances where we see disembodied, isolated sections of woman's bodies such as bare feet running away or feminine hands being dragged out of shot. The third part of Andrew Goodwin's theory is that there is a relationship between music and the music/lyrics. This music video supports this point and is why this music video is so unique. Everything shown in the music video relates to the lyrics being sang. The opening line "I was scared of dentists and the dark" is interpreted explicitly with a shot of the female looking "scared" with a metallic contraception in her mouth that suggests she is in a dentist's chair and followed by a shot of a light swinging in a darkened room. The overt graphical representation of the lyrics is largely repeated throughout the video. The fourth part of the theory is that the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across the work. This part of Andrew Goodwin's theory is challenged by the music video as the artist Vance Joy is only shown in the music video a few times and when he is shown the shot used is a medium shot. The final part of the theory is that there is intertextual reference. This music video references feature films. The opening shot makes use of cinematic style credits about the music and is presented with a title at the bottom of the screen. This title is graphically similar to a "billing block" or "credit block" which is often seen on film posters or in trailers. The video also frequently references the western and thriller genres but most notably uses horror genre iconography. One example being females repeatedly being dragged off screen by unseen forces and a character going missing in a dark graveyard.