English text connections essay

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I have chosen the texts Shawshank Redemption Boy, Oceans 11 and Witness. All these movies link together with the theme of crime and imprisonment.

Shawshank Redemption
The director is showing how crime is present by the movie being set in a prison.
Boy
The director Taika Waititi -demonstrates crime and violence by highlighting the violent actions of the father towards his son towards his son the subject character who is named Boy. Boys father had previously been in a gang and the movie starts from when he is released from prison.
bonnie and Clyde
Director Arthur Penn. Clyde Barrow is released from prison, into the impending gloom and depression of dust bowl America. He immediately involves himself once again in a crime and along the way works his way into the child like affections of a local but young beauty, Bonnie Parker.
Witness
The director of Witness Peter weir shows violence by someone being fatally stabbed, and the witness of the title is a young boy who lives in the closed Amish community.

In the film Boy the theme of crime and violence is clearly present throughout the movie. Boys dad Alamein is shown to be a man reconnecting with his family-in particular his son Boy-after being recently released from prison.The viewers soon see the violent side of Alamein. When Boy and Rocky are outside a bar waiting in the car for Alamein, Alamein gets into a fight with a gang and gets beaten up, but Boy imagines his dad dancing like Michael Jackson to block out the fighting whereby he is creating in his own mind an alternative and more cool image of his dad, a version of Alamein that Boy wants him to be versus the reality of how he really is violent. The movie Boy links to the film Bonnie and Clyde because Clyde had just gotten out of jail much like Alamein. Clyde wants money so he went to towns robbing places and he soon finds Bonnie who wants some adventure in her life so they decide that robbing banks is their new identity. This film shows the theme violence because Clyde accidentally shot someone. The police then hunt Bonnie and Clyde down and kill them with thousands of bullets.

A connection in Witness and Shawshank Redemption was violence. In the film the Witness the theme violence is clearly present because a Amish boy Samuel the main character is a witness of a murder in a bathroom. The movie then continues to have violence in it by the police shooting at John Book the police man who is trying to solve the case that Samuel the Amish boy witnessed. This film links to Shawshank redemption because Andy du Frayne seems like he is different from all of the other prisoners there he doesn’t quite fit in with them. He seems to be a sliver spoon which means that he is rich, snobby and better than everyone else. The film Shawshank redemption has a lot of violence in it especially in the scene where all the new prisoners have their first night in jail one prisoner is crying and saying he doesn’t belong there then the Wardens come and beat him until he is covered in wounds, bruises and he died because the Wardens beat him so hard. These movies link to the theme violence.

In the movies all the main characters are driven to their actions for a number of reasons, but one significant one is peer pressure. In Shawshank Redemption the actions of inmates who are violent to Andy are quite clearly motivated by their need to act a certain way in front of other inmates-there is peer pressure on them to behave violently. in Boy even though Alamein is released from prison we can still see how his need to connect with his son and family is overshadowed by his need to be a certain kind of person in the eyes of his friends, again it is that peer pressure causing him to act the way he does despite his relationship with Boy suffering as a result. In Bonnie and Clyde, Clyde Barrow is a little bit of a loner however, again societally he feels he is expected to act a certain type of way which means I his own mind he must reject authority and take whatever he can from the enemy, that being those who represent the established order. In witness it is slightly different because the main theme is that off acceptance of a different culture and how that comes to be achieved. It is seen that the only way the cop can communicate or obtain the trust of the Amish people who he is taken in by is to actually become almost one of them and that only by this high level of integration into their culture can he expect any level of co-operation. To put it plainly the Amish simply do not hold the same values of revenge, retribution and justice as the cop who is from our world. The Amish people rely on justice only from what they see as a higher authority i.e God and their almost blind devotion to. God.

Essentially the themes connect in so much as all of the four movies show violence and crime however they also convey to the viewers sympathy for the subject characters. We know that Andy Du Frayne in Shawshank Redemption is innocent, in Bonnie and Clyde we can see that Clyde Barrow is drawn into revising his life of crime due to economic conditions, and his bravado in trying to woo Bonnie Parker with his acts of daring, in Boy we can see the good side of Boys father Alamein, we relate to his humour and obvious appeal to his son Boy with his irresponsible yet fun behaviour. In witness the violent character in the movie is very much only a a sideline to the main theme of the movie which is showing a clash of two different cultures that of the street wise cop recuperating from his injuries in the strange and isolated world of the Amish people, which is home to the witness of the original murder, the perpetrator of of which is the man the cop is trying to pursue and arrest. The aim of the movie ultimately is to involve us into empathy and sympathy with the Amish way of life.

In conclusion all of these films link to the theme crime and violence, and they all have moments of violence for all different reasons.

Media representation

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In my visual report I am looking at how the media reinforces teenage girls in a negative way like by the things that they wear and by being popular, sluts and b*****. And these can be found in the films bring it on all or bring it on all or nothing, mean girls and the music video I can’t be tamed by Miley cyrus. These texts are portrayed as bitchy back stabbing teenage girls. They are also represented as being slutty because they wear less clothes compared to a normal teenage girl.

Mean girls: The characterisation of Regina George is that she is a real life barbie and everybody wants to be like barbie. Karen and Gretchen are her followers and do what she says because she is queen bee. Regina George is quite popular because of her high status as being like the real life barbie. This links back to my thesis statement how the media reinforces teenage girls in a negative way by the things that they wear and by being popular, sluts and b***** because Regina is popular and intimidate people because she is mean to people. I think that Regina George and her posey is exactly what society wants because they are popular, pretty and have nice bodies and to be skinny and to be obsessed with being skinny.

Another technique is Regina George’s costumes. Her clothes imply that she is quite popular and rich and she wears quite revealing clothes like mini skirts, crop tops and heels to school. For example there is a scene at Aaron Regina’s ex boyfriends house party where Regina was wearing like a playboy bunny costume with ears, tights, boots and barley any clothing on, and Gretchen Regina’s friend was wearing a skin tight black suit and this looks very nina propriety for school girls to wear and this is being represented as being “slutty” and younger generations might think this is acceptable to wear.

Representation was created because the media has caught on to society’s standards for teenagers and they have targeted teenagers because we as teenagers are easy to target because we are vulnerable because we believe what anyone says to us and this is a marketing strategy to make money off of teenagers. This is easy for companies that make movies for example like mean girls this is a perfect example of what society’s standards are like and how everyone has to be those standards or otherwise they are the losers and the bottom of the social chain.

Representation is a lot different from reality because not everyone is rich, not everyone is pretty and have nice bodies. Reality is a lot nicer than society’s image of teenagers and they don’t have the same standards.

The effect of representation in audiences of girls in society is that they are bitchy and act slutty to get a boys attention for example in the film “mean girls” Regina George the main character tries to get back her boyfriend by acting above her age to get Aaron Samuel’s Regina’s ex boyfriend to like her again. And the representation of teenage girls in real life and in movies is that they are only there for their bodies. The impact of the movie on the audience is that they think that all teenage girls are back stabbing and mean towards each other.

Bring It On: All or Nothing is about a girl called Britney Allen, and she is represented as a barbie because she has blonde hair and the is the cheerleading captain. But when she moves house who she must make new friends in a less fortunate than she is. She attempts to make the cheerleading squad of her new school, but clashes with the popular queen bee who is the captain of the cheerleading team. I think this movie is what society wants us as teenagers to be back stabbers but nice and mean at the same time and to be skinny but not to have eating disorders in order to want to be skinny because theses texts show how “skinny” these girls are, and how they are popular and pretty and have blonde hair and nice bodies and rich houses and designer clothes.

The costumes of Britney Allen is her red and white cheerleading uniform when she is cheerleading. When she is at school she wears jeans and a singlet like everyone else but her clothes look expensive designer brands This represents Britney as being rich and and popular because the popular girls in movies wear less clothes than everybody else and this represents them as being sluts. This leads back to my thesis statement how the media reinforces teenage girls in a negative way like by the things that they wear and by being popular, sluts and b**** and how Britney’s costumes are like the mean cheerleading captain. This then leads to society because society wants girls to us to be popular, smart, pretty and cheerleaders.

One feature that represents teenage girls in the Miley cyrus I can’t be tamed music video is costume. In the music video Miley is dresses in a very revealing costume in a black dress and features around her. This costume shows that Miley is trying to act above her age and aiming for an older audience which is a difference to her younger audience in Hannah. Montana. She is trying to act like an adult in this music video by wearing clothes that a normal 18 year old teenager wouldn’t wear. And this costume is making young girls believe that it is okay to wear this sort of revealing clothes and to act older than their age because it’s cool because Miley cyrus is doing it. Ad they will want to wear the same stuff as Miley to be just like her which is a negative image of teenage girls. Another feature that represents teenagers in a negative way is The dialogue because the lyrics are ” I can get a bit crazy, have to get my way, yep, 24 hours a day cause I’m hot like that” and the lyrics imply that she is self centred and it’s all about her and that teenagers should be wild and that think of themselves as all that. This links back to my thesis statement how the media reinforces teenage girls in a negative way by the things that they wear and by being popular, sluts and b*****.

In my chosen texts we are shown how the media reinforces teenage girls in a negative way like by the things that they wear and by being popular, sluts and b*****. And how they have been represented in the media through techniques like costume, characterisation and to society.

Close viewing of a visual text

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Analyse the purpose of the extract
The purpose of the scene was to show the romance between Rachel and John Book.The director aimed to achieve the use of a modern world in the Amish world because of the car and them listening to modern music which is not allowed.by showing the car in the barn with Amish things and this modern car in the middle. Links to society because there is romance and love but they can’t act on it sometimes in the real world people who love each other can’t be together because of their circumstances.

Analyse the use of lighting in this extract
The type of lighting that is used is dim lighting from a oil lamp. It is not too much to make it too bright but not so it’s dark either. The dim lighting creates the mood of romance and love. The film technique used is camera shots. The camera shots were close ups and long shots of them dancing. I learnt that John Book and Rachel have an attraction towards each other and this scene shows that attraction because they are dancing and they nearly kiss but John Book pulls away. A new theme/idea that is introduced is love. The audience is affected by the change of light to dark dramatically because they are in the barn and there is no natural light there is only a oil lamp.

Analyse the use of music in the extract
The music that is being introduced.There are no sound effects in this scene but there is the radio playing in the background which creates the mood of romance in the scene. John Book and Rachel have a undeniable attraction towards each other. My scene shows that the music is romantic and the way they look at each other with loving looks. A new theme/idea that is introduced is romance because John Book and Rachel both like each other but can’t be together because of their worlds are too different John Book’s world is violent and bad things happen but it Rachel’s world the Amish world it is peaceful and everybody lives in harmony and they reject violence. The overall mood is happy and cheerful they are having fun dancing to music. There is also tension because they like each other but can’t act on it and also because John Book is leaving to go back to his world. I found that Rachel and John Book both love each other and can’t be together and people out in the world love each other but can’t be together either. This could be due to different religions, cultural differences and different lifestyles.

Analyse the mis-en-scene in the extract
Shot 1
The costume of John Book is his modern clothes a shirt with buttons, pants a belt and shoes and socks. He looks like a typical policeman. The message conveyed by the director is romance because in the scene where Samuel has a toy that John Book bought him Rachel makes Samuel go to bed then she runs out and takes off her bonnet and kisses John book. The acting on this shot is happy and cheerful and they are dancing but there is tension between them as well because they both know John Book is leaving.

Shot 2
Rachel’s clothes are a dress with no buttons or patterns and the dress is plain blue . The message conveyed by the director is that John Book is preparing to go back to the modern world but Rachel and John Book have a moment of closeness and romance by dancing and having fun.The acting by Rachel is having fun and dancing but she is also nervous and confused because she wants to kiss John Book but he’s from the modern world and she is from the Amish community and that’s not allowed.

Analyse the use of at least two shots and camera movement in the extract
The film technique in the shot when Rachel and John Book are dancing the film technique is music because the radio is playing and they are having fun and dancing to the music.The other shot is when Eli Samuels grandfather walks in on Rachel and John Book dancing the shot used is close up on Rachel’s face. The shot in this scene is close ups. He used a close up on Rachel’s face because she is in trouble because she isn’t supposed to like John Book because he is form the modern world and she is from the Amish world. The idea that is romance is developing in this scene is because John Book and Rachel are dancing this shows that they are having fun and they nearly kiss but John Book pulls away.

Analyse the use of setting combined with camera shot in the extract. Analyse the use of setting combined with camera shot in the extract. How is it developed to convey meaning?
How is it developed to convey meaning?
The use of setting in the scene is set up good with the car and the lamp which creates dim lighting. And the radio in the car playing creates a romantic mood. The set is developed to convey meaning. The meaning of the set is to convey the theme romance.