On the television show ‘The Surgery’ they talked about several different topics and one of the topics was whether the UK should adopt a US culture.
Many of the youths on the show believed that the UK shouldn’t adopt a US culture because they believed that you should be proud to be British and that we shouldn’t use anyone else's culture. However some of the people on the show were not sure what UK culture is and they asked one of the youths who believed that we should stick to UK culture to describe what UK culture is. Weirdly that person couldn’t really describe what UK culture is but still believed that we should stick to UK culture.
I think UK culture comes down to a few things; the arts, cuisine, education and sport. When it comes to the arts there are many different UK traditions such as, The Proms which is a musical event held every year so it is a British Tradition. Also there is Literature as many people around the UK read lots of novels because it is something British people do. Also the UK mainly listen to two different sorts of music and that is pop and rock music because British people have been listening to this sort of music for years.
Cuisine is another important part to British culture and well known dishes that are considered to be British are, Fish and Chips and the traditional Sunday Roast. Another important part to UK culture is education. young people mainly start off at nursery then move onto primary school and then onto secondary school. The last thing that I think is an important part of British Culture is Sport. The most traditional sport in the UK is football as it watched an played by more people. However there are other sports that really common in the UK such as, Cricket, Rugby Union and Rugby League.
I think overall the UK shouldn't adopt a US culture as we should be proud to be British and I just think that US culture would not work in the UK. For instance US holidays wouldn't work in the UK as they relate to the US. Holidays like Thanksgiving and the 4th of July wouldn't work in the UK as one of them celebrates America's independence from the UK. Also traditional American sports wouldn't work in the UK because sports like Baseball and American football are only played by Americans and it is not really common anywhere else. The Cuisine in America is similar to that of UK culture anyway so that would be OK. Also TV channels in the UK show US TV shows but they are shown in the US before they are shown in the UK. I think it's 50/50 whether TV shows work in the US as they use US humour and that's hard for us to relate to as we don't live in the US but sometimes the humour is understandable as they refer to everyday life.
Tuesday 30 March 2010
Thursday 25 March 2010
Tracey Emin- Top spot film
Tracey Emin is a contemporary artist who created a fictional film called top spot in a documentary style. Top spot is fictional but it is based on real memories from Tracey Emin’s past. This film is part of her autobiography.
For the film Tracey Emin used a DV camera for all the shots in the film so it looked like it was an amateur film. Top Spot is about six teenage girls from Margate, England. This relates to Tracey Emin as she was brought up in Margate herself. At the start of the film Tracey Emin interviews the six teenage girls about experiences that they have had. When Tracey Emin interviews them she talks to them as if she is interrogating them so she is trying to force an answer out of them. The interviews give the audience a glimpse of what each of the teenage girls is like. Before she interviewed the six teenage girls Tracey showed loads of establishing shots of the beach and the sea at Margate to show us the location.
In Top Spot, Tracey Emin uses some scenes to try and convey a message. For instance, she uses a super 8 camera for a sepia effect and this is used in some of the shots so it looks old and the shots in sepia are used to show the six teenage girls past memories. Also in one of the scenes one of the six teenage girls are dancing and the shot seems distorted and the message being conveyed here is that the teenage girl has taken drugs even though Tracey Emin stated in an interview recently that she has never taken drugs. In one particular scene it shows one of the girls asleep and it cuts to her running around in a tunnel. This suggests that it is one of the girl’s dreams so showing her asleep is a visual signifier. It shows the dream in slow motion that makes the audience believe that it is very dramatic and I believe the message behind it is that the girl is trapped because we do not see her get out of the tunnel. At the start of the film Tracey shows establishing shots of the sea and usually in films the sea is used to show freedom. The film is telling us that the six teenage girls are trapped in their lives through the fact that they are always in their uniform and they also never leave Margate itself.
I did find some parts of the film difficult to understand but I do understand the message that Tracey Emin is trying to get across as she wants people to be aware that what happened to her when she was younger is still happening today and the victims of assaults are not telling anyone.
There are a few stereotypes that are used to represent different people. Such as the teenage girls are portrayed as people who drink, take drugs and go out with men all the time. Also the men in the film are portrayed as people who use women.
For the film Tracey Emin used a DV camera for all the shots in the film so it looked like it was an amateur film. Top Spot is about six teenage girls from Margate, England. This relates to Tracey Emin as she was brought up in Margate herself. At the start of the film Tracey Emin interviews the six teenage girls about experiences that they have had. When Tracey Emin interviews them she talks to them as if she is interrogating them so she is trying to force an answer out of them. The interviews give the audience a glimpse of what each of the teenage girls is like. Before she interviewed the six teenage girls Tracey showed loads of establishing shots of the beach and the sea at Margate to show us the location.
In Top Spot, Tracey Emin uses some scenes to try and convey a message. For instance, she uses a super 8 camera for a sepia effect and this is used in some of the shots so it looks old and the shots in sepia are used to show the six teenage girls past memories. Also in one of the scenes one of the six teenage girls are dancing and the shot seems distorted and the message being conveyed here is that the teenage girl has taken drugs even though Tracey Emin stated in an interview recently that she has never taken drugs. In one particular scene it shows one of the girls asleep and it cuts to her running around in a tunnel. This suggests that it is one of the girl’s dreams so showing her asleep is a visual signifier. It shows the dream in slow motion that makes the audience believe that it is very dramatic and I believe the message behind it is that the girl is trapped because we do not see her get out of the tunnel. At the start of the film Tracey shows establishing shots of the sea and usually in films the sea is used to show freedom. The film is telling us that the six teenage girls are trapped in their lives through the fact that they are always in their uniform and they also never leave Margate itself.
I did find some parts of the film difficult to understand but I do understand the message that Tracey Emin is trying to get across as she wants people to be aware that what happened to her when she was younger is still happening today and the victims of assaults are not telling anyone.
There are a few stereotypes that are used to represent different people. Such as the teenage girls are portrayed as people who drink, take drugs and go out with men all the time. Also the men in the film are portrayed as people who use women.
Thursday 18 March 2010
Stereotypes- class discussion
Today we did an activity and had a discussion about different stereotypes that are used to represent different people. A stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups or types of individuals.
For the activity we had to choose a group of people and find 5 examples of them in film or television and we had to write about how they are portrayed. I decided to choose men as my group because I thought I would be able to find lots of examples but I just couldn't. I was able to find 3 examples and my first example was the 'Oven Pride' ad. In the advertisement the woman says, 'It's so easy even a man can use it'. This advert portrays all men as people who can't do any housework. This advert has had alot of press because lots of people have being saying that it is sexist towards men.
My second example was the Feminax advert. In the advert a women is sat beside a guy on a sofa with period pains. She then pulls a lever and the guy shoots out of the window, hence she has got rid of the pain so this portrays the man as being the source of the pain. This advert has also had some press as it is also seen as sexist as well.
For my third example I chose the comedy show 'Two and a Half Men'. Charlie Harper is a character from the show and he is portrayed as a man who drinks, gambles, and is obsessed with good looking women.
After we did the activity we had a discussion on everyone's work and what examples they had come up with for the group of people they had chosen. After we had the discussion we watched a television show called 'The Surgery'. The show basically had one presenter who talked to a group of youths about certain topics happening around the u.k, such as, racism, discrimination and U.K and USA culture. During the show, the groups of youths seemed to have relatively different opinions on racism because one person said that they believed racism was on the decrease but another person completely disagreed with it and said that racism was on the increase. I think it comes down to what sort of area you live in. You could be someone who lives in an area where racism is common or you could live somewhere where it doesn't happen as much.
For the activity we had to choose a group of people and find 5 examples of them in film or television and we had to write about how they are portrayed. I decided to choose men as my group because I thought I would be able to find lots of examples but I just couldn't. I was able to find 3 examples and my first example was the 'Oven Pride' ad. In the advertisement the woman says, 'It's so easy even a man can use it'. This advert portrays all men as people who can't do any housework. This advert has had alot of press because lots of people have being saying that it is sexist towards men.
My second example was the Feminax advert. In the advert a women is sat beside a guy on a sofa with period pains. She then pulls a lever and the guy shoots out of the window, hence she has got rid of the pain so this portrays the man as being the source of the pain. This advert has also had some press as it is also seen as sexist as well.
For my third example I chose the comedy show 'Two and a Half Men'. Charlie Harper is a character from the show and he is portrayed as a man who drinks, gambles, and is obsessed with good looking women.
After we did the activity we had a discussion on everyone's work and what examples they had come up with for the group of people they had chosen. After we had the discussion we watched a television show called 'The Surgery'. The show basically had one presenter who talked to a group of youths about certain topics happening around the u.k, such as, racism, discrimination and U.K and USA culture. During the show, the groups of youths seemed to have relatively different opinions on racism because one person said that they believed racism was on the decrease but another person completely disagreed with it and said that racism was on the increase. I think it comes down to what sort of area you live in. You could be someone who lives in an area where racism is common or you could live somewhere where it doesn't happen as much.
A Band For Britain- ep 2
At the start of the second programme Sue Perkins reveals to the band they are going to compete in competition. The fact that they are competing goes down well with most of the band.
Between the first and second episodes Sue was able to recruit even more members to the band which makes the band even stronger and better. But the band had to sack one of their members because he wasn't turning up to practice so they had a group vote and they voted in favour of the sacking.
In the first part of this episode one of the original members cannot make it to practice because she is going to watch Sheffield United at Brammal Lane. Seeing as this member was going to the game so Sue decided to suprise the band by telling them that they were going with the band member to the game but they were going to play Sheffield United's anthem on the pitch. While at Brammal Lane the band were trying to raise money for a new conductor as they didn't have one. After the game Sue reveled that they had raised £1000.
Seeing as they had the money they decided to set up some conductor auditions. They managed to get 5 people to audition and 2 of them were already members of the band but they thought they could be a good conductor. In the end up a conductor from Leicestershire managed to get the job.
With a new conductor Sue decided to get the band a new uniform and she recruited fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway to pick the style and colours for the new uniform. The colours that ended up being picked were Mustard and blue because they are Dinington Colours.
On the day of the competition tensions were high as a squabble broke out between the band members when one of the uniforms for one of the band members didn't show and seeing as they were different for men and women they were arguing whether the young kid should wear the women's jacket. Sue Perkins found this really annoying and she said, 'I could just run into my own fist with fury' because it was just a stupid arguement. Also two of the younger members ended having a bit of a scuffle and I don't even know why.
After all the arguements they went on stage and played a Kasabian song and they ended getting third place so they managed to get some silverware. Overall I just can't understand why they were arguing about a jacket because it's just a jacket it wouldn't matter if he had the women's jacket on because it's the same colour as the rest. I do believe the band has a big problem with following orders because if they are going to be members of this band then they will have to listen more to the conductor but there was just no evidence of that in this episode except for one bit where the conductor was able to calm them down after the squabble.
Between the first and second episodes Sue was able to recruit even more members to the band which makes the band even stronger and better. But the band had to sack one of their members because he wasn't turning up to practice so they had a group vote and they voted in favour of the sacking.
In the first part of this episode one of the original members cannot make it to practice because she is going to watch Sheffield United at Brammal Lane. Seeing as this member was going to the game so Sue decided to suprise the band by telling them that they were going with the band member to the game but they were going to play Sheffield United's anthem on the pitch. While at Brammal Lane the band were trying to raise money for a new conductor as they didn't have one. After the game Sue reveled that they had raised £1000.
Seeing as they had the money they decided to set up some conductor auditions. They managed to get 5 people to audition and 2 of them were already members of the band but they thought they could be a good conductor. In the end up a conductor from Leicestershire managed to get the job.
With a new conductor Sue decided to get the band a new uniform and she recruited fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway to pick the style and colours for the new uniform. The colours that ended up being picked were Mustard and blue because they are Dinington Colours.
On the day of the competition tensions were high as a squabble broke out between the band members when one of the uniforms for one of the band members didn't show and seeing as they were different for men and women they were arguing whether the young kid should wear the women's jacket. Sue Perkins found this really annoying and she said, 'I could just run into my own fist with fury' because it was just a stupid arguement. Also two of the younger members ended having a bit of a scuffle and I don't even know why.
After all the arguements they went on stage and played a Kasabian song and they ended getting third place so they managed to get some silverware. Overall I just can't understand why they were arguing about a jacket because it's just a jacket it wouldn't matter if he had the women's jacket on because it's the same colour as the rest. I do believe the band has a big problem with following orders because if they are going to be members of this band then they will have to listen more to the conductor but there was just no evidence of that in this episode except for one bit where the conductor was able to calm them down after the squabble.
A Band for Britain- ep 1
The programme, 'A Band For Britain' is a programme charting the attempts of comedian, Sue Perkins, to rebuild the Dinnington Colliery Band. Throughout the programmes Sue Perkins faces problems to get the community to engage with this project.Sue believes that the project is really important because brass bands are part of British culture and they are decline at the moment.
In this first programme of the series, Sue facing the task of trying to recruit new members to the band because the band itself had been losing members. To try and recruit new members she gets some of the bands existing members and go on a roadshow to Sheffield to try and recruit new members. Sue also faced another problem and that was the fact that some of the members were very negative and didn't think it would work. Also to try and recruit new members she tries to use local media such as, radio. Through persistance they managed to get a few new members and organised auditions for the new members to see how they good they are.
To help her get the band into shape she gets the conductor from probably the best brass band in the world to help her. He helps her by having a few practice sessions with the band.
Throughout the programme you got sense of what some of the band members were like. For instance a couple of the original members were really picky and didn't like being told what to do.
I think overall Sue Perkins would succeed if she kept the band to a strict regime and also through persistance.
In this first programme of the series, Sue facing the task of trying to recruit new members to the band because the band itself had been losing members. To try and recruit new members she gets some of the bands existing members and go on a roadshow to Sheffield to try and recruit new members. Sue also faced another problem and that was the fact that some of the members were very negative and didn't think it would work. Also to try and recruit new members she tries to use local media such as, radio. Through persistance they managed to get a few new members and organised auditions for the new members to see how they good they are.
To help her get the band into shape she gets the conductor from probably the best brass band in the world to help her. He helps her by having a few practice sessions with the band.
Throughout the programme you got sense of what some of the band members were like. For instance a couple of the original members were really picky and didn't like being told what to do.
I think overall Sue Perkins would succeed if she kept the band to a strict regime and also through persistance.
Monday 8 March 2010
Interaction-new unit
I have just stated my unit, interaction and is the last unit before the end of the year. For this unit we have been put into 3 groups as we are being marked on how we work as a group and are individual work. I ended up changing groups to balance out the groups which I was fine with.
The unit is mainly based on different community groups within the Bradford area and how they interact with others. The final piece for this project is a going to be a video. For the start of the project we had to do 4 investigative reports on different community groups. My investigative reports were based on people with different disabilities. The 4 I chose to do were physically disabled, mentally disabled, hearing impaired and visually impaired people. My idea was to look at different disability sports clubs but after some research I could only find physically disabled sports clubs not any others. So I decided to focus on different care centres and other clubs where these people can be looked after and can interact with other people.
I managed to find places that support each of the groups that I chose. At the start of this project I was a bit confused on what we had to research but after talking to people in my group I ended up knowing what to do.
The unit is mainly based on different community groups within the Bradford area and how they interact with others. The final piece for this project is a going to be a video. For the start of the project we had to do 4 investigative reports on different community groups. My investigative reports were based on people with different disabilities. The 4 I chose to do were physically disabled, mentally disabled, hearing impaired and visually impaired people. My idea was to look at different disability sports clubs but after some research I could only find physically disabled sports clubs not any others. So I decided to focus on different care centres and other clubs where these people can be looked after and can interact with other people.
I managed to find places that support each of the groups that I chose. At the start of this project I was a bit confused on what we had to research but after talking to people in my group I ended up knowing what to do.
Thursday 4 March 2010
Newswipe compilation episode
When I watched one of the episodes from this series it was really hard to follow as Charlie Brooker kept talking so fast you couldn't what he was saying sometimes. But in the compilation episode he was really funny and I could understand what he was saying.
Newswipe is basically a show that looks at the funny side of global news.
The compilation epsiode looked a the funny side of the news' coverage of the snowy weather. The show also looked at the recession in a funny way. My favorite part of the show was when it showed someone slipping on some ice and then another person came by trying to help the person that slipped and then they fell as well.
I really do like this show as you need something that looks a the news in a posiitve way instead of a dull miserable way.
Newswipe is basically a show that looks at the funny side of global news.
The compilation epsiode looked a the funny side of the news' coverage of the snowy weather. The show also looked at the recession in a funny way. My favorite part of the show was when it showed someone slipping on some ice and then another person came by trying to help the person that slipped and then they fell as well.
I really do like this show as you need something that looks a the news in a posiitve way instead of a dull miserable way.
Tuesday 2 March 2010
The Virtual Revolution- episode 3 The cost of free
The third episode of this series was about e-commerce (buying goods online). I found the first two episodes of the series rather boring and the shows just seemed to ramble on and it seemed like it took ages for it to finish.
The third episode of this series talked about the history of e-commerce and how it all came about and who were some of the major players in e-commerce. After watching the episode I didn't realized that pizza hut were one of the first companies to use web commerce and they took orders online. You wouldn't believe pizza hut were one of the first to do it.
The show was also about fraud and how are information on facebook about are ourselves is there forever. I mean that is kind of scary. If you put any information about yourself on any website that information is there FOREVER. The presenter of the show also talked about google and how much of a success it is. Basically anytime you or anyone uses google's search engines then google automatically earn money. At one stage google were earning 200 dollars a second. Think how much money google would of earned in a day. Wow!
Overall the show wasn't something that I would recommend to anyone. It just seemed to go on and on. The last two shows have been too boring for my taste.
The third episode of this series talked about the history of e-commerce and how it all came about and who were some of the major players in e-commerce. After watching the episode I didn't realized that pizza hut were one of the first companies to use web commerce and they took orders online. You wouldn't believe pizza hut were one of the first to do it.
The show was also about fraud and how are information on facebook about are ourselves is there forever. I mean that is kind of scary. If you put any information about yourself on any website that information is there FOREVER. The presenter of the show also talked about google and how much of a success it is. Basically anytime you or anyone uses google's search engines then google automatically earn money. At one stage google were earning 200 dollars a second. Think how much money google would of earned in a day. Wow!
Overall the show wasn't something that I would recommend to anyone. It just seemed to go on and on. The last two shows have been too boring for my taste.
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