Media Theory

Hey,


So to help further my understanding of certain aspects of media and music, I researched into the big theorists that have changed the way we consume media and music, over the past few years.


Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze


Film represents women as passive objects of male desire.  Audiences are forced to view women from the point of view of a heterosexual male even if they are indeed; heterosexual women or homosexual men.


Bell hooks - The colour codes


Lighter skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into the western ideology of beauty.  Black women are objectified and sexualised in hip-hop reflecting the colonialist view of black women (sexually disposable). Commoditised blackness, a mediated view of black culture that is considered the norm.


Stuart Hall - The media and therefore audiences often blur race and class.


Often associating particular races with a particular class. Audience reception theory; audiences read/understand a particular text according to their cultural upbringing. Western (white dominated) cultures. Continue to misinterpret ethnic minorities in the media due to underlying racist tendencies. Ethnic minorities are often represented as ‘the other’.


Tricia Rose


Hip Hop gives black female rappers a voice introducing female empowerment. Hip hop gave audiences an insight into the lives of young black urban Americans and gave them a voice.


Robert Moog


Although no one really knows who built the first fretted guitar, or who truly designed the first real keyboard, we do know who created the first pitch-proper, commercially available synthesizer. Robert Moog is widely recognized as the father of the synthesizer keyboard, and his instrument revolutionized the sound of pop and classical music from the day it hit the streets in 1966. Unfortunately, Moog wasn't the greatest businessperson — or perhaps he was just very, very generous with his ideas — and the only synthesizer-related patent he ever filed was for something called a low-pass filter.


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I've also checked out what exactly a music video is, which is how I found this explanation: Music videos use a wide range of styles of contemporary video making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation, music, and live action. Combining these styles and techniques has become more popular because of the variation it resent to the audience. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.


Music videos have also become a place where product placement is evident in almost every mainstream video. They are always parent and it usually takes place because the artist is sponsoring a product or brand. An example of product placement is the Beats Pill being featured in numerous hip hop videos. The strong emphasis on product placement is something that has evolved because of the global scale music videos can reach because of websites such as YouTube.