SUMMER RESEARCH

Media Representations

Glee represents the stereotypes of high school kids, with cliche characters such as the 'Jock', 'Plastic etc, with somewhat of a new stereotype: 'The Gay One'. Characters are being represented this way to allow the audience to identify themselves with them. The use of stereptypes could also allow the audience to acheive a sense of escapism, as they see characters reach their goals. The stereotypes may not be accurate however this is what may contribute to the sense of escapism towards the audience.


Media Languages and Forms

What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?
What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
there connotations of hope, redemption. love
What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?
Within the text the characters show emotions of struggle and unhappiness, however a sense of hope is brought to the narrative and some sort of happiness seems to be accomplished, which creates a feel-good text. The clothing preseted in the text represents the stereotypes of high school, the jocks, the nerds,the plastic and the gay guy., which audiences can identify with.
What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings?
What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text?
Sound bridges, voice-over.
What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
Pop culture, (madonna's bra, reference of 'Bravo')
What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)?

Narrative

How is the narrative organised and structured?
With the help of voice-over and text toguide the audience and inform them about the new series.
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
The audience
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
Glee's hero's and Villains are presented through the concept of 'Nasty and Nice', for example Sue Sylvester, who comes across as rude and a bully, whilst Mr Shuester seems very understanding and caring.
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?
Glee emodies the ideologies of hard work, hope, and that anything is possible,

Genre

To which genre does the text belong?
Comedy, drama, musical
What are the major generic conventions within the text?
What are the major iconographic features of the text?
What are the major generic themes?
To what extent are the characters generically determined?
To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?
Mathew Morrison who is a famous broadway musical actor

Media Institutions

What is the institutional source of the text?
In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?
Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?
How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology

What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?

Media Audiences

To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?
Teenagers aged 13 to 19 .
Female majorty audience, including gay fan base.
demographically D and E.
Psychographically the audience will essentailly be mainstreamers and aspirers, as this audience group are interested in contemporary and mainsream music, and also
What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?
How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?