Explain how Festinger can be used to explain the popularity of programmes like Hotel Babylon or other similar TV Dramas

Most TV Dramas, including Hotel Babylon, feature characters from all of the main ethnic groups. Typically, there will also be characters that fit into different groups that are discriminated against e.g. the disabled and people that are homosexual. They do this to try and portray these groups in a certain way with the aim that it will make some people change their views of them for the better. You will notice that a lot of the time they do this by challenging stereotypes and trying to beat stereotypical views of these people. However, through the process of doing this they usually end up using stereotypical characteristics and ideas to create these characters and bring them to life. Technically, they're not really challenging any stereotypes or stereotypical ideas if they are still using them themselves.






The reason why the media uses stereotypes is because it makes it easier to create a character that the audience feel like they know and already know a lot about even if they are a completely new character. This makes the story-telling easier for them as back stories don't need to be covered thoroughly as soon as they are brought into the show, the audience can already connect with them and already have views on them. Also, if a TV Drama or any show didn't use stereotypes or stereotypical ideas in some way it wouldn't be successful. Audiences enjoy stereotypes, it helps them to develop views on certain characters and most of all it I just convenient to them. We have grown up around stereotypes and they are a part of our everyday lives, it is impossible to eliminate them.






Everybody has developed a certain attitude and different views towards different people, these are unique to every one of us but have been shaped by the stereotypes portrayed in the media and our experience. Ultimately, these views won't change unless we are shown something that will completely contradict everything that we have ever though. When we watch shows, particularly TV Dramas where these stereotypes are more prominent, we are looking for what we want to see which links to the view that we have. We don't watch something and look for something that will challenge our views, we look for the complete opposite. We want to see something that will confirm what we think we know about certain groups of people to make us feel like we are right.  

Evaluate Perkins theory about stereotypes in Hotel Babylon.

                                                     

1) Stereotypes aren't always negative  

In Hotel Babylon the Asian woman has the stereotype of being intelligent, this is a positive stereotype especially compared to the stereotypes of other groups. The audience expect her to be intelligent, to take charge and help out with the situation. If the audience were worried about the immigrant characters then they relax knowing that she is smart enough to prevent them from being arrested. The stereotypes of her character make the audience like her rather than dislike her, this shows that there can be stereotypes that don't result in negative expectations.

2) They are not always about minority groups or those less powerful

There are stereotypes about white people in this programme as well even though they aren't a minority group and are considered as being powerful. For example the immigration officers have the stereotype that people do associate with white people, and that is that they are racist. This is a negative stereotype and makes the audience dislike the characters no matter what ethnicity they are themselves. There are some cases where even though they are considered as powerful and not being part of the minority, white people do have negative stereotypes as well which does result in other ethnicities not liking us.

3) They can be held about one's own group

In the programme the woman who works behind the desk is white and has blonde hair, there are different stereotypes that come along with having these two characteristics. White people are considered to be powerful and good people. The female character in this particular scene is in charge, matching up with the powerful stereotype. Also, she takes charge in the situation to help the immigrants and make sure that they are hiding - again showing that she is a good character. There are stereotypes that come with being blonde, e.g. she is expected to be dumb, but her character isn't portrayed as being dumb at all. The BBC are trying to beat the stereotype and present her in a way that she appears to be intelligent and creating codes with workers so that nobody finds out what they are doing. However, at the beginning of this particular scene when she is talking to the immigration officers she is putting down one of the black workers and suggests that he is stupid. This isn't necessarily a characteristic of her character but it does show that when in the company of others we may change and fit into the stereotype of our group.

4) Stereotypes aren't rigid or unchanging

Stereotypes do change over time alongside changing attitudes that people have towards certain types of people. In Hotel Babylon there are examples of stereotypes that have changed over time. For example, the stereotype associated with Black-Africans has changed over time as we are no longer as racist as we used to be. This has meant there has been in the stereotypical view of Black-Africans. Years ago they were portrayed as looking like monkeys whereas now that would never be done because now it is considered to be wrong. Their current stereotype still has elements that haven't changed, e.g. being uneducated, but there are added ones that would be considered as being a lot more positive than past views of them. They are now regarded as being strong and if they are in a sporting event we expect them to do well because of this stereotypical view of them. In Hotel Babylon there is a Black-African man who beats the uneducated view as he explains that he was a former Doctor and helps a woman who fainted. The audience like his character and the other Black-Africans in the programme without really knowing much about them, this is as a result of the change in the way they are stereotyped.

5) Stereotypes aren't always false

The stereotype that white people are racist may not always be false, even if it is for the most part. There is still racism and the majority of racism has come from white people, like I said before this doesn't mean that every white person is racist but a small percentage of us are. That small percentage may not seem like much but it is enough to prove that stereotypes aren't always false. In this programme the immigration officers are portrayed as being racist. This may be true in real life to an extent because they are trying to kick people out of the country that weren't born here and sometimes this may result in racist behaviour towards them.   

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

 

 

 

Producers

J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, Bryan Burk

Production Companies

Bad Robot Productions and Lucasfilm LTD.

Director

J.J. Abrams

Screenwriters

J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan

Actors

Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie and Mark Hamill.

Budget

$200 million (£132 million)

Locations

England, Ireland, Iceland and United Arab Emirates.

Greenlight Date

Disney announced a new trilogy in 2012 but it was November 7th 2013 that Disney announced the release date or the film (December 18th 2015).

Number of screens on opening weekend

937 IMAX worldwide and over 4000 screens in North America.

Peak figure

In the opening weekend the film made $247,966,675

Number of weeks in the cinema

24 weeks until the 2nd of June 2016

Critical reaction

Rotten Tomatoes - 92% enjoyed the film. It was described as being packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood. The film was also praised for successfully recalling the series' former glory while still adding extra energy.

Metacritic - got a 81 out of 100 score based off of 52 critics reviews. There were 48 positive reviews, 4 mixed and there aren't any negative reviews recorded.

Box Office Figures

Worldwide - $2,068,223,624

US - $936,662,225

China -$124,159,138

Music

John Williams was the composer for the score for the film.

Marketing

All 6 of the previous films available on streaming services in order to build up anticipation for the upcoming film. They also brought out a large amount of licensed merchandise, ranging from toys to Kraft macaroni and cheese. The team felt that it was important to reassure fans that the sequels would be good, so throughout all of the marketing there was a lot of emphasis on the use of practical effects and the use of real life locations as much as possible to keep the 'lived in' aesthetic of the previous films. There were a number of teaser trailers released, with the second one being shown at Star Wars Celebration with the classic theme tune playing in the background and the return of familiar faces e.g. Han Solo - this was received well by audiences. Disney were releasing TV adverts nearly every other day, but managed to keep crucial plot information secret. Even the third proper trailer set up the characters and their motivation without giving anything away.

Tie-in Products

• Lego
• Oranges with BB8 packaging
• Duracell Batteries
• Toothpaste
• Makeup - Covergirl collection with mascara, lipstick and nail varnish
• Spotify - Star Wars match based on music taste
• Popcorn
• Stamps
• HP released a special edition Notebook with 'battle-worn design', Darth Vader head on flip side of the screen, rare Star Wars content and wallpapers preloaded.

Special Effects

There are  number of explosions carried out throughout the duration of the film. There is also the use of green screens in certain scenes, however they were only used when there was no way of creating it in real life. Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) was used for a lot of the battle scenes and action sequences, but again was only used when necessary and if it would actually benefit the whole effect of the scene. The Raised Speeder that the character Daisy Ridley rides on near the beginning of the film was re-created after starring in one of the early Star Wars film. Special effects were needed to bring this to life as it hovered in the air, it needed to look realistic while still maintaining the out-of-this-world effect that Star Wars has built. For scenes where they were completely done with CGI the team worked to make it appear as realistic as possible. They achieved this by moving the camera at a speed that could be achieved in the real world. In order to stay in keeping with the effect of the previous Star Wars films to please the fans they had to maintain the real effect of it, they did this with minimal use of CGI and green screens.

 

Ethnicity in Hotel Babylon

Ethnicity Media

Film Production

Key roles:

• Writer - in charge of creating the screenplay for a film. This should have an exciting plot and interesting characters while fitting with the style and format of the film industry. The screenwriter has to work to a strict deadline and work alongside a script development team to ensure that the script is even more likely to be financed and made. There are some cases when an extra screenwriter will be brought in to help improve certain aspects of the film. Initially, the writer will approach Producers with a pitch in the hope that their idea will be picked up.

• Producer - responsible for turning story ideas into films that will bring in a profit. Part of their job is to put together a creative and talented group of cast and crew that will hopefully help with the success of the film. Overall, their main job is managing and being responsible for all aspects of the films production.

• Casting Director - organise and select the cast for the film. They are in charge of the casting process which consists of interviews and auditions with Actors and then negotiating money and contracts with Actors once they get the role. Before going in to casting, they must first work with the Director and Producer/s to understand what they are looking for.

• Director - creative driving force in a film's production. They visualise, style and structure the film bringing it all to life. Their duties include: casting, script editing, shot composition, shot selection and editing. The Director is a crucial link between the production, technical and creative teams.

• Film Finance - manage all of the finance aspects of the film production. They do this by preparing budgets, managing cash flow, accounting and taxation, raising finance and overseeing the Accounts team as well.

• Camera Operator - prepare and operate the camera equipment. They work with the Director and the Director of photography to understand the visual style of the film to ensure that this can be brought to life and achieve their aims. Also, they manage the other camera staff to make sure that they are doing what they should be and keeping a constant style. They also need to communicate with the Actors to ensure that they are in the right positions for the camera and to make them aware of which cameras will be on them at different times.

• Editor - work closely with the Director to put together the finished film and the final cut to make sure that it is done how they want it. This process requires working in an editing suite for long hours as there is usually a very strict deadline that they have to meet. They are in charge of running a team of assistants and trainees on big productions, because it is such a big project more than one person is needed to get it all done.

• Production Designer - manage every visual aspect of the film as well as directing the team responsible for producing all of the visual elements e.g. set, costume . They will work closely with the Director and Producer/s to put together a budget and schedule for the production of the film.

• Marketing - organise the creation and planning of marketing campaigns and the publicity that surrounds the film. This involves working with the Distributor, film studios and the film makers to get it all done correctly in a way that they like.

• Exhibition - Cinemas remain the main and most important market for film, as if the film does well in the Box Office then initially this is their best way of getting financial success. Film attendance is always being collected so that cinemas can decide which films to cancel and which films to prolong. Money can also be made from DVD sales, rentals, hospitality, broadcast and product licensing. Premieres are done as a way of launching the film and out usually in big cities with the stars of the film and other famous guests to gain high publicity coverage. Prints are needed in order to show the films at the cinema and these are provided to the Exhibitioner by the Distributor.

Representation

After looking at all of the different tribes I find it hard to identify with one completely, but I think I fit into the Mainstream tribe the most out of all of them. I probably fit into the Townies section of this tribe because of my taste in music and fashion. When buying clothes, I get most of my clothes from Topshop and Zara as this fits in more with my style. However, when I do go shopping there I don't go in to buy the clothes that everybody else is wearing. I am interested in keeping up to date with fashion and owning the basics, but I like having my own individual style and picking out items that I haven't seen many people wearing but aren't too 'out there' either. To be honest, it's hard to be out there when pretty much all of my clothes are black, grey or white. I would say that I follow a lot of the trend however there are some trends that I really hate, e.g. slogan t-shirts, that I won't buy for the sake of being 'on-trend'. In this way I fit in to the Townies category as I wouldn't class myself as 'fashion-forward', I definitely just go along with things and try not to stand out too much. The music I listen to would probably be considered mainstream because I do like songs that are in the charts, although I do get bored of them very quickly. I prefer to make my own playlists made up of a few current chart songs but mostly of songs by smaller artists and bands that I don't have to listen to on repeat everywhere I go. It is more likely for me to like a song a couple of weeks after it has gone out of the top 10 then for me to like it when it's in the charts because I hate when songs are overplayed. The songs I put into my playlist are made up of many different genres but are similar to the songs people would listen to on the radio. The only difference is that the songs are just by smaller artists that not many people know of, their style of music would still probably be classed as a mainstream.

I would say that I am similar to the singer Nina Nesbitt in terms of style because we both stick to a monochrome colour scheme, adding pops of colour every now and then. Even though she will wear all-black outfits sometimes, they don't look boring or identical to everything else that she wears. Her outfits are usually made up of basic items but from different brands and in slightly different styles and this is something that I usually do when buying clothes. In the same way that I don't like to stand out in a crowd, her clothing never makes her stand out either but she still looks really nice (sometimes less is more). One of her signature looks is black boots, black jeans/ripped jeans and a cami, which is one of the typical outfits that I would reach for or put together myself if I was in a rush.

I don't think that I model myself off of anybody because I think it's important to really know your own style and not to copy somebody else's completely. However, that doesn't mean that I don't take inspiration from other people's clothing and style because I do, I just don't look at one person's style in particular. Most of the time I get inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram and sometimes adapt outfits to fit my style. It is impossible to create a style without being influenced and getting inspiration from other people. To an extent everybody gets inspiration from everybody, sometimes that might be what not to wear but it can be something that we think fits our style.

Film Still 2 by Amy Webley on Scribd

5x5 by Amy Webley on Scribd