Another media text would be Thomas Hoepker’s photo of New Yorkers that apparently are relaxing as the twin towers are being targeted. Hoepker expressed concern that they “didn’t seem to care,” and did not publish the shot at the time, feeling it was “ambiguous and confusing.” Jonathan Jones had selected the controversial photo of the New Yorkers and placed it in an article in 2011. In the article Jones illustrates the meaning of the 9/11’s most controversial photo and describes that, in today’s media it has become one of the iconic photographs of 9/11. To support the ideological meaning Jones used a quote from Tony Blair, “It is amazing how quickly shock is absorbed and a natural rhythm of the human spirit reasserts itself … We remember, but not as we felt at that moment.” This illustrates the anchored ideological meaning of the photo and represents the event on how it impacts to the Americans. Jones proclaims that the photograph “has nothing to do with judging individuals” but has become an image about history, and about memory. The anchorage ideological meaning of the photo shows that life does not stop dead because a battle or an act of terror has happened. This media represents the event today as a part of history and a memory. It shows a different perspective of the 9/11 event and shows as a positive connotation. With the mise-en-scene of the sunny day, the park, the gathering of New Yorkers, the picnic and the sense of joy and optimism, if you were to remove the burning towers from the photograph the image would appear to be nothing more than a group of “disaffected sunbathing youth” spending a leisurely summer day in the park.
Inside 9/11 is a three-part television documentary which covers the September 11, 2001 attack, the events that led to it, and its consequences. The first part consisted of examining, event by event, the build-up towards September 11. The second part consisted of the events of 9/11 itself, and the aftermath. Experts and eyewitnesses provide their accounts of the attacks and the events are covered in chronological order. There is a variety camera works used in this documentary; hand-held camera work is used to demonstrate natural emotion towards the audience, this is used mainly when the video footage of the 9/11 attack is been recorded, this is an effective way of allowing the audience to feel and understand the atmosphere during the time. Birds-eye view angle is also used on the city, this implies a plane, and how the plane is seen as a ‘big bird’. Panning shots are also used to showing different planes landing and setting off. Zooms are used on a variety of objects, especially when the group of Islamic men are shown constantly in the documentary; this could imply the idea of the entire blame being put on these men. Tilt ups are used when audio voiceovers are used; this gives emotion to the documentary, as this is the area of confliction, especially when one of the planes is being under attack. The mise-en-scene is related towards this documentary, a point to add onto this; People which are significantly relevant towards the 9/11 attack are being interviewed. This makes the documentary very strong and accurate, as experts of the event are being asked questions. Those which are being interviewed are also wearing dull colours; they are also wearing suits which denote governmental issues/ factors. The documentary takes the audience inside the twin towers to show them exactly what was happening during the event. The documentary also specifically blames Osama Bin Laden for the reason of the attack, making this documentary very biased towards one side. The sounding in this documentary is very natural and realistic, natural sounding is used in interviews. Audio conversations are shown between Betty Oang, who is an air hostess for one of the planes, and the Texas Operation Centre; this is in the middle of the documentary, where the conflict arises and to create tension to the sequel. Mysterious non-diegetic music is being played in the background of the interviews and clips. The sound tends to work alongside with the camera work; this is shown constantly throughout the documentary. The background music is related towards the people’s moods in the documentary.
Inside 9/11 covers the story of the conflict between religions as the Muslims, the Christians and the Jews since 1980′s. It also represents the story of a young Samaritan who reveals to be Osama bin Laden, who decides America, is one of the greatest infidels and needs to pay. Around the story of these religious conflicts, another story is built, and that’s the one of the 9/11 events. The documentary contains a linear narrative parts, since the events are explained, following the year of each important event. The story is also accompanied by the voice of the narrator- also from time to time the narrative is paused and testimonials of eye witnesses or researchers are presented to us in order to give reference for the information we received. The most important concept of this is the heaviness of the information that is presented by this documentary. This documentary reveals a large amount of information, opening the door for an extended understanding of the events. Towards the end of the documentary, it gives a negative atmosphere for the viewers, as everyone in the documentary are upset. It leaves the viewers on edge, this is called a cliff-hanger and this shows effect, and leaves the audience wondering what the real background of the 9/11 attack really was.
In the event of the Manchester’s 2011 Riots is represented through articles from news media institutions. The main themes in articles include multiculturalism, education, employment, racism, segregation and neo-fascist political groups such as the BNP and NF. Events in Greater Manchester were constructed in the media as concerning out of control youth, acts of immoral debauchery, vengeance and justice, a lack of policing and mindless violence. At first glance of the Greater Manchester riot, we can certainly conclude the disturbances in Manchester were not a race riot. In the media there are affinities in media representations of this event. The presence of young people is mentioned in this event, though arguably there is more of a moral panic around the alarmingly low age of those implicated in the Manchester disturbances. Also the “rioters” have likenesses in terms of their economic and employment status, as all those involved were mostly unemployed and living in areas of multiple deprivation. This inclusion of the word “gang” is apparent in media accounts of the event. Arguably this word has criminal connotations though in reality it appears the media are simply referring to large groups of primarily young people. Perhaps what is most striking here though is the construction of the incident as mindless or obtuse, lacking any rationale or cause. Similarly some media reports on events in Manchester reveal a lack of confidence in the government, poverty and unemployment as possible motivating factors. There is also a discernible “folk devil” that has been scapegoated for all that is wrong with society in media representations of this instance of urban disorder.
The BBC made a documentary about the London Riots 2011 called ‘Our Crime’. It presented the summer 2011’s UK riots as the biggest act of mass public criminality from the young generation. The footage was mostly filmed through mobile phones as the people who were represented in the documentary were closest to the crime. The people captured stories of the theft, destruction and the human tragedy over the amount of time it took to stop. One of the people who filmed aimed the camera at his face. He showed the emotion of what he thought of the riots and when he was in the area of the riots he interviewed some rioters and asked them “why are you doing this?” This shows how the riots impact on the audience and represents the anchorage ideological meaning of the documentary. This documentary shows the negative event and shows how the audience didn’t want it to happen. Throughout the documentary the London Riots represents the young people. This shows how clearly rude the young rioters are, however this then creates the stereotype of young people being up to no good and being irrational. During the London Riots the institution presents live action of the rioters burning houses, stealing items and doing many things that is unreasonable. This represents the negative view of London to the target audience and also shows to other parts of the world that London is a bad place to go. On the other hand, London always tries to represent itself as a positive connotation, but because of the riots it leads the meaning of London misunderstood. Because the young generation is presented on the documentary as criminals, it allows the parents and the government to understand what they were thinking of to give them the right to riot. This shows the young people’s emotion throughout the documentary as they are being analyzed as criminals but also shown as people who just want to fit in with the others and cause havoc.
In the event of the Royal Wedding, this shows the positive connotation of England. The royal wedding has been represented through many types of media and has shown the royal wedding as a moment to remember. One type of media the event was represented was through a newspaper article. In the article it represented the reporter’s point of view on the event. The reporter describes what happened in the event and the impact on the audience. The article describes that at the time of the event everyone was waiting to see the bride’s dress. The article says that the dress was “epitomises timeless British craftsmanship by drawing together talented and skilled workmanship from across the United Kingdom.” This presents the concept of Britain and how it is presented through its work. The article is constructed in a proper style and is structured formally. The institution constructed the article formal as it represents that the event was an official event. Since there is no picture in the article, the article has to be long and detailed as it’ll cover the space and truest i keep the audience interested. The reporter had selected to use the kiss event at the end as it would create the concept on the impact of the audience. “The fleeting embrace sent the already ecstatic crowds wild, and was repeated during a flypast,” represents the audience emotion of the love between the newlywed couple and how it represents Britain’s passion for its royal family. The anchorage ideological meaning of the article is how one event brings the country closer, and how it is impacted on the audience and the royal family.
Events are represented in the media today through different media such as articles, documentaries, and images. These represent the event through the connotation and denotation of the media text. The event is also represented on how it is impacted on the audience, and how one event can bring a country at its knees. Through the events of 9/11, the Greater Manchester Riots in 2011, and the Royal Wedding they all represent how something negative or positive can create such a commotion with the audience. These events are represented in the media today as they are still a common topic that comes up with today’s society. Since they were contemporary the audience would still have a memory of it so if seen a picture or an article they would have an immediate memory of the event. Overall, events are represented in the media today through different news media sources or different media texts and presents how an event impacts on the audience.
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by
vicky1111rule (student)
