To what extent does Channel 4’s Top Boy reflect modern representations of black men in British media?
Angle
In my critical investigation I will be talking about the portrayal of black males within British media , I will be using tv programmes such as Topboy and Adulthood to show some examples. I will be looking to see how and why black males are represented in certain ways.
My Linked Production
In my linked production i will be using Krept & Konan - Dont Waste Time , I used this song because i believe it shows the example for representation of black males. It shows various shots and lighting styles through out.
MIGRAINE
Media Representations
This video shows various representations of black males, for instance as you can hear in the video the chorus says "Police wanna stop me search my clothes" as you can see the artist Konan is trying to insinuate that the police always think that males of the black race are always up to no good. This gives black males a negative image, i believe that black males are represented like this due to certain urban films and programs that people see on TV, usually when viewing urban programes or films black males usually take on the roll as the thug or the criminal this makes black males look violent and unfriendly. This stereotype of black males is not accurate as there are many successful kind black men with well paid jobs that are not involved in gun crimes and criminal activities.
Media Languages and Forms
There were many examples of mise en scene with the costumes. For example, in the music video every person was wearing the colour black, the use of mise en scene with the dark clothing connotes that they are all apart of a dangerous team that cause havoc. Another example of mise en scene is when the video shows various shots of big groups of black males in balaclavas, this connotes that they are planning to do something violent and crazy this makes the audience feel as if the age and race of black males are corrupted because it looks like they live in a not so luxurious life.
This video shows many examples of mise en scene from the the props as you can see they are using bottles of alcohol in the music video, this connotes that the people in the video are intoxicated making it worse as they will act more angry and violent, this makes the audience fear the sight of black males whilst they are intoxicated. Another use of mise en scene was the shots of the motor bikes, i can tell they used motorbikes to give the music video more of an edge and to make it look cool and interesting , as we can see this looks powerful, this makes the audience feel intimidated. This makes the audience fear black males.
The music video used lowkey lighting throughout this connotes that the video will be about a negative topic and the mood of the music is quite, the lighting showed many shadows in the background by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast. It created an chiaroscuro effect.
There were many people in the music video, there were different types of body language and expressions being used. Symbolic codes were shown in the music video with their body language, as you can see each persons body language in the music video looks as if they don't care about society and the law and also that they pitty the police. Each persons emotion in the video was serious and blunt. Krept and Konan showed many different types of hand gestures, the use of mise en scene on the hand gestures connotes that both the artists are involved in gangs.
The setting of the music video was outside round council house flats, the use of mise en scene for this setting connotes that the people in this video are less wealthy than others. The video makes the audience feel as if most trouble and crimes are caused round council estates, giving the audience a negative opinion of black males who live in estates. Also there were shots showing the local corner shops and outside basketball courts at the park, the use of mise en scene connotes that they are filming around their area because there are so many people there that look comfortable.
At the start of the music video it shows a long range establishing shot round central London, the use of mise en scene on this shot this connotes that the video is going to show a lot of shots of the city life also it connotes that their proud because it looks like their showing it off in their glory. Also there many slow motion shots of motorbikes doing wheelies this is another example of the 2 artists trying to make an impact with the video through out.
Narrative
The video starts with an amazing establishing shot showing of London for about 10seconds then it begins by showing slow motion shots of motorbikes performing wheelies and slow motion cameos of the Artist's and their group of friends/crew. Then when the beat finally drops the video shows various shots of different places of where they filmed, this makes the music video look more interesting and exciting. The movement made by the two artists gives them an image of being the villans of the music video.
Genre
The genre of this song is Urban U.K rap, you can tell this from the tempo of the beat and how its organised. This music video shows many generic themes with the use of the props and hand gestures, we know this because U.K rap has a bad boy/ rebellious style of genre. As we can see in the video there were many rude hand gestures shown on the screen this is a form of disrespect and rebelliousness towards the viewers. Also the video shows many intimidating shots of the crew members and the artists this links back to the generic themes because the artists are trying give off the image of a badboy it is aslo a form of "keeping it real".
Institutions
The institutional source of the text is the two artist's themselves, this is due to fact that both artists want stay with their own independent label, this is because both artist like the motto of keeping it real.
Audience
The target audience for this music video and whom it is addressed too would be teens and young adults, but if we were talking demographically the target audience would be the groups D/E. Basically meaning people such as:
- Semi skilled workers
- Unskilled workers
- The unemployed
- Students
- Pensioners
- Casual workers
I believe this sort of music would attract more of the black race because they can relate to the stereotype.
Shep
- In my topic i will be focusing on the Channel 4’s Top Boy reflect modern representations of black men in British media
- In my topic i will be talking about why
Issues/Debates
-Representations and stereotyping
stereotypes are made on a regular basis due to the things that people see within the media, some stereotypes are negative and some are positive. However in this case the stereotypes used against black males is negative, such as
- Black males are violent and unfriendly
- Black males are usually caught up in drug selling
- Black males are are unwealthy people who live in council estate flats
- Black males are usually caught up in gang crimes and criminal activities
Theories
Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)
Media texts
Toboy (TV progame)
Other media texts
Other media texts
- Adulthood
- Shank
- Anuvahood
- Kidulthood
- Krept and Konan - Dont Waste My Time
TV documentaries
Academic texts/books Internet Links
Secondary Text
I will be analysing a scene from the series of Luther
Each characters clothing looks very smart, most characters are either wearing a suit and tie or wearing jackets. Each character is dressing smart thoughout the episode, this is because they are acting the roles as police officers. However the main character Luther is also wearing a suit a and tie but his clothes are look rough and out of place. The fact that they made the only black male character look the messiest connotes that the T.V programme is complimenting the stereotypes of black males. The smart clothing of each character working with Luther connotes that they have a job that contains a high status in society.
The line up of actors is this episode is very ironic due to the fact that most of the characters have white backrounds the main character is a black male. This is unusual because you never usually see a black male as the main character in a English T.V drama. You can tell from watching the episode that the police team respect and love for Luther, most of the actors ont he police team act like they need him to solve most of the cases. This connotes that Luther is the best for the job and the staff he works with think very highly of him. This is complimenting the fact that not all stereotypes about black males are true becuase a black male is the main character of a London City Drama.
The setting of the episode contains shots of broken down houses and buildings that look very old, the use of mise en scene from these shots shown connote that the setting of this episode is based in the the poor urban parts of south London; you can tell by the way they used a wide shot of the both building in 8:11 of the clip. Everywhere looks deserted and unwelcoming, this connotes that the drama you will see in this episode will contain urban London scenery.
The sound used in this scene was dietetic sound. You can tell by the way the sound comes from the word of film that we are viewing, the sound includes dialogue by characters in the scenes that comes from a source we naturally expect.
There are many shots used in this episode. The first shot i noticed was exactly on 7:53; it was a over the shoulder shot done from the woman perspective, this was one of my favourite shots in the scene because of the way Luther was presented; as you can see he is sitting down on a lower level to the woman he's talking too. From viewing the emotion of Luther's face and the height he was sitting at from the over the shoulder shot, this connotes that Luther was going through a hard time at the moment and he needed some guidance in his life, you could even say he looked lost. Secondly the episode uses a medium shot of the woman and Luther at around 8:39 showing the front and back of their bodies whilst walking to the car. In this shot Luther seems to have received the guidance and help he was hoping for because he got his job back, it looks as if the level of height that he is presented in connotes what type of mood he felt in this episode. Another over the shoulder shot was shown at 8:51; this shot was one of the important shots for me to analyse because it showed the level of Luther's status when he got his job back. You can tell his level of Luther's status is high when he meets the character called Justin Ripley, as you can see from the over the shoulder shot Justin Ripley looks powerless compared to Luther, you can liereally feel that Luther power is highly superior compared to Justin Ripley. This connotes that (from the angle this was shot at) Justin Ripley had just joined the force and that he wansn't as experienced as Luther. Various close ups were shown in the car when Luther and Ripley and Luther first met to showing both characters emotions on how they feel about it in the car, these close up shots connoted that Justin Ripley was excited to work with Luther. Furthermore Many wide range, long range, medium shots, and close ups were shown throughout the two minutes of the episode.
The sound used in this scene was dietetic sound. You can tell by the way the sound comes from the word of film that we are viewing, the sound includes dialogue by characters in the scenes that comes from a source we naturally expect.
There are many shots used in this episode. The first shot i noticed was exactly on 7:53; it was a over the shoulder shot done from the woman perspective, this was one of my favourite shots in the scene because of the way Luther was presented; as you can see he is sitting down on a lower level to the woman he's talking too. From viewing the emotion of Luther's face and the height he was sitting at from the over the shoulder shot, this connotes that Luther was going through a hard time at the moment and he needed some guidance in his life, you could even say he looked lost. Secondly the episode uses a medium shot of the woman and Luther at around 8:39 showing the front and back of their bodies whilst walking to the car. In this shot Luther seems to have received the guidance and help he was hoping for because he got his job back, it looks as if the level of height that he is presented in connotes what type of mood he felt in this episode. Another over the shoulder shot was shown at 8:51; this shot was one of the important shots for me to analyse because it showed the level of Luther's status when he got his job back. You can tell his level of Luther's status is high when he meets the character called Justin Ripley, as you can see from the over the shoulder shot Justin Ripley looks powerless compared to Luther, you can liereally feel that Luther power is highly superior compared to Justin Ripley. This connotes that (from the angle this was shot at) Justin Ripley had just joined the force and that he wansn't as experienced as Luther. Various close ups were shown in the car when Luther and Ripley and Luther first met to showing both characters emotions on how they feel about it in the car, these close up shots connoted that Justin Ripley was excited to work with Luther. Furthermore Many wide range, long range, medium shots, and close ups were shown throughout the two minutes of the episode.
S
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