The media text is any media product we wish to examine. Every description or representation of the world, fictional or otherwise, is an attempt to describe or define reality, and is in some way a construct of reality, a text.
Media Language means the way in which a text is constructed to create meaning for a reader or viewer of the text.
Aspects of theoretical framework:
- Language
- Industry
- Audience
- Representation
Aim: To study media texts in relation to media language, media representations and social and cultural context
Know: Recognise how the media language of the jungle book (1967 & 2016) has changed over time
Know: Recognise how media representations of the jungle book (1967 & 2016) has changed over time
Do: study the social and cultural contexts that influence how media representations are created
Do: construct an essay on the Junglebook,s film trailer and advertising poster
Show: evidence of thee completion of the essay in blogger
Representation: refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures.
The 1967 is much more simple, as more primary and basic colours are used, whilst more realstic, dull, and less colourful colours are used.
John Favroe is the director of jungle book 2016
Jungle Book:
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s book THE JUNGLE BOOK (1894), the writer of the White Mans Burden Poem.
Kipling’s narrative contained “darker themes” and content which were judged to be unsuitable for a Disney film.
Walt wanted a film that was “light, fun, and entertaining with happy song - good stuff, fun stuff.”
The story was modified by Larry Clemmons, who was given, a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s novel but told him that ‘The first thing I want you to do is not to read it’. To turn the book into a successful film many of the original characters and situations were cut out, creating a clear storyline.
At a superficial level the cartoon should not be offensive to anyone.
Actors who use Queen’s English are more likely to appear untrustworthy, experts have suggested, as it immediately suggests that they are from the upper classes.
King Louie has a very controversial origin, as he was based on a African American Jazz Singer, who goes by the name of Louie Armstrong. Louie, the Monkey-People’s, Orangutan ruler. Wants to learn how to make fire so that he can be like a man. This could easily be interpreted through a racial lens; the monkeys could be depictions of Africans wanting to learn how to be “civilized” equals of the white man. I believe was intended, as it fits the context of when the movie was made, in 1967, when there was mass race segregation in America.
In the 2016 verison, King Louie was inspired by two things: Marlon Brando's role of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now" and an enormous extinct ape known as a Gigantopithecus that was indigenous to India, China, and Southeast Asia. They completely avoided the controversial, and racial issues, by completely changing the character and his accent.
ESSAY:
A) The Jungle Book has had two different adaptations. In both the 1967 adaptation and the 2016 adaptation, Shere Khan, the main antagonist, has a British voice. In the 1967 adaptation, he was voiced by George Sanders, a british man. Whilst, in the 2016 adaptation, he is voiced by Idris Elba, who is also a British man. A British character is used because experts have suggested, actors who use Queen’s English are more likely to appear untrustworthy, as it immediately suggests that they are from the upper classes. In the 2016 version, more muted colours are used to make the character more realistic, and fit a wider target audience. CGI is also used to make the character more realistic.
In the trailer of the 1967 version, the character of Rakshah does not appear at all, but was added in the 2016 version, as there was only one female character. This was done in order to attract more female viewers, as we know they attempted to make their target audience wider in the 2016 movie.
King Louie has a very controversial origin, as he was based on a African American Jazz Singer, who goes by the name of Louie Armstrong. Louie, the Monkey-People’s, Orangutan ruler. Wants to learn how to make fire so that he can be like a man. This could easily be interpreted through a racial lens; the monkeys could be depictions of Africans wanting to learn how to be “civilized” equals of the white man. I believe was intended, as it fits the context of when the movie was made, in 1967, when there was mass race segregation in America. In the 2016 verison, King Louie was inspired by two things: Marlon Brando's role of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now" and an enormous extinct ape known as a Gigantopithecus that was indigenous to India, China, and Southeast Asia. They completely avoided the controversial, and racial issues, by completely changing the character and his accent.
Kaa was converted from being a man in the 1967 version, to be a woman in the 2016 version. This could have been done, in order to address the issue that the 1967 version have in its temporal validity, that there are not enough women in the version. This way, they would also be appealing to a larger target audience. A third, and final reason to do this was that the voice actor was changed to Scarlett Johansson, this was used in order for Kaa to have a more alluring voice, which adds to Kaa's seductive, deceptive character.
B)A variety of different marketing techniques were used in order to promote the 2016 movie.
One marketing technique used was teasing a small portion of the movie at the Disney fan convention in California, in front of a 7800 seat arena. This is a form of Tossing meat to the base.
In the 2016 version, a wider audience is targeted.
Another marketing technique is the video game, which is creating more awareness for the movie. The game was targeted at younger age demographic. This means that they are not forgetting their former target audience of kids. This is a way of targeting a wider target audience, as this would be necessary, due to the dark themes that are used.
A third marketing technique is Social Media. This was used to create awareness for the film, in a older target audience, as Social Media is mostly used by older people. This is a form of appealing to a wider target audience. Different Social Media's which were used were Twitter, and Snapchat.
Different technologies were used in order to do this. One of which was Blue Screen. Blue Screen was used in order to make the entire jungle look realistic and authentic. In the 1967 version, a Blue Screen wasn't used, and the jungle uses more saturated colours, in order to fit the more childlike tone. In contrast, in the 2016 version, more muted colours are used. Blue screen is also used to make all of the animal characters look more realistic and more immersive, in contrast to the 1967 version.
Previsualization is another technology which was used to simulate immersion. Previsualization was used to make all of the animal characters look more realistic and more immersive, in contrast to the 1967 version, where previsualization was not used. MPC ensured that the animals didn't have any human features in their character design.
And lastly, Motion Capture was also used. Motion Capture is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It was used to in order to help make certain animals, such as King Loiue look more realistic, and less generic.
Marketing:
Publicity Stunt + Let viewers experience the story
Social Media
World Premier
Snapchat
Board Game
Collectables
Celebrity
Above the line (ATL) advertising is where mass media is used to promote brands and reach out to the target consumers.
Below the line (BTL) advertising is more one to one, and involves the distribution of pamphlets, handbills, stickers, promotions, brochures placed at point of sale, on the roads through banners and placards.
