THE MAGAZINE FOR STUDENTS OF FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES FEBRUARY 2018 ISSUE 63 MILLION REASONS KPOP SKAM TRAINSPOTTING HESMONDHALGH MASCULINITY IN ADVERTISING WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN MM63_feb7_cover_final.indd 1 07/02/2018 15:58 Contents MediaMagazine is published by the English and Media Centre, a non-profit making organisation. The Centre publishes a wide range of classroom materials and runs courses for teachers. If you’re studying English at A Level, look out for emagazine, also published 06 10 by the Centre. 24 14 04 Making the Most of 14 The Changing Face MediaMag of Masculinity: 1960s vs Modern Day Advertising 05 2018 MediaMagazine Helen Dugdale looks at Production how far the advertising industry has come in its The English and Media Centre 06 Reasons to Believe representations of men. 18 Compton Terrace London N1 2UN Giles Gough examines Telephone: 020 7359 8080 the responses to the 18 All That Heaven . .? Fax: 020 7354 0133 ‘text within a text’ in All That Heaven Allows is Email for subscription enquiries: 13 Reasons Why. a snapshot of important [email protected] Hollywood history. Roy 10 We Need to Talk Stafford explains. About Kevin Editors: Andrew McCallum 24 The Rise of K-pop Jenny Grahame and examines Lynn Ramsay’s Korean music, film and TV Claire Pollard use of technical codes are becoming enormously Copy-editing: and elements of genre popular in the UK. Melodie Andrew McCallum in this set text film. Karczewski examines this Subscriptions manager: modern cultural phenomenon. Bev St Hill Design: Sam Sullivan Newington Design This magazine is not photocopiable. Why not subscribe to our web package Print: which includes a downloadable and printable PDF of the current issue? S&G Group Tel 020 7359 8080 for details. Cover: Lady Gaga courtesy of Inside/Out 2 MMM63_feb7_final.inddM63_feb7_final.indd 2 007/02/20187/02/2018 16:1916:19 38 42 32 28 Choose Trainspotting Choose life. Choose your future. Choose getting a great ‘A’ level in Film. Choose Trainspotting. Mark Ramey explains why. 54 58 32 Million Reasons Charlie Winward investigates how far Lady Gaga’s ‘Million 45 Netflix and The 54 Watch the Skies! 62 Save the Date Reasons’ video is a product Cultural Industries More than 40 years after Summer blockbusters of itd social, cultural and Nick Lacey explores how it was first released, Will in April? Oscar-winners economic context. the arguments outlined Rimmer looks at the in July? Benedict Seal in Hesmondhalgh’s The significance of Spielberg’s investigates the new 38 It’s a SKAM Cultural Industries apply Close Encounters of rules of release dates. Claire Pollard suggests to Netflix and the growth a Third Kind. the perfect long form of on-demand viewing. 65 The Eighth Generation drama to ease you into 58 The Fragility of Power The eighth generation video foreign language TV. 48 Cartoon by Goom Emma Rafferty explores game renaissance has arrived the opening episode of but how long can it last? 42 Out of the Past 50 MediaMagazine Netflix’s House of Cards. Laurence Russell investigates. Jonathan Nunns explores Student Conference 2017 TV crime thriller The Bridge A review by and its place within the student Joanna Bailey. wider genre of Nordic noir. 3 MMM63_feb7_final.inddM63_feb7_final.indd 3 007/02/20187/02/2018 16:1916:19 Making the Most of MediaMag Hunting for Hesmonhalgh Two articles in this issue focus on the work of David Hesmondhalgh, who is one of the key thinkers 18 you will need to reference when discussing the media industries. But as All That Heaven Allows Nick Lacey’s article argues, In this article Roy Stafford provides this is an enormous field, the social, cultural and economic context and best explored in 45 for the rise of the ‘woman’s picture’ and the relation to the set texts family melodrama within the Hollywood you are studying rather than as an abstract concept. studio system, through a case study of And to do that you’ll need some key terminology. Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows (1955). With a partner, take two or three of the terms listed He also refers to the 2002 re-make of film by below. For each one, write a sentence or two explaining Todd Haynes, retitled as Far From Heaven. how you understand the term on a post-it note. On YouTube you can watch the opening Globalisation sequence and trailers for both these films. Global distribution network At first sight, they appear very similar, Synergy although they are nearly 50 years apart. Convergence • In your group, compare the two Copyright opening sequences in terms of their Conglomeration similarities, focusing on their media Digitalisation language: cinematography, sound, Now share your post-its with another pair, and editing and mise-en-scene. compare your definitions. Still pretty abstract? To • Now watch again, and note what differences make things more concrete, for each definition find you can spot in the same features, bearing examples from familiar media products or institutions in mind the changes in technology, which you think help to illustrate. In some cases you gender representation and visual style. may want to amend your definitions. Here are some • Now compare the trailers for the two films. This suggestions – but better to come up with your own: time, focus on their institutional similarities and differences. Pay particular attention to The Simpsons - The way the themes and narratives Avengers: Age of Ultron of the films are represented in the Amazon Prime voice-overs and selection of clips, and Google the appeals made to audiences The Walking Dead - The information represented on Tidal screen – studio logos, graphics, credits, PlayStation intertextual references etc. Do some online Finally do some institutional research on the set texts research to inform your comparison. covered in this issue of the magazine, which include As a class share your findings. Consider a Lady Gaga video, a Hollywood melodrama, House of why Todd Haynes, an LBGTQ director, Cards, The Bridge, Trainspotting, etc. For each one, try and might have wanted to remake Sirk’s film, discuss which of the institutional factors you have defined and the ways he has adapted the ‘woman’s have affected your personal experience of viewing. picture’ narrative and the conventions of the melodrama for the 21st Century. 4 MMM63_feb7_final.inddM63_feb7_final.indd 4 007/02/20187/02/2018 16:1916:19 The 2018 MediaMag Production Competition Every year, MediaMagazine hosts a video competition to showcase the creativity, passion talent and production skills of you students – and that means YOU sending us YOUR work! It’s genuinely the highlight of MediaMag’s We’re delighted to announce that this year our year, and a brilliant opportunity to share your Principal Judge will be Nik Powell OBE, who will talent and get your presence as a film-maker really raise the bar for us! Nik has had a hugely out into the world. Yes, you can enter your distinguished career in the media industry, firstly AS/A Level, BTEC or Cambridge Nationals in music as co-founder of Virgin Records, and coursework, as long as all members of the group subsequently as a producer of Oscar and BAFTA are credited – but you can also submit your award-winning films including Company of Wolves, Mona own personal projects, and work you’ve created Lisa, Scandal, Crying Game and Ladies in Lavender. He at home, in the community or with friends. has been Director of the National Film and Television School for 14 years, and has continued to maintain If we shortlist your production, you’ll be his close links with industry leaders and also chaired invited to an Awards screening, ceremony and the Film Committee of BAFTA – as well as giving networking reception at the prestigious NFT1 the keynote speech at the 2017 MediaMagazine at BFI South Bank on Monday 2nd July. Student Conference. Who could be a better judge? • Deadline for entries: To give you a taste of last year’s competition, and to see the winners in Friday 20th April each category, visit the webpage for the 2017 awards here and scroll to the bottom: www.englishandmedia.co.uk/media-magazine • Shortlist published online: Full details of the rules, formats and award categories are available via Friday 25th May the MediaMag home page. • Awards Ceremony at To submit your work, just download and complete the online entry BFI Southbank: form (capitals for your contact details – and please also write your Monday 2nd July email address as clearly as possible!) and show us what you can do. The details are on the form. Unsplash 5 MMM63_feb7_final.inddM63_feb7_final.indd 5 007/02/20187/02/2018 16:1916:19 ix Netfl hen 13 Reasons Why, the Netflix series Giles Gough examines based on Jay Asher’s novel, was released the responses to the Win spring 2017 it generated no shortage ‘text within a text’ of column inches, primarily devoted to assessing in 13 Reasons Why its impact on teenagers. This article, however, and explains why will show how 13 Reasons Why exemplifies a key the issues around media theory, and, by extension, how society at sexual abuse and slut- large deals with scandal, specifically the types of shaming are all the scandal involving sexual assault. It goes without saying that this article will have detailed spoilers more relevant today. concerning the plot of a TV show and it’s also important to add that the narrative deals with a range of highly sensitive issues, which are not the focus of this article. The brief references to them are in no way meant to minimise their importance. ‘Reception theory’ is a concept first outlined by Stuart Hall in 1973.