MEST4 Summer Project

1. Choose a media text and media debate/issue that you are interested in and that is less than five years old. Get this choice of text and topic approved by your coursework teacher. filled with tons of action and a bunch of overly masculine guys, including Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie. I chose this subject and film specifically because I am doing a project similar to this in my Masculinity and Media; also the famiar faces does suggest sings of masculinity (from the use of characters). This movie has all the stereotypes of manliness and masculinity which is my main case study within this project. The main characters in this movie are users of the gym which suggest that they are very concerned about their image which has lead them to become individuals of bigorexia
 Furthermore, who work at a gym in Miami and think they are the ultimate "alpha male". They are portrayed in the film as being very dumb but also very violent because of all of the steroids they use. These characters are literally lifting weights the entire movie, even when their on the run from the cops.

2. Spend several hours analysing the text – watching, reading, annotating, notetaking, re-watching, discussing with others (and considering the MIGRAIN questions below) etc. 

3. Research your text online.
https://welldoing.org/article/the-myth-of-masculinity: Overall i find that the majorty of the audience may have a suffering from the term (bigorexa) and from the characteristics of the characters within this film and this will also have a  impact on the more younger audience who will imitate the same; the older generation are not going to change their ways however the younger audience are more younger and are naive; therefore overall they are going to the ones who are going to be easier to target in a way.    


4. Post up all evidence of research on your MEST4 blog. You are looking for the following: reviews, newspaper/magazine articles, online comments or blogs linked to your text, useful book titles linked to your text, relevant theory, relevant media issues and debates, information about wider contexts, your own bullet-pointed notes on each concept etc.
http://www.menshealth.co.uk/building-muscle/get-big/the-rock-pain-and-gain-workout-programme: Men's health does not only have a segment on the rock about the text it also has a segment explaining how he trained for the actual film and within this aritcle it states within the opening line "Take on the workouts the Hollywood heavyweight used to bulk up for his meatiest role". evidently, this shows that younger individuals are going to be forced to think about their Masculinity, which then follows through to their represent in modern society and this will then overall have a problem with how they look and their image. 
on the other hand from the reviewers of the film (from IMDB) and through this research was able to find a majority of  positive comments about the film which consider the fact of representation of young males and also females in our society today because men are going to be more likely to watch this film form these positives, and become influenced to be more like the actors from the film and live this types of and the idea of glamouring the american dream is a very dominate theme in this film through the text the main accomplice Mark Wahlberg who emotionally conveys and suggest the american dream in his voice over throughout the film. However in this case the american dream has been overdosed with a hint of steroids and blue collar jobs that are leading to no where which lead the main charter to commit the heinous crimes emitted within the film; shockingly, are based on a true story.Moreover form the story line it shows that the actual narrative is based on the american dream which in reality all american citizens have a dream which they are trying to reach towards. therefore it will mean that the film is going to influence on the idea of money, greed and materialism has an affect on ones image because these dominate roles that are being showed in the film are similar to the true spirit of Americanism and amrica strongly believe in the philosophy of "get rich or die trying".   

5. Don't just cut and paste mindlessly - be selective, try to summarise the information, comment on it and explain why it is useful. Also, make sure that you include specific links to all the sites you find. some of the mentioned links that where meant to be within this section are also within the blog itself. other links include:  "The “traditional” male hero is a mainstay of the golden age of Hollywood cinema. Indeed the 1930s,’40s and ‘50s are often seen as a golden age for this very reason (Spicer, 1997). However, as Spicer (1997) notes, films from this period also offer a glimpse of the complex and multiple masculinities that academics would write about many years after their production (Connell, 1995; Whitehead, 2002; Hearn, 2004)." http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/9054/1/FinalThesis.pdf
Masculinism:
 Arthur Brittan’s (1989) ideas around masculinism provide an alternative perspective on the debate around masculinity, which is particularly pertinent to this study with its assertion that “both masculinity and femininity are continuously subject to a process of reinterpretation” (Brittan, 2001: 51). Allowing for the notions of resistance, change and plural masculinities, Brittan (1989) proposes a distinction between masculinity and masculine.

6. Feel free to be as creative with your blogs as you can. Include pictures, clips, reflections, links etc.

7. Prepare a 5 minute, 20-slide 'Ignite' presentation on your text to be ready for the first week back. If you're unsure how these work, remind yourself by reading through the lesson slides: Introduction to the Critical Investigation 2017, and look over our blogpost with good Ignite examples.

8. Try to address as many of the Key Concepts (MIGRAIN) as you can in your presentation (you won't be able to cover them all in 20 time-limited slides), and provide bullet-pointed answers to the following questions on your research blogpost...

MIGRAIN key concept research

Media Representations 

• Who is being represented? In what way? By whom? firstly their are three main characters in this film whom are all being represented in various different way as we can see from the film they all have different up comings but they all similar attributes that make them a dominate group to our audience but also different the same time. Such as the fact that both non-white characters have both had a difficult past (non-white male characters are more likely to experience personal problems and are more likely to use physical aggression or violence to solve those problems) however in this is different for white charter who follows violence to solve problems. which shy's away from the typical convention 
• Why is the subject being represented in this way? the subjects are being represented in this way because they are trying to integrate the american dream which has lead them to be in blue collar jobs such as for mark Walberg which has lead him  to be face the reality that if he doesn't do something big who wont become rich and this then lead them to be represented in a way that has made them face the future just like their past. 
• Is the representation fair and accurate? overall this is accurate because it evident form the film that the non-white charter has less problems but is also the leader of the group controlling the others, therefore the other thing that goes hand in hand with this whole representation is that masculinity brings power; and this is also evident from the way that they robbed Victor Kershaw because he was smaller and had less control. 
• What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject? overall in the position of the anti-protagonist (victor Kershaw) who himself is discouraged of himself overall means that he has not self representation.  

Media Languages and Forms 

• What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning? 
• word’s connotation determines when it is used. By definition, synonyms have the same denotation or literal meaning, but almost always have different connotations
• What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
• What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?
• What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings (CLAMPS)?
• What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text?
• What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
• What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)?

Narrative 

• How is the narrative organised and structured? The narrative is structured in way to suggest to the audience that if you want to get rich and make a positive image of yourself a individual has to create that him/herself; therefore from Todorov theory it is suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.
• How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative? Overall because us as the audience is on the opposing side of the law it means that the audience is positioned to be against the law because, us as the audience are upset when the three criminals are caught. 
• How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created? Firstly the villains are created on greed because once the money had finished they had to resort back to criminal activities. on the other hand the hero which are technically the enemy are created by going by law; this is because the main hero are all legitimate such as the detective and the police.    
• What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
• What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative? firstly to make the narrative more tensed as its a action thriller the music they use is fast paced and tensed and this then overall make the film much more enticing on the other this also keeps the audience more concentrated to the plot of the film.  Switch in camera angles to cause a panic to the audience and with hand held shots also  suggest panic. 
• Editing- Editing- fast paced cause unease,
  -blurry distorts the audience view and puts them on edge.
  Finally change in colour suggest flash back and a change in time. 
• What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?  
• My interpretation of Pain & Gain is that the film’s central character, Daniel Lugo, represents the modern American Dream. He is a man who pursues immediate gratification and wealth using the modern American values of violence and ruthlessness.

Genre 

• To which genre does the text belong? action thriller.
• What are the major generic conventions within the text? The protagonist in a thriller is the main instigator of the plot, actively working against the villain. The protagonist is often everyday and relateable regardless of profession, often having prominent weaknesses. This can be contrasted with action films, where the hero is usually an escapist fantasy.
• What are the major iconographic features of the text? as this is based on a true story it means that it will overall keep the audience wondering did these 3 criminals actually do these relentless crimes which are in the film; it is also mentioned what crimes are committed in the film.   
• What are the major generic themes?
• To what extent are the characters generically determined?
• To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
• Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?

Media Institutions 

• What is the institutional source of the text?
• In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
• Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?
• Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?
• How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology 

• What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
• What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?
• How does the text fit into the current political landscape?
• Does the text promote a particular political viewpoint - either explicitly or implicitly? 

Media Audiences 

• To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? (Demographics, Psychographics)
• What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
• What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
• In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
• What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
• What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text? 
• What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications?  (Refer to theory).
• How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?
•