Let's go back in time to 1961, just 3 years before the media in Britain represented its youth as being violence driven hooligans who were a threat to the very fabric of society.

1961 saw the release of the film 'The Young Ones' starring, amongst others, Cliff Richard.

The story is about the youth club member and aspiring singer Nicky (Cliff Richard)  and his friends, who try to save their club in western London from the unscrupulous millionaire property developer Hamilton Black, who plans to tear it down to make room for a large office block. 

The members decide to put on a show to raise the money needed to buy a lease renewal. The twist in the story is that Nicky in reality is Hamilton Black's son, something he keeps keeps secret from his friends until some of them try to kidnap Black senior to prevent him from stopping the show. 

Although he is fighting his father over the future of the youth club, Nicky can't allow them to harm him, so he attacks the attackers and frees his father. In the meantime, Black senior has realised that his son is the mystery singer that all of London is talking about, after the youth club members have done some pirate broadcasts to promote their show. 

So, although he's just bought the theatre where the show is to take place, in order to be able to stop it, the proud father decides that the show must go one. At the end, he joins the youth club members on stage, dancing and singing, after having promised to build them a new youth club.




Here is the trailer for the film - how is the representation of British Youth different here to what you have previously seen?

From looking over the trailer for "The Young ones" it has a representation that is completely the opposite compared to other trailers and films i have seen from the representations of teenagers. In terms of the film quadraphienia the ways in which teens are represented are very negatives, such as having sex, fights against the law and just being a menace to society but comparing that to the young ones the teenagers are represented in a much more positive way in terms of society. They have been shown to be quite cheerful and very civilised, for example when a performer was on the stage the crowd of teens were being very formal ad just clapping but if i compared this too films such as Harry Brown, Qudrophenia and the firm teens are represented to cause carnage when music is being played and causing fights from this and very small sparks to cause them to become man aces to society.  

Exam Question

In what ways do the media texts referenced above create a representation of young people as being a danger to society?

From looking over a few extracts about the ways in which teens and young people are being represented by the media and how he media are influencing ways in which the society will portray their views on young people. Looking at just the title of an article below you can clearly see the exaggeration and emphasis the media put onto younger people and how they were such a threat to society.  Just by looking at the word "Wildest" you can see that they are trying to emphasis that  these are the worst generation of teens that have been around, and from this people will read the articles and start to believe and their thoughts will be encouraged to think that they are very unlawful and getting worse.

Another article below show how the media are emphasising how bad they want the teens to be viewed from the constant reffereance to them as the wildones. Another example of how the media portray the teens to be viewed negatively is from the quote from the article below "rioting teenagers". Here they could have just said teenagers but because they're trying to empasis the "wild ones" this was a suitable adjective to put in front. All the media so far that i have found have clearly shown that youths are becoming such a threat to society and getting a lot worse with not a care. All the aritcles are negative and creating fear for society and making them think that they are a threat.

 

Mods vs Rockers 1960's

The Mods and the Rockers were two rival gangs within Britain. One of the main incidents recognised between these two rival gangs is the riots on Brighton beach and elsewhere attracted the attention of the press in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Dick Hebdige: subculture the meaning of style.

Dick Hebdige: Subculture The meaning of style - Click on the link to the left to go to the page.

"Member of a culture often subject their relationship through a distinctive and symbolic use of style, which includes fashion, music and mannerisms" Dick Hebdige (1979).

Looking at the subculture of "Rocker"

Looking at the typical fashions of a rocker there is a picture to the right of a typical rocker. The Hair of a rocker as you can see is quite long with quite large sideburns, with it being quite curly. They tend to wear shirts in which are quite bland usually consisting of a dull grey or white. The on top of the shirt they will then have a leather jacket which is usually quite thick and have a lot of buttons and pockets, as well as the buttons an pockets they also have patterns on the shoulders which seems to occur quite often when looking at rockers. Going down onto the bottom half the rockers tend to wear jeans in which are quite dar as well such as grey or black and quite neat. Lastly the shoes that they tend to wear also is simple leather shoes which is also quite smart.


Some of the mannerisms into the rockers in which they had were things such as Rockers bought standard factory-made motorcycles and stripped them down, tuning them up and modifying them to appear like racing bikes. Their bikes were not merely transport, but were used as an object of intimidation and masculinity projecting them uneasily close to death. 

The music that a rocker listens to is very obvious as it is in the name, Rockers are mainly associated with Rock music. Music was a major influence on most of the actions and features of a rocker, they're events that they organised based very much around rock were called "Piss ups" and these became very popular throughout Europe and America. The music of rock spread very quickly throughout the world and is still a popular genre.

UK Tribes 2013

The project identified the following as the 2013 UK Tribes which represent British youth culture. Below is a picture of the five main segments the UK tribe have split into. These five segments consist of Alternative, Mainstream, Urban, Aspirant and Leading Edge. Then small groups consist within these five main groups. 




Below is a video that the UK Tribe have created. In this video they have talked about the segment of Urban



Below is another video of a group within a segment and i have chosen the group in which is quite likely to fit in with me although i don't agree with everything in it that is said.

The Media and the collective identity

We will be focussing on the ways in which the media represent the identity of British Youth Culture.

Through the work we undertake you should be able to resopond to the following 4 prompt questions:

• How do the contemporary media represent 'British Youth' in different ways?
• How does contemporary representation of 'British Youth' compare to previous time periods?
• What are the social implications of different media representations of 'British Youth'?
• To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’?

We will explore the representation of 'British Youth' across at least 2 different elements of the media. For film this will include theories of film representation and realism in relation to the history of British cinema, a range of British films from recent years, funding, Government and industry practices, and discussion of a critically informed point of view on how Britain is represented to itself and to the wider audience at the present time.

In order to be fully prepared for the specific requirements of the question, the material studied must cover these three elements:

Historical – the development of the media forms in question in theoretical contexts.

Contemporary – examples from no more than five years before the examination. That is, in our case, from no earlier than 2009.

Future – personal engagement with debates about the future of the media forms / issues in relation to the concept of 'British Youth'.

Rules For The Exam

The majority of examples you refer to in the exam should be contemporary. However, theories and approaches may be drawn from any time period.

If you refer to only one media area in your answer, the mark scheme clearly indicates that marks will be restricted to a maximum of the top of level 1.

If you fail to provide or infer historical references and / or future projections, marks will be restricted to a maximum of the top of level 3 for use of examples only.

What is the A2 Media Exam?

In A Nutshell The purpose of the exam is to assess your knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates, through your understanding of one contemporary media issue and your ability to evaluate your own practical work in reflective and theoretical ways. 

Logistics

The examination is two hours. 

You will be required to answer two compulsory questions, on your own production work, and one question from a choice of six topic areas. 

The unit is marked out of a total of 100, with the two questions on production work marked out of 25 each, and the media theory question marked out of 50. 

Section A : Theoretical Evaluation of production

Section B : Contemporary Media Issues (Media and Collective Identity)

During Term 3 we will be learning about the contemporary media issue of COLLECTIVE IDENTITY in preparation for Section B of the exam.

During Term 4 we will be preparing for Section A of the exam in which you will be evaluating your own completed production work.

Completion of Work

You should have set up your A2 Exam Blog by now - if you haven't done so already you should, in the words of Jean-Luc Picard 'Make it so.'

Your blog will be your place of work. This will be a vital part of your preparation for the exam and essential for future revision. Take pride in it. Be proud and keep up to date.