Key Concepts

Media Representations Who is being represented?
There are many people from all types of backgrounds being represented in many different ways. We see Asian people, Black people, White people, People with proffesional careers, People following religion etc.
The fact that I will base my independant study around people from different ethinic minorities will help me as I wil have a wider area to look at. This will benefit me in the sense that i have diffrerent backgrounds to talk about and compare them amongst each other.
In what way?
Some are represented in negative as well as others in positive. Some proffesionalist are shown as the good guys and some as the bad. The comparison of the different people will show how different people from different backgrounds have different beliefs and values. The beliefs and morals of a white person will be far different from an asian person.
By whom?
We are not shown the characters by any one specific person. But we do kind of see a lot through the main protagonist (Tariq Ali's - characters name) eyes. He is faced with hard decisions and many people feel he will side with people of his own ethnic background. He is constantly shown targeted about how he will make the wrong desicion by defending the 'wrong people.'
Why is the subject being represented in this way?
Jag Mundhra has tried by far his best to be as fair as possible on both sides, so everyone from these backgrounds are shown in good and bad lights. It would be wrong to say that all Asians (who are Muslims) are terrorists as that is being stereotypical. Bearing in mind the actual flm is based around terrorism kind of makes the movie the way it is. They have to be Islamaphobic in order for us to see the narrative develop.
Is the representation fair and accurate?
The representation has been tried to be kept at a minimum, so no-one is really represented in a much more bad way however, the movie does constantly target muslims. They are always repeating the fact how muslims are terrorists and constantly show them in a more negative light. atahey young asian males are targeted quite a lot as wel as the preachers in the mosques. The representation of these preachers is far too negative as we are being guided that they are teaching wrong.
Media Languages and Forms
What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?
The connative meanigs are things like red for blood and killings. Most of the movie is based around terrorism and the fact that we see a innocent man die in the beggining is literaly why the whole movie begins off. That is its starting point but every clue to the attacks leads to something else.
What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
The connotations are significant and play a vital role as without these it would be unclear to understand what the movie is trying to say ad what message Jag Mundhra is trying to get across to his audience. We see guns connatating violence killings and murder. Blood of those who lost the lives at the attacks and violence which was the root cause by terrorists.
What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?
Everything used in the texts literally matches up and fits in with the actual move. The actors have acted out and lead the roles extremely well which causes the movie to look as realistic as possible.
The characters would all dress in an individual unique style because that is the way they would fit in to the followed role.
What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings?
If the mise-en-scene is not matching the narrative and what we feel should be going on on the screen the movie will totally confuse the audience and will not have no meaning at all.
What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text?
As the movie follows a type of bollywood type genre because of the fact that it is directed by an asian director, you would most probably feel to think it would include music, yet the movie only contains soundtracks which kind of shows the damsel in distress type scenario,which makes you feel stressed in that specific situation as you engage and relate to the character and their situation so much.
What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
We see how the prffesionalists have a more sense of power of authority. There job role and the way they are seen is dominant in the movie giving them a more glamouros type role. Having said that, there is also a preacher (Om Puri) who is dominant in his society and people higly look up to him and prasie him from the local muslim community.
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)?
There is over a mixture of sound, the sound is diegetic at times as well as non-diegetic and parallel at others. The movie contains a lot of editing styles include fades and cuts with low angle shots making the subjects look superior to those whom have high angle shots making us as an audience look down upon them.
Narrative How is the narrative organised and structured?
The narrative follows a non linear structure, the movie use flashback type scenes. There are scenes which talk about remembering the past (freindship of Naseruddhin Shah and Om Puri in the past)
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
The audience lmost once engages with the charachters hsow on screen after the man is shot at th underground tube station. We feel for the protagonist and see how much struggles he has to go through in order to be fair by choosing the right path. Even if it means that he may hurt close ones.
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
Some characters are shown as postive whilst others as negative. We see some characters with proffessional superior roles accusing and assuming for the wrong cause. We see some good muslims whilst some bad muslims. There are many different twists in the story by the use of barthes enigma codes and the movie always leaves you at the edge of your feet. Heroes nd villains are created simply by what they do. The character who instantly is doing good for the public and community will be know as the hero and vice cersa for the villain.
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?
There are different techinques to identify different people. We see it is easy to identify people who look as if they have a serious role and are commited to what they do but on the other hand it is sometimes literally impossible to actually knows whst lies in the heart of another character causing us to be confused and expect the unexpected.
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?
Th actual narrative is all based around terrorism. This is the one annd only theme the entire movie follows and it is at the heart of the movie. The values and beliefes are different of each character, some feel to do good with their environment whilst others bad
Genre
To which genre does the text belong?
The text consists of three different genres these include Drama, Thriller and Crime
What are the major generic conventions within the text?
That the movie will be to do with crime and will include a lot of violent scenes. It is obvious from the movie posters that the film will be to do with killing - hence the one man in the first clip who is dying. The title itself is Shoot on Sight..with the on in red connotes mrder killing and blood. The typography is big and bold which could mean it is a strong and serious issue that the film is relating to.
What are the major iconographic features of the text?
The images, the text font and typography as well as the different type of hots of image and some p[eople happy yet others serious.
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 ronically?
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? Media Audiences To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? 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? 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?