Representation in Media

 Representation in My Life with the Walter Boys

    
    Representation in media is extremely important in the sense that it allows the audiences to connect with the content they're consuming. Netflix's most recent original series, My Life with the Walter Boys, does a pretty good job at representing multiple groups of people in an accurate way. The drama series is a book adaptation of a novel by the same name, written by Ali Novak. One of the social groups that the series represents the best is teenagers, specifically teenagers' mental health. The drama follows the main character, Jackie Howard, moving to a new town after her parents and older sister tragically died in a car crash. The series represents her grief and frustration over the situation realistically, showing her attempt at trying to adapt to her new environment but going through waves of sadness. One of her love interests, Cole Walter, is also shown to suffer from depression after a leg injury stunted his football career and college scholarship. He can be seen losing motivation in his schoolwork and acting out towards his family and friends. As the character starts to lose hope in his future, he starts to smoke and drink more with his friends. The series displays this as recreational and the audience can also see how both Cole and Jackie (the one time she gets drunk) are falling back onto these substances to relieve them of their thoughts that are weighing down on them. However, drug abuse is not a main aspect of these teenagers' lives as seen in other shows like HBO's Euphoria. Teenagers constantly partying, taking drugs, and drinking is not an accurate representation of the youth in the United States. Instead, characters like Jackie are shown to be dedicated to their schoolwork, clubs, and passions, which is more realistic as most teenagers aspire to do the same.


    The other teenagers in the show can also be seen having insecurities and being anxious about situations, which is a common experience amongst teenagers. This anxiety and stress can be inflicted by school, financial circumstances, or relationships. The character Erin, Jackie's enemy turned friend, shares how her father also died and how she has been coping with the loss as well as her mother's pressure on her. Erin can be seen immersing herself in schoolwork and activities to avoid going home, and eventually she even defies her mother's wishes of competing with her school's track team. Teenagers can go through a lot of stress as they deal with parental and school expectations, toxic relationships, and external circumstances, which is important to highlight because the audience can feel seen, and it validates their feelings as common. It also shows how teenagers can overcome or adapt to their situations as the characters themselves learn to cope and connect with each other.
    My Life with the Walter Boys also contains representation of various ethnicities and races. Though it could definitely work on further exposure of the characters' ethnic heritages and cultures, the show made a good attempt at introducing a diverse cast, especially within the first season. The main character, Jackie Howard, though not specifically mentioned, is a Hispanic character as well as two of the cousins that live with the main family. The three characters, along with Jackie's Uncle Richard, are seen speaking to each other in Spanish, but the show could've done a better job at representing their cultures and how it might affect them living in a predominantly White town in Colorado. Various other characters are Black, Asian, and even Native American. These characters are portrayed without stereotypes, which is beneficial to the representation of people of color as they aren't written in an unrealistic light. There is also a focus on the Native American culture in the series when the characters are celebrating Thanksgiving. The character Mato Summerhill leads a ceremony where members of the community were able to listen to how Native Americans celebrate Thanksgiving and the indigenous history of the holiday. It is also important to note that the actors who play the characters are actually of the ethnicities that they're playing, which is essential to accurately representing these different ethnicities and cultures.


    A group that the drama series represents, but only as a side story, is the LGBTQ+ community. The character Skylar is openly gay, but for the majority of the show is the only openly nonheterosexual character. The series could definitely improve the show's representation of this community as an accurate representation of a high school would be multiple people of different sexualities and gender identities. Further on in the season, one of the brothers of the main family, Nathan Walter, takes a liking to Skylar and they form a relationship. This addition to the plot is important to be able to represent the gay community, but the show could make up for its lack of representation through more open characters of the LGBTQ+ community.


    Another way My Life with the Walter Boys accurately displays the real world is through its depiction of class and financial issues. It is a running plot detail that the Walter family is struggling with money because of a pest infestation to their ranch and all the parents and children can be seen as impacted by the family's financial struggles. The father even goes to the bank to ask for a loan but is denied, so the family has to resort to moving the older son's wedding to a smaller backyard ceremony. This is an important display of middle class in the United States, especially of those who are business owners and can be affected by external circumstances. It's great for series to represent all these issues and groups of people as audiences will be able to relate and connect more to the media. 

Genre Research - Musicals

    The genre of musicals in film has existed since the first musical movie The Jazz Singer in the 1920s, even though Broadway musicals had been a popular American pastime since the early 1700s. The appeal of transforming musicals into movies began exclusively as an association with Hollywood but has now grown  into countries such as India, Italy, Germany, and Japan. 

    Conventions of the content in the musical genre include musical numbers, uplifting themes, romance, and national sensibility. Musical numbers are one of the most key components of what makes a musical film fit into its genre. These scenes feature the characters of the movie breaking into song and dance to advance the plot and express their emotions that may not be explicitly described otherwise. The songs in a musical are often integral to the storyline and help to convey character development as well. Music is also helpful towards depicting uplifting themes aiming to entertain and inspire the audience. Romantic subplots that are often intertwined with the main narrative can also have the emotions of the characters and their progress in the relationship described through song. All of these components come together to add onto the typical theme of nationalism and inspiring community and optimism. 

    The production techniques involved in the musical genre are quite complex to be able to portray the plot accurately. Choreography creates movement and seamless dance numbers to add more energy along with the music composition. Sound design is extremely important in this genre to achieve the best audio quality, and since actors often lip-sync to pre-recorded songs, sound engineers have to work hard to ensure a high-quality audio experience. In films like Les Misérables, however, the singing was done on set and required for the area to have a specific design that allows the vocals to be heard clearly. Editing also plays a crucial role in pacing of the movie and creating smooth transitions between dialogue and the songs. Arguably, one of the most important features in all movies to help craft the story, is the set design and costumes. In the musical film genre, elaborate sets and costumes are essential to create visually engaging and immersive musical sequences. A certain dress or costume also helps the fluidity of dance moves. 

    Along with the already harbored fame of existing musicals on Broadway, marketing of musical films usually involves highlighting the movie’s star performers or standout musical sequences in a trailer. As music plays a big part in this genre, releasing the film’s soundtrack separately allows fans to enjoy the music and builds excitement around the movie’s release and popularity. Partnering with famous artists to cross-promote also helps expand knowledge on the movie to a wider audience like Mamma Mia! and the musical group Abba. 

The Sound of Music (1965) - Set in Austria during the start of World War II, the content of the film The Sound of Music features numerous song-and-dance numbers that are central to the plot or give context to character development. At the start of the film, the background and personality of the character Maria (Julie Andrews) is explained through the song “Maria” where the other nuns in the monastery share their opinions of her, describing her as a carefree spirit. This helped foreshadow how the character Maria will leave the monastery and pursue other interests. The film also contains a strong theme of nationalism as the Trapp family shows pride towards their home Austria and don't wish to support the German occupation led by the Nazi party. This relates back to the conventions of the musical genre deeply and is further supported through the character Captain's (Christopher Plummer) song "Edelweiss."

La La Land (2016) - A modern take on the musical genre, combining traditional elements with a contemporary setting and storytelling, La La Land includes elaborate song-and-dance numbers that serve to express the characters’ dreams, aspirations, and love story. It features a central romantic conflict between the two lead characters, Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), with their relationship intertwined with the film’s musical sequences. Having these big actors star in the film helped gain promotion and interest in the movie as well as the film's unconventional view on the sacrifices involved in pursuing artistic dreams. The integration of music into the storyline is a key element, and the film’s original songs, such as the reoccurring “City of Stars,” are integral to character development and the plot.

The Phantom of the Opera 

Grease 

Singing in the Rain

High School Musical 

Les Misérables 

Cabaret 

West Side Story 

Sound Project

    Recently, I created a sound project with a partner that required the making of a 1-2 minute video about a chosen scene only using sounds. The goal was to try to convey the image of the scene using only sounds, both diegetic and non-diegetic. It was also necessary to create some of these sounds with foley, the reproduction of a sound. 


    First, I approached this project by brainstorming ideas for a scene. My partner and I came up with the idea of a duel, so I immediately began to research videos of duel scenes from movies to see what sounds composed the story. After deciding what sounds we needed to include, I searched on various websites and on YouTube to find the sounds that I needed. I started with the background noises that would continue the whole way through: wind, insects, sand. After compiling the sounds together, making the audio about 2 minutes long, I looked for the actual features of the sound. 

    
    Sounds that couldn't be easily incorporated into the project through the use of recording its real life counterpart or by using the Internet, like the dialogue, the stings, the horse neighs, and the gunshot, had to be created through foley. At the beginning of the scene, the man approaches on horseback. I tried to imitate the horse hooves using mugs on towels atop a hard surface. It didn't come out as I wanted it to since the setting takes place in a desert. I then researched how foley artists recreate the sound of sand and I concluded that using rice would be the best way. I then made used two cups as the hooves atop a bag of rice with a towel in between in order to avoid the sound of the plastic bag rustling. 


    The next foley sound I created was the sound of reins. Having ridden a horse before, I thought this sound best resembled the sound of belts hitting each other. I moved multiple belts at the rhythm of the hooves to create the sound of all the harnesses and horse equipment making noise as the horse moves. All the other sounds, with the exception of the footsteps and clothes rustling, which was recreated with moving a crumpled paper, the other sounds were put together using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Convey A Message

        The activity assigned was to create a presentation of a visual story about an inanimate object. The purpose was to be able to showcase different types of shots within a total of 15 photos.

        I approached this task by first creating a story that my photos could follow along to. My story involved a highlighter as the protagonist who falls off a desk and has to find their way back to its owner. I took photos at different angles and distances to get the perfect shot. I organized how the story would include the required shots and how to make it relevant to the story. I then chose the best photos and organized them in chronological order. After compiling the collection of pictures that both tell the story and include the use of different shots, I wrote a short description of the purpose of using a specific shot or angle beside the corresponding cut onto a slide presentation.

        I think I did well on composing the story and shots together, but I could’ve done a better job on the portrayal of specific shots. Using a small object, it was difficult to establish the medium and close-up points of the subject. On my future projects, I can improve on ensuring that a close-up and a medium shot are each differentiable.

Introduction

     Hello! My name is Veronica and this is my new blog. My blog "Breakfast at the Movies" will explore the different types of media that I'm studying within my AICE Media Studies class. I'm excited to go on this journey of learning together and dive deeply into a world that I already hold so close to my heart. I have always enjoyed movies, TV shows, and books, and as a teenager, I can't say I'm innocent of feeling comfort from applications like Instagram. My blog will showcase all my findings on media consumption as well as my own projects. 

    If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany's, then it'd be filled with all the movies and books of the world. 

Creative Critical Reflection

 And, of course, here are my CCR productions! Video 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/194JE2XdljW4M_Mg9akrDbVJlHZeW49VV/view?usp=sharing  V...