House of Cards representation & media language- 03/04/2019

House of Cards
representation & media language 

Storyline- The plot of a novel, play, film or other narrative story

Schedule content was fixed (reliant on analogue (radio wave technology as pre the internet)

Viewing experience was communal (families watched the same/similar content) as content was transmitted via Radio waves.

Dramas developed to encourage regular viewing

Program content with high audience numbers secured revenue via advertising.

Advertising revenue or PSB income (TV license) pays for drama for e.g. a typical Eastenders episode costs £141,000

(why is the house of cards popular)

•There is a clear shift towards SOD (subscription on demand viewing of television)

•This has been enabled through the Technological change i.e. the provision of streaming services

•(2017) Netflix receives an income of 2.5 $bn from UK subscribers.

•Their income is used to fund “high end” television content such as the HOC

2018- 39.3% households with a subscription

Historical cultural and economic contexts.

•HOC belongs to a genre called Long form television drama. (LFTVD)

•LFTVD (Game of Thrones, HOC, etc.)  are characterised by high production values.

•Series one and 2 of the HOC costs an estimated  $100 Million for the first two series (26 episodes) to produce.

•By comparison Eastender’s costs  £29.9 million a year for 212 episodes. (source: https://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-feature/1207916/eastenders-bbc-one-time-cost-per-episode-year)

•Referring to the revision notes page 146, the cost of production of this High end Drama (HOC) is linked to

–Sourcing highly skilled actors

Example of high skilled actors in the HOC, is Kevin Spacey who`s net worth is 100$ million per year.

–Cinematic styling camera work (location shoots are paid)

Cinematic styling- the types of shots 

Wide shots in the opening scenes

The variety of shots

Undivided loyalty scene where there is a high up shot representing Frank as dominant compared to Russo.

Close up shots

-Lighting and editing (dull and unsaturated)

Low key lightning 

Links to the conventions of a drama

Stock motion

Story lines

-Complex narratives (multi-stranded) (Barthes) 

different stories of characters

Frank`s story

Zoe`s story

Claire`s story

Russo & Christina`s story

-Composed music  

Jeff Beal

Long form TV Drama

(genre) conventions

Drama that runs in a series

They start with an intense beginning to grip their audience

They contain cliffhangers to maintain interest

They conclude the episode until the end where they conclude the episode.

Very much dialogue led.

Production values are higher than TV drama (funded by subscribers)

High budgets permit high end actors and high end production

Long form TV is an American concept which effectively is a hybrid of a serialised drama with the high

production standards of film.

Ideology

“A set of beliefs values and assumptions shared by a

social group and embedded in social, cultural, political

and economic institutions.”

Usually thought to reflect the interests of powerful groups.

•Individualism: e.g. focusing a drama on an individual protagonist, people putting their self interests at first place (Frank) (Frank and his monologues) (Peter Russo) 

•Consumerism: e.g. judging characters on their possessions or desirability of their lifestyles (two balls)

•Patriarchal: power and the challenge to this by feminism e.g. using or refusing to use women’s bodies as objects, or narratives that present a male, female or gender neutral perspective (When Zoe Barnes goes to Frank`s home)

•Racism and ethnocentrism and the challenge to those from multiculturalism and internationalism, e.g. narratives that present a monocultural, multicultural or minority perspective (Few representations of black people) (end of the episode) (white middle class people mostly) (power concentrated on white middle class males- Frank in this case)

Media Theories 

Stereotypes: Politicians are stereoypically represented as power and moeny hungry, mostly focusing on the dominant middle class males. 

Stereotypically in this household the male- Francis is the dominant and a politician whereas Claire is running a charity. 

Claire is an intelligent women and in the opening scene she argues with Frank which shows that she tries to break the stereotype of women being repressed and under the dominance of the male. Also, she has short hair which challenges and breaks the stereotype of females always having long hair. 

Zoe is a stereotypical ambitious young journalist who makes many sacrifices in order to progress and make a name for herself. 

Vasquez breaks the stereotype of weaknesses of women

Stereotypes of men: Frank conforms to the masculine stereotypes of power and intellectual strength

Russo shows that attractiveness does not have to be sexual only. He portrays that he is attractive due to his possessions, power and money.

Counterstereotype of the independence of Frank as he is quite dependent on his wife as they work together and he has to always inform her of what is going on on his political career. 

Stereotypes of Women: Zoe wearing a short dress and Frank is caught looking at her bum, having a photo to proove that.

Uses her sexuality to progress, by wearing a see through top.  

Feminist theory- Van Zoonen: Zoe was expected to have slept whit someone in order to have got the information she got, showing the patriarchal expectations of the society. 

Russo using his power and money in order to attract women- Christina

Feminist theory- bel Hooks: Concept of `intersectionality` that intersections of gender, race, class

and sexuality create a `white

supremacist capitalist patriarchy` whose ideologies dominate the media representation.

In the House of Cards  the powerful figures are white, male, middle class linking to the patriarchy.

Vasquez

Representations of characters 

Russo: Irresponsible. putting his personal life over the proffesional showing individualism because he seems to spend time more on the social aspect of his life rather than his career life and duties he got in the politics, seen through the drink driving and taking of drugs and the troubles he get in. in general. 

Irresponsible- as he thinks he can get away with serious things easily eg. when he gets caught by the police and when he`s in the car with his girlfriend he just tells her `everything will be fine` however he does not realise the seriousness of these matters. 

Frank: Monologues showing his individualism. He is seen as being dominated by his wife Claire Russo in episode 1 as she gets angry at him for not telling her about his decision therefore showing that she usually assists him with taking the decisions, in his political side of life.

Zoe: Uses sexuality to help her succeed therefore portrays that she confroms to the theory of Van Zoonen about the objectification of women, and how they use their sexuality to help them seduce men and succeed.

progressive and ambitious

Claire: Breaks patriarchy and therefore goes against the theory of bell hooks and the patriarchal oppression of women. This can be seen as she is a protagonist and a leader, also assisting Francis woth his political decisions. Alos, she goes against the theory of Van Zoonen as she prefers to use her skills and knowledge to succeed and progress in her career rather than using her sexuality and being objectified.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/feminism-depravity-and-power-in-em-house-of-cards-em/283960/

Todorov`s theory: Todorov`s theory is about having an `equillibrium`

Equillibrium- everyone happy, peaceful, balance, 

Disequillibrium- when the person is proven wrong and something goes wrong

Back to equillibrium- tries to get back to the original position

Example: Frank`s situation as a politician

the equilibrium,

disequilibrium,

acknowledgement,

solving

equilibrium again

Levi Strauss theory: The idea of binary opposition

Narrative was ruled by structure of opposing terms such as male/female, good/evil. 

House of Cards

Washington vs The street

Cynical ambition vs Authenticity

Power/money vs Service

Intertextuality

Showing Frank as roughtless due to the blood on his hands

Micro elements:
Cinematography- camera work, angel, composition
Sound
Editing- special effects
Mise en Scene- whats in the scene? costume, body language and lightning, facial expression, colour, props, make up, body language movement 


Shot composition

Sound
Diegetic and non diegetic 

Editing 

The stage in the film-making process in which sound and images are organised to construct an overall narrative.

•It is how a film maker puts together and considers cuts/cutting and applies transitions, special effects etc. to communicate a narrative to an audience.

•Remember that an audience is a non-active participant who must understand a narrative through the editing, they can only see what you show them.

•Imagine a film or even a scene from a film without any editing, it would be very interesting!

Cross cutting

Apply theory/academic arguments showing how the characters are represented.
Discuss the underlying ideologies which apply to the House of cards and the characters
Identify specific examples (of media language) which support your arguments

Use appropriate terminologies in discussing the media language