Town of no return - 60s Essay

How was MEDIA LANGUAGE used to show the social context of the 1960s?
Consider:
- Camerawork
- Mise-en-scene
- Editing
- Sound

In The Avengers' 'Town of No Return', mise-en-scene and camerawork are used to highlight the feminist movement and the sexual revolution, particularly through Mrs Peel's costume and styling, as shown with her skin-tight leather suit and the camera shots used to introduce her. She is first introduced with a full-body shot of herself wearing the leather suit, which shows off every curve of her body, leaving nothing for the imagination. However, the shot is of a low-angle, establishing that there are still gender roles at play and that she has less power than her male partner, which was common in the 1960s. Despite this, she is still shown to be dominant at times, such as when she manages to hit Steed's behind, so she is challenging the gender roles that were in place during the 1960s. She also appears to be both proud and comfortable of dressing provocatively, further emphasising that she's expressing her sexuality, which was a common theme of the feminist movement and the sexual revolution int he 1960s.

Sound is also used to further highlight the sexual revolution, through both diegetic dialogue and non-diegetic background music. There is a scene where Peel and Steed both remove an article of clothing, to which there is a crescendo in the background music, which emphasises the chemistry between them and the flirtatious relationship they have despite Peel being a married woman. Their dialogue also has flirty tones, such as when Peel welcomes Steed into her apartment with "The door is open", which was uncommon in the 1960s for women to do to men who they were not either married to or related to, implying that their relationship was more personal and less professional in terms of business, which shows the sexual revolution that was occurring at that time.

Media Revision Wk6

Q1.

An effective media campaign would exploit a variety of media platforms, such as; websites, videogames, merchendise, etc. to maximise the potential consumer market by branching out into different formats that appeal to different areas of the audience. Videogames appeal to younger audiences who spend more time playing games than consuming other forms of media, websites appeal to audience members who are more acquainted with technology, events appeal to more active audience members who travel more often. Using the lego movie as an example, a videogame was released at the same time as the film to appeal to children, and a series of lego sets were released for children to enjoy and to attract them towards the film, ultimately increating the profit of the film.

Avengers: The Town of No Return

Equilibrium:
- Emma Peel chilling in her apartment until main guy wants to be spies with her

Disruptions:
- Guy walked out of ocean
- Other guy chased and killed
- Suspicious activity at the school with the teachers
- Dead guy found on the beach
- Emma realises that theres a lot of missing people
- A dead guy literally dies in front of Emma and gives her clues
- Three people almost kill Emma
- Main guy is also almost killed

Resolution:
- Emma and main guy find a hidden military base
- They kill everyone

New Equilibrium:
- Emma and main guy return home to chill

Mise-en-scene

Costumes:
- Suits
- Blouse + Skirt
- Bowler hat

Props:
- Tea set
- Umbrella

Sets:
- Coastal village
- Train
- Pub
- Church
- School
- British countryside

Characters/Dialogue:
- Polite upper-class accents