Friday 11 May 2012

More repns of disability (beauchamp)

If you click through to http://beauchampcollegemedia.com/2012/01/11/582/ you'll find some useful categories of rep'ns of disability with embedded clips to illustrate the points

SOME ADDITIONAL LINKS:
http://www.trinimex.ca/disabilityinmedia/lesson6.htm - 'The 'Super-Crip' Phenomenon' [this does seem a widely recognised term, just add single quote marks if using it]
The second disability stereotype that will be explored is “disability as hero by hype”. This stereotype is more commonly referred to as “the super crip” pereception. When not pitied, persons with disabilities are sometimes seen as “heroes,” or in other words, outrageously admired for their “courage” and determination. This stems from the belief that life with a disability must necessarily be horrific and unsatisfying, and as such, we must admire persons with disabilities for being able to live “the way they do.” Much like portraying disability as a form of lesser self-worth (as is often the case with the “disability as pity” stereotype), placing persons with disabilities on a pedestal is another way to denote this social group as “other”. This particular stereotype is also linked to the idea that disability in one area is complimented with superior abilities in another area (for example, the misconception that people who are blind have superior hearing).
http://beauchampcollegemedia.com/2011/04/06/tv-drama-and-representation-videos/ - more Beauchamp vid examples
http://www.slideshare.net/jfoster10/representations-of-disability - the Ppt already embedded on the semioditic blog, v useful illustrations/breakdown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_in_the_media - Wiki which also cites 'supercrip'

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Finding more egs to practice

Search "ocr g322 disability" on YouTube or Google: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=OCR+G322+disability&search_type=&aq=f

Cast Offs eg

You could also view the C4 series Cast Offs (here's the official YouTube site) for practice (embedding for these clips is disabled)

Casualty clip

This is useful to practice; look at how the two central characters are framed differently, and how editing when each is talking is quite markedly different - they're not represented as equal. One seems more central to the drama; the conflict is his conflict over what to do with his brother, how to cope with the issue of hiring a carer or continuing as his carer. The disabled character is often off-frame even when talking; the OTS shots when he's talking are a little unusual, and the editing choice is not to focus on him when we'd generally expect him to be central to the shot sequence. Okay, reaction shots are not unusual, but this goes further in the way it excludes him, makes him of secondary importance. The shot as they exit the shop is telling: as the wheelchair disappears off frame we stay with the other brother, centrally framed in a MCU.
Nonetheless, there are several two shots used to signifiy their bond and togetherness, and the 'defective gene' joke is used for exposition: to inform us of how comfortable they are with each other (although the disabled character does get cross at his brother for seeking to include him in flirty banter, sternly telling the cashier that his brother seeks to ignore his condition). The odd thing here is that the brother's actions are actually quite positive, but the editing and self-pitying dialogue from the wheelchair-bound character, reduce this to a narrative about the jumper-buying brother and his issues; his brother is only really providing signifiers about his emotional state.
You'd look out here for basic aspects of continuity editing, plus realism codes, amongst many other aspects...
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