Jersey Shore has everything! Episodes, clothing, their own youtube channel, water bottles, bobble heads, a soundtrack and mugs... everyhing! But one thing! An actual video game!!
One of my linked production pieces will be the front and back cover of the e-media platform game called GTL, Gym Tanning Laundry: Jersey Style, under the institition of Rockstar Games, in the Grand Theft Auto franchise and will be set in Seaside Heights, New Jersey- where the cast filmed their first series.
It will be like GTA: Grand Theft Auto, in the layout and game style. The game will consist of missions like the game play in GTA and will focus on players choosing missions that progress to an overall story as well as side activities; this will be reflected in the front and back cover through the text and the pictures.
The cover will follow the codes and conventions of the Grand Theft Auto 4 and also of Jersey Shore by conforming with the connotations that have been created by the MTV's hit series, for the images will I will need to make the background white/grey of squares and lines, an abstract look for the guys but for the girls I will make their backgrounds leopard and cheetah print also in a white/greyscale as girls from New Jersey are typically associated with leopard and cheetah print.
Alongside the video game front cover I will create an instructions and background booklet as games typically contain, which will contain the PEGI system, game controls, an about the game page, a mini Jersey Shore slang dictionary to involve the audience and a product license agreement page. The PEGI system page will describe the what they symbols mean, the game contol page will tell players which button on the Xbox controller does what, for example the RT will allow the player to throw punches and a section of Seaside Heights points of interest, which will be the place where the players will need to go when playing missions.
Lastly I will make a print platform poster insert of the front cover minus the PEGI age-rating and content symbols as Grand Theft Auto usually has. It will have the institutions Rockstar games and MTV, as it is a collision of both institutions.
All of these productions will be done on InDesign to create a professional outcome. I will also have to find fonts that look exactly the same as those used in the original video game cover.
The images I will use of the cast, will be found on the internet mainly from their own personal twitter such as the one below which mimics the images used in the game cover above. Others will include drinking, partying, hooking up with girls, going gym, tanning and doing laundry just before a big night out to the club. I will however draw the pictures, scan it, then animate the pictures on photoshop to create the animated look. This will demonstrate my highly competent use of technology and make it look more like a game rather than a dvd.
This advert sees Just Dance use Jersey Shore's clubbing antics to promote their game, suggesting that playing the game is like going clubbing. People dancing with wine glasses and the high shot shows the mise-en-scene which has ideologies of fun, a good atmosphere with people smiling and the alcohol bottles are illuminated which shows its many different colours of the substance emphasising the radiance and appeal of alcohol while the rest of the props at the bar are drowning in pink lighting, this has connotations of being able to unwind, relax and socialise. There is a glimpse of the Male Gaze as the two females in the foreground are also illuminated by this white lighting whilst everyone else is shadowed in a grey/black mist, this shows everything that is associated with the Jersey Shore cast in particular the males as they party, dance and hook up with girls. The camera zooms into the two females which follows with Ronnie emerging from a group of clubbers. The commercial has a modernised Western standoff by vertically panning Snooki standing in a dominate female pose with one hand on her hip, which then cuts to a close-up of a glamed-up Wii remote, and then cuts to an alcohol beverage dropping on the floor, which represents disruption as everyone scrambles off the dancefloor and begins to hide, even the security guard, which shows that it's an occasion that no-one can stop. The whistling typical Western music is then heard, followed by a tumbleweed rolling past behind Snooki, a non diegetic gust of wind and a close up shot of the two opponents scowling, this is the codes and connotations of a western standoff which connotes an outbreak of violence or competition. The music 'I've got the power' and they break out into a dance battle for Wii.
The music begins with a non-diegetic crash/explosion connoting destruction and a release of energy in an extreme manner and is followed by what can be interpreted as an escalating scale, of building excitement and energy this is seen throughout the shots of the characters dancing, smiling, laughing and some odd wiggling of the eyebrows. The lyrics of the song are 'Get crazy, get wild. Let's party, get loud. If you want to have fun then do something crazy' which is the epitome of Jersey Shore as it is very crazy, loud, wild and all about partying and being boisterous and very extroverted. This song is by LMFAO (which interesting stands for Laugh My F***ing Ass Off- which is also very merry). They are an electro pop duo, responsible for the Party Rock Anthem and the opening for Kim and Kourtney Take Miami- a reality TV show following the lives of the Kardashians.
The Jersey Shore writing in the logo looks like it has been coloured in roughly and not completely, which could has connotations of child-play as we see the characters are quite childish in their demeanor and speech. The border is distorted which connotes chaos and mess. In the background, there is a vertical panning shot of the Jersey Shore at a birds eye view setting the scene for the mayhem to unfold.
The shots have a movie reel frame that is seen in movies of older time periods, this suggests the genre of the show being reality TV as it looks as though it is a home video and this creates a sense of nostalgia, even though the viewers are relatively young and probably don't remember seeing those types of movies, they know it has association of older times, this is postmodernism as time periods are blurred. The characters each have a few seconds to display their personality:
Pauly D: Is smiling and the two smaller images show him DJing at a party. Representing him as a party-goer.
Nicole 'Snooki': Is dancing and smiling and there is a diegetic "I'm going to Jersey Shore B****" from one of the two smaller close-up images, the second is just of her smiling energetically, this represents her as rowdy and loud, but fun. The opening sequence is colourful, and chaotic as there are many layers of colour, images, diegetic and non-diegetic sounds all at once. One of the layers consists of a light blue sound wave which alternates from low loud frequency waves to no frequency, displaying the lifestyle they live in being like a roller-coaster being of ups and downs, and showing their loud nature. These sometimes distort into random letters and numbers possibly showing their mindset in being confused when it comes to letters and numbers suggesting they are unintelligent. The transition between the individual medium shots of the cast is blurred at a high pace into an orange mist and the next individual shot appears.
Mike 'The Situation': Is wearing a red vest and is smiling innocently. In one of the images he is in a club lifting up his t-shirt showing off his abs, and the second one shows him chatting us a couple of girl, representing him as a womaniser and a brag. The voice-over says "alriggght, we got us a sit." showing how he gets himself into situations but he also could be telling the viewers that they've got him, as he is flirty.
Sammi 'Sweetheart': is smiling innocently and refers to herself as "the sweetest b**** you'll ever meet", labelling herself as female god shows little dignity and self respect as it is degrading and usually used by men when they see females as nothing more than objects. The smaller images show her using her very own tanning bed, displaying controversy and little care for her skin health.
Ronnie: is laughing energetically and is wearing a black vest and a gold chain, we can see that he is quite muscular which is a description of a typical guido, in the smaller images it shows him lazing about on a couch topless which is a typical stereotype of young people along with the smaller image of him bench pressing which shows he is very image conscious.
Jenni 'JWOWW': has platinum blonde hair eye extension highlights, proving her to be quite trashy with her blue contacts and is not smiling like the others but is straight-faced and serious. In the smaller images her chest area is fluorescent lit putting emphasis on her boobs which is her defining attribute. "After I have sex with a guy I will rip their heads off" the voice-over displays her to be dominating in a relationship, violent and promiscuous.
Vinny: Is smiling and wiggling his eyebrows in a grey vest, the background images show the hot-shot that they go to regularly Karma the voice-over is Pauly D shouting "go vinny, go vinny" and the smaller images show him fist pumping in a club and dancing with a girl.
Deena: Is smiling like all of the rest (except Jwoww) and she says "D'you like the boobs?" showing her to be promiscuous and advertising her body to the male audience, showing lack of self value,the smaller images show her in a club with a guido and the other one shows her in a bikini and a cowboy hat pretending to ride a rodeo which zooms out from a close up of her bust area into a medium long shot.
The ending shot shows the Jersey Shore logo in the foreground, and the background has the cast in a room all squashed up laughing into the camera, the beach house they stay at over the summer.
The institution logo (MTV) is always displayed at the right bottom hand.
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E-MEDIA: Unseen Jersey Shore Footage
Here we see the constructed reality that Jersey Shore creates as, in the actual TV programme they walk around without having all this recognition and fans following them shouting out "It's T-shirt time" a catchy quote they use when getting ready to go clubbing, even when in Italy. This shows how the producers have placed them in constructed scenes of no-one even knowing/liking them as they get in fights at the clubs. This was a recording by a fan and then posted on youtube, which shows how the evolution of the internet means users can make their own broadcast institution from their own youtube channels.
Advertisement
This is an advertisement for an energy shot called "six hour power," it shows Sammi and Deena in the club toilets saying they 'don't want to leave yet because there are so many Gorilla juice-heads but they dont have the energy.' A top-less ripped 'shot fairy' poofs out of nowhere suggesting the energy shot and another poofs out for Deena followed by her shouting 'Hook-up!!!' This has the Jersey Shore terminology so viewers can familiarise with it, and the tanned fairies of the typical guys that the female cast mates 'hook up' with, calling the energy drink an 'energy shot' has connotations of alcohol shots so make it more appealing to the clubbing teenage/young adult audience.
Parody Advertisement for Hair Gel
The beginning of this parody shows the user's institution which demonstrates UGC, in the ability to be involved in productions from home. They also have ending credits.
This parody makes a mockery of the male casts as they say 'I am herpie-free' referring to their indiscriminately sexually active manners. They represent the cast as stupid, by rubbing hair gel on their abs 'to be like situation- going from a six pack to an eight pack.'
Jersey Shore's own parody of Twilight
Jersey Shore created their own parody Friggin' Twilight but of another pop culture phenomenon Twilight combining the two audiences
They are all running the streets of Italy- Shows mischief and trouble.
They look as though they are running from a whit light- purity. They don't want to be good.
Along with their facial expressions which are shocked and dramatic- Shows scandal and drama to come in Season 4.
Italy known to be peaceful and romantic- Contrasts with the Jersey Shore cast.
Their outfits are smart and usually what they wear when going out clubbing connotes fun.
The shops are closed so it must be night time- out partying.
Jenni looks angelic, she is wearing white, and has a calm face and graceful run as though she is gliding- shows she's the best behaved of the group perhaps.
Snooki has a very dramatic facial expression which shows how there will be drama around her along with Vinny with his purple skinny jeans (which is proven true as they end up sleeping together even though Snooki is in a relationship with her boyfriend Jionni). Neither her, or Denna are wearing shoes which shows that they are going to end up in some controversy and lose their value (also proven to be true as they call each other Meatballs and go out drinking from morning til night, and expose their private parts in the club).
Sammi plays more of a back seat in Season 4 as shown by this promo picture, she's in the background and is less important as there is less drama around her compared to previous seasons, where her and Ronnie's relationship is the main focus due to the vast amount of arguments they have. This shows Ronnie to be happier in both the promo picture and the episodes.
Mike "Situation" is attempting to fly with demonstrates how he is an arrogant individual and thinks he's about the rest of the cast, he has always got his sunglasses which connotes deception and trickery. Pauly D seems to be wincing away from him, as in season 4 Mike is a master of manipulation as he plays a prank which one know thought was funny, to work out who were 'the rats' in the house were. By the end of season 4, every housemate grew to hate him and even told him if he didn't change then he wouldn't be able to be in the filming of season 5.
Promo Pictures an example of Postmodernism
These promotion pictures break down and merge high culture and mass culture and mixes styles of different genres, time periods and de-historicising or re-contextualising styles in visual arts.
Fist-Pumping in Italy
The creation of Adam by Michaelangelo is chronologically the fourth in the series, like Jersey Shore in Italy is the fourth season. It has been altered so that rather than God and Adam touching fingers, they are instead 'fist-pumping', Adam is also wearing a T-shirt, a signature clothing item of the Jersey Shore boys, with their 'T-shirt time.'
The Birth of Venus
The original painting of the Birth of Venus denotes a fully grown goddess- Venus arriving at the sea-shore. This remake shows Venus wearing a signature pair of Snooki boots and a hand bag, and Venus can be a symbol of Snooki, as she is seen as the goddess of the show when she arrives at Jersey Shore, her first time living away from her family, making a fully grown woman. Members of the Platonic Academy interpret this painting as a earthly goddess who aroused men to physical love, which is also an interpretation of Snooki's characteristics as in Season 1 and 2, the viewers see a Snooki looking for love and always attempting to get in bed with the male housemates in particularly Vinny, and also The Situation, who reveals on numerous occasions that he's in love with her.
Mona Lisa
A Venetian Gondola in the shape of their duck phone.
In Jersey Shore the male gaze presented by Berger is evident; the women are dressed in mini dresses and shorts to be seen as though the spectator is male and therefore their image is designed to flatter him.
Showing off the muscules
Laura Muvley said there was two distinct modes of the male gaze: voyeuristic which is seeing females as whores and sluts, and also fetishistic which is described as 'building up the physical beauty of the object, transforming it into something satisfying.' The females in Jersey Shore are represented as voyeuristic as they excessively drink and party and aim to bring a boy back to the house to sleep with them.
USES & GRATIFICATION Blumer and Katz
The theorists say that each media consumer seeks out media that best fulfill their needs and theses uses and gratifications are:
1. Diversion- Jersey Shore audiences may use this text to escape their everyday lives and gain emotional release, as the narrative in the episodes create anger, empathy, joy and content. It also can be watched to just fill time or for relaxation. Jersey Shore creates incorporation as they make reality better than life, and also contrasts to the reality of the viewers as in reality they can't go out clubbing and drinking everyday living a reckless lifestyle ignoring the 'high arts' of literature, classical music, education and visual arts.
2. Surveillance- Other viewers may consume this text to be educated by what else happens in the world satisfying curiosity and general interest. For example British viewers see the lifestyle of the Italian-America characters in Jersey Shore and can somewhat compare the differences of their lives, the viewer can seek advice through Jersey Shore and see the effects of decision choices particulary if they are going through the same situation that the characters in the programme are .
3. For personal identity- Watching the drama unfold in the house makes the audience feel as though their own lives aren't as bad or they aren't the only one with problems, as it is a reality TV programme the audience is able to relate to the narratives such as the relationship issues between Sammi and Ronnie and the strong friendship of Snooki (Nicole) and JWOWW (Jenni). The programme can also make the audience find model behaviour and help the find reinforcements for their personal values.
4. Social interaction- The relationship the audience has with the TV programme which are most popular, enables social interaction with others to discuss the events of the episodes which can in turn increase their own popularity. If the individual watches all the episodes and is really committed to the show, the more they will have to say about the show when talking to their friends and therefore the more 'cool' they will appear. In a different way the audience can also have a substitute for a real-life companion. This can also be seen in blogs where Jersey Shore is discussed.
HYPODERMIC SYRINGE THEORY
This theory explores the way in which audiences become passive and addictive and therefore the media 'injects' the audience with the appropriate media to trigger the desired response. A way in which the directors of Jersey Shore make the audience become addicted, apart from the narrative is the use of a cliff-hanger at the end of almost each episode; this increases the audience's need to watch the next apisode as soon as possible. The other platforms of e-media and print is another way in which media injects the audience.
E-media- Parody of Jersey Shore
An example is youtube, the UGC allows for audiences
E-media- Parody of Jersey Shore
of Jersey Shore to see Jersey Shore in various different
interpretations and be entertained giving them their
dose of Jersey Shore and can even make them the creators. Blogs also do the same as audience are able to share their views on Jersey Shore discuss who they like and who they dislike. There are games and the like that do the same.
An example of the print platform are magazines, this medium works well with reality TV shows as consumers of magazines are very interested in the real lives of celebrities and reality TV helps gives the audience the first hand exclusive knowledge although magazines give the audience background information.
The viewers of Jersey Shore know Snooki has lost vast amounts of weight by seeing her on the programme but the magazine interview tells us she had an anorexia problem. The hypodermic syringe theory says the mass media can influence a group and this is seen by the effects of Jersey Shore on younger demographic, using the words 'grenade' and juice-head' (insulting words towards the opposite sex) , young people now have a strong desire to go out and get drunk and sleep with as many people as they can.
THE MEDIA STUDENT'S BOOKby Gill Branston and Roy Stafford
"John Corner, argues we are now in a 'postdocumentary culture of television' and also refers to a 'new ecology of the factual.' " Programmes which make substantial use of 'ordinary people' and blends information and entertainment. Is called a 'docusoap:' a hybrid, blending elements of soap (its serial nature with character-driven narratives and a focus on emotional or'gossipy' aspects of everyday life) with the codes and conventions of one kind of documentary (verite camerawork, combining naturalistic/hand held camerawork with stylized editing). John Corner suggests that the combination presents "documentary as diversion" and produces 'noisy sociability', positioning the viewer as "an amused bystander in the mixture and mess and routine in other people's working lives" (Corner 2001) Annette Hill(2002) suggests that as well as news and cureent affairs reality TV falls into three main groups Observation programmes (watching people in everyday places such as Airport) Information programmes (using true stories like first aid) Created for TV programmes (putting real people into a manufactured situation like a house or an island, and filming what happens).
MEDIA STUDIES: THE ESSENTIAL RESOURCEby Philip Rayner
Abercrombie on REALISM
The debate of realism on television is complicated by the fact that 'realism' itself is associated with a set of codes and conventions that we recognise as 'real' or 'realistic' but are in fact artifical and constructed. Abercrombie argues that what television realism offers is essentially a 'construction of reality which is not deliberaterly misleading, but which cannot hope to speak for everyone's experience and understanding of the world'.
This can be proved true for Jersey Shore as this is the reality of the cast in the programme and it is not deliberaterly misleading because it isn't necessarily representative of the world but of the characters.
Looking 110% Bored!!
COLIN MACCABREargues that 'Television presents one reality and audiences are persuaded to accept it as the only reality... a dominant point of view, that the narrator, which is presented as the natural transparent one' This is shown on MTV's Jersey Shore as one reality is presented to the audience, this ideology of pop culture being excessively fun and that high culture is excessively boring and uninteresting. This is seen in Season 4 episode 10, when the girls go wine tasting and are informed about the history of the wine, and appear bored out of their witts only fascinated by the concept of drinking wine, Snooki even falls asleep!
That must be comfy!
Pierre Bourdieu's book: La Distinction (English translation: Distinction - A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste) (1979) is a study influential in sociology of another much broader, class-based, definition of high culture, or "taste", which includes etiquette, appreciation of fine food and wine, and even military service, but also references different social codes supposedly observed in the dominant class, and that are not accessible to the lower classes. Bourdieu introduced the concept of cultural capital, knowledge and habits acquired by a dominant class. The cast of Jersey Shore attempt to create a cultural capital for themselves by going to wine tasting and also taking a tour of Italy in episode 12. They complain a lot and say things like
'we have to do the tour today, and I'm not really excited about it' (Snooki)
'I'm really not looking forward to the tour, I'm really tired, I just wana relax and chill' (Mike).
The Michelangelo-crafted, Renaissance-era sculpture of a male standing nude was a favorite of the female cast members.
'I think the statue of David is pretty sexy.I would do it' (Deena)
'If I could change the statue of David he would look more like a Guido.
He could have a spray tan. And also, his wiener just doesn't cut it.'(Snooki).
POSTMODERNISM
“Postmodernity as a phase of abandoning the assumptions, prejudices, and constraints of modernism to embrace the contradictions, irony, and profusion of pop and mass culture. "High" and "low" culture/art categories are made useless and irrelevant as art from outsider and non-Western cultures embraced, consumer society turned inside out. The grand linear narrative of art history and Western cultural history is exposed as ideological and constructed for class interests.”
Jersey Shore is pop culture and does abandon the assumptions, prejudices, and constraints of modernismto embrace the contradictions, irony, and profusion of mass culture. This is seen by its outrageous boisterous characters in the programme and by the activities they take part in, such as smoking, drinking excessively and partying almost every night. It abandons the religious assumptions and prejudices that females are suppose to be discrete and reserved, maintaining their dignity and respectability. In this reality TV programme we see the woman being very loud, fighting men, throwing glass bottles at them, swearing and even displaying their private parts in public. They embrace the ability to do as they want, due to mass culture, as this ranks in the viewers.
Jersey Shore is anAmerican reality television series that premiered on MTV on December 3, 2009 in the United States.
It follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore in New Jersey.
Season 2 followed the cast to Miami Beach then season 3 returning back to the Jersey Shore. Then season 4 was filmed in Italy and premiered on August 4, 2011.
The show debuted amid large amounts of controversy regarding the use of the term 'Guido/Guidette' as portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes and scrutiny from locals because the cast members were not residents of the area.
The show is dubbed a cultural phenomenon and has garnered record ratings for MTV making it the network's most viewed series telecast ever. The series' cast has also been credited with introducing unique lexicon and phrases into American popular culture. The University of Chicago and the University of Oklahoma are among the educational institutions that have had classes or conferences about the show. In 2010, the cast of Jersey Shore was named on Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People list and the series has since been exported to dozens of countries worldwide.
Production History VH1 producer proposed the idea of a show focusing on the 'guido' lifestyle for TV in the form of a competition series. MTV networks felt the series 'loud, young, bold' style was better suited for MTV than VH1 and after The Hills it was time to go for a more authentic approach, like a documentary. When casting they looked for 'candor, honesty, boldness and a very combustible, chaotic mess. You could honestly say none of these people were traditionally beautiful' The eight housemates are: Angelina Pivarnick, Jennifer Farley, Michael Sorrentino, Nicole Polizzi, Paul elVecchio, Ronald Ortiz-Magro, Samantha Giancola and Vincenzo Guadagnino.
Season 1: 1.375 million viewers and grew in popularity and was the subject of parody on Saturday Night Live Ranked #1 in its time period vs all cable competition among P12-34 Season 1 finale audience: 4.8 million Increase of more than 3.4 million Was MTV's highest rated original series telecast in almost 2 years
MTV and Universal Republic released a soundtrack creating the perfect summer playlists Gym, Tanning, Laundry: The Official Jersey Shore Quote Book was released by MTV including a bonus DVD with the most memorable moments from season one. A sticker book: Jersey Shore Activity Book was also released and a wall calender Bobble heads dolls of the cast, a beach game set, Halloween costumes, a GTL sports bottle, The situation- Official App for iPhone and T-shirts.
MTV receive criticism from Italian American organizations for the way in which they marketed the show, as it liberally used the word Guido to describe the cast members. The term Guido is regarded as an ethnic slur when referring to Italians and Italian Americans.
UNICO National formally requested that MTV cancel the show and called it a 'direct, deliberate and disgraceful attack on Italian Americans... They are blatantly as well as subliminally bashing Italian-American with every technique possible' Other Italian-American organisations joined the fight such as NIAF and the Order Sons of Italy in America. MTV responded 'We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture' then several sponsors have requested that their ads not be aired during the show, these include Dell, Domino's and American Family Insurance.
Several Parodies included
Jersey Shore: Spoof'd
Remixed songs of Tik Tok, Empire State of mind and California Girls to make fun of the show
Webcomic Jersey Circus is a mashup of artwork from the newspaper comic strip The Family Circus
Mad on Cartoon Network made a mash up of the Disney Pixar movie Up and Jersey Shore which they named S'Up.
TNA Impact!
South Park entitled the ninth episode of the 14th season 'It's a Jersey Thing parodying the cast of JS.
Similar shows:
*The Only Way is Essex
*Geordie Shore
*Lake Shore
*Brighton Beach
* E-media's control over society and how we do things and interact.
How one thing can get posted online and spread around the world in a matter of seconds is extremely interesting to me, and also how we can interact with people in different country, but in turn this has made us not really have an actual social life but a virtual social life.
* Jersey Shore- The glamorisation of being trashy and thus the breakdown of high culture.
I am interested in investigating the viewpoint that the media is low culture, using Jersey Shore as an example of how it has somewhat contributed to the oxymoron that it is glamorous to be trashy and not having any morals or self respect. People no longer want to be smart or respected they prefer to have drunken parties and sleep with whoever they can. Why is this now acceptable?
* The power the media has in invading privacy.
If I do investigate the above topic I'll be wanting to find out about the phone hackings and Rupert Murdoch's empire and how the media are angered by celebritie's use of super injunction and in a way are triggered to invade celebrities privacy even more. To what extend can the media break boundaries? And if the celebrity has offered themselves to the media through magazine features and reality TV shows, can they really accuse the media of invading privacy?
