Industries: Ownership and control blog task

1) Type up your research notes from the lesson - what did you find out about your allocated media conglomerate? Selection of companies: Alphabet, The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, 21st Century Fox, Facebook, Viacom, News Corp, Time Warner. If you were absent or don't have the notes, research any of the companies above and find examples of all the terminology outlined in the notes at the start of this blogpost.

2) Do you agree that governments should prevent media conglomerates from becoming too dominant? Write an argument that looks at both sides of this debate.

I believe that media conglomerates becoming too dominant in the media would have an adverse effect on smaller competing media companies who are trying to make their name in the industry. On the other hand, when multiple large media conglomerates are competing for market share, it could become an incentive to become more competitive and to produce content better than their competitors, this could prove beneficial for audiences 

Media Magazine 52 has a good feature on the changing relationship between audiences and institutions in the digital age. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM52 and scroll to page 9 to read the article 'Two Key Concepts: The Relationship Between Audience and Institution'.

3) Briefly describe the production, promotion and distribution process for media companies.

Production companies produce the content, from there promotion companies promote the said content through different mediums, from there the distribution companies get the content to the audiences.

4) What are the different funding models for media institutions?

Some funding models include:

Licensing Rights

shareholders

Views

5) The article gives a lot of examples of major media brands and companies. Choose three examples from the article and summarise what the writer is saying about each of them. 

Marvel:

The article states that Marvel films contain violence and also support typical societal values e.g. Protecting the weak, sacrifice, responsibility etc.

Disney:

Family-friendly well-known media conglomerate who have managed to create a cinematic universe; which allowed mass production of merchandise and different diversifications.

ITV:

Main income source is advertisers, means that their main focus is on appealing mass audiences rather than niche ones.

6) What examples are provided of the new business models media companies have had to adopt due to changes in technology and distribution?

Music:

Musicians can no longer make money through the selling of their music so they've turned to sponsorships, live shows, and merchandise.

Film/Tv:

Mass investments into CGI technology to try and convince audiences to watch their films/shows.

7) Re-read the section on 'The Future'. What examples are discussed of technology companies becoming major media institutions?

Google:

Bought Youtube and changed how we listen to music and view media texts 

Amazon, Netflix and Yahoo:

Three major business who now all own their own TV show streaming sights

Facebook:

Have purchased the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality device.

8) Do you agree with the view that traditional media institutions are struggling to survive?

With the continuous growth of social media and the internet as a primary source of entertainment, traditional media institutes are struggling to compete.

9) How might diversification or vertical integration help companies to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing media landscape? 

With the decrease of traditional income for large corporations, diversification and verticle integration can both be incredibly important to ensure the profitable growth of large businesses.

10) How do YOU see the relationship between audience and institution in the future? Will audiences gain increasing power or will the major global media conglomerates maintain their control?

Social media has become the voice of the people and businesses have learned to respect the wants of the people due to it. In the past international boycotts have become a common practice against large corporations who ignore what their consumers want, and in teh future that power is bound to increase 

Audience theory: blog tasks

Audience theory: blog tasks

Hypodermic needle model

1) Read this Mail Online article about the effects of videogames. How does this article link to the hypodermic needle model?

The article states that the video games that the child was playing violent and that the videos games are directly responsible to why the youth tends to be more violent.

2) How does coverage of the Talk Talk hacking case (see Daily Mail front page below) link to the hypodermic needle model? Why might someone criticise this front page? 

The article blames violent video games and lack of socialization for the actions of a child that targeted a large corporation. As like with the previous question, it suggests that the media he had access too was a direct causation to his actions without taking into account that other factors would have an effect. The cover supports very typical right-wing ideologies e.g. "single mother was brought up as a reason, this represents the right wings idea of a typical family needing a male in order to function, right-wing mentalities are often in support of an uncontrolled private economy, this is shown by slightly making Talk Talk seem like a victim. 

Two-step flow model

1) Summarise the two-step flow model. In your opinion, is the two-step flow theory still relevant today?

I believe that the two-step flow model is especially relevant today. In today's society, fake news has become rampant due to the population's dependence on opinion leaders who shape the news to fit their agenda. With news being so easily available and with so many opinion leaders becoming bigger and bigger due to the vastness of social media the spread of biased, deformed news and media becomes even more available.

2) How does this YouTube blogger fit into the two-step flow model?

Totalbiscuit acts as an opinion leader.

3) How this this Telegraph feature on Britain's most popular tweeters fit the two-step flow model? Do you think these accounts genuinely have an influence over their audience?

These tweeters also act as opinion leaders. Depending on the size of the tweeters I do believe that these opinion leaders do have a major effect on populations as newer generations have an even stronger dependence on having their news spoon fed to them.

4) Read this BBC profile of Jamal Edwards. How does Jamal Edwards link to the two-step flow model?

Jamal Edwards is also an opinion leader due to two reasons, his online presence gives him an aura of reliability and legitness, the second reason is his position, he is at a position that many people want to be at, due to this success people who wish to be like him will listen to what he says.

Uses and Gratifications theory

1) For each of the four categories, write about one media text that fits that particular audience use or pleasure. Make sure you explain WHY it fits the category and use images or clips to illustrate your points.

Diversion: 

Lord of the rings:

Lord of the rings is set in a complete fantasy world that viewers get invested and engaged with, this acts as a form of diversion

Personal Relationships:

13 reasons why:

13 reasons why has very relatable and realistic characters, it's also set in a location and contains an atmosphere that helps create nostalgia, these factors help viewers create emotions with the show's characters.

Personal Identity: 

Stranger things are quite similar to 13 reasons when it comes to creating nostalgia, this nostalgia helps to connect with more adult viewers as they see themselves within the characters.

Surveillance: 

 The weather channel is the more direct example of surveillance as it quite literally is just a channel that gives important information.
Dependency theory

1) Do you agree that audiences have become dependent on the media? What evidence or examples can you provide to support your view?

yes, I do believe that audiences have become dependent on the media, in 2018 almost all news is filtered through opinion leaders.

2) How has the growth of new and digital technology in the last 15 years changed people's dependency on the media? Is this a new problem?

These increase on social media intake has led news to be not only more easily available but also more influential. I believe this can be both a poison and antidote to its own issue, while the fake news present can prove dangerous, it can also become a source of truth as a story and have multiple sides brought up due to its easy and vast access to audiences.

3) Reflecting on your own media use, how does your media consumption impact on your emotions? Does the media have an overall positive or negative impact on your health and wellbeing? Why?

defining whether or not the effect social media has on me is positive or negative can be difficult, I believe that social media tends to be positive for me as it helps me maintain a positive attitude and keeps me entertained, that said it could only be positive due to the fact im almost addicted to social media and a loss of social media could have adverse effects on me.

MIGRAIN: October assessment - learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

Grade - C ( 1 mark from B)

Feedback:

WWW: This is a very solid assessment: your knowledge and experience studying media text really comes through. Q2+Q4 are particularly good with detailed and insightful points made.

EBI: You are just off a B grade so you're not too far away from where we want to be but you're not in the top level yet. Written English is a factor: Too many errors for A Level!

- You also lack theory and question focus in Q1 and Q3 (particularly genre). There is clearly an area to revise.

2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment.

Q1)


3) Read this exemplar response from a previous Year 12 (a strong B grade). Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment. 



4) Did you get any media terminology or theory wrong in the assessment? Make a note of it here for future revision, including theories/terminology that you could have used but didn't.

I did not go through genre as much as i should have, I also forgot to link the theory back to the question for question 3.

5) Identify your strongest question. Why did you do better on this question?

Q4 was my best question as I was quite indepth with my thinking and tried to provide examples and evidence with my points for the question. I do still need to work on making sure I use every theory and also need to improve my written English. 

6) Identify your weakest question. Why did you score lower on this particular task?

My weakest question was question 1, I believe that the reason why it was weak is quite general, I needed to add more theory, sort out my written english, and also structuring the question better would have most likely gotten me an extra mark or two.


7) Re-write your weakest answer in full. Use the mark scheme to identify anticipated content you can add to your response and make sure your typed re-draft is a top-level answer.

Q1: 
The reveal magazine cover uses narrative theory in multiple ways, the theory of equilibrium (todorov) is used, but not in a conventional way: while most texts have an equilibrium before a disequilibrium, this text starts off with a disequilibrium. The disequilibrium in this text is the self-consciousness of Reveals readers along with the reader's lack of knowledge of what's going on with their favorite celebrities. The age demographic for Reveal magazine is most likely middle-aged mothers, the magazine has coverlines that imply within the magazine there are diets that can change your life, this is a direct usage of insecurities that the magazine's readers have about their weight, an issue common with middle-aged women, specifically mothers. This is an instance of insecurities being used to attract readers. The new equilibrium could be the advice of information that the magazine gives to the readers and how it affects the reader. Vladimir propps character theory can also be used to an extent, the heroes would be the figures within the text, the readers would be the victim, the magazine company would be the donor/helper as it provides a medium that connects the figures with the audience.



8) Email your re-written answer (7) to the next person below you on the blog list. Ask them to provide a WWW/EBI response before next Friday and then include this underneath your answer on your blog. 

Narrative: blog task

1) Give an example from film or television that uses Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. 

Most Movies and TV shows follow Todorov's narrative structure. e.g. Grimm follows this narrative every episode, a movie that follows this structure would be Jurassic Park

2) Complete the activity on page 1 of the Factsheet: find a clip on YouTube of the opening of a new TV drama series (season 1, episode 1). Embed the clip in your blog and write an analysis of the narrative markers that help establish setting, character and plot.

The setting is very american, along with that but the main characters accents in the opening scene are also american. Due to the events that unfold, it becomes quite clear that the plot of the TV show is very horror based and may have supernatural villains. It becomes quite clear that the wife/mum is the damsel in distress and the father/dad is the hero in this narrative 

3) Provide three different examples from film or television of characters that fit Propp's hero character role.

• The Hero: Captain America (Avengers
• The Villain: Lucifer (supernatural)
• The Donor: Gandalf (LOTR)
• The dispatcher: Nick Fury (Marvel) 
• 
  

4) Give an example of a binary opposition.

almost all superhero movies have a narrative which are accurate examples of binary opposition

5) What example is provided in the Factsheet for the way narratives can emphasise dominant ideologies and values?

The Factsheet uses the examples of a police officer catching a criminal, this emphasizes the ideology of law and order. Another Ideology that was displayed in the factsheet was heterosexuality and how traditional rom-coms/Romantic movies further reinforced those ideologies.

6) Why do enigma and action codes (Barthes) offer gratifications for audiences?

Enigma and action codes offer gratification for the audience since the codes lead up to the climax of the text, the climax is generally where the audience feels the most excitement, stressed and are at an emotional high spot. The text will then get to the resolution of text, answering a lot of the audiences questions. The codes create questions for the audience that they wait to be answered later on in the text.

7) Write a one-sentence summary of the four different types of TV narrative:

• Episodic narrative (the series)
• Overarching narrative (the serial)
• Mixed narrative
• Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative)

Episodic narrative: Mainly in sit-coms where the narrative arc is resolved at the end of each episode.

Overarching narrative: Mainly in drama tv shows. This is when there may be mini narratives within the episode, but the episodes lead up to a resolution that occurs at the end of each series.

Mixed Narratives: This is a combination of both episodic and overarching narratives.

Multi-strand overlapping narrative: A continuous narrative where throughout the narrative there are multiple stories being told.

8) How does the Factsheet suggest adverts use narrative?  

The factsheet says that idea of problem and resolution is vital, when a problem arises, the advertise then almost immediately offers the solution to create a quick resolution

Media Index

1) Introduction to Media: 10 questions
2) Media consumption audit
3) Language: Reading an image - advert analyses
4) Reception theory
5) Semiotics: icons, indexes and symbols
6) Genre: Factsheets and genre study questions
7) Narrative: Factsheet questions

Genre: blog tasks

Read Media Factsheet 03 - Genre: Categorising texts and answer the following questions:

1) What example is provided of why visual iconographies are so important?

Star wars and stark trek are both given as examples as they both share very similar visual iconographies that are associated with their genres

2) What examples are provided of the importance of narrative in identifying genre?

It states that the genre can be defined by how the story is told, e.g. Soaps and sit comms can both be defined as individual genres due to the way their stories are told

3) What is the difference between character representation in action movies and disaster movies?

In action movies, the main hero tends to be a lone wolf while in disaster movies the main hero tends to be a team leader.

4) What are the different ways films can be categorised according to Bordwell? 

·         Period or country

·         Director / Star

·         Technical Process

·         Style

·         Series

·         Audience

5) List three ways genre is used by audiences.

• ·         People use genre to assume if they are going to enjoy a movie.
• ·         People compare genres to other movies and to see if they share similar characteristics.
• ·         People assume genres will hold similar characteristics therefore reject it and assume that they already will dislike it.

6) List three ways genre is used by institutions or producers.

• ·         Attracting an audience, for example loyal fan-bases will most likely be interested in their movie
• ·         Marketing texts, for example using adverts and trailers to promote their film.
• ·         Production, if a media producer wants to produce a new sit-com, there are certain rules that must be followed. Making it easier for writers and producers to create a film or show.

7) What film genre is used as an example of how genres evolve? What films and conventions are mentioned?

• ·         Vampire movies
• ·         Psychological horrors
• ·         Gothic horrors
• ·         Ghost stories
• ·         The Teen Slasher
• ·         Haunted-house movies.

SSome iconographies that are mentioned are Crosses, holy water, graveyards and gothic mansions for the vampire sub-genre.

    1) List five films the factsheet discusses with regards to the Superhero genre.

d·         The X men Franchise

·         The Avengers and its franchise including: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk

·         Spiderman

·         Guardians of the Galaxy

·         Agents of Shield

2) What examples are provided of how the Superhero genre has reflected the changing values, ideologies and world events of the last 70 years?

• Scott Pilgrim vs the world (Edgar Wright)
• The Avengers (Marvel)
• Superman(DC, Warner Brothers)
• Watchmen (Alan Moore)
• 300 (Frank Miller)

3) How can Schatz's theory of genre cycles be applied to the Superhero genre?

Innovation: The concept of heroes are introduced and the iconic symbolism is used in film, TV, and Radio.

Classical: Around the 1950's superhero media had conventions that were used repeatedly and recognisably

Parody: This is the point in which these conventions are ridiculed and parodied (e.g Superhero move (2008) Kick-Ass (2010 Megamind (2010)

Deconstruction: This is the point in a genres life cycle where you see the genre change. e.g while the very first Superman may have taken itself seriously with low-quality effects (obviously due to technology setbacks) New superhero films like The Avengers give the audience amazing effects and a serious tone with comedic aspects.

The Text I am analysing is Stranger Things Season 1 

General
1) Why did you choose the text you are analysing?

Stranger things is an interesting T.V show that has multiple aspects to it which are quite different to other shows within the same genre

2) In what context did you encounter it?

It was recommended on Netflix

3) What influence do you think this context might have had on your interpretation of the text?

It felt as if it was a special find as it was not mainstreme when i wacthed it

4) To what genre did you initially assign the text?

Initially as a horror

5) What is your experience of this genre?

I tend to enjoy the horror genre

6) What subject matter and basic themes is the text concerned with?

It mainly deals with life during the 1980's and the life of children growing up during that time period7) How typical of the genre is this text in terms of content?

Its quite different as the subject matter and how it was made is quite different to how tv shows of the same drama are made 

8) What expectations do you have about texts in this genre?

I expect them to have a good and coherent narrative 

9) Have you found any formal generic labels for this particular text (where)?

The only generic label I can think of is that other texts from the same genre are known to have bad CGI 10) What generic labels have others given the same text?

Bad acting is another label people have given to the genre 

11) Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?

It follows the convention of having a clear hero and a clear villain 

12) To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?

While it does not challenge typical conventions, it does use the typical conventions and creatively adopts them for the show.

13) Where and why does the text depart from the conventions of the genre?

It doesnt really challenge the conventions of the genre

14) Which conventions seem more like those of a different genre (and which genre(s))?

It does have aspects of a rom com and sci-fi, the relationship between the two main characters and the nature of the main villain adopts conventions of a sci-fi villain

15) What familiar motifs or images are used?
The typical use of a male main character to lead the group of main characters is a typical motif of disasster/horror movies
Mode of address

1) What sort of audience did you feel that the text was aimed at (and how typical was this of the genre)?

I feel like the text was aimed for teens and young adults

2) How does the text address you?

The text addresses me through the relationships of the main characters

3) What sort of person does it assume you are?

It assumes that I like to be scared but I also enjoy having an attachment to lovable characters

4) What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?

It assumes that I am a young teen, other than that no specific other classifications were assumed5) What interests does it assume you have?

It assumes that I like horror esk texts, it also assumes I have an interest in sci fi texts.

Relationship to other texts
1) What intertextual references are there in the text you are analysing (and to what other texts)?

There are many references to different texts and motifs of 80's life 

2) Generically, which other texts does the text you are analysing resemble most closely?

It surprisingly shares a quite simlar vibe to E.T by Steven Speilberg

3) What key features are shared by these texts?

There is a group of friends in 1980 that come together for a strange supernatural anomaly that joins the friend group

4) What major differences do you notice between them?

The villain is quite different, so is the relationship between some of the friends, the supernatural anomaly is also very different

Reception Theory

1) Create a new blog post called ‘Reception theory’ and write a paragraph for each advert analysing the dominant, negotiated and oppositional readings.

The dominant reading for this advert is to show everyone that Reebok has a large target audience and that their clothing brand can be worn by anyone of all classes and ethnicity. The used 50 Cent to try and show people who grew up with the artist that Rebook is a cool brand that understand that target audience

The negotiated reading for this advert would be that Reebok's clothing brand is affordable and aimed at the lower and middle class who have encountered struggles and may be less fortunate. Having 50 cent the man in the advert implies this and shows that Reebok's clothing brand is aimed at people who are less fortunate than others. 

The oppositional reading for this advert may be that Reebok's clothing brand is of lesser quality in comparison to other brands as 50cent comes from a less fortunate background; another possible reading would be that Rebook supports gang violence as 50 Cent has a well known history in gang crime.

The dominant reading of this image is that if you have Nike items you are bound to win no matter what, another dominant reading of the ad is that winning is incredibly important.

The only real negotiated reading of this image is that winning is a difficult process to get to, hence the usage of Tiger Woods, an athlete that has history of failing before he succeeded

The oppositional reading of this image is that nothing matters but winning, this has a bad meaning behind it as it could also mean abandon everything for success. Tiger woods has bad controversy behind him, it can also be seen that Nike condones his actions     

2) Do these adverts provide evidence for the idea that audiences are free to interpret messages in a variety of ways - including rejecting them? Answer this question as a mini-essay, exploring both sides of the argument

I believe that everyone lives in their own subjective reality, what this means is that if many people were given the same text or image to analyze; These advertisements are clear examples of that.