Friday 10 May 2013

Privacy in media

One of the things that has had most of an impact on privacy in recent years is the internet. The internet has allowed people to communicate in ways that were previously thought not possible through various different websites including social media sites such as facebook or twitter. A large proportion of the population now uses these sites in order to communicate with other users and share content like photos with each other. This leaves many people with a large "digital footprint" meaning that they have a large amount of personal information on the internet and with both facebook and twitter encouraging users to make their their content more available to everyone else, facebook encourages users to use the "everyone" feature that makes posts by the user public. This, of course, can be a problem as it allows things such as identity theft to become easier as all of some users information is public allowing easy imitation and some users may have things that allow identity thieves to steal accounts through posting information that may answer their secret question/ answer combination such as a pets name or a hometown etc..

Britain recently opted out new european social media privacy laws that would allow users to delete their personal information from online service providers, allowing them to essential erase their tracks on the internet. This would not only allow for a greater level of privacy but also mean that around 27 separate laws concerning the issue would be replaced with just the one. Some of the concerns listed as reasons not to use the law is that it would be difficult to enforce as other users can just as easily download data that would be removed, such as photos, if it is made public meaning that there is a bit of a grey area when it comes to who actually owns the file due to its distribution. As the laws are set to be european wide and will created if there is a majority vote, Britain may be forced to comply with the law should it pass.

Friday 1 March 2013

Media Classwork 1st March

1.) Evaluate how the people who are against the BNP are represented in each product?
In the question time clip Nick Griffin is berated by two members of the audience who are both members of ethnic groups. This shows that the populace are not afraid to fight back against Nick and his party, they do so by saying that other cultures have brought much to the country. The camera shots helps to show the approval of the audience by showing members of the audience, of all ethnic backgrounds, applauding anc cheering in approval of their peers comments. The presenters in both clips are also shown to be against Griffin as they both call him out on his mistakes and mock him for it. for instance, in the first clip the presenter mocks one of his party members for not being able to remember when the election day is and in the other clip for showing him as appropriating the medals of the homeowner where the clip is shot. Griffin did this in order to appear patriotic and is mocked for it by both the presenters and the audience who cheer them for pointing it out. This shows that they have a disdain for Griffin and his parties policies through the way that they ridicule him and even having a member of the audience turn his policies on him saying that people would in fact believe the opposite of his parties beliefs and would rather see them sent away. The audience members are also shown as being well spoken and intelligent giving the feeling that only people who lacked  these qualities would support the party.

2.) Why does the media rely so heavily on conflict?
Conflict essentially acts as the heart of the media. in nearly all instances of media there is a conflict, whether it is a tale of good vs evil in a film or books competing to be the next bestseller or the competition between contestants on the X-Factor, conflict is always present in popular media. This is largely because it helps engage an audience by forcing them to pick a side in some instances or interests them by portraying a conflict through the media as these often help make up the backbone of many of our media types due to them being identifiable with the audience and many members have to deal with conflicts, both large and small on a day to day basis. Conflicts also help stir people emotions as it gives multiple sides to arguments and forces people to choose between them due to them having different beliefs and ideologies from some side in the conflict. Conflict also mean drama more often than not when it comes to television. this is highly apparent in shows such as soap operas that feature multiple interlinking characters and storyline  More often than not conflicts feature in shows such as Eastenders and Hollyoaks because they engage the audience through forcing them to side with one of the characters engaged with the conflict, this then causes them to watch on as they develop a personal attachment to this character.

3.) Multi-platform media can allow access to a wider range of views. should the internet be more restricted?As the internet is such an open platform it allows users to submit and access many different types of material with very few restrictions. this leads to people being subjected to content they do not want to view due to the freedom to post anything and access things they shouldn't be able to. A good example of the former would be shock sites. these are sites that of depict an image/gif or a video of something explicit, usually revolving around extreme gore or pornography. These links are often sent to other people as jokes with the link desguised as something else and whilst some people are likely to just shrug it off other can be greatly offended by the content. The only reason these sites exist is to shock people and as this is there only purpose it does beg the question why they exist. On a related note there are instances of sites such as 4chan or other internet groups "Raiding" other websites with offensive content in order to dissuade people from using them, essentially meaning that if a user wants to use one of the target sites they may open it to find it filled with content they find offensive  Also the fact that much explicit content on the inter net, like porn or gore, can be accessed by passing a simple age check helps to give a reason for a higher level of moderation for the internet as kids can potentially access this content. The arguments against unrestricted web is essentially that it impacts free speech too easily and as free speech is one of the main draws of the internet it would greatly interfere with it if the internet was to be censored in any way. In truth it doesn't really need censorship but rather moderation to help prevent things such as children accessing pornography or to stop trolls from tormenting people such as in the Amanda Todd case where they drove her to the point of suicide. The only argument against this is free speech but at the same time, giving up some of that could potentially help improve much of the internet. A catch 22 that the internet has answered many a time when fighting against various censorship bills like SOPA in 2011 which was ground to a halt after many internet sites blacked out in protest. Whilst there are arguments for both sides of this, it seems that the internet will always be under fire for whichever route it takes.

Supersize vs. Superskinny

1.) How are people represented in this clip?
Both women are shown as being outside of the social norms of most peoples dieting styles. Jennete is shown as being highly underweight whilst Rosmary is show as being the polar opposite. The showing of their diets helps illustrate the contrasts between their eating habits between each other and as well as the general public. This combined with their body types helps to draw the audience in through portraying them outside of the standard social norms, this is reflected by Todorov's (?) theory in that the audience takes pleasure from observation and escapism. The lighting used in combination with the colour of the underwear gives off a kind of sickly colour which helps with making the characters seem more different to the average person, therefor enhancing the whole outsider view appeal of the show. 

2.) What do you think is the appeal of lifestyle programming such as these?
The appeal of shows such as these are often for the audience to both obtain knowledge through the more informative sections as well as to act as an observer and achieve a sense of escapism. This is achieved by letting the audience gain an insight to other peoples lives through the show and therefore forget about what is happening in their own life. The informative sections help attract the audience as it helps them gain an insight into their own lifestyle and informs them on how they can possible change for the better, this too allows them to gain pleasure through information meeting another of the media theories (Can't remember which one, possibly Todorov).

3.) Do you believe that lifestyle programming creates and fuels negative ideologies?
I feel that lifestyle programmes can create negative ideologies but that it largely depends upon upon the show itself. supersize vs. superskinny is a good example of how it can show both sides of ideologies. on the one hand it givers an insight into the various lifestyles of people featured on the show in order to help better increase understanding of the way that they live as well as giving insight into how to improve themselves. on the other hand it also showcases them in a way that makes them appear as an outsider to social norm without them actually being so. This helps breed stereotypes and distorts people view regarding them causing a negative ideology which  is then fed by other media types that portray similar people.

Thursday 28 February 2013

Red vs. Blue Case study



(Going to throw a bit of a curveball here and opt for an internet based show rather than TV)
Red vs. Blue is an award winning internet Machinima series  based off of the popular video games series Halo. It is an internet based series  The first episode of the series first aired on the first of April in 2003 as a download due to the lack of streaming technologies such as YouTube not being available at the time. the base plot was initially revolving around a team of soldiers protecting their base from their opposing team whilst their opposition does the same, this plot-line largely derives from the video game in which the show was produced as it features a game mode in which the two teams must capture a flag from the other base to win. The show began mainly as a comedy that parodied the online antics of gamers in Halo but over time evolved with the game series to become more of an action/drama/comedy hybrid.

Channel And Brand Identity

The company that produces the series, Roosterteeth, is mainly a comedy institution in that the majority of content they produce is comedic, It is also reflected in their company title as it is a euphemism for the phrase Cockbite which is an insult that derives from one of their early productions as well as their logo which shows a pair of wind up comedy teeth;  they also have a spin off division within the company named "Achievement Hunter" that focuses on video games whilst retaining the comedic style of the company. Red vs. Blue is often regarded as the flagship product of the company as it is the production that kick-started it and lead to all their other productions.The original series of the show is largely a comedic production as it focuses less on the elaborate plots and fight scenes shown in the later series though this can be due to the technological of the initial series as it has improved with each iteration in the Halo game series until the point where the team were able to use pre-rendering to create the show. The humour in the show tends to vary from low key to slapstick which reflects the institutions style of humour, This series can be seen to be the source of the companies humour style due to it being their original product from which the company grew.

Target Audience and scheduling

Red vs. Blue's target audience tends to vary from teenage to adult, though there are both younger and older fans of the show though. This is largely due to game in which it was created in is aimed at the same audience, but also because this tends to be the typical age of YouTube users which the show happens to be popular with. The style of writing also appeals to this target audience as it incorporates elements that a large range of audiences could enjoy such as the varying comedic elements as well as the fight scenes and the storyline.The The scheduling for release tends to be weekly on the day of the first episodes release in a series and the series release schedule varies greatly depending on overall episode progress. the show does not seem to conform to the gender stereotypes seen in both comedy and action as the female characters are largely portrayed as being stronger and more intelligent than their male team-mates which deviates away from the Barthes theory of each production having specific character types. The show does regularly produce content and has reached a total of 185 episodes including promotion and announcement videos, the very first episode has around 5.6 million views on YouTube alone with many more views on the shows site and in its original downloadable format. Due to the shows popularity, Roosterteeth has been hired to produce trailers and additional videos for the Halo series and many others including the Sims 2 and the Madden NFL series. The shows popularity has also led to some celebrity appearances in the show including high profile actors such as Elijah Wood who played on of the primary characters in the tenth series.

Audience appeals and responses

The main appeal in the show was originally due to its comedic nature but has evolved to incorporate a more cohesive plotline in order to draw a larger audience in. one of the other original reasons for its popularity is that it came before YouTube and internet video were as popular as they are now and provided on of the few online video series at the time. The way that the series has been integrated into the culture of the Halo series also adds to its appeal to the target audience. The show follows an episodic formulae with each series having episodes from 2 minutes to 5 on average in a series of around 20 leading to a variety in episode types with some being mainly dialogue centric episodes and others being action oriented leading to the show appealing to a variety of tastes due to both the pacing and content. Another appeal is that there is very little competition for this kind of Machinima as many others are often just one off's and lack the long series style of production as well as the plots to match their length. The show has also a large fanbase partially thanks to their productions used to promote the halo games due to them being promoted by the company behind them. Roosterteeth also hold an annual convention event in which they can interact with fans helping to appeal to them through personal interaction.

Format and technology

Whilst initially the show was only available as download it has now become more popular to watch it through YouTube  or through the companies site. All series are also available on DVD and blue ray with the orginal series having their resolution upscaled to make them more suitable for that formats use. Due to being produced in a video game, the series visuals and animations were limited to the games technology. As of 2009 the show began to produced through prerendering footage as well as animation programs. Also being an internet based production, the series is a good example of new and digital media as it would not have been able to be produced without the internet to distribute it as well as to recruit the various people that have created it.

Thursday 20 December 2012

Have such developments made the media more democratic, with more equal participation by more people?

New and digital media erodes the dividing line between reporters and reported, between
active producers and passive audiences: people are enabled to speak for themselves.’
(
www.indymedia.org.uk)
Have such developments made the media more democratic, with more equal
participation by more people? (48 marks)


In a sense digital media has made the media more democratic as digital media has given a way for the public to give their say on events they consider newsworthy through various social networking sites like twitter and Facebook  Many news website also have the ability for users to comment on them as they seem to want to have a level of interaction with their audience. These commenting systems allow for a level of interaction with the news institutions not previously had, of course, these institutions still have control over what content is posted on their websites and can moderate and remove them if wanted. This still shows them as being the beaugazie <Spell check wasn't very useful here> as they have the ability to affect their audiences say on their articles. 
Social media sites like Facebook and twitter are also used to give opinions, these sites are very useful for the general public to participate in the news as they can share and discuss news stories with friends or just post them on their wall to help them get attention. With twitter this has become more prevalent as there is the ability to discuss and post thoughts on topics that are trending and more people will be able to see these opinions through this as they are not only displayed to friends and are therefore able to get more popularity. 
Of course, as with all methods of communication on the internet, there are trolls and other unsavoury characters that tend to destroy any attempts at civil conversation. This is very prevalent on sites such as YouTube where users can sign up very easily and not display public information as they have a sense of anonymity and that they cannot be affected by anything they write. This is an instance where maybe maybe the institutions should get more involved with their products as people can just run rampart spreading discord on the internet. The way that people tend not to care about there comments due to being not face to face with people, a good example of this is on twitter where there have been cases of arrests over comments made via the site, even jokingly. One example would be where two UK citizens, Leigh Van Bryan and Emily Bunting, made joking comments about destroying america on a visit there and digging up Marilyn Monroe. These two comments got them detained after landing in Los Angeles where, after being locked up for a few hours they explained that they meant destroy america as get wasted and digging up Marilyn Monroe was a quote from the show Family Guy. This is evidence of authorities taking comments made on social networking sites far too seriously and if the institution themselves were the ones that brought these comments to the authorities attention then they should have to rethink some of there rules regarding comments. Rowan Atkinson made a statement that essentially said that people should be allowed to insult each other after a handful of arrests and fines of comments made on social networking sites. This "Campaign" for the right to insult one another also got the attention of Steven Fry This could be an instance of an institution standing up for those that had been targeted as he himself is a comedian and understands the value of being able to insult somebody, whether it is jokingly or not. These types of issues can be seen as being a form of censorship by institutions as they are preventing people from speaking freely about different topics, Whilst it is important for these institutions to monitor activity made one their media platform it is also important to let people speak freely about what they choose to.


(this is something I did ages ago and never published)

Thursday AS retake stuff

2. Findout about the marketing campaigns for all three of your films and post the details of it on your blog:
The Hobbit/ LoTR:http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1160525/Microsoft-mobile-ads-star-Hobbit-characters/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH
This one is a little different as it isn't advertising the film per say as it is advertising the windows phone 8 using characters from the movie. Whilst it is not a direct advertisement for the film, it does promote it through displaying these characters and creating some form of recognition in the audience. it is pretty similar to the Star wars car advertisement's that have been featuring Yoda, they create a sense of recognition and association to encourage people to buy it.

300: 300 used the conventional marketing campaign of using trailers and poster to promote the film but there is and example of there being unintentional advertisement for the film. The whole "This is Sparta!" joke became popular across the internet which may have unintentionally advertised the film as it no doubt increased its notoriety through the various parodies that sprang up regarding it.

Priest: Priest didn't really do much special for its advertising, it had the usual trailers and posters etc. but it also had a small competition it ran whilst showing that it had flown 3 students from somewhere like the London college of film or something like that, so that they could work on the films 3D aspects.

Friday 14 December 2012

"It is not the strongest that survive but those most responsive to change."
How and why do media institutions continue to change?

As with all things, media institutions need to change to be able to survive in our constantly developing world. As we create and update our technology media institutions also need to update to "Get with the times" so to speak as more often than not these technological development's can lead to a new way of making money for the institutions. 
3D technology in cinemas is perhaps one of  the more recent adoptions that film institutions have made. The popularity of 3D in recent years can likely be traced back to Avatar (2009) as it  used a stereoscopic filming style that hadn't been used widely and caused the film to have effects that have received high praise from critics. This film then went on to become the highest grossing film of all time and lead to the popularity of 3D films. Despite its popularity, many view 3D as more of a gimmick than a feature that adds to the film this may be attributed to the way that many films have actually used 3D as more of a gimmick and leading to audiences to become jaded towards it. Another more recent development in film is HFR (Or high frame rate). HFR means that the images shown on screen will be displayed at a higher frame rate than films without, this essentially means that films that use this will look as though it is being animated at a smoother an quicker pace. This allows the film to get rid of the motion blur effect that is often used on films shown at 24fps which means that the film should have higher quality picture. The audience appears to have mixed opinions on this effect as some say that they just get used to it or think it looks better whilst others think that it feels less like a film because of the higher frame rate often citing it as looking like a soap opera. Recently James Cameron announced that he felt as though HFR was the way forward and would be filming the rest of the avatar trilogy using it, this may lead to an increase in its popularity much like with 3D when it was shown in avatar.
Another recent development for media institutions is on the internet. The internet allows media institutions to interact with audience in ways that were not previously possible. Through social media they can target their audience with advertising, both direct and subtle, for their products as they can announce details or post trailers and links to interviews with members of the cast/crew. The audience can usually respond with comments or replies as well giving this form of advertisement a level of interactivity that was previously not done. This allows a form of more direct targeting as people that follow or like the film or product pages are the one that are going to be interested in the product and since the amount of people that use the internet continues to grow the amount of targeted advertising they can do will also increase.