Audience Effect Theories

History

• The media has been criticized since the rise of the mass media, and particularly of television, from around the 1950s
• When media first started as a 'serious' discipline in the 1960s, the focus was very much with the effects that the media had on the audience.

Effects Theory and the Hypodermic needle

• In effects theory, the media are powerful, negative forces who control the masses. The media is seen as a hypodermic needle, injecting out helpless minds with messages which we take on board fully. This originated from a new notorious study carried out by bandura in 1961.
• Bandura's study used a toy called a "bobo doll", and it measured behaviours of children who watched a modle beating up the doll. The model was either rewarded or punished, and Bandura noted that children would replicate the violent behavior when it was rewarded. This suggested that audiences are passive, and that the media has an enormous influence on our behaviour. In particular, effects theories state that media representations of aggressive or violent behavior can lead to imitation.
• The effects model is still in evidence today, particularly in tabloid newspapers who construct moral panics around the latest buzz in the media; rap music, videos, horror movies, facebook and so on.

Moral Panics

• Stanley Cohen in 1972 published a book "Folk Devils and Moral Panics". Moral panics happen when members of a society and culture become outraged, fearful and upset by the challenges and menaces posed to 'their' accepted values and was of life, by the activities of groups defines as deviant. These could be violent extremists, teenagers or an organisation/idea such as the internet, violent games or social media.

Cultivation Theory: Gerbner

• Gerbner built on the work done by Bandura. He suggested that the media doesn't simply inject us, but cultivates particular beliefs/attitudes over time. Cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. Heavy viewers are exposed to more violence and therefore are affected by the "mean world syndrome", the belief that the world is a far worse and dangerous place than it actually is. Cultivation theorists posit that television viewing can have long-term effects that gradually affect the audience.
• The theory suggests that prolonged watching of television can tend to induce a certain paradigm about violence in the world.
• Gerbner found that heavy TV viewing led to "mainstreaming" - a common outlook on the world based on the images and labels on TV. Mainstreamers would describe themselves as politically moderate

Minecraft Homework

1. Autistic children might be attracted to the game of Minecraft because it is easy to learn and the sense of freedom and the user having the capabilities of doing whatever they want makes this game addictive. For the writer's son, it has allowed him to communicate to him because his vocabulary is limited and he has difficulty speaking.
2. The features that are included in the educational version of Minecraft are Geography, Physics, Agriculture, Architecture.I think that this is a useful tool for the children because they tend to learn faster when they are having fun and Minecraft have that ability of it being fun as well as being educational.
3. Bergensten suggests that copycat versions of Minecraft will be less successful the appeal of the original is it's simplicity so it is straightforward and it has simple purity. Minecraft might have a low resolution but it allows the user to fill the world with their imagination.
4. The modding community is a group of people that are willing to modify a game like Minecraft to change it to their preferences, making it their own copy of the game. 
5. The "sense of ownership" is very important for the audience of Minecraft because it is the heart of the game. Bergensten says that children feel that it is their game; that they can make up their rules, make their own structures and how to interact with others. To summerise, they have a sense of ownership.
6. There has been a confirmation that there will be a Minecraft movie by Warner Bros Motion Pictures. But they have no plans for a sequel; a second instalment of the franchise for example Minecraft 2.

The Film Industry: Hollywood

Hollywood is a metonym

• Metonym - a word, name and expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. For example, Washington is a metonym for the US government

Hollywood is a place in Southern California, where many of the major film studios set up around 100 years ago.

How did Hollywood become powerful?

• Film was invented in France, but Hollywood studios started to become all powerful by 1920s
• The studios built up their power by following what is called a 'Fordist' economic model and establishing a system of vertical integration.

Fordism

• Named after Henry Ford
• A very efficient way of producing goods (like cars) based on:

1. Standardising the product
2. Assembly line production

Verical Integration

• This refers to companies controlling all the means of production, distribution and consumption

The Big 5 Studios

• These studios, known as the Big 5, were all vertically integrated. 
• They owned:

1. Production (equipment and talent under contract)
2. Distribution 
3. Consumption

Antitrust Laws

• In the late 1940s, the US government brought an end to the vertical integration system and forced the studios to sell of their cinemas.

26/01/18

Distribution

• Distributors will acquire a film for a fee and gain the rights to sell it (normally on all platforms)*
  A % of box office will go back to producers (after they get back all the money they spend)
  They will pay for the marketing of the film.
  This marketing budget can vary massively. The last Transformers film cost $210m to make and $200m to market. Low budget horror films like The Purge were cheap to make (under $5m) but costly to market (more than $20m)

TV Spend

• The biggest cost in distributing a film, but thought to be the most effective.
  A 30 second commercial on a big TV show like The Walking Dead can cost $300,000 or more. For a big sports game it can be double that.
  In the UK a 30 second commercial at peak time can be between £10,000 - £30,000

25/01/18

Hollywood now

• The Big 6 - 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal and Sony Pictures
• They are all part of conglomerates

Soon the Big 5

• Walt Disney will buy Murdoch's Fox for $52bn on the 14th December 2017

Minecraft

Topic	Notes
Early days: Mojang with dates and key events Marcus Persson / “Notch”	Stockholm, Sweden Made the game of MineCraft by himself Programming since he was 8 He always wanted to develop a game
The rise of Minecraft	Made own company Mojang Hired 6 more people, including a music composer and programmers Gained popularity; won game of the year 2010
Microsoft Takeover including conglomerate / vertical integration	Microsoft was the quickest to reach to him about selling his company Sold the independent company Mojang in 2014 Microsoft is a conglomerate Mojang is horizontal - specialise one aspect of production Vertical Integration Business which controls all aspects of production eg: Microsoft - software, hardware, marketing etc
Today: Multi-platform gaming Types of Minecraft game modes	There are 5 game modes: Survival Creative Adventure Spectator Hardcore There are plenty of gaming platforms Minecraft is on: Xbox 360 and Xbox One Nintendo Switch Playstation 3 and 4 PS Vita Wii U As well as many others
The future?	Microsoft will continue to earn profit from Minecraft They will keep on releasing free DLCs (Downloadable Contents) with Microtransactions so that they will still earn money from them.

Games Genre

Different Games Genres

• Platform (Donkey Kong)
• Action Adventure (Grand Theft Auto V)
• Shooters (Call of Duty)
• Role Play Games (The Legend Of Zelda)
• Sandbox RPGs (MineCraft)
• Simulation (Sims)
• Strategy (WarCraft)
• Sports (Fifa)

15/01/18: Newspapers and Politics

Defines the Left/Right Wing
https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/left-vs-right-world/

Press Freedom

• In the UK, “the press” is free, and most journalists believe this is fundamental to a democratic society. This means that newsmakers should seek out and circulate news, information, ideas, comment and opinion and hold those in authority to account. The press provides the platform for a multiplicity of voices to be heard.
• This means that newspapers are allowed to express opinions, and this includes political views.  After the 2011 phone hacking scandals involving a range of newspapers, a major report was published, by Lord Leveson.  As a result, a new press regulator, IPSO, was set up.  The aim was to ensure the press was more tightly regulated, which might have meant less freedom than under the previous system, where the press regulated itself.

Left Wing - Labour   Right Wing - Conservative

Left Wing

• Left wing beliefs are usually progressive in nature, they look to the future, aim to support those who cannot support themselves, are idealist and believe in equality.
• People who are left wing believe in taxation to redistribute opportunity and wealth - things like a national health service, and job seeker’s allowance are fundamentally left wing ideas. 
• They believe in equality over the freedom to fail.

Left Wing and Labour

• Traditionally, the Labour party has had a left wing agenda, but in the late 20th century, with Tony Blair as leader, it moved towards the centre.  Since Jeremy Corbyn became leader, the party has been in conflict, as Corbyn has a traditional Labour left wing agenda.

Left Wing, Labour and Greens

• In the UK the main left wing parties are the Labour Party and the Green Party. They believe in making laws that protect women, ethnic minorities, and gay people against discrimination.
• They believe that we should tax rich people more to support people less well off, and they believe we should regulate big businesses so they serve people’s interests. 
• They believe that a good welfare system means people are healthier, more able to work, and will put more back into the economy. 

Right Wing

• Right wing beliefs value tradition, they are about fairness, survival of the fittest, and they believe in economic freedom.
• They typically believe that business shouldn’t be regulated, and that we should all look after ourselves. 
• Right wing people tend to believe they shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s education or health service. 
• They believe in freedom to succeed over equality.

Task

As this is the Daily Mail, this fully supports the Right Party. Their headline is said in a sarcastic manner. Since the Right Party is traditional and they don't believe in change, they automatically deny 

the topic of disabled people having benefits. The "differently abled" people are unfortunate to do tasks therefore they will need this to have a good quality of life and standard of living.

On the other hand, The Guardian supports the Left Wing. They focus on how migrants from the EU find it hard to earn benefits  in the UK so that they can support himself/herself in the future. The reason why this article has been published is because that the UK is a conservative country meaning that the country sticks to traditional beliefs. Therefore the rich gets to keep their money and if the migrants earn benefits, that means the rich lose their money.

Newspaper and Online Comparison Days 08/01/18

What to look for	Voiceover notes
What are the advantages of online newspaper sites? After you’ve filmed the newspaper add the following examples to your screencast recording. •      They are immediate and up to date. When something happens, users can access the news and get regular updates •      They offer more immediate interactive opportunities, for example there is access to audio-visual clips and opportunities to blog or email opinions (PARTICIPATORY MEDIA) The Daily Mail which has a high percentage of female readers, has had particular success with its online version of Femail with its diet of fashion and gossip. •      Apps for several newspapers are available for mobile phones and tablets •      There is an archive facility so that users can access back issues or features	The advantages of an online newspaper site is that the articles gets updated regularly. Articles usually gets updated when there is something that is newsworthy.  The second advantage is that the audience (viewers of the website) don't have to wait as long to read an article because it gets addressed to the public faster than standard newspapers. The article gets reported in minutes and regular newspapers have a time limit to whether an article is considered to be newsworthy or not. Moreover, the newspaper articles are on their website, so it is easily accessible therefore it can be viewed on any mobile device (mobile phones (smartphones in particular), laptops and tablets).  The image below shows Daily Mail's app so that they can always read the news from their smartphone. The article heading above shows it gets published and gets frequently updated on the same day (08/01/18) On the other hand, the articles that newspaper companies produce might be biased so it tends to be one sided and doesn't consider both sides of the argument. Secondly, this results in a loss of jobs because there is a greater focus of people using online services everyday. Furthermore, if there is a major news story and there are so many people viewing the newspaper article at one time, the website might crash and it will take while for the company to get it up and running therefore they will miss out from accessing it. Also, if the company is maintaining the website, this means that the audience aren't able to access the website which forces the audience going to the company's competitors.
MEDIA LANGUAGE AND REPRESENTATION
Pick at least two top articles from the Mail and the Guardian Then look at their online presence.   ONLINE Look at each chosen website article and the associated social and participatory media feeds should link to the themes or issues represented in the front covers chosen. How does media language and representation in those feeds position the audience and engage participation?	You may have to access the FB and Instagram feeds on your phone. Prince Harry Article on The Daily Mail Prince Harry Article on Facebook Prince Harry Article on Twitter Prince Harry Article on Instagram
Find the social media related to the articles. (For example, if a Guardian front cover lead article is a ‘Brexit’ related story then learners should study the associated Guardian Online article and Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds for this story). SOCIAL AND PARTICIPATORY MEDIA What are the associated Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds for the online articles from the Mail Online website and The Guardian websites? How is media language and representation in those feeds positioning the audience and engaging in participation.
MEDIA INDUSTRIES AND MEDIA AUDIENCES
How can audiences be reached through different media technologies and platforms?
What is the content and appeal of each of the set products and how is this used to target, reach and address different audiences?
What do you think the effects are of newspapers becoming more digital and less print? In your opinion how do they differ when it comes to telling us the news?

The Teen Movie

Iconography

Structure

• A rite of passage narrative: moving from one social identity to another ('child' to 'adult')
• Could manifest in: change from 'geek' to 'princess' (ugly duckling), 'losing' to 'winning', losing virginity

General Themes

• They need to belong to a group
• The importance of popularity

Genre Stages

• 1st Stage - the Primitive, the formative stage in which the genre's characteristics are first established
• 2nd Stage - the Classical, the genre at its peak, with generic qualities refined
• 3rd Stage - the Revisionist, which scrutinises and reevaluates, often in a critical way, the conventions that typify the genre
• 4th Stage - the Parodic, in which the genre is satirised in which consciously self-reflexive, tongue-in-cheek manner

Genre Theorists

• Andrew Tudor: "A genre...defines a moral and social world"

Origins of the teenager

• Identified as 'adolescents' around the turn of the century by psychologist Stanley Hall

The rise of the teenager

• The Great Depression of the 1930s forces young people into High Schools - because there are no jobs
• In the 50s a new prosperity means teenagers no longer have to work
• But the fact that these people have money but no responsibilities means they are an ideal target audience
• Also, with the rise of TV in the 50s, teens are loyal to cinema

Targeting the Teenager

1. A younger child will watch anything an older child will watch.
2. An older child will not watch anything a younger child will watch
3. A girl will watch anything a boy will watch
4. A boy will not watch anything a girl will watch
5. Therefore, to maximise your audience you need to aim your film at 19 year old boys.

Classical Teen Movies

• The 1980s could be seen as the 'classical period' of the teen movie
• Films such as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink truly defined the genre
• In these films, comedy became a central component and teachers and parents were the enemy, rather than society as a whole

Revisionist Teen Movies

• In more recent years, filmmakers have sought to redefine 

Genre Stages: Pastiche and Parody

• Pastiche - a 'loving', respectful homage to previous conventions
• Tarantino's films are often viewed as pastiches of multiple genres
• Parody - a humorous subversion of genre expectations
• Audiences enjoy seeing conventions subverted

The Spoof

• More of a series of 'gags' than a fully functioning narrative
• Dependant on specific genre knowledge
• Generally popular with teens and can be highly profitable due to low production costs

Genre 04/01/18

Different categories of film:

Action
Adventure
Comedy
Romance
Sci-fi
Thriller
Romance Comedy
Action Adventure
Historical
Historical Romance
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Based on true story
Mental Illenss
Comic Horrer
Animation
Documentary

Genre Theorists

Steve Neale:

• Genres are about repetition and difference
• Popular cinema relies on audiences finding pleasure in difference and repetition i.e. recognition of familiar elements and the way those elements are linked in an unfamiliar way or the way that unfamiliar elements might be introduced.

From the Spec

• Genre theory is about what genres are, and about how and why they are created, change, endure or decline.
• Neale argues that genre is a process by which generic codes and conventions are shared by producers and audiences through repetition in media products.
• This means that genres are not fixed, but constantly evolve with each new addition to the generic corpus

Iconography Structure Theme - things we can hear and see

Westerns;

Locations; The American West, Deserts, Mountains, Rivers, Symbolic use of Environment

Guns; Older models, Revolvers, Hunting Rifles

Outfit; Chaps, Jacket, Shoes, Holsters and Hat, Body Paint, Rags, Bandana, Dream Catchers, Traditional Jewelry

SFX; Gunshot wounds, Blood, Stab wounds, Dead animals, Bones, Explosions