• Canadian Philosopher
• creator of the media theory
• “The medium is the message” is a phrase coined by the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan and introduced in McLuhan’s book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964. McLuhan proposes that a medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study.
• In his study McLuhan says that people change and adapt to the technology that’s around them, meaning that people around before 1440 when the printing press was introduced were more adapted to the auditory surroundings. This means that people currently are more focused on the most popular medium, that being a screen within our devices
• wrote the book: understanding media- extensions of man

Production	Distribution	Consumption
– PC – Digital Camera – Photoshop – Audio Recorder – Recording Camera – Video editor – Word editor –	– email – social media – tv advert – print advert – billboard -newspaper – website	– phones -tv -pc – tablet -smart watch – billboard

targets a young female audience more traditionally seen as interested in more superficial issues –

I disagree with this statement due to the fact that the case study discusses historical and political issues and events such as the Mass Shootings that Are Connected to America’s Legacy of Anti-Indigenous Violence. This implies that Teen Vogues target audience is also interested in more serious and important topics therefore disproving the statement saying that the audience is superficial

Its explicit feminist stance and reporting on the Trump presidency has made it a relatively radical voice in the context of mainstream US media –

I agree with this statement as the case study talks about radical stories such as mass shootings however I partly disagree with the statement due to the fact that the story about Mass Shootings and their Connection to the Anti-Indigenous violence does not show any feminist views or opinions.#

• Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn, better known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist, and activist , he is also a doctor
• Common’s “Letter To The Free” was written for the Ava DuVernay-directed film,13th. Its lyrics reflect with the film’s theme discussing the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
• The song speaks specifically about mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex, and more generally about institutionalized systems that disproportionally target black and brown Americans
• Common first premiered “Letter To The Free” on October 4th 2016 during a live performance at The White House hosted by NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert .
• common was signed to labels such as Loma Vista, Think Common, ARTium, DEF JAM, Warner Bros, Geffen, GOOD, Universal, MCA and Relativity
• Best RnB song grammy in 2003
• net worth of 45$ million

• the movie is a medium to low budget film produced by Hollywood (25$M)
• The appeal of this film to Fox studios is that it provides insight and commentates on the social situation of today. Also the film is a medium budget production which means it has a higher profit potential than a large budget film. 
  
• The appeal of this film to audiences is education about history and because it comments on social issues like racism that people in today’s society can also relate to. 
  
• The film was successful on a profit level, with it earning $236 million against a budget of $25 million, making the total revenue figure around $211 million. 

repertoire of elements- Repeated/shared features of movies that belong to a specific genre (Horror and night time setting, jump scares, zombies

corpus- The general body of similar texts of a genre

hybridization- when a movie includes conventions from another genre

historic specificity- When a genre is related to a specific time period (e.g. western movies)

repetition and sameness- When a genre maintains similar conventions throughout

variation and change- when a genre changes its conventions over time and changes its overall identity

narrative image- the use of visual representations in order to inflict emotions/thoughts

expectation and hypotheses- a proposed explanation for a phenomenon

suspend disbelief– when an audience is engaged within a narrative image, giving up realism in order to receive the gift of enjoyment from a narrative image

generic regime of verisimilitude- the true representation of something ( mise en scene)

• A crime series that follows the police investigation of the murder of a young girl. It interlocks three different stories.
  

• based in Vancouver and British Colombia

• Main genres include Serial, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime film, Adventure, Crime Fiction, Action/Adventure, Police procedural, Action fiction

While comparing the Men’s Health magazine front cover and the Tomb Raider anniversary game front cover, we can identify various representations in which gender is shown in a reactionary or radical way. By analyzing the use of semiotics, print language, representations and audience theory I will draw conclusions on how these products effect their consumers and audiences.  

Within the gaming front cover for Tomb Raider Anniversary the female gender is shown in a radical way in terms of reality, due to Lara Croft’s physique being very sexualized. For example, the female characters breasts have been scaled up by 150% and the gaming front cover denotes Lara Croft wearing very short and revealing legwear along with a top that fits tightly around her body in order to emphasize her unnatural curvature in the hips. I believe that this representation of women has a negative effect on the representation of gender within our society as it makes other women compare themselves to these unrealistic depictions of women which can have a negative effect on their mental health. However, to counter this argument, the game front cover for Tomb Raider Anniversary is also a reactionary representation of women within the gaming  world due to the fact that the male fantasy highlights these features in a woman and this is exploited by the game creators in order to make their target audience (young adult males) more likely to purchase their product. I also don’t believe to an extent that this product has big negative impact on society because this specific representation of gender has been projected by the game developers to entertain their fanbase, not to negatively affect women’s confidence. 

In terms of the Men’s Health magazine front cover the gender of men is yet again portrayed in a very ambitious and unrealistic way compared to the men in the real world. This more due to the fact that gender doesn’t have a set image and it doesn’t have set features and its more fluid when it comes to defining it. The magazine front cover denotes a man with a muscular, V shaped physique, which connotes that he is strong and capable of defending himself and capable of undertaking difficult physical activities. This could have a negative effect on the representation of the male gender within our society as some consumers can interpret the message incorrectly. For example, members of the male audience may begin to believe that all men should be muscly and have a V shaped physique, resulting in an unrealistic construction and ideology of a man. However, we can also say that this representation of men can be seen in a positive light as the magazine is targeted at men who aspire to look like the model denoted on the main front cover. This means that the representation of the male gender within the magazine front cover can also be seen as reactionary due to the fact that the magazine company is advertising their product in an effective way to make more sales by appealing to their target audience (men who work out).    

To conclude I believe that the two products aren’t having any significant negative effects on society and that the companies behind them are smartly and strategically using these representations of different genders purely to benefit their financial status. I am aware that some consumers may not take the preferred reading of the message that the companies are trying to give off however I don’t believe that these misinterpretations will have a big enough of a negative effect in order to make the companies represent their products in alternative ways.