Steve Neale- theorist

Genre:

A genre is a category based on similarities in either the emotional response to the film (horror, tragic, comic, etc.) or the narrative elements. Steve Neale believes that films should include features that are similar, so the audience know it is a horror film or romance, but also include features that are different, to keep an audience interested. This is his theory of repetition and difference. Neale states that all genres contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre.

Subgenres:

All genres contain subgenres which further define and categorise the media text. An example of this is a psychological thriller- psychological is a sub genre.

Hybrid genre:

Some media texts are hybrid genres, which means they share the conventions of more than one genre. An example of this is a rom-com (romance/comedy). The Twilight films are a hybrid genre, combining horror, fantasy, teen and romance.

Corpus: 

Genres evolve continually. Repertoire of elements that make up a genre

I am producing 2 media products for set brief 5. My aim for these products is to raise awareness about social health issues, such as vaping as I think it has become very popular for youths over the past few years. I wanted to take up this brief because I am very interested in the use of Tiktok to help spread social or political awareness and information. I also think that campaigns have been very useful for many years and are successful at circulating knowledge.

It is really important that I have a target audience in mind, so the audience I am targeting will be teenagers as I feel like vaping is most popular around that age, essentially, they will be 15-18 years old. In terms of Psychographic profiling (Rubicam and Young), I will be targeting the ‘strugglers’ and ‘explorers’. In terms of uses and gratifications, I am aiming to create products that provide information about the real world and how we can change young people’s lives. Therefore, my aim is to create products that young people and teenagers find entertaining and will keep them engaged. I have decided to use Tiktok as a way of spreading awareness because it is a huge media platform that over 1 billion people use, mostly teenagers/young adults. As I often use Tiktok, I understand what the formality and themes are like, so I will stick to these ideas and styles. I also understand that campaigns and websites are a lot more formal than audio style media products, therefore, I will ensure that the style, tone and register of my web pages will reflect these professional products. As I like listening to podcasts regularly, I understand that my podcast will need to include a theme, an audio logo and special guests.

I want to connect both productions in terms of content and representation, so I will be using the same participants for both the photos for the campaign and the Tiktok videos. I will also include consistent iconography to ensure the theme of my brief is well produced and easy to understand for young people. To do this, I will ensure to use dominant signifiers throughout both products which will support the main message of the product.

Week of 13th May:	In lesson	Out of lesson
Wed	Make plan and do statement of intent	Complete statement of intent
Thu	revisit planning document take photos for campaign	Complete statement of intent
Fri	Start banner and take photos	Submit 1st draft of statement of intent
Sat	Nothing	Nothing
Sun	Nothing	Nothing
Mon	Finish banner and start advert	Take photos
Tue	Ms Magowan SoI lesson	Take photos
Wed	Finish advert and start planning podcast	Nothing
Thu	Final edits of banner and advert
Fri	Record podcast and final edits of products	Submit production 1 (all products in appropriate media form)

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Week 1	Feedback	Start planning tiktok 1	Continue planning	Dr MM away	Film tiktok 1	Continue filming
Week 2	Dr MM not in	Fill out planning grid
Week 3						Mums bday	Nothing
Week 4	SPORTS DAY
Week 5			Photography mock	Photography mock	Photography mock
Week 6
Week 7				(Try submit today)	FINAL SUBMISSION!!!!!!!!!!

Active audience= Active audiences are when an audience is engaging, interpreting, and responding to media messages. They are more likely to develop their own interpretation of a media text based on their beliefs and social context. 

Passive audience= Passive audiences are directly influenced by the messages encoded in media texts because they do not question or challenge those meanings. 

Extension task= Explain the ways in which media products are thought to impact on audiences cognitively, affectively and behaviourally.

I think media products, like video games, are thought to expand people’s knowledge and influence minds in both positive and negative ways. There is an increased belief of potential violence in the real world from watching violent media content leading to anxiety about personal safety.

Task 1:

Explain how Bandura’s view of media audiences is essentially different to that held by Shirky and Jenkins.

Albert Bandura is a psychologist who focuses on people’s behaviours and emphasises the importance of observing, modelling and imitating behaviours/attitudes and emotional reactions of others. His theory considers how both environmental and cognitive factors interact to influence human learning and behaviour. Bandura believes that children observe and learn from the people around them behaving in various ways. Therefore, this links to media audiences as he believes the media can directly ‘implant’ ideas into the mind of audiences. This is different to Shirky and Jenkins view of media audiences.

In contrast, Henry Jenkins believes that the media is one-way communication. This means that the flow of communication was from the media producers (Radio, Newspapers and Magazines for example) to the audiences or receivers. He believes that: ‘Fans produce meanings and interpretations; fans produce artworks; fans produce alternative identities’. In each case, fans are drawing on materials from the dominant media and employing them in ways that serve their own interests and facilitate their own pleasures.

Similarly, Clay Shirky focuses on the death of the mass media and the rising usefulness of networks. He argues that with the advent of digital and social media, audiences no longer play a passive receiving role; they become active participants and content creators. This means that the media is growing and becoming more interactive for audiences.

Task 2:

1. Why, according to the news report, do investors like the Video Games Industry so much?

Investors like the Video games Industry so much because the engagement continues to grow and that could mean big returns for investors interested in the space. It is also one of the fastest growing markets ever.

2. What are e-sports?

E-sports is where people play competitively on a multiplayer game for spectators, and competitions can be held. Usually, these are videoed or live streamed and millions of people enjoy watching.

3. How is new digital media technology changing the way that video games are accessed by consumers? 

Traditionally, consumers used to play on consoles or PCs, but now, the percentage of time spent gaming on mobile devices has increased rather than consoles. Mobiles and tablets have influenced the structure of many industries, and 50% of gaming will be conducted on mobile and tablet devices.

4. What does FPS and MMORP stand for? 

FPS – First Person Shooter. – A game that puts the player in first person whilst containing guns. 

MMORP – Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing game.  

The demographic for my media product is females in the late teens and twenties.

My magazine front cover will promote the love and interest for ‘comfy’ fashion to the public, whilst still following the latest trends. The cover will include a photo of a confident, young boy wearing a tracksuit from the brand ‘Nike’. He is going to pose in a cool and quirky way to bring attention to his clothing. My model in the photo will also be making direct eye contact with the camera to assert dominance and masculinity, and the camera angle will be from below, which will showcase the model looking down on the camera which suggests importance. I will use a cool-tone, blue background behind the model so that it will be eye-catching and stand out to the audience.

In terms of psychographics, my target audience is young male adults/late teens that like fashion with comfort, but also want to delve beneath the superficial, fake filters and the representation of the social media generation. I will include a teenage boy as my model, so people can feel more comfortable when reading and it indirectly shows the target age group. I think by promoting the brand Nike, this will attract young male adults/ teens and appeal to young readers.

There is also the secondary audience of females and a similar age range to the main audience.

This group altogether are very lively and like having fun with their lives, and they like to use fashion as ways to express themselves. They are a new-age group of young adults with strong views about fashion and a passion for what they believe in and their interests. They also may be open to explore and discover new interests like different styles of clothing that isn’t athletic.

The overall aesthetic of the magazine front cover is to interest people at a young age to influence them into being fascinated by fashion, so they can feel more confident and fit in with their surroundings whilst growing up. Throughout my magazine, I will also include beauty trends and makeup as my secondary target audience also follow these trends, and this will engage and interest more young females.

1836

Reductions in taxes and stamp duty allow the Manchester Guardian to publish twice-weekly; it begins to appear on Wednesdays as well as Saturdays.

1959

On 24 August the newspaper changes its title from the Manchester Guardian to the Guardian, to reflect the growing importance of national and international affairs in the newspaper.

1972

The name of the company is changed to The Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd (GMEN).

1988

The Guardian has a radical redesign, splitting the newspaper into two sections and introducing a new masthead. An international edition is launched in Europe.

1997

The Guardian’s investigation into Conservative MP Neil Hamilton wins the Team Reporting Award at the British Press Awards and the Guardian is named Newspaper of the Year by What the Papers Say – an award it also wins in 1998 and 1999.

The Guardian is the first national newspaper to appoint a readers’ editor and publish a daily Corrections and Clarifications column.

The Guardian and Observer election website goes live in February and football.co.uk launches in August.

Guardian Politics summary:

The newspaper is considered as part of a group called the “quality press”. This is a group of national papers that focus on hard news rather than journalism. Its “analysis” promotes the ideologies of British politics. The paper declared support for the Liberal Democrats in the 2010 election. It then switches back to the Labour Party for the 2015 election.