Represention

Dominant: 
This is a dominant illustration of how Britain is seen 

Alternative:
This is an alternative illustration of how Britain is seen

Represention collage

My first collage is a 'dominant' representation of what women are stereotyped to be:

DOMINANT: women should be cooking, cleaning and looking after children. Women are seen as the weaker sex.

My second collage is an 'alternative' representation of women:

ALTERNATIVE: Women represented as successful, an icon, being wealthy and prosperous. This goes against the dominant stereotype of which women only belong at home and shouldn't be victorious. These celebrities go against the stereotype of what women should be like, as a result this makes them icons.

Preliminary exercise evaluation

In this preliminary task we had to work in groups to produce a 30 second duration clip. We had to follow specific filming rules such as the 180 degree rule as well as match on action and shot/reverse shots.  Due to this being a preliminary task, mistakes were acceptable so we could learn from learn from them when filming the real thing. My group included me Harmony and Samsam, we all worked well together as me and harmony were acting and Samsam was filming most of the clip. The video had Harmony walking up the school stairs, opening the corridor and walking in to a classroom. The next scene was of me sitting on a desk on the phone, Harmony came and sat in the desk, we exchanged dialogue with over the shoulder shots. The storyline was that Harmony was having issues with me and she was pressurised to have a dodgy job done for me. The preliminary task was called footsteps.

WWW:

The things that well for our group was that we got the task done on time, even though we didn’t finish editing at the apple store and had to finish this on school computers. There was good use of match on action when Harmony opened and closed the door. The clip met the brief as it showed the character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting on a chair opposite another character and then exchanging two lines of dialogue. The brightness throughout the clip was consistent as everything was visible, not to light or not too dark. Another thing that went well for our group is that our narrative was good and clear to the audience.

EBI:

We had to progress the sound next time when filming and to accurately follow the 180-degree rule when filming next time in the future as it wasn’t the best it could be. The audio sounded indistinct sometimes because we were facing some technical issues with the microphone. Now that we have completed the preliminary exercise my group is more self-assured with using the equipment. Also, some shots lost focus because of the timing and in order to prevent this from happening in the future it's best to press the record button then have the action taking place just a few seconds after in order to avoid losing focus. In addition, more footage was needed in order let the editing run smoothly and not let the action feel rushed. Some shots were repeated and cut out – this was done because more footage was needed to meet the brief. Moreover, a shot/reverse shot was needed and had to be filmed efficiently to make the clip feel realistic. We slightly attempted to use a shot/reverse shot but repeated the same shots because more footage was needed. I also think that an effective sound bridge could have been used to match the high school theme. Also we had to reshoot and finish off editing in school as we didn’t get it all done in the Apple store. 

Learner response- editing

There has been slow paced editing used throughout this clip to build up tension effectively. As Keaton approaches his killer his eye line match in particular raises tension- this is because the killer is kept anonymous at first and the audience are denied any access to finding out the identity of the killer. There is also slow motion used when a cigarette is throw onto the petrol, followed by the final shot of flames firing into the sky. This increases the emotional impact and the atmosphere is more dramatic. The atmosphere links with the music well to create a sensation of gripping action. Transitions have been used in the end of the final shot- a dissolve has been used to link the opening scene to a press conference. The purpose of this dissolve is to show how the time has passed. Also an enigma code has been used here at the end of the clip to make the audience question and wonder what the resolution will be at the press conference and weather Keaton’s killer ever gets caught. 

Audience theory

How can you link this news article to the hypodermic needle theory? 
The hypodermic needle model is a model of communications suggesting that an intended message is directly received and accepted by the  receiver.

The article describes how playing video games increases aggressive behaviour, in further detail it indicates how to media are successful in influencing their audience through products (such as video games). The article states how "previous studies have revealed a single violent gaming session can increase short-term aggression", this is evidence that video games can prompt users to become more aggressive and short-tempered. 

Find another online article/academic study that challenges the belief that violent video games are harmful. Provide the link and summarise its key points.
What's your view on this debate?

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5067/20131125/video-games-even-violent-ones-arent-bad.htm

This article suggest that playing video games may improve "learning, health and social skills," as well as strengthen a range of cognitive abilities including problem solving, reasoning, memory and perception, It also states that violent video games enhance a player's capacity to think about objects in three dimensions. 

The media over exaggerate how video games can be dangerous. Video games are created for entertainment and fun purposes.However in some cases video games can lead to very dangerous situations, most of the population play video games and not everyone experiences these dangerous situations. It could be argued that the people who experience these situations are usually depressed. 

How can you link this feature to the two-step flow model?

Jamal Edwards is the owner of SBTV, a broadcasting company that makes videos - typically music videos featuring rap and pop music stars - and puts them up on YouTube. He has over a million hits and this makes him appear as an 'opinion leader' - who influences the youth of today as they can relate to him and his content he promotes. 

 YouTubers 

• Zoella
• Fleur de force
• Joey graceffa
• Lily pebbles 
• Marcus Butler 

• Zoella -Zoella YouTube

Zoella is a popular vlogger who is well-known for posting tutorials on hair, skincare and make-up. This influences the younger teens, such as teenage girls who are interested in fashion and beauty. She has been widely recognised and have over a million hits, automatically this prompts girls to check out her posts. 

• Fleur De Force - Fleur DeForce YouTube

Fleur is also a fashion and beauty vlogger. Fleur is sophisticated in her tutorials and also influences the younger generation.

• Joey graceffa https://www.youtube.com/user/JoeyGraceffa

Joey graceffa is also a very well know vlogger who is a Streamy Award-winning actor, top Internet personality, and two-time Amazing Race contestant with approximately 4 million YouTube subscribers.

• Lily pebbles https://www.youtube.com/user/WhatIHeartToday

Lily is a popular vlogger like zoella and Fleur who is well-known for posting tutorials on hair, skincare and make-up. This influences the younger teens, such as teenage girls who are interested in fashion and beauty.

• Marcus Butler- https://www.youtube.com/user/MarcusButlerTV

Marcus is is a British internet personality and vlogger, he posts videos similar to Joey Graceffa. 

Dependency theory

What do you primarily use the media for?
I primarily use the media for entertainment, I usually spend a lot of time online going on YouTube to listen to music or watch videos. I also use the internet to watch movies online to occupy my time. I usually use the media for celebrity gossip as I like to keep up with the latest celebrity news, so I use websites such as Daily mail, E online and Hollywood life. 

To what extent do you feel we are dependent on the media?
Everyone is very dependent on the media as people use their phones and computers everyday to find out latest news and gossip, or use twitter, Facebook, and instagram to check out updates from the celebrities they have interest in. The older generation are also very dependent on the media, as they would like to know what's going on around the world and what the latest news is, so they would watch the news to find out all these things.

Has our dependence on the media changed over the last 10 years?
Peoples dependence on the media has changed over the last ten years as there has been many changes in society. The biggest reason would be that technology has been advanced in these past few years, technology has been taken to a whole new level and is becoming more advanced year by year, introducing smart phones and tablets, which weren't around in the past. This new technology is changing today's world, and everyone now is very dependent on media as they have everything they need to find out the latest news, gossip, fashion and trends. 

  

Uses and Gratifications Theory (Blumler & Katz)

Researchers Blumler and Katz created an audience theory in 1974 by stating that media audiences are active and make conscious choices about the way they consume media. They suggested there are four main uses or gratifications (pleasures) that audiences get from the media.

Diversion: escape from everyday problems and routine - entertainment 

Britain's got talent is a show based on entertainment, this engages with the audience as it is escapism for some people as the show is very amusing.

• Personal Relationships: using the media for emotional and other interaction (e.g. developing affection for characters in TV)

Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a reality TV show that influences the younger generation to become inspired by the Kardashian family which may aspire the young generation to want to be like the Kardashians - e.g. through modelling or business ventures such as clothing lines.

• Personal Identity: finding ourselves reflected in texts or learning behaviour and values from the media. Reality TV or documentary (Educating Yorkshire) are good examples.

Dragons den is a series in which entrepreneurs get three minutes to pitch their business ideas to five multi-millionaires willing to invest their own cash. This show would attract niche audiences and could help people realise whether or not they have a deep interest in business.  

• Surveillance: Information useful for living (e.g. Weather, traffic news, holiday bargains etc.)

The Daily Mail is a popular tabloid newspaper which is up-to-date with the latest news around the world and in showbiz, sports and science.