Identity Theory - David Gauntlett

The media provides us with tool/ resources/ ideas that we use to construct our identity (what we think we should be like, act like, look like, etc). In the past these ideas were very singular and straight forward (stereotypes) but now because of the internet and social media we have a great variety to choose from.

We can be influenced by such things as celebrities, influencer, characters in films/ video games etc

Exceptions:

• ‘Fair Use’

• Private Study (educational and not for publication)

• Criticism or Review

• Time-Shifting

• Parody and/or pastiche

• Paying for it

How effective is the regulation of the media?

There are many ways of getting around the regulations around copyright in the exceptions stated above

Copy right example:

Napster was a file sharing platform in the 90’s, and quickly grew to a platform where people could share music by popular artists for free without buying the album. As it was peer-to-peer, it technically wasn’t pirating. A&M Records decided to sue the company for loss of profits. Napster was forced to pay $26million in damages and the website was forced to close.

“The media effects debate is an outdated concept”. Discuss the statement in relation to a

media product you have studied. Use examples to support your answer.

I agree with the statement as there is little evidence to support the idea of media being responsible for peoples behaviour and actions however there is still some.

An example of evidence against media being responsible is that their is a lack of cases in which media has been solely responsible to

 Primary research is any research collected by yourself

Secondary research is research using already existing data

Qualitative- words or non numerical data

Quantitative- is numerical data and statistics

Social Media- Is websites or apps that can be used to share and create content or participate in social networking 

Research data and interpretation- reviewing data through predefined processes 

Infographic- The visual representation of data or information

Product Research

BBC 3 want to commission a new popular culture/ chat show for 16-24 yr olds that contains reviews of suitable media products and interviews with artists/creators (Something like The Graham Norton Show, The Last Leg, Alan Carr Chatty Man, The Big Narstie The  Late Show with James Corden).

Target audience research:

BBC 3

BBC Three is a British over-the-top Internet television service operated by the BBC. ... The service produces and streams television and web series aimed at the demographic of 16 to 34-year-olds, with a particular focus on comedy and documentary programming.

similar shows-

The Big Narstie Show was one of Channel 4’s most popular programmes for young audiences. It was up 94% on share of 16-24 years old viewers

The Graham Norton show

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/media/explore/tv_programme/The_Graham_Norton_Show

This shows that the majority of millennials that have watched the Graham Norton show have liked it and that it is preferred by females as a higher percentage of females that wave seen it like it.

The last leg, in the demographics below you can see that the last leg is the most popular among the millennials and that it is 
   

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/media/explore/tv_programme/The_Last_Leg

After the research conducted shown above my target audience will be a mix of male and female that primarily support and vote Labour and are from the UK and like to keep up on the current issues and the latest media products and enjoy shows that use comedy whilst covering these topics

 Popular Netflix shows currently

• 10. In From the Cold
• 9. Cocomelon
• 8. Dark Desire
• 7. Disenchantment
• 6. The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window
• 5. Raising Dion
• 4. Ozark
• 3. Catching Killers
• 2. All of Us Are Dead
• 1. Sweet Magnolias

source: https://collider.com/top-10-netflix-tv-shows-list/

Top 10 today on Netflix series:

• Inventing anna
• love is blind
• all of us are dead
• sweet magnolias 
• Jeen-yuhs A Kanye trilogy 
• Ozark 
• The sinner
• catching killers 
• Snowpiercer
• The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window

Imdb series (sorting by popularity ascending) 

1. Reacher

2. The book of Boba Fett

3.Euphoria

4. Attack on Titan

5.Ozark

6. Peacemaker

7. 1883

8.Sweet Magnolias

9.All of us are dead

10. Murderville

Source: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=tv_series

Action/sci-fi is my chosen genre as based on the research above it appears that currently this is one of the most popular genres.

This genre has a very wide target audience for example franchises such as star wars which are loved internationally by people from different backgrounds genders and ages however typically this genre appeals slightly more to the male demographic with research showing the percentage of males who viewed rogue one,the force awakens and the last Jedi in the first 2 weeks beings slightly higher than female viewers. 

https://www.markhw.com/blog/sw-survey-pt1#:~:text=The%202015%20MPAA%20Theatrical%20Market,%25%20men%2C%2040%25%20women.

some platforms require age verification

most places don't require age verification to purchase age classified products and it is easy to lie about your age without consequences

BBFC, PEGI ineffective when it comes to purchasing digitally and seen as more of a slight guide.

Regulation theory (Livingstone and Lunt)

Some age regulations are also controversial and are considered to be for an older audience than the regulatory boards say, for example 

Theories:

• Bandura 
• Desensitization
• Charlton 
• Hypodermic needle
• Reception theory
• Uses and gratification

Examples:

• GTA
• Spectre
• social media
• websites

One way in which the regulation of digital media is effective is in the film industry. All films in the UK need to have been rated by the BBFC which looks out for such things as level of violence, language, upsetting scenes/ images. Based on the content film will be give an age appropriate rating. For example the Dark Knight was given a 12A rating most due to its violent content (such as the scene where the Joker slams a guys head into a pencil). Spectre was initially given a 15 rating but after they removed some scene it was dropped to 12A. Many people think that regulation is important because people can be influenced by what they see in the media. They can become desensitised to the levels of violence and act out what they see. The media effects debates suggests that we can be directly influence by what we see. 

However film regulation is not effective because……….. when viewing films online on websites such as Netflix the age rating of the film is often ignored as no proof of age is required. Also the way in which some films are regulated can also be incorrect or seen as controversial for example films such as back to the future which contains themes of incest, threats of sexual violence and bad language and is rated at PG by the BBFC. This shows that regulation can be ineffective even from the regulatory board itself and this supports regulation theory as the ineffectiveness of the regulation system makes it seen as less of guidance and a barrier for peoples choice and freewill as they are restricted from certain content without verifying their age and this is seen as more of an inconvenience.

 What elements and factors need to be considered when planning a media production?:?

• Setting 
• Scripting
• Ideas for how to shoot it
• What themes and tones you want to convey
• The aim, how you want to make the audience feel
• Casting
• Logistics
• consider target audience
• set production
• lighting
• continuity
• sound
• platform for release
• Distribution
• Marketing
• budget
• editing
• ethics
• Crew
• layout design 
• fonts
• regulations
• ethical and legal issues
• colour scheme
• Time management

Video game planning:

 Pre production-

Idea concepts

Voice actors 

crew of people to produce the product

Animators

coders

finding a location to work

Story drafting 

creating a story and characters

Establishing certain mechanics that you want within the game

budget management 

ethical and legal issues

equipment

target audience

age rating planned

Production-

Coding

animating

Voice actor director

voice acting

marketing 

putting the written story into animation

creating mechanics 

sound design

Post production-

Advertisement/marketing

Distribution/what platforms the game will be available on (pc, Xbox, PS, mobile, Nintendo)

age rating

Graphic novel:

Pre production-

Finding an author and an illustrator

story boarding

mind maps

planning the type of illustration you want

Publisher

target audience

Production-

writing

illustrating

publishing

Post production- 

advertisement and analysis

Social media advertisement

Age rating

uses and gratifications 

Financial Constraints

Media industries are no different than any other - the main purpose is to earn money. Individuals might be driven by artistic desires, but at a corporate level (the level that shapes the industries) profit is king.

Any limitation on a production caused by the need for money to be spent is called a financial constraint.

At the planning stage, a budget will be drawn up and the expectation is that the project will stick to it. Different aspects of the budget will kick in at different stages.

Failing to meet a budget will result in a reduction of profit, which could be very bad news. However, failure to spend enough to ensure a successful product could be equally, if not more damaging. There lies the gamble...

RDR2 is regulated by PEGI (Pan European Game Information) and is given an age rating of PEGI 18

PEGI or Pan European Game Information is a European video game content rating system established to help European consumers make informed decisions when buying video games or apps through the use of age recommendations and content descriptors.

The PEGI rating considers the age suitability of a game, not the level of difficulty. It's ratings are the suggested MINIMUM AGE at which a game should be played.

Graphic Novels are regulated by The Comics Code Authority. The Comics Code Authority was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States.

The BBFC is responsible for classifying films that have a cinema and DVD release in the UK. The BBFC uses published Classification Guidelines for certain age ranges, ensuring that the content of the film is age appropriate and that children or young people do not see films that are unsuitable for them.

Sponsorship: Money typically given by a company to support an a person, organization or activity

Crowdfunding: Funding a project or venture by raising money from a large amount of people

Corporate finance: Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources.

Advertising: Advertising is a marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are typically businesses wishing to promote their products or services.

Franchising: Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. 

Website/ Magazine pre-production

 Website/ Magazine pre-production

Concept art

Concept art is used to convey an idea during the planning stage in media product. 

Examples of this are the illustration of fantasy characters for a computer game or other concept car during the production of a 3-D digital model of a new product. 

These allow decisions to be made having seen the the representation of the character or scene.

Flat plan:

A flat plan or wireframe is a 2-D representation of how all articles and adverts are laid out on a page or how the elements of the page (or screen in an attractive product) fit together. 

This allows the designer to see if proportions are correct and all elements are included. 

The detail for each aspect is not included; this is purely a layout tool, where changes can be quickly and easily carried out prior to production. 

A flat plan can also be used to view the layout of set for TV production to check that elements  fit together and that camera placement and movements can be achieved as required.

Mock up:

These are similar to flat plans and wireframes; however they contain more details such as the content and colour schemes included. They can be shown to clients and audiences to gain feedback before the final version is created.

New software developments allow the creation of page mock-ups for interactive media products and websites that include interactive elements to be modelled. 

 Synopsis

The game will be about a young boy/girl (you are able to decide at the beginning of the game, this is to better

appeal to the target audience) growing up in a fictional city similar to New York and it will be about how he deals

with death and overcomes obstacles in day to day life such as caring for his ill grandmother however still not

being too dark that it is unsuitable for a younger audience whilst still being emotionally gripping.

The idea of the game is to help children to understand death. Once finished with the story or even before if the

player chooses you are

able to explore the open world of the city meeting people around the city completing quests. The open world will be

like GTA however it will be less violent or less graphic and there will be substitute weapons for real guns such

as potato launchers and all of the enemies will be non-human and you are unable to harm innocent pedestrians to

prevent having a negative influence on the younger audience. The game will be rated PEGI 7 as it will contain

mild violence but no mature content and it also includes sad themes such as death.

Medium

It is a video game in an animated style to appeal to a younger audience and give a fun aspect to a game with

emotional themes.

Running Time & Production title 

The games story will be quite short with the story taking around 15 hours to complete however their will be an open world aspect of the game to explore and level up your character completing entertaining missions and play with friends.

Visual Aspects (Style & Format)

Colourful animation style 

It will be in 3rd person with a vibrant colour pallet 

I have taken the idea of the Pixar narrative from the brief and the open world and missions from GTA which was included as a reference to what Rockstar are looking for in the game.

Mood board