RLA Digital Media: Lessons 1-5

After a few technical issues, I'm finally able to post on the blog!

Digital media is any media that is encoded in a machine-readable format. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved on computers. Computer programs and software; digital imagery; digital video; web pages and websites including social media; data and databases; digital audio such as mp3s; and e-books are all examples of digital media.
Digital media is frequently contrasted with print media, such as printed newspapers and magazines, and other traditional or analog media, such as film and audio tape.

We looked at our individual consumption of such media formats, and many were shocked to discover the huge amount of time we spend consuming digital media! On average, we discovered that youth tend to skew the data of the overall public, and that you babies of the digital revolution consume far more digital media in the form of social networking, music and video streaming and computer games than your older counterparts, who tend to use digital media more for video calling, reading e books and doing research.

You can see from

But why have they had this effect on our media consumption?

You can use a smartphone to:

• Watch TV (both legally through sites like iPlayer or Netflix.com, and illegally through streaming websites).
• Stream films (again, both legally and illegally)
• Shop online
• Be advertised to in the form of banner ads on games, internet sites, apps etc.
• Broadcast advertising is quickly becoming far more usable and prevalent on smartphones - youtube has started using adverts before their videos on phones now, not just on desktop accessed videos. This change only came into effect in 2014, a big change in how they advertise to us!

 Simply put, this is technological convergence, a buzzword from your AS Media Studies exam in May.

Jenkins says that convergence is:

"the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they wanted“

Essentially, when focusing on technological convergence alone, it is the accessing of multiple media platforms from a single device, or the ability to do so. Not to be confused with synergy!

Mobile Apps study
U.S users spend the majority of their time consuming digital media within mobile applications, according to a new study released by comscore in 2014.
That means mobile apps, including the number 1 most popular app Facebook, eat up more of our time than desktop usage or mobile web surfing, accounting for 52% of the time spent using digital media.
Combined with mobile web, mobile usage as a whole accounts for 60% of time spent, while desktop-based digital media consumption makes up the remaining 40%.
Apps today are driving the majority of media consumption activity, the report claims, now accounting for 7 out of every 8 minutes of media consumption on mobile devices. On smartphones, app activity is even higher, at 88% usage versus 82% on tablets.

 

As you can see, it is clear that desktop usage is falling whilst mobile usage, particularly in the form of "apps" is increasing month by month, with a huge leap of 12% in just over a year.
Why are apps so appealing?

Well, they are converged technology access through more converged technology! The average consumer is lazy; we like to access our media "on the go" and instantly, with minimal effort on own part. Apps allow us to do this in the easiest possible way. They are often free, or very low cost, have easy user interfaces than their web-counterparts, and speed up the process of accessing the media products we love.

So, with all of this in mind, think back to your AS media exam and consider the question you were asked:

[TASK] What impact has convergence had on the way that audiences access and consume the media product from your case study?

LESSON 720152: ONE MILE AWAY

This sequence of lessons we are going to develop some of our ideas a little further. We have explored some of the ideas of veracity and verisimilitude of the fictionalised reality of 'based on a true story' and seen that our understanding is very much from one perspective: Aileen Wurnous.
The film One Mile Away is a C4 documentary which charts the attempts of Shabba and Flash over a period of a year to find a truce between two warring Birmingham gangs - the Johnsons and the Burger Boys.
The story of the film begins with the film 1 Day which was made in 2008. the film was a crowd funded Kick Starter fictional narrative of gangs and drug deals in the city. The film maker was contacted in 2010 by Shabba one of the gang members of the Johnsons to see if she could use her contacts with the Burger Boys from the filming to broker a peace deal between the two gangs.
From the start, the subjects of the film are not treated as wholly good. Shabba openly admits that he would rather kill a policeman than a rival ganger. To get the filming they need they enlist the help of Zilla who has served eight years for attempting to shoot two police-officers. In this sense, the documentary tells a different kind of 'truth' to Monster.

TASK:

[1] Compare the poster products for the two films:

What representations are offered - how are these constructed?

Do the posters represent differences in the products [fictional film; documentary film]? How is this done?

Are different audiences targeted by these products - How is this represented?

LESSON 620152: RESOLUTIONS

The 'end' of the film fulfils all of the ideas we looked at in AS regarding Todorov's Narrative Structure Theory.

Equilibrium  

Disruption 

Complicating events 

Climax 

Resolution / New Equilibrium

The final sequences draw together much of what has happened previously in the film and what we know of Aileen's character and that of Selby. The resolution of the 'disruption' is the capture and trial of Aileen. The betrayal of Selby and Aileen's acceptance of it, her own final sacrifice to her love for Selby has been set up by all we have learned of Aileen - her capacity to endure; her capacity for self-sacrifice; her determination and resolve; her desperate need to be loved; perhaps even her desire for notoriety and attention.

 

What we now need to do is try to bring our understanding of the film to a conclusion as to how you feel about the characters, events and the way that the film has represented them to audiences.

 

We will watch the 'making ofs' and the documentary background in order to support how we come to this conclusion - what the film-makers were trying to do [their intention; their values and ideologies; their agendas] and the actuality of Aileen [what she says of herself; her beliefs about what she did and why].

Nick Broomfield, the documentary film-maker who spent many days interviewing Aileen for his two documentaries - the Selling of A Serial Killer and Life and Death of A Serial Killer - believes that there is a 'truth' that only a narrative fictional approach such as in MONSTER can get at when those involved are reluctant to talk about events that involved them.

 

Task:

 

[1] Assign the key events of the film to the Todorov model by creating a timeline of the film.

 

[2]  Write a 500 word evaluation of your response to the film.

For Q2 : Remember to include an analysis of the film rather than a description of its narrative. How does the film create its story? What devices are used? Consider the mise-en-scene but also think of genre and narrative devices and the expectations of audiences.

A plan might include:

• Brief introduction [look at IMDB for data]
• The style of the film - how is the story narrated [devices?] How does it fit into a genre - which features lead you to this conclusion?
• Analyse a key sequence [the meeting; a killing; the relationship; the ending]
• Why was the film successful [box office; awards; critical reception]? What you thought of it
• Conclusion 

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO

LESSON 520152: WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND? AUDIENCE POSITIONING

In Lesson 4 we explored some ideas around how media language constructed an understanding of Aileen as a killer.  We may each have arrived at differing points on a line of understanding but each of us used the information provided by the music, the shot choice, the editing to form an opinion as to Aileen's motives and the judgement we make of her.

Now we can move to consider how the mid-section of the film attempts to convey more complex ideas/understandings of Aileen and her relationship with Selby.  The details here - a further murder, the incident with the character with the disability, the visit to the funfair all add to our view of Aileen, supporting or challenging our perceptions of 'what she is'.

There is no doubt that there are apologists, those who whilst not excusing or even condoning Aileen's rampage, see some understanding of the justification of it .In this, they see Aileen as she depicted herself in court; the victim of a misogynistic male dominated society in which her main crime was to to be a woman who fought back to punish those who had exploited or abused her throughout her life.

There are others, the vast majority, who see her as a killer, an emotionally unbalanced woman who saw conspiracy's all around her and used violence to take what she wanted.

Patty Jenkin's film seeks to shed some light as to why this should be so and offers an opportunity for audiences to make up their own minds. We must bear in mind that her film is a partial account, one that has only one voice in it - that of Aileen who even, at key moments, narrates it.

A key narrated sequence occurs in sequence 3 which we viewed in Lesson 3.  Aileen returns from the second murder and as she washes up in the bathroom whilst Selby waits at the door she narrates in a voice-over the story of the huge Ferris wheel that arrived in her town one day - The Monster.  This wheel saw captivated the young Aileen that she could think of nothing but riding it but when she finally did she was terrified and violently sick. Clearly, the voice over is significant - why else include this one seemingly meaningless fact from her childhood when there are so many much more relevant stories of abuse committed upon her.

TASK: 

• What is the significance of the story of the Monster Ferris wheel? 
• What do we learn from the incidents with the man with disabilities; what about the incident with the killing of the ex-police officer?  How does the film use these to further our understanding of Aileen?
• What is the impact of Aileen's ride on the Ferris wheel with Selby in this film

LESSON 420152: CHARACTER BUILDING

Having explored verisimilitude [appearance of reality] in the representation of Aileen and then considered why it was 'broken' in the representation of Selby we now need to consider how the narrative of the film positions the audience regarding the actions of a woman who moves from possible 'victim' in the original murder of Vincent to the brutal, seemingly cold-blooded monster of the title.

The second killing is positioned at a very significant time in the narrative. we have seen Aileen's attempts to put her life back together - her desire to be normal, conventional.  We have also seen the results of this - rejection, humiliation and, finally degradation at the hands of the patrolman in the underground car-park.

We have also witnessed the reactions of Selby - her anger, petulance, selfishness - that force Aileen to reveal what happened with Vincent and also her decision to return to her work as a prostitute.

Task:

• The second victim is portrayed as that: her victim. How is this done? 
• Consider mise-en-scene elements
• does the representation of Aileen change at any time during this sequence?
• Do we understand anything new about her?  what?  how?
• Why does she kill him?
• why does the film's narrative representation of Aileen now change?

The next sequence takes us through a series of events surrounding Aileen and Selby.  Each incident is now clearly there to shed light on their characters, to help us understand what it is that motivates them. It also illuminates the nature of their relationship. The incident at the funfair is one that we shall explore in lesson 5 as it seems key to understanding Aileen's emotional state and also seems to offer some insight into understanding why she may have become the 'monster'.

LESSON: 320152 AGENDA SETTING AND REPRESENTATIONS

Today it's all about verisimilitude - the appearance of reality, or, in the case of film, the construction of a believable reality.  So, with this in mind we will be looking at the second series of sequences from Monster that chart the development of the love story between Aileen and Selby.

First, take a look at these images of Aileen and of Charlize Theron as Aileen and as herself. You will see the startling transformation of the actress into a believable resemblance of Aileen.  We know that Theron went to great lengths to create a representation of Aileen that audiences would find realistic, studying movements, gestures and expressions from videos of the trial and from Nick Broomfield's documentary on Aileen. A glamorous Aileen would have been ridiculous and undermined the narrative. - Aileen's trial had been world famous at the time, as were the almost iconic images of Aileen herself.

Then, take a look at those of Christina Ricci, then her appearance as Selby and then the real 'Selby'.

One of the key questions we might start to ask of these representations is 'WHY'? 

If  Charlize Theron - at the time described as one of the most desirable actresses in the world - was put through hours of make-up to create an accurate representation of Aileen then why was the character of 'Selby' represented in such an unrealistic manner - slim and elfin-like compared to 'Selby' who in reality was large and stocky?

Here, we enter the territory of intention, specifically the narrative and conceptual intentions of the director of the film, Patti Jenkins. Her concern is that we need to understand what drives Aileen to do the terrible things that she does. why, if is solely about her abuse at the hands of so many men did she not start her spree earlier? Why does [did] it coincide with her relationship with Selby? Clearly, if Selby is not the instigator of these murders [and Aileen claims she was not and Selby was never tried for her part in them] then it is linked into changes wrought on Aileen by finding a loving relationship. The desire/need to protect Selby is what drove her. to be understood by audiences it was felt that we had to 'see' Selby not as she was but as Aileen saw her - fragile and vulnerable. Hence the casting of the actress and the representation that is of the idea of Selby rather than an accurate representation of the actuality. Here art overrides truth.

LESSON: 220152 - SOME KIND OF MONSTER

Today we begin the process of exploring some media products that may well have passed some of you by. These are products that open up areas rich in discussion as to their intentions and to their receptions by audiences.
We are going to begin with a film that challenges your values, your attitudes towards a variety of issues. It will shock you, create debate amongst you and provide a very memorable start to our work for A2 – the ‘WHY’ question that will preoccupy so much of our work this year.
This text is very much linked to the new AQA topic area of ‘Identities’ and may also serve as a base text for those of you who are considering the option of the WJEC AS Film Studies next summer.

 

WHOSE TRUTH?

We may feel that we know the difference between fact and fiction, between a news story and a  creative fiction, a documentary and a fictional story. However, even our news is constructed - who to film; where to film them; how to edit the interview - and programmes such as TOWIE and Benefits Street have blurred the lines between the idea of a strictly factual objective documentary and fictionalised narrative. We need to keep in mind that each media product we are going to examine is the result of a number of decisions [choices] made by the production team and that these are what shape the finished product and how audiences decode and understand them. In this sense, there is no objective truth, simply versions of an event.

The film Monster is based on a true story but we must always keep in mind that this, like any other true story, is situated from the perspective of one person: Aileen Wuornos.  With this in mind, the details of the meeting, her state of mind, issues around how she sees those around her and, more specifically, the events leading up to and provoking the first murder, are hers alone.  For some things we may have other sources of evidence – her school records detail her expulsions; her welfare etc – but the murder is purely based on Aileen’s account of events.

The director [Patty Jenkins] also has a perspective on this.  She has a story to tell but she also has a purpose [a set of values/ideologies] that drive the narrative of that story [how the story is told to us]. Her agenda was to tell Aileen’s story and to examine why Aileen came to be the Monster of the title. The agenda is clearly also feminist.  she is telling the story of a woman who saw herself as the victim of a male dominated world [a patriarchy; a misogynistic culture].

Here, then, we might see a use for McComb’s theory of agenda setting, that the manner in which an event is presented can actually shape how audiences understand that event and subsequently come to believe that point of view, that representation. The story telling – the narrative presentation – becomes the version that people take to be a universal ‘truth’ of those events, that person.

 

Social Media Resources for Section B

Here is a link to the story on Facebook's new algorithm 'INSTANT ARTICLES' and how it will re-shape news feeds to its members.

Media debate Issues:

gatekeeper
hegemonic
agenda setting
agenda framing
media influence
impact of social media

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology


This might link really well to the following research finding:

facebook-study-finds-people-only-click-on-links-that-they-agree-with-site-is-an-echo-chamber

This is good BBC page for considering media influence and the notion of two step flow and agenda setting as well as hegemonic/pluralism etc. Have a look at the April page then look at the post election analysis


start of social media election?


IT WASN'T SOCIAL MEDIA 'WOT WON IT'

Social media and the election

BBC articles..The Election and social media. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-32590917
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32673439

The Independent...influence of social media in the Election:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-media-column-post-election-the-jurys-still-out-on-the-power-of-social-media-10239879.html

Channel Four News:
http://www.channel4.com/news/social-media-general-election-2015-youtube-facebook-twitter

LESSON 120152: MOVE ON UP

We will be introducing the course and the changed approaches to A2 – the case of the enigmatic ‘WHY’ questions But first… Let’s go back to that exam task and see what we learned last year

The task was very much focused on issues we have explored previously in AS – representations, ideas of gender tropes such as masculinity, the gratuitous appeal of violence and impact of media products on their intended audiences [the effects debate]. So we’ll begin by looking at what issues you might have addressed and how you might have constructed a response to satisfy your examiners.
To begin with, the product is a familiar one, a game franchise that you have all grown up with so it will have some cultural resonance for each of you. For some, games like this and the representations and ideologies [values] contained in them are part of your constructed identity so their appeal is both very well known to you but also might be difficult to step away from to allow the distance necessary for deep evaluation and analysis.
So, we will begin by looking at media context as a stepping off point. This will be a key part of our work in A2 and also for those of you opting for the AS Film Course.

What; Who; Why
One of the key ideas we looked at last year [AS] was always starting our analysis of a media product by being clear what it is. In this case, a You Tube advert for a computer game franchise, specifically a first person shooting game that has become one of the most famous and profitable media icons.
From here we can then establish who it is aimed at. in doing this, we need to think about not just the demographics [though this is pretty important and relevant to our analysis] but the needs that such an audience has of this media product.
Once we understand this need we can consider the expectations the target audience will have of such a product and the extent to which the product fulfills such needs.
When we have all this, we might be able to consider how and why the product is successful.
in this manner, we can see that the media forms task – how camera-work is used to show the excitement of playing the game – depends on knowing who the product is aimed at and their expectations [the needs they see it fulfilling]. if we understand that the average gamer is not the stereotypical teenage boy sitting alone in a darkened room listening to thrash metal but is, in fact, a male aged  31 according to ESA statistics published in 2014:

The average age of someone who plays games is 31 years old. In fact, more gamers are over the age of 36 than between the ages of 18 to 35 or under the age of 18. They are also mostly men, but by a slimming margin. Men make up 52 percent. From 2012 to 2013, the number of women gamers over the age of 50 grew by 32 percent.

We might then start to consider that the camera work is not just about a simple listing of the type of camera-work used but the genre factors in the choice of shot and editing that have a resonance with the 30 year old gamer. It will also have some relevance to the choice of music and some of the elements in the question about brands [institutions task], representation of guns and also the audience task of exploring the appeal of the product to a male audience.

So, we need to consider how camera work shows the excitement of the game. We might begin by considering our foreknowledge of the reasons why certain camera choices are made in the first place - wide-shots allow understanding of context or might suggest the epic scope of the product [the Vegas city with its iconic landscape; the fountains at the end etc]; the close-up is all about emotion and awareness of character's feelings [the shots of the characters faces both straining -its a tough game - but also having fun]; the pan shots for location [the Vegas sign]; the angle for both the power of the characters themselves but also the threat of the helicopter and the taking it down. We have tracking shots that follow the characters through the events stressing the manner of playing [it has a strong narrative for game-players] but also involvement as we follow the journey. We have first person point of view shots that mimic the game-play. We also have some use of slow motion [emphasis] and we might consider the syntagmatic choices of which shot follows which thought these last two are not truly camera work but post production effects and decisions.