ESSENTIAL REVISION 2 : THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Accompanied by the theme music of JAWS, nearer and nearer the exam comes. 

This weekend brush up on your media understanding, especially around power of digital media.  What better way than having a look at this BBC News link:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27192089

Some useful background material and some sense of the issues/debates surrounding the story of Stephen Sutton and of the increasing use of social media to generate campaigns.  Remember the nomakeupselfie?  What about linking this to KONY2012?

Essential Revision

The Virtual Revolution: Homo Interneticus

Dear all

Time is ticking away so make certain that you revise with care the issues and debates.  I offer below some useful links to views on the debates surrounding the impact of digital media on society.

Navigate to these sites and watch and make notes:  Essential viewing

[1] This is a link to the clips section of the BBC series The Virtual Revolution [which won a BAFTA in 2010]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n4j0r/clips

[2] this is the link to the home page of the programme
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n4j0r

[3] Sadly, the I-Player links no longer offer the programme.  However, click on the link below to get to the You Tube clip from the first episode and from there navigate your way through the rest of the sections offered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPD4Ep_J81k

[4] the last link is to the interviews page of the BBC site with unedited interviews with some key players.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/interviews.shtml

Episode 1:
The wonder and walls of Wikipedia; the blogger media revolution; the price of peer-to-peer piracy... who really has power on the web? Is it the online crowd or the 'gatekeepers'? Is the web a platform for sharing or is it inequality writ large?

Episode 2:
Is the web indestructable or can censorship, cybercrime or infrastructure attack bring it down? As the web trancends the barriers of the physical world the orthodox view is that the nation state will inevitably wither as the porous web of hyperlinks conquers the globe. But some states are fighting back.

Episode 3:
Free services, limitless information, endless opportunities for the user... the web seems to defy all the laws of economics. But are we trading our privacy for a 'free' web?

Episode 4:
Are we empowered, connected and enlightened with the world's knowledge at our fingertips? Or distracted and addicted with shorter attention spans> Are our skittering brains bombarded and stupified by the 'yuck and wow' of the web? Is the web really changing us - the way we think, the way we behave, the way relate to each other? And is it for better or for worse?

Representation of Technology

Consider these three adverts

How is technology represented in each?

• what are they saying about technology?
• what are they saying about consumers of technology?
• what are they saying about how we use technology in our lives?
• which media theory[ies] might be applied to account for the above?
• how accurate do you find each advert?

TEST 1 : Samsung Galaxy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR8A3T6sPzU

TEXT 2: Apple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiyIcz7wUH0

TEXT 3: Apple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmfmUWqlSA

IDEAS

One of the key issues here is that Samsung do not mention 'Apple' by name but the mise-en-scene makes it clear that it is Apple that is being referenced.  Note that the references are not [in themselves] negative,it is the way the updates are talked about and those who are doing the talking that construct a negative representation.  They are 'over the top', they seem obsessive [geeky?] and almost too eager to be 'cool': these are what are called the 'early adopters', those who must have the latest and then spend their time convincing others how great their new design is.
There is verisimilitude created by the mise-en-scene [we have all seen the queues; the hype]. Samsung users appear cool without really trying to be so.
Consider how Apple markets itself - no mention of the product, all about the feeling of the thing, the sense of empowerment and creativity.  

text comparison and analysis task

We need to consider some of the issues in section A of the examination

[a] watch each text 3 times

[b] make notes on the task below

Text One:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIUXvxoqpDg

Text 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFKwzBj43PQ

Task: Wider contexts style task

How have developments in digital media impacted on the way that audiences consume the output of broadcast institutions such as ITV? 

revision ideas for A2 exam

BBC Music Piracy Resource:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27330150

APPLE and BEATS. Channel Four News:
http://www.channel4.com/news/apple-dr-dre-beats-buy-music-tech 

What does Apple want from Dr.Dre? BBC article:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27340359

Has Itunes changed music? Channel Four:
http://www.channel4.com/news/tens-years-of-itunes-apples-biggest-success

FOALS singer criticises SPOTIFY. Channel Four News:
http://www.channel4.com/news/foals-yannis-mercury-prize-spotify-holy-fire-video

More artists abuse SPOTIFY. The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/07/spotify-thom-yorke-dying-corpse

merry xmas to all our readers

dear all

End of a busy term and year.

Looking forward to a successful 2014 for all of us.

Remember your draft 2000 word essays are due in by the 10th of January - no extensions/exceptions.

I'm certain, sad as we might be at the departure of Wallbank, you are all looking forward to working with Ms Clayton next term on developing your practical work, essays and exam preparations.

Have a good xmas

Module 1.5 November-December

Dear all

Welcome back to what promises to be a very important and interesting module.

Your first task is to ensure that the blog links are all working and that you are by now regulalry checking [at least twice a week] and updating your own blog [at least oonce a week] with your research for your coursework essay.

A new task has been added to the 'Examination Preparation' tab and we will be going through this in class prior to you attempting the tasks for yourself.  This task links directly to the issues of wider context and media debate discussed in the lesson today and is designed to push each of you into considering your own position on such matters and the implications of the UN strategy especially around the idea of the impact of new technology.

B