MEST3 mock exam - Learner Response

-WWW: Good detail, explained well, using theory/terminology. 

-EBI: You must answer the question! That you're doing here is writing everything you know about the topic without linking it to the keywords in the title. Re-write introduction and add a paragraph doing this.

Read the Examiner's Report in full. For each question, would you classify your response as one of the stronger answers or one of the weaker answers the Chief Examiner discusses? Why? What could you do differently next time? Write a reflection for EACH question in the paper.

-Question 1: weak. need to using theoretical and conceptual frameworks to reveal detailed knowledge and understanding of how media constructed and what impact they are likely to have upon an audience.

-Question 2: Slightly stronger - however should have added extra texts to reach the higher marks. 

-Question 3: weaker as only had fairly simplistic points. need to use my own product examples and more detailed.

-Question 4: weaker - need to explore the issue from the perspective of both audiences and producers. In doing so, they debated the extent to which audiences are now able to set their own agenda and also discuss the ways that media producers have had to respond as a result.

Choose your weakest question in Section A and re-write an answer in full based on the suggested content from the Examiner's Report. 
Contrast the techniques used by each product to communicate its message.
- The first product was an advertisement for the nexus 5 smartphone and was presented through a montage in which there were many short snippets of weddings which is effective in communicating its message as we are able to identify with the characters and different cultures. The use of diegetic sound in product one creates a joyous atmosphere in which the audiences are able to engage. Whereas product two uses non-diegetic sounds which has a more intense tone and a faster pace which causes the audience to have a more focused response to the product. 

The use of graphics in product two such as the direct address to the audience using the bold questions is a very useful technique in communicating its message. In particular, the use of the question, 'Who are you?' as it is specifically asking the audience and allowing them to think. This could relate to Blumler and Katz's uses and gratifications theory as the media text is allowing the audience to explore their 'personal identities'. whereas the first product could link to diversion/entertainment as audiences could be watching the advert for entertainment as the montage may bring back happy memories and also surveillance as they are gaining information about the phone and how it is a good device to capture moments.

The use of fast pace editing and close ups in the second product really engages the audience and could cause more questions to be raised, however the first product is more slow which is effective to communicate its message as the editing of the shots and the use of sound fits in with the story behind the device. Both products seem to successfully communicate their messages as one text creates a desire to own a product, while the other encourages self-realisation. 

Independent NDM case study: Up-to-the-minute web research

The third research task for your New/Digital Media independent case study is find recent online articles about your institution and industry that give you up-to-the-minute examples, statistics and quotes.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jun/04/film-streaming-downloads-dvd-netflix

• A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has declared that the market for DVDs and Blu-ray is quickly declining, with the slack taken up by increasingly popular on-demand streaming services like Netflix – which will also overtake cinema box office revenues in the coming years.
• The study says that revenue from electronic home video (ie streaming and downloading films) will outstrip physical media in 2016, and that the market for physical media will drop from $12.2bn now to $8.7bn in 2018. They also predict that in 2017 electronic home video will overtake the traditional cinema as the biggest contributor to total film revenue in the US, reaching a total of $17bn the following year – double the $8.5bn the sector currently generates.
• That's not to say the multiplex is under threat – PwC predict a 16% increase in ticket sales over the next five years. "People still want to go to the movies, especially the big tentpole films," said Cindy McKenzie, managing director of PwC's entertainment, media and communications arm. She also pointed to the cheap and easy distribution allowed by digital media as being a major cost saving: "The amount of money that you're making per transaction may not be the same, but it is cheaper to distribute things digitally."
• Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and the popular US streaming service Hulu are funnelling their growth into ambitious production projects: all have quickly made the jump from mere middlemen to creators of original content, with hits like House of Cards and Arrested Development. Netflix's revenue rose an astonishing 24% in the first quarter of 2014.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/09/amc-cineplex-vod-paramount-early-streaming-deal

• Two giant North American cinema chains have decided to disrupt tradition by allowing Paramount Studios to offer a couple of trial titles to home viewers a few weeks after they appear in theatres.
• Exhibitors normally insist on a lengthy window between cinema and home viewing. The perceived wisdom is that people are less likely to go to the cinema if a film is available to watch at home. It’s thought that the rise of VOD services like Netflix has increased viewer expectations about faster availability of home-entertainment titles, an idea that’s caused consternation among exhibitors.
• Netflix’s content acquisition boss Ted Sarandos is a proponent of “day-and-date” releases for independent titles, a system by which films are released on streaming services on the same day as they appear in theatres. Netflix, which recently expanded into film production, will release their homegrown titles using this model.
• Paramount are planning to approach other cinema chains to see if they are willing to take the two films on similar terms. In return, exhibitors will get a cut of the rental revenue for 90 days after the films’ theatrical release.
• “Consumers know theatrical movies from their ‘gotta see it now’ exclusive releases in theaters, but every movie is different, and a one-size-fits-all business model has never made sense,” he said.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/apr/16/movie-downloads-streaming-legally

• According to the British Video Association, the market for legal downloads of films more than doubled from £35m to £78m in 2010, while rental-style digital services grew in value by £5m to £205m last year
• The film industry's hope is that the growing number of legal sites offering affordable (and even free) downloading and streaming of movies will mean consumers will abandon dodgy filesharing sources, which still account for the vast majority of downloads.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/apr/05/youtube-deal-paramount-pictures

• YouTube has reached a deal to screen films from Paramount Pictures in the US and Canada, meaning the web channel now has agreements with all six major Hollywood studios bar Twentieth Century Fox.
• The contract means users of the channel will be able to stream more than 9,000 Paramount titles.
• The channel is seen as a competitor to services such as Netflix and LoveFilm, along with YouTube, in Britain.
• "Paramount Pictures is one of the biggest movie studios on the planet," 
• YouTube also has agreements with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Studios in North America. The deal with Paramount is all the more remarkable because of the studio's attempt last October to revive a long-standing $1bn legal battle with YouTube over allegedly unauthorised clips from TV shows shown on the website. No verdict has yet been delivered in the case.
• Where once it was eyed suspiciously by the film industry, YouTube has increasingly been seen as a potential business partner for studios looking to increase revenue from streaming services, in stark contrast with file sharing sites.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/17/digital-piracy-film-online-counterfeit-dvds

• The movie industry excels in selling dreams. But since the dawn of the digital revolution, there is one narrative they've consistently and conspicuously failed to sell: that piracy is theft and consumers who indulge ought to feel guilty about it. Recent research by Ipsos suggests that almost 30% of the UK population is active in some form of piracy, either through streaming content online or buying counterfeit DVDs. Such theft costs the UK audiovisual industries about £500m a year.

Independent NDM case study: Media Factsheet research

Analysing Media Texts

• In Media Studies “text” refers to any media product such as a television programme, a film, photographs, web pages, advertisments etc.

Media Language 1: The Moving Image

• As audiences, we have a sophisticated understanding of the way moving image techniques are used but often we are unaware of precisely how sophisticated we are.
• Media producers are aware of how audiences interpret their choices and so their choices can be seen as deliberate attempts to create certain meanings.

Representing the world

• Representation is: the constructed and mediated presentation of people, things, ideas, places etc.
• Everything in the media is a representation – everything we see is being represented.
• The media re-presents people, ideas and events. What we see in the media is in some way a ‘second-hand’ version – it is clearly not the thing itself. The representation has been created or constructed by the selection of specific media language elements. In addition, everything we see in a media text has gone through some process to get to us – this is called mediation
• Sometimes, representations are seen to be a deliberate attempt to create associations and ideas for the audience.
• Advertising can be seen in this way too as the linking together of ideas and images to a product is used to persuade the audience to act in a certain way.
• Even though some media texts can be seen to be very deliberately creating ideas and associations through representations, this way of viewing the media can lead to an undermining of the audience. There is an assumption here that these intentionalist methods are always successful and the audience is ‘victim’ to the ideas created by the media. It assumes they are passive and unable to recognise the techniques being used. Clearly this is a simplistic view of the audience and does not take into account their ability to interpret information for themselves. However, advertising does work. Successful products and brands rely on it to alert the audience to the existence of their product and to persuade them to choose it over the alternatives that are available. They pay large amounts of money for space on TV, in magazines, on billboards etc. specifically for this purpose.

Stereotypes: Simplifying the Complex

• Stereotypes are: Simplified representations which focus on certain characteristics of the group and assumes these to be shared across all group members. Inherent within a stereotype is a judgement on this characteristic (usually negative – but not always).
• The media uses stereotypes to communicate complex information about a character, time period, location etc. as quickly as possible. They are able to do this as, they do not simply create stereotypes, they reflect the stereotypes that already exist within a culture. By using these stereotypes, the media can be said to be reinforcing the ideas behind them and consolidating the views they contain. Often the media is criticised for creating stereotypes, but they are usually part of the audience’s way of thinking about the world anyway
• The theorist Perkins noted that stereotypes usually have an element of truth in them which makes them plausible. 

Introduction to Audience

• Every media text is made with a view to pleasing an audience in some way. Success is measured by the audiences response to a media text and those that do not attract and maintain an audience do not survive. At the heart of this is the fact that all media texts are created in order to make money.
• If a media text is deemed successful it needs to attempt to ensure it offers appropriate pleasures (gratifications) its audience. Each media text will be targeted towards a specific group and the way it is constructed will be carefully considered in light of who the target audience is.
• Some media texts attempt to appeal to a broad range of people. Although difficult to achieve, this is an ideal way to create very large audiences and, therefore, maximise the potential for success and ultimately profit. This group, consisting of males and females, young and old and a wide range of social groups is often called the mainstream or mass audience.
• The mass audience is not the only one that can make a lot of money for media producers. Some media texts are created with a specific sub-section of the audience in mind - a niche audience. Whilst a niche audience is likely to be smaller in number than a mass audience, there are many ways appealing to a specific group can be profitable
• It is important for media producers to recognise and identify who their target audience is. It is the knowledge of who the audience is assumed to be that enables media producers to make specific choices about how to construct their media texts. This knowledge will help them decide on what content to include and how to present the content. The first consideration will always be attempting to appeal to and maintain the interest of the identified audience. Media producers are keen to give their audience what they want so that the audience are more likely to watch or read again.
• Members of a media audience cannot all be exactly the same. Media producers need to consider their target audiences as a mass in order to attempt to appeal to them. In reality there will always be differences in the way audience members access texts and the interpretations they make. The aspects of ourselves which make us individuals may also impact on the way we interpret a text. These aspects have been called subjectives… they are the things which add to the way we view and define the world around us and include: • Gender • Age • Nationality • Life experience. 
• Subjectives may go some way to explain why you and your parents like different media texts – the differences in your age and life experience means you will interpret media texts differently, will have different ways of being entertained and will have different perspectives on the content of texts. Products which aim at a niche audience attempt to capitalise on these subjectives but texts which aim at a mass audience attempt to limit their impact by focusing on things that different people are likely to share. 

Ideology: Ideas and Values within Contemporary Media

• A media text may reflect the dominant values of our culture, or indeed it may actively reinforce the dominant values, but it is important to note that media texts often challenge, contradict or even subvert the dominant values to be found in our society.
• Audience and Ideology: Stuart Hall’s critical approach A text may seek to confirm (agree with) dominant values, challenge them or even undermine them, but the text’s intention doesn’t necessarily dictate the audience’s response. Outlined below are three broad ways (developed by Stuart Hall) in which the audience could respond to the ideological messages in a text. 1. A preferred reading, when the audience responds by accepting the intended meaning of the producer and finding it relatively easy to agree with the ideological messages in the text. 2. An oppositional reading, when the audience rejects the intentions of the text. 3. A negotiated reading, when the audience works hard to accept some messages and reject others The most common type of reading is probably the negotiated reading. It is incorrect to assume that audiences simply seek out texts that will reinforce their existing beliefs and try to avoid texts that will challenge them. Audiences are capable of actively accepting and rejecting ideological messages from the same text. You can use Stuart Hall’s terms to describe the three possible ways an audience could react to a text’s ideology.

Independent NDM case study: Media Magazine research

The first research task for your New/Digital Media independent case study is to use the Media Magazine archive.

Use our Media Magazine archive but particularly the Word document with the contents page for each issue.

MM30 – PG52.

·         American Reality shows – they’re glossy, manipulative, and highly addictive. And they often open with the words: ‘Some scenes have been recreated for entertainment purposes’. So where exactly is the ‘reality’?

·         Jean Baudrillard argues in his book Simulacra and simulation that: The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth – it is the truth which conceals that there is none. This suggests that In contemporary society our system of representations, symbols and images has become so vital, it supersedes the truth it claims to signify to the extent where that truth fades into oblivion, or fails to exist at all.

·         Baudrillard’s theory is particularly appropriate to the study of reality television and to the exploration of the idea that on TV, we rarely see a ‘true’ reality. Situations are manipulated, events are dramatised and incidents are staged and enhanced ‘for entertainment purposes’.

·         Paradoxically, ‘reality’ is constructed within a genre that claims to give the audience the ‘truth’ as it actually happened. In other words, they create a ‘truth’ that never has, or arguably never would have existed in reality.

MM30v – PG58-60.

·         Indeed, the history of media technology in the twentieth century was built on this premise: cinema, television, music video and computer games all invite the audience to suspend disbelief and inhabit a parallel fantasy world made possible only by successive advancements in technology.

·         The last thirty years has seen a profusion of films, television and pop music that play with audience expectations in their use of intertextual references and self-reflexive allusions. However, perhaps what marks out the genuinely postmodern from ironic critique is the way in which audience appropriation of new media technologies is both naturalised and creative.

·         Throughout the history of television and cinema, audiences have traditionally been very accepting of the ways in which media texts invite the viewer to confront their own perception of reality. As the silent movie era moved into that of the talking picture, for example, audiences did not recoil with incredulity that the image projected on to the screen was actually speaking, but accepted the concept as natural and unaffected.

·         By the same token audiences have been extremely imaginative in the way in which new media technologies have been incorporated into their day-to-day existence.

·         Of course the proliferation of the internet from the late 1990s onwards has accelerated and heightened people’s routine use of technology in their day-to-day engagement with society and culture. And, indeed, it is befitting that the proliferation of laptops, wireless and broadband technology in the Noughties has liberated people from viewing computer technology as fixed to work stations previously associated with word processing and gaming.

·         The internet has infused contemporary civilisation with a new vitality that can be felt across various media forms including television, film, pop music and the press.

·         Various theoreticians have argued that the appropriation of media texts is symptomatic of cultural malaise. Frankfurt School theorists like Theodore Adorno, for example, viewed the gramophone record and cinema as a means of distracting the working class from their disadvantaged social positions.

MM33 – PG13.

·         Michel Gondry is the herald of child-like naïve cinema. He has the ability to encapsulate human emotion in its barest form and portrays it in a way only a child could see.

·         His complicated, endearing and visually-captivating films are one in a million, creating his own distinctive style that clearly comes from his experiences. His approach to directing is fun and compelling, focusing on dream-like scenarios that shouldn’t happen anywhere else but your mind. Michel Gondry’s films can be described as Surrealist or Fantasy cinema or even avant-garde; his style is best characterised through his use of animation and mise-en-scène.

MM33 – PG17-18.

·         Without doubt people in the creative industries are often the first to adopt, and then the first to discard, new technologies. Whether it’s aspects of new social media such as Twitter, or the technology that enabled James Cameron to take a huge innovative leap in Avatar and to win three Oscars in 2009 (albeit in the technical categories, not Best Picture), the media industry will be the first to exploit the potential of a new technology for both creative and commercial gain.

·         Technology enables us to do what we already do better and faster and, from a business perspective, more efficiently.

·         Technological innovation is hardly new to themedia industry. In 1450 Guttenberg designed the printing press; until that time print materials were produced by hand.

·         Printing was the start of the mass media industry and the first step to the democratisation of knowledge. It was a few hundred years before photography, followed by sound reproduction, made further in-roads into the ability to reach a wider audience.

·         The moving image came in the 1910s with the first cinemas, followed by radio in the 1920s and television in the 1930s. The web emerged in the 1990s, and the universal mobile phone in 2000. Technology has driven the creative industries which owe their very existence to these series of technological breakthroughs.

·         However, the key factor since the 1950s is not just the new technology but the rate of change that has taken place and the reduced time it takes to reach the consumer and change the market.

·         It is suggested that every new technology goes through what Gartner, a business consulting organisation, calls the hype curve. This hype curve starts when the technology first becomes available and the very keen early adopters buy the product or service with no real understanding of its potential or pitfalls. It doesn’t matter whether it is a technological innovation such as the iPad or a more nebulous system such as Twitter; both will get launched with a fanfare of yet-to-be-fulfilled promise.

·         Until the early 1990s ‘media’ meant mass media. There were very clear channels to the audiences and markets, and very clear delineation of the technologies used to reach them. Radio and TV were broadcast and predominantly free for all to access. The print industry was made up of newspapers, magazines and books; the film industry was all on celluloid and so required a specialist location to present their films.

·         The technological change that threw this up in the air was digitisation. Digitisation brought about the convergence of all these seemingly unique channels to single, transportable, common format.

·         The convergence of telecommunications, IT and media into the common digital format meant that many different types of content have been, and can be, aggregated into one multiple media product or service.

MM34 – PG22.

·         Consumption was steadily changing, and this was spurred on by further technological developments such as online media. The internet offered a new platform for television to reach its audience; with the launch of media services such as the BBC iPlayer in 2007, audiences could now choose to watch episodes of EastEnders anytime up to seven days after its first play on BBC. Audiences no longer needed to be at home to consume their favourite show; they could now create their own scheduling as restrictions lessened.

·         Although these new technologies have increased audience choice and enabled the channels to reach wider audiences, it could be argued that this has resulted in programmes such as EastEnders losing the ability to bring together a family and to provide rounded entertainment.

·         Over recent years media development has been rapid and convergence has become the centre of modern life. With products such as the iPhone offering multiple devices in one, the audience has come to expect ease and accessibility. Modern audiences are used to having all their desired technology at their fingertips in one product, and this has greatly affected audience consumption.

·         Audience demand has now been met. Now we not only choose when but also where we consume our entertainment; this has been made possible through portability, arguably the most important advance in technology over recent years, as consumers can have a phone, camera, television, and internet connection all in their pocket.

·         These changes in online media technology have successfully met the demands of audience consumption; however, it is also important to consider the possible impact of this on audience behaviour.

·         Over-accessibility may change why the audience chooses to consume in the first place; where once there was a desire to see something that was a novelty and share it with friends and family members, the audience now constantly demands something new, and often watches it in isolation. Our views are no longer shared there and then, but exchanged over social networking sites, or via feedback left on the website forums associated with said programme. The audience is fragmented at every point: on hearing about the potential programme, whilst viewing it, and finally reflecting upon it.

MM37 – page 14

• Budgets generally are getting both bigger and smaller at the same time. The major studios are driving budgets up in the hope of utilising new technologies to create a greater spectacle to induce audiences into 3D and IMAX screenings.
•  And what is the most successful film worldwide as I write? The King’s Speech had a production budget of $15 million and a worldwide gross of $400 million plus.
• Film budgets are usually expressed in terms of two sets of costs: above the line (ATL) and below the line (BTL).
• Above the line costs are ‘direct’ and largely fixed – in other words they must be paid irrespective of what happens during the production. They refer to the fees for all the principal creators of the film and the cost of acquiring the original intellectual property.
• Below the line costs are indirect and refer to the goods and services purchased/hired as required for production activities – the ‘running costs’ of the production.
•  The more that roles can be combined, the less expensive the production.
• Costumes and locations create major costs. Let’s take costumes first. The audience for a film like Atonement (UK/US 2007) expects authenticity in costumes, and the novel suggests two distinct periods that require research and re-creation. A well-off family in a 1930s country house wore various different types of costumes, ‘dressing’ for dinner, for sports, for dances etc.
• House interiors for the periodhad to be researched and recreated (partly from second-hand shops). Cast members had to get haircuts and appropriate costumes – and negotiations were necessary to acquire the rights for music (mostly reggae and ska) that fitted the time period.
• Gareth Edwards’ film Monsters has come to be seen as something of a ‘game changer’ in low budget production. The film was made for around $500,000 and yet it was presented in CinemaScope on multiplex screens across the UK and featured some beautiful CGI work.

MM50 – page 26

• In 2013 the biggest grossing movie in North America (which includes Canada) was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which took $425m at the box office.
• In 2012 Lionsgate was the 5th top distributor (based on box office gross) in North America, putting it ahead of Hollywood major studios 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. Does this mean we have a seventh major studio to consider?
• Lionsgate began in 1997 as a Canadian distribution company based in Vancouver and, according to the-numbers.com, has distributed 261 films since. Only 10 of these have exceeded $100m at the North American box office, the cut-off point for a film having ‘blockbuster’ status.
• The Walt Disney Company has five divisions that include a record label, television stations, videogames as well as theme parks.
• Lionsgate has four divisions,which include both the television and music industries, and even though it produces television programmes, such as Orange is the New Black for Netflix, and part-owns nine cable television channels, some of which do play the company’s films and television programmes, it is nevertheless a small company.
• Walt Disney’s market capitalisation calculated on number of shares x share price) was $155.33bn compared to Lionsgate’s $4.49bn.
• Anita Elberse (2013) has pointed out, the blockbuster strategy is the only one that is economically viable in the film industry
• In early 2012 Lionsgate bought the independent producer Summit Entertainment, and so inherited the Twilight franchise. Until then it had only released one $100m-plus film, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), a documentary
• Warner Bros. spent around $100m producing The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), which only took just over $7m worldwide at the box office.
• Fewer than 500,000 copies of the first The Hunger Games book had sold in 2009 when Lionsgate reportedly paid author Suzanne Collins $200,000 for the rights to the trilogy.
• Lionsgate increased The Hunger Games’ budget to $80 million
• Lionsgate hasstated it wants to increase the amount of money it makes from television programmes; but, at the time of writing, the amount of revenue that television brings in is only a small proportion of the total, and it remains reliant on its film division.

MEST3 Independent case study: New and Digital Media

You've studied your main New and Digital Media case study, the news industry, in great detail and have also covered the second exam topic: Identities and the Media. 

You now need an independent New and Digital Media case study for your Section B exam essay. This should be on an aspect of the media YOU are particularly interested in. Choose an industry - it could be film, music, gaming, social media or something else. You then have to choose a case study within that industry - it could be a particular text (e.g. film, game etc.) or an institution (e.g. Rockstar Games or Twitter). Once you have selected your case study you need to get it approved by your teacher - and then embark on the tasks below.

Case study research tasks

The basics

Your chosen industry: Film 

Your chosen case study (i.e. text/institution etc.): Netflix, Putlocker etc.. streaming. 

Have you received approval for this case study from your teacher? Yes

http://www.medienabc.org/page32/files/page32_6.pdf

"movie production [can] be seen as the creation of entertainment software that can be viewed through several different windows and transported to several different platforms maintained by other divisions of tightly diversified media corporations."

This suggests that the film industry is not so much an industry that produces films out one that is concerned to ensure that films are shown and seen.

Audience

http://mediafilmindustry.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/what-impact-has-digital-technology-had.html

http://www.screendaily.com/news/film-must-embrace-changing-audiences/5080537.article

http://www.slideshare.net/missgillies/impact-of-digital-technology-on-audiences-and-institutions

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/120624/DCMS_film_policy_review_report-2012_update.pdf

The use of digital technology has become increasingly evident, moving into the hands of audiences, and changing the way we consume media. The film industry has gained both advantages and disadvantages from this change and is likely to continue adapting in the future, from the introduction of new technologies and their availability to the audience.

1) How has new and digital media changed the audience experience in your chosen industry?

- Audiences can access films more conveniently and are able to experience what they watch in HD. Better quality has enhanced the viewing experience for the audiences.

2) Has new and digital media changed the way the audience consume your chosen product?

-In terms of the film industry, audiences now have more ways to consume movies rather than just having to go to the cinema or buy the DVD. There are now other ways to stream movies such as Netflix, Amazon Prime etc.. This has created more choice for audiences as they have more options to choose from giving them the power do decide the way the want to consume a product.

3) Has the size of the audience changed as a result of new and digital media?

- The size of the audience has changed as a result of the new and digital media as there are different platforms to access them from. They have more choice and are able to use a method that is convenient to them. Also, there are websites on the internet which allows free movie streaming which may be more convenient and cause the size of the audience to grow.

4) What are the positive changes new and digital media have brought to the audience of your case study? (E.g. greater choice, easier access etc.)
- The positive changes that the audiences benefit from are having greater choice and easier access. 

5) What are the negative changes new and digital media have had on your chosen audience? (E.g. quality of product etc.)

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/17/digital-piracy-film-online-counterfeit-dvds
'Recent research by Ipsos suggests that almost 30% of the UK population is active in some form of piracy, either through streaming content online or buying counterfeit DVDs. Such theft costs the UK audiovisual industries about £500m a year.'

6) What about audience pleasures - have these changed as a result of new and digital media? 

-Audience pleasures have changed in the sense that they are now able to watch movies at the comfort of their own homes or even on the go - whatever is suitable to the individual itself. 

-Audience Pleasures which are provided through Genres:

• Emotional Pleasures- Romantic Films/ Horror- Creates Anxiety
• Visceral Pleasures- Horror/ Thriller/ Action- e.g. SALT
• Intellectual Puzzles- unravelling a mystery or puzzle e.g. Adventure
• Counter-Culture Attraction- society’s moral and legal regulations being broken e.g. Crime Drama
• Genre Communities- Community of genre fans sharing an experience. Like Daniel Chandler said ‘pleasures can be derived through communities of a genre can share their experience of watching specific films which are targeted to them’
• Our identification with difference and repetition within a narrative- This would include superhero characteristics for example Kick Ass

7) What is the target audience for your chosen case study? Write a demographic/psychographic profile.

The target audience for my chosen case study would be teens and young adults, of any gender as they would have plenty of free time and willingness to stay indoors watching movies. Also, depending on the type of movie, the target audience may vary. 


Institution

1) How has new and digital media had an impact on ownership or control in your chosen industry?
-Although ownership remains in the hands of big film producers, however, audiences have more control. The use of DV cameras among audiences has significantly affected the film industry, in that audiences themselves can feel closer to the film industry and take part in similar processes of production and therefore also have a level of ownership in the industry.
- Pluralists argue that media owners are generally responsible in the way that they manage information because media content is mainly shaped by consumer demand in the marketplace. They therefore only give the buying public what they want.  
- Pluralists argue that media audiences are the real power holders because they can exercise the right to buy or not to buy. If they did not like the choices that media owners are making available to them, such audiences would respond by not buying the product. 
- In the film industry, sites such as Netflix have given audiences ultimate control over consumption of movies accordingly. Before NDM audiences would have to watch movies when they were released in cinemas but now they can chose when to consume them and how as they have a wide range of platforms to choose from. 

2) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions distribute their product?
- Institutions are now able to distribute their products on many different platforms rather than just through the initial way through cinemas. They are now able to use other platforms such as distribution through netflix.. 

3) How might new and digital media threaten your chosen industry?

New and digital media threaten my chosen industry as more audiences would stop going cinema as they would've paid for Netflix and therefore prefer to watch movies from there rather then spending more money to go to the cinema. It would cause the film industry to go down in the money they make. Indeed, regarding the impact of the illegal downloading on the movie industry over the last decade, the consumers’ willingness-to-pay has declined, consequently movies are less and less economically sustainable. The direct result is a reduction of the diversity of the movies produced. The perception of a higher involvement from the public could be a solution for a more sustainable industry. Indeed, the incentive to produce movies can be boosted by the audience’s awareness and interest for a project they have been participated in since its inception. Producers still originate the initiative and, then rely on the creativeness of the targeted audience. The success can be anticipated.

4) How has new and digital media changed the way your chosen industry is regulated? 

UGC

1) What examples of user-generated content can you find in your case study?
Posting films on YouTube
Free download links on Torrents 
Movies on Put-locker

2) How has UGC changed things for audiences or institutions in your chosen case study?
- The use of DV cameras among audiences has significantly affected the film industry, in that audiences themselves can feel closer to the film industry and take part in similar processes of production. The decreasing price of DV cameras, as well as the introduction of new technologies over the last decade has increased the use of them, making them available to more people, and increasing the quality of the product.

-Users can upload their own ‘films’ to the internet, on websites such as YouTube

http://mediafilmindustry.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/what-impact-has-digital-technology-had.html
Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1) What would be a Marxist perspective of the impact of new and digital media on your chosen case study?
-A Marxist would state that new and digital media has given audiences more variety and access, however the film industry still continue to make their money from customers as audiences still go to watch movies in the cinema.

2) How would a pluralist view the impact of new and digital media in your chosen industry?
-A Pluralist would state that the new and digital media has given audiences access and more of a variety of options to watch movies from other institutions and organisations. The idea that new and digital media has given audiences the power to post movies online and receive many views - (user generated content). 

3) Are there any examples of hegemony in your chosen industry or case study?

-The examples of hegemony is the people who own the cinema as they still continue to make enough money from audiences who enjoy watching films at the cinema.

Globalisation

1) How has globalisation impacted on your chosen industry or case study?
-The steady globalisation of Hollywood as an expression of both market forces and US government action on international trade issues has, of course, engendered numerous clashes and disputes.

2) In your opinion, has globalisation had a positive or negative impact on your chosen industry and case study? Why?
-American media conglomerates are no longer the unchallenged champions of cultural globalization that they once were. With the rise of large multinational media corporations based in Europe and Japan, the global cultural landscape is becoming considerably more complex, and competitive pressures are mounting steadily

3) Can you find examples of cultural imperialism in your case study or industry? (The 'Americanisation' of the world)

-Among these debates, an important discourse called 'cultural imperialism', which is resulted from the worry of the inequality of global media ownership, control consumption and content, should be highlighted. A number of scholars, because of the superiority of Western media products on the consumption marketing, claim that media globalization equals 'cultural imperialism', and convey deep concerns with globally cultural homogenization and standardization. 

Social media

1) How has your industry or case study used social media to promote its products?
-Social media has been used to promote organisations such as Netflix as they post pictures of 'memes' or individuals post pictures of Netflix which therefore raise awareness. 

2) Provide examples of how your case study has used social media and explain the impact this would have on audiences.

• Pictures on Twitter, Instagram
• Movies on Youtube
• Netflix and Chill'

Audiences know more about trends as they would spread and more audiences would be accustomed to using these products.

3) Is social media an opportunity or a threat to your industry and case study?
-Social media is therefore a threat to films as more individuals would be aware of film streaming such as Netflix and Put-locker; this would put down the idea of going to the cinema and audiences would consume things that are for free and easier to access than going to the cinema on a regular basis. Its cheaper to be a member of Netflix than being a member at the cinema. Netflix also gives opportunity to watch TV programmes. 

Statistics

1) What statistics can you find to illustrate the impact new and digital media has had on your industry or case study? For example, in news, the UK newspaper industry sold more than 12m copies a day in 2001 but in 2014 it was below 7m.

-'Movie attendance dropped by a surprisingly sharp 5.1% in 2014 according to new data. This is unlikely to be just a normal part of industry ebb and flow since admittances plunged to lowest level since 1995, even though the U.S. population has grown robustly in the past two decades.' 

2) Looking at these statistics, what impact has new/digital media had on institutions in your chosen industry? 

-The statistics therefore show how many individuals have stopped visiting the cinema due to Netflix and other movie streaming websites. The impact of new and digital media shows that a certain group of individuals buy more into institutions such as Netflix than going to the cinema. 

3) What has the impact been for audiences? These may be positive and negative.

-The impact on audiences has therefore been positive as audiences have gained more variety and choice and how and where they may want to watch movies. They have gained more control as they are able to post their own links on the internet to watch movies or they are able to watch movies on YouTube or post their own movies on YouTube for other individuals to watch,.
Theories

1) What media theories can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media theories and explain how they are relevant to your case study. Note: these can be ANY of the theories we have learned over the whole of Year 12 and 13.

- Gillian Dyer: Lines of appeal - Attract auduences.

• Happy family
• Rich lifestyles (aspirational)
• Successful romance and love
• Comedy Humour
• Glamorous places
• Beautiful women (Female gaze-Rosalind Gill) & (Male Gaze-Mulvey)
• Childhood - nostalgia (reminiscing) or nurturing insticts
• Self-Importance or pride
• Successful careers
• Dreams and fantasies
• Art, culture and history
• Elite people or experts
• Nature or natural world

- Katz & Blumler: Uses and Gratifications - watching film for a variety of purposes; 

• Diversion (escapism & entertainment)
• Surveillance (information - Documentary films)
• Personal identity (self-understanding and value judgement - use of brands)
• Personal relationship (using the media for emotional and other interaction)

http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/short/usegrat.html
http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/uses.html
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience 

Issues/debates

1) What media issues and debates can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media issues/debates and explain how they are relevant to your case study.

Issues/Debates

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using the Media A-Z to help you think about this:

• Representation and stereotyping
• Media effects
• Reality TV
• News Values
• Moral Panics
• Post 9/11 and the media
• Ownership and control
• Regulation and censorship
• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century
• The effect of globalisation on the media

- Representation & Stereotyping

http://mediamacguffin13.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/critical-investigation-proposal.html

Wider examples and secondary texts

1) What other texts or institutions are also relevant to your case study? What would be good secondary texts or examples to use to support the findings of your independent case study?

-Other texts or institutions that are relevant to my case study is music streaming. The idea that music is streamed easily online, on YouTube, on applications such as Spotify or Playtube. This has been the biggest change and has had the most negative changes due to new and digital media, as audiences no longer need to buy cd's when they can easily listen to an album online or on their apps on their phones. This therefore causes the artist to loose out on making money through cd's, which leaves them with live shows on making money. This has been the biggest negative impact on the music industry however, it has given audiences the biggest freedom in terms of choice and control and views and values. It has given audiences easier access to music.


Ignite presentation

When you have completed your independent case study research, prepare a 20-slide, 5 minute Ignite presentation on your chosen industry and case study. You will present this in class to widen our overall knowledge of the impact of new and digital media on a variety of industries, examples and texts. Remember the Ignite rules:

• 20 slides
• 15-second auto-advance
• No more than 20 words on each slide

You will not be able to include ALL of the above sections so be selective and choose the aspects you feel will be most interesting and relevant to your audience - the rest of the class.