Wednesday, 27 March 2019

Media Theories

Stuart Hall - looked at how media works, how it constructs representations. He said representation is 'mediated through language' (spoken or visual language).

'Reality is mediated through language' - I think that this means that the big corporations control what we think, what we see, what they want us to see. They want to paint their vision of the world and push their agenda about anything that exists. They have their own 'version' of truth of reality.

Whatever you get in the media isn't factual, the truth is filtered and the versions of the event you're being shown is from the eyes of the person making the piece of media content.

Media can influence us but the media corporations don't realize that not everyone is gullible and will believe everything they're told, we have our own minds, we can think for ourselves (constructionist view)

The Guardian: reaction to Trump's victory.
There were a variety of reactions following Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.

Some news outlets were horrified by the news with the Daily Mirror using a photo of the Statue of Liberty with its head in its hands. The Statue of Liberty is a famous American landmark, and the metaphor could be that the Statue of Liberty having its head in its hands is a representation of what the world as a whole thinks of the news of Trump's election. It's joined with the headline 'What have they done?' which is a rhetorical question asking the American population what they were thinking when they elected this man, the Daily Mirror are clear in their political views, they are quite clearly anti-Trump and their cover only backs this theory.

However, some outlets took a more neutral stance, not showing their political beliefs in their front cover. Most newspapers focused on the victory itself, and how much of a shock it genuinely was, because regardless of who you supported in the US election, nobody genuinely thought Trump was going to win, and most newspapers were shocked with the outcome as it seemed that Hillary Clinton would've came out of the election with an easy victory, the focus was on how this was possible, how a reality TV star managed to become president of the US, more analytical rather than opinionated. Some outlets also seemed like they were waiting to see what happens next, because this news created a lot of suspense to the general public as many are unsure what to expect of Trump, given he had no prior political experience before getting the biggest political position in the world. Nobody knows what to expect, even the media themselves aren't sure what'll happen.

Richard Dyer - stereotypes are reduced/limited to a few characteristics.
Stereotypes exaggerate difference, which may cause conflict between certain groups.
The media don't create stereotypes, they reinforce them.
Stereotyping are a way of quickly conveying info
Identities can be constructed and communicated via stereotypes.
Those with power stereotype the less powerful.

Sunday, 10 March 2019

Unit 8 - Responding to a Commission.

Client: Box Clever Events/Harton & Westoe Boxing and Fitness Club

Campaign plans
1. Firstly, I will make a video on YouTube to promote Box Clever Events and more specifically letting the audience know about the white collar boxing matches that can allow normal people like you and me to raise money for a charity of their own choosing. It will also include videos from the fitness club itself so any potential new members can get a feel as to what it'd be like.
Why a YouTube video?
I have chosen a YouTube video as YouTube is one of the most recognizable applications in the modern world today. Everybody of all ages and genders watches YouTube,

Wednesday, 6 March 2019

Unit 1 - video games.

Modern day video games are way more technically advanced than the games of the past. Video games have many different scenarios for the same scene in the game. We as the consumers like video games because it gives us a sense of control, we're in charge of what happens to the characters.

Playing games is a lot different now. Social media has made video games a massive industry, with there now being e-sports teams and the e-sport industry is a booming business.

Social interaction: the traditional old fashioned way of playing video games was where you play with your neighbor. Now, you can play games with people from all over the world, I could play a game of FIFA against someone in America for example. People who play video games seem to isolate themselves from the real world, they see no need to go out that often because they have everything at their fingertips. If you're interested in a certain game, you'll go and subscribe to a YouTube channel which plays that specific game and interact, posting comments, etcetera. You can discuss said game with other people on forums as well.

Augmented and virtual reality: VR 'blurs' reality, as VR allows us to enter into our favorite video game worlds and allows us to live in the world we've spent so many hours playing in.

Players as developers: Kickstarter is used by independent film/game makers where you can get funding for a certain project, it 'kickstarts' the project. With kickstarting projects you have more creative control, as you aren't under a studio who tell you what to do, you can make whatever you want too.

Stereotypical gamer: male, white, teenagers, anti social, nerds, glasses, virgin.

However, studies show that 50% of gamers are female and older people are playing more games, on mobile.

Who makes games: white heterosexual males. Creators make games based on their experiences.

Male character: Vito Scaletta (below) from the game trilogy Mafia is a character who is based on a popular stereotype. Scaletta is Italian and he immigrated to New York from Italy when he was a young child, and the stereotype with Italian-Americans is that every one of them are involved with the mafia.

And this game portrays that no different, Vito quickly ventures into a life of a crime and first gets involved with the mafia via his friend Joe Barbaro. Who gets Vito involved with the mafia and the two first do work for the Clemente crime family, this fuels the stereotype that all Italian men are gangsters. However, he gets involved with the mob because he is poor and has no other opportunities, which is the motivation for a lot of future mobsters (both real and fictional)

He is portrayed as young man who only ventures into crime because he has no choice, the legal system hasn't helped him so he feels that the only way to make it in the world, is to venture into the criminal underworld, the thing that attracts him to the mafia is the supposed respect that the mob commands, mobsters are men of honor and respect, and to a young man, really attracts you to that life.

In real life the character received criticism for the reasons I mentioned above. This game didn't help with the stereotype association of Italy and the mafia. This stereotype harms normal hard working Italians because as soon as someone hears the word 'Italy' they think of the mafia and that is a harmful reputation to have, despite the mafia being so culturally imbrued in our society.

Image result for vito scaletta

Networking and Gaining Experience

Throughout the past 2 years I have been on multiple trips and have been on placement which has enabled me to meet already established indivi...