Conference

David Buckingham

Why do people talk rubbish about Media Studies

Some used the excuse of Homer Simpson in order to stop schools from teaching and showing the Simpson's. Simpson's replaced the idea of teaching Shakespeare and the claimed that the school followed the national curriculum and by studying Simpson's enabled students to become critical and analytic of moving images and gain a better understanding of audiences and narrative. "studying the opening of Dickens Great Expectations is just as challenging as studying the opening of The Simpson's".

Young Children are stupefied by the mass media and media is considered a Mickey Mouse subject. It won't get you a job because it is vocational, and vocational subjects are considered to be downgraded.

Class --> vote - threat to civilisation and the new democracy would lead to anarchy.

Frank Leavis --> lecturer at Cambridge claimed Civilisation was going down and studied literature. By doing so he was seen as radical and faced criticism. Tried to get English as an academic subject.

Media literacy --> violence, tobacco, alcohol, sex & obesity.

Media Studies --> "Guarantee high grades" > soft subject

Can Media Studies get you a job?

"High percentage get jobs in media after leaving uni compared to other subjects" Media studies come out with many social skills such as presentation skills, talking skills, problem solving skills etc. "People are stupid and ignorant and therefore feel hostile about media studies".

Julian McDoodle

Online Media, Cleggmania and the Cowell Factor

The fact that we are considered the media makes society more democratic. The media world is more converged which makes it more interactive.

Media industry + politics expect media to be more interactive to make it more democratic. Web 1.0 + Web. 2.0 = Media 1.0 + Media 2.0. The point which was being made across was the fact that new copies of books would die out in eventually 10 to 15 years and the world would become more interactive and converged.

David Gauntlett, media was like the gods who sent down all the information but now we are in control of media use.

Dan Gilmor --> we are the media, grassroots journalism by the people, for the people.

David Gauntlett

Sonia Livingstone

David Buckingham

Annette Hill

Michael Wesch

Dan Gilmor

Henry Jenkins

Graeme Turner

^^ read different ideas

pick examples

apply reading to examples

weigh up debates

develop, informed, academic view

RESEARCH

really look at real examples looking at everything about them

keep evidence of all research

research every angle

conventions, audiences, institutions

PLANNING

what could possibly go wrong. plan for all eventualities

record all planning

show the process of your projects journey

EVIDENCE

storyboards,animations

IDEAS

keep ideas simple

have a workable concept with realistic plans

try the '25 word pitch'

GET FEEDBACK

at all stages from peers, teachers and others

keep records of the feedback

keep records + respond to it

LOGISTICS

people, places ,props, costumes

get it done early

rehearse + prepare

share contact details for all involved

PRODUCTION

always shoot extra coverage

organise material before editing

start with big picture

Critical Investigation & Linked Production

Initial Ideas
- How has film represented the changes in stereotypes of Muslims Post 9/11
- Are the representations of Arabs in video games an accurate representation of them in real life?
- How does the genre of violence in video games attract a teenage demographic within print advertising?


Production


- Opening scene of a film, parodying the traditional stereotypes of Muslims
- Documentary based on the comparisons of representations in video games and real life
- Magazine article promoting a new and upcoming video game, and maybe a viral campaign/web advertisement

Texts to Study

- Four Lions & The Infidel
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Medal of Honour
- Edge Magazine, GamerZines, Call of Duty, Medal of Honour, Hitman


BEST IDEA
How does graphic violence within video games attract a teenage demographic within print advertising?


Media Language
Contrast of lighting to make the game give a greater impact and engage their audience, a lot of blood and gore is used to add to the graphicness of the violence. The use of non diegetic and diegetic sounds are used from songs in the background to suit the mood of the game and also sounds such as heavy breathing to make the game more tense, gun shots and voices are also used.


Institution
Activision - Call of Duty : Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward - Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2
EA Games - Medal of Honour
Eidos Games - Hitman
Rockstar Games - Manhunt
Game Magazines
PC Gamer
PCZone
The Official Xbox Magazine
The Official Playstation Magazine
EDGE Magazine
GamerZines

Genre
Action - Most violent games consist of a lot of action, this genre is one of the most attractive genres and therefore game producers use this genre to their advantage when producing a very violent game.
Shooter - Other than just raw blood and gore, weapons are also essential to meet a target markets requirements and many weapons such as guns and knifes etc. are included in shooters. Psychological horror - A genre which influences a lot of young teenagers and encourages them to carry out things which they see in these types of video games. An example would be Manhunt which influenced a lot of young kids and therefore was banned.

Representation
Violence is being portrayed in a very negative light, no positives can't be attained from violent games apart from the fact that they are the most likeliest type of games to sell. The negativity of this violence causes for young teenagers to become influenced and adapt to the violence. Games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honour adapt to a lot of violence and make the idea of war a enjoyable experience. Arabs are portrayed negatively within Call of Duty and shown to be antagonists. The first ever hitman was banned due to the use of asian ethics being portrayed and a lot of racism was conveyed within it. Manhunt was also a very graphically violent game and caused a lot of controversy, a quote read, "Although it was generally well-received by critics, Manhunt created a controversy due to the graphic violence the player is encouraged to engage in. This resulted in the game being banned in several countries and implicated by media in a murder".


Audience
Very young audience - 13 - 25. Games such as Call of Duty, Hitman, and Manhunt are very influential around that specific age boundary. Teenagers at a young age have been encouraged by the graphics to percieve the violence positively, and act upon it. It's targeted specifically for males due to the high content of violence, however females are also known for playing games such Call of Duty, however they are far from influenced by the violence.

Ideologies
All the institutions are based in the USA, and therefore creates the idea of how american based video games come to the United Kingdom and influence teenagers more than the USA are affected. It also creates the idea that post 9/11 the amount of violent games have increased, ecspecially in Call of Duty where a lot of negative representations upon arabs have controversly affected the way we as an audience perceive them.

Narrative


Social
Socially accepted, a lot of moral panics are young teenagers are influenced and encouraged to take aboard the idea of graphic violence for their own enjoyment

Historical
The events of 9/11 have caused for an increase in violent gaems and also the idea that arabs are antagonists and therefore misrepresented. Violence is over-represented which adds to the moral panics.

Economical
A very big increase in violence games. Games such as Call of Duty are now seen to be a fashion item and a desireable game amongst young teenagers, it's a very debatable game socially amongst teenagers.

Political


Theories
Gender & Ethnicity - gender and ethnicity is misrepresented within games such as Call of Duty where arabs are shown to be villains. I think this has been done as a response to the actions of 9/11. In all of the games males are shown to be the main protagonists and makes it seem as if only males are violent. This can be shown to be controversial as females are also known to play such violent games.
Audience Theories - hypodermic theory, cultivation theory, effects theory, reception theory, uses and gratifications theory
The way that such violence in games has been shown in the media to be quite effective. Also how the audience itself that play it are encouraged to follow the actions of these graphic images, or just tend to play it for enjoyment and not act upon being influenced by it.


Issues & Debates
Representations & Stereotyping
Media effects
Post 9/11 and the media
Media technology and the digital revolution
The effect of globalisation on the media

This fits into the Contemporary Media Landscape as the use of violence in modern games is still debatable on whether this much graphic violence should be accepted and the effects socially. It also undermines the misrepresentations of race, gender, and ethnicity which at the moment is also another factor which is still controversial around the world.

Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan. The Media is the Message

Marshall McLuhan and the Innovation Theory

Quotes

"A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding."

"All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values."

"As technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of 'do it yourself."

Quotes that interest me personally

"Diaper backward spells repaid. Think about it. "

"Darkness is to space what silence is to sound"

"Art is anything you can get away with."

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/marshall_mcluhan.html