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

My Self Evaluation

My self-evaluation
In my opinion I think my presentation went fairly well but then again, there are many aspects of the presentation I could improve on to both help the way my presentation engages others and also how I engage with the audience to make the presentation more effective. I think I interacted with the audience well in the beginning by introducing the context of my text and questioning the audience about their awareness of the text and whether they watched it or not. I got a mixed answer and therefore allowed for me to also attempt a successful ending. My peers evaluated that I was very confident on stage and I knew the text very deeply, I had a lot of background information and the context was relevant and clear. Instead of reading off the board which many do when presenting, I instead went for cue cards which allowed for me to summarise what was on the presentation slides. I showed an opening clip which was useful for the audience and also to give a brief summary about the context of the text. I think I would agree with the audience when they said that the clip was a bit too long. I also had an opportunity to expand on what the clip was connoting but I did not take it, which is something I know and can use in the future to make more presentation more engaging. I used a few terms which covered media technology such as misogynistic when talking about representations; however I could have used more of my knowledge to make the presentation better as I know I’m capable of doing so. My slides were well constructed, short, and simple and clear which didn’t allow for the audience to dwell too much on each slide. I had a simple typography, with single worded answers, a simple design and I included images which were very important. One advantage of my presentation was the fact that instead of having the images just up there, I actually expanded on them and described how it relates to the characters representations. However I could of talked more about the website as I had screen grabs of them and didn’t relate it back to the context. There was one slide which I found very effective and that was the Nomination slide. I had a very big list of nominations on one slide which was probably the most I had in any slide, but instead of going through it all I simply told the audience the main points which were important. In my opinion I don’t think I was that confident and my lack of expression revealed that. At times I would mumble mainly because well I’m quite shy and not confident enough. My peers seem to think I am confident which does help me and will help me in the future to acknowledge that. At the end of the slide I tried to involve the audience by asking people who didn’t watch my text and questioning on whether they would watch it or not after my presentation. It was an attempt as the person who I questioned didn’t seem really interested which may or may have not reflected the impact of my presentation. However overall I was rewarded 3 marks for my significance, 2 for my structure, 2 for my simplicity and 3 for my rehearsal which all in all was a total of 10. I think that was fair to reward my presentation with those points. To conclude I think my presentation feedback has really helped me to understand things I could do to make it better, and after considering all the feedback I have attained I think next time I present I can better my marks and get even lower.

Two and a Half Men Presentation

My presentation on Two and a Half Men Two and a half men presentation

View more presentations from Bilaal Mughal.

Summer Research Project

Two and a Half Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB65KO-9xFo

In this clip Charlie is portrayed as quite cunning, as he reveals to his brother Alan that when he says "I understand" he is not entirely concentrating and does not care. However by constantly saying "I understand" to his brother and Judith he comes across as quite funny and a guy with a sense of humour. By doing so he is seen as quite a carefree man with no regard or bother for his actions.

Alan, acknowledging that Charlie understands bring out the naivety in him and his unfortunate stupid side. He comes across as very troubled and constantly worried that his brothers actions constantly seem to affect him more than Charlie himself. He is very honest and innocent but at the same time ridiculously annoying.

Judith also comes across as naive falling for Charlie's mind games. Similar to Alan she is also very emotional. Quite annoying and bitchy, she feels in need of a helping hand and feels a lack of support from people around her, which sometimes allows audiences to emphasize with her.

From the clip all three characters are portrayed in the correct way. Charlie on the whole is depicted as quite misogynistic and could be interpreted as quite a sexist character. Although his actions are humorous it could be also seen as controversial and not all audiences will appreciate his actions with women. However his representation as the protagonist and dominant male does not essentially mean that all men are like that, and therefore also creates a negative representation of men. Both brothers Charlie and Alan have a dominant and alternative side to them. Alan being more so of a alternative man, who is not afraid to show his emotions and tends to become upset with the smallest of things. Charlie being quite manly and tends to hide his sorrows by lazing around and drinking alcohol, not to mention his meaningless encounters with women.

In most of the series Judith is seen as the villain, due to her cold actions towards Alan. In every possible situation Judith seems to make Alan's life a living hell. Some of which are because of Charlie's wrongdoings.

Two and a Half Men is a sitcom which belongs mainly to the genre Comedy. It includes of explicit humour which may cause offense to some, and immense laughter to others. The narrative is quite linear and follows a storyline as the seasons go on. The mise-en-scene mostly consists of the Malibu beach house which Charlie, Alan and Jake live under. Other than that there are other areas such as Alans ex wife, Judiths house and the beach, along with the cinema at times. Music is rarely used in the show overall.

Two and a Half Men was first broadcasted on CBS in America which is owned by Sumner Redstone. He also owns Viacom who own channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon and more importantly Comedy Central, where Two and a Half Men is broadcasted in the UK. The likes of MTV and Nickelodeon produce various comedies and sitcoms and perhaps these shows influenced the creation of Two and a Half Men on Comedy Central.

In Two and a Half Men most women are degraded and shown to be only of good use as sexual objects. Other than in the bedroom they are also shown to be useful in the kitchen as we can see from Charlie's maid, Berta. Although Berta is quite forceful, she comes across as quite dominant and at times scares Charlie and Alan. Women are valued as quite foolish and naive. Audiences will argue that Charlie is quite hateful to women and the sitcom is based on criticizing women. However Alan shows that there is a different side to men which balances the opinions. Judith is shown to be quite forceful and is an alternative representation of women, she is also quite vain and could be seen as a villain.

This text is addressed to strictly teenagers and above, roughly ageing from 16 years to around 52. The sitcom includes a variety of characters at different ages from a young kid to grandparents. It would not be suitable for young kids however due to its explicitness and some of the content would not be suitable for parents to allow their kids to watch.

Due to its humour I think it would attract everyone and would consist of a Demographic from A to E. Explorers, mainstreamers, and suceeders would be the main target audience based on a psychographic scale. Factors such as age, gender and background influences how you interpret the text. If you are young it is hard to understand the narrative and some things going on in the series, however it is not suitable as it can encourage young children to aspire to be like Charlie. A lot of male audiences will feel as if Charlie's behavior with women is a reflection on the male generation and will tend to disagree, Alan on the other hand shows his alternative side and most male audiences will appreciate that. Some women will be affected by his misogynistic behavior with the women in the series and women will feel as if they are being depicted as sexual objects causing a lot of controversy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCFmZCkCVp8

An American Television Comedy series which premiered on CBS on September 22nd 2003. The three main characters consist of Charlie (Charlie Sheen), Alan (Jon Cryer) and Jake (Angus T. Jones). The show is about a jingle writer, Charlie who is devoted to pleasure and meaningless encounters with women; his uptight brother, Alan and Alan's growing son Jake. Charlie's bachelor lifestyle gets complicated and altered when his brother gets a divorce and moves in along with his son into his Malibu beach house.

REVIEWS

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369179/usercomments

"Most creative joke writing I've ever seen in years"

Charlie Sheen has a reputation for being a wild child, John Cryer plays the perfect neurotic boob, and the writers play perfectly into the juxtaposition of the two. Toss in a juvenile (Angus Jones, aka Jake) and the scenes become flat hilarious, as the adults attempt to deal with often raunchy mature topics, while keeping the kid in the dark.

This show has some of the best creative writing I've seen in years. No clichéd 'dumbed-down for the masses' or hackneyed pratfalls here, all are setup and timed with perfect execution by the players. Some of the darkest, driest and quick-witted performances on TV in years, very reminiscent of the quirkiness and off-the-cuff repartee of Woody, Norm, et.al. on Cheers. One of the best original laughs on TV these days, hope it survives for a long time! A real treat, amidst all the dumbed down humor that's seems to prevail everywhere else.

"Funniest Show on TV"

This show has more laughs per minute than any other sit com. I have not laughed as often or as intensely because of any TV show in decades. The casting and acting is superb and the writing is creative and hilarious. If you don't laugh at this show, sell your television and see a doctor, because something ain't right. The characters are diverse and quirky, the subjects always seem to push the limits without offending, and I only wish the shoe was on more than once a week. It's the kind of show where the actors must go home, collect their cheques and wonder why they are paid so much for doing something they enjoy so much. I envy them, we should all be so fortunate i'm doing something that brings this level of humour into the lives of others. For this I extend my sincere appreciation to the cast, writers, directors and producers.