Classwork

LO : To understand the difference between digital and analogue.

• The media industry is increasing massively. Nearly every person and company today uses digital media to access information, entertainment, marketing or social networks. 
• In 1970s the best thing you could own is a digital watch. we've gotten more use to the digital technology.
• Analogue: Devices which record data linearly from one point to another. Analogue devices read the media, such as tapes or records, by scanning the physical data off the media.
• Digital: Devices which perform all calculations using ones and zeroes. This method of computing is referred to as the "binary system".

Digital - Apple Mac, laptop,
Analogue - Apple Mac, clock, Stone CPU 

Digital Fact : Nearly about 1.7 billion people have active accounts on social media sites.

LO : To understand digital media sectors products and platforms.

Media sectors:

• Moving image (Film, TV)
• Gaming
• Websites
• Publishing (Magazines, Books)
• Audio (Radio, Podcasts etc.)

Key Terms

• Sectors - An area or portion of media that is distinct from others.
• Products - The media that is created. (Movie)
• Platforms - A digital way for media to be distributed and accessed.(Netflix)
• Devices - Are used to access digital media (Phone)

Examples 

• Moving image - IT
• Audio - Teb talks podcasts
• Websites - Google
• Gaming - GTA
• Publishing - Harry Potter

LO : To understand cross media synergy

Often, digital media sectors do not exist independently. they often overlap and are connected. This is referred to as "synergy".

Plenary :
Why are there such high levels of overlaps/synergy in digital media industry?

There are such high levels of overlap/synergy in the digital media industry because all the companies want to make a lot of money off of the digital media that they make. For example DC overlap to make moving images, games, websites, and publishing. this makes DC have one of the best companies the world. If we never had websites we wouldn't be able to publish books and advertisements on the internet.

Media Processess

LO : To understand the stages of production when creating a media product

How to create a media product:

Moving images :

• Someone has an idea - pre-production
• The idea must be developed - pre production
• Research must be conducted - pre production
• The idea is pitched - pre production
• The idea must be thoroughly planned before production - pre production
• The product is created - production
• The product is sold - distribution
• The product is consumed by the audience - exhibition    

5 stages of production

• Pre-production
• Production
• Post-production
• Distribution
• Exhibition

Game :

• Someone has an idea for the game
• The idea must be developed 
• research who would want to buy the game
• The idea must be thoroughly planned out (what is the storyline, figure out what devices it can be played on)
• Get a team to make the game
• The product is created
• The product is sold
•  The product is consumed by the audience

Technological convergence

1. LO : To understand technological convergence.
2. LO : To explore how audiences engage with digital media products

Technological convergence : Media technological convergence is the tendency that as technology changes, different technological systems sometimes evolve toward performing similar tasks.

For example : A mobile phone can now do more than just call text, it has a number of other functions reducing the need for brunch of devices.

Key terms:

• Immediacy
• Access
• Convenience
• Portability
• Connectivity
• Interactivity
• Personalisation

My phone is a device for accessing content from many media sectors, such as the Appstore to access games, an app called "Tubidy" to listen to music. Some advantages of this convergence include it is way more portable to use all of the media because is will all be on one device, this means I wouldn't have to carry a bag of media devices, having a phone is way more interactive because i can have more than one way to contact someone on the phone for example:text, call, email and some social apps. The accessibility is very high for a lot of people. Some disadvantages of this convergence include not everyone has the funds to be able to buy the technoligy that is needed to access the media, also if your in an environment where there is no service like the underground then you wouldn't be able to access things like the internet.

The way i produce media on my phone is by taking pictures and videos and posting them on Instagram and SnapChat, i create videos on youtube. I consume different media on my phone by reading things on the internet and on my E-Book, i watch peoples videos on youtube, i listen to music and play games.

Media consumption and types of audience 

Lo : To explore how audience engage with digital media products

Individual consumption : when users engage with a digital media product on their own, for solo enjoyment (i.e. reader, gamer, consumer, web, surfer, listener, DVD, viewer, social, networking, etc.).

Group consumption : When users engage with a digital media product with others, for collective enjoyment (i.e. social interaction, competition, belonging, sharing).

Passive : We blindly accept what we are given/told etc
Active : We have a choice. We choose to consume a media text to fulfil our own needs.

Hypodermic Needle Model
This was one of the first media theories used as an attempt to explain how audiences consume media. It suggest that the audience, passively(without realisation) receives information via media text and that they do not challenge or process the information.

• Developed in 1990s and 1930s
• It is a linear theory

Uses and Gratification Model
The uses and gratification Theory states that we are active consumers of media and that are four main reasons we choose to consume any given media product:

• Need of social interaction
• need for education/information
• need for identity
• need for entertainment 

Key Terms :

Target audience : a specific group of people within the target market at which a product or the marketing message of a product is aimed at.

Primary audience : The main target audience of a product.

Secondary audience : Any consumers that are outside the primary target audience.

Audience Categories :

• Age 
• Gender
• Socio-economic background
• Personality type

User-Generated Content
User-generated content is any form of content created by users of a system or service and made available publicly on that system. e.g. YouTube creates and uploads their own video to YouTube.

Regulatory Bodies

LO : To explore how those products are regulated

• BBFC - British Board of Film Control
• ASA - Advertising Standard Authority
• OFCOM - Office of Communication
• IPSO - Independent Press Standard Organisation  

Films :

• All films in the UK are regulated by British Board of Film Control
• http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
• click on the Educational Resources Tab> Student Guide>BBFC History
• BBFC put an age rating on the film and what content should be in it

Games : 

• All games in the UK are regulated by pan european game information
• http://www.pegi.info

ASA : Advertising Standards Authority 

• They look at miss leading advertising(false advertising)
• Looking at unsuitable content
• They handle with complaints

IPSO : Independent Press Standard Organisation

OFCOM : Office of Communication

Friday 13th of October 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMlV4qKM3QI&t=23s

Audience Research

LO: To explore various research methods

Audience statistics: When facts and figures are collected on things like circulation, websites "hits", box office figures, ratings, sales.

Primary research: research that is conducted first-hand (questionnaires, focus groups, interviews)
Secondary research: 'second hand' research conducted by using existing primary research information (books, magazines, internet)

Qualitative research: measuring individual opinions, attitudes, behaviour and the psychology behind the choices people make.
Quantitative research: to measure responses in quantifiable terms (how much, how many) using numerical data.

LO: To create an audience profile
An audience profile is one way for producers to work out exactly who is buying their product, which helps them to ensure their product will sell. Several factors are considered including.

• Age 
• Gender
• Race
• Sexuality
• Lifestyle
• Education
• Occupation
• Income
• Personality type
• Buying habits

Demographics: A particular sector of a population

Psychographics: labels given to a particular type of person, based on their habitats. 




Lo: To understand stylistic codes :
- How are lighting and sound used to create meaning for an audience?
-Understand lighting and sound terminology
LO: To explore how sound and music are used for effect

Ambient sound - the sounds of everything going on around the person who is speaking. for example, the sound of waves and wind on a beach scene

Synchronised sound - the words are spoken to match the lip movements of the speaker. often used in music videos or musical programs.

Voice over sound - sound that is dubbed onto any picture sequences. Documentaries and advertisements often use a lot of voice- over.

Sound effects - Sounds to match the action of an event
                       - sounds that are about a scene but do not match anything actually shown

Music is the final sound added to film. This is used to make the audience feel certain emotions.

 Digetc sounds - sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:
- voices of characters
- sounds made by objects in the story

Non digetic sound - sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:
- narrators commentary
- mood music


Camera movement
The way the camera moves in a shot is also important in analysing the meaning.

• Crane - Refers to a dolly shot taken in the air using heavy piece of equipment that the camera is mounted on.

• Handheld - Gives the shot a jerky effect that creates a sense of realism. E.G. The blair witch trilogy and Cloverfield.

• Panning - A camera movement that goes from left to right.

• Slow motion - Showing a moving image in more slowly than it was filmed.

• Speed - Suggest how fast or slow the movement is. 

• Tilting - A vertical camera movement that points up or down while the camera is stationary.

• Tracking - When a camera is mounted on a cart which travels along tracks, creating a very smooth movement. Also known as a 'dolly shot'.

• Zoom in/Zoom out - A change in the camera lens focal length will give the illusion that the camera is moving closer or further away from the subject.

Lighting
To explore how lighting is used for effect.

Realistic lighting - Used so that actors and sets are lit so naturally that the audience do not notice the technology that has been used to simulate reality.

Expressive lighting - When the director uses light to set a mood or tone for a scene - or even look to a whole film.

High key picture - Makes the shot look very bright overall with small areas of shadow.

Low key picture - Makes the shot look dark overall with few areas of highlight.

BLACK MIRROR :

• Realistic righting when she running
• There is tracking being used to follow her running

LO: To explore narrative and Todorov's Narrative Structure for analysing narratives.

Narrative is simply a word for describing the plot or storyline of a film.

Narrative structures

• Linear - Beginning - middle - end
• Non linear - Flashback  etc
• Multi-Strand - Several narratives running at the same time
• Open - Cliff hanger, story does not resolve
• Closed - Story ends satisfactorily
• Point of view - First person(through the eyes of the character), Second person(documentary), Third person(outside the story - relating experiences)

Tzvetan Todorov devised a way of analysing narratives according to the way they move through different stages.

1. Equilibrium: The setting is established, key character(s) are introduced and the storyline is set up.
2. Disruption: Oppositional characters appear and the story takes a particular direction.
3. Recognition: The lives or characters and events are interwoven. Tension builds throughout this section, which is often the longest.
4. Attempt to repair: The highest point of tension after which there is a dynamic change
5. Renstatement of equilibrium: Matters are sorted out, problems are solved and questions answered.