The
vlog prior to this; I talked about the marketing for X-Men Origins Wolverine
and the way it was distributed to the consumers. In this final vlog, I will be
talking about the ways that XMOW creates representations throughout the film.
Representations also reflect ideologies and how people think through the media.
Representation
Representation
is the way something is presented. Practically any subject can be represented
in many ways. Media is currently the most common way of representing something;
everything can be presented in a form i.e. gender, age, ethnicity,
lifestyle/ideal lifestyle, class, communities, sub cultures and stereotypes.
Ideologies
are created through the way media presents subjects such as stereotypes of how
women are weaker than men; the only reason that an ideology exists is because
women are more commonly portrayed to be weaker in media. Media often
objectifies women and is represented as objects of sex and attraction (Mulvey
1975). The representation of men (Earp and Katz, 1999) as stated: ‘Equation of
Masculinity with pathological control and violence’.
Media
is a very large influence in current society and this is expressed in two
different schools of thoughts:
- Hypodermic Syringe (Theodore Adornor, 1930’s)
– The Hypodermic Syringe theory is where it is believed that the audience will
take in everything they see in media quite literally and believe everything to
be true. They just absorb the information and in a way, a more negative form of
thinking.
- Uses and Gratification (Gauntlett) –
The theory of Uses and Gratification is that people do not necessarily just
absorb and believe the information but instead absorb and adapt around the
information instead of literal thinking. Each person consumes media for their
own purpose and gratification, mainly escapism.
Both
of these schools of thought still follow the same principle in that the
audience still absorbs the information. One well-known issue is using the
information as a ‘copycat’. Copycats usually derive from moral panic in which a
person or a group of people create an even bigger issue from a subject on
media. An example of a copycat is a person committing a crime due to a game
he/she has played and they believe that what they are doing is fine. Situations
in XMOW can be quite impossible because of the nature of the movie and its
futuristic themes. Sensationalism is an example of something that can cause
moral panic; it is the process of creating an even bigger issue of something
that already has a substantial amount of attention.
Legal
and Ethical
With
the internet existing, sharing is far easier than before. This also means that
illegal downloading is a common occurrence. Illegal downloading is currently
one of the main drawbacks for films since the digital transition and is one of
the main parts that take away from profit. Illegal download however means that
the film was successful enough to be gain attention for illegal downloading,
although this isn’t necessarily true. Sales wise, illegal downloading and file
sharing causes the majority of sales drop.
Copyright
infringement is also quite an issue with media. Some forms of programs that use
a peer to peer system is one cause of copyright infringement such as programs
that use forms of ‘torrents’. There have been cases where the creators of these
programs were filed a lawsuit against copyright infringement.XMOW is no different to other forms of media
as it is most likely that the film has also been downloaded illegally and/or
shared publicly.
Media
follows ethics like any other subject although it seems slightly more flexible
in terms of being subtle. Topics with media such as journalism sometimes and
more often than not, become overly sensationalised. However, entertainment
media is different in terms of what ethics they follow and what they cannot do;
they are given a rating depending on the type of content the film depicts.
Subject of violence and sex and strong language can cause the age rating to go
up even with the section of such subjects are small compared to the rest of the
product.
Product
placement is an increasingly noticed form of marketing tactic. Companies pay
film productions to place a product of their choosing and is integrated into
the film. This is to create attention indirectly as it is not necessarily the
main focus of the film. However, it has a chance to create a lasting effect and
can be used to remind the consumer of the product. Stereotypes are also another
way for media to create representations that people remember easily. People
tend to remember stereotypes more often as it creates influences in people’s
perceptions.
Task 4 –
Technological Convergence and Media Distribution
Prior to this vlog, I analysed the demographics of the film
XMOW, I will be analysing how the film is distributed, marketed and advertised.
I will also mention how the current generation are digital natives and how
their current level technology is considered technological convergences.
Distribution
Distribution has two definitions; 1. How the product reaches
the audience and 2. How it is advertised and promoted. Examples of how media is
distributed to people through cinemas, television, Internet, retail and
download.
Cinemas are made to provide the highest quality through their
facilities. Television is another form of distribution but the quality of
distribution usually depends on the audiences’ facilities. The Internet has now
become a viable source of film distribution but it has 2 sides to the
distribution; commercial and illegal (Piracy). Commercially is through the
usage of commercially approved websites such as LoveFilm. However, uploading
and giving the ability to download movies gives people the ability to share it,
which is technically illegal as people are sharing a commercially produced
media, which means the producer is losing revenue and profit. Pay per view is
one of the new and more popular ways of movie distribution and Netflix is one
of the largest distributors of films. They give the audience the ability to pay
subscription and they provide the films that the audience wants. Finally, On
Demand is a form of media distribution that allows service providers such as
Sky and Virgin Media to provide movie services at any time the audience
requires. XMOW is provided through multiple mediums such as On Demand TV and
originally the cinema. It was first released in April 29th 2009 in
the UK, Denmark, South Africa and Australia, April 30th 2009 in
Philippines and in the Dominican Republic and 1st May in the United
States and Canada. By September 15th 2009, Fox Home Entertainment
released XMOW on DVD and Blu-ray and this provided another way for consumers to
watch their films.
All these forms of distribution are either a form of analogue
or digital. Analogue means that it can only be played in terms of not being
able to play from a certain point in the media or being able to select where to
start. Digital media (which is usually the main method of media) does the
opposite and is a completely advantageous form of media. It allows the audience
to skip, pause and start from the previous point of the film.
Technological
Convergence
The current generation of technology has been a collection of
several technologies from before made into one thing. An example of a
technological convergence are smartphones; having the ability to be used as a
normal phone, used as an mp3 player, as a camera or even as a connection
hotspot. This links in to people who are
digital native: the fact that they are more adapted to technology compared to
the previous generations.
Before the time when the internet was just a one way and
information only travelled from one place and only received on the other end.
There couldn’t be any form of physical interaction between two points. When Web
2.0 rose, the Internet would become the most used thing as a databank of
information.
Marketing
– Advertising and Promotion
Marketing is done so that a film creates the maximum amount
of awareness towards its targeted audience. Paper based promotions include
magazines, newspaper and posters. Digital and physical advertisement can
include trailers, merchandise, collaborations and joint projects, promotional
events i.e. giveaways, press, film festivals, in-store promotions, product
placement and the biggest one of the current generation is social media.
An indirect way of promotion and advertisement is through
Prosumers* (Consumers who became producers). Through websites such as review sites
i.e. Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and Metacritic, films can gain recognition or can be
seen as a film to be avoided which would mean review sites can be considered a
double-edged sword in terms of gaining attention. Marketing also involves the
audience in terms of viewership and attention the production has received,
either by popular use of social media or through other means i.e. word of
mouth.
XMOW was promoted with tie-in merchandising with 7-Eleven,
Papa John’s Pizza and Shick. Hugh Jackman (The lead character) even posed as
Wolverine in a ‘Got Milk’ campaign. A comic series made its debut, which isn’t
directly influenced by the film but it was made so that people who were
interested in the film could become interested in the comic series. An example
of how the movie became a success could be how the movie inspired the idea to
make a video game off of it. The video game was made by Activision Blizzard and
the review for it was substantial enough to be considered a well-made game
albeit, some negative reviews. However, the positives outweigh the negatives.
Stereotypes – Different Genres have different forms of
gratifications.
Theory – Ien Ang (1991) and Rick Atman (1999)
X-Men Origins Wolverine Demographics Analysis: 1. Gender - The most common gender to watch XMOW is males because of the
action and thriller themes and its genre of sci-fi. Sci-fi tends to be for
males rather than females but the film is not necessarily restricted to males
and can be watched by females as well. One of the reasons the main gender of
XMOW is males is most likely the fact that it has themes that are more
stereotypically associated with males; mutant powers, indomitable heroes and
futuristic times. The movie affects the gender demographic because the themes
it features that may only appeal to the male populous. The film often shows
action, which is more oriented to males rather than females. 2. Age - The ages of the demographic of XMOW is 12A which is a rating for a
film which can be watched by 12 years old in the cinema. This doesn't mean that
people who are 12 watch this but people who are older and may enjoy the genre
of sci-fi and action. Considering the current generation of when the film was
released, it can be said that people who were around the age of 15 and older
may have watched it. The age of audience may be affected by the general theme
of the movie in the fact that people who are in younger generation may like the
fact the powers exists and future may feel like what is denoted in the movie.
Any form of 'super power' seems to attract a certain range of ages, most likely
to the fact that something literally 'out of this world' looks realistic. 3. Lifestyle - The lifestyle of XMOW's audience may be people who have
hobbies related to XMOW. Another factor that doesn't apply to all the audience
of XMOW but it is more likely for more of the audience to be like that. A
factor that may affect all of the audience of XMOW is the people who are in
different classes. ABC1 would be more likely to go and watch XMOW because it
was first featured in a cinema and may only be watched by people with a
disposable income. Another possible factor could be that since X-Men were
already in a different form before even the movies were created, X-Men were
already in a different form of media i.e. Comics. People who may read the
comics may want to watch it as the characters they know can be seen in a
realistic fashion. In terms of ethnicity, certain types
of ethnic background may enjoy these types of film more than
others. The lifestyle of people who may choose to watch films like XMOW are people
who like the concept of sci-fi and this could be students, young people and
middle aged audiences. People who produce media for example could watch films
such as XMOW to pick up concepts to make their own film or to produce a review
for the film. People consume media for different purposes. Each production has
a purpose that it can provide to its audience. Escapism is most likely the main
reason for watching XMOW due to the themes it denotes (Rick Altman 1999). Ien Ang (1991) and John Hartley (1987) suggested that producers create an
invisible entity or invisible fictions before creating a media product. This is
the starting point for creating the profile and the images that will use it in.
This fictional entity was made so that a media product can be made to reflect
the need of the audience. 4. Spending Power - This links in to the lifestyle of the audience. ABC1
have more spending power due to their disposable income and the fact that they
earn more compared to that of working class. People are more likely to go and
watch the film due to the fact they can spend more on things that are
considered leisure and people who earn a lower wage tend not to spend on less
important things. Spending power may also depend on the age and lifestyle of
person. The age may have varied spending power assuming that the younger the
person is, they less pocket money they are given for example. Lifestyle may
also affect the spending power in terms of people wanting to pay to watch the
film or they choose not to spend money watching a film but instead use it to
buy something else. Considering the budget was $150 million, the
prices for watching the film will be a little high up which will mean that
people who don’t have as much money won’t be able to watch it.
I will be analysing X-Men Origins Wolverine and to explain
in depth of what its purpose, genre, form and style. Narrative will also be
explained with this along with narrative and Mise-en-scene that is used in the
film.
Purpose: The
purpose of X-Men Origins Wolverine is to entertain the audience by providing a
story and a form of narrative. This is done through the use of micro-elements
such as Mise en Scene. The other main purpose of the film is to create profit,
just like any other film producers. The film costs quite a huge sum of money;
therefore profiting would be what film producers are aiming for. Purpose can be
different for films, not necessarily to entertain or to create profit as they
can sometimes be made for informing or educating others. Documentary films for
example, are made to educate and/or inform someone.
Genre: The genre
of XMOW is action, adventure, sci-fi and thriller. XMOW has recurring scenes of
action and thriller due to events that happen to create tension and suspense
throughout the story. Adventure due to the fact that the protagonist in this
film (Wolverine) has basically gone through history i.e. American Civil War,
WWI and WWII. The recurring themes of sci-fi would be from the mutant powers
the characters in the movie have denoted. They (somewhat conveniently) created
a fictional metal called adamantium which changed Logan’s skeletal structure to
be harder than any metal and this can connote a futuristic theme because the
metal is considered to be virtually indestructible unless shot with the same
type of metal i.e. adamantium.
Form and Style:
It is in the form of a feature length film, with duration of 107 minutes. This
was first featured at cinemas before being made for DVD. Its form links to the
purpose, in which this was made to tell a story through narrative structure and
techniques such as the story being told in an Orpheus style (Kate Domaille 2001). The style of XMOW
can be considered futuristic because of the recurring themes of people with
genetic powers, also known as mutants and it could touch on some form morality
issues i.e. if mutants were to exists, how would the non-mutants react?
Narrative: The
movie style is told through Mise en Scene, dialogue, sound and camera work,
along with editing. One can easily tell that through the sound if the character
is Wolverine for example, when they hear the ‘shing’ sound that Wolverines
claws makes when he releases them. The narrative structure (Tzvetan Todorov 1977) that XMOW denotes
begins with the disruption first, which doesn’t follow Todorovs’ theory of
Equilibrium-Disruption-New Equilibrium. The disruption is that young Logan
kills his father due to event prior to the event which led to him being forced
to do so and through the story, Logan and his brother Victor go through
history, from war to war to finally arrive in modern times only to be recruited
by a major to a team consisting of other mutants. This isn’t necessarily the
equilibrium as it is temporary and the story throws Logan back into another
disruption which follows through the other movies where Wolverines problem
haven’t been solved yet. (Levi Strauss
1977) Talked about how there is almost always a ‘good guy’ and a ‘bad guy’,
the binary opposites. In this case, Logan would be the ‘good guy’ and the
people who he’s going against are the ‘bad guys’. Logan is the protagonist in
this because he is who we follow through the story and the main antagonist
would be Stryker, which means he is technically the only ‘bad guy’. Some scenes
in XMOW denotes some jump cuts to create suspense and to connote the fast pace
of the action. Another editing technique that is denoted in the film is action
match shots. An example of this would be when Wolverine escapes the liquid
chamber. During this scene, it is also done in slow motion which is another
editing technique to connote some form of sustained suspense. The slow motion
may connote the sustained fear the antagonists are feeling when Wolverine
escapes.
Sound: XMOW
contains diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. An example of a diegetic sound would
be during the explosion of the helicopter when Wolverine sets it alight. A
non-diegetic sound would be the music playing in the background i.e. during the
chase the scene with Zero and the helicopter. Another example would be the when
Wolverine releases and swings his claws around; it creates a metallic swing
sound. The non-diegetic sounds are added during post-production, during the
editing. These are added because the sound most likely cannot be made on set as
it would be either too hard to create real-time or it would be too low to hear.
Mise-en-scene
Content and Meaning: Locations
denoted through the film begin with an 1850’s house; which follows through to
when the protagonist, Logan grows older along with his brother and they are
thrown in the American Civil War and then through WWI and WWII. This connotes
the passage of time and how much they haven’t aged because of their mutant
powers. A very obvious icon of the film would be Wolverines Claws. This links
in to the props but the claws are most likely CGI during release, therefore not
a physical prop and possibly until fully released. (It may continue being a
CGI)
The characters that are most notable in this film is most
likely Wolverine and Sabretooth because of how the story is mainly focused in
Wolverine and his relation to everyone else and his story of trying to get revenge
against those who tried to betray him. There are other characters involved in
the story but are only known through Logan because of his connections to ‘Team
X’. People would recognize if Wolverine was getting his claws ready because of
the gesture he performs during the release of his claws. Somewhat the same for
Sabretooth but his claws become enlarged instead.
The costumes that the characters wear seem to have some sort
of link to their original themed characters, albeit some differences i.e. Wolverine
wearing leather jackets instead of the denoted costume he wears in the comics.
This applies to most of the characters who wear costumes that represent their
character. This also seems to link in to their props such as Gambit using his
cards and staff to attack. The most important prop in the story is most likely
Wolverines’ claws which was first bone claws, turned metal during his metal
implantation. Wolverine has a signature look in the films and is denoted in
XMOW where his hair is made to stay up in away to represent some sort of ‘wild’ feeling, most likely to connote the
fact that he is ‘Wolverine’ or a wolf.
The film denotes quite a lot of cool colour filtering which
could possibly connote some form of feeling of futurism. The lighting mostly consists
of high key apart from some certain scenes, which denotes some form of history
that Wolverine went through. The colouring used throughout the film is quite
natural in the fact that it is trying to create verisimilitude. It is trying to
reflect some form of realism so that the audience may actually feel the
mutants’ powers are real.
The preferred reading (Stuart
Hall 1980) that was being created of XMOW was most likely the fact that the
protagonist is on a journey to truly find his true identity and what he lives
for. The preferred reading also links in to the fact that he is also on a
journey to get his revenge against those who have gone against him. The
narrative structure is Orpheus, which is denoted through that the loss of his
love interest may have affected his way of life and whether he has the will to
live. The fade in further connotes the effect of loss because the image slowly
dissipates away and shows a different scene. This could connote the fact that
Wolverine is trying to forget that memory. This is also an ellipsis to connote
the passage of time although the fade could also mean that Wolverine hasn’t
completely forgotten the memory of losing his partner. This doesn’t necessarily
factor into the preferred reading as it is not a romance.
The locations that were denoted featured fields in which the
wars that Wolverine participated in i.e. American Civil War and both World
Wars. This connotes that fact that he has survived this long due to his powers
and explains why he doesn’t kill necessarily just for the sake of killing but
to survive. This also links in to the fact that his morality is still with him
albeit his mutant abilities and the fact that he is able to live longer than
average humans because of his mutation.
He is shown to be wearing the same outfits they wore during
the wars i.e. American Civil War fatigues displaying the colours and the World
War fatigues. This may connote the fact that the protagonist (Logan) has not
found his true identity yet and is going through along with history to find his
true self instead of committing mindless murder like his brother, Victor. A
main prop that the antagonist uses against Wolverine is the revolver loaded
with bullets made of the same metal Wolverine has been implanted with. This
prevents from using his healing and is ultimately shot in the head and is done
to erase his memory. They use an insert shot to denote this scene and is one of
the main focus of the story. This is repeated in a previous scene when
Wolverine escapes, Stryker is shown with the revolver.
Camera Work: XMOW
denotes several types of camera works and a main example would be during the
fight scene where Victor and Logan are fighting off Deadpool who clearly
overwhelms them. An arc shot is done to show a full view of the action and it
connotes the fact that Deadpool is almost impossible to fight against in the
situation they are given. It also connotes that everything Logan and Victor
have done comes back around to them i.e. the creation of Deadpool. This
happened because Victor chose to help Stryker and Logan chose to have the
operation to have the metal implanted into him which allowed Stryker to steal
his mutant powers.
An insert shot is used to display Wolverines new claws from
his operation. This is used to connote that Wolverine has now made an identity
for himself. This is also most likely to show off the icon, Wolverine and his
claws, since his claws are easily recognizable. An action match shot is used
during the time when Wolverine is chased down by Strykers’ accomplices while
Wolverine proceeds to the cut the vehicle in front of him while racing down
with a motorcycle. This may connote that there could be nothing that could stop
Logan from taking his revenge and the fact that his emotions are currently not
in check.
Production Process: Location
will be considered pre-production because they will have to plan out the
scripting and the narrative. It wouldn’t be possible to create narrative if the
location was not considered first. Having a random location with no actual
preparations wouldn’t make sense for both the story and narrative. Costumes
will also have been part of the pre-production as it will be used during the
production where they film and ready the costumes to be worn. Lighting and
colour filters will be in during the production and the post-production. It
will be done during production because having the correct lighting will give
the audience a better understanding of the narrative and the story. Colour
filters will most likely be added during the post-production where the footage
that has been filmed can be edited on editing software. They can add artificial
lighting and colouring to produce certain effects i.e. blue tint to create a
futuristic feel (which is apparent in XMOW).
Planning the Mise-en-scene will be part of the pre-production
and will be added during the production of the film. This is because
Mise-en-scene is an important point to the films narrative and without the use
of the elements it provides, it is often difficult to tell a good story. These
elements consist of costume, lighting, gestures, props and sound and these are
all considered during the pre-production. Camera work is planned out during
pre-production and is applied during the production where they begin filming.
Planning out the camera work is another factor to the creation of the
narrative. Editing is part of the post-production, this is because everything
that is necessary such as cutting the footage and putting it together to create
linear integrity. It can only be done once the footage is done. Editing can
also provide the film visual effects, where things that were not previously on
the footage can be placed artificially for example lens flares and brighter
lighting. An example of an editing technique could be transitions such as
dissolves and fades. This can connote the passage of time and could mean that
time is passing.
An eye-line shot for example, is used during the scene where
Cyclops uses his mutant powers to take out the soldiers that were currently
blocking their escape. It shows him as shooting the laser out of his eyes and
it switches to his perspective then returns back to him after he finishes using
his powers. Another example would be the use of a cut during the part where
Logan and Victor are court martialled and it cuts to black after the sound of
gun shots. This is to connote a form of ellipsis as it is not necessary to know
what happened during when they were shot. This cut to black continues until it
fades in on Logan and Victor in after the event.
Foley sound is done in post-production to create sounds that
doesn’t necessarily happen naturally or are not loud enough to be heard from
the just the footage. They are done to simulate realistic sounds effects and
are made by other materials that are not linked to the actual material. Foley
sounds are made to create verisimilitude and to create a feel of personal
involvement. The sounds can easily make people believe they are with the
characters on-screen. They are edited in afterwards, replacing the quieter
sounds and creating a better effect due to its close relation to the original
material.
Hello there, my name is Ken and I work for the Media Institute and in
today’s vlog, I will be outlining key terms that will be used in this vlog and
explaining the ownership of the film company, 20th Century
Fox. The whole company is owned by Rupert Murdoch and 20th Century Fox is a
subsidiary to 21st Century Fox, a rather large conglomerate, in which 20th
Century Fox operates with different media platforms such as film and
television. The structure of the conglomerate is that a larger conglomerate
owns a smaller conglomerate; 21st Century Fox owns 20th Century Fox
which in turn own their own subsidiaries 20th Century Fox TV, Fox
Home Entertainment etc. Before delving into more detail of 20th
Century Fox, we will have to learn some key terms that is associated with 20th
Century Fox:
Conglomerate – A big company made
up of smaller companies. These smaller companies have their own speciality i.e.
Radio and TV
Independent – A company that is
self-run and self-funded and is usually not part of a conglomerate. They make
product without relying on another company. They will however, may need a
conglomerate to distribute their products or outsourcing their marketing and
distribution.
Cross media ownership – When a
conglomerate owns companies that make different media. This means they can
cross promote their film/product across other companies. This increases its
publicity and can help in maximising profit.
Commercial – A company that aims
to make a profit; this applies to most businesses.
Public Service Broadcaster – PSB
is funded by public money to broadcast their productions.
Join Venture – Works together
with other companies and collaborates to produce and distribute.
Profit –
The main objective of media production is to make money.
Target
Audience – A target audience is something a company plans the film for. An
example of a target audience would be for a romance genre would be mainly
women. However, target audience is not entirely the correct projection for
finding out about the demographic.
The operating model of 20th Century Fox is that they have
conglomerates that support their pre-production, production and post-production
departments. This allows the company to cross promote their productions through
their subsidiaries. 20th Century Fox have their own subsidiaries,
which allow them to create different products through different departments.
For example, Fox TV could make an advertisement for an upcoming movie; that way
they will have more publicity from both their marketing in the film department
and the marketing from the television advertisement. The 3 main department of
the film production of 20th Century Fox is the studio, where they
produce the film; script writing, music production, actor auditioning. They
then have their distribution department in which the marketing and demographic
planners arrange how the film is going to be distributed. Finally, they display
the films in their cinema chains. Each of the production process has their own
specialities and tasks to do for the production of the films.
20th Century Fox produces multiple products through their own
film department to their different sections of media. They produce film, music,
television series, radio shows/talks and being a subsidiary to 21st
Century Fox, they technically make magazines and newspapers through News Corp. They
are however mainly known for their production of films. They have a variety of
genres that they make for their films. This allows them to cater to a mass
audience and in turn, allow them to create a maximum profit they can make. Having
the different subsidiaries allows them to create different media and in turn
allow them to cross promote their products through each of their departments. Their
media can sometimes target niche groups but it tends not to gain them much
profit.
The type of genre’s that 20th Century Fox covers a wide variety,
from action, horror, thriller, romance and more. Each film is in the form of
feature length films and the trailers that are made for each of these movies
tend to be quite progressive in intensity. The target audience is more
generalised compared to indie companies who usually target smaller groups of
people (niche) compared to that of 20th Century Fox who target mass
audience.This determines
their market position. 20th Century Fox is an extremely successful
conglomerate and are internationally known. This can be compared to an
independent company such as Warp. Warp is an independent film company and
obviously not as large as 20th Century Fox but are still widely
known for their films that have been considered some of the best. 20th
Century Fox is a part of an even larger conglomerate, which in turn allows them
to become even stronger in their market position compared to smaller companies
who are not owned by larger conglomerates. 20th Century Fox are able
to cross-promote their products through their conglomerates. Being a
conglomerate themselves, they can further promote their products through their
own subsidiaries and in different forms of media.
20th Century Fox is a company that shows true progression in
terms of business size. Throughout their history, they have had enough
resources to constantly change their logo and to gain their own subsidiaries. They
were first named Fox Film Corporations and only switched to 20th
Century Pictures due to bankruptcy during the year of 1930 when the original
owner William Fox was jailed. By then however, the merge between Fox Film Corp
and 20th Century Fox proved successful very early on, overtaking
some of the bigger competition i.e. RKO and MGM (MGM being the biggest studio
in Hollywood at the time).
Representation:
Is the way something is presented.
Most form of subjects have multiple ways of representation.
It can be presented in different forms of media.
Everything can be represented in a form; gender, age, ethnicity, lifestyle/ideal lifestyle, class, communities, sub-cultures, stereotypes
Ideology/Ideologies:
The way someone thinks of something i.e. 2 sides of the same coin - Societal belief en masse "Men are more powerful than Women."
Two schools of thought:
1. Hypodermic Syringe (Theodore Adornor, 1930's) - media has negative impact. Mass audience believe everything they see/hear.
Issues about violence?
- Killing for a cause is wrong because murder in itself is wrong and a cause is not a justification.
- Only used as the complete last resort when nothing else helps.
Issues about sexual content?
- Average standard for women, nothing too extreme.
- Mystique. Practically nekkid.
Issues about representation?
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Positive impact/role models?
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2. Other school of thought - we are able to filter and adapt to content in media (Gauntlett). We have uses and gratifications theory - people use media for their own purposes?
Copycat - Results in moral panic - Media tends to create panic by creating an issue with new technology and media itself.
Evidence is all that is required, something that has been proven true to its name is the only time something can be truly believed in.
All representations are mediated (Hall, 1980)
Is there use of stereotypes/countertypes (Perkins, 1979). Not all stereotypes are negative.
Representation of women - are they objectified (Mulvey, 1975). Representation of men (Earp and Katz, 1999) - 'equation of masculinity with pathological control'.
Representation of gay people (Butler, 1993) - are they stereotypical.
Legal and Ethical issues:
- Legal - Copyright infringement? - main worry in film industry illegal downloading?
- Ethical - offensive material? Sensationalism? Censorship - has the film been censored?
Digital Economy Bill 2014
Sensationalism - To make a big issue/situation to create an even bigger event out of it.
BBFC - Who are they? What is the age range? Did the age range get changed at any time? Is it different to US? How does the film keep to the guidelines it has set for the film.
ASA - Who are they? CAP codes regulate print material? Show the codes in your vlog - how does your marketing in posters etc. adhere to rules set.
To define key terms distribution, technological convergence and promotion.
To identify the methods of distribution of your film.
To identify the ways in which your film is promoted.
To understand how media products are distributed and promoted.
For example:
a) retail outlets, television networks, cinemas, radio stations, internet, local, regional, national, international, accessibility
Technological Convergence and how media is distributed
Distribution - Two definitions:
1) How the product reaches the audience.
2. How it is advertised and promoted.
Cinemas, Television, Internet, Retail (i.e. DVD and Blu-ray), Download.
- Cinemas at highest quality the facilities provide.
- Television and it depends on the size of the television the person has. (Scheduled programmes)
- Internet can allow people to stream content.
- Pay per view i.e. Netflix and YouTube
- On Demand i.e. Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media
Analogue Methods: Old Media
Digital Methods: New Media
Technological Convergence:
When technology come together and this provides a new service for the audience.
Digital Native: A person of a generation who has grown up with technology.
Sir Berners-Lee (1991) - The World Wide Web (www.)
ASCII - Text formatting.
Advertising and Promotion -
Marketing the film to create a maximum awareness to a specific target audience.
Methods of Advertising and Promotion:
Magazine/Newspaper ads (Paper based ads), Posters, Merchandise, Video advertisements, Collaborations/Joint projects, Promotional events i.e. Giveaways, Press, "From the creators of...", Radio advertisements, Reviews, Premieres, Trailers (Teaser and full length [Theatrical] trailers), Film Festival, In-store promotions, Product placement (A literal placement of a brand within media), Social Media, (Richard Dyer 1975)
Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic: Film review sites. Started by Prosumers* (Consumers who became producers.)
David Gauntlett (2002) discussed the rise if Web 2.0; The internet was purely a static, one way form of communication and changed to a two way interactive medium.
Representation
is the way something is presented. Practically any subject can be represented
in many ways. Media is currently the most common way of representing something;
everything can be presented in a form i.e. gender, age, ethnicity,
lifestyle/ideal lifestyle, class, communities, sub cultures and stereotypes. 
- Uses and Gratification (Gauntlett) –
The theory of Uses and Gratification is that people do not necessarily just
absorb and believe the information but instead absorb and adapt around the
information instead of literal thinking. Each person consumes media for their
own purpose and gratification, mainly escapism. 
Copyright
infringement is also quite an issue with media. Some forms of programs that use
a peer to peer system is one cause of copyright infringement such as programs
that use forms of ‘torrents’. There have been cases where the creators of these
programs were filed a lawsuit against copyright infringement. XMOW is no different to other forms of media
as it is most likely that the film has also been downloaded illegally and/or
shared publicly. 
Media
follows ethics like any other subject although it seems slightly more flexible
in terms of being subtle. Topics with media such as journalism sometimes and
more often than not, become overly sensationalised. However, entertainment
media is different in terms of what ethics they follow and what they cannot do;
they are given a rating depending on the type of content the film depicts.
Subject of violence and sex and strong language can cause the age rating to go
up even with the section of such subjects are small compared to the rest of the
product. 