Debate on Video Games.

During our lesson we did a debate on the pros and cons of playing video games. This is the information I found from the research and debate we did.

The pro's of playing video games:

• Video games for some people are a good way to cool down after a long day at school and/or work. They provide a space to relax and chill out, away from reality and can take your mind off pressures of day to day life.
• Video games for young people provide entertainment and can be some young persons way of socialising with other people. There are young people who suffer with confidence issues in reality but when they're online a video game, they can interact with other people similar to themselves.
• Video games have no time limit. You can play a video game for as long as you wish. If you complete a game, you can play it over again if you'd like. They provide endless entertainment for all ages and genders. Unlike other media products such as a film, the game starts and finishes when you choose.
• Some video games can be used for exercise and bringing families and friends together. If its bad weather or you're alone, you can buy exercise games which are suitable for inside. So if you can't go outside to exercise and play sports, you can play them inside and still get your muscles working. The games can also be multi-player which allow familes and groups of friends to interact together, which is a good way to bond and create good memories for everyone.
• Video games demand more concentration and improve your mind skills as a pose to watching television or reading a book. You are required to watch and listen whilst using your hands and memory. This exercises the mind and co-ordination which can only be a plus. Where as if you were to sit and watch a film, all you are required to do is watch and listen which doesn't require much brain action.

There are games which are extremely popular and have many more pro's than con's. For example;

Wii Sports.

 

 

Wii Sports is an interactive game which was released by Nintendo back in 2006. Since then the game has been a huge hit around the whole world. The game has a selection of sports of which you can choose and can have upto 4 players at one time. You can select your character to play with and then simply compete with either family members and friends, or play against the console. It is an easy and entertaining way of keeping fit indoors. You can play for as long as you want, whenever you want. The game is good for gathering families together to enjoy some harmless fun. Some may say that the competitive side is a downfall although a bit of harmless competition can be healthy for anyone. The game also exercises your mind as you concentrate and master the skill of the sport.

 

"Wii Sports makes for an ideal pack-in with Nintendo's new console, providing some fun, simple gameplay that's accessible to almost anyone." - Review from member of www.gamespot.com

 

 

Although, there are some significant downfalls to playing video games.

 

The con's of playing video games:

• Playing video games can be quite influencial on a person. Especially if the person is a child. Playing some of these games can be misleading and can give false expectations of life. For example violent games can influence a young person that it is OK to be violent and kill people.
• Video games can become quite addictive and enticing to some people and can seriously disturb their day to day life. Some to the point where leaving the house or eating and drinking is affected. Being addicted to playing/completing a game can be dangerous and in some rare cases, life threatening.
• Playing video games an excessive amount isn't healthy. It is bad for your eye sight and can affect your mood a lot. It can make you antisocial and moody towards other people and can make you extremely lazy.
• Playing some of these exercise games can be harmful to your body. If you go from barely no exercise to playing an excessive amount of an exercise game over night then you can severely damage your muscles. These games can sometimes make you too competitive and push you so far that you break a bone or accidently injure the other people playing.
• It is dangerous for a young person to play certain video games as it can influence them to do these things in reality, which could be committing a serious crime. Some of these games desensitize you to violence and make it almost seem the normal thing to do.

An example of a game that can be a bad influence and encourage committing crimes:

Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto is a computer and console game which is available to XBOX and Playstation. The game series was first published by Rockstar Games and released in 1997. The game is set in fictional cities largely modelled on America. The game is about an open world where several characters can complete missions. The missions include stealing vehicles, killing anybody that gets in the way, running from the police and has an adult nature. It is based on a hood/ghetto theme and promotes violence and theft. This game can be heavily influencial on younger audiences and can also be quite misleading. It can paint a false expectation and desensitize people to drug abuse, sex, violence and hard crimes.

"Fun for adults, too graphic for kids -
The game takes away boredom and lets adults do things that in real life we would never dream of doing (like stealing, murder, and the character dying and coming back to life). As an adult I do play the game do turn off when the younger generation comes in. Not recommended for young people. It's a partial reason for violent kids in todays society." - Review from parent on www.commonsensemedia.org

Audience Responses

Negotiated Responses
A negotiated response is where a person acknowledges the preferred media but modifies it to suit their own opinions. For example. The Budweiser advert "The king of beers" negotiated response could be, "The king of beers, except for Peroni." Depending on the persons opinion. 

Preferred Responses
The audience would agree with the message that the chosen media coveys. For example with the Budweiser advert 'The king of beers". The preferred response would agree with this advert.

Oppositional Responses
The audience would disagree with the message from preferred media. For example. People who don't drink Budweiser wouldn't agree with the advert 'The king of beers".

All information collected from:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xaaRtIv30lIC&pg=PT98&lpg=PT98&dq=preferred+response+media&source=bl&ots=fT0xsiX04E&sig=EFcI1AoNY-4arvtFiaACjGBesQY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5c9_UZd_ycrQBYWVgMgD&sqi=2&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAg

Related to my 3rd FMP 
Photography:

 

 

"National Geographic chose a close-up of the girl as the cover photo for the article, which ran in the June 1985 issue. Her sea green eyes striped with blue and yellow peered with a mixture of bitterness and courage from within a tattered burgundy scarf. The "Afghan girl" touched the souls of millions." - http://photography.nationalgeographic.co.uk/photography/photographers/afghan-girl-cover.html

There is a negotiated response to this comment from the National Geographic website. Some reviews I have read have agreed but modified this statement to their own opinion and others have fully agreed.

Third FMP

The third FMP I have chosen is Photography. Photography is a print based and digital based media. A photograph can be taken at any time. They are often found in books, magazines and on the internet.

 

 

I have chosen Photography for my third FMP because Photography is my ultimate passion. I really really enjoy taking pictures and I take pictures nearly everyday. I like how you can capture a moment in a photograph and pictures help you keep memories. I also like that you can take a picture of anything and make it look like something completely different.

Theories.

The theories we have learnt:

Passive and Active Consumption
Passive and active consumption in media is when, for example when a person doesn't pay attention to something they are watching/reading/listening to this is called passive consumption. Although active consumption is the opposite. It is when someone goes out of their way to read/watch/listen to a specific media and it affects you.

Hyperdemic Needle Theory
This is when there is a large rise in the popularization of telvision and radio. This theory suggests that the mass media could influence a large audience by injecting a message in order to create a response.

Users and Gratification Theory
Users and gratification theory is an approach to finding out and understanding why people use the media. For example, entertainment, an emotional escape or even emotional support.

Reception Theory
Reception theory provides a means od understanding media texts by understanding how these texts are read by the audience.
I have written my own response using reception theory below.

Vantage Point - Reception Theory

Vantage Point  - Reception Theory.

1 – “Reception theory is a version of reader response literary theory that emphasizes the reader's reception of a literary text.”

“An active audience theory which sees the audience as being actively engaged in the interpretation of media texts rather than as passive consumers.”

2 - My experience of watching vantage point could have been different if I had watched it in a different environment with different people. I may not have concentrated on the film and story line if I had watched it in a different environment as there might have been too many distractions, for example. Loud noises. If I watched it with different people I may have paid more attention and found it less humorous. Depending on what the age of the people are that you are watching the film with depends on the concentration.

Audience Profile

 

This is the profile of a typical teenage/ young adult girl.

Second FMP

Magazines

Primary Research
I could create a questionnaire and ask random members of the public or specific members of the public I'd like.

Secondary Research
I can find research by looking at other magazines and their target audience and content.

Quantitive
I can create surveys and polls and give them out to the public to complete.

Qualitative
I can form a reading group or focus group to review different magazines.

I could look on the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) website which is a website for print based media. They collect data and information for all print based medias such as magazines, newspapers etc.

Second FMP

My second chosen FMP is magazines. Magazines are a print based media. They are published on a regular basis, usually weekly that contain a variety of different content.

 

I have chosen Magazines as my second FMP because I really enjoy reading them. I love that there is such a wide variety of magazines and they can be filled with a wide variety of content. I like that there is a magazine for nearly every hobby and interest.

Magazines can be mass or niche, it just depends on the content of the magazine.

 

Here is an example of a niche magazine:

Golf Illustrated

 

 

This magazine 'Golf Illustrated' would be a niche magazine. This is because the magazine has one main theme which is golf. You wouldn't buy this magazine unless you were interested in golf in some way. The target audience for this magazine would be people who play golf for example, middle aged men. Most of the content in this magazine will be to do with golf or to do with things that the target audience would enjoy reading (what middle aged men would enjoy reading). Although just because the target audience for this magazine would typically be for men, that doesn't mean to say that women wouldn't read this magazine, they just aren't the target audience.

As you can see on the front page of this issue of 'Golf Illustrated', the colours are quite basic and the font is quite plain. This is because it is in-keeping with the mature theme. The main picture is of a man holding golf clubs. This is so you can tell what the magazine is about before even reading the page.

 

 

Here is an example of a mass magazine:

Heat Magazine







 

 

This magazine 'Heat' would be classed as a mass magazine. This is because the content of the magazine is a wide variety. There is no specific subject that the magazine is based on. It has information from celebrity gossip to fashion to health and more. There is still a target audience for this magazine, mainly women aged 16 - 35. The information in this magazine is based around what young women would want to read. Although this doesn't mean to say that men or older women wouldn't want to read 'Heat', they just aren't the main target audience for it.

You can see from the front page that it is aimed at women. The colours are mainly bright pinks and yellows which could be stereotyped as girly colours. The main pictures are all of women, celebrities looking their worst. This would more likely attract a young woman than an average young man.

 





Audience Feedback

Types of Audience Feedback

There are a lot of types of audience feedback such as;

• Focus groups
• Audience panels
• Trialling and testing
• Reviews
• Complaints
• Questionnaire 

Within my chosen media Film, there are only a few specific audience feedback methods that can be used. For example, reviews, focus groups and audience panels. 

Reviews are when you examine or assess something. You write the good and bad points of something and your opinion. By writing a review, you possibly have the intention to institute change. Reviews are ideal when giving feedback for a film because they are more detailed than just a questionnaire and you also get the persons honest opinion. 

A good example of where a focus group was successful was with the animated sitcom Family Guy. Firstly the Family Guy producers set up a focus group of women and showed them an episode of Family Guy. The feedback was negetive and they didn't enjoy the humour. The producers then set up a focus group of men and showed them an episode of Family Guy. The men thoroughly enjoyed it and gave positive feedback.

Focus groups are when a group of different people are gathered to discuss a product before it is released. A good example of where a focus group was successful was with the animated sitcom Family Guy. Firstly the Family Guy producers set up a focus group of women and showed them an episode of Family Guy. The feedback was negetive and they didn't enjoy the humour. The producers then set up a focus group of men and showed them an episode of Family Guy. The men thoroughly enjoyed it and gave positive feedback. Men are the target audience for Family Guy and the focus groups feedback confirmed this.








 

Representation

Within this blog post I will explain the definition of representation with some examples.

Representation
Representation in media is also known as stereotypes and can be shown through symbolisation. For example, a location, a place, a person or a product.

Location
For example.
Egypt - Egypt is represented to be a scorching hot country which is mainly derelict desert and sand.
Mexico - It is represented that most mexican food is hot and spicy. It is represented that Mexican men have moustaches and wear sombrero's.
England - It is represented that English people are quite blunt and moody. It is represented that English weather is always raining.

Brands/Companies
Marks & Spencer - Marks & Spencer is represented that well off, fussy people would grocery shop there.
Iceland - Iceland is represented that not very wealthy, large budget families would grocery shop there.

People
For example.
Scotland - The people in Scotland are represented to all wear kilts and eat haggis whilst playing the bagpipes.
America - People in America are represented to be over weight and lazy, eating too much fast food.
Essex - People from Essex are represented to be orange and not very intelligent, lacking common sense.

Genre

Production Technology
The production technology for my chosen media is film.

Distribution
The distribution method for my chosen media film, is through television, cinema, internet, in store, DVD and mobile. You can buy and sell films over the internet, in store via DVD or even over the phone. For example, from the virgin media store you can buy all the latest DVDs and you can also go on the website to buy a film. On iTunes you can buy films. You can get iTunes on your iPhone and computer.

Codes and Conventions of film
For example, if a film was under the horror genre, it would have the codes and conventions of the horror genre. E.g. gore, scary music, dark setting etc.
In this horror trailer there are the typical codes and conventions of a horror film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n08aIH-Bhcc

The sound effects are sharp and frightening. Throughout the trailer there is a sound effect that sounds quite isolated and empty. It creates the atmosphere and makes the scene seem isolated which is creepy.
In this trailer, the setting is all dark and mysterious.

How it has changed
Over the years film has changed massively as has the genres of film. In the 21st century much more things are allowed in film where as a couple of decades ago, things were more strict.


Genre 
Another word for genre is type, kind or sort.
In film there are several different genres. Each genre in film is completely different but sometimes the genres mix and create sub-genres.


Different genres of film:

• Action
• Adventure
• Horror
• Sci-fi
• Comedy
• Crime & Gangster
• Drama
• Historical
• War
• Musicals/Dance
• Western
• Fantasy
• Chick Flicks
• Romance films

Narrative

Niche

Niche
One of my FMPs that I have chosen is Film. Films as a whole are mass products although you can get niche films.

An example of a niche film:
Jesus of Nazareth. This film is a niche film as it is based on religion and was made a long time ago. It would only be aimed at people who enjoy religious films or enjoy older films. Also the film was made from a low budget.

An example of a mass film:
James Bond. This is a mass product film as the film was made with a high budget. James Bond films have been around for years so therefore the audience and fan base would be large by now. The film could be watched by anyone and you don't have to be into action specifically.

My 3 Media Products

FMP:

I have chosen 3 media products that are potentially the main 3 media products I would like to produce for my final major project in the second year of my media course. I study media and these are the 3 that I am most interested in.

My first media product is Photography.
I have chosen Photography because out of all the different media products, this is my favourite. I really love Photography and it is where my passion lies. I am always taking pictures everywhere I go.

My second media product is a Magazine.
I have chosen Magazines as my second FMP because I do really enjoy sitting down and reading a good magazine. It is one of my favourite things to do and I'm interested in the making behind a magazine. My personal favourite would be 'Heat'.

My third media product is Film.
I have chosen Film for one of my FMPs as I adore watching films! I am so fascinated with all the hard work that goes into making a film from the script to the camera work, even to the props. I love that there are so many different genres and sub-genres and there are so many varietys of film, that you could never get bored of watching them. My personal favourite genre would be Horror.