Monday 20 March 2017

NDM independent case study: Notes and quotes

Industry: Film
Institution: Entertainment films
Films distributed by Entertainment films: Ranging from 2001-2015 , how the distribution channels changed and the effect on traditional media, add a comparison to newspapers.
The Lord of the rings trilogy
Rush Hour trilogy
Blade trinity
Southpaw
Hateful eight

Media Magazine
·         MM56 article 11
  • 1.      In a world where Netflix, iTunes and their competitors are making it easier, cheaper, and pleasanter to just watch films from the comfort of your living room. Tarentino speaks on how modern streaming services are killing traditional industries, looks at how audiences now prefer the cheaper and easier method over the quality that he says has been lost since the olden days.
  • 2.      to keep these traditions going;  here Tarentino exclaims how older traditions in the media need to be kept going
  • 3.      The Hateful Eight, he has set his sights on another lost tradition, that of the ‘roadshow release’; a phenomenon so antiquated you may never have even heard of it.  This looks at an older way of promoting and distributing the films. It is a method that was first introduced in the 50’s and involved releasing the film to a limited number of cinemas with reserved seating. It matched the ethos of that time period and Tarentino brought that back for the release of Hateful eight.



Internet
  1. ·         How the movie distribution model is changing  http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/6-ways-the-movie-distribution-model-is-changing.html

  • 1.      in 2013, receipts topped out at a record $10.9 billion), that’s solely due to rising ticket prices; This shows American movie ticket sales and shows a rise in prices still managed to bring in billions. Theatre sceenings of movies is one of the more traditional viewing methods, yet still it is one of the most popular even though there is Netflix and Video on demand ( V O D)
  • 2.      That alarming decrease underlines that something is amiss in the theatrical exhibition landscape — and anyone with cable TV, an internet connection, and a Netflix account knows that a significant component has been the rapidly changing landscape of movie distribution. Shows that the conventional ways of doing things and the big franchises are becoming less profitable but surprisingly smaller independent chains are doing well and attract a higher class of audience and people who like traditional theatre.
  • 3.      It’s an arrangement that confirms that Netflix aims not only to distribute certain films exclusively to members, but to actually make those movies as well.  Shows that NDM has created a new platform for distribution but also its brought new competitors into the market. The same as in the news industry, NDM created new opportunities for traditional media institutions but also it allowed other new organisations to capitalise on this and this includes not only the news industry but the music one and also it brought about the rise of social media conglomerates like Facebook.


  • 1.     The digitalization and convergence of the media offer new possibilities for increasing cultural diversity. This is an important quote in looking at how new and digital media is helping cultural diversity, however with my independent case study (about films distribution) it can be argued that with America being the world’s largest film industry and having distributors with international ties that the Americanisation of everything is affecting cultural diversity as American views, values and ideologies are some of the most dominant in the world. However In some way culture is being spread across the world as because of new and digital media, new platforms have been created which enable creators of media products to bypass the traditional distribution channels and share their content with the rest of the world over social media and the internet, this can be prove to be quite successful and some people even make a career out of it, for example people on YouTube.
  • 2.      The Internet is an especially appropriate medium for the transmission of cultural contents, including that for even the smallest minority. This quote backs up the explanation given in the previous one. It states that the internet is one of the most if not the most important medium, this is similar to the quote saying the “The internet is the most important medium of the 20th Century. This can also be linked to the everyday sexism project which was created by Laura Bates. This talks about how NDM and the internet has given people a voice (the minority) and this would help them share that voice. The way this links to my independent case study is by people and institutions creating independent films that aren’t major box office hits, however the internet is the most important medium for them to exhibit and distribute their media products



1.      “UK cinema admissions in 2016 were 168 million, 2% lower than in 2015”, This quote looks at how cinema admissions sales are lower and are dropping, the figure it dropped by was 2%, although this seems small it will affect the movie distributors financially and this could cause cinema ticket prices or complementary goods to rise to compensate for the drop in sales.
2.       “UK box office revenues were down 1.1%”. This is a figure which compares back to the previous year, and a reason for the quote number 1 and this one is because of piracy. Revenues and sales of movies in theatres is falling because pirated copies of these movies can appear online the same time as when they are in the cinemas, that’s why back in the late 2000’s video on demand and Sky box office was created, they now host some/certain movies that have just come out in the cinemas for a fee on their networks. This is because distribution companies know that they will significantly lose money to video piracy so by for-filing the demand for the market with a high quality film instead of a poor quality one, people may choose to buy it because of the convenience.



Media Factshhet
·         MF100

  • 1.      This means that many UK films are made but, in order to get the film exhibited, the filmmakers have to sacrifice the distribution rights by selling the film to a distribution company. Once sold, all revenue from cinema screenings, DVD and Blu-ray sales, plus sales to television companies, are lost.  The size of the industry matters as shown here because In comparison to Hollywood the British distribution  industry Is almost non-existent but the British film industry as a whole is the 3rd largest in the world.






Friday 10 March 2017

Identities work index

1) Reading the riots
2) Post-colonialism: theories and Destiny Ekaragwa film analysis

NDM stories index updated

  1. Liberty media plant to buy majority shares in Formula 1
  2. Robots will eliminate 6% of US jobs in the future
  3. Why facebook is public enemy number 1 for journalism
  4. Revenues from TV advertising exceed $5billion for the first time
  5. Daily Mail owner to cut more than 400 jobs across the company
  6. BBC responds to claims about how it will issues out the new iplayer with the TV licence
  7. corruption in investigative journalism 
  8. Twitter could be running out of time
  9. BBC sutdios to cut 300 staff in a cost saving attempt 
  10. New ways ordinary people can get involved in news reporting
  11. Donald Trump would be a threat to press freedom
  12. Facebook and Twitter join to tackle fake news
  13. Newspaper industry in Ireland starts to decline 
  14. Twitter to cut staff after a slow quarter 
  15. Sam Allerdyce and investigative reporting 
  16. Googles digital news initiative 
  17. Google gives money to companies to tackle fake news (fact checking)
  18. Three to block mobile advertising on network
  19. BBC to broadcast news programmes in North Korea 
  20. Politics has gone wrong, is digital technology to blame
  21. Putin brings China's great firewall to Russia 
  22. Daily Mail and News values
  23. New Zealand Media merger 
  24. Metro climbs to second place  in the circulation league 
  25. AT&T & Time Warner have talks over $85 billion acquisition 
  26. News corp Australia announce redundancies and cost cutting plans
  27. Film and TV ​streaming and downloads overtake DVD sales for first time
  28. Daily Mail publisher turns to price rise to counter advertising slump
  29. Facebook unveils measures to promote stronger ties with news industry
  30. Why the BBC will struggle to make iPlayer as good as Netflix
  31. 'Enterprise revenues' offer newspapers a lifeline for the future
  32. BBC sets up team to debunk fake news
  33. Popular newspapers suffer greater circulation falls than qualities
  34. Channel 4 to run week of programmes on fake news
  35. Winning back advertisers is key to saving the newspaper industry
  36. Fox News deletes false Québec shooting tweet after Canadian PM's office steps in
  37. In a post-factual presidency, Trump can play both victor and victim
  38. Fake news and fact-checking: Trump is demonstrating how to outsmart an AI
  39. With the power of online transparency, together we can beat fake news
  40. Twitter accounts really are echo chambers, study finds
  41. BBC crew attacked in China and forced to sign confession
  42. BBC focus too middle aged and middle class, says Ofcom chief
  43. Guardian asking for donations 
  44. We’re over the digital revolution. This is the age of experience
  45. Fake news inquiry to review social networks' complaints procedures
  46. With the power of online transparency, together we can beat fake news
  47. Digital democracy: lessons from Brazil, Iceland and Spain
  48. Bad news for online advertisers – you’ve been ’ad

week 24: story 48

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/05/online-advertising-social-media-facebook-google-youve-been-ad


Bad news for online advertisers – you’ve been ’ad




Once upon a time, advertising was like carpet bombing. You paid a lot of money to put ads in newspapers and magazines or on television and billboards, but it was all hit and miss: you could never be sure what worked. As a US department store magnate, John Wanamaker, once said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

But when Google and then Facebook arrived, all this apparently changed. The technology deployed by these outfits could ensure that only people likely to be receptive to particular messages would be shown those messages. Wanamaker’s heirs could be sure that their advertising dollars were hitting the spot. And on this foundation, Google and Facebook (and, for a while, Yahoo) made money like it was going out of fashion. It was, as the cliche puts it, a win‑win situation

  •  Procter & Gamble announced that it would make $1bn in savings by targeting consumers through digital and social media
  • ad blockers are growing 40%?”

week 24: story 47

https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2017/feb/23/democracy-digital-lessons-brazil-iceland-spain

Digital democracy: lessons from Brazil, Iceland and Spain



Can digital technology offer democracy anything other than trouble? Concerns are growing that platforms like Facebook and Twitter help create partisan echo chambers, spread fake news and render intelligent argument impossible when clicks are valued more than facts.

In Iceland, ‘Better Reykjavik’ was launched in 2010 as a collaboration between the local government and a civic tech charity so that citizens could suggest, debate and rank ideas for improving their city. With the opportunity to vote on specific proposals, they have the power to make real decisions about how local resources are spent and allocated. Far from being of narrow interest to the digitally savvy, more than 70,000 people have visited the website – out of a population of 120,000.

In Britian we believe that our social space on the internet is democratic but even last year when they passed a bill to record and store our internet searches we still believe we are free to roam around and post anything we please without some consequence.

week 23:story 46

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/03/online-transparency-fake-news-internet

With the power of online transparency, together we can beat fake news




Last year we saw a proliferation of disinformation online. “Fake news” sites interfered with political discourse and sentiment around the world. Filter bubbles limited our perspectives. Oxford Dictionaries named “post-truth” its international word of the year As we started 2017, we heard new terms, such as “alternative facts”

when a new 2,000 rupee bill was introduced, fake news claimed that the bill was equipped with a surveillance chip. Later debunked, the “news” spread like wildfire on the messaging platform WhatsApp, which has 50 million monthly users in India.

Fake news is being dealt with in a similar way to global warming, all of the rich and powerful people are complaining about it and pouring some time and money into helping it, but no one knows really how to stop it and by the time its taken over the internet it will be to late,

week 23: story 45

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/08/fake-news-inquiry-social-networks-complaints-policy-facebook


Fake news inquiry to review social networks' complaints procedures


A parliamentary inquiry into fake news is to consider legislation forcing social networks to improve the way they handle complaints after Facebook’s failure to remove sexualised images of children. His committee will examine whether new offences should be created to ensure social networks are held responsible for inappropriate content, including fake news as well as images of children which have been reported.

I do think that this is a good thing as complaints on social media sites usually go no where and rarely get dealt with. Facebook only dealt with 18/100 complaints when a BBC reporter flagged the images showing how complaints don't get dealt with and with no explanation.

week 22: story 44

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/02/digital-revolution-age-of-experience-books-vinyl

We’re over the digital revolution. This is the age of experience


This article from the Guardian is talking about how the digital revolution is over or slowing down. In terms of media companies like Kodak who went bankrupt in 2012 when the age of traditional film was dying out and new media was evolving and bringing with it new technology. This has happened on radio as-well and e-readers with Vinyls and books off the shelf rising in sales once more.


I believe this is a good thing that some traditional media sources are coming back but i do no believe that this is the end of the digital age or the digital revolution., Technology is going to keep moving forward and even though traditional media sales are rising nothing has been reported on newer media sources falling and with the upcoming youth 

week 22: story 43

 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/08/bbc-focus-too-middle-aged-and-middle-class-says-ofcom-chief 



… we have a small favour to ask. More people than ever rely on the Guardian to keep them up-to-date, but far fewer are paying for our journalism. Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.
If you depend on our reporting to stay informed, support us now and help make our future much more secure.


This passage appears at the end of every guardian article viewed on a computer. It asks users to donate and subscribe to the guardian as they exclaim they are facing falling advertising revenues and this isn;'t just affecting them. The passage also says that they don't want to go behind a paywall and that there journalism needs to be funded.

Monday 6 March 2017

Media and collective identity

1) Read the article and summarise each section in one sentence, starting with the section 'Who are you?'

Who are you? we are included in building a picture that reflects us, the importance of this is the way of life encompassing us, the thing that makes us our identity and how we need to be seen.

I think there for i am?  How in the past our identities were fixed and people we not going to change because a magazine or newspaper told the what the new trend was.

From citizen to consumer?  becoming passive consumers of media products 

The rise of the individual?   individualism 

Branding and lifestyle?  products can be linked to different lifestyles depends on the way they are marketed.

2) List five brands you are happy to be associated with and explain how they reflect your sense of identity.


Sony- This reflects my identity as i use their products almost everyday and have done for a long time.

Youtube- This is part of my identity as i believe it reinforces the idea of globalisation which i believe in.
Nike- This brand is part of mu identity as it pushes you to do well at all things not just sport. 


3) Do you agree with the view that modern media is all about 'style over substance'? What does this expression mean?

 For men and women alike the media does present style over substance as it sets them unrealistic goals which people feel they must live up to, for example for men they must be fit and muscular whilst women must have the latest clothes and jewellery.

4) Explain Baudrillard's theory of 'media saturation' in one paragraph. You may need to research it online to find out more.

Baudrillard argues that we now live in a media-saturated society in which media images dominate and distort our view of events and the world to such an extent that they are creating reality rather than merely reporting it.

5) Is your presence on social media an accurate reflection of who you are? Have you ever added or removed a picture from a social media site purely because of what it says about the type of person you are?

No, but i see how people can change there profiles so that it better reflects what people expect and think of them and not what they actually want that picture to represent.


6) What is your opinion on 'data mining'? Are you happy for companies to sell you products based on your social media presence and online search terms? Is this an invasion of privacy?

We may all disagree with it but in reality when websites say they are running cookies or recording data we still use the page because we have no other option. If we don't agree to their conditions usage of that website is restricted. 

Friday 3 March 2017

Identity and the wider media

1) The Factsheet discusses how identity is a complex subject. What does it suggest defines our identity?


Identity is a very complex subject. How we define ourselves is
based on a complex set of relationships but we can think about our

  1. idea of ‘self’ as being:
  2. • who we think we are
  3. • who we want to be… and
  4. • who we think others think we are


2) Complete the task on page 2: suggest media texts that could reinforce that someone is non-mainstream; edgy; a pleasure seeker; fashionable; witty and fun; cutting-edge.

You are…. … media use to reinforce these ideas?

non-mainstream= Alternative streaming service to Netflix and Amazon 

edgy= 

a pleasure seeker= social media sites like Instagram 

fashionable= style magazines

witty and fun= meme pages 


cutting-edge= 


3) What examples are suggested for a case study on urban youth?

The urban youth are considered to be outsiders as they reinforce mainstream values (ALthussar). Jeremy Kyle is a show used an example to show how some of the urban youth are represented as Chav's nd hoodies which create the moral panics in the media. Also the shows Harry Brown and Eden Lake make portray the urban youth to be the villainous type.

4) What does Hebdige argue with regards to youth culture? 

Hebdige says that youth cultures show their resistance to the dominant culture through their style choices.Urban youth can show itself to be outside the mainstream by
adopting the uniform that is feared by mainstream culture and they
learn about this fear in the media representations.

5) What other theorists are referenced alongside Hebdige? How do they link to the issue of youth identity?

  • The media continues to represent these youths as deviant in an attempt to reinforce mainstream values (Acland)
  • representations are constructed by people outside this group (Perkins)
  • reflection of adult culture’s fear of urban youth (Giroux).
6) How can we link our Year 12 case study on Ill Manors to youth and identity? What specific examples from the case study could be used to discuss Hebdige’s theory that youth culture challenges mainstream culture and dominant ideologies?

Wearing the same clothes and having the same values can allow audience members to
identify with a group and so become an important part of the ‘construction of self’. Jessie J and Ben Drew (Plan B) also talk about how the urban identity of the youth can be adopted and constructed.

7) What does theorist David Gauntlett suggest regarding the media’s influence over the construction of identities?

Theorist David Gauntlett claims that the media have influence on identity construction and so the way the media stereotypes groups may become part of how individuals see themselves and media institutions are able to use this to sell their products.

8) Do you agree that Hebdige’s view that youth culture will always seek to resist mainstream culture and challenge dominant ideologies?

No not all the time because in the London riots this mainstream culture was reinforced when the urban youth culture looked like they were in their prime when they were doing what everyone expected them to do.