This blog post contains a summary of what we learned in class.
Media consolidation - media consolidation is the concentration of ownership of our media sources (news, film, TV,
radio, video games etc)
into the hands of fewer and fewer corporations.
Advantages of media consolidation:
Able to provide content for niche audiences
Improved quality due to better funding
It is cheaper for the audience
Converging technologies (eg. we can now get our TV, phone and internet from the same company, making
things
simple)
Diversification - less risk for the media company. (if something fails, it is not too much of an issue)
Can reach a larger audience.
Disadvantages of media consolidation:
smaller/independent media outlets can’t compete with the production quality
Illusion of choice
Lack of competitiveness and alternate view points. Every TV channel is expressing the same viewpoint.
The focus is making money, not good content
Less local news
Curran & Seaton Theory
The mass media is owned and operated by fewer and fewer companies. (media consolidation into
conglomerates.
(conglomerates - conglomerates are large parent companies with smaller independent entities that may
operate
across multiple industries.)
Mass media is driven by political agendas and economic influences.
The rise in new media is associated with the decline of quality content.
Web users have a larger voice and can challenge conglomerates.
Vertical integration - it is when one company owns more than one stage of the media chain. (production,
distribution, exhibition)
Benefits of owning all stages of production:
For the company (eg. Disney):
Creative control over story, script, design, editing, rating, marketing
Able to use more characters that appeal to a wider audience.
Increase revenue (don’t share profits)
Access to user data (tailor content, suggestions)
For the audience:
More content, intertextuality (intertextuality - the relationship between media products where one text
references another text by reusing some of its ideas and meanings)
Past Paper Practice
‘In the world of media ownership, bigger is always better.’ To what extent is this true in the media area you have
studied? [25 marks]
How to answer:
Topic sentence that answers the question
Outline the company, what it owns
Give an explanation of vertical integration
Introduce the media and how it was produced, distributed and exhibited
How does this benefit the company?
How does this benefit the audience?
Are there any disadvantages?
How do the ideas of Curran and Seaton fit this case study? (what is the company’s ideology? What
economic influences played a role? Has this integration resulted ina decline in quality?)
Horizontal integration - when one company owns more than one stage within the same level.
It also allows companies to diversify their content, profit etc. it also allows for cross - promotion, and
different media platforms bring access to different audiences.
Audiences can benefit because it gives them more exposure to their favourite media properties/characters,
and can increase engagement. (children who are exposed to character when they are young will more likely
consume the same property when they are older)
Synergy - mutually beneficial cross promotional strategies used by companies.
How synergy benefits both parties:
For examples James Bond
Benefits for James Bond:
High pays from companies
More locations, tax free
Luxury brands to bolster Bond’s image
More awareness (each company will have its own Bond marketing campaign)
A chance to reach new markets/audience
Benefits for companies:
Get to be associated with Bond
Good advertisement for locations
They can include the character in their marketing campaigns
Bond fans may purchase products they see on screen
Hypodermic Needle theory (not really a working theory anymore)
It assumes the audience as a sponge, absorbing ideologies from the media passively, without any questions
Two Step Flow theory
Expand the passive audience theory to suggest that people have their interpretations formed by opinion leaders
(opinion leader - an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lower-end
media users. / trusted members of the community -> celebrities, influences)
Uses & Gratification (Blumer & Katz)
The audience is actively using the media to satisfy some of our bas social needs;
Diversion - a form of escapism from the stresses and strains of life. Maybe all media falls into this group
Personal identity - the media supplies us with role models and ways of understanding our place in society
Social relationships - people make connections with performers they see on the screen, they also form
relationships with people in society when discussing the media product
Surveillance - audiences use the media to gather information
Camera Angles
camera angles refer to the position of the camera in relation to the subject being filmed. the placement of the camera can affect how the subject is perceived by the audience. different camera angles and camera movements have different connotations that can affect how the audience feels.
there are 12 types of camera angles that we've learned:
1. long shot - a long shot frames the subject from a distance and focuses on its surroundings. audiences can experience the vastness of the location, and the subject appears to be isolated and alone.
2. extreme long shot - an extreme long shot shows the full length of the subject while also including a large amount of the surrounding area of the film setting, it is a view from an even greater distance from a long shot in which the subject appear as small dots in the landscape.
3. medium shot - a medium show shows the character from the waist to the top of the head, it emphasize both the character and their surroundings by giving them an equal presence on screen.
4. cowboy shot - a cowboy shot frames the subject form the mid-thigh to the top of their head, it is usually used to reveal a weapon that the character is holding.
5. close up - a close up often used to show a character from the top of the shoulders to the top of their head. this is to draw the audiences attention to the character and show the importance of their presence.
6. extreme close up - an extreme close up is a shot framed of a characters face, this can allow the audience to understand the characters feelings.
7. POV - a POV shows what the character is looking at in a first person perspective, this gives the audience a view from the characters perspective by positioning the camera right where the characters eyes would be.
8. over the shoulder - this is when the camera angle is placed above the back of the shoulder and head of a subject. this is commonly used to show a conversation happening between two subjects.
9. high angle - it is when the camera points down on the subject from above. this shot is used to make the subject or object below seem vulnerable, powerless or weak.
10. low angle - it is when the shot is taken from below and pointing up. this can be used to make a subject appear to be larger, taller or more powerful.
11. dutch angle - it is when the camera is tilted, this gives the audience a feeling of disorientation or uneasiness.
12. establishing shot - an establishing shot is a wide or extreme wide shot of buildings or landscapes, this is to introduce new scenes and tell the audience where and when the action is happening.
during the class, we had to create a mini poster showing how different camera angles look like and what connotations or meanings they have. here are the mini posters the class made:
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