Radio

Radio is a specialised industry

KEY THEORIES

CURRAN AND SEATON
STUART HALL
HENRY JENKINS
CLAY SHIRKY

THE BBC
FUNDED BY - A license fee FUNDED BY THE PEOPLE 
BBC has REBRANDED itself as BBC Sounds - Due to the advance of technology
Therefore it needs to respond to a wide audience

THE BBC HAS OFFERED LESS DIVERSFITICATION AS THE YEARS GO ON
there is a lot of podcasts and choice. But there is a lot of repetition within itself

The BBC is an institution and a PBS (Public Broadcasting Service)


BBC SOUNDS

John Peele started off as an illegal DJ broadcasting from a boat, then got hired by BBC, didn't care what he played

EXAMPLES OF BBC SOUNDS

No country for Young Women
PODCAST

Fire in the Booth
Charlie Sloth
On Youtube too
BBC RADIO 1 - Aiming at a younger male and female audience
MASS MARKET

BBC SOUNDS MEETING AUDIENCES NEEDS

White background, visually appealing, tells you how far through the live shows are.

Thumbnails. Categories

BBC1 - Young Audience
BBC2 - Slightly older audience
BBC3 - Working Class Teenagers
BBC4 - Older than BBC2

LATE NIGHT WOMEN'S HOUR
Quite different from normal BBC stuff
PRODUCED BY : BBC
DISTRIBUTED : ON BBC WEBSITE
TARGET AUDIENCE : Middle aged, middle classed Women
AIRED ON FRIDAY AT 11 PM : Targets a Niche Audience
IT'S A PODCAST
BROADCAST ONCE A MONTH ON RADIO 4
BEGAN IN 2015
A MAGAZINE SHOW
Takes the form of a ROUND TABLE discussion
Very professional - egalitarian 

CONTEXT

A spin off from a radio show called "Woman's hour" - BBC Radio 4 daily magazine programme.


Presented by Lauren Laverne and features a number of female panellists

Each episode focuses on a particular theme relevant to its female audience

Not much regulation - as there is not much that needs to be regulated

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

WOMANS HOUR 1946 -
Originally broadcasted ( on Radio 1 ) in 1946 (end of WW2) at 2pm to fit in time with woman's chores and to educate female audiences. 
Started to encourage women getting into daily routine again.
Topics aimed at women and mothers
Moved to Radio 4 - less popular in 1970s
Show was labelled misogynistic and criticised as being too middle class

How does LNWH meet the needs of its audience?
Sophisticated lexis - e.g. "Democratisation" 
Gentle Snobbery which runs through this show - " I knew my marriage was over when i bought an Ikea wardrobe"
Mode of address is very middle class - it's middle class people talking to middle class audience - " Winter Mug", "only have 20 books" - everybody agrees and shocked
Privileged life - "Living in my brother's attic after being evicted" Many people are evicted from their houses in the UK and find it difficult. It's not "an adventure" or "cozy", it's an issue. But this is a very middle class view of an issue.
Glossy over issues  e.g. "WW2"

What regulatory issues arise from this particular episode? 
There's none. The show is regulated by OFCOM

Why does the BBC broadcast this show? 
"To inform, to educate and to entertain"
The BBC has to put on these shows to appeal to a variety of audiences

A media product needs to have authenticity and appeal to its Target Audience

LATE NIGHT WOMANS HOUR - paints a utopian world 

SEXISM IN LNWH

in this show - full female panel - it's a show about cooking and house keeping. Draws a binary between men and women, talking about emotional women and working men

CRITISCIMS 

nothing challenging about this show
Extreme middle class focus - e.g main topic hygg
Biassed viewpoint
Sexist - All female panel
Not relatable to a majority audience
The way they talk about food ( and essential ) and being evicted- they consider this an adventure - a lot of assumptions about the lifestyle of the audience
"exoticism" - having a Danish guest on the show - something new and exotic for the audience to listen to

PREFERRED READING - identifying with the show
OPPOSITIONAL - This is over privileged

THE BBC HAS A REMITT TO PRESENT A DIVERSE RANGE OF MEDIA OUTPUT - something they must do, a legal obligation in which they have to put out loads of different shows that target a variety of audiences. 

THEREFORE THE BBC BROADCASTS LNWH BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO

GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF - SOLD BY THE BBC TO CHANNEL 4
THE BBC IS AN INSITUTUION AND HAS A CERTAIN CULTURAL CAPITIAL

HOW HAS DIGITIAL PLATFORMS CHANGED THE WAY IN WHICH THE WAY WE CONSUME RADIO?

• BBC SOUNDS - ONLINE
• PODCASTS - Allows the audience to skip to the bits they want to hear.
• Don't need to listen to radio live anymore - you can watch stuff when you want to watch it
• YOU DON'T ACTUALLY NEED A RADIO TO LISTEN TO RADIO - LISTEN ON LAPTOPS PHONES ECT
• Phone can be used anywhere
• Can sometimes watch the presenters - visual element, can make it easier to listen to. Can make the presenters more likeable through the direct address
• Apps - available on phones. Apps offer a better user experience for the user.
• Digital radio - cars (DAB), Don't need to be near by a radio tower, usually better reception
• FM and AM - radio still available - used more by older people
• You can download podcasts on your phone 
• Thumbnails - looks more appealing to the audience - visual

DIGITAL CONVERGENCE

The coming together of previously separate industries, for example film, television, music etc. The widespread use of digital 

technology means we often access many different media on the same device.

DISTRIBUTION

Audio streaming - everybody has access to media. INSTANT AND WATCH WHENEVER. 

Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) - greater number of wavelengths and therefore stations are available with digital audio

The use of DAB has increased the amount of stations allow for a niche programming and improved quality.

PODCASTS programmes are packaged and available as downloadable content on a range of different platforms, more flexible

CROSS-PLATFORM The combination of visuals with audio output and availability of radio through television platforms

Thew combination of media platforms has allowed radio to utilise visual elements such as webcams to remain appealing to a modern audience

LATE NIGHT WOMAN'S HOUR - Now on twice a week - their audience has grown

HASHTAG LNWH Not very popular - not a lot of audience interaction. As the audience is OLDER
VIRAL MARKETTING
SECONDARY AUDIENCES - MEN

REGULATION

Radio is regulated by OFCOM. E.G. Late Night Women's Hour - not controversial at all. Can be played.

Late Night Women's Hour - rated U

REGULATION IN RADIO - NOT PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE

LNWH does occasionally swear, however it is not breaking any rules

LATE NIGHT WOMAN'S HOUR - the sun published an article about this show including a lot of swearing. the Sun hates the BBC.

The regulation of radio is ineffective - can lie about age online

OFCOM'S FRAMEWORK

ORGANISATIONS HAVE TO:

"Ensure a wide of range of services and a wide appeal is available"
THE BBC ON THE WHOLE DOES THIS e.g. LNWH IS AN EXAMPLE OF THEM ATTEMPTING TO OFFER THESE SERVICES

"Maintain plurality in broadcasting"
THE BBC ON THE WHOLE DOES THIS e.g. "The One Show" - working class show + The Danish chef on LNWH

"Protect audiences from offensive or harmful material"
THE BBC ON THE WHOLE DOES THIS e.g. There is swearing in LNWH but it is after the watershed

"Protects audience against unfairness or infringement of privacy"
THE BBC ON THE WHOLE DOES THIS e.g. nobody in particular is mentioned within LNWH and there is a panel of guests so there is not unfairness

THEORISTS
PETER LUNT AND SONIA LIVINGSTONE

PLURALITY

is where a media organisation needs to give voice to a wide range of media products


CURRAN AND SEATON

Claim that the media are controlled by a small number of companies driven by profit and power. MEDIA CONCENTRATION. Their theories  argue that we need a range of media, with more diversity and this will help to create more varied and adventurous. 

The BBC is not driven by profit. But they do create populist tv shows. LNWH DOES OFFER THIS DIVERSITY

IDEOLOGY OF LNWH

Middle class feminist ideology

SLOW TV MOVEMENT
SCANDINAVIAN MOVEMENT IN 2016
Middle class target audience.
Very relaxing videos
E.G. BergensBanen
Watched in the background. Much more social - you can talk and come back to it.
LNWH HAS A VERY SIMILAR AUDIENCE
LNWH - COMFY TV, we can tune in and out of it, their voices are chill, and the audience listens to de-stress.
SLOW PACED AND REPETITIVE
RELAXED CONVERSATION
NON JUDGEMENTAL/EGALITARIAN/FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE - NOT MUCH DISAGREEMENT 

PARTICIPATORY CULTURE

VideoGames

HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES

Very first video game - created in 1962 - SPACE WAR 
developed using military technology

Computers were very new at the time, very few had them. Computers were vast and therefore very impractical.

Some of the very first video games were role playing games 

Japanese Arcade Boom

Tito (company) created space invaders and launched in 1992. Very popular game found in arcades. It is a shooting game.

Atari and Nintendo began releasing bare games - arcades became a very big deal in the 1980s

Video games became more affordable at home. Bedroom coding - teenage boys making games in their bedrooms.

ZX spectrum - console popular in UK at the time

There was a lot of different genres of games as the industry was very young and people were just coming up with anything and making them into a games . Therefore the quality was not that good.

So the video game industry crashed in the 1980s and Atari went bankrupt after releasing an E.T game.

DRAGON QUEST - roleplaying games - adventure games.

Supermario brothers - released in 1986 by Nintendo. MOST SUCCESSFUL VIDEO GAME EVER MADE. Marketed specifically towards kids.

1994 - Sony Playstation 1 Advert:
This advert is a parody. It is using a clever style of reverse phycology, using satire making fun of the idea that video games make you stupid. Tongue in Cheek.
SOPHISTACATED ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN - playstation wanted to challenge the stereotype that games were only played by nerds. They made the soundtracks more like house music and clubbing sounds in order to appeal to an older audience

Indie games - made by small developing teams for small amount of money
Major game - takes thousands of people to make. Controversy surrounding the workers that sometimes get fucked over when working hard to make these games

Controversies surrounding video games- representations. Laura Croft (main character of Tomb Raider) was made to be a woman to be more appealing to a heterosexual male audience

Digital Distribution - Download Games, Steam, Playstation store.

Who is the intended audience for video games?

This Sega Advert targets a heterosexual male audience.


Lots of innuendos - the audience is old enough to understand the jokes but also young enough to find it funny.

No attempt to target anybody who isn't a teenage boy. This assumes that other audiences, e.g. women, aren't interested at all. 

Here video games are presented as something to keep you busy.

Video games target a very core/niche audience
Assumption that video games are played by younger audiences. "Games" - associated with kids
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WHAT IS A VIDEO GAME?

Require a console
Interactive
Core Audience
The assumption that video games have a bad effect on people - if you play too many you may become violent HYPERDERMIC NEEDLE MODEL
Video games have a vastly more complicated narrative - TODORAV'S EQUILIBRUEM 
Thousands of people come together to create video games much like the film industry
Video games are very pricy

The Video game industry is a specialised industry

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ASSASSINS CREED ||| - LIBERATION

Published by Ubisoft in 2012 for Playstation Vita, then re-released on Xbox 360 and Playstation in 2014. only 600,000 copies sold. Not enough. Main character is Avaline. railer shows off the grpahics creating an imersive atmosphere

Video games are regulated in a different way to films. PEGI regulates assassins creed. It is rated 18

Assassins Creed Liberation Trailer

HOW DOES THIS TRAILER TARGET A SPECIALISED AND A GENERALISED AUDIENCE?

"It is essential for industries to minimise risk and maximise profit" - David Hesmondhaghl

• Black Female character - subverts expectation that the target for video games in young heterosexual men
• "New Missions" - appealing to audience that have already played the game, spend more money, "double dropping"
• Re-released on more popular consoles - gives more people access to it, originally didn't sell very well on PS Vita
• Tackles big ideological issues about race, slavery and colonialism - pushes boundaries, increase word of mouth sales
• Intertextual reference to Django Unchained (2012) - cult film, slavery in Antebellum America. The main character has a whip - intertextual reference to the Castelmania game
• High quality, quality animation, graphics, soundtrack, locations - has high production values. Developed by Ubisoft who have experience in creating high quality, selling Assassins Creed - The soundtrack had big ratings
• It is a multi-platform release - larger audience. Not an exclusive game. Targets a Mass Audience
• Exclusive games drives up sales of consoles
• The trailer shares conventions of high budget Hollywood film - Voice Over/Narrative. Loads of action - Proairetic codes. Soundtrack - orchestral soundtrack 
• This game is similar to the other Assassins Creed - The art/covers/advertisements all look the same - A BRAND IDENTITY IS CREATED VERY RECOGNISABLE TO THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE
• It is being re-released again in 2018 (SECOND TIME) - an easy way to make money
• Audiences who play on a PS3 receive additional content - characters and costumes - and a DLC
• The sales for Assassin's creed liberation did not meet company's expectations - hence why they re released 
• This game was not very well  critically received - mixed reviews. IT UNDERPERFORMED

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REGULATION OF VIDEOGAMES

Videogame sin the Uk are regulated by Pegi, but were previously regulated by Elspa.

Pegi stands for  Pan European Gaming Information. So they regulate in Europe too.

Pegi is an advisory classification system.

REGULATION OF VIDEO GAMES in UK has NEVER been EFFECTIVE. Parents can easily buy games for children.As well as this digital technology has an impact on this - you can just go online and create accounts and pretend to be older than what you actually are

PEGI RATINGS

The content of games with a PEGI 3 rating is considered suitable for all age groups. The game should not contain any sounds or pictures that are likely to frighten young children. A very mild form of violence (in a comical context or a childlike setting) is acceptable. No bad language should be heard.

Game content with scenes or sounds that can possibly frightening to younger children should fall in this category. Very mild forms of violence (implied, non-detailed, or non-realistic violence) are acceptable for a game with a PEGI 7 rating.

Video games that show violence of a slightly more graphic nature towards fantasy characters or non-realistic violence towards human-like characters would fall in this age category. Sexual innuendo or sexual posturing can be present, while any bad language in this category must be mild. Gambling as it is normally carried out in real life in casinos or gambling halls can also be present (e.g. card games that in real life would be played for money).

The adult classification is applied when the level of violence reaches a stage where it becomes a depiction of gross violence, apparently motiveless killing, or violence towards defenceless characters. The glamorisation of the use of illegal drugs and explicit sexual activity should also fall into this age category. 

This rating is applied once the depiction of violence (or sexual activity) reaches a stage that looks the same as would be expected in real life. The use of bad language in games with a PEGI 16 rating can be more extreme, while games of chance, and the use of tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs can also be present.



PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
Within my research i noticed that there is a very specific iconography presented within all of the promotional materials.
It's really hard to differentiate between the different games and the franchise. One of the criticisms of the franchise - It's  oversaturated. All of the games are very similar and not that distinguishable

There are certain items of merch that will only appeal to a niche audience

AUDIENCE THEORIES - FANDOM - HENRY JENKINS

ASSASSINS CREED FANS - 'THE CREED"

FANS DO STUFF WITH THEIR MEDIA PRODUCT. TEXTUAL POACHING (AUDIENCE IS TAKING AWAY THINGS THAT THE PRODUCER NEVER INTENDED)- DIFFERENT TO AUDIENCE

Manifestations of Fandom

Benifits of fandom - cosplay/conventions - gives the opportunity to have social interaction. People bunch together with similar interests

What happens when you play too many video games?

- your attitude and opinions change

- you become stupid

- loose out on social interaction - becoming anti social

HYPERDERMIC NEEDLE MODEL - AUDIENCE IS PASSIVE - ASSUMES AUDIENCE IS MINDLESS - NEGATIVE THEORY. 

To what extent does Assassins Creed 3 present a threat to both the target audience and secondary and unintentional?

Video games are universally violent and violence is presented as the only way of solving things. 

CULTIVATION THEORY - GEORGE GERBNER  

ULTIMATE DOOM - 1993
First person shooting game. First of its kind

Ultimate Doom - played by the kids that committed the Columbine Massacre 

moral panic - an event is over exaggerated to create fear within the public
If we see violence over and over again we become desensitised to it

Stuart Hall - RECEPTION THEORY

encoding - when the producer places a message/ideology within a product

decoding - audience receives the message.

ASSASSINS CREED READINGS

PREFERRED READING - AGREE WITH THE READING

NEGOTIATED READING - AGREEING WITH PARTS OF IDEOLOGY

OPPOSITIONAL READING - REJECTING IDEOLOGY

ABERANT READING - NOT UNDERSTANDING THE READING

DOMINANT IDEOLOGY/PREFERRED READING/ANCHORAGE OF ASSASSINS CREED

VIOLENCE IS ACCEPTABLE AND ALSO THERE ARE GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS IN LIFE (BINARY OPPOSITION) - SIMPLIFIED LIFE VIEW

WOMEN ARE CAPABLE OF ANYTHING - GENDER EQUALITY

THE GAME IS ABOUT SLAVERY AND FREEDOM - ANTI SLAVERY

AUDIENCE REJECTS IDEOLOGY -
violence shouldn't be used to solve problems
Not enjoyable

AUDIENCE NEGOTIATES IDEOLOGY -
boring but good messages

Video games are more negotiable than any other media form

LORE - the story behind video games, story lines that are not apparent 

VIDEO GAMES are predominantly violent and are made to be fun.

The 25th Ward: The Silver Case - VideoGame

ATYPICAL GAME - text narrative. INTERTEXUAL REFERENCES TO POKEMON. APPEALS TO A MINORITY AUDIENCE

COMPLETE LACK OF GAMEPLAY AND STRUCTURE. There is the argument that this is not even a video game. No continuity whatsoever. NO ENDING. excessive use of strong language. Lots of violence and mature topics such as sex work

VIDEO GAMES FORCE AUDIENCES TO NEGOTIATE READINGS IN WHICH FILM DOES NOT

END OF AUDIENCE THEORIES - CLAY SHIRKY

Audiences are no longer passive anymore. They interact with the producers and media products. Audiences don't just watch stuff, they produce stuff too - becoming producers. Audiences are part of the marketing and apart of the product. Audiences are part of the way of making money.

Death Stranding - Upcoming VideoGame

No release date.

Features the likenesses of several famous Hollywood Actors - All friends with the producer. Producer (HIDEO KOJIMA) is famous for very eccentric games e.g. Metal Gear Solid. His games break rules. POSTMODERNISM 

DEATH STRANDING TRALIER Premiered at Game Awards 2017

Within this trailer Kojima creates an audience.

ANALYSIS - How does this trailer construct audiences?

• Intentionally bizarre iconography, and completely lacking genre conventions. This presents many invitations for active audiences to create "Fan Theories". However this can be disappointing for audiences when they do not get what they expect.
• Famous Hollywood actors - high production values. 
• Sony funding and extremely expensive and likely to fail video game in exchange for exclusivity (game only available for playstation)
• Little merchandise options - a direct contrast to Assassin's Creed, and little opportunity for DLC or multiple sequels.
• Very immersive array camera shots - audience positioned directly with actors - single take: exceptionally hard to achieve in film, though possible with CG

ASSASSINS CREED FRANCHISE IS ALL VERY SIMILAR AND ONLY OFFERS A SINGULAR IDEOLOGY

Xmas Holiday Work/Questions

TIDE ADVERT:

In what ways does this product use media language to encode the ideologies of the producer? (30 mins)

INITIAL IDEAS:

ideologies - women should enjoy cleaning
b=gesture codes - her body language
heart doodles
red and white colours - purity and rommance - love for this product
this is what women should look like and act like - sense of community if youre not like this youre an outcasst/ not a woman
illusrations
aspirational image - mid shots
tide is the best product in the world
language - superlative and hyperbole to emphaise thsi

theories - semiotics - roland barthes 
proairetic codes - 
symbolic codes - 
hermanutic  codes - slogan - audience wonders
Male gaze theory - lisbet van zooonen
 TARGET AUDIENCE - mainly housewives - 20 - 30 y/o also men
they want their wives to be like this

The 1950s "Tide" advertisement uses a variety of media language to encode the ideologies of the producer. Ideologies are the beliefs and ideas of a producer and within this poster the belief that Tide is the best cleaning product consumers can buy is very present throughtout the poster. Additionally representations of women also dominate this poster, evoking ideas of an aspirational image ( the housewife herself) to which the 20-30 year old women target audience should aspire to be like.

Langauage id used witghin this poster to convey the idea that Tide is the best cleaning product out there. The slogan, "Tide's got what women want" clarifys that this product is what women, like the housewife mascot we see in this poster, need in their life in order to be happy. As well as this hyperbole is used in this media product to really emphaise how good Tide is as it is the "worlds CLEANEST wash!". This is not facts and the advertisement is clearly biassed, however this section within the advert where these three statements are made is a proiaretic code, as the audience reads these statement and thinks of trying out the product themselves to test it and sew  if it does live up to these exagerated statements. Additionally, the ideoligy that Tide is the best product is further developed through the use of images and illustrations in this poster, such as the illustration of the washing machine using the cleaning product, showing that Tide is infact very effective as it produces a lot of bubbles.

 This product rewards its consumers, which we can see through the use of a midshot of the housewife who is clearly so in love with her Tide product and couldn't be happier, as she smiles ear to ear whilst hugging her product. The doodled love hearts on this poster further reinforce this love for the Tide product, as well as adding to the overall jolly feel of the advertisement that replicates the feeling consumers feel when using Tide. The use of colour further develops these ideologies. Red is used within the poster as a symbolic code of love for the cleaning product, as well as the white colour which embodies the background as well as a variety of other aspects of the poster, such as the costume of the housewife. The white colours are symbolic of the cleanliness and purity this product blesses your life with when you use Tide. Additionally, the idea that Tide builds a community is present within this poster. The colloquial language such as "Sudsing Wiz" and the repeated use of the word "women" both create this idea, as women who do not use Tide may feel inclinded to buy the product in order to be able to talk with other "women" about the product and how amazing it is, like in the comic strip illustration we see in the bottom right corner of the advvert.

As well as targetting a specific female audience, this poster also targets married heterosexual men of a smimilar age. The housewife mascot is an aspirational character for other housewives to aim to be like. She is pretty, well kept and loves cleaning clearly. Therefore through the male gaze theory this advertisement targets men as they look at this poster and believe that this is what their wife should look and act like. This may lead them to buy Tide in the hopes that their wife will also be like "the housewife".

KISS OF THE VAMPIRE 

What are the genre conventions of this product, how dO they work and how are they developed? (30 mins)

initial ideas:
horror genre conventions - dark setting night time setting

vampire costume - very stereotypical. High social status 
christopher lees dracula alaso released by hammer films
Damsle in distress - submissive women who need to be protected and are often the first victims.
dark colour pallete - scary conventions

full moon and fog - symbolic code of amystery a dnt eh suprnatural
title - wooden stake/vampire fangs - red spalshed of colour like blood dripping
genre iconography - conflict 
thi is a sotry of thre supernatural - binary opposition of of dead and the lving.

The "Kiss of the Vampire" film poster is made up of a variety of different elements that make it a very typical and conventional horror movie poster. Genre conventions are codes that are found within media products, these codes 

The dark, nightime seting found in the background of  is high conventional of the horror genre. ( resume at 25 mins)