Case Study- Cross Media Platforms Essay

"Audiences are no longer just consumers of texts, but producers too" - To what extent is this true of the media products in your case study?

Introduction paragraph

My case study consists of three media texts. They are of the genre children's programming. The three texts are SpongeBob Square Pants, In The Night Garden and Hannah Montana. They all fall on the three cross media platforms; Print, Broadcast and E-Media. This will show how audiences are no longer a consumer of media texts but are also producers. This is because the consumers have an impact on all programs as they dictate what should be viewed and what shouldn't.

How are audience producers of nickelodeons TV programme SpongeBob through the use of E-media?

The audience are producers of SpongeBob through the use of e-media because I have discovered that not only does the channel Nickelodeon have a website but there is a fan page on the social-networking website Facebook. The fan page is set up to make SpongeBob seem like he is real. The statuses that are posted are directed at the audience as one of the posts on the Facebook group page says “We’ve got a new game for you and it’s a doozy! Help SpongeBob and Patrick as they travel through six different Legends of Bikini Bottom. First up, Coral Colossus! ”. This post told the audience to check the link out which then lead them to the game on the Nickelodeon page where SpongeBob is located. This shows how the audiences input has created people to play this game on the website all from the control of Facebook. Another reason as to why the audience isn’t just a consumer but a producer too is through having pictures and video links from Facebook to YouTube to view these links. Apart from the official group on Facebook there are other fan pages and groups that have been created by fans of SpongeBob and the viewers of this programme. This shows how the audience have become the producers as well as consumers. This is also true with “In The Night Garden”.

 

How does in the night interact with its audience through print?

 

This is also true for “In The Night Garden” as the programme also has a page on the Cbeebies this includes games and educational activities which are aimed at the young audience, the audience being 2-4 years old. However this programme also has its own official website which also includes activities in which the target audience can interact with.  This website includes a tour of the garden getting the audience engaged by being able to view the garden as it is seen on telly. Another reason as to why audiences are no longer consumers but are also producers is through print. The reason for this is because “In The Night Garden” is involved in the Cbeebies magazine that is published every 2 weeks. The magazine gets published in Tesco, and Sainsbury this could be to do with mothers doing shopping and buy their toddlers magazines that would appeal to them.

 

How is social networking a form of UGC?

 

The use of social-networking is a form of UGC as it gets the audiences attentions an example of this is used for SpongeBob as it has a Facebook page which has the involvement of fans. The audience are seen as producers as they have created pages in which people can join. The Facebook fan page gets the audience involved as the person that has created it has made SpongeBob seem as if he is real as they speak directly to the audience to engage them and interact. There are posts that are linked with YouTube this is another example of UGC as people have the chance to search any video that is linked with SpongeBob. This also occurs with “In The Night Garden” as it is also linked with YouTube. The use of YouTube allows the audience to be able to watch previous episodes over and over again, also being able to post their own favourite episodes allowing other people to watch them too. all three texts have the use of UGC as they all have their own fan pages on Facebook, YouTube videos and their own websites. This shows how social-networking has an impact in all three texts.

 

Does Hannah Montana having a UGC web page make it successful for engaging its audience?

 

I think that by having a webpage that is user generated makes engaging its audience successful because it means that it can get the audience involved in what they see on the telly. An example of this UGC is through the use of having a game where you dress Hannah Montana up. This is located on the Disney channels website. It allows the audience to dress Hannah in the clothes that they see her in every time they watch her programme. This is successful because it allows the audience to dress her up and to be part of the website as they are involved with dressing her up. Another reason as to why audiences aren’t just consumers but are also producers is because Hannah Montana has her own magazine and there is a page where the audience can get involved and make their own story up. This gets the audience engaged as they automatically feel as if they are part of the programme as they can make their own story.

 

In conclusion to this I feel that new technology means that audiences are empowered to be producers not just consumers. The platform that enpowers audiences the most is E-media, this is because the institutions have to target their audience and aim specific things towards them in order to keep them entertained. The reason for this is because the audience have a strong input and can dictate what they want to see happen on the social-networking websites. However not only can they dictate but they can make what they want to see happen in the programmes they can now be part of it. This occurs through the use of social-networking for example Facebook, video websites such YouTube and their own official and non official websites. New technology is the main source of getting audiences involved as audiences can make websites, pages and videos this then leads on to other people finding out about these pages, this then concludes as to why these pages become UGC.

Textual Analysis- Kidulthood

      1. What techniques does the trailer use to persuade its audience to see the trailer?

The techniques that the trailer uses to persuade its audience’s attention are the use of     seriousness. By showing how serious the gangs are shows the trouble involved. Another technique is language. The teenagers in the film use language that is associated with young adults what is known as “Street talk”. The use of this language shows how it relates to the audience of the film. This also helps the audience to relate to the trailer and to understand the use of language being used as they can understand what is being said. Another technique that is being used is non-diegetic sound; it starts off as slow paced music, much more relaxed, this then leads on to much faster pace music to relate back the scene of the trailer. The sense of this calm moment is when we see a man and 3 boys in a car being handed a gun after this moment the music becomes more intense and much faster. This shows how this moment is intense we see a group of boys running. We then see the protagonist as a much violent character towards a much innocent looking character. At this time the music is quicker and much more energetic. By having his change in pace of music keeps the audience interested and keeps them up to date with what is happening at what speed.  The use of non-diegetic music helps get the focus from the audience this is one way of persuading the audience to keep watching the trailer in order to find out what is going to happen next. By using things like violence and anger gives the audience something to look back on as the violence and anger seems to be shown from the males that are involved in the film. The characters clothing automatically relates back to the audience as they are young and are seen wearing hoodies and jogging bottoms. This persuades the audience as they can relate to wearing these kinds of clothing.

     

      2. How is gender represented in this trailer?
    
The gender that is being represented is mainly males as they are made to look the more dominant figure throughout the trailer. The way the trailer shows them as these more dominant figures is through the use of low angle shots and high angle shots to show the less dominant characters, it gives the audience a sense of power that the males play a large part of. By showing that males are violent through the use of guns and knives also fighting tells the audience that they are automatically more dominant. However females are shown as the less important because a female is shown being punched in the face by another girl. This shows how some females in the film play a large part as also being the alternative ideology and is shown as dominant. This gives the sense that not only are the males in the film dominant but also females play some role in the film as being dominant at one point. However at the start of the trailer we see a male on the floor at the start of the trailer, this shows a weakness towards the male. Another aspect of the males seen as dominant is at the start if the trailer we see two males facing up to each other, this shows how two males are trying to show who is more powerful. Females are shown as less important in the trailer as we see a girl say to a male character “excuse me play with me..” however the males replies “no you play with me” this shows how the males is being more dominant over the girl and makes the girl look like a sex object and that the male is in control. The sense of control tells the audience that males play a vital role in the film as being dominant and powerful. The gender that is seen to be more vulnerable is the females, as a girl is being held against the wall by a male character.

      3. What target audience would be attracted to this film?

         
The target audience that would be attracted towards this film would be teenagers from 15-20. This is because we associate teens with being in gangs and street worthy. As the main target audience is male dominated it doesn’t show females a lot. The main age that this film is targeted at is from 15-20 years old as the use of violence is shown a lot, also the use of bad language. This automatically shows that it wouldn’t be appropriate for children below these ages to watch the film. The scenes that are shown show the city and streets. Also the use of estates and blocks of flats suggests that the area is council making it seen as a low budget film, appealing to the audience of young adults. The socio-economic group would be C2DE because the film is low budget and is aimed at mainly students.

          

      4. What low budget values and characteristics can you identify in this trailer?

        
The low budget values and characteristics that are identified in this trailer is the use of setting, estates and built up areas are shown also the use of a public school indicates that it is for a much lower class. The use of teenagers, young adults shows that the storyline is aimed at these target audiences of young people as they can relate to it more. The trailer shows a male in a very stereotypical way also indicates how the film is low budget. It shows train stations and the typical streets in which look less attended to, for example the use of a council estate. 

Textual Analysis- Lynx Dry Advert

Codes and conventions

The codes and conventions of the Lynx Dry advert is that it shows the product throughout in order to make the audience keep their focus on the product. This is to keep the potential buyer/audience interested. The pace of the advert is quite quick as this grabs the attention of the audience in order to keep up with the advert they have to engage with the advert in order to see the new product. Also by having the pace quite fast it encourages the audience to concentrate on the product more. The use of non-diegetic music gives the sense that the mermaids in the advert are hunting for a dry man. The use of this serious music grabs the male attention as the advert is male based. The use of fictional creatures such as mermaids suggests that the advert is quite fictional and based around the imagination making the advert seem as part of the imagination that by having the product attracts females as they like “dry men”.

Representation

Males are represented as less dominant and are being hunted by the females who are seen as the more dominant gender in the advert. This shows how alternative ideology is being represented more. The females that are shown in this advert are shown as very sexy, this attracts the male audience immediately and engages them to watch the advert. The idea of the males being desirable helps to sell the product coz it makes the audience seem as they too are desirable.

Audiences

The target audience that this advert appeals to are young males between the ages of 13-45 this is because the male shown in the advert is young however the older audience can appeal to this because they like the fact that smelling good will still get the attention of the female audience. The socio-economic group that would be interested in this product and advert would be C2DE because the setting that is used is shown to be more middle class and less sophisticated. The scenes that are shown in the advert are the beach, on the street also on the road we see cones this shows how the target audience isn’t so upper class.

Institution 

The institution for Lynx is Unilever they also are the producers of this advert. They have aimed to show both males and females as the opposites and are seen in the light of alternative ideology rather than showing them in their typical stereo types. They have used modern technology to produce a modern looking advert. But also referred back to the use of mythical creatures such as mermaids. The advert shows two very different sides to both females and males by showing them in the opposite ways, making females look more dominant and males looking less dominant. This is because audiences are used to seeing the usual stereo types of people. 

Case study- exam style question (intro paragraph)

Introduction Paragraph

My case study consists of three media texts. They are of the genre children's programming. The  three texts are Spongebob Square Pants, In The Night Garden and Hannah Montana. They all fall on the three cross media platforms; Print, Broadcast and E-Media. This will show how audiences are no longer a consumer of media texts but are also producers. This is because the consumers have an impact on all programs as they dictate what should be viewed and what shouldn't

textual analysis on Hundai car advert

1. Which advertising techniques being used? - Media Forms

The techniques being used for this advert is the use of humour. The advert uses a baby getting up and climbing out of his cot to drive the new Hyundai car. It shows the baby as part of the song which says "next of king" meaning the next generation in which the car is. It states the car is Hyundai's new generation of cars. It shows the cars simple but effective use and how easy it is to drive.

2. How is gender represented in the advertisement? - Representation

Gender is represented by showing that males are a dominant user of this car. In the advert we see how a male that is on the street is really impressed with the car but also the fact that a baby is driving it as well. We then see the baby that is driving put his thumbs up as if to say the car is good. We then see the male baby stop to a female baby holding a sign up saying "to west coast" this also shows how females also begin to like the car as well.

3. What is communicated about the Hyundai brand and the experience it offers? - Institution 

What is communicated is the fact that it shows how easy Hyundai's brand of cars are to use. Also how reliable they are. The institution is shown throughout the advertisement because it still refers back to the use of the car. At the end a voice over tells the audience what the make of the car is. The experience it offers is the chance to drive what is seen as Hyundai's new generation of car. We see a baby driving the car to show its relevance back to how new the car is. The experience shows the audience that as well as the car being new the experience gained form it is also new and not like any other experience. It shows how the car brand is convenient and reliable.

4. Who is the target audience and how does the advert attempt to persuade this audience to buy the product? - Audience

The target audience is males, females of the ages 18-40 as the car is a new model and would be wanted by people who have families or are planning for families. As the advert shows how you can take it any were such as on holiday. By having a baby as the driver shows that it is aimed at a young target audience but also an older target audience. The advert attempts to persuade this audience to buy the product by showing its modern functions and it's modern look, both target audiences of the young and old generation would be persuade to buy this for its new look and up to date features. The advert shows how the car can be taken anywhere and can handle any terrain such as sand, rocky and normal road also long distances. At the end of the advert it says "Hyundai drive your way". this means that the institution are trying to persuade the target audience to buy it and to create your own driving experience, how this would only work through driving this new generation of car.

Textual analysis on T-mobile advert

Media forms:

What conventions of advertising are evident in this text?

The conventions of advertising are evident in this advert because you see people dancing together happy this that everyone is getting along and are happy. As the end they show “life’s for sharing” this shows that everyone in the advert are sharing the moment with each other and it also shows people using their phones to tell other people or to capture the moment. They do this to show the relevance it has with the network and the advert for T-mobile. The conventions of this advert also show that there aren’t any restrictions in the society/ community because it shows that every one of all ethnicities, gender and race can be in the same place.

Representation:

How is technology represented in this advertisement?

Technology is represented in this advert through the use of people dancing together as it is fun it also shows technology as fun. Everyone is dancing in time with each other to show they are in sync with each other. This is an example of what the phone company does, they sync together sharing things with each other. Also the advert cuts to people using their phones to relate to the advert and to link back to T-mobile’s motto of 2 “life’s for sharing”. The advert plays a variety of songs to show the variety in the target audience that use T-mobile’s phone network. Technology is also bringing everyone together. Its set in a train station to grab the attention of all target audiences as everyone is together at the train station. The phone network links as it links with people coming together through the use of technology.

Institution:

What is communicated about the T-mobile brand and the experience it offers?

T-mobile offer the chance to share with each other, therefore people in the ad are sharing the experience with each other and people on their phones are sharing it with people that aren’t there.  T-mobile give offers such as fast communication to people that are also on T-mobile. Another thing that T-mobile offer is its fast communication this is shown in the advert through the use of different dance moves that are quite quick and at a constant pace. It shows how modern the technology is through the use of modern dancing but also shows older dance moves and music being played so show that anyone can use their network. This also shows how they try keeping up to date.

Audience:

What target audience is T-mobile aiming to attract in this advertisement?

T-mobile is aiming to attract the target audience of everyone. The reason for this is because everyone can use that network. They show this through the use of everyone connecting together to share the same moment, the main target audience that would be attracted to this advert are 14-45+ this is because at the young age they want the latest of technology and what it offers but also at the much older age they to want latest technology in order to keep up to date and to still be able to communicate in the same way.

Textual analysis on Sun newspaper advert

1. How does the advert use codes and conventions to appeal to its audience?

The advert uses codes and conventions to appeal to its audience through the usage of humour. The advert shows that the Sun newspaper is better because it is a print based format. The advert appeals to the target audience because it shows celebs on few of the pages. What the audience expect to see from this advert is how the newspaper is shown as better than technology. The advert isn’t long and shows specific parts that grab the attention of the viewer. It has a close up of the newspaper to show that the advert is going to be about this specific item. Also we then see that the newspaper gets unfolded to reveal the whole newspaper. We then see the logo of the newspaper which is the sun and then it turns the page to then focus on an image of Simon cowl, the page then opens out to a double page spread and the voice over explains how the view is full size showing the full image. It then shows how the newspaper is similar to the IPhone through showing the Sudoku. The usage of the voiceover and the hand gestures throughout the advert keeps the audience’s attention in order to keep watching and find out more about what is shown to be better than today’s technology for example the IPhone. It also shows how the audience can get a full screen display and no reception would be lost when the voiceover explains this we as the target audience immediately stay interested in the advert because the description is persuasive in explaining how its better.  

2. How is new technology represented in advertisements?

Technology is being represented as something not as good as the print format. The advert makes a joke out of technology such as the IPhone by saying how with the newspaper you get a full retina display on a much bigger screen but in this instance it’s a full page view. Also the voiceover is explaining certain things about the sun newspaper such as the newspaper being thin, the voiceover is also shown in the IPhone advert and also the hand gestures that are shown in the advert for the newspaper are also shown in the IPhone advert. The voiceover explains how the newspaper can be shared with anyone and that it can be put back together as one whole piece of news, furthermore we get shown that the newspaper won’t ever lose reception like technology seems to do in some cases. The advert is trying to show how the print format is also good to have as it can do the same as what technology can do. We get told that through the use of technology you can’t physically turn the page of a newspaper whereas the use of a print format you get the real feeling of turning the page.  Today’s technology is represented as a bad thing because people want to be able to turn the page of the newspaper rather than touching the screen in order to turn the page. By comparing the newspaper to technology shows that in some cases the newspaper (print format) does the same.

3. What does the advertisement tell you about the values and ideologies of the sun newspaper?

The advertisement tells me that the ideologies are represented as dominant because it shows institutions name throughout the advert as the newspaper is the sun and this is the institutions name. Also that another ideology can be alternative because it appeals to both male and female readers. The advertisement tells me that the values of the sun newspaper are good because it appeals to its target audience and grabs the reader attention through the use of images and bold text. Also the sun institution has good values because they appeal to a range of audiences this shows that the sun as an institution know their audience and know what they expect to see from the advert. The advertisement of the sun newspaper tells me that the ideologies are important because in order to generalise specific things in the advert that appeal to it;s audience they have to know who should be shown more of in order to show whether the ideologies are dominant or alternative. In this case the ideologies are both shown because they advert shows both females and males such as Rihanna and Simon Cowl. In the advert the newspaper shows football, celebs, and games such as Sudoku this is for both men and women. The image of Rihanna appeals to both men and women because some females aspire to be like her or see her as a role model and men can appeal to her because they might like her and because she is pretty and could see her as a sex object. The use of having young celebrities shown in the newspaper gives the impression that the audience is young and can be quite old as well.

4. How does the advertisement appeal to its audience?

The advertisement of the sun newspaper appeals to its target audience because I have identified that the age range for this newspaper and advert is aimed at 16-4o year olds. As it shows celebrities of both a young age range and an older age range such as Rihanna is young and Simon Cowl is quite old. Also the demographics of the target audience would be living in the city and that they like the busy life also that they could always be on the go. The target audience that this advertisement appeals to can be both males and females as they are both represented throughout the advert by showing males and females in the newspaper. The social economic groups that the advertisement and the products would appeal to would be social classes C2, D and E because the younger audience would be students and are therefore are unemployed. The C2 class would appeal to this because they are slightly older and are employed earning a reasonable amount of money and therefore can afford to buy this newspaper and can relate to it. However the classes D and E can appeal to this newspaper and its advertisement because it has information in side it that the older target audience can relate to such as the main news stories that are inside. By having sports pages in the newspaper at the back shows that the male target audience are separated from the female target audience as the males have sports pages at the back of the newspaper and the females have gossip and celebrity based stories and information at the front. This shows that the advertise is appealing to both genders as the newspaper caters for both target audiences.