Media ecology essay plan

 Media Ecology 

*Essay Plan*

Opening sentence: The relationship between media and audiences is changing drastically. 

intro:

Definition 

- Media ecology aims to describe how diverse media environments shape today's society and our everyday lives. The theory's overall core is how the content's communication isn't as nearly impactful as the way it is being consumed. 

Position of argument 

- I agree with the fact that media is constantly changing and the way it is being consumed can have an altering effect on audiences. The way audiences consume media is an ever-changing phenomenon that has been introduced to different generations. New ways of consuming media are being introduced daily. In the last year, 4 new streaming video on demand platforms have been introduced, which I will detail later on.

First paragraph:
 

Introduced

- Marshall McLuhan came up with the media ecology theory in 1964 and was officially introduced in 1968by the media theorist Neil postman. McLuhan was the first to suggest that studies should be focused on the type of media rather than the message being communicated. 

- Our behavior in society has been changed by the medium rather than the media. 

- Explain how media = message, medium = technology. The middle man 

-Suggests that the environment inevitably affects our perceptions, feelings, values, and beliefs. 

Second paragraph: 

Fragmentation 

- Fragmentation shows the trend of the increasing choice of how audiences consume media in terms of different platforms or channels, for example, linear TV, streaming video on demand (SVOD), or things such as social media platforms i.e Instagram or Facebook

 

- How many kids have smartphones, fully 95% of teens have access to a smartphone and 45% say they are online 'almost constantly. In today's date, nearly half of the teen population aged from 13 to 17 say they use Facebook less compare to platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat which were released later.  

- Instagram: 2010

- Snapchat: 2011 

- Facebook: 2004

- Surveys were used to determine different social standings and somewhat 40% of these respondents have said that social media has had a positive impact because it helps them keep in touch and interact with others.

- Nuclear family then vs now. Typical family figure 2 parents and multiple children. 

 

Third paragraph: 

SVOD, Cinemas 

- Rapid decline in cinema use massive incline in streaming videos on demand 

- Introduction of 4 new SVOD platforms, Apple TV, HBO Max, Peacock, and Disney+ in the last 2 years

 (relate back to fragmentation and how different age groups are using different types of technology to view media without regulatory boundaries)

- Between 2019-2020, the number of global subscriptions increased by 26% reaching 1.2 billion subscribers in the year 2020. In this year the Film and TV industry experienced unprecedented growth.   

(Disney+ has already gained over 100 million subscribers since its launch in November 2020). 

• Simultaneous releases from Disney, both in cinema and SVOD, actors pay based on box office sales. 

- Audience demand constantly grows and spending on content production continues to ramp up. In 2020 there was a record-breaking $220.2 billion spent on making and acquiring new feature films and TV programming.  

Fourth paragraph: 

Piracy, Web 2.0

- introduction of web 2.0 in 1999. The second stage of development of the internet is where users can now be interactive online and have user-generated content. 

- Piracy is the copying of other work. People have the freedom to download films illegally off the internet without having to pay. 

• Takes away from traditional methods such as movie cinemas, why would you pay when you could get it at home for free. 
• The risk of having SVOD makes it easier to copy and upload to the internet, taking away some of the profits that they could potentially be earning. 

- 126.7 billion viewings worth of US-produced TV episodes are pirated every year.

- Annual global revenue losses from digital piracy are between $40 and $97.1 billion in the movie industry.

Henry Jenkins and the Fandom theory
- Fan culture or communities built around the shared enjoyment around a particular film or TV series
*Mandalorian example
* Stranger things, fan pages having to be taken down because of the mockery and pressure put on characters. The message of what fans were posting.

Shirky 

- Clay Shirky believes that passive audiences (audiences that watch/intake media mindlessly) no longer exist in today's day-in-age 

- He believes that technology has changed certain expectations and behaviors, that audiences like to talk back to producers and be active, communicating with the people making the media. 

Fifth paragraph:

Conclusion 

- Cinemas are on a rapid decline, but people still like the experience of going to the movies but feel overcharged because of the high prices cinemas charge to compensate for the lower amount of ticket sales.

- SVOD is a rapidly growing market that may help create monopolies within the film industry 

- Fragmentation doesn't help in terms of keeping linear TV alive amongst nuclear families. Young people having more freedom to different types of unregulated media. Should certain media be regulated? Is it the media itself that has an effect on the audience or more the medium (technology), Marshall McLuhan 

- Because of the easier access, easier to download and upload videos illegally to free streaming platforms, creating scams and sometimes fooling young kids or older generations such as boomers. 

CCR

Advanced Portfolio CCR

We chose the song “What Other People Say” by Demi Lovato and Sam Fischer for our music video. In this, a boy and a girl were singing therefore we chose both a female and male character to represent the two artists. Our most prominent actor/character was Phoebe who played Demi Lovato and was our female lead throughout the video. Although there was a male voice that had almost the same amount of input as the female voice, we chose to base everything around Phoebe (Demi Lovato) and how she is going through a hardship that is making her lament the loss of her mum and the mood and overall tone is supposed to come across as sad and almost depressing. To keep the realism of the video we decided to take society's view on women and portray it. Females are stereotypically known for being more emotionally unstable and vulnerable compared to men. We felt as though this would draw the audience in and make it more believable even though males can often be just as sensitive as women if not more.

In this day and age, mental health plays a big factor in how we live our lives and certain guidelines and rules that have been put in place to try and spread awareness for mental health such as depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts. It is such a big thing now that although it is a sad contributing factor, some people may be able to relate to the music video more if they feel as though they have gone through something similar themselves or knows someone else who has had troubles in the past. Audiences can become more invested or like something better when it shows the problems of society and how life can change from being an adolescent girl to a struggling young adult. This idea was based on the research we did of the original artists where Demi Lovato had a past of mental illness and struggled with drug abuse herself. 

I decided to try and maintain a blue and purple-hued color scheme throughout my digipak as well as mimicking the colored lights that are seen in the music video. In contrast to the cold colors we used a lot of black and white to represent the ‘dark’ times and how her whole life felt like it was in literal darkness and shadowed, so I took this into my digipak as well as my social media page, where my first post of the ‘artist’ is a black and white photo and she was smiling to almost let viewers know that although what we filmed about is a hard-hitting topic, that the artist was okay and enjoying producing the album. I also used black and white images taken from the music video on the inside of my digipak so that it maintained fluidity and wasn't overwhelmed with too many colors or different shots. We chose to use Instagram because in this day-in-age moire than 45% of teens now either own or have access to a smartphone. Nearly half of the teen population aged from 13-18 have said that they use Instagram compared to Facebook, released in 2004. This was ideal as our target age range was anywhere from 15 to mid-20s. 


My CD case's front and back cover was purple staged lighting, the front cover containing an image of the artist (Phoebe), and the back just of a purple screen with a stage lighting streaming through and lyrics on the back. Although the music video is supposed to be sad at the beginning, it is also supposed to be a sort of visible breakthrough where our character comes out the other sad despite her difference and I tried carrying that through into my social media page where there are images of Phoebe doing different things like holding an umbrella in the rain. To keep the Instagram page realistic, I had to also take inspiration from Demi Lovato's real page and tried to carry that through to make it realistic. For example, she had just announced that she is non-binary meaning she is neither a boy nor a girl nor a selected gender. Because of this, I used a lot of gay pride images or pictures showing support to the LGBTQ community. A big part of my digipak was based on Richard Dryer's Star image theory first introduced in 1979, where it's based on the idea that the viewer's perception of a narrative is highly influenced by the image of the stars. In order to follow these guidelines, I made sure that Phoebe was the main feature on the cover and the bold font behind her was to give the impression that she is now a solid and firm wall who is slowly rebuilding herself, but it also made her stand out almost 3D. 

To engage with viewers we had to determine a target audience, because the genre of the song is mid-tempo pop, we thought that this is best suited to females aged from 15 - 40. The song is slow in some places and has a melodic tune but is also quite touching, and to really grasp the concept I feel that the person has to be a bit more in touch with their feelings, something women are usually known for. I tried to keep the design of my digipak, not ‘girly’ but so that you could definitely say that it had more of a feminine touch with the colors and fonts. This was carried through in all the different elements both seen in the music video and my social media. On the Instagram page, there are different links that you can click on to take you to the music video on Vimeo, because of different copyright regulations, etc we aren't able to upload it anywhere else limiting the realism of the song actually being produced. Even though this may have restricted what we were able to post I still tried to incorporate a lot of different interactive hashtags and carried the slogan ‘#WOPS’ throughout my post adding continuity to the images and creating hype because of the acronym of ‘What Other People Say'.

Since doing the music video first, we had to learn a lot about the different types of conventions that were usually seen in a video from mid-tempo pop. A lot of them had a storytelling/ narrative theme where the audience was to follow along with the message being portrayed rather than just singing or seeing different images that had little connection to the song or the meaning behind the lyrics. The narrative theory is based on the concept that people are essentially storytellers, a theory coined by 20th-century communication scholar Walter Fisher. Another convention was how nearly every music video from every genre had lip-syncing. In my opinion, a music video, depending on the way it is being made, can't be a music video without singing or some sort of lip-syncing. To make it look right we had to watch different tutorials from Youtube to learn how to overlay the original song over the lip-syncing in editing without hearing the original audio and making it look realistic. In different videos it had tips and tricks such as always getting your actor or actress to actually sing the song when you are filming and just cut it out later, it makes it easier to match up the mouth movements with the different words in the song. Having your audio always on is another helpful bit that we forgot at times thinking that we wouldn't need audio but then when we got to editing we didn't know what part they were singing.

What Other People Say - Final edit

Social Media Page

Demi Lovato, Instagram Page 

Username: l0vato_fanpage

Link: https://www.instagram.com/l0vato_fanpage/

This is the main cover page you see when going onto the Instagram page that I created. I tried to add in little things such as the "Musician" title to make it more realistic. I added highlights which are stories of different moments in the 'singers' life, for example, I put one backstage when they were supposedly producing the song 'What Other People Say'. I also added one of a dog because on Demi Lovato's real Instagram page she has stories of normal things such as pets or family outings etc. It almost humanizes our artist. 

This was the first image I posted on my Instagram page. It was to imitate the feeling of her being backstage and recording parts of the song, almost like a sneak peek of what was to come which I took from Demi Lovatos and other recording artists' pages. It was a very common thing to release small images and teasers for the album or single that is going to be released. 

I posted this once the Digipak had been and prior to the showing of the digipak I posted things on stories and highlights leading up to the release. 

Something that has been seen a lot on the media lately is how Demi Lovato is now Non-binary, therefore they now refer to themself as they/them. This had only been known throughout the making of our social media page so I tried to include little things such as quotes and images supporting the LGBTQ community. Because Demi is they/them, I chose to use the Non-Binary flag because it is something that relates to them as the artist we are trying to represent. 

Digipak Online Covers

 Front cover:

Back Cover:

Inside Left:

CD back:

DigiPak CD Case

Demi Lovato Digipak by Kayla Lockington

Representation

- What does the evolution of black representation in film look like over the decades?

At first black people were only represented in a comedic way to mock them and use their skin color to say they are inferior or of less value. Things such as black face were used to draw audiences' attention so that white people could be attracted to the ‘funny’ way black people would act. Like idiots. Over time the media has changed how colored people and minorities are represented whereas before they were just there for show, they are now main roles within the media.

- How is Netflix trying to rectify the problem with the underrepresentation of black people in its movies?

Netflix says that “when it comes to black leading actors, directors, writers and producers… They are representing”. The presence of different skin colors on the screen isn't seen as a moment, but a movement. Ava Duvernay and Spike Lee are famous directors that have helped to influence the media and introduce more streaming and portrayals of black culture and films. They started the streaming initiative called “Strong black lead”, it's a promise to represent black audiences authentically, which hasn't always been Hollywood's main priority.

- What happened in 2018 that caused a stir in Hollywood and was a catalyst for change in the representation of black people in Hollywood movies?

The release of Black Panther helped to revolutionize the way in Black people were seen in films, rather than just being the villain or protagonist, they were the hero, the villain, and the common roles. Marvel took that step to change the game and hopefully influence big names to do the same. 

- What sort of representation did people of color have at the Oscars in 2018?

For two years in a row, any lead or side actors nominated for an oscar were white. Black actors 2did not appreciate this type of racial discrimination and sometimes they weren't given the same opportunities to be seen on screen or seen as the main character that an audience would fall in love with, making it harder for them and leaving them at a disadvantage. Some boycotted the show and demanded change.

Minorities represented in TV

 

Media Regulation Essay

Media Studies

Media Regulation

“Changes in society have been reflected by changes in media regulation”, Discuss this view.

The changes in society have indeed been reflected by changes in media regulation. Some of the main regulatory bodies that can be found in New Zealand are the OFLC, (Office of Film and Literature Classification Video Game Rating System), NZ on Air, and the BSA (broadcasting standards authority). Are these the people who get to have control of other people's art forms and determine what the public eye should be consuming? New Zealand is one of the few countries that still have freedom of speech and allow the expression of media to be un-censored, in terms of having to obey many different guidelines compared to other countries such as Korea who is a communist country. On the 8th of May 2017, David Shanks became the chief censor of film and literature. He took over from Dr. Andrew Jack who was appointed in 2011 and stayed in the role for 6 years. In 2018 a law was passed in New Zealand where The Warehouse was not allowed to stock any publications with an age rating of 18+, there were concerns around the content from Grand Theft Auto therefore The Warehouse group removed it from their shelves. 

Different examples have been shown where films or media have been edited because of some of the offensive or racist meanings that underlie within the forum. Disneys’ `Dumbo’, released on the 23rd of October 1941, was one of the first ‘kids/childrens’ movies to show an unprogressive reality on the way man viewed people of colour and the societal perspective on racism or how a minority should act. It displays the image of black crows mucking around and acting ‘stupid’ or ‘simple-minded’. This was how people of colour were depicted and the different perspectives people such as middle-aged white men (the creators of the movie) saw other men that did not possess the same skin qualities. This was then censored and has been taken out of the movie when watching on streaming platforms such as Disney+. A lot of controversies were brought up because of this, some people believed that it wasn't a major problem and that it was a stepping stone for us to learn from our mistakes, while others saw it as offensive, which it was. Another example of a Disney movie that presented racist tones was ‘Song of the South’, released on the 12th of November 1946. It was a movie set during the reconstruction era, the acceptance of coloured people was far from coming true but was still a possibility. It is a movie that has been long condemned for its shameful stereotype depictions of African Americans, and the way it conveyed slavery and plantations in a ‘cheery’ light.

The recent Black Lives Matter movement that has taken place in this generation has had a massive impact on the censorship of current media and what is seen as offensive and appropriate. Society has taken history and the media have shown from it to create a more politically correct environment. My argument for that would be posing the question, how are younger generations going to stop themselves from making the same mistakes. Everything is being censored or edited where blatant parts of our cultural heritage and back story are being ignored or quite literally ‘cut out’. There is no way for people to be aware of the truth that really happened. In 1974 Stuart Haul came up with the active audiences theory which argues that audiences do not just receive information passively but are actively involved, subconsciously. People are coming into an era where there are media thrown at them but in all realness, this theory backs up the perception that we intake everything whether we realize it or not. 

The consumption of media has changed drastically in the last century where before parents could see what their children were watching. Through the introduction of the internet in 1983, people have had access to a new world. At present, there are over 4.72 billion internet users across the world, more than 35% of internet users are aged between 25-35, and around 20% are aged from as young as 10-25. According to common sense media, a majority of 53% of kids aged 11 own their own smartphone or portable device and 69% have a fully functional phone and laptop by the age of 12. The proliferation of media devices has taken over and parents or guardians have less control over what younger people are absorbing, hence why streaming platforms and online websites such as Youtube and Disney+ are trying to come up with ways to cater to younger minds by offering kids lock or other boundaries so that children aren't able to open random videos or images that may be harmful or inappropriate. Unfortunately because of the world that we live in, people are growing up with this kind of technology and now the kids know more than the adults and it's the child having to put the safety lock on for themselves. If they know how to turn it on they know how to turn it off.

The media effects theory created by Marshall McLuhan exclaims how everything has a direct or indirect meaning whether it is apparent to the audience or not. The teen drama ‘13 Reasons Why’ directed by Tom Mccarthy is an example of a show with a direct message that can be sought out by some audience members within a certain age range. It shows a storyline of how a young girl commits suicide and blames many people, leaving audio messages explaining the wrongdoing they had done. It was first released on the 31st of March 2017, it debuted on Netflix for the first time without an age class or rating, the show is widely available throughout the world but has been classified R18 in New Zealand because of the graphic problems that occur in the shows, things such as sexual assault and abusive nature. Consumers were sending in complaints as well as mental health associations and bodies saying that the series glorifies suicide and could prompt copycats. The classification's reasoning was that while young people still had access to watch it was recommended/required that any persons 18 and over had to be there for support from an adult. Although the show is hard-hitting and shows problems that are widely spread amongst the world, should it really be classified or thought of as ‘inappropriate’? Yes, it is a thing that young people shouldn't have to worry about or be exposed to at a young age but on the other hand, it helps to raise awareness for these types of situations and prevents it from happening to more people.

The argument now is if things such as social media should be regulated or censored as it is supposed to be platforms of free speech and the expression of thoughts. Donald Trump was recently banned from using Facebook and Instagram because of some of the comments that he was making, it was said that after 2 years his accounts would be reinstated. Should this be another thing that has to be regulated as posts are made? We are entering an age where it is deemed ‘acceptable’ to post crude photos of yourself or your body. An example is how pornstars use the platforms to promote themselves or encourage people/minors to watch. New websites have been released such as only fans that appeared in 2016 and now have over 70 million registered users, compared to Facebook which has 2.85 but was over a time period of 17 years years, having been released in 2004. In comparison to using free platforms, things such as only fans trick young people into paying for crude imagery or live videos. In the short span that it has been around the streaming website has already made over $2 billion from creator profits.

Another example of regulation amongst media is the banning of the video game Manhunt, released on the 18th of November 2003. In 2004 'Manhunt', which uses extreme violent imagery, was the first-ever video game to be completely banned in New Zealand. It was banned by the chief sensor at the time Bill Hastings Manhunt, which was to sell for $109.95. It allows gamers to play the character of Cash, a man on death row who escapes execution but who is forced to take part in a snuff movie. It was a massive blow to Rockstar games, which also produces the Grand Theft Auto game series, which has also brought up questions from audience members and concerned parents. In 2019, another video game was banned in New Zealand after it was released after the Christchurch mosque shooting that killed 51 Muslims and wounded dozens. This is because of the graphic way it imitated and "glorified" the mosque shooting and Halle attack. Both were broadcast live on social media and both shooters released related hate-filled documents described as manifestos. Both videos and manifestos are now illegal. This also relates to the regulation of social media and what should be allowed to be viewed by the public. At the time, anyone with a device could join the live stream of the men killing lives. Parents and the owners of those types of social platforms should have certain rules and guidelines that need to be met before something is allowed to be live-streamed or publicly viewed.

Many different media sources are becoming banned in China because it is seen as offensive or to be attacking the government or people in a higher power. The movie 'Coco', released on the 27th of October 2017, was originally not going to be shown or allowed in China because it was a movie about the dead and after-life which is not allowed in their country, but after being reviewed by different critics it was allowed to be streamed after the people who judged it came away crying from how touching the movie was. Another example is when 'The shape of water was released, China took the movie and censored it because it showed nudity. They edited a black tube dress onto the character to cover her body. 'The interview' is a classic showcase of how China went to so many lengths to have the film not even showcased in ANY country because of how much it attacked the government and their leader Kim Jong-un. They threatened the production companies and hacked their systems in order to remove the movie.

In my opinion, things are becoming too censored where we no longer know whether you are seeing the original or if someone has gone before you and decided what was suitable for you to take in. Shouldn't that be the decision of the individual? Shouldn't we be allowed to determine what we can handle and what we would rather not expose ourselves to? This is a common problem that can be seen as very controversial to many people, whose job it is to ‘protect’ our minds. Is it the job of the producer or the big conglomerates that release the films? The era of linear TV is going into extinction so we as a population should start keeping up with the change and putting it upon ourselves to sift through the media finding what we like and what we don't, what our kids should be watching, and what they shouldn't. So many social issues are being conveyed in today's current time but when does the blocking come to a stop, we should be our own editors rather than leaving it up to another person, how does one individual determine what is right for an entire nation, when is the right time to put down the scissors. New media comes and goes and the film will forever be evolving but when do we come to a point and say “that's enough”, where does it really end.

Video Game Censorship in NZ: Case Study

 Task 2 

Video Game Censorship in NZ: Case Study by Kayla Lockington

Media Regulation: Media Effects Theory and Violent Video Game Case Study

Task 1 

Media reflects history by Kayla Lockington