Critical Approaches Assignment 4

Critical Approaches Assignment 4

I have been asked to analyse and deconstruct a media product, I have chosen a very popular and well constructed game series which has spread out into various games and has gained a large fan following, due to its cinematic experience, game effects and interesting story lines. This media product is a perfect example of corporate synergy and incorporates the works of both Disney and Square-Enix, Kingdom Hearts.

The series takes place in a original world of Square-Enix's creation called the Destiny Islands upon the start of the game you play as a young boy named Sora whose home has been destroyed by a mysterious and enemy, his entire world destroyed, separated from his two friends Riku and Kairi and has received a mysterious weapon that has taken him to another world known as the key blade. Sora winds up travelling to other worlds in search of his friends with his new team mates Disney's Donald Duck and Goofy who are in search of their king who has gone missing (Micky Mouse).

They travel to many worlds which are occupied by many Disney character and Square Enix's characters from final fantasy which plays into the overall plot as our heroes learn and become stronger while battling an evil entity that is responsible for destroying the worlds in the first place known as the Heartless. This is basically the first game in a nut shell, while not including many key aspects but the game evolves overtime and shows more of an elaborate plot which allows them to set up more stories for the years, as the first game ends with Sora being separated from his friends and the next being a way to get back.

The games series has expanded into several prequels such as Birth by sleep which includes Sora as a small cameo and follows three separate stories of how the heartless came into being and causing the events of the first game. He is still the main character, it's just that they have created several other games on different consoles that tell the story of what happens around Sora's journey, the origins of his enemies and they better help tell the story so people don't get confused.

Genre Characteristics:

Kingdom Hearts is an action role playing game in which you follow the story while playing as the character Sora throughout the story, you can't switch between characters but they do act along with you in a battle and the story as well. The genre is a drama and action, it maintains its genre well through the story and keeps to some of the cheerful Disney tones, but its own story line can be a bit saddening in a way.

Story lines: The game is a role playing so each part of the story line will be part of Sora's experience, but it will also be part of a bigger story line that connects to other people as well which is common for a role playing action game. Now how this plays into the genre of drama and action is simple, the story line gets dramatic from the start to its ending as it talks on things such as being alive and friendship. Drama is pushed aside in some parts due to the Disney world's story lines they act along with in a world system, but they put in their own story as well to maintain the drama of the games story line as well. In the case of action, the fight scenes used fall into that category as the fights with the key blade are excellent, but things like the use of blood or gore are kept out due to being alongside Disney. (This video is only here just in case someone would like to check it out and if you skip the credits there is a scene at the end). here below is also an example of a dramatic scene as this is also the ending of the first game as well, which breaks away from what is normal in most video game story lines as well.

Characters: For characters within the dramatic genre there is no short supply, for most characters are cheerful due to Disney, due to kingdom hearts own story line the characters such as Sora are dramatic as well as Sora being the hero can make a speech on what makes him or what gives him his power through to the end of the game. But with the other characters such as the ones from final fantasy you can count on the action coming from them and the dramatics coming from the Disney characters in order to keep it balanced. Such as in the game there is a character called Riku who is Sora's Rival who throughout the game series begins to question himself and whether or not he can do good anymore and in action he fights against Sora on occasion in order to test him.

But in the genre of action as well you can tell from the look of some characters that they are made for fighting especially since some of the characters use weapons and are in boss battles all the time.

Setting: With the setting that the characters and the game is set in, there is definitely room for the type of genre this game represents as the game is set in a world where many people have lost their homes, people they care about and are on a quest to look for them and as for action they have to fight their way through in order to get to the end of this. As in some scenes Sora says he is willing to fight as long as he can see his friends again after and it is that goal which provides both the Drama and the reason for action throughout the game and it's story lines. And as you can see from the images below this is a place where you must fight in order to survive.

Villains: Throughout the games series there has been always one constant enemy, but in different incarnations, Darkness. The many villains who have used darkness have always had a dramatic or go onto have a dramatic story within the game which is their driving force throughout the game, such as in the first game there is Ansem seeker of darkness who was the main antagonist of the game who leads the heartless and the forces of darkness against other worlds in order to find what he thinks is the supreme darkness, Kingdom Hearts. His story and even his personality is dramatic and plays in with the evil villain persons, but through over games we learn that he is not as black and white as most of us thought. He is the final boss and the player fights against him a few times before the final battle and his fighting style plays into the action genre of the game as well as his dramatic personality.

Throughout the games series they keep the villains, but change them over the course of other games to show that there actions are for some reason which can go into a form of a dramatic speech of what they plan to do as well.

Codes and Conventions:

The codes and conventions make up this game are the basic for a role-playing such as Cut-scenes, levels, boss, weapons and various locations that play into this story line that goes with the role playing.

Cut-scenes: Throughout any role playing game there are cut-scenes that give a cinematic experience to the game and as the player goes through they are able to piece together a well thought out story line that provides insight into the worlds that player is in and why it is in such a state as they play through it. This is the same with Kingdom Hearts as through the games you go through a cinematic experience that allows you to see the characters and their stories in ways you can understand, this is found in every game as an easier way for the story to be told instead of just reading it out. (Plus I recommend that you watch this scene as you will see the example through it).

This is evidenced in several cut scenes that get the player involved and make them care about the characters in the story. They are well constructed so that people can follow Kingdom Hearts story line and go through the plot points that help set up more games for the series.

Weapons: For any action game there is always a weapon the character can tend to use such as a sword, shield, magic wand or a unique weapon that is created solely for the purposes of the specific game which acts as a way to make the game unique and creating different variations of that weapon will want people to upgrade it as they go on throughout the game. For Kingdom Hearts their unique weapon is the Key-Blade. In the Kingdom Hearts game-play the Key-blade is used to unlock anything throughout the various levels whether it be upgrades, money or certain types of magical items that heal or upgrade the character and the key-blade plays a big part in the stories as it has a mythos around it itself and the Prequel game of kingdom hearts goes into great detail around the mysterious weapon and it's history. The game play around a weapon is simple is it is a role-playing game it is just hack and slash at the enemies. With the rest of the games throughout the series they have included other abilities in the arsenal of the character such as Magic spells and summons where you can use other Disney characters to fight alongside you. These factors are used in order for a younger demographic to play the game and not get caught in with the sword style violence. 

In Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep they introduced the ability to combine magic and key-blade work together.

And also fighting styles that use the surroundings of locations to advantages in battle with something developed in Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance called Flow motion.

Protagonist and Antagonist: With any game there are always two opposing forces that the player takes one side of, that side is usually that of the hero or the protagonist who is the main character of the game. This gives the player the knowledge of who to root for and what characters you know to start with when you begin in the game, the protagonist of the entire series is Sora although in some games they change it to people who are connected to him so they can keep the story line and track and show the player who are allies and what is happening outside of the one heroic character. Although the can be more than one antagonist as the in Birth by sleep, chain of memories and 358/2 days people were allowed to select or play-through the game to use more than one protagonist throughout their own story line.

Now for the antagonist which is the villain of the game of which they have no shortage of is the opposing force of which the player is fighting against, it doesn't have to be between good and evil as most games would present it, but in some games you get to play as some of the villains, but it shows that their characters are not as easy to figure out as the player will go on to find out. With the first game the villain is Ansem the seeker of darkness, with the second the villains are mysterious and not much is known about them till Kingdom Hearst II, Organisation XIII. Which offered a wide range of villains that went on to be major players as good guys in future games such as Axel who later became Lea (Lea is the one with the red hair in the picture below). The antagonist is basically what the player will fight against and will probably be the main cause of any evil within the game.

Points system: With every game the player needs a point system in which the player will receive rewards or level-up based on the amount of work they have done throughout out the game. They can also earn some form of currency to pay for these upgrades. This is an important factor in the game as it gives the player a sense of accomplishment and allows them to see all the work that has gone into the game through possible strength in battle or in other aspects. In Kingdom Hearts they have a point system that is reflected through battle as the player beats more and more heartless then the player will gain experience points and when the reach a certain limit they will allow the player to level up and increase their strength in areas of the game. In other aspects of the game as they beat enemies certain yellow and blue orbs will remain when they are gone, these are called Munnies which the player can use to buy items or upgrades which play a key point in the game if the player hopes to advance to the upper levels.

Locations: In every game the main factor is the location and with a role-playing game you need locations as a major part of the game in order to not just universe build, but to add more to the cinematic experience when cut-scenes are played. A location must also match the theme of the game so with Disney and Square Enix locations and their own original locations being thrown in the character designs are changed to match the location, such as in a Halloween Town level, the characters are changed in form to match the background they are in.

But back to the locations as Kingdom Hearts has its own original take on locations as it has created a world system that allows people to go to different Disney and Square Enix worlds with their own unique story line that as you go through them will further the plot and allow the player to become stronger. Each world is selected after one is completed. The locations are built in ways that test the players mind and allow them to come up with the correct answer to the problem, they are also allowed to freely roam worlds and explore the various locations on those worlds.

Boss: The Boss battle is a common part of a role-playing or any action game, it is the final battle which will determine whether or not the player can win or lose against the opposing force that has been around since the start of the game. In kingdom hearts there is always a boss battle at the end of each world level, it make the player stronger and gives them a chance to level up and prepare for the final. What is most common on the boss battle is that it will be difficult and several ways are invented in order to make it that way such as giving the boss more HP, stronger attacks and a near impenetrable defence, so the player has to use all of their skills in order to win and strategies how it is possible for them to win. In Kingdom Hearts at the final boss with Ansem, you go through several levels attack different versions of him until you get to the final point where he is weakest and you have to strike while making sure you do not lose HP and lose the game.

Mise-en-Scene: Now in any form of media the mise en scene is what the audience or in this case the player will see throughout the game and as a game can take the player to many places in its story line the same can be said for kingdom hearts as I have mentioned before it change it's scheme and background based on what world you are in. But there are always some majority factors in the game that give it its own unique style such as the costumes given to characters in kingdom hearts, the weapons or even the dialogue throughout the game that makes it unique to the player.

Setting and Props: The setting is the most important part of game as it gives the player the theme of what they are fighting in and settings can be a major part of the game-play as settings can contain rewards or lead to cut-scenes within the game, this supports the game in many ways such as a setup for challenges and battles as well, as they can be objects set in the background that help initiate battle or can be things that contain rewards. Now Props are items that are placed within the settings background which can play a part in the games action or be used to help the character.

With Kingdom Hearts the settings are useful as well as the objects/props in the background are useful as well as they are usually placed in places were the enemy are, meaning they contain something probably worth having. And it is not just items/props like chests, things like lamps or boxes can contain prizes or have some meaning for the game play as well. But with things in the settings they are just used to emphasize the background and show the audience where they are such as the use of lanterns in a location called traverse town they are usually used to show that it is night all the time.

Costume: The costumes and design always play a role in mise en scene as it acts as an indicator to a characters personality or can show the overall style of the game. The costume can tell what time and place the game is set in and what type of character the character is, whether or he/she is a hero or villain. As for character appearance and design with the games own Square-Enix design being placed within some worlds they also altered some of the characters costumes in order for them to fit more in with the genre and theme of battle. Such as with the design around Donald Duck and Goofy, as they made their costumes different to match Sora's battle design, but kept their Disney appearance with their primary colours from their original outfits as well.

For example Sora's appearance through the majority of the series is a black outfit with bright colors which are usually primary blue, yellow and red, this is a battle gear design that is usually used in most Square-Enix designs. For the facial design he has spiky hair which is a normal thing for a protagonist that is anime based for any game, with that hair style and childish grin it shows that he is hero of the game. With villains design it shows them to have a devilish appearance with zero positive expression upon their faces.

Lighting and Colour: Lighting and color are the elements that help create a certain mood in the atmosphere of the game such as in cut-scenes and just in the location in general. Such as in the final scene of kingdom hearts (the first game) which is in a video up above, depicting Ansem's demise shows the light from the door destroying him, using the lighting and the colour in that scene helped amplify the dramatics of the scene as a whole. The lighting can guide the player through the cut-scenes and game-play as well since in the final scene as they were in the darkness it shows the main color schemes of the characters as well so they can be seen better, as the bright colours also allow the characters to stand out.

Facial Expressions and Body Language: Facial expression in any game is an indicator of any emotion such as happiness, anger and sadness, it can usually be in a cut-scene that facial expressions are given in a game. It adds more to the cinematic experience and makes it more realistic with every conversation. In each game cut-scene when there is a conversation in Kingdom hearts the important parts when they show emotion are clearly seen, but in some scenes where it is just a conversation half the time we see an emotionless expression that is just talking and waiting for the next emotion expression.

Now for Body Language, in mise en scene body language is the way in which we also indicate how the characters are feeling and thinking, the very same as facial expressions and a combination of the two is usually used in the game as well when making a form of statement to the enemy. In the image below you will see an example of this when Sora makes a strong statement to the enemy with him standing his ground a bold expression on his face, this shows that he is without fear in this scene.

Narrative Structure: Whether it is in a game or in a television there is a narrative structure that shows where the story is going and whether or not it follows a plot formula which is linear or non-linear. Narrative Structure is the plot, setting and framework. Kingdom Hearts is a linear show it goes from start, middle and to the end, while at the same time also provides short flashbacks that talk more of the current situation, not flashbacks that wind up being stories of their own. The start of the game is Sora and his friends being established as characters showing what kind of characters they are, Sora embarking on his journey with Donald and Goofy and learning of other worlds. The middle part of any of the game series' stories are visiting the other worlds and allowing the characters to develop over time and further the overall plot and then at the end the final boss and the heroes succeed in vanquishing the evil that was established at the beginning or in the middle of the story. The chart below can best explain the structure of each games narrative.

But with the overall story structure of the series the game has created many different games in this series and has developed more stories that play into the games overall plot, some games take place before the events of some games and can also take place during certain events of other games while still telling a different story from someone else's point of view, as like star wars some of these games do not take place in chronological order.

Representation: the representation of the game is all about action, but its more than just that action is just the game-play, the game has represented many things such as good storytelling and though it may sound corny, the power of friendship. It is to show a story that is out of this world, but at the same time to show them things that people are nostalgic about, such as including Disney. Representation is the usually the constructed ideas of a certain kind of reality presented in a form of media through several things it sis constructed around, like age, genre and stereotypes involved. The representation is positive in the game as it has reached a certain form of popularity around the world not just in japan, but in North America and Europe as well since it is known for ts great effects in game-play, uniting the Disney and Square-Enix companies together and having a large amount of famous voicing talent such as Haley Joel Osment, James Woods, Mark Hamill, Christopher Lee and the late Leonard Nemoy.

Age: The game is sold to an audience of 12 and up, the game does a good job of not allowing any bad language, but having the linguistics skills to still make an impact with many great speeches that make use of a larger vocabulary. To the younger players it represents friendship well and through the Disney story-lines is well structured to teach lessons such as the importance of friendship and believing in one's self.

Gender: The game of Kingdom Hearts has been aimed at both genders in audience and has not been a male majority game as it has had many strong female characters that keep things balanced, so you could say that the game is positive in that area as well.

Social-Groups: In forms of social groups the game has had many fan sites that with many followers that ask questions on the game and are always asking what is to be included within its following sequel. There are many sites that the game has spawned such as www.kh13.com and kingdom hearts insider which allows people to know the details of each game and learn more about it.

Stereotypes: The game does follow the same stereotypical pattern of good guy vs evil and in character design it follows the stereotypical anime spiky hair protagonist, but in forms of representation this is not a bad thing as those aspects have been found to be popular and those aspects have also made the game popular as well, with negative stereotypes luckily there have been non throughout the run of the game or in its representation as the game has always put a positive spin on everything that is done and has also broken away from some stereotypes such as in the first game, there was no happy ending, just a set-up for the next game in the series.

Critical Approaches Assignment 3

Other the years many different kinds of audiences have played different kinds of computer games and have found them either exciting, a part of their hobbies that allows them to unwind from a day’s work or it can be a bad influence on younger viewers and maybe a cause of violence. In this blog I will explain this and how computer games can affect an audience. As we have seen through human history with various subjects like propaganda and subliminal advertisement people can be taken in by some things, but that isn't always the case. This blog will go on to explain many controversial effects that games can have on people and the audiences opinion on each game as a whole.

Grand Theft Auto:

Grand Theft Auto (sometimes referred to as GTA for short) has come to be known as somewhat of a poster boy for violent video games in media, as it has inspired many negative actions from players through the years, most notably young players (even though the game is for an adult audience). The games all take place in a number of cities where you are to free roam throughout the city using a wide array of weapons at your disposal such as a gun, knife and various others in order to steal cars and use unacceptable behaviour if it were to be used in reality, such as theft, murder and overall violence against people with the added effects of blood.

Controversies:
Throughout the game series there have been several controversies surrounding it such as the obvious controversies such as the use of general violence against people, the use of various weapons including guns and crime. But there are many controversies that can go onto effect those who play and can take it the wrong way (by which I mean a younger audience then what is intended).

With the Hypodermic needle theory you can see several aspects through these controversies of use of violence, acts of crime and use of guns, the viewer could receive this as a message that violence can go unpunished and it is okay or to a much younger viewer that crime and murder can be used in real life because in the game they can get away with it, such as in the game where you can mug someone and kill them straight after for the money or experience points.

Here's an example in 2008 six teenagers were arrested for a crime spree that they committed in New York city, they mugged a man and knocked his teeth out before an attempted carjacking of a woman's BMW (which she was still driving at the time). These kids said that there crime were inspired by a grand theft auto character known as Niko Bellics who in the game has committed crimes within the game. This is a quote taken from a police officer after questioning the 6 teens.

An active audience with grand theft auto is someone with their own free will around the game and is just engaged around playing the game and seeing as a past time or a hobby and can be in control of what you do such as with grand theft auto, people choose to play the game and can tell the difference between fiction and reality with what they do while playing.

With a passive audience they can be brought in to play grand theft auto mainly because of the persuasive nature of its adverts or can be seen as followers of the series who still like to play the game as it is a series that is still going or sometime they take part in the game simply because friends are involved.

The effects debate around grand theft auto is really difficult to explain as grand theft auto has inspired many violent acts as I have shown in the example up above, but people these days aren't really drawn to commit acts of violence due to what they see in the media if the know how to think actively and more for themselves, those who do commit acts of violence usually do have mental problems or usually people who take a game series for real, such as the use of guns in the game people do commit acts of theft and there have been incidents when people commit those crimes, but there are those who play the game who would never think of committing an act of theft in their life.

With User Gratification Theory you can see that there are many different reasons why a grand theft auto player would play grand theft auto, it might be due to social reasons such as the game allowing people to communicate to other players through the play-station system or the X-box, this is usually around social means due to the fact that many people play the game.

The game has had different responses from reviewers as the game is critically acclaimed and has been given both a negative review saying the game is a "seemingly endless cycle" meaning it is just repeating the same antics every game and also has positive response from magazine or websites like Edge calling it a "remarkable achievement" in ways of creative such as in ways of world design and storytelling.

Audience Interpretation:
With all sorts of people playing this game there is always the problem of younger audience playing it as well. In some situations where people who are the marketed age buy the game there is the problem of possibly younger siblings or their children will play the game as well and due to a younger audience there can be different interpretations of the game in different ways. A young gamer could interpret grand theft auto as something that they would want to re-create or possibly think that the same laws that apply in a realistic game like grand theft auto also apply in real life as with an older audience who are old enough to be able to tell the difference between fact and fiction or real and fake.

Mortal Combat:

Mortal Combat is a stage by stage fighting game that allows people to choose from a selection of characters to fight in a one on one arena. The game is well known for its violence, blood scenes and the various scenes in the game where body parts are removed in certain attack actions.

Controversies:
The game has gone through several forms of controversies such as violence, sexism and many legal battles that taken place over these controversies. With Hypodermic Needle Theory you can see that the game has several factors such as when playing the game, it sends out the message of using physical violence against those who try to hurt you, that is at least what some people can get from this game which can lead to violent behaviour in real life from younger players.
Here's an example a 13 year old boy called Noah Wilson was killed by his friend, he was stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife. His mother said that his friends was strongly obsessed with the game mortal combat and actually thought he was the character Cryax whose finishing move in the game is to stab his opponent in the chest.

The passive audience of this game can somewhat dominated by this game as mention in the quote it can lead to an obsession and can cause the audience to become easily manipulated into thinking what is in the game can be applied to the real world as stated earlier in the example.
The active audience of the game can be engaged in mortal combat and can tell the difference and in control such as in ways of not being sucked in by the adverts or offers involving the game.

The effects debate of Mortal Combat is that the effect of playing the game can influence young players of the game in forms of subliminal messaging, but the debate is that is not the case as the game has gained itself a cult following, millions of people play this game and not all are being affected in ways that cause violent behaviour.

The Uses and Gratification Theory allows one to see why they would want to play a game like Mortal combat as it applies to them in ways of enabling connection with friends who might like the game as well or maybe as a way of passing the time as a hobby, that is usually the reason for playing a video game.

The response that audiences would have to this game is usually a fan culture response as it is part of a long standing franchise and has been going on for many years in the gaming industry, any audience that is interested in a long standing franchise would play this game as it is exactly that.

Audience Interpretation:
The way the user could interpret the game, since it contains a large amount of violence, blood and disturbing scenes (in my opinion) then they could interpret this as a violent if they were at the age where they could tell that, but to a younger audience could interpret these scenes as those to re-create or copy as children can be mesmerized by shows with quantities of action and violence and gaming gives them a chance to be the controller of the action.

Flappy Bird:

Flappy Bird is a side scrolling mobile app game. The objective of the game is to direct a flying bird through a serious of obstacles which are usually pipes. The game has been known for the frustration it can bring out in players, it's addictive nature when playing and has since been removed from the App Store.

Controversies:
Hypodermic needle theory tells us that the game app flappy birds can convey some messages of frustration, as in the past the game is difficult and addictive. If the game sent any kind of message personally to the gamer it would probably be that you can win this game. The game does have a powerful effect on the player, meaning that flappy birds has driven people to become obsessive with winning, since it is incredibly hard to beat.
Here's an example, after the game was taken down people sent threatening letters to the creator and even began selling their Iphones on eBay that still have the app downloaded on it. This can be used as an example of active audiences too as people who enjoy a game can give reaction to it being taken down due to other people over using it. Passive audience are just those who are actively involved with the app and decide to play sometimes when they are bored instead of taking the loss of the app to heart.

The effects debate of the app is that it the target audience for those who play the game are those who are bored and do not want to take part in games that go into too much detail and that is provided by the app as it only has one objective. But the debate is that the app can make people obsessive as the app has this problem that makes it incredibly hard to win in the first place. The touch screen interface of the Iphone makes it hard to make the bird in the game react fast enough to obstacles and thus the bird will usually crash most times and losing the game, this is usually want causes frustration and obsession with the game to begin with this can also been seen in the Uses and Gratification theory as I have explained how the game can lead to most of its negative effects. The audience response for flappy birds is more of a preferred response, people don't have to buy the app, but they still choose to think that it is fun and can pass the time.

Audience interpretation:
Flappy birds is a gaming app targeted for those who wish to pass the time. Both adult and child can interpret this game the same way as it is just a simple idea and the mechanics are so simple that even a child could figure it out their first time.


Call Of Duty:

Call Of Duty (sometimes known as COD) is a first person shooter set in a war zone or any kind of battle field it really just depends on which game in the series you're playing. The game allows the player to use a wide variety of military based weapons at their disposal while going through a war zone to complete various missions. The game has been known for its violence and has had several controversies around it.

Controversies:
Hypodermic needle theory suggests that the game can inspire violence in gamers and has throughout the years as it sends out a message of military warfare and violence against others. To a younger audience they can take this as being the same as real life. Here is an example a 46 year old man from Plymouth known as Mark Bradford attack his neighbour a 13 year old young boy due to the boy beating him repeatedly at the game call of duty.

A passive audience are usually the followers of this game and are usually attracted to the game due to following the advertisement. An active audience usually in control of what they do and do not rely on the game that much for things like social interaction (as the game the game offers the player to communicate with friends) and have the will to stop playing when they want.

The effects debate is really the same with most violent game, most people are able to tell the difference, but with games that use violence and weapons in every aspect it is hard to see the difference if you are a young gamer and are too young to tell the difference. But call of duty has certified as a 18 rated game and many people who are under that age restriction shouldn't be playing it. But the gaming companies are not making these games open to younger players purposely as there are  many ways for people to get games like this, so with that old man who beat the 13 year old over the game was obviously someone who falls into the category of obsessed and angered by loss in the game.

Uses and Gratification Theory allows us to try and understand why people would play this game or choose to get caught in it, the game offers a way for people to play a violent game and take part in something with other people around the world, so the game does offer a lot of excitement to those who know what they are doing. Call of duty can operate in various media such as videos on you tube things to talk about on Facebook so it offers participatory audience.

Audience Interpretation:
Say if someone of the younger audience wanted to play this game they would be too young in order to understand what's going on as a young mind does not understand the concept and violence of warfare and would in some ways try to re-create these scenes as opposed to the older audience (of which whom the game is made for in the first place) would be able to tell the difference as of learning about war from the news and the dangers that it presents when it is made into a game.

Anne Marie Assignment 3 research Critical approaches

Assignment objective

10/03/2015

During this unit we have looked into Passive and Active audiences, we are now going to look at the different types of responses that audiences have to a media product.

• Negotiated:

       Negotiated reading is where the audience accepts the product but may want modifications made based on their feedback. such as if someone sees an advert on smoking, they might accept that smoking can cause cancer, but will prefer to cut down on their smoking instead of quitting all of sudden.

• Preferred:

This is where the audience understands the message of the product and agrees with it, such as in the smoking example they would stop smoking because of its message that smoking can cause cancer.

• Oppositional:

This is where the audience understands the product and its message, but just chooses to reject it.

• Participatory:

This where the audience chooses to interact with the various media that the product is involved with including the mainstream and social media, commenting on the product and giving their own opinion.

• Fan Culture:

Fan culture is basically when the audience wants to take part in the making of a product or media program based on their own comments and based on what others are hoping for.

Production Assignment 1

Production Diary:

06/11/2014

I have started cutting out Christmas tree stand and have successfully found a way to keep the thing together. I placed gaffer tape on the sides in order to keep together in the lower parts of the cut out and make it into the tree.



10/11/2014

After I was cut out and assembled the cardboard into the shape of a triangular Christmas I Painted gray so it could be ready to receive the projections from the projector.

Pre-Production:

Due to my videos that I am using have already been made, I don’t need to film so the various concepts and pre-production proto calls such as cast and crews, lighting, copyright issues, sketches and screen are not needed.

Venue: I choose the media room 0.412 the right equipment will be provided by Clive and It has the right setting such as being dark and having experience doing that work in that room before.

Videos: So far my videos for the production have been secured and I have avoided copyrights by using the videos of a website known as Beeple. The website contains various videos that suit the style that I am looking for.

Here are the video links so you can look at them for yourself
• http://vimeo.com/107241971
• http://vimeo.com/104094320
• http://vimeo.com/100499289
• http://vimeo.com/76432043
• http://vimeo.com/70803910
• http://vimeo.com/58460459
• http://vimeo.com/55294004
• http://vimeo.com/55280056

Risk Assessment:
In my risk assessment I wrote out the various dangers that exist in the media room I was using.

Equipment: I have chosen the media room that Clive is operating in. The equipment will be placed out including a laptop with vpt7 and a video camera to record the various.

I bought my share of materials and paint for my projection board.
• Cardboard box
• Styrofoam board
• 3 bottles of grey paint

• Razor blade
• Ruler
• Pen

Assistance: The rest of the equipment was provided by Clive and he assisted me with my work along with the help of my fellow classmate Amal. Amal assisted me in filming and photography for my projection, so I can edit it later in premiere to put the music I have selected in the background.

Sound: I plan on using a Christmas song for my video projection background, but I found it hard to get the right Christmas song and I am still coming up with which one to use.
I have a few ideas for the music.
• Merry Christmas
• Jingle bells
• Santa clause is coming to town
• Walking in a winter wonderland
• White Christmas

13/11/2014
I ended up choosing white Christmas, after that I got my cardboard and placed it in the filming room where the projector and the computer where ready.

After that Clive opened VPT7 and it may have taken me awhile to get use to the correct buttons, but once I understood layers I was on my way to completing this assignment.

First I had to upload my video files onto the video folder for the VPT7 program and then assign them to the various layers which would be placed around my tree as projections.

I placed the videos into their layer and activated them on at a time.
Each one I turned on had to be carefully placed into a specific shape so I could match the cardboard cut-out.

The shape of the tree was easy to put into place. It was the bobbles that were hard to shape.

To shape them into circles for the bobble cut-outs I went to Mask and Editor, which opened another window with two options for shaping the videos, I selected Circle and pressed save mask, that way I could move the circular shapes into place.

And here is the end result.


14/11/2014

I came in today to finish off the editing for my projection. Luckily it was recorded and I have the music in my USB, A White Christmas. I’ve opened premiere and inserted my video. I’ve easily cut away the background noise in the video and inserted the music White Christmas.

After that I export it as a MP4 and hand it in on blackboard thus completing the assignment.

After that I went to YouTube to upload my video.
Here is the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89RN4F4hCUE&feature=youtu.be

Assignment 1

Assignment 1

• An explanation of why audience research is important to media producers and how they use their findings?

When anyone comes up with an idea and the idea is then being made into something for a specific audience, you need to think on what kind of audience it is going to be, such as for those with specific interests like or  age, gender, religion, education, occupation or even income. All of these are necessary when determining what audience you are targeting with your media.

When developing something in media there are ways to narrow down your results and find your target audience, such as forming teams of people known as focus groups in order to narrow down who would like the media product and who it can apply to or questionnaires that allow you to get straight forward answers from random people that way you can find a wide range of people and by examining existing media texts by comparing them to your product.

Through these actions you can find your the best results and make a profit from these successful results. Here's an example if you are proposing a television show, you would put together research such as a questionnaire to see what genre, age and gender would like your idea and then use the most popular answers towards your idea and then put your idea together and have a focus group judge the television show and you would use their opinion to make the television show better, by using these methods media producers are able to come up with idea's and make sure those idea's get off the ground.

• An explanation of how audiences are profiled:

In order to properly deduce what your audience will be you must first profile the various differences in audience which is important towards any media producers job. you must use examples such as socio-economic status, psycho graphics, geodemographics, age, gender, sexual orientation, regional identity, mainstream, alternative, niche and various others. These are all the factors that must be considered, whether it is a game, TV show, advertisement, magazine or any other form of media product. 

• Age and Gender:

Age and Gender are the two major parts of profiling a target audience and researching it through out your work. Producers need to have and obtain the age and gender of their target audience so better specify the best age for the audience and gender that is suitable for the media product whether it is a magazine, television show or game.

Here's an example, If a documentary was being made and you would want to make it about a certain period of history let's say the documentary was on the Vietnam war, you would need to target a male audience between the ages of 50 - 60 years old, because they would be have been around during those time and they would be interested in learning of what was going on when they were young.

• Socio Economic Status:

Socio economic status is a method that is used by man media producers and the industries they work for in order to the right kind of economic lass that matches their target audience for their media product. In any example you would usually use 3 different socio economic classes which are known as the upper class, middle class and working class.

The upper class is made up of those with a much larger income and are able to purchase very expensive products such as sports cars or larger houses. Middle Class is the class that consists in-between the Upper class and the Working class, which means they make a reasonably paid wage for the work they do. Then there is the Working class, which is basically made up of people with low paying jobs and not much income.

This method is useless to a media producer, to explain this here is an example. Say a car company like Ferrari has made a very expensive car, they would focus their attention onto the upper class who have the best chance at buying this product. However a media producer would never be able to use this method because a media producer simply needs to find a target audience for advertisement and to persuade them to watch their media product on TV, so socio economic status doesn't really matter (for media producers anyway).

• Geo-demographics:

Geo demographics (short for geographical demographics) allows media producers to class people by their locations and surroundings and the characteristics of said location and surroundings and classify the properties by number types by using basic information such as personal attributes, average household income, age of head of household, occupation, number of dependent children and cars owned.

When doing Geo-demo graphical research you have to pay attention and take note to what is popular in sale and what is a regular media product such as a brand of laptop or a television show. So qualitative research such as surveys, questionnaires and face to face interviews are important towards compiling information on what would be the best media product for any kind of area and its inhabitants.

Another example can be found in the show the inbetweeners such as when they changed it to an american series with the same plot around the series but changed to an american cast to apply itself to an american audience.

• Psycho-graphics:

Psycho-graphics is quite similar to Geo-demographics/Demographics, but this deals with the audience's behavior and personality rather than where they work and what their yearly income is. This way it is easier to narrow down what kind of people would like a media product/TV show based on how said person thinks. This way we can describe what the audience do on the psychological level and figure why they do what they do, which is different from demographics which describes where the audience is.

Media producers will often profile their audiences based on a psycho-graphics graphs, they are much more detailed then any other graphs such as demographic graphs and they offer more larger variety of an audience to choose from.

Here's an example on the subject, say a media producer has a documentary that is aimed at young adults age 18 -20 who are wanting leave home. You would choose a reformers group, because it is made up of people who seek independence and will know how they would want to see that in a documentary.

• Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation is important with any media production that is placed on television. These days you will see diversity and equality within film production, this is important so you are not to offend any viewers. This is based on the equality act placed in 2010, where it is said that gays, lesbians and Bi-sexuals have equal rights and are not to be treated differently just because of their choice in life style.

When asking questions through quantitative research where they ask questions they ask questions based on or about a person's gender and then on their sexual orientation. meaning that the audience would be statistical as the number of people they asked would have to have answered straight, gay, lesbian or bi-sexual. meaning that any production team needs to be aware of any content within their projects to make sure that anything said or done in production, whether it is on screen or on the radio is not offensive to any viewers who are within a specific sexual orientation.

Here's an example, power rangers actor (now turned director) David Yost was openly gay, but he left set apparently due to not agreeing with wages, but the real reason was not that at all, the real reason was that he had been called the F word constantly by production workers around filming, after that he left film production.

Also when Glee offended the gay and lesbian alliance by using a word that was insulting to trans genders in the episode rocky horror glee show. It is not just important not to offend your co-workers, but it is extremely important not to offend your audience or the entire production will fail.

• Regional Identity:

This is how they base the audiences on where they are located, meaning they use things such as stereotypes. it is where the media producers find out where they maybe shooting a film or targeting a product and they check the area for what is the popular trend. here's an example The movie snatch is based around London and is a gangster based, so it shows London in a darker setting and gives all of the actors characters London accents to coralate with the background the film it is based on, such as Brad Pitt's character Micky the Irish gypsy.

They do this by asking people what area they live in and by doing this they can find out more about said specific area and give it a sense of belonging to the film and the viewers as well such as in Captain America it involved a good old fashioned sense of patriotism which is good for those Americans who have a strong love for their country.

• Mainstream:

Mainstream basically means that the audience follows certain trends or what is popular and finding out what trends are popular can be helpful when developing a production for a film, magazine, a book, music video's or even a documentary. In film industry it is important to get involved with popular production companies like Disney, Warner brothers, Dreamworks, paramount or pixar you will attract more people and in the case of release, an audience trust's top brands of film or products.

Here's an example Marvel films have been producing several new superhero films and many more are still in demand and back in 2011 (and now on the TV) Vampire films and shows were popular and in demand as-well like the twilight franchise or the up and coming Dracula movie. Meaning by finding the next trend that people will like, media producers can generate new shows that can appeal to audiences looking for the latest trends.

• Alternative:

There is always an alternative to any choice, even in media. Alternative is where a media producer may have a different opinion or point of view on an earlier concept in production that can be changed and apply to a different market once it has been tested by a focus group who approve of the change, like a trial run or a pilot. These concepts can make a production more important and more likely to succeed.

Here's an example a pilot is the first episode of a series that is in development, once the first episode is complete the production will have it shown to a focus group made up of their targeted audience, if the group agrees with the aspects of the show and disagree with some then the show can make changes to some aspects in order to make the show apply more to the target audience and reach out to different audiences as well by keeping somethings the same, such as when the big bang theory introduced two new female characters in order to reach out to a female audience.

• Niche:

This method is used by targeting the audience based on what the specific market is for the audience and what shows they find enjoyable and popular, meaning their likes and dislikes. This is done through online surveys and questionnaires by asking what are their favorite shows, what kind of genre do they like and all of the other topics that we have covered above, this way we can feature elements into the show that appeal to the audience we target.

Television channels tend to have their own genre when trying to reach one specific audience like, sky sports, sky movies sci-fi, action, thriller or drama.

• Quantitative Research:

Quantitative research is basically facts and figures that allow you to determine the size of the audience. The research is a method that media producers use in order to find out what their target audience maybe based on by the majority numbers, such as in websites like barb they keep the statistics of various channels and shows and how many people  have watched them, through these results you are able to find out what kind of audience is the majority and what kind of shows they like.

BARB:

Barb is a site that collects the number of ratings for different channels whether they be free view or on broadband like Sky. It rates the various channels and shows and brings up a total estimate of how many people where watching a specific show at a certain time.

This is an example of quantitative research where you can use these estimates to find find a specific audience and find out what they like based on the shows they have watched such as Alan Carr's Chatty Man where it could specify that the viewers like talk shows or live comedies. this company is funded by the various channels that give them their results, which means they both help each other out in terms of finding viewers and providing the results that are necessary.

RAJAR:

RAJAR is another quantitative research site that takes the ratings of listeners for various radio stations for Smooth, Capital, BBC radio 1, BBC radio 2, etc and lists them all down weekly and monthly, they are also listed as top 10 to see which was most popular weekly or monthly. this website is also funded by the various radio stations that they review and estimate ratings for, that way they can provide needed feedback to them in the case that they would need information on how to improve on ratings for different audiences.

ABC:

ABC has many roles in the media industry as far as quantitative research, to bring industries to agreeable standards that define media measurements, to bring the best practice, to offer independent audit and compliance services delivering certification which verifies that data and processes meet agreed reporting standards.

The research collects data on media based on their own opinion by their own standards and are funded by advertisers, media agencies and various trade bodies. This information can be used towards rating various media and it allows them to decide whether they belong on television or not, it really depends on what is involved in the show such as inappropriate jokes or anything that violates broadcasting laws.

• Qualitative Research:

Qualitative is a personal and upfront method of achieving results to find a target audience, this method will require the media producer or someone who is in charge of getting these results to ask people who have nothing to do with production what they want and this will help them define their public audience and this process is done through face to face interviews, questionnaire's and focus groups that will answer all questions required to build your target audience based around the majority answers that people have given you in the results from all of these activities.

Focus Groups:

A focus group is required when doing qualitative research, A focus group is where you get a certain number of people who fall into the category of your target audience that you have selected and then you show them a first cut of a media product or video you are working on for a possible TV series, after they have watched it they will have to answer a certain amount of questions and give their own opinion on what went well, what was wrong and what they think you can do to improve on your work. Through this Media producers are able to put together the correct work for their target audiences.

Questionnaires:

Questionnaires are important whether they are written on a sheet or posted online for people to do on sites such as survey monkey.com. In a questionnaire you write a series of questions for people to answer such as gender, age, sexual orientation, favorite genre, favorite show and what they are interested in at the end. By doing this you can track down your target audience and narrow down what kind of audience it will be for your idea in development.

Face To Face Interviews:

Face to face interview are a crucial part of media production when coming up with idea's, this process allows you to talk to a member of your target audience personally and get to know what they want on the television and through this you can compile data that will help you achieve the media product you are aiming for and (in the case of mistakes) help you improve upon your idea's in the case that they may not apply to the person you are interviewing.

In example's, say if a person has an idea for a movie sequel, after the first movie they are interviewed and asked what they liked about the movie, what was the best aspect and what they can do to improve on in the case of a sequel.