Case Study 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?

In my case study, I am looking at children’s programming and discussing how all 3 cross media texts have a link. The three texts I am looking at are SpongeBob squarepants, Ben 10 and Hannah Montana. All three of the following texts operates on different platforms being e-media, print and broadcast. This essay will aim to explain how audiences are no longer just consumers of media texts but producers too.

How are audiences using e-media to interact with Ben 10?

In today’s society, many audiences interact with their programs through three platforms; print, broadcast and e-media. The audience of Ben 10 is most properly children at the age of 4 – 12 who are the generation that have grown up with the World Wide Web. One key way that these audiences interact with Ben 10 is through the use of the official website of the children’s tv program. Many of the audiences can interact with the program as there is a page where you create a monster, this competition is for all Ben 10 audiences and the best monster created will appear on tv shows.  This is one way how audiences interact with the program and also proves that audiences are no longer just consumers of texts but producers to.  Another way that audiences interact with the program through the e-media platform is by playing games, reading information about the program , videos and official merchandise. Audiences log onto the website and can play games which obviously appeals to the correct audience of children from the ages of 4 – 12. Information about the program is comes under a heading called “secrets” this is good way of appealing to the target audience as children at a young age would love to know secrets about the program and is an effective way of how audiences can interact with the program online.

How does the Hannah Montana magazine involve its audience?

Hannah Montana is a great example of how she is accessible through the 3 different media cross platforms. Hannah Montana is a huge superstar and has millions of audiences well wide and manages to keep all her fans happy through print. This magazine is issued monthly and therefore has many key features of involving its audience. One way that the magazine keeps its audiences involved is through the use of competitions. These competitions are a monthly feature and the prize give away is state of the art technology, holidays and tickets to see Hannah Montana live in concert. This is a great way of keeping the audience involved. Another way that the magazine involves its audience is through the use of emails and letters. Audiences/fans send in letters to the magazine about current affairs and Hannah Montana replies back to these letters in the magazine. This involves the audiences as they communicate with their role model via print.

How does the broadcast platform for SpongeBob square pants involve their audiences through the latest technology?

SpongeBob squarpants is children’s TV program that has been running for around 10 years also like Ben 10 and Hannah Montana it is easy to access through the three platforms. The broadcast platform involves its audience through latest technology as the tv program series is available on DVD. Also, as well as being on television users and audiences can download series on and upload them onto their mobile phones and ipods. This is becoming very popular and is a way of how the broadcast platform involves its audience through technology which enables audiences to view there favorite episodes anywhere in the world.

How has the Broadcast platforms for all the three primary texts, allow audiences to have an active role in order to be the producers and not just consumers of media texts?

The broadcast platforms have become very interactive over the past few years enabling many audiences to be interactive with the broadcast platforms. For example, Hannah Montana interacts with her audience via the television series of her double life being in school and being a famous singer. She interacts with her audience when they have a special viewing of Hannah Montana program which allows audiences to play a karaoke game. This allows the audience a role in order to be the producers and not just consumers. 

SpongeBob square pants allow audience to interact with the program, the channel nickelodeon producers and broadcast the program. Whilst watching the program sky viewers can experience an interactive way of playing games on their television. The red button allows audiences to play games and read about their favorite star. Although the program is aimed at children from the age of 4 – 12 the games section defiantly appeals to the audience as children this age love to play games and especially read interesting facts about their program. This feature allows audiences to play an active role in order to also be the producers and not just consumers of the text.

Case Study 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?

In my case study, I am looking at children’s programming and discussing how all 3 cross media texts have a link. The three texts I am looking at are SpongeBob squarepants, Ben 10 and Hannah Montana. All three of the following texts operates on different platforms being e-media, print and broadcast. This essay will aim to explain how audiences are no longer just consumers of media texts but producers too.

How are audiences using e-media to interact with Ben 10?

In today’s society, many audiences interact with their programs through three platforms; print, broadcast and e-media. The audience of Ben 10 is most properly children at the age of 4 – 12 who are the generation that have grown up with the World Wide Web. One key way that these audiences interact with Ben 10 is through the use of the official website of the children’s tv program. Many of the audiences can interact with the program as there is a page where you create a monster, this competition is for all Ben 10 audiences and the best monster created will appear on tv shows.  This is one way how audiences interact with the program and also proves that audiences are no longer just consumers of texts but producers to.  Another way that audiences interact with the program through the e-media platform is by playing games, reading information about the program , videos and official merchandise. Audiences log onto the website and can play games which obviously appeals to the correct audience of children from the ages of 4 – 12. Information about the program is comes under a heading called “secrets” this is good way of appealing to the target audience as children at a young age would love to know secrets about the program and is an effective way of how audiences can interact with the program online.

How does the Hannah Montana magazine involve its audience?

Hannah Montana is a great example of how she is accessible through the 3 different media cross platforms. Hannah Montana is a huge superstar and has millions of audiences well wide and manages to keep all her fans happy through print. This magazine is issued monthly and therefore has many key features of involving its audience. One way that the magazine keeps its audiences involved is through the use of competitions. These competitions are a monthly feature and the prize give away is state of the art technology, holidays and tickets to see Hannah Montana live in concert. This is a great way of keeping the audience involved. Another way that the magazine involves its audience is through the use of emails and letters. Audiences/fans send in letters to the magazine about current affairs and Hannah Montana replies back to these letters in the magazine. This involves the audiences as they communicate with their role model via print.

How does the broadcast platform for SpongeBob square pants involve their audiences through the latest technology?

SpongeBob squarpants is children’s TV program that has been running for around 10 years also like Ben 10 and Hannah Montana it is easy to access through the three platforms. The broadcast platform involves its audience through latest technology as the tv program series is available on DVD. Also, as well as being on television users and audiences can download series on and upload them onto their mobile phones and ipods. This is becoming very popular and is a way of how the broadcast platform involves its audience through technology which enables audiences to view there favorite episodes anywhere in the world.

How has the Broadcast platforms for all the three primary texts, allow audiences to have an active role in order to be the producers and not just consumers of media texts?

The broadcast platforms have become very interactive over the past few years enabling many audiences to be interactive with the broadcast platforms. For example, Hannah Montana interacts with her audience via the television series of her double life being in school and being a famous singer. She interacts with her audience when they have a special viewing of Hannah Montana program which allows audiences to play a karaoke game. This allows the audience a role in order to be the producers and not just consumers. 

SpongeBob square pants allow audience to interact with the program, the channel nickelodeon producers and broadcast the program. Whilst watching the program sky viewers can experience an interactive way of playing games on their television. The red button allows audiences to play games and read about their favorite star. Although the program is aimed at children from the age of 4 – 12 the games section defiantly appeals to the audience as children this age love to play games and especially read interesting facts about their program. This feature allows audiences to play an active role in order to also be the producers and not just consumers of the text.

Lynx Advert

Media forms

How does the text follow the codes and convention of an advert?

The lynx advertisement follows many codes and conventions of advertisements as the company are persuading the audience who are also the potential customers to purchase the item. One way that this advertisement follows codes and conventions of advertisements is through the use of showing the product towards the end of advertisements. The director of this advert used this as he wanted his audience to be engaged with the short storyline of the man being pulled on a rope and to the end he finds out its mermaid and the audience find out it’s an advertisement for a new lynx deodorant. By showing the product at the end of the advert it keeps the audience engaged with the advertisement and may persuade some people to buy the product. Another way that this advertisement follows codes and convention of an advert is through the use quick cuts. Quick cuts at a fast pace create a lot of suspension and tension which makes the audience think twice of what the advertisement is trying to do. Another way that this advertisement follows codes and conventions of an advert is through the use of non digetic sound. This is commonly used in a lot of trailers as it adds sounds that you wouldn’t think would be in that specific scene. This also helps to add suspense and creates tension as the audience have no idea what they are going to expect of the advertisement.

Representation

How are people and places represented in this advert?

In this following advertisement women are portrayed as being sex symbols but are also portrayed as being dominant which presents dominant ideology. Males are represented as being dominant but also a mixture of alternative ideology as the male is being dragged across the whole city by a rope which also shows in this case that men are the weak gender and woman are the powerful gender as they have incredibly amount of  strength. The woman are shown as being sex symbols which men automatically love and go out of their way to purchase this product if it means that woman will be attracted to them.

Institution

What does this text tell us about the media institutions involved?

The institution involved with this advert is uni-liver which is known to be a modern company that produce many household washing liquids and many cosmetics.  As this company is very modern and own a lot of products it tells us that the institution is independent and uses many different techniques of new advertising to sell their products rather than how companies used to advertise their products.

Audience

What techniques does the advert use to appeal to its target audience?

This advert uses techniques so that the viewers who are also the customers are persuaded by the company to purchase the products. One way that this advert uses techniques to appeal to its target audience which is being male is through the use of half naked females, they are portrayed as being sex symbols which is something that males love. Another technique that this advert uses is that by the male using the spray it automatically wants woman want him, some males may think this as well and would go out to buy the product. The socio economic of audiences would most properly C2,D,E as many of the males would want to buy deodorant to keep fresh so that woman can be attracted to them.

Hyundai

Media forms

Which advertising techniques are being used?

The following text uses common conventions of advertisement so that the company can sell their product to the viewers who are also the customers. For this text, humour is used to make the audience laugh and interested in the advertisement. The use of humour when the baby is shown driving the vehicle brings humour to audiences as everyone knows that a baby cannot physically drive a car which some audience may find this cute and funny and they are already attracted to watching the rest of the advertisement.  Another technique which is used in common advertisement is through the use of fast cut paced shots. This shows that a lot of stuff is going on in the text and makes the viewer want to concentrate to understand what is going on in the text. Another techniques which is used that the name of the institutor making this product come at the end, in this case the car company Hyundai come at the end.  The use of voice over towards the end is used, a female voice is used so that females can relate to this instead of the common genre that this advertisement is aimed to.

Representation

How is gender represented in this advertisement?

Gender in this advertisement represents dominant ideology although that the male in this text is a baby it still shows the dominance of males. The baby follows all common conventions of a male being blonde, blue eyes and being dominant. Females in this text are shown to be less dominant as they female baby appears to be a hitchhiker which shows that women are underneath men in today’s society. The baby in this text appears t o be relaxed which also shows that men are dominant and the common phrase that we hear today that men are better drivers then woman reflect this advertisement as the male baby is shown as being dominant.

Institution

 What is communicated about the Hyundai brand and the experience it offers?

In this advertisement Hyundai try to show that their cars are totally safe and can be used in all different surfaces. For example, during the middle of the advertisement the car is seen driving on a road and towards the end the surface changes from road to being sand. Another way that the company shows that the brand can be used for all sorts of different occasions, an example of this is shown when the baby takes out the surf board from the boot of the car, this also shows that the car is spacious and can carry a lot of items.

Audience

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

The main target audience for this advertisement are both genders males and females but are most likely for people from the ages of 20 + and people who hold a driving license as the company are trying to sell their cars.  This advert shows how spacious the car is and how well it drives and this is an attempt to persuade viewers to purchase this car.  The socio economic class would most likely to be c and b as they may have the finance to purchase this car. The advert mostly appeals to people who have families so that everyone can go on a family outing.

T-Mobile

What conventions of advertising are evident in this text?

This advertisement is a unique advertisement and it also shows common conventions of this chosen text. One way that the advertisement uses conventions of advertising is through the use of showing the companies name towards the end of the advertisement. This makes the audience slightly anxious as they have been persuaded by the company by entertain the audience. Another way the this advertisement has followed a convention is through the use of tag lines. For example towards of the advertisement “life’s for sharing” a famous tagline by T-mobile appears and viewers of the text can instantly remember this tagline. Another convention that this advertisement uses is through the use of the product being used. When people start to dance at the train station everyone immediately pulls their phones out to call people and to start recording. T-mobile is simply advertising their phones by general people of the public using their products.

Representation
how is technology represented in this advertisement?

Technology is represented as being a key feature in most of the general publics life’s as majority of the people in the advertisement where using their phones in two ways which was either communicating with someone else via mobile phone and people recording the dancers. Technology is shown as being simple as a lot of people where using technology in the advertisement and reflects T-mobiles tagline of being “life for sharing” this advertisement can connote that also technology is made for sharing as it used by so many people in the advertisement.

Institution
what is communicated about the T-Mobile brand and the experience it offers?

The advertisement tells us that the T-mobile brand is made for sharing through the use of its tagline and also that with a T-mobile phone you will be able to capture memorable moments as majority of the people in the adverts where using their phones. It also shows that connection with T-mobile itself is strong as many people where using their phones in a train station and sometimes people lose reception at a train station and is a way of showing the audience that the company offers fantastic service and creates a good environment.

Audience
what target audience are T-Mobile aiming to attract in this advertisement?

T-Mobile are targeting a vast audience but they are properly aiming at people from the ages of 16 - 30 +. They are targeting people who frequently use mobile phones as part of their daily life routine and show that they are the best company to be with as they offer great phones with state of the art technology and that they also cater for anyone.  Ultimately, T-mobile are reinforcing the fact that technology is made for everyone and through the use of their tagline “life’s for sharing” which can also connote that mobile phones are for everyone and are made for sharing.

Kidulthood Trailer Analysis

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

In the trailer, “kidulthood” the director uses many techniques to persuade its audiences to see the film. One way that the director uses persuasive techniques is through the use of showing vital scenes from the film. For example, through the out the trailer we continuously see main scenes from the film and it informs and excites audience to carry on watching the trailer, after the trailer is finished it persuades audiences to see the film. Another way that this trailer persuades audiences to see the film is through the genre itself “gangster” is very common and many audiences enjoy watching these types of films. Throughout the trailer we continuously see fighting scenes and smoking scenes which many of the audiences can relate to. The director chose to use these scenes in the trailer as it will automatically appeal to the audiences its intended to. Another way that the director persuades audiences to see the film is through the use of non digetic sound, this sound is put in after recording and it creates a lot of tension as the music starts of to be slow then halfway through the trailer it speeds up and makes the audience feel tensed as they don’t know what is going to happen in the film. This is one the best ways to persuade an audience to see the film as they feel excited while watching the trailer and would want to carry on by watching the film.

How is gender represented in this trailer?

In the trailer “kidulthood” gender of both sex is represented in positive and negative ways, for example the male protagonist “trife” is represented as being a dominant male as throughout the trailer he continuously swears amongst his peers and also gets into a lot of fights. However, towards the end of the trailer he also shows he has a soft side when there is a shot of him showing his emotions when tears are coming down from his eyes. This creates a mixture of dominant ideology and alternative ideology into one, the females in the trailer are represented as less dominant compared to the males. This also represent alternative ideology as instead of a male a female is shown to be less dominant as there is a scene of her being bullied another scene of where she is crying. Females are represented as femme fetals as one female argues with a man saying “i thought you came with me” and the male responds by saying “you came with me”  overall, men are represented as being dominant in this trailer in a negative way through the use of violence, guns and drugs. This would be a common stereotype for men and many of the audiences could relate to these characters.

What target audience would be attracted to this film?

The target audience for this film would be teenagers aged from 13 – 20 as many of these audiences can relate to the characters.  One way that the target audience can relate to the characters is through the use of setting, some scenes in the trailer are set in a school and audiences aged from 13 – 20 would properly be spending most of their time in school. This is one effective way that audiences would be attracted to see this film. Another way the audiences would be attracted to see this film is through the use of language spoken in the trailer. Throughout the trailer all characters are speaking slang and many of the audiences may also refer to slang, this is one way how audiences can relate to characters and would be attracted to see this film. Another way that audiences would be attracted to see this film is through the use of violence, teenage boys can relate to this more as they tend to enjoy watching violence as well as participating violence and this would be a key feature for the audience as they enjoy watching films with violence scenes.

What low budget values & characteristics can you identify in this trailer?

In this trailer there are some features and characteristics that say this film was run on a low budget, for example, the editing of the change of scenes in the trailer is not “Hollywood type” and this can also show that the film was run on a low budget. Another feature in the trailer that shows this film was run on a low budget is the institution itself. For example, at the start of the trailer the media institution that produced the film called “SNHY media” is a small institution compared to Warner Bros which is a massive producer of films; this also shows that the institution ran this film on a low budget.  Another feature that shows the audience that this film was run on a low budget is throughout the locations in the trailer, the trailer has different locations from being a housing block estate, a school and busy roads in London.

Textual Analysis - Sun Newspaper

Forms - how does the advert use codes & conventions to appeal to its audience?

The sun advert uses many codes and conventions of an advertisement to appeal to its audience. For example, in all adverts the product is shown as to be simply being the best product that everyone must have. The director of this advert uses the sun paper as a handy gadget that can be taken anywhere wherever u go. Another way that the advertisement uses codes and conventions of an advertisement is the through the use of time. All adverts are relatively short so that they can engage the audience not for too long as they may lose interest in the product; the director of this advert has certainly used this technique as to keep the advertisement entertaining yet short which would make the consumers wanting to buy the product more. Another technique which has been used in the advertisement is the institutions or company, towards the end of each advert companies like to show off the institution which is behind the creation of the advert and in this advertisement it is clearly shown as the “the sun” is shown. This helps the consumers understand which company is producing the products and may persuade them to buy the product.  Another technique which the advert uses codes and conventions is through the use of the newspaper itself. The narrator describes all the positive features of the newspaper allowing customers to be more interested in the product. A great way that they do this is when the narrator says “the all new handheld newspaper” which immediately would catch customer’s attention. The advert uses many codes and conventions of an advert and does it really effectively by appealing to the audience.

Representation – how is new technology represented in the advertisement?

The sun advert presents many ways of how new technology is being used amongst people in today’s society. The advertisement uses a duplicate advertisement of the emerging company “Apple”. All the apple products are advertised in this sort of manor where the product is shown on a blank white screen and a pair of someone’s hands where it shows all the best things the product has to offer.  In this particular advert, the sun newspaper is being compared to Apple I phone which many audiences can relate to as they may have this product already. The sun are showing that new technology is as good as old technology and have used the suns key features as positives. For example, the sport section is shown on the advertisement along with the riddles, crosswords and Sudoku. Although in this advert technology is being bragged about it also shows that technology of today can also be annoying. A great way of how this is done is when the narrator says “you don’t even lose reception” this is defiantly referred to one of apples products being the I phone which had many problems as the phone kept loosing reception. The sun have specifically chosen this weakness of apple and have used it as a positive by showing that the sun newspaper will never lose reception which can also be interpreted as the sun newspaper will never die out. Overall the sun has shown that new technology is as good as old technology but they also have their positives sides to it and their negative sides to it and buy purchasing the sun newspaper you will never encounter with any problems such as losing reception.  

Media institutions – what does the advertisement tell you about the values & ideologies of the sun newspaper?

The sun advertisement tells us the consumers a lot about the values and ideologies of the newspaper. For example, towards the end it shows that the sun has been around since 1969 and has been publishing newspaper ever since. This tells us since they started they have seen dramatic changed amongst society which affects how and what content is published in the newspaper. As we know that the newspaper is a tabloid which caters to more of a broader audience and hasn’t changed since it started over 40 years ago.  The advertisement also tells us that the sun newspaper have had to deal with terms that new technology has taken over and therefore the sun had produced this advertisement to fight back at other major competitors such as newspaper companies and new technology companies.  The advert also tells us that the sun newspaper believe in saving the world as they promote that the fact there products can be and that they recycled and many new products of today’s society are not. This helps the newspaper promote sales as they are many groups of people who actually care about the environment we live in and if the sun say that there products are recycled then it attracts more customers.  The sun advert also tells us that the sun have adapted the new ways of technology and presented their newspaper as being one of today’s best pieces of technology.

Audience – how does the advertisement appeal to its audience?

The sun advertisement uses many techniques in order to appeal to its audience. A great way of showing this is through the content itself, as the newspaper pages are being changed there are specific stories that have been selected in order to engage the audience of the sun.  The suns readership figures show that the main audience in social demographics is C2DE which is mainly the working class, labour workers, unemployed people, students and pensioners.  The sun also considers the interest of the readers. For example, male’s main interests would be football and females main interest would be gossip and fashion.  These groups of people read the sun newspaper and love to about the content. The content which is advertised is an article about X Factor which is Britain’s most loved realty TV show which many of viewers can relate to.  The sun specifically does this on purpose so that the audiences are interested and immediately feel that they need to buy the newspaper. Another great way that this advertisement appeals to its target audience is through the use of the famous back page section which is dedicated to sports. This is obviously aimed at males from the ages of 15 + who love sport, by the sun showing that they have a sports section it attracts customers to buy the product as many males in united kingdom adore football and can relate to it. Figures show that the readership of the paper is a mix of males and females.  A way that the advertisement s appeals to females is through the use of the “bizarre” section which is in the heart of the newspaper and is totally dedicated to gossip of famous celebrity’s. Females love to read and talk about gossip and the fact the advertisement shows a glimpse of it, it appeals to its target audience.  This advertisement appeals to its target audience through the ways that the advertisement is shown as being as simply the must have “gadget”