Media Theories

Hypodermic Needle 

The hypodermic Needle Theory is a linear communication theory which suggests that media messages are injected directly into the brains of a passive audience. It suggests that we are all the same and we all respond to media messages in the same way. A passive audience is one in which has no say or views being 'in active' and is fed a certain view in a way to make others think the same. The hypodermic needle theory then is like a political government view which is being 'Injected' into their audience and flows inside of them to feel a certain way.

Uses and Gratification 

The uses and gratification theory is the understanding of mass communication. The theory focuses more on the audience/ consumer rather than the media. It suggests the idea of 'what people of with the media' than 'what the media does with people/individuals' in saying people are an active audience and take a role of integrating and interpretation media into their own lives. The theory also suggests that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs and to fulfil a specific 'gratification'.

The uses and gratification theory has to meet one of the following when we choose a form of media:

-Cognitive needs
-Affective needs
-Personal Integrative needs
-Social Integrative needs
-Tension free needs

Two step flow

The two step theory is a evolved version of the hypodermic needle. The two steps involve- step one: opinion leaders get information from a media source, step two- opinion leaders then pass on the information along with their own interpretation to others. This then makes the original information evolve into a personal opinionated view which then gets forced upon others.

Narrative Theorys

There are many narrative theories made up by multiple people involved in media throughout time who have identified links in which a structured piece of media is made.

Propps Theory

IN 1920, Vladimir Propps was a Russian critic. Whilst the cinema were pro ducting an films, Propps was essentially interested in the narrative of folk tales. He noticed man folk tales were similar in a variety of areas so he identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions.

Bathes Narrative Codes

He suggests that there will be one or more of the 5 codes that describes the meaning of a text.
Texts either open(unravel in a lot of ways) or closed (an obvious thread).

5 Codes-     Hermeneutic/ Enigma code - Mystery
                   Proairetic / Action code
                   Semantic code - additional meanings
                   Symbolic code- symbolism within texts
                   Referential code- social links

Todorovs Equilibrium

Narrative theory states that most storys or plot lines follow the same pattern or path.

-Equilibrium
-Adisruption
-Realisation
-Restored Order
-Equilibrium

Struass Binary

The way we understand certain words depends on our understanding of the difference between the word and its opposite ( Binary opposite ).
Examples of this could be 'Hot and Cold' in which one cannot be explained/understood without the other. Other examples include- high and low, black and white, tall and short, soft and hard, stiff and flexible etc

The Music Video

The Brief

A promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, no longer than five minutes duration, together with:

• a cover for its release as part of a digipack (CD/DVD package)
• a magazine advertisement for the digipack (CD/DVD package)

My thoughts- 

Now I have chosen my brief I need to investigate into a range of things for my research section of my portfolio so that I can learn all I need to know for a successful result. 

I will need to research into music genres and how these genres convey themes of life and meaning. I will need to do this to be able to make a choice on what music genre to chose and how I can plan a video to suit the genre.

I will need to research into music video genres to understand the construction of music genre production. This will include the mise en scene, editing techniques, camera angles and sound which is merged together to form certain genres of music videos and how this will link and produce a narrative style within the production. This will vary from genre to genre as a hard rock/metal genre will collectively have different techniques involved to a techno garage genre video.

I will also have to research the history of music videos to understand the development of how videos have evolved as time has moved on. This could involve the editing and filming techniques which have changed or how the video subjects have changed due to external music genres and modern fashions changing within decades. Technology could also have a factor of change as tech has evolved which could change the ways effects, film quality and editing has changed. 

I can do this by analysing music videos throughout time and researching into the production behind the videos itself of popular and amateur producers to understand there views and thought processes which will help me broaden my knowledge.

A promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, no longer than five minutes duration, together with:

My step up from AS

In my AS course I had to work together with 3 other  people to produce the final piece. This included sharing out tasks and teaching each other skills to be able to get the piece done by certain deadlines, like I had to do a lot of planning and filming as a contribution as I had skills in these areas, whereas another member could edit and evaluate our process. Moving from AS to A2 I have to learn to manage all parts to make a whole which I plan to do through timetabling when I need to do work and have parts done by to keep a flow of work coming through.

This is my AS piece: http://mattherseyfoundationmediastudieswork.blogspot.com

My AS piece taught me the ways to bring all parts of the video together which I will learn to do by myself in this task.

Evaluation Decision

I have now looked into each brief in which have helped towards my choice of brief. I looked at a range of past coursework portfolios and how each portfolio is structured and arranged and how they went about completing their tasks.

After speaking to my teacher about the three tasks, he told me to look at a few old students blogs to see how they went about doing things across the year. One of which was my friend Prentice Johnson who made a music video for his portfolio. I was interested to look at his work as he is a similar sort of person to myself, does media and digital art like myself and skates as a hobby which is something I do in my spare time too so I wanted to see if he was able to use this to his advantage in which he does. Using his digital art skills and inspiration from the things he does in his spare time he was able to create a music video and the digipack cover and magazine advert in the urban styling he knows well to create something of his own. I further spoke to his and said the skills he had developed in other editing software packages like photoshop which I use regularly made the task more suited to him with the advertising and graphics styled work,

I looked at a few other coursework bloggs which explore into the advert title and the short film title and how they are structured. Something I initially found out was the report which is written for the short film title which is something which lots of time and planning is needed to achieve a well written exploration of a short film which involves many written english skills. I am able to produce well written work, however in comparison to graphics styled work in comparison my skill set is much more suited to the music video brief. I found lots more shots need to be planned out and structured for a short film aswell which would mean it would take me a little extra time to write the report and plan the individual shots for the film and I believe I think I wouldn't be able to get all the criteria finished within the deadline. Same with the advertisement package, I am not as well suited to this brief likewise due to a radio sequence needed to be produced aswell as the advert and a sponsorship sequence being needed too and with little knowledge on the structure of production of this ( although I could learn during research).

Overall I believe I have concluded the thoughts process of my choice and a clear decision has been made about the brief I have chosen. The music video brief is the most suited to my skill set and interests making me comfortable in approaching this task, as I believe I will be able to succeed in the graphics style side work and will be able to bring interests of my own into the music video itself to produce a piece I can feel passionate about.

The Briefs

Brief 1 is the music video option in which I would have to create a music video using copyright free music. I would have to research a range of music genres to find a style I would like and then would have to consider the ways in which a video could be planned and filmed to suit the pace, tone and genre of the music itself. This would also mean researching a range of songs within the genre and looking into multiple artists to find something I feel could work with some video content Ideas I would have.

Along with making the video itself, I would have to make the cover of a digipack (CD/DVD) and a magazine advertisement for the digipack swell.

Brief 2 is the advertisement package option in which I would have to make it for a new product or service. I would have to research a range of pre existing advertisements and the techniques used to make what they are advertising creative and effective to sell. I would also have to look at the link between the style of advertisement and the thing they are selling as well and would then have to think of what I would sell and how I should present this within an advert in which I could get inspiration from pre existing adverts.

Along with this brief I would have to make a television program sponsorship sequence and a radio advertisement as well which is a different skill set from brief one.

The final brief option is the short film package in which should last around 5 minutes in length which could either be filmed live action or animated. For this I would have to look into a range of short films and the ways in which each shots are effective in presenting a whole story in such a short time space and how these shot types, mise en scene, editing techniques and sound are all used together to make the short film effective in a message to the audience.

With the short film I would have to design and make a film poster to advertise the short film and also write about a pre existing short film and evaluate the piece itself. This is quite different in skills from the others in the written evaluation.

Overall I believe my skills of graphic design and musical interests would typically link to the music video option as the design of the digipack cover and the magazine advertisement would be styled around the graphics links and my hobby of music as well would tie in with research. I still will consider the other options though, as I believe evaluating each and researching slightly more into what they contain will help me make a well thought out decision before I go ahead with the music video options and then not like the content once started.

Initial Thoughts

After completing my As media and producing a final product of a thriller opening sequence I can now start the process of choosing a new topic to complete for my advanced portfolio for A2. When doing so I must consider my strengths and weaknesses in the three briefs of creating either: A music video including a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package) and a magazine advertisement for the digipak ( CD/DVD), An advertising package for a new product or service, to include two TV advertisements, together with a TV programme sponsorship sequence a radio advertisement or finally a short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animation or a combination of both, together with a poster for the film and a film magazine review page featuring the film.

My strengths I found when it came to my previous project was the technical and planning side of the work, as I did most of the filming, editing and storyboarding when it came to the project which was a large section of the work. This made me further excel in these areas, as I had previously experience in this side of the work however was able to develop these skill sets to the film styling we had to produce.

Aside from this, I have experience in other editing programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as I am a keen Graphic design student, so maybe this could be incorporated into the up and coming project for my portfolio which would mean I could further present my skills.
I must now evaluate the three project briefs in depth before making my choice, considering what elements are involved in each and how I can use my strengths and weaknesses to make an educated choice. This is vital to the rest of my process as making the correct choice will make the process smoother and more efficient, whereas a choice which may not suit my skill sets might not benefit my final grade.

I didn't do a lot of evaluation and initial idea brainstorming when it came to the last project as the idea was not mine. As this year is independent this must be considered, as I will need to develop these skills sets to make the project work, and when choosing a brief I must think about my weaknesses and how they can link in for a positive and wise choice.