The different groups of people in this trailer are mainly the Orcs and the Humans. What's unique is that there are different representations of the Humans and also of the Orcs. In terms of the Humans, we the audience see the Knights which are the army of the Humans and are generally seen as very strong and expert, but also in one of the shots are shown to be young and weak compared to the Orcs. However, another representation of the groups of Humans are the elite and royalty such as the King and are shown to be very sophisticated and living in grand castles. We see that in the society of this plot, the men are a lot more relevant than the women, this is evident as the men are shown much more frequently throughout the trailer whilst the females both Humans and Orcs are shown with just basic shots and shows their irrelevance.
One of the major themes in this movie is that at first sight, the Orcs are stereotypically seen to be monsters and "beasts" which need to be "destroyed". This theme is both dominant and alternative as we see the Orcs show their beastly personalities by constantly fighting and also as one of the characters states "for Orcs, there is only war". However, what's interesting is that the plot of this movie focuses on the idea of challenging this stereotype as one of the main Orc character is actively trying his best to avoid war and work for peace. This shows that although there might be stereotypes of a group, not everyone is the same and in every race there can be peaceful and war like people.
What do YOU primarily use the media for: entertainment or information? (Or something else?) I use the media for entertainment, information and also sometimes for personal work and knowledge. I use the media for entertainment purposes in the sense that a lot of the television or movies I watch are done online, rather than the generic version of watching them on television. It's the concept of "on-demand" that is very appealing to me as I like to have the choice and power of when I want to watch something. In terms of information, media is also very important as it is crucial in the going ons of society around me. I read a lot of my news through social media and other places such as reddit. These help me to have a sense of what is happening and stay up to date. A lot of the work that I do relies heavily on the usage of media especially such as social media which helps me to stay in touch with what society is up to in the sense that I am able to use the latest trends to my advantage when it comes to designing of posters and marketing to a specific age range. I generally use websites such as reddit for my own knowledge and personal gain.2) To what extent do you feel we are dependent on the media?
I think we are definitely too dependent on the media, especially teenagers. We tend to rely too much on media, for example, I think in social situations, teenagers have a hard time not looking at their phones every two minutes which generally affects the atmosphere negatively. We as teenagers also tend to overuse certain media and only use it as a pass time, and we also tend to only use certain media depending on the latest trend. For example, at the time, MySpace was widely used, however it has died out and is no longer popular.
Has our dependence on the media changed over the last 10 years? How?
I think our dependence on media has changed quite drastically over the past 10 years, and I think it has reached almost to the point where it possibly has become a social hindrance and generally stunted our growth as people in society. However, there is no denying the fact that the rapid evolution of media in such a short space of time has greatly helped us to connect with each other with greater ease and generally helped the populace expand in ways we thought were not possible. I think the usage of media will only expand more and allow for a greater platform of a freedom of speech.
Readthis Telegraph article– does this support Dependency theory? What is your personal opinion on this issue?
I think it does support the dependency theory as many teenagers are way too dependent on the internet and social media. As teenagers, we are constantly trying to socialise and staying connected with one another, so it is rare now a days to see a group of teenagers just sitting and talking with one another, but rather you tend to see that some of them will be on their phones even when in a social situation. So I personally believe this tends to make social situations much more tedious and boring as everyone is too busy being "glued" to their phone screens and not paying more attention to their surroundings.
Read this Mail Online article about the effects of videogames. How does this article link to the hypodermic needle model? The article writes about how there is a direct correlation between the people that play violent video games and their aggressive behaviour. It uses studies and facts to show to the audience that those who play violent games have a higher chance of behaving much more aggressively. This links in with the hypodermic needle model as violent games could be "injecting" a certain behaviour pattern into young people such as aggression. It could also be linked as the article itself is "injecting" an opinion disguised as a fact using specific research into the audience. This is very dangerous as it can make the audience think or react in accordance to what the media wants. How does coverage of the Talk Talk hacking case link to the hypodermic needle model? Why might someone criticise this front page?
The headline talks about the hacking case and how a young fifteen year old teenager was able to hack the mobile provider TalkTalk. However, the coverage can be linked with the hypodermic needle model as the coverage uses specific stereotypes to reinforce and target a specific age of young people. It uses video games as one of the main factors as to try and justify the reasoning behind the motives of the hacker. However, it can be easily argued that these two aren't linked at all. This situation asserts the hypodermic model as the Daily Mail "injects" opinions disguised as facts to try and sway the perception of the audience. For this reason, the Daily Mail could be criticised quite easily as they tend to skew the situation out of proportion by publishing opinionated theories and linking completely irrelevant factors as justifications. Therefore, in many cases the Daily Mail isn't a reliable source of information most of the time due to it's biased influence on its readers.
Two-step flow model
Summarise the two-step flow model. In your opinion, is the two-step flow theory still relevant today?
The two step model is a theory that was developed in the 1940s because it thought the hypodermic model was too simplistic. It focuses and suggests the idea that society and audiences are influenced by certain individuals who control the audience's reactions through their own personal opinions and also allow for general discussion through a general consensus of agreement or even disagreement. How does this YouTube blogger fit into the two-step flow model?
TotalBiscuit is a youtuber who does a variety of different things through his videos. He is most known for his videos where he plays and critiques different games. He is also well known for his reviews and explanations of new and upcoming games. He fits the two-step model very well as he has a huge audience to his channel, the audience which rely on his expertise and opinions before buying a game. His critique is also considered very important as he has been doing his videos for a very long time and it is obvious that through his experience he holds a lot of great knowledge as to what makes a good game or not. This means that he is seen as an "opinion" leader and directly affects the reaction of the audience of certain topics.
It suggests the idea that the stars and celebrities of the media world have a higher following than those of decision makers. It is very important as it suggests that the ones that affect the perception and opinions of the media audience are not actually the ones in power, for example, the stars of One Direction have at least 12 million Twitter followers compared to David Cameron's 400,000. This shows that the people with higher amount of followers are the ones who would be able to influence the opinions of society much better than those with fewer followers.
Jamal Edwards fits very well into the two-step model as he is shown to have created his own platform from where he expresses his opinions. This is very unique especially since his SBTV was the reason for a huge artist like Ed Sheeran who gets over 7.7 million views. This shows that people actually agree with his opinions and shows that his expertise is not only valued but it is very accurate in the sense that he knows what is good and what isn't in both the music and media industry.
Introduce your example couple that represents your group:
Names: Jeremy and Nicole Where do they work/study? Jeremy - Sales assistant, aspires to be an entrepreneur Nicole - Fashion designer, aspires to own fashion magazine What do they do in their spare time? Jeremy - PS4, cooking Nicole - Window shopping, shopping, brand searching
Now suggest their media consumption
Print: What newspapers/magazines does your group read (if any)? Is this on paper or tablet? Tablet users mostly but sometimes print during travel Broadcast: What TV programmes/channels do your group watch? Radio stations? TV package - Freeview or Sky? Films? Sky+, and generally blockbuster or mainstream cinema On demand, Netflix E-media: What technology do they own? What websites do they visit (if any)? Apple users, Twitter, online news, social media, Netflix, tablet users.
500 Days of Summer is unique in the sense that it's narrative is not presented chronologically. In the movie, we don't go through the story in a linear perspective.
ENIGMA codes: In the trailer, the audience is left with many enigma codes such as, why does the girl break up with Tom? What happens afterwards and what happened between them to cause the break up?
ACTION codes: The audience could consider the action code could be when she breaks up with him.
Equilibrium: The equilibrium that we the audience see could be before Tom meets the girl and goes out with her.
Disequilibrium: The disequilibrium is the obvious and clear point where the girl breaks up with Tom as it creates a lot of complications for Tom and essentially changes him as a person.
New Equilibrium: The new equilibrium is when he tries to change and move one but has difficulty in doing this. This part is not shown too much in the trailer so it leaves it up to the audience as an anchor to try and watch the movie and find out.
The Villain: The woman could easily be both the Villain or The Princess. The Donor and the Helper: In this trailer, we see many friends helping Tom in his break up so we can see that they are the ones to help him resolve the disequilibrium. The Princess: The woman could be the Princess but also it can be interpreted that she is not a typical Princess. It could also be interpreted that the Hero is in fact the Princess all along and that he has to save himself from the break up. The Hero: Tom the main protagonist is the clear and apparent hero of the story.
Daredevil
ENIGMA codes: In the trailer, the audience is left with many enigma codes such as, who are the two main characters and why are they fighting? What are their motives and what are the reasons behind their binary opposition?
ACTION codes: The audience can see that the action codes of violence are presented when Fisk kills the man in the beginning of the scene.
Equilibrium: The equilibrium that we the audience see could be the calm state of the city and the generally setting.
Disequilibrium: The disequilibrium is the obvious and clear point where the first character (Fisk) kills a man to show violence and create disequilibrium in the natural order of affairs.
New Equilibrium: The new equilibrium is when we are introduced to the main protagonist Matt Murdock who is fighting for justice as a lawyer to try and "make the city a better place" and go against Fisk.
The Villain: We don't see him as the villain at first but it is Wilson Fisk shown at the beginning. He could also be the False Hero as his intentions are good but are immediately presented as bad after his actions of killing a man. The Donor and the Helper: In this trailer, we see many friends helping Matt but the most dominant ones are the Vicar and the blind old man who helps to train him. The Princess: We could interpret that the princess that needs to be saved could be the city and setting itself as both the villain and hero talk about saving the city repeatedly. The Hero: The main protagonist in this trailer is Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer.
Batman Arkham Knight
ENIGMA codes: In the trailer, the audience is left with many enigma codes such as, who is the masked person at the end with a gun to Batman's head? Is Batman going to survive? Will he be able to stop the threat of the Scarecrow?
ACTION codes: The audience can consider that the action code would be the arrival of Batman. This is generally very stereotypical of Batman in the sense that he has this grand entrance to save the day.
Equilibrium: We don't see an equilibrium, but rather we're immediately thrown into the disequilibrium.
Disequilibrium: The disequilibrium is when we see Gotham city in a state of panic because of the threats of the villains and riots.
New Equilibrium: The new equilibrium is present when Batman enters the scenario in order to "even the odds", he is fighting the villains constantly to bring a state of order and peace.
The Villain: There are many villains in this trailer, but the most significant one has to be the masked Arkham Knight at the end who clearly has the upper hand over Batman. The Donor and the Helper: We see the police commissioner helping Batman regularly in order for him to save the day. The Princess: In this scenario, we could say that the city is the princess in need of saving. The Hero: Batman is the stereotypical protagonist of the narrative.
