Week 8 - Audiences: Technology and the impact on consumption

In this week’s lecture we were able to map out and explore the change in consumption of Film and TV due to the arrival of digital technology as well as the impact this has had on audiences viewing experiences. The key reading investigates the success of a murder detective genre series that was viewed through TV and it’s website ‘www.homicide.com’. This integration enabled the distribution company to air certain parts or whole episodes on TV or their website and due to its genre this suggests that it creates suspense, generating dedicated viewers that are more likely to use diverse media forms to consume this programme. This strategy “represented the ultimate integration and seamless convergence of old and new media” (Everett and Caldwell, 2003) and is used currently by numerous companies to encourage audience members to interact with the product. Furthermore, branding is discussed in the reading, which is something millions including myself add to through the purchase of merchandise, which can be found in various forms almost everywhere.

The advent of the digital age has certainly impacted they ways I consume TV and Film. Growing up in Cyprus was undoubtedly very different to what I’ve heard growing up in the U.K is like; this includes even the consumption of media. As a child I watched TV shows on tape, my aunty would record them from channels such as Trouble and post them to us. Things like the Sky Box or even Disney Channel weren’t accessible to us and Greek/Cypriot TV is awful once compared to that of the U.K or the U.S. This meant waiting once a month to get a box full of tapes and binge watching classics such as Martin, My Wife and Kids, Moesha, One on One and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was worthwhile.  

Netlix is my key source of TV and Film consumption; I tend to use it because it’s cheap, has a wide range of selection, is convenient as I travel a lot and easy due to its new download feature. Netflix started off selling and renting DVDs, then expanded by introducing streaming media and renting Blu-ray and DVDs via their mailing subscription. “In 2013, Netflix expanded into Film and TV production.” (Wikipedia, 2017) “Netflix members with a streaming-only plan can watch TV shows and movies instantly in over 190 countries.” (Wikipedia, 2017) I love Netflix because as mentioned previously it’s almost second nature to binge watch and through this service I am able to do so even on a pocket sized device on the move.  I would love to research further into streaming services as I think they have gained mass popularity.

References:

1.     Everett, A and Caldwell, J (Eds) (2003), New Media: Theories and Practices of Digitextuality, Routledge, London and New York. pp 127-144

2.     Wikipedia (2017) Netflix (1997): General Information [via the web] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix  [Accessed 15^th March 2017]

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Week 7 - Audiences: What do people do with media?

This week’s lecture was focused on what audiences do with the media texts they consume as well and how audiences are studied. One approach we learned which looks at this is Blumler and Katz’s theory of ‘uses and gratifications’, which was summarised by Dennis McQuail. This explores how audiences choose to consume certain kinds of media and how it meets their needs. Despite all its helpful insight into audience studies, it has presented some limitations and Stuart Hall’s work of encoding/decoding has considerably contributed to the development of audience studies. Through this model it is possible to explore ‘ways of thinking about the contexts of consumption and the kinds of pressures that might impact upon the way that we understand media meanings.’ (Long and Wall, 2012)

To put some of this knowledge we gained into practice, during the seminar we were put in groups to deconstruct some media texts to see how in fact these can result in us being ‘sometimes very engaged, other times quite distant from those things we consume and their meanings.’ (Long and Wall, 2012) My group and I used textual analysis to deconstruct Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ music video to see how cinematography is being used to help refine the issues being addressed and how this left us feeling by the end of it.

The key reading this week was “Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change” by Marie Gillespie, in which she talks about soap operas and how audience members can relate to characters and apply the scenarios to their everyday life. ‘A large part of the enjoyment which is derived from watching soap operas lies in talking about them with the other people.’ (Gillespie, 2003) This is a great example of where Gillespie applied the uses and gratifications theory to the Australian soap opera “Neighbours”, explaining why we as audience members have the need for ‘personal relationships’ which is one of the points of Blumler and Katz’s theory that can be fulfilled through doing something as simple as interacting with others and speaking about the texts they are consuming. 

To further develop my knowledge it would be interesting to do some research into fandoms, because with the advent of digital age they have become more socially acceptable. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumlbr have proven to be easy ways for people to interact and discuss their opinions on topics (including TV and Film) from the comfort of their own home. I think this would be an easy way to gain a raw insight to how they consume and understand media texts.

References:

1.     Long, P and Wall, T (2012) ‘investigating audiences: what do people do with media?’ IN Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context (2^nd Edition), London: Pearson. pp 300-337 

2.     Gillespie, Marie (2003) “Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change” IN Will Brooker and Deborah Jermyn The Audience Studies Reader, London: Routledge.

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Week 6 - Directed Study Week

Week 6 was a reading week, this meant we had time to catch up on any outstanding work and prepare for week 7’s reading (6^th patchwork). 

Week 5 - Representation: Ideology, Discourse and Power

This week’s lecture was on Representation: Ideology, Discourse and Power. The key readings were Long and Wall’s chapter on ‘Discourse, power and media’, Machin D and Mayr, A’s ‘How to do a Critical Discourse Analysis’.

Long and Wall’s chapter focused on exploring media representations of gender and sexuality within TV series. ‘As Tessa Perkins (Perkins, 1997) tells us, while we think of stereotypes as simple ideas and readily identified the concept is full of complexity, as evidence in your exploration of new stereotypes’. (Long and Wall, 2012) This could possibly suggest that because as an audience we consume products and see people represented in a certain way, this may become part of our idea of that particular thing. This draws attention to the lack of questions we ask about what we consume and why things are presented to us in that way, linking this in also to media power. Furthermore, Long and Wall explain discourse through using Michael Foucault’s theory and support the idea I was explaining further up. ‘Foucault meant by his definition that discourses are ideas embedded in what we do, say and think and that these create in terms upon which we know the world’ (Long and Wall, 2012) 

In the second reading, Machin and Mayr talk about discourse and ideologies within media and how to carry out a Critical Discourse Analysis. They state that ‘we should all think of all communication, whether through language images, or sounds, as being accomplished through a set of semiotic resources, options and choices.’ (Machin, D and Mayr, 2012). Through this they explain how what is communicated through the media is simply seen by many as a set of semiotic sources.

For my found reading this week, I will be looking at a study by Davies, F, which focuses on ‘Pragmatically Oppositional Representations in The L Word’. In the reading Davies points out that ‘Lesbian identity is shown as a status that can be liberating and positive’ (Davies, 2008). This suggests that the increased screening of such characters on TV ensures a positive effect on viewers outlook on these programmes as well as the characters presented.  

To further my knowledge on this topic, I could see how lesbian characters are treated within TV series by other characters. I could furthermore use virtual ethnography to see the opinions viewers have on these characters, such series include Pretty Little Liars and Orange Is the New Black.

References:

1. Long, P and Wall, T (2012) 'Discourse, power and media’ IN Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context (2^nd Edition), London: Pearson. Pp.: 100-129, 363-369

2. Machin, D and Mayr, A (2012) How to do a Critical Discourse Analysis, London: Sage. pp 1-29

3. Davies, F. (2008) ‘Pragmatically Oppositional Representations in The L Word’ IN Beirne, R, (2008) Televising Queer Women, London and New York: Pelgrave Macmillan.  

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