CHAPTER 1
1. Regarding communications, not long after the first telephone was created (1876) photography was further developed in 1898. This meant that moving images so existed in the form of film. In terms of the historical narrative, it tells us that people of the time were scared to watch a train coming towards them on a screen due to the fact that they couldn't tell the difference between reality and the moving images. In addition it took 300 years to make the transition from printing press to photography so it is interesting to see that the time interval has significantly decreased as the years have passed by. As it only took 80 years to develop photographs into moving images.
2. Due to the fact that everything we see is a sign which tends to always carry some sort of meaning that the majority of people can recognize we refer to this as the signified. Where as the more complex meanings that people give to signs is called the signified. An example that is highlighted in the book is if you're watching a reality TV show e.g. Eastenders, a phone conversation between two of the characters in different rooms can only be interpreted correctly due to the media language used. This involves the camera angles, non verbal performance, dialogue, lighting, editing and of course atmospheric sounds. This then means that the audience will have the ability to understand easily what is going on throughout the scene.
3. Quotation on the theory of creativity: 'The web has enabled people to cast off the primarily slumped, passive model of the twentieth century 'leisure time', and given them the opportunity to embrace a more social and connected life of creative exchange.' By Gauntlett.
If we produce our own versions of media texts but stay faithful to the conventions of 'real media' is this creative or just imitation? As pro-consumers are now making their own media daily.
4. The media does not determine our identities, but they play a role and various academic ways of studying how humans negotiate identities offer important methods for connecting media to the broader tapestry of individual, local, collective, national and global culture. Leading on from this, there is further more recent study into possibilities for anonymous activity which involves subversion of identity in online spaces. (Buckingham).
5. Super-powerful companies in the media include: Microsoft, Google, Time Warner, Disney and News Corporation- each one of these specific companies has a market share of between $5o billion and $150 billion. Most of the media is owned by large corporations such as all the major Hollywood studios also own companies producing and distributing television, music, newspapers and publishing games. This is explained by Press and Williams.
CHAPTER 2
In pieces of media that is produced, the sound can be of two different types. There is diagetic sound which is sound that is present on the screen for the audience to see, an example would be a character speaking. Also, you can get non-diagetic sound which in contrast you cannot see. An example of this would be the background music in a film or even a narrator telling the story.
Regarding camera shots, there are POV (point of view) shots that allows the audience to feel as though they are part of the scene.
High pov= a character having a higher superiority
Low pov= showing weakness in a character
Also,jerky shots can be used to provide a sense of tension and involvement as though you are in the complicated action yourself. Or even a focus shot which is used to highlight at important part of the unfolding narrative.
When editing media you can have fast or slow pace to show representation of what is happening:
Fast pace= action is taking place such as in a superhero action film.
Slow pace= unfolding drama such as in a romance film to provide build up.
Mise en scene is the overall atmosphere/ ambiance that is created in a scene, so it is basically everything in front of the camera. This leads to verisimilitude which means that a logical sense of realism is created. E.g, in the lord of the rings, if a main character was standing there with an Apple iPhone in their hand then it wouldn't look as realistic and wouldn't fit in with the conventions.
Chapter 3
In 2011 it became apparent that there was a widespread use of phone hacking by tabloid journalists. A prime and well known example is the case of The News Of The World hacking into the voice mails of a murdered school girl. Reading her messages and giving her family false hope that she was still alive.
There is a widespread agreement that the 'power' of newspapers is declining as more people are now turning to 24 hour/online news which means less people are spending money on newspapers.
Heavy influence takes place on the audience of media, this creates stereotypes in regards to the representation of people. The cultivation theory suggests that the media audience will stereotype people and make assumptions, e.g. gay people are camp.
According to Whittam Smith(2011) the media and financial markets are are the two 'big powers' that take on governments and win.
Political economy is macro and it concerned with the factual, institutional understanding of how media is produced and circulated. Where as analysis of ideology is micro and is more textual, decoding and deconstructing media texts.
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