Unit 1 LO6

Understand how meaning is created in media products

Codes- The familiar and predictable forms and techniques used by producers when creating media texts. These are used to communicate certain ideas or to convey a desired impression. Indicators or signs contained within a product that when identified by the audience create meaning. 

-There are two types of code: the technical and symbolic. 

Conventions- The commonly accepted ways of doing things. There are general conventions in all products, such as the use of opening credits in audio-visual products. However, conventions can also be genre specific such as a kiss at the end of a romantic comedy film.

Genre- Specific Genres have specific audience for example the audience of a horror film would expect to get scared. A product within a genre can be identified by its distinguishing features: its codes and conventions.

Martial Arts film- An overly dramatic training montage, References to Asian culture, Slow motion vital victory moment, routing for the underdog, A dramatic zoom out of what the hero has to fight against, A white robe, A wise man that they look to for advice, Upper class villain who is smug and expects to win, A competition of some degree. 

Verisimilitude- How real the world of the story or narrative of a fictional media product appears to the audience (for example, is the world presented to the audience believable?) 

my media consumption

The media that I consume in an average day

In the morning I wake up and ate my breakfast whilst watching Maniac on Netflix I access the product using my Xbox one and watch the program through my telly, I don't have to leave the house to watch it or to get it. Netflix runs through my Xbox and works using the WiFi. After my Breakfast I play Fortnite which is a free game that I play (also with my xbox) I downloaded Fortnite off of the Xbox store for free and it begun the download straight away, I did not have to leave my house for this to get to me. Next I would typically do any school work whilst listening to music from my Phone on Spotify, Spotify is a WiFi based music app that I use, which as of June 2018 had 83 million monthly paying subscribers. I downloaded spotify off of the app store and signed up for premium which is around £10 a month. After I finish any school work i tend to just relax and maybe read a book, recently I have been reading 'A brief history of Time' By Stephan Hawking which I purchased from amazon for £8 and it was delivered to my house a few days after I purchased it, I didnt have to leave the house for this to be sent to me. During various points of the day I would check my social media the main social media that I use is Snapchat, I use this on my phone to look at other peoples stories but to also communicate with my friends. 

What I have observed from this

The main thing that I have noticed is that there is not really a need for me to leave the house to consume any of these products I could purchase games over the Xbox store and a book on Amazon that was delivered to my door I could download apps on the app store like Spotify and Snapchat as long as a person has WiFi they don't particularly need to leave the house. Even for things like Grocery shopping that can be done online and delivered right to your doorstep this could led to things like obesity as people aren't going outside as much. 

Technological convergence.

Technological convergence is the process in which different technologies are combined in one device, increasing the amount of functions it can perform for the user.

Web 2.0 essay on advertisement

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 has made advertising easier for bigger and smaller companies as they have new platforms to advertise their products on. It is also much easier to target the specific audience that they want to through the use of cookies. Cookies allow websites to see keywords that customers are searching and tailor the adverts to best fit the intended audience. A prime example of this happening is when a customer would be searching for lets say a lawn mower online they would potentially be seeing more adverts for lawnmowers or even products related to lawnmowers such as oil to keep the lawnmower working. Websites have to have a disclaimer to ask customers whether or not they allow cookies as it is essentially using a customers data and some people might object to this happening. 

Social media allows products to advertise in new ways to get the biggest reach for the product that they, can for example when the film Venom was being advertised there was a new lens on Snapchat that was promoting the film and also there were short 10 second advertisements in between stories that would show Venom this allowed a more niche audience to be able to see averts for the film as the main users on snapchat are teenagers. The snapchat lens is a good example of below the line advertisement as this would only be seen by a certain amount of users on snapchat people may take a picture with the filter and send it to their friends and then this would also help to advertise the film as people will be advertising the film without really being aware that they are doing so. 

Before Web 2.0 the main form of advertisement would of been pop up ads these pop up ads would have been above the line advertisement as they would have just been sent to everyone without any real targeting methods. However this would of mostly been a pretty unsuccessful method of advertisement as most internet users would of just been used to shutting pop up ads down by clicking the little red X in the corner and they would not really care what the product was as it wasn't something they were interested in. Now on the other hand with the use of cookies adverts are tailored to users so that it is something that they are interested in and a product that they may of recently searched for. 

On Instagram there is a small group of people who are seen as being very influential these could be celebrities or just internet personalities such as Youtubers on Instagram they are called 'influencers' companies can pay influencers to promote a new product that they are selling and because the influencers would have a large audience this would be effective as more people would get to see the product. 

I think that Web 2.0 has made advertisement much easier, more effective and cheaper. it has made the formula to get a product out there much better as it is moving times. The modern generation spend most of their time on social media and video sites such as youtube and they don't really watch telly. Companies are having to adapt to the fact that this is happening and thats what this allows it allows companies to reach people who are predominantly using social media. Most companies don't have to waste money by making a large advert to go onto the telly and across cinemas and instead they can make a short 10 second advert and put it on snapchat and be more effective. The most well known advert on television is the John Lewis Christmas advert that normally is about 2 mins long and would cost around £7 million to make however it would be much cheaper for it to only be 10 seconds on snapchat. 

Digital Methods of Advertising.

1. A Media Product is the actual material assigned to broadcasting or to print depending on what type of media it is.
2. Media Producers manage operations within media projects.
3. Media consumers are the people who use the media product for example people who listen to radio or watch TV

1. Web 2.0 is websites that have a main emphasis on user generated content for example social media websites like Facebook and Instagram. The term 'Web 2.0' was originally invented by Darcy DiNucci in 1999 however the term was popularized several years later by Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty in 2004. Web 2.0 is good as it helps to make it easier for the customer to advertise things or to share there life without having to make their own website specifically for it also it can be profitable for the owners of Web 2.0 sites as they can charge companies to advertise as it will be viewed by many people. 
2. I think that Web 2.0 has made advertisement easier for big companies as they know where the largest audiences will be and they can also tailor who will see the adverts that they are making. However most users on Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook tend to just completely ignore adverts and forget about them therefore it could be seen as wasted money that they have put into advertisement. 
3. Web 2.0 can lead to advertisement that is 'below the line' although Web 2.0 sites tend to have large audiences adverts are more tailored towards customers using keywords, through things such as 'cookies' businesses can see what people search for and they can decide what adverts are best suited to be people. 
4. Another form of web based below the line marketing is when celebrities advertise products on Snapchat stories for example Anthony Joshua holding up a bottle of Lynx Gold in the shower with the caption 'A good fresh start to the day' 

6 Questions

Questions 

1. The value chain is the effectiveness of both horizontal and vertical integration when used in a conglomerate 
2. Horizontal integration is how well a media product is advertised by a conglomerate they need the following aspects to be done within the conglomerate to be cost effective they are: Online/ social media, Print media, Marketing and merchandising
3. Having cross media ownership allows synergy because the conglomerate would not have to pay another company to help them to advertise or make a product.
4. Disney uses synergy as they can produce, advertise, distribute and sell the product without having to pay any other companies to help as they have their own lorries own factories they own marketing businesses and they can advertise on television channels that a they own
5. Production, Advertising, Merchandising and Distribution 
6. Game designer- Video game