Media Studies Blog

Read  t his academic journal article - The Sims:  A Participatory Culture 14 Years On . Answer the following questions: 1) What did The Sims designer Will Wright describe the game as? Will Wright describes as  ‘a train set or a doll’s house where each person comes to it with their own interest and picks their own goals’ 2) Why was development company Maxis initially not interested in The Sims? When Wright pitched his latest game concept to the development company Maxis and used the descriptor of ‘a doll house’, he was met with little enthusiasm. The board of directors thought that  ‘doll houses were for girls, and girls didn’t play video games’ 3) What is ‘modding’? 'Modding' is a practice which enables players of the game to manipulate code and modify the game programme 4) How does ‘modding’ link to Henry Jenkins’ idea of ‘textual poaching’? The idea of 'modding' links to Jenkins idea of 'textual poaching' because users are ...

Advertising: Persuasive techniques Adverts - both print and moving image - use a range of persuasive techniques to try and positively influence their audience. We need to learn a range of these techniques and later apply them to the two CSP adverts we need to study for the exam.. Persuasive techniques Advertisements are generally trying to persuade their target audience to: ·                 Buy a product or service ·                 Believe something or act in a certain way ·                 Agree with a point of view There are many persuasive techniques used in advertising. A selection include: ·                 Slogan – a catchy phrase or statement ·    ...

- What is the product being sold? They are trying to sell hair cream. - How does this advert create desire for the product? Desire for the product is created as they show a man being surrounded by women in little clothing, carrying him. He is also carrying a gun which perceives him to be strong and powerful. This then makes the men watching the advert want to be like him. What is the idea being sold? The idea being sold is that if you purchase the hair cream you will be like the man in the advert, and you will achieve his lifestyle.  How does   Score  construct a narrative which appeals to its target audience?   How is this reinforced through Mise en Scene?   Can you use semiotics to argue this?   How and why audience responses to the narrative of this advert may have changed over time?

Advertising: Maybelline case study and wider reading  Our second Advertising and Marketing CSP is the 2017 Maybelline 'That Boss Life Pt 1' mascara video advert. This gives us an opportunity to explore the idea of  gender fluidity in society and the media - plus compare the changing representation of masculinity in advertising. Notes from the lesson are here: Gender fluidity Gender fluidity is when gender expression shifts between masculine and feminine. Indeed, gender identity has become a major media and social issue in the last 10 years. Young (and some older) people are increasingly identifying as gender fluid – and some have credited the internet for this change. They suggest that millennials grew up with the internet so can easily find information on topics like gender expression. You can  read more on this view and gender fluidity in this CNN article here . Maybelline 'That Boss Life Pt 1' The Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ advert is part of a digital campa...

Advertising: Score case study and wider reading  We have already studied the changing representation of women in advertising but there is no doubt that the portrayal of men and masculinity has also changed significantly too. Our first advertising CSP, the 1967 Score hair cream advert, provides a compelling case study for the representation of both men and women. Notes from the lesson and the blog task are below. Hypermasculinity in advertising Hypermasculinity is defined as: a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality. Advertising in the 1950s-1980s often featured a hypermasculine representation of men – and some representations in the media today still continue this. Gelfer: Changing masculinity in advertising Joseph Gelfer, a director of masculinity research, suggests that the way masculinity is represented in advertising is changing. Looking at advertising over the last 2...