Media Questionnaire

GCSE Results:
English: B
Science: AB
Maths: B
ICT: B
History: B
Geography: A
Business: B
Sociology: B
Textiles: B
CBV: B
Astronomy: B
Hobbies:
Reading, Writing, Astronomy.

Print Media:
I read some articles from ‘The Guardian’ if they have news on subjects that include real people such as the recent story about Jaycee Dugard. I also like to read news articles on astronomy, new technologies and medical breakthroughs because they interest me. I sometimes prefer to read the news from the internet because it’s easier to find more information from different sources, and the internet has news from different countries while newspapers don’t generally have has much international news. The magazines I read are normally real life stories from magazines such as ‘That’s Life’ and ‘Take a Break.’

Radio Media:
I listen to Kiss and Smash Hits for music on the radio and I also listen to Radio Norfolk sometimes for the local news.

Music Industry:
I like all genres of music especially pop such as Lily Allen and dance-pop such as Lady Gaga, I access music from the internet but also from the music channels on the TV. I don’t think illegal downloading of music is that bad because more people get the music and it becomes more popular through word of mouth and some people do download legally and buy the CD’s. Youtube has music which people listen to for free, downloading it onto a MP4 player or Ipod is no different from listening to it free on Youtube, Radio or TV so I don’t believe it is that bad. Many people still buy the music legally so the artists still get the money for their work but downloading gives more people a chance to hear it so it gives the artists more fame overall. The music industry can influence how people act and dress because the viewers see how the celebrities dress and dress the same, either to show that they like that celebrity or because they aspire to be like them. If the audience see’s a celebrity acting a certain way they may copy it because they think that it’s cool. Influencing styles of dress also label people as liking a certain music type, for example ‘emo’s’ tend to like dance/rave music while ‘chav’s’ may prefer pop/rap music. The music industry can influence many people to be separated into groups based on which music they like, and being in a group of people who like the same music as you can influence the person to dress based on the style of their favourite music artists to show visually which music that person prefers. This means that the music industry can separate people into groups but also brings people with similar tastes together.

Video Games:
I like games like Mario and Zelda which have a main plot be lots of little side plots for you to do which makes it more interesting. In both games the player has to save the princess who has been taken by an evil man who wants to rule the world. Both games have a ‘damsel in distress’ and the main hero is the man who saves her which is a common theme in many films, games and books. It gives a negative impression of the female gender but the games are so fantasised and surreal that it seems more like a fairy tale than a real life situation although the connotations surrounding the female role in the games remains the same. In the games the player has to beat all the evil bosses to save the female which gives a negative impression on solving conflicts as they are solved in the games by violence. In Zelda the main hero, Link, uses old weaponry such as a sword and bow to fight the evil monsters but the last boss is a man who has to be defeated generally with a sword which makes it seem like a fight from the Middle Ages. The details of the deaths of the monsters and bosses in the games are vague and don’t show much blood or gore which makes it seem less realistic and harder to compare to a real death. Many games have a negative view on female roles and on violence which could potentially be commented on and used in real life. For example, making females the victims in games could potentially make people believe that females are like this is real life and take advantage of them. The ideas of violence can also be drawn into the real world, for example, if the player saw a wrestling move in a game he may try and re-create it in real life.

New Technology:
New technologies such as the internet have increased my understanding of the world because I can see the news and picture of other places in the world and see what’s going on there, I can also talk to people from other countries and see how they are different and how they have different views on some subjects which is quite interesting because I can see how living in different places and different cultures makes you different in some ways. The internet also gives people access to films, music and TV shows so we can watch things from different countries that we normally wouldn’t be able to. Sharing sites such as Youtube can connect us to other people through pictures and movies which also increases understand of the world and other cultures. New technology such as camera’s and digital image generators can help people make media more interesting, formerly only minor changes could be made to videos and pictures but increasing technologies open up a new range of things that can be done to videos and pictures, and many of these things can be done by everyday people, not specialists which means more people can make media videos and pictures so they can be viewed by others on sharing sites.

Television:
My favourite TV channels are: Living TV, Dave, Sky One, FX, DMAX, E4, BBC3. I like these channels because the programmes shown on them are either funny or interesting. ‘Live at the Apollo’ on Dave, is an example of a funny programme that I like to watch. On Living TV is a show called ‘America’s Next Top Model’ which I watch because I like to see how the models adapt and change for the photo shoots and I like to see how the pictures turn out. My favourite television genre is comedy because it takes my mind off other things, and some comedy programmes have serious subjects but makes them more comedic to soften them and make the subject more approachable. A television advert which strikes me as interesting is the BarryM advert. It’s quite stylish because the women stands on a white background wearing black and holding a guitar so she looks like a rocker and then she strikes a chord and lots of colours come out of the guitar and it stands out against the white background and her dark clothes. It shows close ups of her eyes and nails showing different colour eye shadows and nail varnishes. The advert sticks in my mind because the ad was quite dull at first and suddenly exploded with colours and it makes me remember it. The advert also implies that the colours make you look better and shows different combinations with the girl wearing it and it does make her eyes and face stand out, although it may be helped by the dull clothes and background. The 5 television programmes that I find memorable are: ‘Red Dwarf’, ‘Friends’, ‘Scrubs’, ‘Miami Ink’, and ‘Two Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps’.

Feature Film:
My favourite film genres are Action, Comedy and Romance. I like romance because the stories are heart warming and always have a happy ending, I enjoy the comedy films because they do the same as the comedy TV shows and are funny but sometime touch on interesting subjects but in a way that doesn’t make them sound unpleasant and awkward. I like action films because they are entertaining and engaging, but they are sometimes about real life situations that have been exaggerated to add interest and suspense. Films that I enjoy are ‘The Mummy’ and ‘The Mummy Returns’ because I like the graphics and the setting of Egypt because it’s exotic compared to England and the storyline is quite fascinating. I prefer to watch movies at the cinema because it creates a better atmosphere and I like to be in a group so we can share the experience and suspense because its more fun and interesting if you can, if you are alone then there is no-one to share the experience with although being alone can create a tense atmosphere which some people prefer.

Conclusion:
A media text that has offended me would be the stereotypes that the American TV shows about England and English culture. The stereotypes are generally that the English towns and cities are still in the Victorian ages and the people speak in the Victorian accent from ‘Oliver Twist’. The stereotypes offend me because many Americans believe that English people are truly like that and when I speak to American people many of them talk down to me and ask if I have a similar accent to the ones from ‘Oliver Twist’. I think that the TV show ‘Scrubs’ is very interesting and exciting because it shows people growing and changing in a job and how work environments can be.
A piece of media that changed my attitude is a film called ‘Religulous’ which is a documentary starring Bill Maher. It is very informative on religions and religious cultures and explains about religious beliefs, speaks to major religious figures such as Islamic and Christian priests. The film was quite innovative because it was a very controversial subject and was quite comedic in some situations which made it enjoyable to watch.
If I could construct a media piece I would write about the condition of England because of the recession and how the politicians used media to try and cover up the state of England and their own problems by emphasising other news items such as the Swine Flu. I would choose to TV show my message because more people watch TV although using a newspaper would be good too the message was published in papers like ‘The Guardian’ because it would a appeal to a more educated audience, while the TV message would be shown to most people and some may not find it as interesting.
I chose to do Media Studies for A-level because I want to do a job in media such as digital computing or film graphics/animation. The other a-level’s I chose to do are Computing, Physics and Maths.