Effects and Cultivation Theory

Effects:

- Media is powerful
- Hypodermic needle-rejecting messages
- Passive Audience
- Bandura's Bobo doll

Moral Panics:

- Society/community creates anxiety about media

Cultivation Theory:

- Repeated exposure to violence in media cultivates aggression over time.
- Audience Passive



The Guardian's Article:

- Link between aggression and video games/conduct disorder
- 8/9 year olds (year 4's) & 15 year olds (year 10's)
- Problem with categorising violent games. Levels or degrees of violence. eg: difference between a first person shooter (Call of Duty) & strategy games (World of Warcraft)
- Could be caused by competitiveness (conduct disorder) rather than violence
- Personalities determines which media contents are chosen, even at an early age. Media reflects existing problems rather than causing.
- Weak link between violent video games and its association with aggression. Refuses Effects Theory.

Making Of Wonder Woman

Companies that were involved in the production of Wonder Woman:
- Atlas Entertainment
- Cruel and Unusual Films
- DC Entertainment
- Dune Entertainment in association with RatPac-Dune Entertainment
- Tencent Pictures
- Wanda Pictures

Other notable films produced by...
- Atlas Entertainment: Suicide Squad, Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice & Scooby-Doo
- Cruel and Unusual Films: Justice League, Man of Steel & 300: Rise of an Empire
- DC Entertainment: Batman Begins, Green Lantern & Aquaman
- Dune Entertainment: X-Men: The Last Stand, Marley & Me, & Meet Dave
- RatPac-Dune Entertainment: Godzilla, Mad Max: Fury Road & Barbershop: The Next Cut
- Tencent Pictures: Kong: Skull Island & Warcraft
- Wanda Pictures: Southpaw & Man of Tai Chi

Who Directed It: Patty Jenkins. Also directed Entourage

Production Budget: $149 Million. The majority of the budget would have been spent on the casting as there were a few well known actors featured in the film who would have a high demand in payment. There would also be a significant amount spent on visual effects.

Distributors of Wonder Woman were Warner Bros. A well known Distribution company who are a subsidiary to Time Warner. Wonder Woman at the box office managed to generate $821.9 million worldwide. After factoring in costs such as production, distribution and tax, the film was estimated to have made a profit between $300 million - $460 million.

Many believe that Warner Bros. is has minimised advertising for Wonder Woman and are interpreting this as the gender appeal of the film. A questionable marketing tactic Warner Bros. has decided was partnering with a weight loss brand titled thinkThin, perhaps leaving the audience with a negative view on Warner Bros intentions.

Paid Advertising for Wonder Woman
- Trailers
- Ads
-

GTA Case Study

Psychographic Profiles

The resigner is typically an elderly audience member that is usually not willing to adapt to modern consumerism and prefers the traditional lifestyle. The resigner is socially graded as an E as they normally live off of pensions.

The struggler is the audience member who's lifestyle is shambolic. They enjoy the thrill of the moment and are less considerate towards the future. The struggler is financially unstable therefore would be socially graded as either a D or E.

The mainstreamer is the largest psychographic profile for institutions to target. As suggested by their name they enjoy the consumption of the most popular products and often may overlook products of better value for the purpose of fitting in with other mainstreamers. The mainstreamer is spread across different social grades however they are mostly categorised as C1's, C2's and D's.

The aspirer is the audience member who is heavily influenced by only the latest and greatest of products. They desire to be better than the rest of society and see materialistic products as a way of being better. As they have the higher income and status amongst others in society they are socially graded as A's and B's.

The reformer is the member of society that claims to not be following consumerist ideologies and believe that they are better and more socially aware than the rest of society. This may identify them as their own people with unique personalities, opinions and beliefs however advertisers still manage to successfully target them. Reformers are usually categorised in within B's and C1's within the social grading system.

The explorer is willing to take risks and try something new, differing heavily from other types of audiences. They try new products to show others how unique they are and how they've experienced much more than the average audience since they do not restrict themselves like others.

The succeeder is the person that is placed above the rest. The hardworking, professional, competent leader who requires only the latest and greatest products. Their social grade is commonly A along with a few B's, considered better in society.

Right Winged & Left Winged Newspapers

The Daily Mail clearly expresses their right winged political preference through their heading, making cause for concern on the number of migrants entering the UK, typically the view of right winged parties. 

The Guardian manages to express their left winged political views by producing an article on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, actively and blatantly criticising Republicans who are dominantly right winged.  

Case Studies: Madeline McCann VS Shannon Matthews

·         Find examples of language used in each of the pieces to describe the parents of both children. How does this language differ? What are the messages and values on social class? (10 marks)

In the first case study, the mother of Madeline McCann is described as “traumatised” after losing her daughter, making the reader feel a sense of sympathy towards Kate McCann (the mother of Madeline McCann) and the rest of the family. Contrary to this, Shannon Matthews’ abduction is described as “alleged” and the investigators are “suspicious of her mother. There seems to be a difference in the way these two mothers are treated by investigators, once showing sympathy and remorse whilst the other is suspicion and a lack of trust. This may perhaps be a result of their backgrounds and social classes. Madeline McCann’s family come from a middle or upper middle class family with parents having reputable careers. The family's social grade may be either an A or a B. This contrasts the way Shannon Matthews' family was seen and treated, as her mother was known to have had multiple partners with the majority of her children having different families, she is not generally someone who can be seen as trusting. The family's social grade is E as they claim benefits, a form of welfare received from the government. The state of her family and their attitude post Shannon's alleged abduction did not fit with how a family would typically react to such an incident. Perhaps the higher social classes that demand a certain amount of respect would give off the impression that they are trustworthy, unlike those who belong in the lower social classes who are stereotyped as being scammers, thieves, deadbeats etc. are not to be trusted and everything they say should be taken with a grain of salt. 

• Analyse the choice of pictures used in terms of framing, shot type and mise en scene. Compare their representations of the social class of the two families. (10 marks)

The image used to show the McCanns is a shot of the mother playing with one of the twins, Madeline's younger sibling, perhaps to enforce the mothers desire to bond with her children after losing one, protecting them from an incident to happen again. The use of a direct long shot allows the audience to view the child and the mother, also allowing the audience to assume an age for the child, showing how precious it is. The image shows the two on a slide, perhaps in a park signifying childhood, something that was taken away from Madeline as she was abducted from her parents. The image in the second case study shows one of Shannon Matthews' mother and one of Shannon Matthews herself. The two close ups appear to show similarities between the mother and daughter as well as displaying their emotions. This may be to shock the audience as the case study mentions the arrest of Shannon's mother for staging Shannon's abduction with the possibility of receiving money. The shock to the audience would be how a mother could be so cruel as to take advantage of her child for the sake of wealth. 

• Hall notes that representation is “contested”, in particular the representation of those with less power in society.  He argues that news coverage can be hierarchical.  To what extent is this evident from the two readings? Make reference to Hall’s theory of representation in your answer. (10 marks)

Looking at the two case studies, it is clear that those with different levels of power in society are represented differently in the media.

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