Theory Into Practice 13

The War of the Worlds (Radio Play): The War of the Worlds was an episode on an American radio drama anthology series. It was performed as a halloween special on October 30th 1938. It was directed by Orson Welles and was an adaptation of  H.G. Wells’ novel War of the Worlds. It was performed to sound like a series of news bulletins. People believed that the earth was really being invaded by martians, this caused mass panic within the towns and cities of the United States. This is a good example of how powerful the media can be.

Super Size Me:

Theory Into Practice 8, 9, 10 and 12

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Call of Duty 4:This is the fourth title in the Call of Duty series. The series has been very well received with a huge fan following. The original games were set in World War 2 but this game has been set in the modern warfare age. The producer decided to do make the move to modern warfare because the video game market was over crowded with world war 2 first person shooters. They decided to keep all the traits that the series had but they added a new modern flare to it while adding new things as-well. They made it appeal to the audience by keeping the things that made the Call of Duty series what it is.

 Transformers: This is a film based on the very popular series of toys that started off as simple vehicles, then they would transform into robots. The film stays true to the toys with all the characters that we recognise from the toys. They made it appeal because they kept it as close to the toys and the cartoon series as possible, including all of our favourite characters. It also appeals to sci-fi buffs as it contains alot of breath taking CG.

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Saving Private Ryan: There are many codes that appear in Saving Private Ryan but the one I have chosen is from the start of the film where the men are trying to take the beach-head. Captain Miller finally reaches the beach but he is shell-shocked, the camera then goes into a first person viewpoint. This viewpoint is an example of a technical code as it has become the main character. When it is in this viewpoint we actually feel shell-shocked and we see all the carnage that is going on around us. There are also many symbolic codes in Saving Private Ryan, one of the main codes is the use of music in the film. They use music to enhance the mood of the situation or scene. For example, if they were in some sort of danger, they would use a fast paced, sinister type of music. They also have many historical codes. For example the historically accurate environments and sets that they use in the film. An example of this would be the opening scene of the Normandy landings, many veterans of the landing have said that it was almost exactly the same as it is shown in the film.

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Films: Some films use subtitles to tell us where the scene is set. The font will be different if the film is for example an action movie. If it was an action movie then the type would be very blocky and serious. But if it was say an historic film then the type would be from that period.

TV: Subtitles in a TV show would have to get across the mood of the scene or situation. For example, if there was an argument and there was shouting then the subtitle might use alot of exclamation marks and capital letters to get across that it is an argument.

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Here is an example of a complaint from an anonymous man to the Press Complaints Company, “A man complained to the Press Complaints Commission that a video published on the Northwich Guardian website on 14 July headlined “Teenagers torch moving train” and an article accompanied by images from the video published on 18 July headlined “YOBS ON FILM” identified his fifteen-year-old son in breach of Clause 6 (Children) of the Code”. This complaint was not upheld sue to the fact that the website that the video was posted on was a video-sharing website and was uploaded by the children themselves. Therefor they were no in any breach of clause.

Here is another complaint from a woman to the Press Complaints Company, “A woman complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, published in the Wigan Observer on 29th May headlined “Teacher found electrocuted” contained excessive detail about a death by suicide in breach of Clause 5 (Intrusion into grief or shock) of the Code”. The complaint was upheld because even though it was an accurate report of the inquest, the story caused the family distress and discomfort. 

Audience Feedback

Producers want feedback that can help them to increase the appeal of thier product. They can get feedback in a number of ways:

Focus Groups – These are made up of a group of representatives of the target audience.

Audience panels – Representatives who give feedback on a regular basis.

Trialling and Testing – Sample of the product would begiven to an audience and they would give feedback.

Reviews – Ordinary people who review a product for a magazine, newspaper or website. There are also professional reviewers that provide the cruellest feedback.

Complaints – Complaints can be sent direct from the audience or it can go through a complaint centre like Ofcom or ASA.

Codes and Conventions

Codes

Codes are signs that have a meaning, they can be distinguished into 2 catgories – technical and symbolic.

Technical – Techinical is the way equipment is used to tell a story. For example, the way a video camera is used in film.

Symbolic – Symbolic codes show what we can’t see. For example, a characters actions reflect the way the character is feeling.

But some codes fit both technicle and symbolic. For example, music falls into both technical and symbolic.

Conventions

Coventios are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.

How codes and conventions apply in media studies

Codes and conventions are used in the study of genre – it’s not enough just to say how the technical code is used such as how a camera is used, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.