Yesterday in our workshop was a good time to really outline how we were going to structure our audio essay. I am feeling so much more confident about this as we have a chronological structure about what we are trying to portray about gender in superhero films in a effective way. In order to do this we each chose a part of the essay to focus on then on Monday we are going to put it all together in a more conversational type with sounds and background effects to enhance what we are trying to convey. Knowing specifically about what need to focus on for me, which is how these gender representations are identified in society today has made it easier to refine my research and I have been able to choose examples of particular superhero narratives that support my argument. I am now feeling a lot more confident about this audio essay because I think we have a clear argument that can be demonstrated effectively through audio and not needing a visual effect to show what we are conveying.

Our group is working really well together so far and we all have some great ideas which contrast together to build a strong argument. This weekend I am going to focus on getting my script done in a conversational way that includes examples and clear dialogue about how the image in superhero narratives is effecting the way gender represent themselves in society.

This workshop my group is going to have to do a lot of work about our audio essay as next week the rough cut needs to be completed… We need to focus on getting our script finished and gathering materials for this such as sound effects and background atmosphere. I am getting worried about this because we haven’t started our audio essay which we really need to get a move on with!!

In my contextual study Popular Culture in Everyday Lives we are doing a group project about Internet Culture and Social Media. The specific area that I am focussing on is this misrepresentation of individuals on social media. I am finding this so interesting because there are so many different examples of people getting caught out for false representation and claiming to be someone they aren’t. I feel like this is a huge issue in social media because people like to present themselves they want others to see them, rather then the person they really are. I can see this in two lights. Firstly, it lets you express a part of yourself in a way you want to be accepted, I don’t see what can be wrong with this if it isn’t harming or effecting anyone else but then there is the other side about lying about your identity and affecting other people by getting into relationships with them.

For example there was a girl called Lonelygirl15 who started a video blog in 2006 where she claimed to be an 16 year old American home schooled girl who struggled with the issues of religious parents. Audiences got so involved with her because they enjoyed her stories and she would interest them by posting things such as “I shouldn’t be posting this…” etc which evoked attention from other vloggers and audiences on the base of YouTube. What was found out was that she was actually a New Zealand actress who had made up this profile. To her this didn’t seem like a massive issue, but audiences felt they had created a personal relationship and empathised for her, but really none of it was true.

This is the part that I don’t understand, why would people want to create fake realtionship with someone and make someone else feel they have found a companion/ someone they can connect with when it is all fake. I am really excited to look more in depth into this and see the reasons behind why people do this and how they feel they need to be someone else in order to be accepted into society.

This second reading we were set to do, was not quite something that interests me and to be honest I don’t completely understand the relevance of it towards what we are doing. This reading talked much about broadband speed, internet and the politics about it. It was interesting in which I don’t really think about broadband speed in a deep level only to the point where I am trying to load something I get frustrated when it doesn’t work fast. The understanding that I got from this reading was the idea about how households don’t understand the Australians National Broadband Network (NBN) in relation to infrastructure networks, communication devices, location etc. Today we buy a broadband pact for you’re household hoping that it loads research fast, being able to stream online and not run out. This is what we view it as, but behind that there is so much more detail that the NBN has to go to in order to aline with this perception. Without broadband media would not be in the frame that it is today, and for that audiences and the media industry have to thank.

This weeks first reading is about how television has had to incorporate different sources of media in order to develop and keep up with the audiences desires and needs. Years ago television would be able to provide entertainment for people without having to try that hard because it was the only thing around, but now they are having to interact with audiences on a more personal level. For example we now see on T.V different adds and opportunities for audiences to get involved with what they are watching, support T.V shows, films or actors they really like to a certain extent they feel on a personal level with them. A interesting point that was raised about televisions institutions is that they want to engage with social media platforms in order to become more profitable but increasing commercialisation with Twitter, Facebook etc has threatened to compromise public value. I can understand the point of view with this as audiences are becoming harder to please and they are expecting more, but it is the point of how far with televisions, especially in this reading European television companies etc. What was also addressed is that T.V has started to do more interactive television rather then just a show such as game shows, dating etc which enables the audiences to be involved and therefore will share there experience through social media.

There is a fine line between T.V and social media because people can become annoyed with the amount of advertising and trying to get people involved, as some people just want to watch a show to relax. There has been many shifts in order to engage with social media platforms, where today the generation is growing at a fast pace so these Television industries are going to have to keep up with what audiences want to see but in a way that is acceptable and now over powering towards social media.

I have spent my weekend driving to and from Albury which I had NO IDEA was so far away… Whilst doing that I had a lot of time to reflect on what I want from this course and about why I am enjoying it. I always wanted to get into the media industry because it is one that will continue to grow and also is so interesting in how media targets different audiences. I feel like so far I am growing my knowledge about media and the different parts of it (which there is WAY more then I thought…)

I have also started to do more research into PB4 and the different approaches that I think our audio and visual essay should take. I have watched a few superhero films but not a lot. It is something that interests and when thinking about it or looking online you can defiantly notice the difference between men and women and how they are represented. What I sometime struggle with is that I always get the information that I need to support my argument but never actually hit the nail on the head of what I am trying to say. I am happy that this is in a group project so I can get ideas off the other members about how we can effectively do this and hopefully do well in PB4

This workshop we went around the class and talked about how different ideas- I love doing this because its so interesting the different ideas that people come with in regards to their topics. This was also beneficial to my group because people suggested different ideas about what we should do and how we should focus our idea about gender representation in superhero narratives. I really need to get a start on this and looking more deeply into what our argument is going to be.

Happy Friday 🙂

Silly me completely forgot to look under the reading tab in media one where I found we did have readings! This reading specifically talked about the definition of what is an audience, and how that has changed over time. This made me think about audiences in the future, what will audiences need in order to be satisfied? People are becoming harder and harder to satisfy as it is so easy to disorientate yourself from what is being viewed. The Media industry is having to think of new and exciting ways to interest audiences specifically through television, film and texts.

I find this part of media interesting because it shows how active they have to be in everyday life finding out what audiences are wanting to be shown, and also gaining a personal relationship with them so they stay active in what is being produced.

We didn’t have a set reading this week so I thought I would talk about something that I am studying in one of my contextual studies ‘Music in Popular Culture’ which was about the Live Aid and Live 8 concerts. I never knew anything about these until I analysed this reading and it make me think straight away about the media interpreted this in the wrong way compared to what it should of. There was controversy about these concerts because the media started to think that audiences were more concerned about the artists performing, rather then why these concerts were made for the support of the sufferers of the African horn. I understand that some people get blinded by the idea behind music and what artists are trying to persuade the audience to believe, but I feel that the public media should of published these sorts of events in a more positive light to show that billions of people around the world are showing interest and supporting something awful. It is amazing in times of need how people can come together through media and support different countries in need, but one thing that really bothers me is that some media will always find a way to create an issue about it.

This has been seen in many cases for different social events, appearances or songs that are trying to create awareness and are automatically dismissed negatively in the media, why? Because they can.

This weeks lecture was focussed upon copyright. This is a subject I haven’t really thought much into specifically because I have never done a published project where I have to be concerned about it. I have heard about stories where people have had issues with copyright in their assignments, but I think I need to start applying this to myself also. I think I get a bit lazy when I source my work which I need to start being more careful about because every country has such different copyright laws and getting into a situation of this would be extremely unfortunate.

In this lectorial we also discussed the idea of audiences, I really like talking about this because it shows the idea of what media does to brainwash and manipulate people into believing in order to attract attention. One part of this lectorial that stood out to me was the idea of films and how they are becoming so similar to people’s everyday lives. Audiences watch these films and aspire to be much like the protagonist/antagonists in the films which sometimes can be so unrealistic. Viewing content in media I believe is hard concept to grasp on because their is such a wide range of audiences and they all like to see and witness different things. This makes me have a huge appreciation for directors that produce films a vast variety of audiences enjoy act upon.

I know personally I watch some films and really admire a character and what to be like them, even so I imagine to be like them. This is much what the aim of directors is to audiences and those who are successfully doing this are talented in which knowing what is liked by many viewers.