Types of questions in the exam

In the exam you will need to be prepared to discuss the following in relation to your study of the music industry: 

The issues raised by media ownership:

The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production distribution and marketing

The technologies that have been introduced  in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange.

The significance of the proliferation of hardware and content for institutions and audiences.

The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences

The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically British) by international or global institutions.

The ways in which your own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns of audience behaviour.

Vertical and Horizontal Integration

Vertical Integration is when the company has the ownership of production, distribution and exchange - the company is able to do everything itself. Therefore the company is able to gain all the profits. This is why a company like Sony has a lot of money because they are able do everything themselves compared to an independent company who don't have the money and pay to use facilities.

Horizontal Integration is when the company expands but instead of different areas it is the same area. For example music industries buying smaller industries. This allows the company to develop and expand the same area of the industry.  

Example Question: Peer assessed by Jordan

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

Within this essay I will be explaining how the development of digital media technology has effected a conglomerate company i.e. Sony compared to an independent record company i.e. XL recordings.

New technologies are being introduced all the time and have a large impact on industries as big as the music industry. iTunes for an example are able to directly impact a company like Sony as it means when it comes to reaching the audience it means they can have more control over choosing what music they want to listen to. Sony are able to upload new albums onto iTunes quickly and effectively for the audience to then be able to consume the music. This can be seen when Beyonce released her self-titled album which was exclusive to iTunes; which had 80,000 sales within the first 3 hours and 430,000 in first 3 days. This was because it meant that due to convergence the audience could buy it and receive it instantly which then could be listened to via iPods, Laptops, games consoles etc. Therefore for a conglomerate company new technologies are useful for Distribution as means its an easy way to get music out to their audiences.

New technologies have a much bigger impact on independent companies as it means for the independent bands its a cheap and effective way to get their new music out into the world ready for consumption, where as years ago they would have to spend money they didn't have on making physical copies of CD's; iTunes means they can do it cheaply and so in the long run it means they can get a lot of recognition for their music. This differs to before hand as by them not having the money to make physical copies of CD's they may not have been able to get as many copies distributed where as now with the likes of iTunes or Sound Cloud the bands can distribute as many of their songs as they wish. Therefore the new technologies have a much bigger impact on the independent companies as opposed to a conglomerate company as they have the opportunity for a wider range of audiences to listen to their music to before where it was more of a niche market. 

Even though new media technologies like iTunes are helping the industry, companies still have to face the problem of illegal downloading which is damaging sales. It has been said that £250million pounds worth of illegal downloads take place each year, this is a large amount however it will effect the independent companies more so than the bigger companies. If the audiences are illegally downloading the independent bands songs then they aren't getting as much money back to be able to produce more songs as they wont be able to afford the costs of recordings studios etc. A conglomerate company like Sony has vertical integration and owns its own recording studio, stores, manufacturing plants therefore it won't cost them as much money - this means that it won't be as largely effected because as they own the facilities it doesn't cost them as much money therefore aren't losing out as much as the independent companies are. Also Sony makes up 30% of the music industry alone as they have branches of horizontal integration like owning EMI and SyCo. If they're going to be losing out of money due to illegal downloads they won't be able to fund all of their companies - meaning that music won't be able to be produced and distributed as often as it is. 

In terms of using media technologies to reach specific target audiences independent companies often use social networking sites as a marketing technique to get the audience to buy their songs. For example Adele (who was signed to XL Records) got discovered by her label by posting a demo on her MySpace page, this was then picked up on and she was then signed. Similarly when you go on Facebook on the side of the page it has links for suggestions to which you might be interested in, for example if you buy a pop album online from the cookies it could suggest other similar pop albums you may like - this is similar on YouTube as it suggests the videos which might be appealing to you from ones you have previously watched. For an independent band who aren't as well known this is useful as its a way of marketing, if their advert is placed on social networking sites they can receive a lot more recognition compared to years ago and a band had to do free concerts or busking to try raise awareness its a more efficient way to get seen. This is similar for an artist on a conglomerate label - they will still use social networking and the web 2.0 to promote their new album. Artists can go onto sites such as twitter to tweet to their fans, facebook to set up a page; this gets the album promoted out there. Therefore the use of technology to reach accurate specific audiences is very important as instead of reaching everyone it can be deterred to reach only the people who may like it therefore it has more of a chance, this will then lead to an increase of sales.

Audiences embrace the use of new media technologies by having the control to search and listen to the kind of music that they wish. On Spotify the audience can listen to as much music as they want for free, on iTunes they can buy the songs or albums which they like, similarly on Twitter/Facebook the band pages can be liked. The internet as a media technology enabled bands on both an independent label like XL recordings and a conglomerate label like Sony to get the promotion and sales that they need - though this is limited by illegal downloads. It means that the audience are able to be interactive with the bands to which it may get some independent bands more recognised for example with Adele with her first demo on MySpace getting so popular that she got signed which led to the release of her first album. With the audience it means that they have a lot more control over the success of the artist/band - therefore is very important.

In conclusion, the continuing development of media technology is an advantage as it means albums can be distributed cheaper and easily, audiences are able to consume it better from sites like iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. However it can be a disadvantage from illegal downloads damaging the sales and could lead to the decline of the industry. 

45/50 - For Better mark look at these and work on them

• A clear and developed argument, substantiated by detailed reference to case study material  - argue more 
• Clearly relevant to set question - link back to q more

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Mise en Scene

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of teenage/young people using the following:

(Mise en scene)

Setting:

• Around campus - late at night when there is werewolf attacks or when they are walking between classes
• Tables - when they are eating lunch they all sit around the table
• Dorm rooms - we see Oz's room between confrontation or we see willows room when she has had an argument with oz
• cage - when oz is trying to lock himself up
• Giles' house - buffy goes to see giles to ask him questions
• Dorm 
• Woods - when they are hunting the werewolves
• Lab - willow tries to make a potion and then the big fight scene
• laundry room - when oz and veruca come back to try to find clothes
• Xanders room - when willow goes to see him for advice

Costumes:

• Buffy wears: a dress for school but then at night she wears jeans and a leather jacket, she wears a bandana. Shows her character change how she can be sweet but then she has to be strong when she has to hunt or slay vampires.
• Willow: wears long sleeve t-shirts, usually with crazy patterns on, often wears jeans, has a bag as an accessory  - later on she has leather trousers on, she tries to change her look to look like Veruca. This shows her character change from being a weird character but then she tries to style her self more like veruca as she thinks its what her boyfriend wants
• Giles - wears glasses as he is a librarian and british, smart clothes - this shows that he is smart and who people can go to for information
• Oz - t shirts and jeans, casual clothing, at night when he becomes a werewolf he becomes naked - this shows he is quite calm and quiet with his casual clothing, he doesn't like to stand out but then when he is a werewolf he becomes loud and boisterous 
• Xander - casual clothing, glasses - shows he is laid back, he is just lazing around in his room which gives a stereotypical view of teenagers. 
• Veruca - sexy clothes - crop tops, vest tops - when she becomes a werewolf she loses all her clothing  - she likes to wear sexy clothing which can reveal more skin, she wears black as a primary colour which shows her to be the bad guy, she also wears a red top which makes her character look seductive and she wears this with a short grey skirt.
• Oz and Veruca have werewolf costumes are quite poor, they're very hairy and looks like he is in a costume - for the programme it makes it look like a low budget series.

Props:

• rifle - silver bullets to kill werewolves, uses tranquilliser for Oz
• books
• newspaper - checking for articles for attacks
• computer
• radio - when giles is talking to the radio
• potions - willow uses them to try make a spell for oz  
• stake - Buffy always has a stake to kill vampires

Make up:

• Buffy and Willow have minimalistic make-up, just casual lip gloss - looks quite natural looking which shows that they don't mind as much about their appearance 
• When Buffy becomes the vampire slayer she has more make up to make her look more serious i.e. eye make up but still its not that much
• Veruca in human form has black eye make up which makes her look a bit more sexy but also can make her look more evil. When she is in wolf form she has a lot of make up on the face to make her look hairy.
• The men don't really have much make up just to make the features on the face stand out
• Oz has make up when he turns in the werewolf to make it look a bit more realistic

camera shots:

• lots of wide shots to show some of the back ground but also the characters
• long shots to show the full costumes of the characters
• close ups of willows face when she finds out what oz and veruca have done whilst in the cage
• over the shoulder shots with conversations between oz and willow but also between buffy and giles
• 
  

positioning:

• Oz and WIllow spend a lot of time in close proximity i.e. when they are in bed together or hugging
• Oz and Veruca also are in close proximity when they lock each other in the cage
• When Buffy and the guy in the woods run into each other and drops her gun it is still in enough reach to grab quickly and run off again
• when Oz and Veruca are fighting they are close together as they are rolling around the floor trying to kill each other 
• Buffy and Oz are always a few metres away from each other, she distrusts him now he had betrayed willow

Lighting:

• All the shots are quite dark as this episode is based around the night, this is because of the full moon and the werewolves come out at night therefore it follows what they do
• It is also dark at the beginning when Buffy kills the vampire and spike is watching over her, this is because again it is late at night 
• In the dorm rooms it is bright as it is the day time and they are 

Doctor Who Clip

What does the soundtrack contribute to the sequence?

Through the use of digitally created sounds to give a futuristic feel to the sequence

How does the music create atmosphere?

In the background of the cafe it starts off quiet and mellow which shows that everything is calm, then it gets a tiny bit quicker when they meet to show the confrontation. The music gets more dramatic, in a minor key when they're running to see the dead girl - this gives a sense of danger and mystery. Then when they get chased away its very low key but a bit slower which gives dark atmosphere, like they aren't wanted there. The pace of the music is used to signify what is happening, it contributes to the feel of the scene received by the audience. 

What sound effect are evident?

Tardis - landing 

Accents are used to show the class of the people i.e. the waitresses are lower class

Accordion in the background - relates back to an older time period, european feel

Background chatting

Clinking of glasses

Candles burning

Small talk between characters 

Barking dogs when the tardis lands - gives disrupted feel

Horse neigh - shows the time period

Church bell when the murder is announced which signifies that it is late at night i.e. the strike of midnight

How does the sound signify the mood and/or genre of the                   television drama? 

The sounds make it feel like sci fi from the futuristic sounds i.e. the theme song and the noise of the tardis, we also know its historic from travelling back in time from the sounds like the horse, the accordion - things that we associate with a past time. By changing the pace of the music they can create different feels i.e. by speeding it up its more dramatic and by slowing it down makes it feel calmer - by using digitally created sounds it feels futuristic. 

Eastenders: Sounds We Can Hear

• Theme song
• Footsteps
• High heels
• cars driving by
• brakes of car - pulling up
• chatting in background
• woman's voice - cockney
• male voice - Jamaican - loud - 
• male voice - younger
• woman's voice - sympathy
• background noise
• shouting - two women, high pitched
• male voice - mellow, 
• woman's voice - croaky, old
• male voice - younger, whispering
• closing door, slamming door
• male voice - teen, chav
• woman's voice - middle aged, 
• sigh 

Police Interrogation Scene - Editing

In this clip of a police interview from CSI NY, they have used a crosscut edit. This is where the action is cut to show another piece happening at the same time or showing a flashback. Here it shows a flashback to when he found the victim and the money - this is effective as it shows the viewer what he sees when he is saying it. An insight to the character and what is going on in his head whilst he is trying to explain what happened. 

There are quite a few cuts in this clip; this is where the camera shot moves from one shot instantly to another. Here that is evident when they show the bag containing the money in it and the next shot is showing Mac asking what happened. This is effective as it enables the viewers to understand what is going on within the interview as they can see what Mac is talking about.

This scene uses a shot reverse shot edit which cuts to the view of the opposite direction, here its used as part of the dialogue. It shows Mac talking to the suspect - one speaker to the next- before this there was a master shot showing the position of the characters (Mac standing and the suspect sitting). In this interview it shows the suspect looking at Mac, then shows Mac as he talks back to the suspect. This is effective as it makes it more realistic to the audience, it makes it feel like a real conversation between the two characters. There is an eye-line match here as the suspect looks up at Mac we then follow to where he is looking and his view of Mac talking to him.