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Medium Studied ONLINE & GAMES ASSESSED FOR: Text, Representation, Industry & Audience Keywords for this Topic Keyword Meaning Audience The way in which a media product will try to tell its audience what Construction they should be (e.g. heterosexual men should like looking at pictures of semi-naked women) Audience Targeting The conscious process of making your product appeal to a specific audience demographic or psychographic (or both). Casual Tap RPG Casual games are designed to be played for a few minutes at a time and to be pick-up-and-put-down. Tap RPGs are games that allow you to play a role (role playing games), but to do so by simply tapping on various different actions on the screen. Complicit Being actively involved in something and knowing what you are doing. Demographics Breaking audiences down into things like age, gender, race, sexuality, socio-economic grade, location Franchise A game that is part of a series of other games all with the same name or characters (these are often made by several different companies) Freemium ‘Free-Premium’ – games that are free to download and free to play, but that usually rely on ‘rechargeable’ economies (like ‘energy’) that you can buy if you don’t want to wait. Games Developer A smaller company or individual who actually makes the game. Games Publisher A larger company who distributes the game (this can include hosting online services such as multiplayer). In-App Purchases Anything in an app that you can buy. For games this often includes different clothes (or ‘skins’) for your character, or in-game currentcy used to purchase something else (e.g. K-Stars can be used to recharge your ‘energy’ in KKH). Moral Panics Where the public reacts strongly to some issue that seems to threaten morality or society (e.g. video games causing violence; social media causing cyberbullying). Psychographics Breaking audiences down into personality types, including: mainstreamer, aspirer, explorer, succeeder, reformer Useful Theories Theory Name Theory Explanation Effects Theory The idea that playing violent video games makes people more (Alfred Bandura) likely to go out and commit real world violence. This has been debunked by several sources, including – most recently – this one. Hypodermic Needle The idea that the media ‘injects’ us all with its content and that we Theory just passively receive this information and are unable to do anything about it; like the effects theory, this idea has been widely disproven, but remains popular with some groups. Emphasized The idea that some women draw attention to those parts of their Femininity femininity that they think men want to see (e.g. sexualise (Connell) themselves or suggest they will be good mothers). Also, the idea that men are complicit in these representations, and that – in promoting very narrow ideas about women – they reduce possibilities for real women and girls. Propp’s Theory of All stories can be broken down by looking at the interactions Narrative between 8 different ideas (usually characters). • A hero wants the princess, but a villain stands in his way; the dispatcher sets the hero on his Quest; the helper goes with the hero; the donor give the hero something they might need; the father wants the hero to prove himself, so sets obstacles in the way; the false hero takes credit for the hero’s success. How do the hero, villain and princess interact in these products? Star Theory (Richard There are 3 parts: Dyer) • Our ideas about stars are constructed by what they show to the world (their ‘public image’); • This ‘public image’ has value and can be damaged; • Often the star’s identity taps into some kind of ideology (like ‘celebrity = success’ or ‘women need to look attractive for men’). Close Study Products and How to Use Them This CSP has been included so you can talk about issues of genre, narrative, representation, audience and the computer games industry. Specifically: • The way in which the puzzle genre is different from the causal ‘tap RPG’ genre of KKH; • The way in which this game delivers narrative Lara Croft: Go through cut-scenes; • The history of Lara Croft and some of the problems surrounding her representation; • The ways in which this game appeals to fans of the Tomb Raider franchise, but also to fans of the puzzle genre; • The fact that this game is a pay-upfront, one-off- cost game and how this is different from KKH. This CSP has been included so you can talk about issues of genre, narrative, representation, audience and the computer games industry. Specifically: • The way in which the casual ‘tap RPG’ genre is different from the puzzle genre of LCG; • The way in which this game delivers narrative Kim Kardashian: Hollywood through on-screen text and scenarios; • The celebrity of Kim Kardashian and some of the issues surrounding her representation; • The ways in which this game appeals to fans of Kim Kardashian and fans of the casual ‘tap RPG’ genre • The fact that this game is a Freemium game that offer in-app purchases and how this is different from LCG. This CSP has been included so you can compare the representation of this ‘real’ character with the representation of the fictional Lara Croft and the ‘sort-of- real’ game version of Kim Kardashian. There are also issues of celebrity and the normal issues around social media. Specifically: • The representation of women; • The idea of role models for young children (especially girls); Zoella • The dangers of social media use, including moral (and More Zoella) panics; • How the ‘episodic’ format of YouTube delivers narrative and establishes character; • Star Theory. There are no specific videos set for Zoella, but you should refer to videos you have studied. Important Issues The representation of women in these three CSPs. The status of the CSP’s three main characters (Lara, Kim and Zoe) as roles models for women and girls. The ways in which the three CSPs construct and target their audiences. The fact that Zoella hasn’t published a new video on her main channel since June 23rd 2018; she now only uploads lifestyle videos to More Zoella. The case study of Zoella’s 2017 Christmas calendar and her response to it. The different ways in which the three CSPs approach the idea of narrative. The ways in which social media stars and video games developers/publishers have embraced new technologies. How far are any of the celebrities that we see in this unit ‘real’? The 10 most disturbing things about Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Important Case Studies Name of Case Study Manhunt Murder When? 2004 What happened? Schoolboy Stefan Pakeerah (14) was murdered by his friend Warren LeBlanc (17); the style of the murder (a hammer-blow to the back of the head) was judged by the tabloid press to be similar to the game Manhunt. Stefan’s mother blamed the game for her son’s murder. Stefan (the victim) owned a copy of the game; Warren (the murderer) did not. A thorough police investigation revealed that drug- related robbery was the motive for the murder (Warren was convinced that Stefan owed him money). The story about the game inspiring the murder ran in several tabloid newspapers at the time. Why is this This case is a very good example of a moral panic. Despite the important? fact that there was very little evidence of any link to the game, the public outcry was so severe that Manhunt 2 (2007) became the first video game to be banned in the UK. Other moral panics have occurred around the film Childsplay 2 (and the murder of James Bulger in 1993) and the character Slenderman (and the non-fatal stabbing of Peyton Leutner by Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier in 2012 [pronounced ‘guy-ser’ and ‘wire’]). Name of Case Study Zoella Christmas Calendar When? December 2017 What happened? In 2017, Zoella announced she was releasing a luxury Christmas Calendar in conjunction with high street retailer Boots. The calendar contained just 12 windows and costs £50. Many of her fans complained about the price of the calendar (though it did contain luxury goods like room spray, a cookie- cutter, a Christmas candle). They also complained about her ‘nonpology’, which you can view here. In response, Boots reduced the price to £25 on 17th November, but the damage to Zoella’s brand was done (as much by her response which was seen as unapologetic and uncaring). Why is this This case study is a good example of a YouTuber damaging their important? brand (a similar one exists around Logan Paul and wood of suicides, though his apology was more sincere). Zoella has not posted any content on her main channel since June 23rd 2018; she now only uploads lifestyle videos to More Zoella. Likely/Practice Questions Number Question with command word and keywords highlighted of Marks 8 Explain how the messages and values of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood might affect young girls. 10 Explain how the representation of Lara Croft is different from the representation of Kim Kardashian in these two products 10 Explain how Zoella and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood are designed to appeal to their target audiences. 12 Explain some of the issues regulating games and online content. 20 Analyse the ways in which visual and narrative codes in all three products (Zoella, Kim Kardashian, Lara Croft) work to construct an image of the star in Question. Refer to Media Theory in your answer. How to Answer a Media Language / Representation Question Follow this basic structure (see the sample answer below for an example of this in practise). PEER: 1. Use a signal sentence that embeds the keywords of the Question; 2.

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