MEDIA STUDIES 120FEBRUARY 25 T H , 2013

Media Studies Core Concepts Review

Warm-up: Who am I?

Read the following descriptions of celebrities who have “rebranded” themselves.

When you think you know who it is, put your hand up.

Round 1

I used to be in a band.Now I am a solo musician.I used to have curly blonde hair.I used to star in the television series “The

New Mickey Mouse Club.”Now I am most often seen sporting a suit and

tie.

Justin Timberlake

Round 2

I used to wear a baggy t-shirt and faded jeans on stage.

My first album was a flop.Now, I am often described as a sultry,

seductive songstress.I call myself “a gangsta Nancy Sinatra.”My original name is Lizzy Grant.

Lana Del Ray

Round 3

I used to play pop rock and dress in a punk/goth style.

I later changed my image, dying my hair blonde with pink streaks.

I have modeled in Maxim magazine.I wrote the song “Black Star” to promote part

of my fragrance line.I use to be described as the “Anti-Britney

Spears.”

Avril Lavigne

Round 4

I released my first album as a gospel singer.I changed my style to pop rock on my second

album and toured as part of the “Vans Warped Tour.”

I changed my style again on my second tour, and began performing pop songs.

I released my first album under my real name, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson.

My third tour was called the “California Dreams Tour.”

Katy Perry

#1 - Authorship

Core Concept: All messages are ‘constructed.’

Key Question: Who created this message?Media texts aren’t real; just as, the

“personas” we looked at do not reflect real people.

Instead, they are the results of a number of choices.

This concept is key to understanding how complex media is.

Theme party example. Media Studies 120 are going to have a theme What theme should it be?

#2 - Format

Core Concept: Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.

Key Question: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?

Where authorship refers to the idea that everything is constructed, format refers to how it’s constructed.

This concept is key to understanding how various techniques influence the meanings we can take away. In addition, it helps us be less susceptible to manipulation.

Theme party example. What do we need at the party to help create the atmosphere?

How does Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie” video relate to this concept?

#3 -Content

Core Concept: Media have embedded values and points of view. Key Question: What lifestyles, values and/or points of view are

represented in, or omitted from, this message? BE CAREFUL – This isn’t always obvious. This concept is key to identifying and understanding the subtle

messages media contains about who and what is important. By identifying and questioning these messages, we are better able to decide whether we should accept or reject them.

“What’s significant about considering content is not that ideas and values are embedded in media messages, but that the values of mainstream media typically reinforce, and therefore, affirm, the existing social system.” (What does this mean?)

Let’s consider Katie Hudson vs. Katy Perry. What lifestyles, values and/or points of view are represented in, or omitted from her two personas?

#4 - Audience

Core Concept: Different people experience the same media message differently.

Key Question: How might different people understand this message differently?

This doesn’t just refer to the idea of target markets. Instead, it refers to the similarities and differences in how people

experience media. By understanding differences, we not only gain a better appreciation

of diversity, but also become more prepared to evaluate a message, and to accept or reject it.

By understanding similarities, we not only gain a better appreciation of our own similarities, but also become more prepared to evaluate how media makers “target” different segments of the population in order to influence their opinion or, more typically, to sell them something.

Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie.” Love it or hate it? Why? How do you think fans of Katy Perry would react to her gospel

album? What about fans of her gospel album? How do you think they reacted to “Katy Perry?”

#5 - Purpose

Though this is usually the most obvious of the concepts, in many ways it is the most important.

Why?

Practice

In your groups, discuss how the five core concepts apply to the following video: Black Hole