Online Media - Zoella, Hyperreality, Hypermodal

Online Media - Zoella, Hyperreality, Hypermodal

Codes and conventions of a vlog: 

• Unscripted.
• Someone talking to a camera, direct mode of address.
• Static camera, single shot, the person takes a centre shot.
• Minimalist setting.
• Highkey lighting.
• Emphasis of face.
• Informal lexis, friendly mode of address.
• Music featured is usually royalty free.
• This is to create a relatable experience for the audience.

'HUGE Primark Haul | Zoella'

• Direct mode of address - eye contact with the camera .
• Facial expression - she is smiling.
• Her expressions are expressive and we can tell she is excited.
• One of the primary conventions of vlogs is an emphasis on the personality of the presenter or the blogger. This is reinforced and emphasised throughout the video through the consistent use of static camera angles and use of close up shots of the vlogger. This in turn creates a sense of identity and engagement for the young female target audience.
• She is expressive with her hands and facial expression, open hands and face makes her welcoming. Breaks the fourth wall by talking the the audience as showing her items so we can see the items.
• This may make her look inauthentic as she is exaggerating and acting 'fake' with enthusiasm.
• Zoella presents a binary opposition between fantasy and reality, she is a real woman who engages her audience by being real and authentic, however, also presents a carefully constructed and entirely 'fake' and inauthentic representation for her target audience to identify with.

• Zoella presents her audiences with a utopian fantasy which allows them to escape from their boring everyday life.
• She represents a hyperreal representation to her target audience, a fake world, where the fantasy is more important and more real than who who she actually is.
• Jean Braudrillard argues that there is no difference between representation and reality, as it is impossible to distinguish between them.
• We live our lives wrapped in a fantasy, and Zoella allows us to escape in to her perfectly constructed fantasy world, if only for 15 minutes.

• Brand identity - The ways in which audiences can identify a media product and differentiate between media products based on their ideologies. This is through profit and engagement - the audience takes action with the media product. 
• Online media is completely based around a philosophy of engagement to maximise profit through monetisation.
• We can see this through links and hyperlinks, the internet is a hypermodal media platform that offers audiences a vast range of experiences. In order for monoline media products to ensure profit, they must engage with target and secondary audiences. The internet is distracting, we may watch a Zoella video where she is collaborating with another Youtuber and we may watch them, click another link etc.

Online Media - Vlogging

Online Media - Vlogging

Online media is impossible to make sense of and regulate; it has the power to change the world both for the good and bad. It is difficult to see if online media is real or fake i.e. fake news.

Zoella - She is multimedia, with blogs, vlogs, social media, books etc. 

Dyer - The Utopian Solution - Related to a perfect world, media presents the problems of our lives by presenting a perfect world.

• The video about the pizza taste test provides audiences with a utopian solution and allows audiences to escape from their everyday lives. There are no solutions to problems, but a source of escapism and entertainment.

Online media is a specialised industry, we can tell she is successful through views, likes, subscribers.
Online media is distributed through the internet; the internet is a networked system of computers allowing connection around the world, it is hard to visualise.

Vlog - a video blog, a blog is a web log like a diary. It is extremely broad and diverse medium. 

• It is the activity or practice of posting short videos to or maintaining a vlog. Vlogging and online video has become one of the most influential forms of media. Recent research shows 42% of internet users said they have watched a vlog within the last month rising to 50% for 16-24 year olds (Guardian, 2015).
• Vlogging has become an influential and widespread media platform, they are easy to watch, access and distribute as well as easy to make - they are very specialist and attract a diverse audience for different niches. Allows some form of relatability between the creator and audience. Provides insight to someone's life, a celebrity, allows intimacy between the creator and audience.

'HUGE Summer Primark Haul | Zoella'

• Zoella creates a relatable and compelling relationship with her target audience (women, teen - 30s) by using direct mode of address and her use of lexis is informal and conversational - it is relatable. It is like she is talking to a friend which builds a friendship between her and the viewer.
• We know what she likes and is interested in, such as the 'groovy chick' socks and creates a relationship through relatability between her and the audience.
• The codes and conventions of the vlog is a centre single shot with jumpcuts, she is showing each item telling us why she likes it and bought it as well as the price.

Online Media Introduction

Online Media Introduction

• Hegemony - The rules and restrictions that we follow everyday through consent and not through force.
• Digitally convergent technology - Any technology which involves computers. 
• It has constructed a hegemony. 
• Digital convergence - The coming together of previously separate industries thanks to digital convergence.

How to get marks:

• Use media language.
• Textual Analysis.
• Theories. We don't need to refer to the theorist's name.
• Clear Argument with clear evidence.

Conclusion:

-Social media, online media and digitally convergent media have become more powerful than governments.

-Never being subject to traditional forms of regulation, Online Media presents a literally impossible to understand, hyperreal collage of news, fake news, ideology, hatred, advertising, pornography and videos of cats.

-There is no differentiation between these forms, leading to a form of hyper convergence with no hope of differentiating between previously distinct forms of media.

-With no impediment to posting, extreme ideologies such as holocaust denial, pro-eating disorders, rape threats and images of abuse can be shared with relative impunity.

-And yet, the internet can potentially collect all human knowledge, can allow the sharing of artistic endeavors.

How does media language combine to create meaning?

'Ultimate Pizza Taste Test With Mark | Zoella' 

Uploaded June 2018.

• Lexis, the language is informal and feels inclusive, the audience feels like they are friends with them.
• Strong amount of direct mode of address, language is colloquial, so it doesn't come across as that. It is relatable.
• Face paced editing to appeal to a younger online audience, with heavy use of jumpcuts. 
• Monetisation, there are adverts on the video.
• It is amateurish, it is not like a TV show or film.
• Bright colours seen in her clothes with perfect makeup and bright highkey lighting - the lighting is set in a studio.
• Single, uninterrupted shot with a centre position of Zoe and Mark.
• Mise-en-scene, there is a blank background with possibly fake plants to create a comforting and home-made feeling, seen in the setting despite it being in a studio.
• Interactive features, you can subscribe to her channel and like the video, Zoella asks if you are a new subscriber and to comment.
• With jumpcuts at the start of the video with a bleep non-diegetic sound effect in an attempt to appear uncoordinated and unplanned, despite that it clearly is.
• Video is deliberately amateur, childish and chaotic. 

Late Night Woman's Hour - Radio and Podcasts

Radio and Podcasts

BBC is a PBS, funded by the public through a TV license, the remit of the BBC is to appeal to a diverse and wider audience, they traditionally has had a captive audience. However, the BBC now has a number of competitors who hold a number of advantages over the BBC.

The uncontested market leader - Netflix and Amazon Prime (digital integration). These streaming services do not need to show news, and they choose not to - the BBC is often criticised for being biased by both right and left wing, news are expensive to make and produce.

- Digitally integrated and digitally convergent media platforms, UI, UX.

The BBC does not need to make money, not in the same way as streaming services.

• The distributing properties such as Louis Theroux, ('Grounded with Louis Theroux' podcast on BBC Sounds), on Netflix is an example of digital synergy, and allows the BBC to 'pull' in new, younger audiences. Cult following.
• BBC Radio functions by targeting a diverse and fragmentary range of audiences.

The End of Audience - Shirkey - Theory

• Due to innovations in technology, audiences have effectively become the producer.
• Twitter - Microblogging social media.
• LNWH - Is a niche audience, on Twitter the official #LNWH only shows tweets about the London North West Hospital and memes from A-Level Media students with very little audience tweeting about the show.

The BBC has a remit to target a diverse range of audiences; by and large, audiences do not use digital media and social media to interact with LNWH, which reinforces its status as a niche product.

Podcasts are digitally produced and distributed audio recordings, often with low and amateurish production values, discussing and covering a range of often niche topics (narrowcasting).

What is the target audience and how does it target this audience?

Radio Surgery - RADIOSURGERY 2-6-21 5PM

The target audience are those who are doctors who specialise in or more so operate on cancer. It targets these audiences by giving the latest news on cancer.

Podcasts are often self-funded, advertising or from crowdsourcing such as Patreon.

Diverse forms of media distribution: Curran and Seaton.

Late Night Woman's Hour - Website and BBC Sounds

LNWH - Website and BBC Sounds

Because the BBC is a PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), Curran and Seaton's theory of power and profit in media industries doesn't seem to fit into LNWH as it targets a very niche audience and by its topics it won't ever appeal to a mass audience, they don't need to make a profit the same way as other industries.

Late Night Woman's Hour Homepage

• This page appeals to its audience by featuring articles that their audience may be interested in such as a makeup related article and a relationship related article, 'How to Handle a Breakup' as well as an article about being an activist for women, 'How to make your voice heard'. They then feature short clips and extracts from shows with titles that the targeted and preferred reading audiences (Women who work, mostly middle-class, usually have children.) who will relate to the titles or be of interest in these topics.
• This page could attract new audiences by being laid out simply with three articles placed at the top and a summary at the top stating what they do, we can see there is more to scroll down, because the clips are extracts, someone can listen for only 10-20 minutes of the highlights to see if they would be interested in listening to more or a full broadcast.
• The website features other 'Woman's Hour' related content, with news relating to women, episodes, videos and clips.
• They have organised ten minute clips rather than full archived episodes as a way to create highlight reels of the podcast, and bring attention to the main points of the host and guests make.

BBC - Diverse audience

• Because they are directly funded by the public in a license fee they must:
• Produce and broadcast a certain amount of high quality news on each channel everyday.
• Can't rely on spot adverts for revenue streams.
• Must have a remit to 'inform, educate and entertain'.
• Create and broadcast original programming which appeals to a diverse range of British audiences.
• The homepage for BBC radio services, 'BBC Sounds' meets the needs of its
audiences through it's well designed and logically laid out structure. Individual stations have a completely different brand identity, and broadly targets a different audience demographic.
• Any opportunities for audiences to pick and mix their identity (Gauntlett's theory of identity) for example, they could choose mainstream BBC Radio One or the more niche and middle-class BBC Radio Four.

Example - The Unbelievable Truth

Audience

• The audience is that groups and categories are audiences who enjoy listening or watching comedy, particularly comedy panel shows. As it is BBC 4, the podcast is aimed towards middle-class and middle-aged.
• It attracts these audiences by featuring well known comedians, different audiences who enjoy particular comedians who are featured in the podcast will lead to attracting more audiences or a variety of audiences. 
• The audience can interpret the show in different ways by either enjoying hearing the jokes which they make or playing along.
• It uses technology to target a specialised/niche/cult audience by being available on BBC Sounds, via website or app on a computer or phone, meaning that they must find it there. 
• The audience can use this show as a form of entertainment reflecting their identity and cultural capital of being able to listen to it on a gadget.
• Reception, fandom and end of audience theories

Industry

• How is this show produced, distributed and circulated and by who?

Late Night Woman's Hour - BBC, Historical Context

BBC, Historical Context

• We live in a digitally convergent age.
• Increase in digital radio rather than analog, the podcast is digital.

• BBC is a public broadcasting service and is publicly and funded owned and can be watched live whereas Netflix is a streaming service funded from its subscription. The BBC does have a streaming service for iplayer and digital radio on their website. Netflix is entirely online-based, relies on the internet and is an app. BBC shows their own TV shows and is only available in the UK, whereas Netflix not only makes their own shows they show shows from different channels. 
• The BBC is a publicly funded organisation. PBS, public broadcasting service. The BBC has a remit to produce a certain amount of new programming every year, they create and show high quality news programming. Netflix doesn't have to make news and therefore doesn't have a clear political bias. 
• The news is expensive, you have to have lots of people and find the right news to report, send people to other countries to report and maintain a neutral political bias.
• IPlayer lacks choice and options, with series and films being available for a limited time and is clumsy.
• Curran and Seaton - profit and power in the media industry.
• BBC doesn't need to make money, it is a public broadcasting service.

Woman's Hour

• BBC4 Radio is targeted and appeals to a middle-class and older audience.
• LNWH is a spin off of Woman's Hour and started in 2015.
• Appealing to a niche audience.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J-SF6SBAr4


• In a letter to The Daily Worker, in 1946, a Mrs Bridget Long wrote: “The programme is much too patronising. What women want is a programme to compensate us for being tied to our domestic chores, to help us keep in touch with the world outside, whether it’s books, films, politics or other countries.” 
• Subsequently, it was noted “There was a feeling among many listeners that they were being patronised by the BBC and that both the material and the style of presentation appeared to be directed at adolescents, not grown women.”

Vaginas/Pockets 

• The episode meets the needs of a diverse group of audiences by 
• Potential regulatory issues does this raise? It raises no issues, however the topic of vaginas maybe seen 'controversial' and seen as 'taboo'.
• 'Intimate area' 'Say vagina, it's okay'.
• Patriarchal hegemony, women are expected to look presentable and smell nice, 'we aren't clementines'.
• Preferred reading - empowerment, excitement, freedom
• Oppositional - potentially uncomfortable and shocked.
• Niche and fragmentary audience.
• Why is there a Woman's Hour? As well as an International Women's Day? Because the target audience for many media products was for men, and women have been overshadowed and overlooked in history.

Late Night Woman's Hour - Media Set Product 14

Late Night Woman's Hour

Radio Industry

• Radios can target a niche and specialist audience or a mass market.
• Podcast: a pre-recorded digitally distributed audio recording.

Hall - Reception theory - The three ways in which a message can be decoded by the audience, encoding/decoding model, preferred, negotiated and oppositional. The ideology 

Jenkins - Fandom - Audiences who interact with the media, and act on it, usually a cult and niche audience. Whereas a passive audience will only just consume it.

Shirky - The end of audience - The internet has allowed audiences the opportunity to produce media and to become the producer.

• Late Night Woman's Hour is an occasional and irregular spin-off of the long-running magazine show Woman's Hour. Broadcast late at night, its content can, at times be considered more niche, edgy or more potentially controversial that the main broadcast.
• Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, with previous episodes and edited highlights also available to download or stream from the BBC Sounds website.

Makeup on Public Transport

• Target Audience - Women, 30+, mothers, working women who are middle class. The particular episode focuses on the commute as a shared experience, middle-class city dwelling audiences, perhaps white.
• It is a controversial because it's not hegemonically acceptable, stereotypically women are meant to be composed in public and care about their appearance.
• Lexis to appeal to its target audience - Language is articulate.
• Preferred reading - Women, the particular episode talks about putting make-up on public transport, something many women may relate to, the target audience. It is designed to provoke a number of different responses from its target audience.
• Oppositional reading - Young men.
• Niche programming.