How far do changes to regulation of media reflect broader social changes?

How far do changes to regulation of media reflect broader social changes?

The purpose of regulation is to control and protect, by controlling what people watch and consume then they are protecting the young and vulnerable who may be affected by possible harmful content. Film is regulated by the BBFC which is non-statutory and no controlled by the government, OFCOM is regulated by the government and games are regulated by PEGI. Over they years they have become more liberal with there being more violence and explicit content being allowed, this is because of how society has changed and developed. Despite them becoming more liberal OFCOM doesn't make to drastic changes this is because they are a government controlled regulation body and because they regulate TV they have to take into consideration that everyone of all ages watches TV, because they are more widely watched they have to be mindful of desensitisation and how with the public needing more content that is developed and evolved from what they watch theirs a chance that over time people will become desnsitised to things like violence.
Regulation should become a bit stricter in order to protect desensitisation from happening so that people aren't insensitive to things. However with the changes in society and things like the snowball effect, regulation will become less strict and will rely more on self regulation so that people can watch what they want.
The gradual way the BBFC has become more liberal shows how society has changed, for example the video nasties in 1980's like Evil Dead which was banned due to moral panic about imitable behaviour. Which lead to the 1984 Video Recording Act which meant that all films had to get a film classification. However it was re released in 2001 with an 18 age rating. This shows the difference from when the C in BBFC stood for censorship when it was first made to now that it means Classification. Therefore showing how liberal society has become. As they had not banned a film since 2011 where they banned Human Centapiede 2 until there were 32 cuts made and it was released with a 18 rating, and since then there has only been one other Hate Crime.
From looking at are film case studies Deadpool rated 15, and 50 shades of grey are good examples to show how society accepts different things. The reason films with violence can get 18 certificate ratings is because of the Copycat theory and a fear that people especially children may imitate the behaviour. Deadpool is a comic book film and is stereotypical aimed for children however because it's rated 15 it shows that it's meant for a older audience and how they require more violence in the films. The reason the two films reflect social change is because it shows the desensitisation of the public. Deadpool has consistent strong language and has some sexual references. 50 shades of grey is based around BDSM and two people in a consensual relationship.The case studies show we have more tolerance to violence then sex. 50 shades of grey has sexual content and context however it's not graphic and there is no full nudity. Violence can be seen as catharsis for people however there's a higher chance of the public becoming desensitised, and it shows a fear people have of showing younger viewers different contents and depictions of sex life that aren't realistic.

Exemplar essay: Cut up sections

1) General definition, information

The BBFC and PEGI are the two organisations who certificate and rate media products. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) was set up in 1912 to protect the public from media material that may present harm risk. Originally the BBFC only classified cinema films until the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984 when it started regulating videos/DVDs. In 1984 the BBFC began to regulate video games as well. From 2003 the responsibility of regulating video games was passed from the BBFC to PEGI (Pan European Game Information). However, the BBFC will continue to classify all games that feature strong pornographic content and ancillary games attached to a wider, primary linear submission.

The BBFC are an non-government regulatory body to which films are submitted for classification based on their content. They aim to protect the public by providing them with information that allows them to make a more educated decision when selecting a media products. The BBFC also provide verification for as to why they have awarded media products the certificate that they have. Like with the BBFC video games are submitted to PEGI to be given appropriate age ratings. These age ratings are in place to give guidance to the video game customers, particularly parents. The age ratings given to video games are awarded based on their content and suitability, not their difficulty. PEGI used descriptors that are placed on the back of the video games packaging. These descriptors explain the main reason behind why games have been given a particular age rating

2) Specific points/debates

In the case of video games there is a huge amount of moral panic that is endorsed by the press in an attempt to show them in a bad light and suggest that they are causing a great deal of harm to younger generations

3) Thesis statement

Although these regulatory bodies are in place there are problems with the systems that prevent them from being used as a means of protection, for the public, from the media

4) Point

Problems are faced by these gatekeepers when it comes to media that they are unable to regulate

5) Evidence/Case study, Example

 For example, media platforms such as YouTube are unregulated due to the excessive quantity of videos submitted to this platform. 

Also piracy of video games and films cause major problems for these gatekeeping organisation. Piracy is a prime example where an advance in technology has posed a threat to regulatory companies aim to protect the public.

A Serbian film is a prime example of a film where by the BBFC have taken precautionary measures in an attempt to prevent the public from being exposed to potentially harmful media content

The Woman In Black was passed by the BBFC with a 12A classification following cuts and was later released uncut on DVD with a 15 age certificate

, Ann Maguire a Spanish teacher at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds was stabbed seven times by Will Cornick (a 16-year-old student) and died as a consequence of the school boys actions

6) Analysis/ Argument

 For example, it is not illegal for a person who is of age to buy a particular media product for a person who is under the age certificate of a product and allow them to view it. In this respect organisations such as PEGI and BBFC are carrying out the service that they hope to provide by informing the buyer of the content and the potential harm that such products may cause to a consumer who is not of suitable age to be subjected to the media product.

7) Theory

8) Historical Context

9) Future prediction 

 There is never going to be full protection of the public from media but the regulators work to do the job to the best of their ability. Content is always going to be available on formats that aren’t able to be regulated and therefore the extent to which the public can be protected is limited.

Regulation

 your own response/opinion on what regulation is, who regulates video games, the press, film and TV and why it should or shouldn't exist. Be prepared to deliver this as a 30 second statement in class on video

Regulation is the way the public is protected from possible harmful content, this is done by the BBFC using age ratings. The regulation  involves all types of media like newspapers, magazines, music and video games. Video games, press, film and Tv are regulated by people who aim to represent society and its rules and therefore needs multiple people’s opinions and different points of view of different race, age, gender and culture. This allows for less chance of people with single minded views to show there content. In my opinion  we should regulate to an certain extent. As it help to prevent and protect people from seeing things that aren’t appropriate, like a child watching a slasher film. As well as preventing harmful content that is racist or homophobic. Regulation can also be used for other purposes like the workplace and schools, they are allowed to block content that is deemed harmful, this is useful as if something is deemed inappropriate it is not allowed. As well as because of technology advancement and virtual reality with games it’s Important to protect people who have a chance of not being able to distinguish a difference. However I think that even though there should be regulation, it shouldn’t be very strict as it can stop people seeing what the real world can be like and therefore they can be unprepared for things like violence or challenging situations that occur in day to day life. 

Revision

For revision I looked at the terminology wheel and made brief notes from memory about what the definitions were.

Creativity: Post Production

In my AS I created a music magazine for my chosen genre, which was rock/indie rock genre. For this I followed templates of other music magazines and used InDesign to create a layout and add the image I used taken on a Cannon camera. In A2 me and my production group are making horror trailer for one of are chosen concepts. We chose a slasher film about a group of teenagers exploring land and a manor house who are being stalked by a killer.  A key factor in helping make my products successful is the use of digital technology and the development of skills learnt throughput the years.

During my preliminary task I had limited skills in editing software’s like Photoshop. The task we had to do was create a college magazine, I took a picture of someone in my class and took it in school. For the post production of this I used photoshop and just cut the picture from the background using the crop and lasso tool, as a result of this and my lack of knowledge wit Photoshop the edges of the image were jagged, the impact of this is that the final result look poor as my lack of magazine knowledge also meant the angle of the shot was not right for it’s purpose and it should typically be a close up. To and audience this would present as not meeting the expectations of what a college magazine should look like, however shows the improvement made from AS to A2. 

My skills developed a lot from the preliminary task to my AS music magazine. By using digital technology and the internet I had gained a lot more knowledge of conventions and were able to apply them for example using the magazine Q which presented me with the layout and colour scheme for a rock magazine. While in post production for my music magazine I again was using Photoshop as well as using the lasso tool I used spot healer, blur and layers. As well as this I did colour grading to help create more of a low key red atmosphere that is conventional of rock. Using these skills I was able to create a more air brushed and professional look that helps the audience identify it as a music magazine, therefore making it more successful, my creativity is impacted on the skills I develop as lack of knowledge meant I didn’t have a wide range of tools to use in order to create a good piece of work.

My creativity also further developed for my A2 trailer as I was furthering my photoshop skills for the poster and magazine but also in Final cut which I had never used for the trailer itself. For my A2 poster and magazine I used layers, blending and eraser tool to create a background texture for my dominant image to go over the top. Whereas in my preliminary I simply cut out the image and put it onto a block colour in InDesign. With the trailer in Final cut I used the blade tool, transitions like fade and cut to black. Digital technology helped a lot with learning how to use Final Cut as I was able to find tutorials on YouTube. The reason I used transitions like cut to black was because of the research I did prior to post production, not only by looking at past trailers but also using social media to ask people about the conventions they want from a trailer and how it should turn out therefore the purpose of including them is so the audience can identify them. The impact of my development of skills in A2 is that because I know what I have to convey and include it creates a limit of how original me and my group can make the trailer however also makes the trailer successful because we are able to give the audience what they expect from a horror trailer, like fast paced montage scenes and jump scares.

I have a greater understanding of what’s needed in order to present the audience with something that is successful for the type of media I’m doing. But also how digital technology plays a key role in being able to develop the skills needed to advance my work. Creativity can be limited with development of skills as I am limited in how original I can make something, however despite the technical skills being conventional with the use of an audience the work I make can be interpreted in many different forms by whoever’s seeing it and the signifier and signified meaning is different.

Creativity: Digital technology

Digital technology is any devise or software that helps us create something for example using a iMac and final cut. Digital technology helps us be more creative we can become a producer and legitimises are creative voice. I can  edit a video, add sound effects and manipulate the colour off it and include transitions, however ten years ago there wouldn't have been the developed equipment to do this.

My AS preliminary task was to create a college magazine, within the first lessons on doing the course, my experience of digital technology was what I had already used in previous years. For example using my iPhone and camera to take pictures. Therefore when doing the preliminary task I already had experience. When doing research for my preliminary I used the internet and google to see how to layout the magazine but that was it. In production I used a cannon camera and in post production I used the editing software adobe indesign to piece the magazine together. I used minimal skill to create the magazine, as all I did to change the image I had taken was on photoshop where I cut out the background. From general life knowledge I already knew what a typical magazine layout was therefore all I did was copy other layout. Using digital technology however helped me use my now image that I took. This therefore makes it successful as it was recognisable as a magazine and had some originality with the use of my image.

My skills developed from my AS preliminary to my AS music magazine I know this because of my use of more digital technology specifically in post-production. I again used photoshop and indesign, but when editing my image in photoshop I made changes to the colour balance of the image. As well as this I added layers to the image and used techniques like blur and spot tool to give my image a professional look. This development gave me a chance to experiment with the different editing styles I could use that would suit my genre of magazine. I was able to make my image have more low key lighting and adjusted the tone to be more red. This helped the cover be successful as my genre was rock and typically rock magazines have a red, white and black scheme to them and with my photoshop skills I was able to recreate them.

In A2 I was able to move on from editing images to editing videos taken for my horror trailer. From the shots we took using a cannon camera I imported them into Final Cut and was then able to edit them to fit the structure of a trailer that we researched using youtube. For Final Cut I used the blade tool, fades to black as well as adding text for the titles. As a result of more research and planning with the use of youtube for make up tutorials, social media like snap chat to ask people about the trailer, I have a better understanding of what should be seen in a horror trailer, a downside to this is that my trailer despite having a new storyline follows other trailers and lacks creativity and experimentation. However my trailer is still successful as if I were to have done the trailer editing in AS my lack of skill would have meant the end result wouldn't look good and wouldn't be recognisable as a trailer.

Before starting the course I was able to experiment with the digital technology I already had like my phone and laptop, I was able to take pictures and find what lighting looks good. However as I have developed over the course I am able to have a greater understanding of what is needed in order to achieve a good piece of work, like the use of good photoshop skills.

Creativity: Real Media Texts

Conventions have rules and are followed so that the audience can tell what genre there looking at. You can reimage and slightly change conventions in order to give them some originality and make it so that things don't become repetitive. In AS I believe that I didn't properly understand semiotics and why there used however in A2 with further research and knowledge I have a deeper understanding of semiotics and how we use denotation and connotation to create meaning.

In AS I had to make a music magazine cover, contents page and double page spread, I picked the rock genre. In order to create a successful rock music magazine I had to follow the specific codes and conventions that are found in other magazines. A specific semiotic and convention that I found in rock music magazines was the use of the colour red. For example Q magazine has red, white and black as it's house style. The use of red and black gives connotations of violence and anger, which correlates to the rock genre as it's stereotypically a aggressive. Another convention of rock magazines is the poses and costumes used. In the music magazines Q and UNCUT they have stern looks on the musicians in the dominant image and it's usually a mid shot or a close up. I used conventions in the following ways, the person in my image is in a mid- close up shot with a straight face, the background of the image is a urban brick wall with some low key lighting she is also wearing dark denim. This was in order to convey the rock genre. This therefore makes my magazine successful as I've followed the codes and conventions that mean the audience can recognise it.

In my year 13 horror film trailer, I made a trailer and to do this I had to identify a number of key conventions like structure, lighting and pace. Some conventions of the horror genre slasher which is what me and my group chose is, the antagonist being in a mask, a dumb blonde character, jock character and a final girl who survives until the end. In my trialer we are using costume and makeup to connote the character and charater types, but also the use of special effects make up like latex and fake blood. I used Scream as a reference for the gore, as the film shows a good amount of gore but also how the protagonists and victims get up and close with the antagonist and the phallic weapon used to hurt them. I used the Conjuring 2 to help with structure, shot duration, use of title slates. We took these types of details in order to make are trailer successful and to make it look professional. I have planned the shot list to where we need to have a montage section at the end of the trailer to show how it's gained pace. However unlike films like Halloween and Cabin in the Woods we are not having a 'final girl' but a 'final guy'. We have decided to change this as a final girl is a typical convention of slashers but changing it to a male isn't so much of a drastic change that it's unrecognisable.

In AS I didn't have much understanding of reasoning behind codes and conventions like the use of the colour red, but I also didn't't do as much research into a wide range of real media texts. Whereas in A2 I have looked at over 30 horror trailers ranging in all the sub genres, meaning I have a clear distinction between the different semiotics used. Being limited to one genre of horror has limited my creativity in being able to try new things and break conventions because despite wanting to do something original in order for this trailer to be successful I have to have the typical conventions that audiences will be expecting. The conventions I have used have come directly from my audience research from people outside of my media class, therefore they will be expecting them. Because of more research and knowledge about meaning and denotation and connotation I believe my media A2 trailer will be more successful then my AS as I'm able to have deeper knowledge of reasoning behind specific things that should be done and because of this I am able to slightly change things about my horror trailer but while still keeping to conventions.
Conventions limit how much you can change about a genre in order to make it recognisable. However expanding knowledge about real media texts means I can communicate meaning in a deeper way.