Savannah's A-Level Media Blog - Course Work

War of the Worlds: Blog tasks Media Factsheet In 1938, the world was anxious as Germany planned to invade European countries and many people feared gas attacks from another world war. American broadcasters would often interrupt scheduled programming to discuss new updates from Europe. Welles's use of radio news conventions had more of an impact on listeners who were unaware that it was a fictional radio play. The first broadcast was in 1938. At the time that the broadcast aired, it was suggested that Orson Welles’ radio adaption of War of the Worlds caused mass hysteria and resulted in residents questioning their safety. However, it was later discovered that this 'hysteria' was an exaggeration rather than fact. The New York Times reported the events and the reactions under the headline “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact.”. In the article, the New York Time suggested that may residents fled their homes in panic.  Author Brad Schwartz describes the broadcast...

BBC Radio 1 - Life Hacks: Blog tasks Analysis The Life Hacks iPlayer page is clearly aimed at younger audiences. The bright colours and images along with the topics mentioned suggest this.  In the podcasts, the hosts talk about many aspects of pop culture. This appeals to younger audiences as it involves them in topics that they are familiar with and subjects that they enjoy. The BBC's responsibilities as a public service is to inform and entertain. This podcast informs its younger audiences about a relevant topic that occurs but it delivers it in a way where it is amusing to the audience.    Media Factsheet Life Hacks offers a safe haven for teens and adolescents to discuss things that occur in their own personal life. These topics include s ex, relationships and mental health. The five central purposes in the BBC's remit that Life Hacks cover are: Support the learning of all ages Educating their audience by providing them with advice on youth-related issues Entertaining...

Introduction to radio: blog tasks BBC Sounds The article suggests that  ‘on the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health’. This is shown by the large number of weekly listeners they claim.  3% of under-35s use the iPlayer catch-up radio app BBC Sounds is a streaming media and audio download service from the British Broadcasting Corporation that includes live radio broadcasts, audio-on-demand, and podcasts. Audiences listen to radio content in the digital age through streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. Jason Phipps suggests that it is important for radio and podcast content aimed at younger audiences as he believes that younger audiences can find journalists' processes to tell a story very cold. He states that younger audiences want to access the actual response of human beings and that they really want to understand the heart of the story. The BBC needs to stay relevant so that they make revenue to commission podcasts purely for online listening Reviews: The BBC...

The Specials - Ghost Town: Blog tasks The Conversation Website The writer links the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition a similar to 'mood music'. The mournful flute solo is the reason why the writer chooses this link. He states that it ' it reflects and engenders anxiety' The subcultures that 2 Tone emerged from in the late 1970s was Mod and Punk.  The social contexts that were discussed regarding the UK in 1981 was a recession in England. Many riots occurred in urban areas. This anger that was shown by residents was seen by Dammers and was later incorporated into Ghost Town. This music video has often been described as 'eerie'. The eerieness of the video could be the emotionless faces the artists possess whilst singing in the opening of the video. Other aspects could be the dark and barren streets that the car drives down.  The writer of this article suggests that this song and the music video is a cry out again injustice and against closed ...

Music Video: Common - Letter to the Free Social and cultural context Common has been involved in a project with  John Legend in which these two successful artists wrote  Glory  as the soundtrack for  Selma. Selma was a  2014 film portraying the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, a key moment in the Civil Rights Movement The 13th Amendment of the American Constitution was passed on January 31 1865 and it was to abolish slavery in the United States and provides that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the US. The Black Codes were laws in the Southern states that had an intent of restricting African American's freedom to   ensure their availability as a cheap labour force after slavery was abolished during the Civil War People suggest that the legacy of slavery is still a crucial aspect of American culture 150 years after it was abolished by the 13th Amendment. This is because a lot of sacrifices were made to reach that point. Countless fig...

Music Video theory - Childish Gambino blog task Childish Gambino, the musical stage name of writer and performer Donald Glover, released an incredible critique of American culture and Donald Trump with  This Is America  in 2018. The music video is a satirical comment on American culture, racism and gun violence. Racking up 10m views in the first 24 hours, it now stands at over half a billion views and has been dubbed ‘genius’ and ‘a masterpiece’.  Childish Gambino's This is America music video meets the key conventions of a music video. The artist is seen lipsyncing to the song, along with this the artist and other individuals featured in the video are dancing to the rhythm of the song. In addition to this, a narrative is shown through the video with the supplementary use of props and movements. This video was used as an aim to perpetuate the real and deep issues that lie within America. Topics such as racism and gun violence are addressed in this music video. Gun co...

Music Video introduction blog task The purpose of a music video is to sell products like  the song featured in the video. The digital age has changed the production and distribution of music videos. Music videos can be viewed on multiple devices and streaming services. Youtube, Spotify and Apple Music are examples of this. Vevo is an American multinational video hosting service. There are three major record labels behind VEVO;   Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI. Key conventions of a music video:  Narrative  Movements to complement the rhythm of the song: Actors, Camerawork or Editing  Visual effects  Intertextuality  Narrative can be used in a music video to add a deeper meaning to the song or create a storyline for the viewers to follow. An example of this is Into You by Ariana Grande.  An example given in the factsheet for intertextuality is 'All the small things' (Blink 192) using references from other major pop...