Long tail theory

My understanding of the Long tail theory is how the big budget films are being shown in popular cinemas like cineworld which don't have enough space to show other films with a lower budget. This results in them making very little money commercially and how distort the figures are in revenue from films today. It also shows how the internet today has unlimited space to show films which benefits the viewer.


Inception:

Budget:

 $160,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 $62,785,337 (USA) (18 July 2010) (3792 Screens)

Gross:

 $292,568,851 (USA) (2 January 2011)

Blair witch project:

Budget:

 $60,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 $29,207,381 (USA) (1 August 1999) (1101 Screens) (wide release)

Gross:

 $140,530,114 (USA) (7 November 1999)



Here is a clip of the longtail theory explained in full:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-hS9pZ-0oY 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yku0GTrcuw

  

Henry Jenkins

• He thinks that the future generation is moving away from older media and will eventually create better technology and media which will keep advancing with every new generation.
• Media is used in everything for everything
•  That technological convergence is a cultural rather than a technological process
• Collective Intellegence - everyone's information is pulled together to make collective intellegence e.g Wikipedia, where everyone can edit any page it makes it collective intellegence.

What do you think has been the biggest advancement in technology and why?

The biggest advancement in technology has to be the expansion of the internet. Broadband was created in 1991 and since then the internet has advanced massively and has allowed computers to be able to use there full potential. The broadband advancements in the space of 20 years have meant people can access speeds of up to 35mb without even paying a lot which means people can shop through online shops which have integrated through to the online world to make more money, socialize and communicate through online websites like facebook, hotmail, twitter and many more, watch favorite programs online through tv services like bbc iplayer, itv player, youtube which allows people to watch tv on demand. so thats why it is so good.

What do you think has been the biggest advancement in technology in your generation and why?

We think that the phone has become more than just a way of communication, it is basically carrying your life around in your pocket.
The first type of phones that we had were the Nokia 3310's. On these phones you could ring, text and play games such a 'snake'. There was a black and white screen and the phones had limited memory. Nowadays, everything is top of the range, touch screen and you can literally do everything you want, e.g. go on the internet, take photos/videos, download from the internet.

Henry Jenkins

• works as a lecturer in America
• has alot of media qualifications
• his theory is 'participatory culture'
• he thinks convergence is a cultural not technological thing
• he thinks teenagers want the media wherever and whenever they want and they are willing to watch it illegally if it inst available legally
• he thinks that we share what we make with each other which becomes rewarding
• people struggle with the limits of technology
• he believes nobody knows everything but everybody knows something so we all put our knowledge together to create new things
• he addresses the issue of collective intelligence and its role in media, cultural and business
• collective intelligence is based on a notion of liberation
• each of us make a decision and those decisions collected together by some anaomus technology result in a better search engine

What does this film have to say about the ways we construct our identity through modern technology?

After watching catfish, I think that by using modern technology such as the internet it has become very easy to;
- create false identities. for example, when anyone joins social networking sites anyone can claim they are someone when they aren't.

- (As Angela did) she created many facebook accounts, all with different pictures of random people.

- It can make false relationships. People might think they know someone, when in reality, they don't really know wether they are who they claim to be.

- (as in Catfish) it can make it seem to be okay to create a false identity as eventhough Angela got found out they was no real consequence for her actions.

Catfish

Catfish is a 2010 American documentary involving a man being filmed by his brother and friend as he builds a romantic relationship with a girl on the social networking website facebook. The man is tricked into a relationship that isn't real. This links to today in that social networking websites are a big part of many peoples lives. It shows the dangers in social networking and the trouble people can get themselves into.

What does this film have to say about the ways we construct our identity through modern technology?

This film shows that can change who you are and be completely someone else just using modern technology (e.g. facebook). Also, it shows that some of the relationships that can be formed through the internet can be completely false even though people on one side believe that the relationship is real. For example, in the movie 'Cat Fish' Nev believes that he has a proper relationship with the fake eldest daughter when in reality it is just the old ugly lady called Angela. This proves that modern day technology can be very deceitful as you dont know exactly who you are talking to, you just have to trust when the computer screen is telling you.

Catfish (2010)

What does this film have to say about the ways we construct our identity through modern technology?


-People can create a whole different identity by using different technologies allowing people to be someone there not
-People can represent different social groups and escape being part of a group they dont like
-It is very easy to make a fake account and fool everyone you like due to no proof of identity needed
-Phones allow people to talk without revealing their identity

catfish

what does the film have to say about the way technology has affected our construction of identity?

The film shows how easy it is to make multiple different identitys through social networking sites, the film also shows that you can make someone believe that you are multiple differnt people just using the technoligys of the online world through differnt accounts.

catfish

What does the film have to say about the way technology has affected the way we construct our identity?
Technology has moved on vastly in the 21st century, now social networking sites run many peoples lives. Websites like facebook and myspace allow other users of the website to see who you are what you are like what you do etc.
Cat fish is a documentary on how facebook was used by one lady to create many alter egos. she did this because this is who she wanted to believe she was, it was a bit of fun and alot of work .

Identity through modern technology.

What does film have to say about the ways we construct our identity through modern technology?
The film should that it is possible to create and change our identity  through modern technology such as facebook. The identities we create can be a release and escape from the real world and can be come a large part of somebodies life. It shows how it is possible to make ourselves into who ever we want due the barrier the computer creates. It also shows how we are too quick to trust people we don't know and too willing to create a relationship with out seeing someone in person.

homework

Technology has changed overtime and it has given a new insight and opportunity to both create and change identities etc. the film catfish shows the women created a facebook account using information about a young model when infact she was totally different, this shows that media technology can affect identity. e.g someone shy can act really confident via facebook/bebo etc. normal identities are being changed by the use of media like facebook and people are becoming fake and changing due to facebook etc. Facebook can help people overcome confidence barriers and communicate with people they otherwise would not, however it can negatively affect people with the fake accounts etc.   

Homework

Using modern day technologies we can both develop and destroy our identity. We can be false by speaking over the phone or internet. This is because we could be completely different and shy in person but when not speaking face to face someone could be more confident. However, by having more technologies you can also keep in contact with people more and this can develop our personalities and confidence more for when we see people face to face and become more sociable. This is a good thing and can help the way that people communicate and keep in contact.

What does this film have to say about the ways we construct our identity through modern technology?

• People can create false identities easily
• No proof is needed to confirm your identity
• You can even put a false picture up and pretend it's you
• It can be used as a kind of escapism (as Angela did, to escape from her difficult family life)
• It shows how easy it is to get things and claim them as your own (as Angela claimed Youtube videos as her own music)
• It makes it seem okay to lie, because it's easy and seems as though no one will find out.
• It can encourage false relationships (i.e. Angela and Nev). People think they are close but they may not really know each other as it is so easy to hold things back and create a false identity.

How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time?

How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time?

A key scene from 'Alfie' which represents gender from the 60's is when Alfie shouts at Gilda for asking him when he will be home. This ties in with Marcuse's theory as we readily accept the ideology that women were treated as second class citizens. Marcuse's theory says that when an audience is told something so many times they will come to believe that it is true and become a passive audience, accepting an ideology of something that they may have no experience in. In the 'Inbetweeners' we can see that the gender roles have switched round some what, as the females seem to have more control over the males. a scene backing this point up is when Jay tries to hit on the university girl and she rejects him very harshly and he has no say in what she does or the situation. 


  - Example
  - Terminology  




Need to put in some analysis in because it just says an example and good terminology, apart from this it is a well detailed and structured paragraph.

How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time?

How far does the representation of a British family change over time?

Alfie
Inbetweeners


Past media representations of family (i.e. the film Alfie) show society striving for the 'nuclear family' ideal, shown through the characters of Gilda and Humphrey. Gilda gives up her love for Alfie to go and have a life with Humphrey, going along with the social 'norms' of the time, thus following Stryker's theory of social expectations.

An Education presents the nuclear family ideal at the beginning. However Jenny rebels against this norm and tries to further herself with her relationship with David, however her parents would have allowed her to give up all her education at the age of 17 to have a married life. This follows Althusser's theory as society has drummed the idea of marriage and Jenny's parents comply.

The characters in Inbetweeners are part of a younger age group, therefore their view of marriage and family is drastically different to one in the 1960s. They strive for sex, not marriage. This is shown by the constant sexual references throughout the show. Whereas Gilda in Alfie is seen to be wearing a false wedding ring in the hospital so as to hide the fact that she is an unmarried mother.




Improvements
1) Analyse the theories to show that you actually know what the theorists say and link it to your TV and film examples.
2) Analyse your points and examples more to explain how they intercept with each other and the theorists.

How far does the representation of a particular social group change overtime?

The representation of britishness does change over time and this is to do with the role's of women in Britian. In the films Alfie the woman have not a lot of rights and are left as housewives and do not get freedom and this is shown when Annie is only shown inside her apartment cleaning while Alfie comes in and out doing whatever he wants. This contrasts to fish tank where Mia is able to go out of her apartment and back in with nobody stopping her and she has a lot of rights. For example this is when she runs of her apartment in a mood and shows how she doesn't have to stay inside all the time. The theory of Althusser clearly backs this up and this theory is that ideological beliefs of the ruling class of society become the ruling ideologies and in this case the roles of the women over time due to the ideological beliefs of women changing over time which has enabled them to have more freedom which is shown here. I think that the difference in the two films is that women roles have become more valued and are allowed to do what they want they are now equal to men unlike in the 1960's where they had no control over what they did and were just housewives.

red = example

blue = theory

purple = analysis

mention what is past contemp and reflective.

explain characters are similar age.

link theory to film/characters.

Paragraph from exam question

How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time?

The representation of family has changed between past and contemporary TV. Alfie shows expectations of family to inbetweeners, A key scene in Alfie which shows is when Gilda is in the hospital having her first baby, and she pretends that she is married to Alfie so that she does not get shunned by society for having a child before being married. This is Shown by marcuses theory of Mass media. He says that the  mass media carry with them prescribed attitudes and habits certain intellectual and emotional reactions which bind the consumer and reduce them to a mindless mass. this creates a passive audience. The attitudes form the 60s were reflected in alfie, and familys were reflected as wrong if they were not married before having children. Inbetweeners shows a more modern view on familys, there is less of an expectation to be married before having children and less expectation to stay married after you have a child. for example will mum is divorced and his father is never to be seen, there has been no problems occurring.

Red-Terminology
Blue- Example
Green- Analysis

Imprvements:
.Use more examples to back up points.
.Go into more depth.

James Seymour, Josh Nunn

"How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time?"

The representation of British families have changed dramatically over the last 40 years. This is backed up by Marcuse's theory that the mass media carry the representation of how we interpret youths to be like. For example, in An Education Jenny has to ask her parents for approval when wanting to do any activity. This is shown in the scene where she has to beg her dad to let her go to the opera with another bloke. On the other hand, in the Inbetweeners the respect and attitude towards elders and parents is a complete contrast. This is backed up in the scene where Simon is in the his bedroom with Tara and his Dad walks in. Simon immediately swear at his father demanding him to leave promptly whilst using very little manners in the process. By this being shown by media this proves the theory of Marcuse that people stereotype youth through mass media without knowing them personally. In conclusion I believe that mass media has helped change this representation of youth families as people watching the shows will make a prejudice judgement towards youth through media and youths will feel this behaviour is acceptable as it is shown to be the norm through media projects e.g Inbetweeners.   

• Add more detailed analysis about the examples

Past Exam Question

Positives

• Each example was backed up by good analysis.
• Well structured
• Good use of terminology/theorists

Negatives

• Didn't explain some terminology
• Didn't have time for some points/explanation
• Could have expanded on examples/key scenes

Analysis of example answer

T = 9
E = 10
A = 17

Positives - Good knowledge of theories. Uses a variety of examples. Detailed analysis and strong understanding.

Negatives - Examples don't give specific details of characters and scenes.

Example exam question analysis.

In the example exam question the person uses a lot of examples and analysis thoroughly and clearly through out. They do use terminology but it gets fairly repetitive by the end of the question. Although they use a variety of example of TV shows and adverts they do not referee to the past, reflective and contemporary terminology. However overall answer creates an argument and flows clearly  

Our Marks Given:
T- 6
E-13
A-15

Marking Answers

Positives:

• Uses lots of examples to relate the theory's too like shameless, cinderella man, llyods tsb advert
• Relates to a lot of different time periods
• uses detailed analysis in each point and makes it clear the point which is being said

Negatives

• Does not use much theory only really goes into depth about Althusser theory
• Some of the essay is not needed and is just drags on a bit

T=5 level 2

E=17 level 4

A=14 level 3

review of past paper

This person analysis a lot but could go into more depth. They also use good examples. They also repeat a lot of terminology and most of it makes little sense.
Terminology- 6 (level 3)
Example- 16 (level 4)
Analysis- 17 (level 4)