Media Studies 101 Final alternative

Celeb online and performances of it

Microceleb prac/princ increasingly intersect with traditional celeb, celeb performance converges with social media, celebs display connections to one another, industries, fans, etc. -celebs on social media breakdown gatekeepers, affirm intimacy/identity, more responsive than traditional media, but must manage privacy, credibility, being their own paparazzi

DIY citizenship

TV is good because its broadcast approach bring in large audiences - Big part of everyday life - A form of literacy that emphasized "reading" over "writing" -taught thru TV bc: informs us on news and culture, publicizes a diversity of ideas, publicizes a diversity of representations

Taste and cultural capital

Taste can be learned and displayed Cultural capital=form of cultural knowledge that provides you with social advantage through recognition of taste by peers)->so people can use taste to improve their social position

Taste and status

Taste functions as market of status and class distinction (classifier, maintains social difference, internalized as natural preference, taste of dom groups celebrated by institutions, thus reproducing social hierarchies)

Taste and institutions

Taste is learned through exposure to social and cultural institutions (which decide what is worthy of being curated/studied, people trained to recognize culturally-taught hierarchy of quality)

Identity

The way we think of ourselves, believed to be something we can signify to others *ongoing projects continuously constructed, reconstructed*

Transparent immediacy vs. Hypermediacy

Transparent immediacy: medium whose purpose is to disappear (desire to be in the presence of the unmediated "real thing") Hypermediacy: medium is recognized as medium, interface impossible to ignore (enjoy and emphasize act of mediation)

Ubiquitous computing

UBICOMP=diffusion of computer techs into our physical things and environments ie: wearable computing (google glass), interface built into environment (key cards), WiFi everywhere

Use value vs. exchange value

Use value: functional and practical applications Exchange value: perceived worth in a system of exchange (cultural desirability, associate commodity with qualities we desire and can have if consumed)

Copyright + VHS

VHS recordings allowed time shifting, violated exclusive reproduction rights, but courts side with VHS->decide that the tech is sometimes used to infringe, but not liable as long as it has substantial non-infringing uses

Celebrity for the audience

celeb's life=source of aud interest -desire to know celeb's private life and "what celeb is really like" -but understanding is filtered thru media

Celebrity and intertextuality

celebs=intertextual->we recognize, consume, and make meaning from them across platforms (roles, interviews, etc.) celeb=always more than just 1 role->they are a famous person, a famous person's public persona, a performative practice

Virtual reality vs. ubiquitous computing

virtual reality=makes reality disappear by creating new reality (isolating, tech usually separate from society) ubicomp=makes the computer disappear (mobility, permeates daily life)

Ad clutter and ad creep

Ad clutter: images and logos compete with each other for our attention Ad creep: expansion of ad messages into new spaces and places

Author function and text function on TV

Author function: discourse that not all shows are equally authored (prestige/cult shows more authored than ordinary ones) Text function: discourse that not all shows are equally textual (ordinary shows=disposable, of the moment)

Fashion's definition + today

fashion=clothing+adornment used to communicate meaning within a specific culture TODAY: all clothing choices made by personal choice=seen as fashion statement

Preserving media texts and copyright

-conflicts over copyright, participatory culture logics make ownership hard to define/uphold -IMPLICATIONS: IP holder can lose control/revenue, YT content can appear and disappear quickly -SO: must balance IP rights with value that comes from user sharing and revisiting texts meaningful to them

Meta-archive, metadata, hyperlinking

Meta-archive: -content contains metadata (info about content)->labels, descriptions, tags, titles, etc. allows content to be classified and made searchable -connections to content across the internet thru hyperlinking->users can link to content from other sites and provide their own contexts -THUS: internet=a meta-archive, where links and metadata promote connectivity/multiple entry points Metadata: info about content (tags, etc) Hyperlinking: share link across multiple platforms, users just click and see primary source content

Subculture, definition and characteristics

S=a group that defines its ID and values as different from dominant culture -smaller group w/in culture, way to set oneself apart, can opt in thru self-selection or displays of subcultural capital CHARACTERISTICS: oppositional/resistant to dom groups/ideos, resistance can manifest symbolically thru consumption, dress to stand out (from mainstream) and fit in (with group), THUS: subculture fashion=visual act used to communicate affiliation and values

Author, text, and meaning (author)

(Barthes) Author: script or/assembler who generates a work but is not the explainer or the source of explanation Text: a collage of ideas and motifs derived from the "intertextual space" of other works Meaning: "born with each reading;" no essential, ultimate meaning *BARTHES argues that the reader produces the meaning in the "here and now"

Hyperreality (author)

(Baudrillard) Blurred reality btw simulation and reality, differentiation btw the two doesn't matter->leads to fluidity of truth/reality

Simulation + its reasons and impact

(Baudrillard) Simulation=we measure reality not by what happens in real life, but by how it is constructed in the media REASONS: rise of consumer culture, media provide sophisticated visual imagery IMPACTS: needs replaced with desires, "real" is lost/undermined, representations have little anchor in reality

Avatars (author)

(Blinka) A=representation of the user that stands in for the self -selected on basis of: goal oriented, identification, idealization

Habitus (author)

(Bourdieu) Set of attitudes that a person adopts and internalizes over time (result of one's social habitat, unconsciously absorbed, taste is part of it)

Madonna and celebrity (author)

(Fiske) Ideological meaning behind a star=more important than products he/she produces, so stars are site of struggle for aud interpretation MADONNA=sexualized performance of femininity (is it for male pleasure or is it sexual liberation), so Fiske did an ethnography+textual analysis of Madonna's star text, found that star texts can provide an empowering relevant fantasy that can challenge repressive norms->celebs=POLYSEMIC

Author function and four ways it works (author)

(Foucault) Author is a cultural and institutional practice that attributes him/her as a source of meaning that has developed over time->author function=discourse RE who an author is, what is authored, what author does *puts author as center of text's meaning WORKS THRU: 1. attribution of an author changes discourse of a text 2. author=person and body of work at same time 3. doesn't apply to all texts in the same way (i.e. textbooks less authored than poem) 4. linked to legal system (bc allows works to be owned)

YouTube as database (authors)

(Kessler and Shaefer) YT=flexible resource for uploading, viewing, sharing -like archive, material is accessed thru search or browse -unlike archive, collection is unstable and streamed -instead, its a DATABASE->constantly updated collection of filterable content -stored thru info management that utilizes humans (rating, tagging) and code (search and browse info)

Masscult and Midcult (author)

(MacDonald) Masscult: mass media produced by culture industry (no art/no style, assembly line, trains public desire, tells auds how to respond), leads to "mass man" (he sucks) Midcult: masscult with a veneer of greater culture (watered down high culture) High culture=specialized for connoisseurs, folk culture=authentic, for specific communities

Makeover TV (authors)

(Ouellette and Hay) -makeover TV frames reinventing "look" as essential for professional development -claim that new self+new success achievable thru appropriate look/attire -inwardly (boosts self-esteem) and outwardly necessary (symbolizes to others youthfulness, inventiveness) ((CRITICS: say its too dominantly informed, says normalizes dominant ideologies, say its too consumerist))

YouTube as archive and its result (author)

(Prelinger) Archivists concerned with preservation/copyright, YT up loaders concerned with sharing/access, so YT is default archive PROS: massive/popular, adaptable, diverse content, open to public CONS: less concern with ownership, less quality standards, streaming model makes it unstable (content can be removed), interface provides limited functionality -YT=huge clip library from primarily personal collections, results in "clip culture"

Micro-celebrity (author)

(Senft) Micro-celeb=people broadcast themselves an collect an aud across media and social networks RESULT OF: increased access to production/dist techs, curation of self-image thru connections to others, built around sense of intimacy/authenticity

Demotic turn (author)

(Turner) DT=increased visibility of the ordinary->ordinary people in media, celebs doing the ordinary -we see more people performing version of themselves, but still top-down control with participants as laborers

Identity on Facebook (Author)

(Zhao et al) -"nonymous" relationships=can connect online/offline IDs (opposite of anonymous) -FB facilitates ID statements thru self-presentation of info -GOAL: present social desirability thru: well-roundedness, being popular among friends, thoughtfulness -can construct FB IDs thru: narratives (about me, etc, least popular), enumerative (displays of self as consumer), visual (most popular, implicit), also status updates, links

Textual poaching (author)

(de Certeau) Consumption is a site of conflict btw producers and its cultural use->producers/critics want to confine the limits of interpretation through authoritarian meaning, but consumers appropriate cultural products though interpretation and use outside of creator intention IE: Bricolage=taking commodities and putting them in unexpected use thus dissociating them from dominant context *This can then be reappropriated by hegemons, marketers Bricolage is using an object outside of its intended use so that it disassociates it from its dominant context/intended purpose, like using safety clips as earrings

Postmodern aesthetics

*Self conscious irony=events seem deliberately contrary to expectations *Powerlessness=individuals cannot effect change *Intertextuality=texts reference each other, assume viewer knowledge *Reflexivity=draws attention to constructed nature *Eclecticism=hybrid styles and forms *Commodification=blurred distinction btw art and ads *"Excessive style"=focus on style/appearance over depth *Ambiguity=narrative/preferred decoding unclear

Modes of representation

-EXPOSITORY (argument w/ evidence, directly address auds) -OBSERVATIONAL (unmediated obs, no direct address, viewers=fly on wall) -REFLEXIVE (reveals constructedness, draws attention to process of depiction) -INTERACTIVE (interaction btw media makers and public->bring in public or go out to public)

YouTube and performing identity

-PLAYLISTS: bricolage, assembling/curating playlists of media content -VLOGS: self-represented thru performance tied to physical self -Content can focus on: area of interest, account of personal history/viewpoint -BOTH TYPES: form of mediated speech providing users a sense of agency/public voice

Vlogs as participatory culture

-SKILL ENHANCEMENT: learn thru play, entrepreneurial training -EXPERIMENT+DEVELOP PUBLIC ID: determine what to discuss and how, facilitate self-examining/actualization -EXPRESS ID THRU CONNECTIONS: network of friends/fam, community of members with shared interests, concerns, etc.

YouTube and preserving media texts

-YT is a huge clip library primarily uploaded from personal collections - RESULT: "clip culture" - YT becomes a pop culture preservation & exhibition resource to be revisited at will - Repurposed commercial content used for connection, memory, taste, play (take a text, appropriate it as a bricolage for communicative capacities) - Model of access driven by user desire to upload & share material on YT & embedded elsewhere (model of access focused on circulating and sharing favorite pieces of popular culture and history) new model of media access created through YouTube - Build collections through "favoriting" - Becomes curators through making playlists

Complicating commodity culture

-consumers can be critical and discerning of ad message claims -consumerism is an active process of decoding symbolic association with a brand -commodities can be used as resources for identity construction thru selection and appropriation (consumption can be creative)

Fashion + commodity culture

-fashion defined by cycles of change, crucial to development of commodity culture->bc people define themselves thru fashion+thru commodities, and fashion can be a depiction of consumption -fashion impacted by: techs (new products and means of production), mass production (reduced cost, increased choice), media (inspires/communicates new styles/trends), ads (offer lure of self-realization thru fashion)

Fashion + identity + creative consumption

-helps externalize our sense of who we are/desire to be (social IDs, attitudes and emotions)->individualize -conform to standards of appropriate presentation (dress to fit in)->socialize -THUS: fashion has culturally shared communicative function and meaning changes with time

Virtual reality

-meant to be a wholly immersive simulated reality -goal=total transparent immediacy -gestural interface in combination with either head-mounted display or room-sized cube with responsive screen walls -BUT: still experimental tech, and approximation of reality remains crude

How TV remediates the internet

-multi-window format -interactive thru menu screens -sense of interactivity

Citizen journalism on YouTube

-open for public use, easily shareable, no mainstream media gatekeepers -users can voice judgement of vids -videos can be picked up by pro news/entertainment

Documentary transformation of reality

-planning (who/what to shoot) -recording (how it is recorded, what's said) -editing (what's cut/selected) -audience meaning-making process (how it is interpreted)

Medical images

-western culture privileges practices that visualize that which is unseen (bc ocularcentrism) -Foucault: medical gaze penetrates the body (ex: DNA analysis or x-rays used as evidence of normal vs abnormal) -scientific visual markets can be discriminatory thru scale, colorization, decontextualization, limited knowledge -visual power of images used to medicalize problems

3 ways DVD intensifies text function

1. Parasocial interaction (copresence via commentary) 2. Encourages collecting (boxes sets become artifacts) 3. Paratext (extratexual materials, ie packaging)

Economics of celebrity

Celebrity=industrial function -encourage consumers to buy product by offering something familiar and appealing (using star power) -celebs want to increase aud appeal by increasing visibility -media companies want to promote products using celeb marketability -other media (tabloids, talk shows, etc) also rely on celeb to generate $$$

Postmodernism + its characteristics

Commingles with (rather than replaces) modernism, defined as a condition of life and as an aesthetic CHARACTERISTICS: 1. rejects fixed/universal truths 2. focus on multiplicity, fragmentation, individuality, choice 3. advertising and consumer culture (assume individual to be a consumer) 4. globalization, increased mobility, hybridization 5. "speeding up" of culture thru media and trends

Commodification and Commodity fetishization

Commodification: transformation of objects/services into commodities to be bought and sold (increased diet and industrialization=increased competition) Commodity fetishization: the separation of the commodity from the conditions by which it was produced (product valued for symbolic value rather than actual cost of production, i.e. brand names)

Postmodernism and taste

Disrupts how we evaluate cultural products, doesn't distinguish btw high/low, commercial/noncommercial, elite/popular; quality confronted on text-by-text basis, pluralistic (more tolerant of individual tastes)

Inclusion/exclusion

Foucault: historical memory governed by an "official body" that determines what is included in "official history in an archive -other knowledge=excluded -TODAY: inequalities of access mean some people can document their experiences and interests, while others have less access/ability

Copyright

Govt protections that offer rights holders as limited monopoly over the products of creativity as an incentive for creation Protected by time limit (Life+70yrs for individuals, total 95yrs for corps)->afterwards=public domain *only covers expression, not ideas

Fair use

Grants copyright usage without notification and payment depending on: "transformative" not derivative, nature of work (nonprofit vs. commercial, newsworthy), amount used, potential injury on CR holder *Ex: teaching, parody, news

Hegemony, counter-hegemony

Hegemony: the powerful (who control the means to production) class's attempt to naturalize the dominant ideology (cultural, political, economic) Counter-hegemony: resistant to hegemony, thus dominant ideologies must be constantly affirmed through the media, rejects preferred meaning in favor of alternative one

Multimodal interface and gestural interface

Human-computer interaction=how we interface with a computer Multimodal interface: HCI using multiple forms of interaction (i.e. touch and speech or touch and gestures) Gestural interface: we interact with computer by moving our limbs

Reception theory vs. Magic bullet theory

Reception theory: focus on how individuals consumer, interpret, value a text (recognizes interpretation can be social/collaborative) Magic bullet theory: meaning is a linear process from producer to audience (looks for causal links)

Remediation vs. repurposing

Remediation: elements of FORM and design from one medium utilized in another (new borrows from old) **borrows FORM** Repurposing: converting a media TEXT for use in a different exhibition format **borrows CONTENT**

Remix and Culture jamming

Remix: people make their own adaptations (esp online, shared) Culture Jamming: form of media activism based on reworking intended meaning of existing media products and texts *GOAL: denaturalizes media images and criticizes dominant ideology

Space multiplication and telepresence

Space multiplication: media techs alter our sense of presence, bc we can use media to simultaneously exist in 2+ places at once in real-time (either physically, conceptually, or interactionarily) Telepresence: video signals place the user at a remote or inaccessible location (i.e. tele medical, conference calls)

Archives vs. online archives

archive=collection of docs and the place that houses it, controlled by authority in a controlled space with controlled accessibility online archive=coexist with traditional ones, can be public in construction, contribution, control, can result in open and collaborative projects

Celebrity and meaning-making and the "star text"

bc intertextual, we observe performance of character and the star->sum="star text" (sum of everything we affiliate with them) STAR TEXT=body of work (roles, etc), promotion (curated image), publicity (by press, outside of direct control), audience practices (fan art, discussion)

Brands and brand image

brand=the name and identity attributed to a product as an attempt to create differences btw homogeneous products brand image=associate products with attributed qualities rich in symbolic value

Consequences of commodity culture on identity

commodity culture=commodities central to cultural meaning (we are what we buy=commodity self) Impact on Identity: - Fosters a lifestyle in which people consume the signs of a commodity - A commodity is valued because of the symbolic resources it provides - Purchase based on upgrading symbolic value rather than necessity - THUS: identity is founded on fictional constructions & messages

Identity on the early internet

early internet IDs=performative and disembodied, anonymous, self-descriptive, little correlation btw online/offline, can explore multiple IDs *some scholars say role-play is overemphasized

Augmented reality

extended human senses instead of immersion in an artificial world -info overlays physical space -see things beyond human perception