Writing About Media Products Purpose
Below are some resources to help you see how journalists or reviewers write about a certain media product. This is the detail we are looking for in classwork or practice work / essays:
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN MY WRITING
Describe the purpose of the product e.g. (entertain, scare, promote, educate, raise awareness, invoke emotion, profit, community.) and explain how it achieves this purpose with evidence, examples, stats, dates etc
THEORY
The main purpose of media products are to make profit and expland market share of the production company. But a media product is often made to meet a purpose or a need in the audience
Uses and Gratifications Theory
Uses and Gratifications theory as developed by Bulmer and Katz suggests that media users play an active role in choosing and using the media and defines why media compananies create products for that purpose. Bulmer and Katz believed that the user seeks out the media source that best fulfils their needs.The uses and gratifications theory assumes the audience chooses what it wants to watch for five different reasons.
a) Information and Education
The viewer wants to acquire information, knowledge and understanding by watching programmes like The News or Documentaries. Newspapers provide us information on what is happening in the world through coverage of current events. Gossip magazines do the same but with celebrity lifestyles.Documentaries inform and educate us about topics we my not know about. This example from The Blue Planet is a fantastic example of information about wildlife, the oceans and the environment.
b) Entertainment
Viewers watch programmes for enjoyment.
c) Escapism
Computer games and action films let viewers escape their real lives and imagine themselves in those situations
The video below explains Bulmer and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory. Big Hollywood blockbusters that defy 'realism' with their storylines and characters. Genres such as animation, action, adventure and horror are pure escapism. Computer games provide pure escapism and entertainment when playing them.
d) Personal Identity
Viewers can recognise a person or product, role models that reflect similar values to themselves and mimic or copy some of their characteristics. we may enjoy a media text because we identify with it in some way (e.g we identify with a particular character, story or event). TV dramas such as Eastenders have a range of characters and stories based on 'real-life'. We can identify with characters we feel are similar to ourselves, as well as stories or situations we have experienced.
e) Integration and social interaction
The ability for media products to produce a topic of conversation between people. For example who is the best contestant on The X-factor and who which was the best goal shown on Match of the day. We seek out a media text because it is 'trending' or popular. We gain social interaction (fitting in, discussing it with our friends) from this. Social media is a 'go-to' for social interaction and a way of showing you are conforming to current trends.
EXAMPLE 1: MADE UP CAR CALLED THE BLAKE AVENGER- D1 LEVEL
The purpose of the car was to make Blake a popular “brand” to the socio economic groups C2, D and E where the likes of Hyundai, Kia and Dacha were the market leaders. Ultimately the purpose of a car like the Avenger that sold on a mass scale would make Blake not only No.1 in this market but also make them a large profit.
EXAMPLE 2: SURF RISES: D2- Level 2 Pass (GCSE Level 7 to 8)- MADE UP FILM
"The purpose of Surf Rises is to entertain audiences, provide escapism and provide profit for the producers of the film. Looking at the gratification and uses theory of Bulmer and Katz, in terms of entertainment Surf Rises is a fast moving, funny and gripping action / bio pic that got a 90% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. It also provides escapism for the audience by using extensive shots of the surfboading legend Todd Martin who was voted No.1 surfboarder last year. The result of this is that it provides the audience with an up and close view of a surfer which has been very successful amongst males in the age bracket of 12 to 30 years old. The audience really do imagine themselves in the crashing waves!
The purpose was met by Paramount by the successful film sales of £1.8 million in the first week of opening. It is also been voted for 5 Oscars and 4 BAFTA's this year and as Marti DeLupe of Surfing Times said May 2020 "Surf Rises is an iconomic film that puts you in the shoes of Todd Martin and gives you a trip of a lifetime into the world of professional surfers. Outstanding!"