Week 4 Activity - Example of a highly interactive media text

My example came to mind when I was hanging out with my kids today. They really enjoy watching a number of shows on the ABC and are often looking for other ways to interact with the shows and characters. With this in mind, some time back I visited the ABC Kids website, in particular the sub-site called The Playground. I think it’s a great example of taking one form of media, kids TV programs in this case, and developing so much more from it in a creative and educational online format that is highly interactive. Although I know there is obviously a promotional aspect to its creation.

I think it is particularly clever as it is quite sophisticated in style but also manages to cater very well to a young audience. Kids are encouraged to engage with their favourite programs and characters online by listening to audio books, playing board games, solving puzzles, downloading colouring-in sheets etc. I also really like the Playground Radio application that allows them to listen to their favourite kiddie tunes.

Older kids can move on to The Rollercoaster sub-site that includes similar interactive tools but also exposes them to some more sophisticated concepts such as blogging and creating podcasts.

For adults the website is a great interactive tool with program schedules and information and printable art & craft sheets to recreate the projects seen on the TV programs.

ABC Kids The Playground - http://www.abc.net.au/children/

ABC The Rollercoaster - http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/

Australian Children’s Transmedia Storytelling - case study of the ABC Kids website - http://childrenstransmedia.wikia.com/wiki/Case_study:_ABC_Kids_TV_online

Engaging Media - Week Four

The first reading for this week...

The Blockbuster and the Hollywood Economy by Marco Cucco

So what is a blockbuster?

• High production costs


• Good returns (well if all goes according to plan...don't mention Waterworld)


• Use of advanced technology - helps to differentiate the product from TV productions


• Big dollars spent on promotion


• Intended to be a transnational product that can work on a global scale


• "born from US popular culture and their target is the mass public, with few artistic-expressive expectations" (p. 218, 2009)


• Exists for commercial purposes rather than artistic ones


• Needs a simple & immediately recognisable identity - not intended to be a product the consumer will think too deeply about


• Designed around public taste and market research


• Ability to feed off itself in the form of spin-off merchandise


• Relies upon "saturation booking" of cinema screens, particularly during opening weekend at box office - slightly devious intention here of reaching as many viewers as possible before word-of-mouth spreads


• Least appealing type of film to critics


• Rely on star power to get bums on seats

First real modern blockbuster considered to be Jaws in 1975. An increasing number of blockbusters are produced each year, although production can be significantly impacted by events such as the Writer's Guild of America strike and the Global Financial Crisis. It is worth noting though that many of the highest grossing films of all time were released many decades ago (box office takings adjusted for inflation) including...

Assignment One - Identifying Media Actors

A number of key players contribute to a television series including producers, broadcasters, writers, directors and actors. Additionally, more subtle elements are involved including music, costume, editing, set design and the physical locations used. Finally, external components keep a series alive, including the promotional apparatus, audience, critics and additional spin-off media and merchandise. As an episodic television drama, Dexter relies upon all these components.

Dexter was adapted from a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay revolving around the character of Dexter Morgan. By day Dexter is a forensic investigator with the Miami Metropolitan Police Department and by night, a “likeable vigilante serial killer” (Friend, 2006). A critical driving force for the character development of the series is the notion of good versus evil both in terms of Dexter versus the criminals and good Dexter versus evil Dexter.

Executive producers Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn and Clyde Phillips took the concepts and characters from the novels with a view of remediating them for the small screen (Dexter Wiki, 2009). It is their role to take ultimate responsibility for shaping the overall product and they are involved to some degree with all aspects of the series.

The producers approached American cable television network Showtime Entertainment, a subsidiary of the CBS Corporation, to broadcast and distribute the series. The pilot episode was screened in October 2006 (Showtime Entertainment, 2009). The network’s reputation and global presence has resulted in the distribution of Dexter to many international markets. Unusually, CBS has also adapted the series for a primetime audience, screening a highly-edited version on their free-to-air network in America.

The series relies upon a group of writers to produce each screenplay. Their task is difficult; to produce an entertaining story that balances quite macabre material and to take the character of a serial killer and humanise what has previously “been marginalised and made two-dimensional” (Showtime Entertainment, 2009).

A small group is responsible for the direction of each screenplay. The director exercises a large degree of creative control over the production, liaising with actors, camera and lighting crews amongst others to create an end product.
A principal cast of actors and numerous guest actors are responsible for breathing life into each episode of Dexter, appearing in both ongoing roles and single episodes. Interestingly only the lead actor, Michael C. Hall, was well-known before Dexter. It was not a series sold on the strength of celebrity.

Geography is imperative to the feel of this series. Dexter takes place in the city of Miami with well-known landmarks such as Little Havana serving as settings. As a consequence, there is a strong representation of Cuban-American culture. Several key characters are of Cuban descent and Spanish is widely spoken throughout the series. Much is also made of Miami’s weather and comparisons are drawn between Dexter’s internal struggles and the searing heat and violent tropical storms of the Florida coast.

Dexter relies upon an audience to remain viable and has benefited enormously from widespread publicity, critical acclaim and an active fan base. The latter has resulted in further remediation, developing the series into an online presence through wikis and fan forums that build a cultural life for the series. These factors have contributed significantly to an ongoing audience interest in the product and ultimately a very successful television series.




Dexter Wiki. (2009)
Retrieved August 11, 2009 from http://dexterwiki.sho.com/

Friend, T. (2006) Killer serial: the creepy appeal of Dexter in The New Yorker.
Retrieved August 13, 2009 from
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/11/20/061120crte_television

Showtime Entertainment. (2009) Showtime official website.
Retrieved August 11, 2009 from http://www.sho.com/site/index.html

Mashable

I just came across a handy link...

Mashable - The Social Media Guide
http://mashable.com/

Mashable is a blog devoted to social media news and founded on the principles of Web 2.0. Essential for all social media enthusiasts.

Media Project - Dexter - Identifying the various "actors" involved

Key "actors" that contribute to producing Dexter...

Creator - Author Jeff Lindsay, creator of the Dexter series of novels. Four novel to date, beginning with Darkly Dreaming Dexter in 2001. The novels revolve around the central character of Dexter Morgan, a forensic investigator with the Miami Metropolitan Police Department. By day Dexter attends crime scenes and specialises in analysing blood splatter patterns. By night, he caters to what he refers to as his “dark passenger” and moonlights as a “likeable vigilante serial killer” (Friend, 2006).

Series Creators / Executive Producers - Executive producers Sara Colleton and John Goldwyn took the concepts and characters from the novels with an idea of remediating them into a feature film, with this idea eventually developing into an episodic television drama. Teaming with producer Clyde Phillips, this team takes ultimate responsibility for the overall product, acting as a type of quality control that is involved to some degree with all aspects of the series along with seventeen other series producers who adopt supervising and coordinating roles.

Broadcaster / Distributor - The pilot episode was screened by the American cable television network Showtime Entertainment, a subsidiary of the mass media company CBS Corporation. Interestingly, both Showtime and CBS screen Dexter in the US, but CBS screens a free-to-air primetime version of the series which is highly-edited so as to avoid offence.

Screenwriters - Currently a group of twelve key screenwriters are responsible for producing scripts that will be shot as weekly one hour episodes.

Directors - A small group of directors exercise some create control over the production, liaising with actors, camera and lighting crews amongst others to create an end product.

Actors - A principal cast of nine actors has been involved with the production since the pilot episode. Over the course of last four seasons, a number of additional actors have also been involved in both reoccurring and guest roles that may last for an entire season or just for one episode.

The Geographic Setting - Miami - Key to the action of the series is the physical setting, the city of Miami, Florida. Well-known Miami landmarks including the Everglades National Park, Biscayne Bay, Key West and Little Havana serve as settings for the series. As a consequence of this setting, there is a strong representation of Cuban-American culture. Several key characters are of Cuban descent and Spanish is widely spoken throughout the series.

The Physical Setting - The Miami Metropolitan Police Department - On one level Dexter is a crime series and as a result much of the setting of the series takes place within the Miami Metropolitan Police Department. Many of the cast of characters are employed by the Miami Metro Police and much of the action takes place within the police station or at crime scenes.

Engaging Media - Week Three (Part 2)

The second reading for this week -
Making the Most out of 15 Minutes: Reality TV's Dispensable Celebrity
Sue Collins
Television New Media 2008; 9; 87 originally published online Jan 16, 2008

Reality TV - displacing unionised workers by replacing them with cheaper nonunionised "talent".
Does "celebrity as a cultural commodity" also suffer or are there just different opportunities e.g. the increasing popularity of day in the life style celebrity reality tv shows - Paris Hilton, The Osbornes, Jessica Simpson etc

Reality TV has given rise to a new category of celebrity - what Collins refers to as the "dispensable celebrity" who will enjoy their 15 mins of fame but will rarely be absorbed into the celebrity world long-term. Dispensibility is the defining feature of reality TV.

Gamedoc - a competition based series that portrays "ordinary" people in unique competitive situations e.g. Survivor.

Docusoap - places "ordinary" people in a natural setting and seeks to document their natural behaviour e.g. Real World.

"Celebrity is established by its visibility as a function of its reproducibility, or by its exposure
to audiences, who subjectively participate in the discursive construction and maintenance
of celebrity through their reception." (p.5, 2008).

Celebrity is the result of a "complex interplay among processes of production, mediation, and reception." (p.6, 2008). It is both a cultural and financial commodity.

Celebrities are produced, managed, shaped, promoted and their successful distribution is the key to the producer's profits. There are four stages of cultural production - creation, reproduction, circulation and exhibition. This is a risky and expensive business and producers are increasingly tightening their control on reproduction and circulation as a means of profiting from their commodity.

Collins argues that celebrity value " is best understood as a function of visibility based on potential reproducibility and the subsequent sustaining of an audience base." (p.9, 2008).

Reality TV has constructed its own financial business models e.g. The Survivor business model in which the program is not made with deficit financing but rather uses preproduction sponsorship to offset the costs of producing the show. Wide use of product placement and spin-off merchandise contribute substantially to profits. The producer then hopes that their successful reality TV concept can be sold on to other global markets for adaptation.

The reality TV show can feed off itself by recruiting from within e.g. The second season of The Apprentice "re-employed" talent from the first series to work for the new contestants. Similarly, reality TV success stories will usually go in to make appearances on other TV shows owned by the same network e.g. Bill Rancic of The Apprentice went on to make numerous appearances on other NBC owned shows including The Tonight Show.

Engaging Media - Week Three

This week's reading -
Jenkins, H. Pop cosmopolitanism : mapping cultural flows in an age of media convergence. Fans bloggers and gamers : exploring participatory culture 2006 ch. 7 pp 152-172 New York University Press

Pop Cosmopolitan - "someone whose embrace of global popular media represents an escape route out of the parochialism of her local community" (p. 152, 2006). A Pop Cosmopolitan embraces new cultural experiences and is keen to explore outside their immediate realm. They will use networked media to seek diversity and interact with like-minded people.

Henry Jenkins work focuses on participatory culture and media convergence. He began focusing purely on American popular culture but soon realised that this was impossible - a global framework was needed due to the extent of globalisation.

What is media convergence?

• borderless, multi-directional and unpredictable circulation of information facilitated by commercial interests and grassroots distribution.


• an ongoing flow of media between various technologies, industries, content & audiences.


• the introduction of enabling technologies that allow the use to process, store and transform media content.

The focus of this essay is to explain how & why Asian popular culture is shaping American popular culture. Jenkins focuses on the forces of corporate convergence and grassroots convergence.

Corporate convergence - a concentration of media ownership in the hands of mutlinational conglomerates.

Grassroots convergence - the digitally empowered consumer and their central role in shaping media content.

Both have a role to play in global convergence.

Young Americans have an increasing appetite for Asian pop culture e.g. Anime, Bollywood films, Hong Kong action films.

Why does the West traditionally dominate global entertainment?

Economic power - the means to produce the product

Cultural power - exerting our own culture over others

Political power - imposing our ideologies on others

Psychological power - the ability to shape others

But is this global domination decreasing? Increasing product from Asian markets is shifting the focus from Western media and large media conglomerates are responding to consumer demands for more international product. It is also now easier than ever before to distribute foreign content to the consumer through widespread use of digital media and the internet. This has led American media companies to recruit increasing numbers of Asian talent and to "borrow" concepts from foreign markets e.g. Big Brother television concept.

The flow of Asian product into the American market is shaped by three specific economic interests -

1. Local media producers who see global circulation as both economically advantageous as well as a source of pride.

2. Multinational media producers who seek to push their product into as many markets as possible for financial benefit.

3. Niche media producers seeking new & unique content to differentiate themselves from the masses.

Japanese media producers have realised that they are able to push their "soft" product (e.g. computer games) on a global level through the success of their "hard" product (e.g. gaming consoles).

Asian producers have sought to push media product including tv series & spin-off toys into the American market but this has been thwarted in many cases due to the fact that many have been remade for the American market and as such have lost their unique Asian qualities. Quite often local producers must adapt their product for global tastes e.g. Sesame Street characters are remade to appeal to the specific local audience or actor's voices are dubbed into the local language.

Otaku - A derogatory Japanese term to define those that obsessively consume pop culture to the point that they lose touch with their own community.

The popularity of product such as Bollywood films and Japanese Anime is largely due to grassroots convergence - small distributors catering to Pop Cosmopolitans and immigrants who then perpetuate the flow of media by showing it to their friends.

Corporate hybridity is on the increase with what is refered to as "combination platter" product - films such as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon that are made with an array of Asian actors an Asian/American director. An increasing number of products are also co-productions.

Links -

http://instantyang.blogspot.com/ - Jeff Yang's "Instant Yang" Blog

http://web.mit.edu/anime/www/ - MIT Anime Club Homepage

http://www.bertisevil.tv/ - Bert is Evil TV

Engaging Media - Week Two

This week's reading - Asa Briggs and Peter Burke, (2002). Convergence. In A social history of the media: from Gutenberg to the internet.

My initial response to this reading is an immediate sleepy feeling. I found this reading very hard-going - lengthy and not particularly interesting. But, trying to take something from the reading...

Convergence - "the coming together of media and telecommunications industries", "the development of digital technology, the integration of text, numbers, images and sound" and my favourite "the tendency for everything to become more like everything else".

Cable TV - "an electronic communications highway for a wired nation"

Interactive TV - "the ultimate big convergence"

The Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 was developed with the purpose of deregulating the industry to open it up to increased competition and new investment.

Unprecedented advancements in technology meant that information was more widely available than ever before - an increasing number of people had access to information, this information was more current and this information was available in an endless number of formats. But has this shifted to focus upon the quantity of information as opposed to the quality of information?
Digitilisation has presented great opportunities but has it addressed the historical issue of content? We have access, but access to what exactly?


Some links related to this week's topic...

http://www.tamaleaver.net/ - Dr Tama Leaver's digital culture blog

http://toddgitlin.net/ - website of Todd Gitlin, author of many books including The Whole World is Watching and Media Unlimited.

Remediation Project

Finally... A clear basis for my remediation project. I will be basing my project around the Showtime TV series Dexter. I aim to produce a series of online news reports based upon the events in Dexter as if they were actual news events. I am still unsure how many reports to produce?? Also not sure whether I should base the project on just one season of the series (there have been three to date)?? I am thinking this could get very involved...

Video Games and Violence - Some Links

Violent video games: myths, facts and unanswered questions - Craig Anderson - http://www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html

Reality check on video game violence - Benjamin Radford http://www.livescience.com/technology/051204_video_violence.html

ABC Serious games initiative - http://www.abc.net.au/tv/seriousgames/

ADF games website - http://games.defencejobs.gov.au/#/home