Year 12 Media Studies Student Questionnaire

Name: Harley Evans

Other A levels taken: theatre studies, graphics and photography

GCSE Results: English c, maths c, science c, history c, religious education a, Spanish c, DT resistant materials b, drama b,

Hobbies: snowboarding and photography

Media interests: advertisements for products

Print media
What newspapers do you read/dip into and why?

I don’t read newspapers regularly but I prefer redtops as they publish more down to earth gossipy articles and the whole set up is more of a light hearted style as opposed to broad sheet style newspapers which I find more boring.

If appropriate explain why you prefer to access news on the internet.

I prefer to access information and news on the internet as there are lots of different presentational styles and you can receive news from all different angles and research older articles at the click of a button.

What magazines do you read and why?

I read men’s health magazine as it’s designed for a male audience obviously it feeds out lots of information which is relevant to me like fashion ideas and updates and also health and fitness tips.

Radio media
What radio stations do you listen to for information and/ or entertainment?

I listen to radio heart for local news and entertainment as the stories are quirky and interesting, but for music I would listen to radio 1 as it has all the latest mixes and tracks playing almost constantly and is an easy way to keep up to date in the music world.

Music industry
What are you favourite genres of music?

I like many different genres of music and will listen to allot of music with an open mind but my favourite styles would be hard rock, dub step, reggae and rap.

Do you belong to a band, if so what is your role?

I do not belong to a band but I help my friends out if they need a bassist as I play bass and have for a year or so but not consistently.

Do you access your music on the internet?

I usually download all my music through iTunes but if I don’t have time to download a track I will use the website www.grooveshark.com to instantly listen to any track in the world.

What is your opinion of illegal downloading of music off internet sites?

Personally I don’t think it is too bad as often I have been tempted to download my music as iTunes can be very expensive especially for a new release, but the band itself who have recorded the music will be losing out on money and coming together to form an album costs allot of money with all the costs of studio and advertisement.

Explain how the music industry might influence your dress, attitudes and aspirations.

You might be influence to change your clothing style and attitudes to that of your favourite band, you may see his or her success down to the way they dress or act making you change how you react in situations and how you choose to dress.

Video games
Describe your favourite video game

My favourite video game would either be Henry hats worth or the warriors. The warriors is an adaptation of the new York based gang film the warriors in which you control the gang warriors and have to build up their reputation and help them escape the other gangs of new York. This game is as appealing to me as it’s very different to how I live my life and the violence is so unimaginable in my life.

Explain how video games may have a negative effect on attitudes to gender and attitudes to the solution of conflicts.

Video games can be very violent and contain explicit language when a young child plays a game like this they can learn that its right and start to be violent and talk with explicit language. Many games have conflicts in them and the idea in a video game is that they are fantasy and anything is possible and no real casualties appear, however these violent games almost encourage violence and people fight each other and accidents do happen.

New technology
How do you think new technologies have-
Increased your understanding of the world?

The internet was a massive tool to help me learn about the world as it is filled with information about absolutely everything and shows images from all over the world, the internet lets us have a glimpse of almost anything we can imagine. Computer generated images also help us see things as people imagine them or as they are seen.

Your ability to communicate with others

The internet provides instant messaging programmes which we can use to communicate seamlessly to others all over the world, mobile phones are becoming smaller and allot more practical they are everywhere at only a cheap cost for a basic phone they are an easy method of contacting any one from anywhere.

Access to films, television programmes, the music industry.

Through the internet you can effortlessly download an entire television serious or a film or an album from your favourite artist the internet keeps you very well connected with all of the media’s aspects to a certain extent.

Television
Which are your favourite television channels and why?

I prefer to watch music channels as I am very much a music fan; however I also enjoy watching the E4 channels as they play more dramatic programmes which I like. The channel Dave is also a favourite of mine as it plays lots of comedy during the night and programmes which appear to my gender during the day.

What is your favourite television and why?

My favourite genre of television is comedy as it is uplifting and makes me feel happier and generally better about myself. But I like dramatic programmes as well because they give you something that you have to think about to watch and allow you to get very heavily evolved in the programme itself.

Describe a television which strikes you as entertaining, stylish, humorous or clever.

I find the new Pepsi max advert very clever and entertaining it evolves a queue of people sitting in an office waiting for a job interview the first person goes in and starts to beat himself up and throws himself out of the door letting all the other people see, these people all quickly walk off leaving one man to go in and clearly receive the job this is a mock of a scene from fight club the film. This advert is very entertaining and also amusing.

Which television programmes do you consider memorable?

I would say friends is a very memorable programme as it is very popular and you can watch it time and time again and not become tired of the same gags and jokes. This programme is very effective and it is difficult to explain way, however it is very closely related to normal people’s lives and we often find ourselves in similar situations but the characters react very differently and it is interesting to see what will happen.

Feature film
Which is your favourite genre and why?

I enjoy both comedy and thriller because they are both very entertaining but for very different reasons, comedy is easy to watch and makes you feel very happy and can also help release stress, however thrillers and heavily physical films and get your heart racing and keep you guessing throughout the film as to what’s going to happen next and you can never tell the turn out.

Identify three films which you find outstanding

The curious tale of Benjamin button is an incredible film and the performance from brad Pitt is truly incredible he plays the role very well and is perfect for this particular role. The story line for this film is also fantastic it is very deep and meaningful and way it is filmed its very clever and really absorbs you into the film. The film road trip is a very funny film about a group of teenagers who go on a road trip to try and receive a tape they accidently posted to the wrong person, the group fall into all sorts of trouble and have allot of fun getting out of it. This film is very funny to watch and the comedic timing is very good, the acting is also very good and all the roles are played by the perfect actor. My third most outstanding film is saw 1 this film is very gripping, the story line is fantastic and you can never guess what’s going to happen next so you are constantly thinking throughout the film, the sets and filming go together very well and really get us on the edge of our seats, the actors aren’t the best but the film was made on a small budget and is truly epic.

How do you prefer to consume films? At the cinema? On television? On a portable electronic gadget?

Whenever I watch a film I usually watch it on my laptop because its generally cheaper than anything else and it is easily portable so I can constantly change position to be seated comfortably, I can adjust the brightness and sound levels to my choice and pause the film when I want to, whereas at the cinema you may have someone talking and I personally don’t feel comfortable in the cinema with other people rustling their popcorn bags or sweet wrappers, so I personally prefer to watch a film alone on my laptop.

Which is your favourite cinema?

My favourite cinema would have to be Hollywood cinema in Anglia square because it is very cheap and not very popular meaning there isn’t many people there to talk over the movie, this particular cinema still have intermissions in the middle of the film meaning you can stretch your legs or relive yourself compared to most cinemas which don’t have this break.
Do you prefer to watch films on your own or in a group?
Usually I prefer to watch films by myself so I can choose when to pause the film eat what I want and have the sound and lighting to my personal preference, but when watching a horror movie I like to be in a group so I am able to make jokes throughout the film to stop myself getting to scared, being a person that gets scared easily I like to be with friends for comfort.

Conclusion
Identify any media text (of any medium or genre) that has most offended you. (Think about violence, sexism, racism, obscenity, incomprehension, bias, boredom)

I recently read in the sun newspaper about a family who were all majorly obese and they managed to claim disability benefits of twenty thousand pounds a year without tax this is roughly the equivalent to a yearly salary of fifty thousand pounds which I thought was ridiculous. The general public is paying for these obese people to sit around doing nothing with their lives. The article also included the facts that this family wanted more money and didn’t think they were getting enough benefits. I found this article very offensive because they could quite easily go out and lose their weight and get a job or get a job in a factory.

In contrast identify the most interesting or exciting or innovative media text you have either seem or heard?

I recently saw the ford KA advertisement for the new model of the ford KA which was very interesting and I personally found very effective, the advert evolves the camera moving through a shopping mall and through several shops until the camera finds the actual car but this advert is interactive or like a puzzle, as at the beginning of the advert it says how many KA’s can you sport and pictures of the car are located all over the place and it is a puzzle to see how many you can see.

Can you identify any media text or episode from a media text that has altered your attitude to yourself, to your family, to your friendship group, to your community, county, your values, inspiration or creativity? In other words a text that has altered the way you think about the world

I am very impressionable and some things can make me want to or change the way I am the television series one tree hill is very dramatic and shows good and evil in many forms watching this programme makes me feel as though I should act and behave very differently and live my life better and care for others and live for the moment. Also the film saw made me see how dark the world can be and how fortunate I am to have a working body with no aliments and made me appreciate life more and live faster and make the most of what I have.

Why have you chosen media studies as an option?

I have chosen media studies because it is a subject that is all around us every single day and it would be very useful to understand how everything worked and what the ideas behind everything are. The induction day showed me that media studies were a very interesting subject and I thought it would be very useful to have the knowledge of.