Intentions Statement

For my media mest 4 work my critical investigation is that of if our 21^st century gaming reflecting different realities.

The idea that came to mind that links in with my CI is the fact that as i am focusing on the print platform of my LP, i have come up with the idea to do a game cover for the existing game of grand theft auto, the reason why i think this is an effective idea is because it relates to the idea that the games like grand theft auto are becoming more real as the game improves, so the game cover could be used in reality to show the link between the game and real-life also i am going to create a campaign 'wanted' poster which grand theft auto used for the worldwide release of the game, to show the link in what what my CI was trying to bring across which was the that games like grand theft auto reflects reality in terms of violence, youth and crime.  this is the idea that i am most likely going to take forward in order for my linked production piece to stand out. 


What i will need to do for this linked production is to take pictures of different teens that i could use for my campaign poster, i will need to think about the dress code and the location of which i will be taking this photos. The amount of photos that i will be planning to take will be no more than 10 as i will be using only one person for the poster. 
For the games cover i will be using approximately 9 to 10 scenes of the london riots and manipulating them into them in to the style of which grand theft auto uses, i will be doing this for  at least 3 different audiences, these audiences will be between 16- 20, and the second audience will be 25+ which in this case is adults. 

Media Studies Mest 4 - Linked Production Idea

For my linked production idea i have decided to focus on the print based of the media platform, and create a 4 page article that would go into the game magazines that i have focused on in my reaserch, magazines such as Gamesmaster, Playsation magazine, GamesTM magazine etc. Im going to look at the layout of each of the magazines and see how they produce their articles, the programme that i am planning to use for this is illustrator, as the programme is best for producing articles, and i found it comfortable to use in year 12.
Abit of reseach will be needed by looking into the language and the images that these magazines uses and also their use of color also, and what target audince these magazines focuses on.

For my linked production i am going choose to confirm the issue and go with the idea that games in our 21st are reflecting different type of relalities using the two texts that i have focusing on throughout my critical invsetigation and the reaserch that i have done for that.

Media Studies Mest 4 - Media CI Essay Draft 1

In media I have asked to critically investigate a certain topic area that I am deeply interested in, the topic that I have chosen to interrogate is the topic of gaming. I am particularly interested in this topic because gaming over the years have become a major part in our lives and the way it has developed over the years on the platforms that it is based on is quite extraordinary in terms of its historical contexts. 

My CI is asking the question, ‘Is our generation of 21^st century gaming a reflection of different realities?’ and for this question the two main texts that have a deep involvement in this question in terms of reality is Call of duty and Grand theft auto, the reason why these two texts is a perfect example is because these two games are the ones that stand out in terms of realism.

Grand theft auto is a playstation franchise that goes way back over the years, the game is based on the concepts of mainly crime, but as each of the games developed through the years it has introduced to the audience the key themes of love, loss, status, power, betrayal, family, friendship, and as these key themes have been involved within the game, the audience have come to love the storylines the way that they see it.

Call of duty itself in comparison to grand theft auto also goes has a significant historical context behind it, the games are set in world war 1 and 2 and in the today’s location of modern warfare, the game is entirely based on survival, teamwork and strategy, using real life weapons and locations throughout the game. For each call of duty games that has been released, infinity ward has improved and delivered, and as of now there has not been one call of duty game that has disappointed in terms of the content and the quality.

 The concept of gaming has become increasingly involved in our everyday lives, we play games for a number of reasons, to entertain, to test our brains, to compete against other people, so as these are the key factors we play the games we love more than we realize, and for the developers of the games, they have to consistently keep the quality of the their games to our satisfactory, in order for they sales figures to increase, and for them to earn money.

Each of the grand theft auto games has a different storyline, in which the audience can play a different character, and the next grand theft games always improve so the audience can get to experience and do different things, things that perhaps couldn’t do in the previous game. Mostly the storyline of grand theft auto is linked to a particular character trying to find their place in the world and being accepted and starting a new life.

For the call of duty games it focuses on the armies and infantries of America, and each storylines different except for the modern warfare trilogy, which is all, linked together. The storylines of each game has a part to play in the realness of the game and how each reflects a part of reality that the audience can see and interpret.

Each franchise maintain contents such as DLCs which are side stories of the main game, they also contain multiplayer and CO-op also, but depending on the game, some games have more contents than other, but for these games that I have focused on the contents are extremely important and links in a lot when talking about my critical investigation.

The Multiplayer for example in both of these texts is huge in terms of the audience figures on average that plays these multiplayer games. The purpose of these multiplayer games is that it gives a chance for the audience to play and experience the games with other friends, and as the multiplayer format is worldwide the audience can compete with people from around the world, no matter what country that you are in.

In the multiplayer for grand theft 4 the audience can do a range of stuff, from free roaming, to races, and even death match also in which you have to eliminate the other characters, the audience is also allowed to customize their own personal character, which is also good, the multiplayer format for grand theft is reflected through e-media which consists of a website in which the audience and the fans of the game can get information and tips in which they can get the best out of the game. 

For the call of duty franchise the multiplayer format is a gaming phenomenon, the multiplayer format across the games is more preferable than the storyline itself, it allows the fans to get the real experience of the game and interact with friends, using strategic game play and real life weapons so it makes the audience feel like there are literally in the experience.

The DLCs of the games are put into place as side stories to the games, it please the audience in the terms as, if the game may have seemed to short and the audience didn’t get enough of the game, then they can play the side stories to lengthen their experience of the game.

Linking the concept of media theory to my CI investigation, there is range of theories that have an involvement, these theories are; Postmodernism, feminism, Vladimir propp’s theory of the 8 characters.

Postmodernism is the main theory that links to both of my texts, outlining what postmodernism is, postmodernism is when a media text is reality based but certain parts of the texts is set up for our entertainment purposes, this theory has a major part to play in the two texts that I have focused on and could be the only theory that answers my CI question. Feminism is another theory that I have researched that links to my CI question, for call of duty text there is a lack of femininity, the gender demographic for this text is dominiated by males, due to the violence and blood content into the game, call of duty wouldn’t seem like a game that a female would be particularly interested in., due to this occurrence it can be said that as call of duty have more of a male demographical audience then it creates this masculine ideology to the idea that if boys had to see or hear a girl excessively speaking about call of duty then it would be seen as weird, whereas the grand theft auto game the femininity is balanced within the game, and the audience also. In grand theft auto 4 there are female characters that have a dominant role in the game, by doing this rockstar makes it fair to each gender, so the game doesn’t seem like it is being to sexist.

Vladimir prop’s theory also applies to CI in terms of my two texts, but not as straight forward as the theory is brought across, grand theft auto is a game that you can see what each character is and what they represent but in each of the games there are some happy endings, and there is not and the games are far from a fairytale. The way in which the Vladimir prop theory is applied to the grand theft auto game is that, for example in grand theft auto 4 the characters in the game fits the roles of the fairytales, e.g. niko bellic is the main character of the game, therefore for what he does in the game he would class as the hero, his cousin roman would be classed as the accomplice, as he is with the main character throughout most of the game, and so forth. For the call of duty franchise, the game is more open, and doesn’t follow a set structure in which each character poses a certain role-play. As the game is mostly about warfare it creates the ideology of blood and violence and fighting on the frontline, and also the way the institution of infinity ward has designed the game, the audience is allowed to play different characters, in different situations as you progress through the game.

The postmodernism theory would be the theory that would answer my question of if our 21^st century gaming is a reflection of different realities, because of the things that the audience can do within the game, and the content of which the game contains, the settings and style of both of the games also has a part to play in the realness of the games also, these two texts also follow the conventional structure of every game also, the fact that games are put into motion to entertain and intrigue the audience, giving them something to talk about and remember in the long term.

The question that is the most important that will answer the question is ‘what type of realities does these two games reflect?’ as these games reflect the postmodernism theory there are stuff in the games that can be mimicked in the real world, and this can have a both positive and negative effect on the audience, but it mostly have a negative on the audience, in my research I uncovered that grand theft auto: vice city was to blame for a man stealing a car and killing witnesses that was involved, for the institutions of the games this is not a good sign, if these games like grand theft auto is supposedly making people do these kinds of things then what kind of example is the game setting for the audience. The type of reality that the grand theft is bringing across is the reality of crime, power, love, loss, status and reputation, and it is these key themes that is brought into reality and that are present in our everyday lives.

With call of duty the game reflects the realty of warfare and conflict, a topic that is extremely present into today’s reality and something that is definitely on going, but the way that the game portrays the warfare and the media language that it maintains, that is what makes the game postmodern.

For both games that is being focused on it is important that all the media platforms is being addressed throughout, e-media, broadcast and print, and for my research as I addressed all three of them, M.I.G.R.A.I.N is a key thing to include when doing so, giving a overview for the call of duty franchise in terms of M.I.G.R.A.I.N, the media language that the games includes is that firstly the game is set in first person, which makes the audience feel as if they are part of the game, the camera shots vary throughout the game as from time to time it shows in different angles, the institution  that is involved in the text is the developers of the game which is in infinity ward, this institution has made most of the call of duty games, on the terms of the media platforms, institutions such as face book, YouTube, IGN, Gamescom, are involved with the info on the game and what the audience can expect from the game, these are the institutions I focused on in my research within the media platforms.  The genre that is being focused on is gaming, and in relation to my CI call of duty and grand theft auto is the main focus.  The representation that is being brought across to the audience is that of violence, heroism, and dedication, the game is based on war and the result of that in my research these themes are being shown. The target audience for call of duty is preferably teenagers but adults can be seen playing the game also, mostly the male demographical audience is the conventional audience for this type of game. The ideologies of call of duty are brought across as ‘being a hero’ and fighting for your country, while playing the game you feel as if you are doing your duty, and you are somewhat committing yourself to what you do and that is another factor that adds to the realness of the game, finally the game brings across a cinematic narrative, the mise-en-scene of parts of the game is quite shocking, so that adds intrigue to the audience.

For the grand theft auto franchise the M.I.G.R.I.A.N differs, the media language of the game is a variety, as an audience you it allows you to change the camera angles of the game in which you want to play it in, and in each game you play in third person, so a player of the game the audience can have full control of the character. The intuitions that is involved in the game is Rockstar which is the developers of the game and have been since the beginning, on other platforms, the same intuitions that are involved in call of duty is also involved with grand theft auto also. The genre of grand theft is also gaming and focuses entirely on that, the representation that the game brings across is that of status, power, reputation, control, love, loss and revenge, this is another factor which reflects the reality of the game. The ideology of grand theft differs from very game but the one that stays the same is the idea of the ‘American Dream’, this is what I uncovered in my research. And the narrative of the game is also cinematic, with the cut scenes that the game contains.

The historical context of each game is also important, the audience can pick up on how the game has grown up with our generation and as each game improves is it reflecting reality more and more?  Each of the franchises has gone way back and the audience of today can have a nostalgic feeling and reminisce how the first game use to be and by this a comparison can be made wit the first game and the latest game and we can see hoe these game has improved over the years.

In conclusion and basing these two game on my CI question I believe that in our generation of gaming, games are reflecting reality more and more, what you can do in the games and the way the game s are brought to the audience is evidence that it is. I generally think its is good thing and a bad thing that games like these are becoming more real, a good thing because it attracts more of a wide-range audience and the games are more enjoyable and realistic, but bad because depending on how real it can set a bad influence on younger people such as teens, but it’s the consumers that can choose what they do with the games they play. 

Media Studies Mest 4 - Detailed CI Essay Plan

For the fourth task of our critical investigation we are asked to present a detailed CI essay plan for the essay that we are going to do on our questions, marking out each of the sections that we are going to focus on in our essay.

CI - Is our generation of 21st century gaming a reflection of different realities?

Intro - 

• Introduce the question. 
• Outline the texts that is being focused on, e.g. Grand theft auto & Call of duty - (Brief overview)
• How involved is gaming in our everyday lives? - As games are becoming more real is that attracting consumers? 

Main Body 1 - 

• Outline what each game is about e.g Storyline, (talk about the concepts of the game) e.g. multiplayer, DLCs. - Why are these important? 
• Include the theories that you have covered that is linked in with the chosen texts - how do they link? - does the theories answer the question?! 
• Talk about what type of realties does the game reflects and how does it do that. e.g. for call of duty the game maintains the combined infantry of world war 1 & 2 and the modern warfare in today's reality. & for grand theft auto the game is based on crime, revenge, status, love and loss, all of these key concepts are present into our everyday lives. 

Main Body 2 - 

• Include M.I.G.R.A.I.N analysis of each text, include all platforms of media- Print, Broadcast & E-media-give an analysis of the websites that link to your chosen texts, outline the videos that have been looked at throughout the research e.g. gameplays, gamescom assemblies etc, analysis the print texts that also links to the CI, e.g. gamesmaster, playstation magazine - talk about the language invoved, how does this relate and appeal to the audience?   
• Outline the historical context of each text - how has the game grown up with our generation? - Explain how the pilot games of each franchise can be nostalgic to our generation. - What was the games like then? Make a comparison between thee first games and the latest game of the franchise.
• Outline the main theory 'Postmodernism' and how it links in with the texts that is being focused on. - What makes the games postmodern? E.g. Setting, contents, characters. 
• Outline each text, and make on reference to each media platform. - How does it relate to the target audience? (There is more to the texts than just playing the game!!) 

Conclusion - 

• Link everything back to the CI question. 
• Is our generation of 21st century gaming a reflection of different realities? - Answer the question with evidence. 
• Sum up the main points that have been made in the essay. - Give opinion. 

Internet/Web Reasearch - Rockstar.com/Grandtheftauto

The second website that i have looked at for my grand theft auto text which surrounds my CI is the official website for the grand theft auto franchise.
The website brings the audience back generations to the first ever grand theft auto game that was on the playstaion 1, and throughout the years the website shows how the most highest rated game of all time has changed and how it has adapted to our generation of gaming. The website includes information on each game and what the game is all about.
The website of the grand theft auto franchise is nostalgic in the sense that the audience can think back and remember the time when they were a kid and they and their friends were in to playing the grand theft auto game. the website allows the audience to play a series of demos and experience the way that grand theft auto use to be back when it first started, and that is what makes the game effective in terms of gaining audiences, and even though the new grand theft auto 5 is going to be released some time in 2012, the previous games of the franchise can not be forgotten as each game has a part to play in making the whole franchise succsessful in a whole.

Screenshot of the official website 

This screenshot shows the official website of the grand theft auto franchise, what you see here is the first grand theft auto game that was released nearly a decade ago, and when you click on it it will give you
a sample of the demo and give you information on the game, it also contains audio, video and links to do with the game.
'There is an 8 bit demo, a 24 bit demo and a 3DFX demo, all offering you the chance to have a little taste of Grand Theft Auto, completely free. Just click on the icon of the demo you would like, tell your machine where to save the demo, and let the downloading commence. All these demos are set in Liberty City'. This is a quote from the website showing the public what they offer. 

This screenshot is still from the same website, but i wanted to show you the contrast of the the first game and the latest game of the grand theft auto franchise, and how it has changed over the years, you can see by just the title of the game, its is shows more and gives more insight, as it show the characters of the game and the setting in which the game is located. 

when you click on the link it you can watch a video clip for each of the characters in the game and also the contents and also what the game contains.

Internet/Web Research - Rockstar.com

For my second text in which i am focusing on the grand theft auto franchise, and for my internet research i decided to focus on the main websites that surround the text, for this website it is rockstar, rockstar is the maiin developer of the game, and the company is well known for producing the grand theft auto franchise and the game goes way back in terms of historical context, our generation has grown up with the grand theft auto franchise and knows what the games conatins and what we can expect from each of the game that is released.
Rockstar is now officially developing the new grand theft auto game 'Grand Theft Auto V' which is due to be released sometime next year, what the fans expect from the game is all things new and exciting, as rockstar is an exceptional games developing company, the fans will be expecting nothing less.

Here is the trailer fro the new Grand Theft Auto game :

Rockstar games has also produced such games as; Midnight Club, Max Payne 3, LA Noire, Red dead redemption, Manhunt and other games which has been sucsessful.
The reason why i choose to focus on the rockstar website for my grand theft auto game is because part of the reasson why grand theft auto is the one of the highest rated games on ps3 is because of  rockstar and the ideas that they put into the games to make it look as real as possible.
The website includes videos and information on the the games that they develop and what you can expect from each game, the website has a target audience of young teenagers and adults that is mostly into these sort of games, most of the games that rockstar produce contains mostly to a male demographic.

Screenshot of Rockstar Website 

 This screenshot is of the official website for the rockstar website, in their website they talk about and give information on all the well known games that they have developed, including the highly rated grand theft auto franchise. The layout of the website is clear with links for each topic so the audience doesn't get confused on where to go and what to search for.

 

Internet/Web Research - Treyarch.com

The forth website that i am looking at in terms of my call of duty text is the developer behind the call of duty installment black ops.
Treyarch is also a major developer of the call of duty series, they have made Call of duty 2: Big red one, Call of duty 3 and Call of duty: world at war.
Call of Duty: Black Ops holds the record for the largest ever entertainment launch in history in any form of entertainment, breaking the record within 24 hours of its release. Sales from the game worldwide reached US$650 million within five days after its release.
The reason why i have chosen this website is because the company teryarch has a contribution to the quality that call of duty black ops have to offer, as call of duty is one of their biggest projects.

Looking on the treyarch website it includes clips from the call of duty games and it gives insight into the history of the franchise and what you can expect from the game, they also have an insight of the awards tht they have won showing the quality of games that they develop showing that they are a good games developing company.
Treyarch has developed a number of games ranging from different platforms of consoles, old and new and for each games that has been developed the quality has also been developed along with it.

Screenshot of the official website 

The screenshot shows the official website of the makers of call of duty black ops, and as you can see call of duty is the main focus in the website as the developers are best known for making a high rated game like this one.

Internet/Web Reasearch - Activision.com

The third website that i am looking at for my call of duty text is the publisher of each of the call of duty games which is Activision, the reason why i choose to broaden my research and focus on the company that is outside the game is because activision is has worked on one of the highest rated and best selling video games such as the call of duty franchise, activision is the premier international publisher of interactive entertainment software. 
They maintain a diverse portfolio of products that span a wide range of categories and can be used on a variety of game hardware platforms and operating systems. They have created, licensed and acquired a group of highly recognizable brands, marketed to a growing variety of consumer demographics. 


The games that activision has worked on is such games as; 

• Call of Duty 
• Spiderman 
• X-men 
• James Bond 
• Transformers ......and more 

The Official Activision Website 

The screenshot shows the website of activison and just like treyarch you can see that their main focus is of call of duty, at the top of the website they also show other games that they have published along with the call of duty franchise. The website also contains a youtube clip of the game and what you can expect from it. 

Internet/Web Reasearch - Call of duty.com

The second website that i am focusing on for my call of duty text is the official website itself for the whole game, the call of duty website in whole focuses on all of the call of duty franchise on both of the playstation platforms, playstation 2 and playstation 3.
The website includes insight into the latest call of duty game, 'Modern Warfare 3' which includes clips and information on the game and their own 'latest intel' which has discussions and a clip which goes behind the scenes of the new modern warfare multiplayer which contains 'Kill confirmed' and 'Team Defender' modes.
The call of duty website also contains mini sites and links of all the other previous call of duty games, by call of duty doing this they are not only looking at the latest call of duty game and ignoring the previous, they keep all of them so the public can go back to there favourite call of duty game out of the whole franchise.

The Official Call Of Duty Website 

These are the screenshots of the call of duty sites for each game:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 

Call of Duty 2 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 

Internet/web Reasearch - Infinity ward.com

One of the online sites that i am focusing on that contributes to my topic in terms of my Call of duty text is the online site of the developers of the game which is Infinity ward.
For Infinity ward they have only been producing Call of duty games such as the mordern warfare trilogy and world at war. The infinity ward website is a interactive website which allows the audience to get more out of the website and participate in whhat the website has to offer, e.g 'join the infinity ward community to get involved in every aspect of its development by connecting directly with the studio'.
As for each of my texts it is already clear that there is more to the game than just playing it and it is important that the public feels that they can get the best out of the game as possible, so its worth the money and the time also playing the game.

The infinity ward website broadens it self on the media platform in terms of twitter, facebook and myspace, by doing this, the audince can be kept informed with the latest news of the games that the company is developing.

Screenshot of Infinity Ward Website 

the screenshot above shows the official website of the developers of the call of duty franchise, on the homepage you can see that their main focus is of the call of duty franchise, and it also keeps the public up to date of the the latest news that surround these games, for example on the website you can see that they released the trailer for the new call of duty game, and has posted info on what contents the game has, from multiplayer to special ops.

Media Studies Mest 4 - Internet/Web Research

For the 3 part of our critical investigation i'll be doing a detailed study of into the online websites that contribute to my topic in terms of my critical investigation, this will include 'cross cultural' and 'wide-ranging'.

For my Call of Duty text the websites i will be looking at is;
Infinity ward.com
http://www.infinityward.com/

Call of duty.com
http://www.callofduty.com/

Activision.com
http://www.activision.com/atvihub/home.do?site=en_GB&country=UK

Treyarch.com
http://www.treyarch.com/

For my Grand Theft Auto text the websites i will be looking at is
Rockstar.com
http://www.rockstargames.com/

Rockstar.com/grandtheftauto
http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto/

gta4.net
http://www.gta4.net/multiplayer/

CI Clips - Call of duty

Feminism CI - Issues and debates that are raised

The issues and debates that is raised from the the thoery of feminism, is that in certain societies men have more of a dominance over women, one of the viewpoints and debates that surround the feminist theory in terms of my CI investigation is debate of sexual fantasy and the icons such as lara croft, that inspire the feminist gender in our generation of gaming.
What they say about the this pirticular area of this debate is that lara croft as example was made to be a tough, self-reliannt and intelligent women, she does confounds  all the sexual cliches apart from her extraordinary figure, the strong, independent girls are always the ideal fantasy girls, in the thoery and the way the media represents both of the stereotypical gender, women are seen more as the soft type, the type that stays at home, soft, probably likes to shop and the type that are dependent on their man, the reason why lara croftt is a perfect example to use for this and still keeping the concept of game in to the debates, lara croft defies all the conventional ideologies of the feminine gender, playing the game you will see that she works alone and that she takes on eniemies that are mostly male and usually overcomes them. This goes to show that women still has the power to be dominate and independent and stand on their own feet, and just because Call of duty is mainly a 'guys' game dosent mean that the game was mainly targeted at the male demographic.

As for Grand theft auto, it can be said abit differently, in the game there are women that are seen as strong and wel capable, and has order of few of the chararcters, so it kind of balanced on both sides, but most of the times it is the males that has the 'upper hand'.

CI Clips- Grand Theft Auto

Mest 4 Theory Research for CI - Feminism

For both of my chosen texts you could say that there is a lack of feminity, for these two games the gender demographic for both of these games are males, and the contents of the games reflects more a masculin ideology, especially for the Call of duty franchise, the way the public see this is that if a girl speaks of playing Call of duty, it would see most probably weird to boys, as they are mostly seen to be in the idea of guns, battle and blood.
For the grand theft auto franchise it is similar, but a percentage of the female public do tend to take an interest in Grand theft auto, mainly to the reason that grand theft auto is an open game, and it allows you to do an range of stuff in terms of social communication, e.g. shopping, dating, tourism.
We are all aware of the kinds of stereotypes that is reinforced by media representations, they look something like this

Feminity                                                               Masculinity
Caring                                                                   Tough
Nuturing                                                                Providing
Emotional                                                              Rational
Domestic- Home orentated                                    Public- Work orientated
Senstive                                                                Thick-skinned
Passive                                                                 Active
Gentle                                                                   Rough                                                              
Soft                                                                       Hard

Looking at these stereotypes the point that is being put across is that they still describe very similar versions of masculinity and feminity, and futhermore it is easy to se how these qualities are associated with power, political leadership, status and well paid jobs.

Parody Poster of Call of duty In terms of females 

Vladamir Propp CI - Debates and Issues that is raised

The issues and debates that is raised in terms of the vladimir propp theory of the 8 characters is firstly is that does games of our generation that has a structure to the prior of the vladimir propp theory, makes a better undestanding of the game or is it too cliche to do it that way, making it loose fans?
The way we understand the conventional story of a hero is that he overcomes the villian and takes the girl, with the games such as Grand theft auto, the twist the storyline to make it realistic, for example, in the game, the main character does defeat the enemy, but along the way the love interest dies, so the happy ending is not quite there, by doing this the audience gets that sting in the tail when it comes to predicting what might happen at the end of the game.

Mest 4 Theory Research for CI - Vladmir Propp - Fairy Tale

The Vladamir propp theory, expresses the theory of the fairy tales characters which consists of a conventional fairy tale, the characters that propp includes is;

• The hero- The one who defeats the villian and savees the day.
• The villian- The one who struggles against the hero.
• The helper- The one who helps the hero on his quest/ mission.
• The Princess/ Love interest- The hero marries the princess
• The Donor - The person who equippes the hero with a mystical object or weapon.
• False hero - The person who pretends to be the hero, to get all the credit.

The reasons why i used thistheory in my CI is because i beileve in some ways its applies to my chosen texts, porticulary grand theft auto, which consists of the storyline, pirticulary in grand theft auto 4, but the way in which the story line flows, it kinda twists the fairy tale and it dosent exactly go the way the fairy tale may suggest, as grand theft auto is a game that has voilenece and deception, it dosent have a conventional happy ending that the public is aware of. The main character niko bellic is the main character and sort of the hero in a way because not only does he saves the life of the cousin roman but also saves the future that he wants for him self by the decisions that he makes.
The vladmir propp theory dosen't really aplly with the call of duty franchise because the characters are indeed different and its all about teamwork, survival and overcoming the enemy.

Postmordernism CI - Issues and debates that are raised

A debate that can be raised due to the fact that is games now in our 21st century are becoming more postmordernism is that, as games are having more of a real expereince, is that attracting more of the public to play those games?
Grand theft auto is the most highest rated PS3 games of all time due to its realism and gameplay quality, the graphics of the game is smooth and the contents is a variety, so by grand theft having all this, is this atracting more game players to play the game, plus with its multiplayer content.

This can also be raised with the call of duty franchise, which each of the Call of duty that was made, they improved it in terms of content and multiplayer, the storylibe has also has improved as well, the instituion that is involved with call of duty, which is infinity ward, they want their games to feel as real as possible, by this it will get more fans playing the game, and by that make more money as lots of people will be playing the game.


Another debate that is raised that also links to the thoery of postmordernism is the 'Video game controversy' which is discussed as video games maintaining a voilent, sexual and graphic imagery within them and by so doing it can have a impact on the audience, for example the ps2 game 'Manhunt' it was prevented from going into a third installment, due to the contents of the game being extremely violent that a 15 year old killed his grandparents due to wanting to imitate the kills moves of manhunt.
The video game controversy also states that the content of video games like voilence and nudity can send of a bad message, for example:

On June 7, 2003, 18-year-old American Devin Moore shot and killed two policemen and a dispatcher after grabbing one of the officers' weapons following an arrest for the possession of a stolen vehicle. At trial, the defense claimed that Moore had been inspired by the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

By these sort of crimes being inspired by these games, its sending of the fact that you could do these things in real life and that could be a growing problem for the developers of the games.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversy

Mest 4 Media Theory Reasearch for CI - Postmordernism

The most important theory that surrounds my CI question is the theory of postmordernism, as i am looking how our generation of gaming is a reflection of different types of reality, postmordern reflects that question as the thoery is based on the idea that media texts are reality based but different concepts of the media texts is set up for our entertainment purposes, so it keeps the audience interested and intrigued.
The useful aspect of postmordermism is the way that it conceptulises the relationship between the media and reality, and how the media can contruct the reality that is brought across to the audience.


Most of the public's experince comes from media texts instead of first-hand, direct experience that the signs that we get becomes, 'more real than real', that is the part of our lives that is dominiated with diferent types of media such as television, computer games, DVD, internet, Chatrooms, magazines and newspapers, and it is important in a way that we have these sort of media in our lives because without it we would be blind from the truth, the truth that we rely on the media everyday to give us the information that is relevant to us in our everyday lives.


With games such as grand theft auto and call of duty, these games link in massivly with the theory of postmordernism because these games are based on reality factors but in game style, but a line is drawn between that and there is only a limit to how postmordern a game can get, for example with Call of Duty, the game stimulates the infantry and the combined arms of the world war 1 and 2, in the game it contains guns of real life such as AK47, Assult Rifle, M4 carbine and other weapons, the reason why they do this is to reinforce the realness of the game, they aslo base the game in real life locations round the world to give you the full expereince of the game, and including media language the all of the call of duty games is set in first person as if you are the character, using real life startegies and tactics to overcome you oppenent or the opossing team. the bit where the line is drawn is the mods and cheats that is used in the game, this can give you extraordnary abilities when you proceed in yor rank.
For Grand theft Auto, the game is set in location throughout america, but the name is changed not to mimick the locations entirely but you could still tell what state is supose to be, the mission and te story line brings across ideologies of status, escape and oppotunities, and in the latest grand theft, the game is wide spread, so you can do much more than just the missions, and with contents such as cars, and pedestrians, make the game more real, just like call of duty, the game draws that same line when it comes to cheats and mods so you still get that feeling that it is just a game.

Gameplay of GTA IV 

Gameplay of GTA: San Andreas 

Media Studies Mest 4 - Book/Article Reasearch

For the continuation of my mest 4 research in terms of my CI question which is 'Is our generation of 21st gaming a reflection if different types of realities?' and the two texts that i am focusing on is the Grand Theft Auto franchise and the Call of Duty franchise also, i choose these two texts because for me these games are pretty much the defining games of the different events that is possible to happen in real life.

I will be looking at different theories in the media that links in with my critical investigation and examine the debates that is raised with within the theories that link to it, in  terms of who-what-why and how.

Media Studies Textual Analysis.... E-Media

Grand Theft Auto -
http://www.rockstargames.com/
http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto

Call Of Duty-
http://www.callofduty.com/
http://www.infinityward.com/

M.I.G.R.A.I.N Textual Analysis...Institutions

For my Text analysis i have look at the institutions that is involved with the production of my two texts which is Grand theft auto and Call of duty, i looked at there website in general and see the different games that they have made, and see how it links with my two texts and how that is associated with my CI question, seeing how long garand theft has been around and how it has grown up with our genereation, rockstar is a well respected games developer and it is responsible for making garnd theft the most highest rated PS3 game of all time.
For call of duty, infinity ward developed the call of duty franchise that we have also grown up with, as call of duty is a first person shooter, and the contents it maintains, along with the highest multiplayer figures in the history of first person shooters, call of duty is no doubt one of the best war games in exsistence, with infinity ward and activison having a major part to play in it.

Media Studies CI- What I've done so far...

As my texts for my CI are based on the 'Call of Duty' Franchise and the 'Grand Theft Auto' franchise im collecting materials from each of the media platforms, e-media, print and broadcast, right now i have collected aricles of each of my texts from print magazines such as Gamesmaster, Playstaion Magazine, and Play game, i have also done printscreens of the actual gameplay so i can relate it to my CI question, this will be helpful when it comes to analysis. I have also done a Textual analysis brainstorm of each of my texts.

What i am going to now is look at the companies that made these games, so for call of duty it will be activision, and for grand theft auto it will be rockstar games, look at the different games that they also made and compare it and link the similarities, i will aso get examples from the rest of the two platforms, e-media and broadcast, i will then look at the historical context of each game and the impact on the generation and do a full M.I.G.R.A.I.N analysis of the texts on focus.

Textual analysis

The texts that i have decided to look in for my investigation is Games master magazine and IGN website which focuses on the our generation of gaming and gives us a insight on the latest games and what we can expect from them.
For these texts i will be looking at the historical contexts of my investigation and comparing the way gaming has enhanced over the years and how postmordern can a certain games get until it is literally gimmicking realty, such as grand theft auto, call of duty, battlefield, uncharted etc.

For the two texts the games that i will be focusing on will be Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty, the reasons why i am choosing these games is because these games maintain concepts and activities and you could do in real life, for example, call of duty is set in different location such as iran and Afganistan , these location really exist so does the guns that appear in the game.  Grand theft auto on the other hand is set in america, the games is a freestyle game, you can got to the bar, play pool, shopping etc, the buildings that is in the game is mirror image to the buildings that in real life, for example the empire state building, the cyrstler building and the statue of liberty.

My Critical Investigation Idea

3 possible Investigation options:

1) Is our generation of gaming a reflection of different realities? For example the theory of post mordernism and how different games are based in real life locations, and what we can do in the games, is what we could most probably do in reality.

2) Is hollywood running out of ideas for movie making? We see a lot of remakes for different movies and movies that are based on the same foundation. Is the film industry slowly dying or has it got even more to give.

3) Does society need to based on equality or do you have to be a certain person to fit in? in certain societies you have to be a certain way, why can't we all be equal and live in the same place, without predujice or discrimination?

These three interest me because these are like the little things that we may not notice, but will have a big impact on the lives for the generation to come.

I have settled on the first critical investigation that ask the question of if our generation of gaming a reflection of different realities including the theory of postmordernism.

Initial ideas for critical investigation and linked production:-


1) The text and topic that is to be investigated is the topic will be on gaming and if our generation of gaming is a reflection of different types of realities, the texts that i will be focusing on is IGN, and games master magazine.


2) For a linked production piece, i was thinking that i could do an exclusive article for games master on our generation gaming and the different games that is brought out to us as being post mordern, but yet keep that gaming bubble to not make it to not too real.


3) the three media texts i could bring in to my investigation is IGN, which focuses on next generation gaming such as PS3 and Xbox 360, games master which is a magazine entirely focused on the gaming world, and perhaps PSM which is a Playstation magazine.


4) With Migrain this could be applied to my investigation by linking in each point and where it fits in with the investigation i am doing,

• Media language fits in with the gaming so for example the type of shots that is involved, whether the game is in first person or 3rd person, it makes you fell as if you are the character that can have a big part to play in that.
• Institution involve, playstation, xbox, also the companies that are behind the productions such as EA games, Naughty dog, Activision. 
• Genre of my investigation is gaming and the theory of postmordernism and how a game may look like a realty but different aspects is put for entertainment purposes. 
• Representation can be linked by how these games make a representation of being real and how it can have a impact on our lives. 
• Audience that is involved is mostly teenagers that are in to games and the latest realises and young adults 20+, but mainly male as females doesen't take a huge interest in gaming as much as men. 
• Ideologies that is brings across is the idea of realism and how the more real a game may seem the better the experience that the gamer will have. 
• Narrative of the the investigation is the way the games is told as the way its seen, the story line can link with the post morderism, e.g. a man moving to a city to have a fresh start but still haunted by his past..' 

5) the issues and debates that arises from my investigation is that is our generation of gaming changing over the years, looking at the historical context of the isssue, and see how gaming has improved and enhanced over the years, from Playstation to Playstaion 3.

The two texts that i have decided to focus on is Grand Theft Auto and Call of duty, each franchise has a big part to play in my CI and i'll show you why...

Media Studies Reflection On Mock!

For our assignment we had to focus on a pirticular topic that is that has raised big issue in the world of media in terms of 2011, the topics that was focused on was, 9/11 10 years on, the arab spring, the summer riots, the topic that i had focused on was the 'Phone hacking scandal' which took place recently this year, the most important thing that we had to focus on was how the media dealt with the issue and brouht towards the audience.

5 things that went well:
1. dug deep into the topic and explored different aspects.
2. used evidental sources to back up my points
3. kept focus on the pionts.
4. thinking outside the box, how the topic has a wider long term effect.
5. uses of theory.

5 things that would be even better
1. for each point that is made go even deeper
2. use more media theories that link with the issues
3. use more textual examples from each media platform
4. use the public as a base of opinion.
5. use more historical contexts to make a link.

Media Essay 2011- The most Pivotal Year

Media Essay- 2011- The Most Pivotal Year of our Generation    Andre Emanuel

The year of 2011 has brought to our generation some of the most shocking, and quite memorable topics that could have been heard of. Topics such as the summer riots, the Arab spring, the royal wedding and of course the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack on America and that also changed the world and many of the lives that was involved on that tragic day. The phone hacking scandal has a major part to play in why 2011 is the most pivotal year of our generation in terms of how it has affected us and the media that was involved. Quick scanning over the phone hacking scandal, the newspaper company ‘news of the world’ hacked into celebrities and young people’s phones in order to get a story; this was majorally attacked by the death of Milly dowler, a young girl who was murdered and news of the world hacked into her phone, deleting her messages with her parents having false hopes about her whereabouts, this in itself is unacceptable and raising questions on if we could ever trust the media 100%, our generation relies on the media to bring us the latest stories and also keep us up to date on what is happening in the world. How we take and interpret the media is totally up to us.

A lot of events has happened over the year of 2011 but for me i would say that the phone hacking scandal that took place in 2011 would be presented as being the most pivotal of 2011, and the reasons why to back up this statement, the phone hacking scandal is o ne issue but how it has been represented through the media is another issue, and that is the concept that is the most important. The media has to power to either define us or destroy us, we rely on the media every day, with its categories such as magazines, newspapers, the internet and televisions and radios, even music and with the phone hacking scandal that recently happened perhaps the media has taken advantage of the fact, with the extent of the phone hacking scandal it has caused one of the most well known newspaper companies to shut down for good. Something like this have never really happened before and it is not every day that a major newspaper company closes down for good, and the fact that it happened in our generation, it does have an impact on our lives more than we realise, and it also gives us that idea that if it can happen to celebrities and normal people then it can also happen to us as well. The phone hacking scandal compared to the other to the other major stories that took place this year, may not seem big when you think about it, compared to 9/11 that literally changed the world, our generation may not remember it happening but 10 years on the world stops to pay their respects to the 3000+ people who lost their lives that they, because that they it wasn’t just America that was attacked, they whole world was attacked along with it, and now it being 10 years since the attack and the whole world remembering that tragic day, our generation got a bit of a wakeup call and learned a very valuable lesson that nowhere in the world is safe, and that anything can happen.

The phone hacking scandal compared to the summer riots have roughly about the same impact on our generation as 2011 being the most pivotal year, the summer riots would definitely play a crucial part because first of all it happened in our area so close to our homes, with hundreds of people looting and businesses and shops being burnt down to the ground, years of business development being destroyed in a matter of hours, the summer riots was using media such as the internet and phones in order to get more people involved and also to put forth the absolute damage that occurred to many areas.

The way in which the media dealt with the issues that took place in 2011, is based on each of the media platforms, e-media, broadcast and print putting it forth to the public in whether it was a necessary thing to do. For the e-media platform, phone hacking got involved with such websites as twitter, face book, and also having some clips on YouTube involving discussions about the phone hacking scandal that involved news of the world. For the twitter they had a phone hacking page in which the pubic could follow and keep up to date with their latest news. For facebook they made a ‘like’ page in terms of the phone hacking, although the information they had on the ‘like’ page was a direct link to Wikipedia, the phone hacking was also focused on the guardian website, the telegraph and also the BBC news in which contained quotes from MPs such as David Cameron and David Milliband on what they thought about the issue.

The way in which news international responded with the phone hacking is that rebekah brooks the editor of the news of the world resigned from her job, and news Corp boss Rupert Murdock issued an apology of the ‘serious wrongdoing’ in the UK national newspapers and adverts. For the broadcast platform YouTube had clips which included discussions for the phone hacking scandal, and also podcasts talks on the guardian website, with people giving their opinions.

The phone hacking scandal in terms of theory links with the theory of uses and gratifications put forth by Denis McQuail which states the idea of personal values which links in with the concept of privacy which is important when it comes to our personal lives, also the Marxism theory can also be applied which states the idea of social change, society has changed over the years one of the ways is technology, and the media is using that to their grasp, unaware of the consequences.

In conclusion the phone hacking scandal would have a major part to play in 2011 being the most pivotal year, as it is the first issue that became so big that one of the top newspaper being shut down because of it. The phone hacking contributes to the power of the statement, in a idea that the media is not only based on what we know or how it is presented to us but it is also based on trust, whether the media can restore trust is unknown, but what it can do now is make sure nothing like this ever happens again. 

2011- A Pivital Year

So far in media studies me and my class are looking at the events and issues that has derived to the world as making 2011 a pivital year in terms of media. 

What i am looking at is the phone hacking scandal that has recently been uncovered involving 'The News Of The World' hacking in to celebrities phones in desperate measure of a story, which has also led to the the death of a young girl named Lily Dowler in which her parents still had false hope that she was alive, this issue has become bigger than we expected raising many question about the media and the power that the media wields, they is line between searching and destroying, has the media cross that crucial line?? 

Health-Related Websites.

www.NHS.co.uk
www.medicinenet.com
www.Healthline.com
www.Righthealth.com
www.mayoclinic.com