Post-Prelim work Thursday:

 Article #1- TheSpinoff 

Notes:

• Confronting new research shows just how fast traditional media lost young NZ.
• Over the last 10 years, we have seen a revolution in our media consumption habits, driven by the ubiquity of smartphones, the rise of social media, and the rollout of broadband. Despite the pleasure we take in complaining about their prices (which are still high enough to exclude some), this country has now had relatively cheap and fast and plentiful data, at home and away from it, for years. And it has transformed our behavior in alternately exciting and confronting ways.
• Netflix and YouTube have replaced linear TV for under 40s
• The survey conducted by NZ On Air asks its 1,420 respondents (found through phone and online, balanced for demographics and with a margin of error of 2.6%) which media they used the previous day. Just over half (56%) nominated linear television, a number which drops to around a third for those under 40. It’s worth remembering that under 40s represent over half of our population and one which (naturally) heralds the coming behavior patterns.
• Daily reach of media over time - 15-39-year-olds:

• The use of linear television has almost halved in just five years, a staggeringly fast drop. What they do instead is streaming. As the chart shows, online video – particularly YouTube – remains very strong. But it’s subscription video, or SVOD, which has risen most steeply, to functionally replace television as the core platform for this half of the population. This category is dominated by Netflix, which is now in a massive 64% of households – this is higher than Sky TV at its height, and not far off the number of households with a working television (76%).
• the decline of linear television is actually better understood as the decline of a single product: Sky TV’s black boxes, which were once in over half of our living rooms, and are now in less than a third. Those who still have them are more likely to be older than Pākehā, who still spend a significant amount of time watching, but there is no getting around that plummeting subscription rate.
• The big lie New Zealand told itself over decades was that we were one big melting pot – different people who all mucked in and largely experienced the same things and had the same values. Fast internet, social media, and smartphones blew that all up, along with a major burst of immigration. Now it’s clear that this country is made up of a large number of different communities which share some common traits but are also very different in important ways. That is abundantly clear in this survey, which shows that just as young and old Aotearoa diverges behaviourally, that can be even more pronounced when it comes to different ethnic or socioeconomic groups.
• As a young population, Pasifika are more likely to use connected mediums – streaming music and television, online gaming, podcasts (one of a relatively small number of mediums growing across the board) and less likely to use traditional media like linear television, radio, or newspapers. This is also true for Asian New Zealanders, who are in some respects more pronounced in their digital adoption, perhaps due to a large number being relatively recent arrivals and using the long tail of digital media to connect with language and culture that is unavailable on the big monolith platforms. (Māori are also strong on digital, but differ in important ways, with a greater than average propensity to consume radio and Sky TV, for example).
• Daily audience sizes over time - Radio, Music & Gaming

Article #2- Nz on Air

Notes:

• Online video narrowly reaches the most New Zealanders each day but SVOD and podcasts are the only media to have grown the size of their daily audiences in the past 12 months.
• New Zealanders continue to spend significantly more time watching TV (118 mins) than using any other media, but the gap is closing. SVOD comes next at 86 mins then radio at 74 mins.
• Traditional media still attracts the biggest audiences in some key time zones – for example, TV still reigns supreme from 6 - 8.30pm. From 8.30pm onwards SVOD and Online video are challenging TV for audience size.
• Free to air TV continues to hold a steady audience, with the fall in pay-TV subscriptions contributing to a lower overall TV figure.
• TVNZ 1 has the highest overall daily audience reach 41%.
• Netflix is the only main provider to grow its audience in the past 12 months now at 40% - up from 14% in 2016.
• TVNZ On Demand is the clear leader in local OD sites at 17% - a drop last year due to COVID boosting viewing but still a steady climb since 2014.
• Debuting strongly in this survey this year are Instagram (20% daily reach) and TikTok (11%) but among 15-24 yr olds Instagram reaches 56% daily and TikTok 39%.

There are three distinct generations of media use:

• 15-39s where digital media dominates – 82% use online video daily, 72% SVOD, and 68% music streaming. Radio is at 36% and TV at 35%.
• 40-59s who use a wider range of media – TV is still top at 61% but online video is at 58%, and SVOD and radio are equal on 48%.
• 60+ where traditional media dominates and digital is not growing – 83% use TV daily and 65% radio – online video 26% and SVOD 22%.

The most widely used and most trusted news source in the survey is TVNZ One News with NZ Herald, Stuff, Radio NZ, and Newshub all within a few points of each other vying for next most trusted. No more than 3% of New Zealanders trust social media most for their news. Spotify continues to dominate music consumption – 27% of New Zealanders use it daily, while the use of physical formats to listen to music has fallen to just 10%. The other key observation is that COVID-19 Level 1 and 2 conditions when the survey was conducted in 2020 had only a minor, temporary impact on audience behavior with the 2021 results showing trend lines continuing in the same direction as they had been prior to 2020.

Article #3- Stuff

Notes:

Subscription video-on-demand services and podcasts are the only media to have grown their daily audiences in the past year in Aotearoa, new research reveals. results from the NZ On Air survey Where Are The Audiences? showed the Covid-19 pandemic had only a “minor, temporary” impact on audience behavior, with most audience trends continuing in the same direction as they had been before 2020. Television is still the media format that Kiwis spent the most time with overall, at an average of 118 minutes per day. However, the gap is closing. Subscription video on demand (SVOD) services came in next at 86 minutes per day, then radio at 74 minutes. Television continues to attract the biggest audiences between the hours of 6pm to 8.30pm. From 8.30pm onwards, SVOD services and online videos are challenging television for audience sizes. Meanwhile, online videos narrowly reached the most New Zealanders – 59% watch an online video each day. That compares with 56% who watch television. Podcasts and SVOD services were the only media forms to have grown the size of their daily audiences in the last year. Netflix continued to have market dominance in the SVOD category, with a daily audience of 40% of New Zealanders, up from 14% in 2016. There was a fall in paid television subscriptions, but free-to-air television continued to hold a steady audience. This year NZ On Air also surveyed Instagram and TikTok use. Instagram had a reach of 20% of Kiwis each day, and TikTok 11%. This was increased further for the 15-24 age bracket, with Instagram reaching 56% of those Kiwis daily, and TikTok 39%. Among the 15-39 age bracket, digital media-dominated, with 82% of those Kiwis watching online videos each day. 62% used an SVOD service daily, and 68% used music streaming. Traditional media forms were not used as much for this age bracket, with radio used by 36% daily, and television 35% of Kiwis in the 40-59 age bracket used a combination of traditional and digital media, with television used by 61% of those people daily, and online video use close behind at 58%. SVOD service and radio were used by 48% of this group daily. In the 60+ age bracket, traditional media dominated and digital media forms were not growing. Eighty-three per cent of those Kiwis used television daily, and 65% used radio daily. Meanwhile, just 26% used online video, and 22% used an SVOD service. Spotify continues to dominate music consumption, with 27% of Kiwis aged 15+ using it daily. Harland said the research supported the authority’s funding not being tied to any particular media platform. “We can go to where the audiences are ... [that’s] not necessarily on traditional platforms,” he said.

Case study black panther

The 17th film within this particular franchise of superhero movies.

Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Disney (one of the largest conglomerates in the world).

Marvel is vertically integrated and can both distribute and produce products.

Marvel used Disney to distribute their film - an example of them taking advantage of being vertically integrated into a bigger company with a lot of resources. Big budgets, big teams, lots of experience, and Disney is international so the film was distributed internationally to lots of countries instantly.

Disney “aims to create a 360-degree marketing campaign for their films”. This means that people are attacked with images of their movies no matter where they look - the same was done with Black Panther as well. They had social media pages, merchandise, actors going on chat shows and appearing in magazines. They partnered with numerous companies to produce synergetic products that would further advertise Black Panther.

An example is in their working with “Hasbro on synergetic products (merchandise) to create toys/action figures for the film”. They released action figures tied to the film. This engages children and can appeal to family audiences. A lot of fans that enjoy comics also enjoyed the collectible element of these action figures.

Disney also partnered with Tesla which released two limited edition cars that were tied to the Black Panther campaign - every time the cars were advertised, so was the movie. This was great in reaching markets who love technology, cars, speed, business, etc - reaching a greater audience!

Kendrick Lamar was asked to release a soundtrack for the film. He has a strong audience presence in the black and even white audiences around ages 12-35 - bringing them on board for the film.

Disney released several trailers for the film - showing off the actors and special effects of the film. These trailers also made it very clear that Black Panther was part of the Marvel Universe to appeal to those already existing fans of the other Marvel movies.

The trailer was even shown at the ad break of the SuperBowl - reaching a mainstream, global audience.

The trailer was also posted to YouTube and was viewed over 19 million times minutes after its release. This proves the benefits of using social media apps such as YouTube where audiences can like, share and repost posts and actually help advertise the movie/ product.

Posts and hashtags on Twitter were also used as a method of advertising the film.

The movie was also released in Black History month - which meant the film could relate its movie and its themes to the theme of the month. It was marketed as a “cultural event”, to celebrate black culture.

Quite a lot of people started to crowdfund online for young black children who couldn’t afford it to be able to go watch this film in the theatres (some sites raising £6000 for example) because they felt it was so important for these children to watch a film with such a predominantly black cast, because of how rarely it occurs. This was “unofficial marketing for the film” because it was mentioned in newspapers and the news so much, without Disney even having to do anything!

Disney even worked with New York Fashion Week creating a fashion show showcasing outfits inspired by the film. It was called “Welcome To Wakanda”. This was an excellent way of targeting a predominantly female audience - also reached a VAST range of audiences.

The cast appeared on talk shows - such as Chadwick Boseman - who spoke on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ and others who featured on ‘Ellen’. This enabled them to reach perhaps a slightly more mature audiences who still watch linear television.

The actors appeared at ComicCon - an event for fans of big franchises. The actors did a panel and answered questions. This is a “great way of targeting really super fans of your show”, according to Mrs. Fisher on YouTube. They will then go on and tell others about this film.

There was a Snapchat filter called the ‘Wakanda Black Panther Snapchat Lens’ - this would be to target younger audiences interested in the film.

Although Disney owns Marvel, part of the agreement was that Disney would not get too involved in the actual creative decisions behind the production of Marvel films - those decisions are predominantly left up to Marvel.

Marvel has a very “large pre-sold audience”, and owns the rights to a lot of their characters, which they sometimes sell the rights of to other companies, which enables them to raise capital for other ventures they’d like to carry out. 

Elements that could lead to the film being risky:

Lesser-known Marvel character

Predominantly Black cast - although this is really considered to be accepted in today’s day and age, it is a risk because of how rare it is! It could also be seen as ‘tokenism’.

Costs to make the actual film

o have black people in positions of power, positive positions such as King, Superhero, etc is quite a rare, less popular sight. Doing so in Black Panther is successful at targeting audiences who would appreciate this!

Also, the representation of females in Black Panther is different from a lot of depictions of women traditionally - instead of always being the supporting, less important, vulnerable, and meek character, a lot of the women are quite aggressive, powerful, bold, etc. This will appeal to the women in the audience.

Some believe that Black Panther was Disney’s attempt to “change their reputation” for not representing ethnic minorities very well/positively.

Was given a 12A certificate BBFC in the UK. This means you can go see it on your own from the age of 12, and under 12 if with an adult.

This was quite controversial - because of all the aggression and violence in the film, quite a few people felt the rating was perhaps a bit relaxed.

The BBFC argued that people should expect a level of violence in a Marvel superhero movie. The violence is also quite ‘fantasy-based and backed up by a strong moral code. The “violence exists in a moral universe” where it’s made quite clear that it’s in retaliation to an aggressor, or done for protection, etc - and the actual aggression itself is not really glorified, or senseless either.

Post-Prelim Classwork #1

 Article- The spinoff

1.) Why is it important for Maori or indigenous stories to be told using the medium of film? 

"Storytelling is at the heart of te ao Māori – passing knowledge of the taiao, and wisdom of life through generations. In the modern-day, the same rings true, but with the addition of film and television, Māori storytellers are sharing their tales further than ever." 

Māori film and television – from Rupeni Poata’s struggle against the patriarchy in Mahana, to the challenges of clashing generational values in Mt Zion – have provided a medium for the continuation of a storytelling tradition stretching centuries into the past. One which is finding increasing relevance to audiences of all backgrounds today as Indigenous storytelling is established as a self-sustaining industry unto itself. audiences respond to Indigenous storytelling because of its greater sensitivity to the threads which bind us together through time and space.

2.) provide a brief summary of Maori storytelling - how has the ability for their voices to be heard, telling things from their perspective, changed over the years? 

The whakapapa of modern Māori storytelling begins in the late 1800s when Māori first accessed the printing press, says Hakaraia. “They started to print the Māori newspaper and began telling the stories from our own waha, our own mouths, and through our own writing. Stories were being disseminated from a Māori perspective.” , “And then the first films that were made in this country had Māori in front of the camera. Māori was dressed up in grass skirts and aping for the camera, but at the same time, they were finding their way into crewing positions. But it’s taken a very long time from the 1920s to where we are today 100 years later actually creating our own stories and films.” Māori stories have layers, themes, and story beats that are instantly recognizable. They are the stories of people that have been pushed from their whenua into cities or off the marae or to the edges psychologically, says Hakaraia. They are stories of trauma and hurt, but also of joy, humor, and redemption. “They are amazing stories of survival and retention and revival of language and culture.”

1.) What does Maori storytelling look like in modern times?

Digipak analysis work: Re-do

 

Hi, I'm Arden Lee by Hunter Look

Rationale and reflection paragraph:

 Changes made to Digipak:

- Added a hack/ glitching effect

- Changed the font to a hacked font 

- changed the coloring of letters and layout of title and other words on digipak 

- added a copyright symbol to the back cover 

Changes to social media:

- Added new frame of Digipak 

Reasons for these changes: (digipak)

- The reason I changed the effect on the cover and the font of the writing was to add a bit more excitement to the cover, as before it looked pretty unchanged and normal, meaning that it almost looked like there were minimal changes from the video and kind of looked like a screenshot of my music video.

- I changed the color and font of the writing on the cover to a hacked black and pinky magenta, because it matched the color scheme I was going for more than the previous blue and purple. And had a nicer overall effect on the digipak.

- The reason for changing the font and spacing/arrangement of words such as title and name of the artist, was because it looked too confusing and had too much going on so I made it something a bit more simple with less to look at.

- Reason for adding the copyright symbol was because it made the digipak look more professional with the copyright, as well as the barcode which made it look a bit more legitimate.

Reasons for changes: (Social media page)

- I had to change my social media page, as I needed to add a bit more representation of the artist as themselves, so I did an LGBTQ+ post, as well as a new digipak post of the final one, because before it only had the old digipak up so I had to change it for continuity.

Social media page re-do: final version

Screenshots of Instagram page -----> Link to Instagram page:

Phone view:

Digipak re-do: Final version

 Front cover:

Inside cover #1:

Inside cover #2:

Back cover: