5C plan

Factual; “special report: Manchester terror attack” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w-7p0mX2_o 
In this sky news report, the reporter shows the devastating effects of the Manchester bombings and shows viewers heart breaking scenes from the event. The purpose of this news report is to inform and educate the general public of current affairs in their country, making them aware of whats happening in their local community, national community and the world that they are living in. Alternatively, this news report is also purposely made to increase viewership of the sky news channel, furthering their share and influence within the marketplace, while producing a service to the consumer of the news report. In a time of pandemonium, people seek solid facts of whats happening. Here the news report gives us updates on the events and the events after the incident, giving viewers knowledge and comfort as they know what has happened. In the report, the news anchor updates viewers of post incident occurrences, such as victims reactions, national and international responses and how the bombing affects social life. He reflects on incidents from years past, such as the 7/7 bombings in 2005 and also refers to post incident responses as well. Moreover, the news report uses scenes of the event and past events in order to further inform people on what happened. Sky news has effectively informed viewers of the event by using a moving image. By using a moving image, sky news can show what Is going on at that time, while also telling viewers whats going on. Using visuals to display the event shows viewers the scene, place and effects of the incident before their eyes in order for them to see the severity of the incident.  In contrast to this, a still image or no images at all may not inform viewers of the servility of the event and they may consequently feel less sympathetic or emotional or even unaware that the incident has occurred, leading viewers to become less socially aware. Because the news is normally the first place where people look to seek awareness of whats happening after a huge event such as a bombing, the target audience may extend further than if the event was not as big such as news about a Christmas deal. 

The target audience of this news report may subsequently increase due to the severity of the incident. As people seek information and knowledge, the news has a broad target audience, this is because people want to know whats happening at all times, weather this is within their local community, within their nation or even internationally, like knowledge of the Brexit deal for example. When word spreads about a incident such as a bombing, people rely on media such as the news to reinforce their knowledge. Media is also considered to be trustworthy, mainly, when it comes to news of negative events such as this. As word spreads about the incident, people may watch the news about it, people ranging from the lowest levels of subsistence, such as people on benefits or unemployed, to people in the upper class, or upper middle class such as lawyers, doctors etc. Additionally, news Is not aimed at any particular gender (unless it is talking about a gender specific topic, it may cater to that particular gender more than the other) therefore meaning anyone interested or seeking information will watch this news report. Both men and women of any age, ranging from 10 upwards may watch this, however this is less aimed at children and more aimed at adults as adults will be mature enough to take in this information and take in the full severity of the event, whereas children may not understand what they are watching. Moreover, as the report uses scenes from the incident, this may not be suitable for small children to watch as they may become distressed at the sight. However there is not a age limit on whether you can consume the news or not, there is only a brief announcement saying; “viewer discretion is advised’ or “some scenes that viewers may find distressing”. Viewers that watch the news regularly may watch this news report, however people that don’t watch the news regularly may also watch this report, this is only because of the topic that is being talked about. Viewers also dismiss the medias style of reporting as they only watch the report as they seek enlightenment on a specific topic. Furthermore, viewers may differ in education level,  income level and marital status, as well as their occupation and religion as the news does not cater for a specific person based solely on their religion or occupation, doing so would hurt the producer of the product (sky news) and the consumer also. 

The news may be watched by people with different psychographics, ranging from the aspirers to the retired, however the people that are most likely to watch a news report such as this one are “the reformers”. Reformers are defined as “seek enlightenment”, this means that they seek knowledge, making them a suitable target audience for the news. Moreover, reformers are describes as “socially aware” and watching news about events in the country and internationally will make them further enlightened and socially ware. However, I feel that this news report is not only aimed at “the reformers”, I feel that it is aimed at everyone with differing demographics and psychographics, however this is only because of the topic that they are talking about. Lastly I feel that the cultivation theory is occurring here, a repetitive showing of negative broadcasts such as the Manchester bombings makes audiences that have a heavy exposure to television or negative news coverage believe that the whole world or community around them is they exactly that the media conveys, making viewers who consume this media passively perceive the world to be more negative than it may actually be, resulting in more unhappiness within the consumer. 

Additionally this factual moving image does not use reconstructions or actors to convey the occurrence, this is because they use the raw footage from the actual event to convey its severity. By doing this, consumers of the news are able to grasp the emotions of the people involved in the event and further engage with how they may have felt. If sky news were to use actors to reconstruct what happened this may have toned down the severity of the innocent or may have confused people on what was actually going on. They do however use a reporter to tell the story of what happened, this is vital to the audience as they want to know what they are looking at and also want a explanation of the events. By using visuals and text, sky news can appeal to people who learn visually or through communication, while also accounting for people with disabilities such as deafness. On the other hand, there are some interviews and voice overs from the reporter, this may be beneficial to non deaf people, but deaf people will be unintentionally excluded from listening to whats going on, leaving them further in the dark. To non deaf people however, a voice over from the reporter is a good thing as his explanation ensures we know as much as possible about the event. 

Lastly, this news report contains two camera interviews after each other, one of a man, and then one followed by two women. In the first one, we can hear the questions being asked and the responses clearly to the question. Additionally we can hear the responses in the second interview as well, however the question that was asked beforehand is unclear. Additionally both of the interviewees look directly at the camera, this is more engaging to the audience as they feel as rough they are being talked to directly. Moreover as the interview is with victims straight after the attack the audience is engaged as they get a personal account of the event that is not scripted nor manipulated to fit a agenda or storyline. 

Promotional: John Lewis Christmas advert “bear and the hare” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqWig2WARb0

In this Christmas advert, John lewis tells a emotional story of a bear and a hare, to get people in the Christmas spirit. The story is about a tired bear who lacks the love of Christmas, who lacks the togetherness and love between friends and family that is shared at this festive time. However he has a friend, a hare, who cares deeply about him and on Christmas Day gives him a gift that the bear will never forget. John Lewis uses this emotional story and many stories in recent years to extend their famously successful marketing campaign, becoming renowned for their brilliant Christmas adverts. 

The purposes of this advert are to get viewers happy and excited about Christmas, but its mainly used to further John Lewis as a company. Firstly, John Lewis uses emotional and heartwarming storylines and music to tell the story of Christmas, this not only makes the viewers happy but also having a strong Christmas advert worth talking about extends John Lewis’ popularity. When John Lewis comes out with a new Christmas advert annually, its the talk of the town (as long as its good that is), people talk about it with family, friends and strangers. However when people talk about this advert they are helping John Lewis, they help by increasing peoples brand awareness of John Lewis (more people know what it is and what it does). Moreover John Lewis has become symbolic of Christmas, this is because their continuous success in Christmas adverts has become a part of Christmas, people don’t only look forward to putting up the decorations and the songs, but now they also look forward to the perfectly done John Lewis adverts at Christmas. The second purpose of this advert is to persuade people to buy products from John Lewis, and to increase their popularity at Christmas, making the company bigger. By being a symbolic Christmas store, consumers are more likely to buy products from John Lewis, this helps grow John Lewis as a company and their market share. Additionally, because John Lewis has such a successful Christmas marketing campaign, their sales at Christmas will therefore rise. People are more likely to shop at John Lewis rather than other competitors as they know what John Lewis is renowned for. Moreover, as John Lewis published this advert on the 8th of November, long before Christmas Day, they can increase “Christmas” commercially, by this I mean that Christmas lasts longer in the commercial world than it does in the real world. Instead of starting at the start of December, Christmas has now started in November time, this means that people are buying Christmas stock way before the event, meaning that John Lewis and other competitors have a bigger time margin to increase their sales. By getting consumers in the Christmas spirit earlier they are more likely to buy more things and earlier. 

The target audience of this advert is boys and girls, from ages 3 upwards, this is because Christmas itself is not exclusive to one gender or age group specifically, instead it focuses on togetherness and inclusivity, portrayed successfully within this advert. To further portray this John Lewis has made their advert inclusive, understandable and relatable to every age and gender. this advert is intended to be passively watched by audiences, the consumers accept the message of the extract/advert without challenge, therefore meaning they are more likely to accept the message and be affected by it. This is good for John Lewis as passive audiences will consume the media products but will actively go and buy the products that they have on offer. Moreover John Lewis uses preferred reading, this means that consumers shall respond in the way that they producer of the media product wants them to, in this case its to buy a Christmas product from John Lewis. Uses and gratification theory would suggest that the audiences would watch this advert to escape their everyday lives as it provides entertainment and happiness for the consumer. Moreover you could say that John Lewis uses the hypodermic needle theory, this is done by supplying consumers with a media image, this media image could influence the consumer base and therefore get the producer of the media product a desired response. This is done by “shooting” a message into the consumers head, in this case the message is to buy from John Lewis. 

I feel that this media image is not aimed at a specific occupation or income bracket, such as the working class, I feel it is aimed at people from unemployed to the upper middle class due to its festive nature and message. However I do also believe that this advert caters for people who are within the middle class. Due to John Lewis being a rebound brand, prices ay be high. The consumers of the media product can be of any income, however the consumers of the John Lewis product have to be people who can afford it, this being people of the middle class. However people may not like this advert because of the brand that produced it, meaning people respond differently dependent on who does the advert. 

On the other hand I do feel that this advert caters more to people of a single religion and a main ethnic audience. I feel that this advert is aimed at christians (mainly) as they celebrate Christmas whereas other religions such as Muslims and Buddhists do not. Moreover people who are British or European may be aimed at as they are more likely to be christian and celebrate Christmas rather than people from other countries and backgrounds (cultures). I do not feel like this advert is aimed at a particular skin colour, as Christians and people who celebrate Christmas differ in ethnic skin colour. This advert has no age rating so is therefore consumable by any age group. I feel like this media is aimed at consumers such as “aspirers”who are “happy to invest in luxury goods” and “seek status” this is because John Lewis is a premium brand charging premium prices. Moreover this may be aimed at the “mainstreamers” as mainstreamers “like tried and trusted brands” such as John Lewis, or lastly the “Succeeders” this is because they have a “high social status” and “believe they deserve the best and decide upon the best brands and products for themselves”. Seeing as John Lewis is a premium brand, the “succeeders” may find this brand desirable. In this advert, key features are used, such as the use of a backstory in the style of a text. The text says “there once was an animal who had Never seen Christmas” this is at the start of the moving image and immediately shows the audience what the advert might be about. Additionally at the end of the advert there is a tagline saying “give someone a Christmas they’ll never forget” this tagline makes the audience feel nice, and also makes them wonder what they should gift someone. Because the John Lewis name follows directly after this text people immediately think to look in John Lewis. On the other hand, this advert offers no information about a single product, it only shows a brief shot of a clock. However this clock meant so much to the bear that he became so happy, making the consumer happy and teaching them that sometimes the little things mean more. I additionally feel that this advert is not a promotion of a single product, instead it is a promotion of the store themselves, this is why they don’t include any promotion or information on a specific product, nor try to persuade people to buy from them. In a way, this advert only acts as brand development and makes people aware of John Lewis as a company. John Lewis has therefore become famous for their brilliant Christmas marketing campaign and therefore the buzz and excitement around the advert and brand is ever increasing. 

Fictional; “this is America” music video by childish Gambino 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

This music video tells the story of a black artists perspective on America. The black artist uses political lyrics, moving images and distressing scenes of violence to show how he feels America is in real life. The artist does not tell the audience how he feels about America through a text or still image, instead he uses guns, political lyrics and more to show his interpretation. The purpose of this moving image is to convey a message of how people view America in its current form. The singer is trying to show audiences the truth about America, speaking and doing taboo things that should be talked about for example, the increase in shooting. The singer refers to the rise in gun crime by shooting innocent people such as a guitar player, and a full choir. He additionally references this in his lyrics. Additionally he uses hidden messages in the music video such as the use of Nazi worn trousers, however people who passively watch this music video would not understand that. The purpose of this is to open peoples eyes to how bad and evil life is, through the Art of music. The singer makes us think, and not necessarily agree with everything he says. The singer uses cultivation theory in this video, if viewers watch this music video passively, exposure to this video may make them believe that the world is exactly the way that this celebrity is portraying it. An emphasis on violence seen within the video makes passive audiences perceive the world as being more violent than necessarily true. Additionally people may believe this because a celebrity with a high social status is saying these things, however what they say may not be true to life, showing they have a negative influence on peoples perspective of life. Additionally people may believe that agenda setting theory its being used as the political things the singer shows and says may relate to agendas being pushed by different sides of the political scale. Lastly, the purpose of this music video is to raise awareness and make people talk about the subject matters, this is why people who consume this product are part of a active audience. An active audience “engages, interprets and responds to a media text in different ways and is capable of challenging the ideas encoded in it” this is particularly true for this moving image as people can challenge and differ in opinions of others. We can see this as true in the like to dislike ratio on the video. The ratio Is 6.9 million likes to 516 thousand dislikes. Although a small percentage in comparison this shows that an active audience has consumed this product as they give their own opinion in the form of liking or disliking the moving image. If they want to take this further they can challenge the video in the youtube comments, as has been done in this case. Comments such as “he’s obviously trying to distract us from want happening in our society by dancing yet chaos is still happening in the background” or “this is messed up” shows the diverse opinions of the consumers that view this media product. However a discussion on the topics has occurred due to the publishing of this music video. With over 437,954,945 views as of now, a discussion on the video and topics has arisen, however this was the purpose of the video, meaning it has therefore been successful. 

The target audience of this moving image would be both boys and girls, however boys may like it more as it has some scenes of violence. Moreover the moving image is aimed at people of teenage years upwards, into their early 40’s. I would not say that this is suitable for people under their teenage years as the violent scenes may be distressing. On the other hand I feel that people over 40 may not like this moving image due to its violence. Much like a action movie, some people get turned off movies due to their extreme scenes of violence and swearing, this may also be the case for this music video. This is not to say that people over the age of 40 cannot consume or appreciate this product, however they may not be as understanding (much like people under 13) of whats going on or the meaning of the video. I feel that this video is aimed at people from the lowest level of subsistence to the lower middle class, this is because people in the upper middle class and most of the middle class don’t consume as much online media like this as people below that do, with some exceptions. I feel that this music video is mainly aimed at black Americans as there is limited representation of the white community. Is this because the singer was talking about black only issues or was it due to his own political motivations? Due to the lack of white representation, white people may not relate to the music video as much and subsequently not take in or feel emotionally engaged with the video they consumed. Most consumers commonly engage most with people they relate to, this Is because people seek comfort in knowing other people are like them. Additionally black people in America may feel like this music video is a accurate representation of how they feel within the community, making this music video symbolic of how people view America in its current state. I feel like this music video is most appealing for the “reformers” group, this is because reformers are socially aware and seek enlightenment. They may seek enlightenment by watching this music video as it shows them what people within a community feel or just a individuals feeling on life. 

I feel that people may also be interested in this type of music video as its controversial style is a rare occurrence within the music video industry. Normally artists shall use shots of fast cars, bragging about their materialistic possessions or more, however as this video is so contrasting to that, the appeal to watch an discover what this artist is saying may be intensified. People seek new things, like “explorers”, this may make this moving image more successful. Additionally people may be attracted to this moving image/music video based solely on who sings it. The influence that the artist has on the wider community may result in more views of the product, I feel that this is the case here as If this wasn’t him singing, then the media product would be less likely to get as much attention as it has done. There is definitely a message that the artist is trying to show throughout this music video, and this can easily be identified by the audience. The artist desires us to think and evaluate the happenings of life and the occurrences in America. This is done by consumers after they watch such a political thing such as this music video. 

Moreover, the artist has been able to say all he wants within a 4 minute period, this means that the audience don’t have to sit through ages of him talking as this may seem boring, instead because its quite short, people can sit through it and are more likely to click on it. It also helps that it is presented in a music video style, as people are always seeking new music and entertainment in life, making it more likely that consumers will engage in the video. If the video was any longer or spanned over a long period of time (like in episodes or a extended program) people may not engage with it as they may feel that their time could be spent better elsewhere, or watching something else. The themes that are shown in this music video are themes of violence, politics, sadness and happiness. Consumers of the product feel overwhelmed by the mix of emotions that they feel, however at the end of the video they feel enlightened and think about life more than they possible would have before.