Media Studies Questionnaire

Media Studies Student Questionnaire:
My name is James, some people call me Jayjay. I passed all of my GCSEs and Got C and above in all but one. In English literature and in English I achieved Cs, in additional Science, Business, Graphics and ICT I also reached Cs but in Sociology, History, Art and Maths I achieved Bs. In Science I reached an A and Religious studies a D. So overall I got a different range of grades above C which I was very pleased with. My hobbies consist of playing video games, drawing and sketching, attempts at scriptwriting, watching films and listening to music, as well as spending time with friends.


Print Media- I don’t read into newspapers very often and if I do it will just be a flick through, trying to find anything interesting in any newspaper lying around the house. Reading newspapers has never been something I would generally do unless I was travelling and I have no idea why, it’s probably because my parents have never read newspapers I have never really taken an interest in them. I have never read the news on the internet either which is quite surprising considering I use the internet a lot. There are several different magazines that I read including; Empire, Xbox 360 Official Magazine, Xbox 360 World and Total Film as well as Kerrang occasionally. They are all good on information about upcoming films and games as well as the different reviews and tips they suggest.


Radio Media- I used to listen to heart radio but then work experience put me off as I had to suffer with it playing twenty four seven repeating the same songs over and over again and I sometimes listen to Talk Sport as its interesting and good for the football updates. Kerrang is the only radio station I listen too often but I prefer to listen to music in other ways under my control instead of the radio repeating them again and again.


Music Industry- My favourite genres of music are probably indie, rock, pop-rock, drum and bass, blues and punk. These genres are my favourite and always have been, my music taste hasn’t really changed since I was around 11 or 12. I’m not in a band but I own a guitar and wanted to be in a band a few years ago but I never got round to actually learning guitar and couldn’t afford lessons. Now it is sitting in my cupboard gathering dust for when I decide to start learning to play it. My opinion on illegal downloading is that it is pointless because the quality is rubbish, you get viruses that damage your computer and it’s illegal and is not worth getting charged for. I normally buy music off iTunes or occasionally get CDs but that is extremely rare, sometimes I use sites like groove shark to listen to music. The music industry might influence the way you dress because the musicians make themselves role models and people usually dress in a similar style of clothing or different genres of music can change the style that people dress. E.g. slow sad music with depressing lyrics may influence you to dress in darker colours representing the music and your emotion relating to the music. Attitudes are normally influenced by the different genres as well because if it’s a Drum and Bass song which is loud and fast you may get excited, built up and anger can be created. The lyrics of music can also influence attitudes because the lyrics may change your opinions and attitudes towards things in life. E.g.  When the song “Don’t fear the reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult was released many people saw the song as an advert for suicide. This song influenced people to commit suicide because of the lyrics in the song. The music industry may influence people to aspire to be a musician or somewhere else in the music industry because of their love for music or because they look up at musicians and want to be like them.

Video Games- I don’t have a favourite video game but I have a favourite series of games which is the “Halo series” by Bungie.  The first three halo games are based on a character called “The Master Chief” or “John 117” a human super soldier which is aiding the human race in a battle against an alien race the “Covenant”. There are also several spin-offs called Halo Wars and Halo: ODST which are in the halo world and follow the same timeline. Another one of the series has been released called Halo: Reach which is a prequel to the game. This is my favourite game because of the deep storyline that makes you feel as if you are the characters that you play as in the game. The complexities of the stories and timeline as well as the different history in the game make it seem as it has happened already in reality. Everything has a background and draws you into the game which is what makes it so good. Video games may have a negative attitude towards gender because normally the video games are based on a male that becomes a hero or all of the characters are male and the females has inferior parts in the game, this could convince people that males are the dominate gender. But in recent video games females are playing much more important parts and a lot are main characters; some games let you have the choice to be either male or female which is becoming the compulsory to most games unless it has a set story. Some games attitudes to the solutions of conflicts are to kill everything until it’s all over with, which is not the solution in reality. This can influence people’s opinions on solutions to end conflict.
New Technology- New technology has increased my understanding of the world by showing me that as technology develops the more we rely on it and want it to do standard and expert tasks. Without the internet I wouldn’t be able to search for information for school or general use I would have to go to a library every time I wanted to find something out, which has helped understand that people rely on technology and without it our society would collapse because it has become a necessity. New technology has increased my ability to communicate an incredible amount because with phones and mobile phones you can contact people instantly and even see them through video calls; emails save time and money because there is no need for letters. Instant messaging and Social networking is another way of communicating which has been made fun and exciting so you can talk to people instantly and show emotion through a computer. New technology has increased my access to films, TV shows and music with iTunes and other download sites where you can download films, music and TV shows instantly. It has increased the ability to create media texts through computer which can then be put on blogs that can be seen and read by everyone which could develop your work.


Television- I don’t have a favourite television channel, I just flick through the different channels to find something good to watch. I would probably say that I watch E4 or Dave the most because of Friends, How I met your mother, Top Gear , Gadget Show, Inbetweeners, Skins and Big Bang Theory. I would say that my favourite genre of television is comedy/sitcom because they are what appeal to me the most but crime/drama is really good as well. E.g. CSI. I would consider Friends to be the most memorable TV program ever, this is because its everything you want a TV sitcom to be and it has the most memorable moments in Friends which makes it most memorable.

Feature Film- My favourite genre of film would either be adventure E.g. Lord Of The Rings or comedy E.g. Waterboy. This is because I have always loved adventure because of the storyline and that is one of the main features of a film that I love as well as the visuals which are usually amazing in most adventure films but its not always essential. But I love comedy too because it looks at life on the funny side and is more down to earth and realistic but not always extremely realistic.  Lord of the rings is one of the most outstanding films I have ever seen as individual movies and as a whole because of the amazing storyline and visuals but because everyone on that film crew poured their heart and soul into it. The director Peter Jackson wrote the script with his wife Fran and then directed it, produced it and was even a cameo in all three of the films, that is devotion. The film’s actors were amazing and played their characters as if they were those characters in reality. John Rhys Davies went through four hours of make up and face moulds for the character Gimli and he was allergic but still carried on. The soundtrack of the film was also intense and beautiful which made the film a delight to watch and hear.  Transformers is another outstanding film because of the cinematics and animation of the transformations and the sheer size of the project because of the army’s involvement in both films. The director Michael Bay is also an outstanding director and the actors were emotionally linked to the film. The soundtrack linked with the rest of the film created a harmony and made it beautiful to watch and listen too. I prefer to consume films at the cinema but that is not always an option so I have to settle for the television or on my Xbox. My favourite cinema is the Hollywood cinema in Anglia Square because better for money and is still as good as any other cinema but it is quite far from where I live so I normally go to the Vue cinema in the mall. I prefer to watch films in a group, especially when going to the cinema because who can discuss it afterwards and it gives a better atmosphere.








Conclusion:
When I first saw the original Star Wars films they changed how I looked at the world and the different countries. I couldn’t believe how they could change reality into a bigger universe and create so many different things and make them look and feel real. The newest Star Wars films also changed how I looked at the world because I saw how quickly technology is developing and taking over. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but not a good thing either. If I was asked to construct a media text I would create a film and the message I would want to get across about England is that it doesn’t matter what class you are and what aspirations you have, everybody is the same. Also that government is very manipulative and not everything that is said becomes reality. About 99.9% is a lie. I have chosen media studies as an option because I have been interested in getting into the film industry as a director, producer or another member of a film crew. I have been set on this for several years now and I have always looked at films more deeply than just their outside cover. I thought Media Studies would be the best subject to choose to enhance my capabilities and chances of reaching my goal and so far it better than I thought it would be. It is also what I would consider to be one of the most enjoyable subjects because it is more creative.