Different exemplars for section b as level media studies

1. Section b Exemplars
“Synergy is the process by which media institutions use
a range of platforms to promote, sell and distribute their
products. Assess the impact of synergy in your cross-
media study. Support your answer with reference to a
range of examples from three media platforms.”
Synergy can be defined as when two or more compatible products sell each
other e.g. Facebook and Farmille/Candy Crush Saga, or a film and soundtrack
but for the purposes of this responseI willbe analysing synergy from an
institutional point of view in terms of how it works across platformsbutalso
exploring whether the impact of synergy on audience reception and response
is significantor not.
My cross media study topic is film fiction – for moving image I researched Star
Trek (2009), Skyfall and A Field in England while for printI looked at Empire
Magazine, Total Filmand Sight and Sound and for E Media - Netflix, YouTube
and iTunes. Synergy was very much evident during the multi platform
release of A Field in England on 5th July 2013 and relates directly to the
concept of ownership – developed and financed by Film 4.0, Film4’s digital arm
this low budget (£300,000) independent filmwas simultaneously released at
PictureHouseCinemas (The Ritzy in Brixton, London), through Film4 video on
demand and through iTunes whereaudiences could purchasethe HD version
for £13-99. Ben Wheatley, the director wanted build the maximum amount
of industry hype by reaching an audience traditionally it would be hard to
connect with. The coordination of platforms also had the key advantage of not
justselling the film, but also selling Film4, the PictureHouseCinema chain and
also iTunes to audiences.
In terms of synergy, A Field in England benefitted from association with a
respected and innovative broadcastchannel, a cinema chain that is well known
for mixing independent, art houseand somemainstream films in terms of
programming and Apple’s iconic, commercially successful digital distribution
platformiTunes - the film was also available on Viooz
and http://www.vodzilla.co which markets itself as the firstvideo on demand
magazine and the film is available to this day as a free stream on YouTube
ensuring viral talkability. Synergy wasalso evidentthrough 40% of consumers
with older televisions who usetheir HDMilead to connect to a consolelike
PS3’s media server, Wii or X Box to watch films online. The cross platform

2. release enabled A Field in England to focus less on advertising spend, ensuring
the multi platform allowed the film to become an Event Movie. Here, synergy
did have an impact on audience reception ensuring A Field in England which
ordinarily would have gone straightto DVD after a limited theatrical
release wentviral and was consumed and discussed by a broader audience.
Sight and Sound, a BFI publication also associated itself with the release with
their July 2013 edition having a shortcover line at the bottom of the page
advertising the film – this reflected their involvement, in terms of synergy of
wanting to be linked with an independent film that was likely to achieve critical
success butalso their partfunding of the projectunder the BFI Distribution
Fund. Non-media tie ins even ensured that Welton’s Brewery made a limited
edition beer that PictureHousecinema goers could buy going into the screen
with the tagline, “Open up and Let the Devil In”.
Synergy tends to me moreassociated with mainstreamtexts aimed at mass
audiences and with Star Trek (2009) this was very much the case – ownership
by Paramountas one of the ‘big six’ of the oligopoly of film distributors
allowed for maximum investment in production but also the ability to
synergisein the promotion and marketing of their film. Using the director, JJ
Abrams as one of the unique selling points, digitalmarketing appeared on the
websites of high production value television dramas he had been associated
with including Lost and Fringe. This enabled a wider male and female audience
who were fans of these shows to be made awareof the up and coming film
with its more emotive approach in regards to science fiction marketing –
developing a wider female demographic was one of the main intentions of the
campaign. Sky Sports also ran ‘super headers’ ensuring that a traditionally
male science fiction audience were also targeted. Standard, above the line
marketing e.g. trailers also ran alongside the synergy used in the campaign.
This synergy was further evidenced by Facebook fan kits and wallpaper
downloads butcrucially in print media with not justfilm magazine covers of
Empire and Total Film devoted to the film’s release but also a Big
Issue cover, GQ and Esquire magazine. Esquireran a challenging cover showing
a light bulb, identifying the edition as the ‘Genius Issue’ with ’21 Ways to
Appear More Intelligent (withouthaving pointy ears) referring to the cover
image of Zachary Quinto as Spock framed centrally in medium shot. GQ chose
to run with a cover showing Chris Pine who played James T. Kirk in a suit as
part of its ‘Men of the Year’ issue. Synergy certainly helped in marketing the
film to a broader audience (it was the 7th mostsuccessfulfilm in terms of box
office in 2009) butcynics would suggestthat the amount spent on marketing
and publicity placed synergy as only partly responsiblefor the selling of the
film to a wide, non-gender specific audience.

3. Again, as with A Field in England non-media tie ins included a free movie toy
with Burger King meals, Phones4u and Hamleys competitions and also a promo
in Heat magazinewhich targeted a female audience. Total Film magazineran
with black and white, full closeup covers of Spock and Kirk and were happy to
extensively market the blockbuster film(as a mainstream film magazinethat
focuses themselves on the mainstream, commercially successfulmarket
of safe genre films like Star Trek as science fiction). Crucially, Total Film is
published by FuturePublishing who as well as releasing 150 UK magazine titles
are also the official magazine of all the console game manufacturers. Itwould
be commercially essential to synergisewith Star Trek as a successful
franchise butalso as a film that had spawned a single/multi player action video
game (Star Trek) that is available on X Box, PS and Windows platforms. Empire
Magazine ran with less iconic covers, choosing instead to focus on the whole
cast in uniform, acknowledging and promoting the fact that this is a film that is
likely to be a 2009 globalsummer blockbuster – it is this global aspect that
again references synergy with Empire as a magazinepublished by the large
global consumer magazineand media institution, Bauer; Empire alone is
published in the US, Australia, Turkey, Russia and Portugal.
Skyfall, like Star Trek has been a commercially successfulfilm that has
exploited synergy and also is now available digitally on a number of platforms
including Netflix reflecting shorter non theatrical window releases (although
Netflix might argue with the length of time it takes them to acquire a film).
With the commercial backing of Sony (MGM/Columbia) Skyfallused a rangeof
media to promote the 23rd Bond film to audiences but crucially the title
soundtrack by Adele became iconic and evidenced synergy in terms of its own
commercial success. Theinstitution of Sony is crucial in understanding the
ability to synergisewith the film promoting the Adele soundtrack, promoting
the DVD, promoting the computer game, Sony Phone (and many other non-
media ties ins e.g. Jaguar and Coca Cola) and promoting the TV – all owned by
Sony. The CD was released at the sametime as the film while a new Sony TV
featured Skyfallin the promotionaladverts. Even the Daily Mail used the film
to launch a British Tourismpromotional campaign while Empire and Total Film
magazine dedicated several covers to Skyfallas a globally successful film
reflecting aglobal brand.
While synergy is very much a key factor in my cross media study, the
commercial success of all texts are not exclusively dependent on it – moving
image media is still seen as the best way to sell moving image texts, e.g. trailers
selling films and video games but print media is increasingly dependent
on synergy and convergence whilecirculation continues to decline and is
replaced by online variants and other new media. Empire and Total Film for

4. example will often direct audiences through convergent links to online media
and interactive social networking through Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook.
Online film streaming sites like Netflix go from strength to strength using
synergy, with their latest venture producing its own range of original feature
films. There is already a Facebook sharing feature to the Netflix interface with
the announcementof further institutional synergy planned for 2015 involving
Disney and MarvelTV providing Netflix with live action series.
30/32: Level 4
“Social Media has only served to reinforce existing
values and ideologies.” Does your case study
suggest social media has played a positive or
negative role in the construction of identities?
Identity is the way we see ourselves and in turn, the way different groups in
society see us while social media, despite its iconic status, is a relatively new
concept that allows audiences the luxury of digital social interaction as well
and importantly the ability to produceand distribute media via peer topeer
sharing. The key question in the essay title is, has social media reinforced or
liberated values and ideologies and to answer this question I will be exploring
the representation of celebrity culture in the media. The construction of
identity in social media is an interesting concept as sites like Facebook and
Twitter suggesta formof self-identity within theframework of the identity of
others. Social media, whether referencing blogging culture, file sharing sites
like YouTube, general social media like Facebook, photo sharing sites like Flickr,
film social media like MUBI or even the online sharing pinboard Pinterest, has
widened media consumption across a range of convergent platforms. Using
celebrity culture as a case study, this arguably has meant more celebrity
culture, more constructed memes, moreways of accessing celebrity and the
ability to create and originate celebrity. With this, constructing an identity on
these platforms has become commonplace. David Gauntlett’s prosumer
evidences this concept as the boundaries of media celebrity and self identity
are blurred across digital platforms, arguably making the notion of celebrity
identity moreabstract.
Celebrity culture is historical, promoted in tabloids like The Sun and the Daily
Star, gossip magazines like Heat, Closer, Reveal, Now and Take a Break and
also through television genres. Reality TV has reinforced celebrity appeal with

5. commercially successfulprogrammes like The X Factor creating a production
line of celebrities. Social media is another platform that has allowed for
audiences’ obsession with celebrity identity to be maintained and extended
using a range of rich media. Social media has indeed played a positiverole in
the construction of identities but for commercial reasons perhaps rather than
artistic. Comedy programmes like The Mighty Boosh and Black Mirror’s 15
Million Credits haveoffered postmodern parodies and pastiches of celebrity
obsession as theorist Fredric Jameson would argue. Social media has acted like
an opinion leader using Katz and Laserfeld’s TwoStep Flow model by acting as
a conduit for the creation of celebrity identity. Users of social media have the
ability to engage in interactive participation in terms of discussing celebrity
lifestyles but also having the ability to offer opinion and pass it on via file
sharing.
Examples of memes in recent years that supportthe argumentthat celebrity
identity has become abstractare Sy and his video Gangnam Style butalso the
song One Pound Fish that on YouTube has received nearly 14 millions hits with
the performer securing a record contract with Warner Music Group on the
strength of the interest and popularity from social media. This evidences the
positive impact of social media in constructing identity but again for
commercial reasons. Celebrity identity always had been a commodity to be
bought and sold with social media acting as a distribution platform. Facebook
also promotes celebrity identity through file sharing and is a platform where
users create their own online identity using categories including name and
profile. Anthony Giddens would arguethe concept of Facebook and Twitter
ensures self reflexivity and the ability to constructand develop ones own
biographicalnarrative or identity. Identity is created as a reflection of society
and in many ways, using the work of ZygmuntBauman, this identity can be
problematic. Facebook is frequently used as a vehicle for vehement criticism of
anything from media products and celebrity identity to political ideological
doctrine.
Celebrity identity tends to be associated with mainstreammedia with
magazines like Heat and Reveal having a stable circulation with the primary
objective of directing readers to their websites. On socialmedia, fans often
own constructions and fake celebrity sites are common media as followers
seek to possess part of the identity of a celebrity. Celebrity identity positions
audiences through association with popular culture and ideas of ‘the fake’ are
not restricted to fan based social media. Twitter has been a social media site
that for sometime has allowed celebrities to create and maintain the myth of
personal relationshipswith their fans. Twitter has allowed the constructof
celebrity to havemore longevity as performers/artists etc. who may previously

6. have been ‘replaced’ with newer versions by a fickle public have managed to
maintain a presencein social media. Social media has also promoted a culture
of nostalgia that has been positivefor the representation of celebrity identity.
I agree with the statement that socialmedia has reinforced existing values and
ideologies. In terms of celebrity identity, socialmedia has promoted the
construction of an identity in a culture that frequently constructs identity in
other media like Reality TV, print and online newspapers and magazines. For
celebrity identity, socialmedia has had a significant positiveimpact but of
coursewith the ability, as in some traditional media, to rapidly disseminate
information and gossip that is not always positivein its reflection of celebrity
culture.
“We are defined by the Media we use.” How does your
case study suggest that audiences use the media to
construct their own identity?
Identity is the way we see ourselves and in turn the way different groups in
society see us. I will be using the representation of the male hero in film as a
case study platformto develop a responseto this question while also exploring
notions of audience active and passive consumption of media, importantin
understanding how Hollywood male action heroes areconsumed as a media
representation. Key texts that I will be exploring reflect the changing nature
of cultural identity in how weconstructour own identity in relation to ‘the
other’ but also linking with patriarchal ideology. Hollywood films reflect
mainstreamculture and as such are more likely to evidence hegemonic
cultural stereotypes, perhaps within a framework of evolving liberal pluralism.
The key texts I will be exploring are Locke and The Doubleboth from 2013 but
within a wider framework of film culture.
Spectatorshipis importantfor both films. We havecontrasting characters in
the aspirationalbut fundamentally broken Ivan Lockewhosedominantbrand
of masculinity unravels as the film’s narrative progresses whileSimon in The
Doubleseems weak and passiveallowing for him to be dominated by his
doppelganger, James. While Ivan on the surfaceconforms to John Berger’s
historical but relevant theory ‘men act, women appear’ his masculinity can be
analysed using David Buckingham’s theory of identity fragmentation as
this stereotypefalls apartduring his journey. Lockeis a film about masculinity.
Simon does not conformto any stereotypical collective identity and can be
studied as a pluralistic representation whileJames conforms much moreto a

7. familiar cultural identity of a professionally successfulwitty man who is also
successfulwith women. Audiences would see Ivan as an aspirational role
model, in terms of reflecting their own cultural identity he is hyper masculine,
a successfulsiteengineer with a stable happy family and two sons who
worship him. The secondary personaof Tom Hardy would also contribute to
this identity fromrumours of a Bond role to previous performances playing
dominant male characters e.g. in Bronson (2009); however, his identity in this
film is escapist not realist.
Simon in The Double is a character that audiences would identify as a
more realist representation and as such would have closer links to their own
identity, perhaps empathising with his vulnerability in terms of his lack of
progression in the workplaceand lack of success with the opposite sex. James
is deliberately placed, using Levi Strauss’ theory, in binary opposition to
Simon, serving to empathise further his emasculation. Ivan and Simon are
complex and contradictory suggesting to audiences there is not one fixed
identity they musthave and that media representations aremore diverse in
film texts, which is dependent on a number of factors and variables. This
conforms to David Gauntlett’s much used butrelevant statement in his book
‘Media, Gender and Identity’: “Identity is complicated, everyone’s gotone”
suggesting an argumentagainst collective identity. However, culturalidentity
in relation to masculinity mustbe understood as
more stereotypical in mainstreamHollywood filmtexts likeEscape
Plan (2013) with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone reprising their
action hero representation and roles from the 1980s or as in Man of
Steel and Iron Man 3 again both from 2013. David Gauntlett again can provide
a framework for understanding this often repeated and circulated hegemonic
mainstreamrepresentation with his suggestion that the media: “offers narrow
interpretations of certain roles or lifestyles”. Examining this statement
Gauntlett is basically saying that it is in the interests of certain mainstream
media to do so.
The key difference is in how audiences use these texts and the relationship to
their own identity. Using Blumler and Katz’s Uses and
Gratifications framework, audiences would referencepersonalidentity in
terms of their expectations of cultural identity and representation in genre
pieces like Man of Steel and the Iron Man franchisewhile understanding and
expecting a dominant male representation in relation to Schwarzenegger and
Stallone using their cultural capital. The same could be said of Bronson as
audiences expect Hardy to play a specific role whereas JesseEisenberg who
plays Simon and James in The Doubleplayed the enigmatic Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film The Social Network. Arguably, Eisenberg is

8. cast to ensureaudiences recognisethe geeky stereotype of masculinity and
working in information technology (Simon is an office bound worker). Personal
relationships, again referencing the Uses and Gratifications model, ensure
gendered roles in film culture providean interactive viralplatform using social
networking and micro blogging. Audiences have the ability to reflect on their
own identity as much as discuss it. Convergence culture offersa surveillance
aspect with enhanced information available across digital platforms, assisting
is helping to develop what John Ellis would describeas the male action
hero’s secondary persona. Finally diversion or escapism can be applied to
ensureaudiences can differentiate between a realist andnon-realist
construction of identity with obvious links to passive consumption in terms of
the representation.
In turn, cultural identity and the construction of one’s own identity has a direct
link to ideological constructs,particularly in film culture. Dominant male roles
like Ivan Lockereflect a more historical patriarchal concept that sees the man
in control in work based situations (Ivan is a construction worker overseeing
the biggestconcrete pour in Europe), in control as a husband and father (his
wife and sons areat home, waiting for him in their football shirts to come
home and watch the match) and also in control in terms of the decision making
process. Ivan is fanatically wishing to control everything and referencing a male
stereotype thinks he can ‘fix’ every problem . To anchor this representation he
is rugged and muscular, sports a heavy masculine beard and has a deep Welsh
accent. However, this ideological construct splinters during thefilm as his wife
leaves him, he loses his job and he keeps having hallucinations of his ‘weak’
alcoholic father sitting in the back seat of his BMW 4x4. The filmmaker shows
him as losing almost everything by the end of the film and turning his back on
what is seen as an archaic old-fashioned brand of masculinity. The decision is
then left up to the spectator how to interpret meaning. Using Stuart
Hall’s theory, the dominant preferred meaning suggests a fragmentation of his
cultural identity while an oppositional reading would suggesthe maintains this
patriarchaltradition by continuing to be ‘on top’ of the decision making
process, albeit with negative narrativeoutcomes.
Representation of masculinity in film through the male action hero can be a
forcefor progress or an agent for changebut is dependent on commercial or
cultural priorities. Independent filmsuggests a rangeof diverse
representationstargeting an educated culturally awareaudience who are less
likely to be victim to passiveconsumption and pride themselves on
their individualismwhereas mainstream film has more power to influence the
construction of one’s own identity. Different media produce a different
identity for different audiences