Media Studies:

The then, the now, the

beyond

Richard & Nick

Presentation Outline:
Media

History: Timeline 1930s-2000s

Media Studies in the Dock
Case Study: Blair Witch
Case Study: Snakes on a Plane
Case Study: Batman
Pretentious end
Aim: To provide an educative insight into the
history and progress of the media in an
entertaining and informative manner.

Timeline

1930s

Starting point in history of media studies: literary critic FR Leavis

publishes his book Culture and Environment: the Training of
Critical Awareness (1933). Aim is to teach pupils to discriminate
and resist
Walter Benjamin's 1936 essay "The Work of Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction" marks one of the first major
interrogations of the play between technical media and culture.
BBC transmits a play by television, 240 lines/sec of resolution.
"Golden Age" of radio begins
BBC broadcasts television four days a week.
The first King Kong sends the giant ape up the new Empire State
Building.
Adolf Hitler employs power of radio to influence the masses.
Flash Gordon docks on the comic pages. The movie serial
follows
A recording, the Hindenburg crash, is the first coast to coast
broadcast.
Many TV firsts: sports coverage, variety show, feature film.

The Hays Code:

The first attempt at introducing film censorship in the US through laying

down a series of guidelines to film producers.
The Code was founded according to the concept: "if motion pictures present
stories that will affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful
force for the improvement of mankind"
The Code was based on three general principles:
- No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those
who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to
the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
- Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and
entertainment, shall be presented.
- Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be
created for its violation.
These were developed in a series of rules grouped under the selfexplanatory headings Crimes Against The Law, Sex, Vulgarity, Obscenity,
Profanity, Costume, Dances (i.e. suggestive movements), Religion,
Locations (i.e. the bedroom), National Feelings, Titles and "Repellent
Subjects" (extremely graphic violence).
Directly influenced the content of almost every American film made between
1930 and 1966

1940s

Churchill's radio speeches encourage

battered Britons, others.
Fantasia
Electronic colour TV demonstrated.
Citizen Kane experiments with
flashback, camera movement, sound
techniques.
Comic book publishers are selling
25,000,000 copies a month.
First digital computer to be put in
service.

1950s

Work of Raymond Williams and Richard Hoggart challenges Leavis

notion of culture Founding moment of British Cultural Studies
(Buckingham)
"Top 40" radio music format created
3-D movies offer thrills to the audience.
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II brings sales of 1 million TV
sets in the UK
TV Guide; initial press run.
Regular colour TV broadcasts begin in the USA
Comic book code censors horror, hurts sales, hits industry hard.
Elvis Presley spreads rock to a world audience with first film, Love
Me Tender.
A surgical operation is televised.
A computer is part of a movie plot: Desk Set, with Tracy and
Hepburn.
Media studies can partially be understood as a response to the
McCarthyist paranoia of the influences of the mass media. The
American Heritage Dictionary defines "McCarthyism" as "the practice
of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with
insufficient regard to evidence" and "the use of unfair investigatory or
accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition

1960s

In the UK, media studies emerges in the 1960s from the

academic study of English, and from literary criticism more
broadly. It tends to grow through colleges and
polytechnics, rather than through established universities,
and further challenges the distinctions between high
culture and popular culture.
Stuart Prices The Popular Arts (1964) is a key text which
disseminates this approach to schools
A wireless microphone is used in a movie, Mutiny on the
Bounty.
Andy Warhol paints many images of Campbell's Soup
cans, Marilyn Monroe.
Dr. No begins the James Bond series.
Sony offers an open-reel videotape recorder for the home
Footage of JFK Assassination broadcast around the world
First live televised murder: Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey
Oswald.
Hollywood adopts an age-based rating system
Also at the movies: The Graduate, Cool Hand Luke,
Bonnie and Clyde.

1970s

Graham Murdock and Guy Phelps 1973 research

of secondary schools shows the Leavis approach
loosing ground as younger teachers sought to
build upon students every day experiences.
Advent of influential journals Screen and Screen
Education
The critical paradigm was formed in the early
1970s, raising questions about media and power.
Steven Spielberg's Jaws will be the first film to
earn more than $100 million.
1971 the first email message is sent.
1976 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first head
of state to send an email
Pong, first home video game, in first game
console.
The BBC offers Ceefax
Punk rock music emerges with themes of nihilism,
anarchy.
The word "Internet" enters the lexicon.

1980s

Len Masterman publishes Teaching about Television (1980) and Teaching

the Media (1985)
Development of media education is part of a wider mover towards
democratisation where students out-of-school cultures are recognised
as valid and worthy of consideration in the school curriculum.
Photos can be digitally manipulated on a home computer.
Researchers try to index the exploding Internet; can't keep up.
In Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco offers a novel with levels of
meaning.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? feature film combines live action, animation.
The Simpsons, animated cartoon, introduced on Fox TV.
Computer-created Luxo, Jr. is first of Pixar's virtual studio films.
50 newspapers now offer online access to news texts.
Desktop publishing becomes familiar.
Time names the computer as "Man" of the Year for 1982.
Michael Jackson's album Thriller sells 25 million copies.
USA Today is a newspaper influenced by television news style.
Pac-Man attracts girls as well as boys to home video games.
Umberto Eco's novel, The Name of the Rose, infuses fiction with semiotics.
Falklands War coverage of the first Media War leads to the re-election of
Margaret Thatcher
Charles and Dianas Wedding (ahhhh) attracts worldwide audiences of
750 million the most watched television event ever

1990s

Media education continues to move forward but still has some of the suspicion
of the media industries at heart
$35,000 Blair Witch Project shows potential of low cost video production.
Oscars: The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster.
Also at the movies: Thelma & Louise, Bugsy, City Slickers.
Rodney King beating videotape shot by amateur adds "visualanties" to lexicon.
Nokia sends text messages between mobile phones.
Digital satellite TV service, DirecTV, offered.
Also at the movies: Pulp Fiction, Nell, The Client, Speed, The Lion King.
Forrest Gump uses digital photo tricks to insert person into historical footage.
Toy Story is the first totally digital feature-length film.
WebTV formed to combine television and the Internet.
The shooter game Quake allows users to create their own levels.
TV host Oprah Winfrey boosts book sales with monthly book club.
American Psychological Assoc. correlates TV violence, aggressive behaviour.
DVDs go on sale.
From Kodak, the first point-and-shoot digital camera.
Film Titanic costs $300 million to make, market; will earn more than twice that.
Image of dancing baby emailed worldwide, becomes TV's Ally McBeal regular.
Music industry up in arms as fans download MP3 sound files for free.
Also at the movies: Matrix, The Insider, The Hurricane, The Sixth Sense.
Jon Johansen, 15, of Norway manages to break movie DVD copy protection.
The Gulf War becomes the first war to be broadcast live into living rooms

I am afraid that the interests of our children are

not served either by some of the examination
boardsTheyd give us Chaucer with chips,
Milton with mayonnaise. Mr Chairman, I want
William Shakespeare in our classroom, not
Ronald McDonald.
Education Secretary John Patten speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, 1992

2000s

Childrens existing knowledge seen as the starting point for media education, and UK Government recognises the
importance of Media Education. The aim now is to prepare children rather then protect them.
Feature film Quantum Project is produced for Internet distribution, not theaters.
Stephen Kings novel Riding the Bullet is best seller via Net downloads only.
Instant messaging grows in popularity.
Also at the movies: Lord of the Rings, Gosford Park, Moulin Rouge, Shrek.
iPod holds 10,000 tunes, but fits into a shirt pocket.
The Sims 2 advances story games for computers.
Digital car radios go on sale, digital AM and FM signals boasting CD-quality.
Film, The Passion of the Christ is praised, criticised.
Google gets 138,000 requests a minute in 90 languages.
$21 billion spent on online ads in U.S. alone.
iTunes music store offers tunes for 99 cents.
Cable TV offers Sky+ features: storing, skipping commercials.
Hollywood releases heavy on special effects, violence, sequels.
For the first time, more DVDs than videotapes are rented in the U.S.
Feature film, Attack of the Clones, produced entirely in digital format.
Sony's PlayStation2, Microsoft's Xbox, Nintendo's GameCube attract devotees.
Documentary feature Oscar: Bowling for Columbine.
South Africas Sesame Street introduces an HIV-positive puppet.
UK workers spend more time with email than with their children.
Simone, a comedy about a computer-generated film star
Cambridge university brands Media Studies an academic lightweight
Ministers complain there are more students studying media studies than physics
Apple to distribute movies through i tunes

The now annual moral panic in the UK

every August when GCSE and A-level
results are released normally focuses
upon Media Studies as an example of the
alleged dumbing down of education.
(Barker, 2001).

Media Studies in the Dock

The case for the prosecution.

Media studies is loathed in equal measure by academics
and media professionals. It is held up as the prime
example of a Micky Mouse course.
Dr Geoff Parks, director of admissions, Cambridge
University: We could always name two A-Levels we
would rather have. [The skills developed by Media
Studies] are not relevant to the sort of courses we offer.
Veronica Wadley, Editor, The London Evening Standard:
Id be far more interested in seeing someone with a Law
degree. [] As far as I know Ive never interviewed
anyone with a Media Studies degree.

Media Studies in the Dock

The case for the defence.

The case for the prosecution is flawed: On the one hand, Media Studies is
condemned for its lack of vocational relevance (in terms that are rarely extended to
other academic subjects); while on the other, it is slated for its absence of academic
rigour. (David Buckingham)
Media Studies one of the most oversubscribed courses. A-Level numbers up again
this year by 5.1% to 28,261 (source: Media Guardian)
Media Studies has never pretended to offer professional training for journalists in
the same way A-Levels and degrees in politics do not train politicians.
Are those journalists who hold Media Studies in such contempt suggesting their
profession is unworthy of study? Does the idea of the academia responding to their
industry make them nervous?
Media courses, often seen as essentially leftist, have displeased many of those who
would prefer to keep their own practices free from critical scrutiny. (Stuart Price)
Not all Journalists are in agreement with their peers:
Observer editor Roger Alton: The nature of the media governs the way we think.
Even people within the industry often arent aware of whats going on, and it repays
study. [] There is a lot more to journalism than the things you need to know to do
the job.

Media Studies in the Dock

Calling

the witnesses for the defence

Jim

Adamson, MD Speakeasy Productions

(Media Studies, Stirling 1988): Doing
Media Studies has helped me. What I got
from it was not so much the ability to
structure programmes per se, but how to
structure communication.

Source Media Guardian

Media Studies in the Dock

Calling

the witnesses for the defence

Ewan

MacLeod, MD Golden Square Media

(Media Studies, Southampton 1992): Id
definitely recommend Media Studies. I think that
theres always the flipside that everyone has to
start from the bottom anyway, but what college
gave me was a real insight into the whole
business.

Source: Media Guardian

Media Studies in the Dock

Calling the witnesses for the defence

Mark Daly, BBC Journalist (Film & Media Studies, Stirling

1997): I would definitely recommend Media Studies as
your first degree. When youre 18 you probably dont
know that much about Media Issues. You probably dont
read a newspaper [] so it gets you interested and gives
you a nice gentle grounding [] there was always a bit
of banter from the guys doing English and history, but I
guess weve had the last laugh now.

Source: Media Guardian

Media Studies in the Dock

Calling the Witnesses for the defence

Mark Cousins, Director, Writer, Film Historian (Film and

Media Studies, Stirling 1987): It offends me very much
that so many people in the media and film world are
Oxbridge, but in the end the main thing is having
confidence in your own ideas, and that confidence can
come from studying English or Media. For me, Media is
more important we need to equip the next generation
with the visual reading skills they need in order to make
sense of the screen-dominated world in which we live.

Source: Media Guardian

Snakes on a Plane, 2006

One journalist wrote that

Snakes on a Plane is "perhaps
the most internet-hyped film of
all time.
Much of the initial publicity
came from a blog entry made by
screenwriter Josh Friedman.
Due to its considerable Internet
fan base, New Line Cinema
incorporated feedback from
online users into its production.

360 Degree Media

Television

Graphic Novel

Film
Radio

Computer Game

Website
Cartoon Series
Merchandise
Spin-offs
Advertising

Sequals

Reviews
Theatre
DVD, Extended DVDs, Box Sets

 I am cinema-eye, I am a mechanical eye. I, a

machine, show you a world such as only I can
seeI cast off human immobility, I move
constantly, I approach and pull away from
objects. I creep under them, I leap onto them
I run before charging troops, I turn on my
backMy mission is the creation of a new
perception of the world. Thus I decifer in a
new way a world unkown to you.
Dziga Vertov

Fin.