Media Questionaire

Name: Austen Nuttall

My GCSE Grades:
English C
English Literature D
Mathematics C
Art & Design C
Religious Studies C
Science C
Additional Science C
I.C.T. Pass (C)
Geography B
Media Studies B

Hobbies I enjoy:
Playing the piano. I can play many songs but the ones which people will recognize are:

• Set Fire To The Rain, Turning Tables, Hometown Glory, Rolling In The Deep - Adele
• Paparazzi - Lady Gaga
• You Found Me - The Fray
• Clocks - Coldplay
• You Need Me I Dont Need You, Lego House - Ed Sheeran
• Kids - MGMT
• You're Beautiful - James Blunt

And many, many, many more!

(Below is a video below showing me playing my own interpretation of "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga on piano)

I can also play many theme tunes aswell. These include soundtracks from Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings aswell as many more. Below is the video of me playing "The White City of Gondor" from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The most printed media I read has to be about the latest news on new upcoming movies such as The Hobbit, The Avengers, Kill Bill 3 (rumored) and also The Dark Knight Rises. I enjoy reading about what’s going on and when they will be released as movies. However, this is not really printed media I read. I like to read this information on the Internet as it is quicker, cheaper and also you can find out many opinions from other people.

I highly enjoy my music, as I can play the piano. I like to listen to musicians such as Adele who have that natural voice recording voice.  I also like to listen to the following: Frank Turner, MGMT, Go Radio and also anything which has a good rhythm/beet to it. My music taste is rather “all over the place”.

I have a high opinion on illegally downloading content from websites and other programs via the internet for music. I believe that if a group, singer or a bang is “unpopular” or should I say, “Unknown to the world” then I believe that it is only right to pay for their songs and music. However, with big bands, singers and groups it is acceptable to a certain stage. What I mean by this is that if a musician has millions of hits and views/downloads for their songs  then one or two illegal downloads is ok, but at some point the person who is doing this must pay for at least one thing as the popular musician has already made millions (money).

The music industry doesn’t have an influence on the way I dress, but maybe on the ways other people do. This is because they want to look like their idol or the latest pop star as some kind of escape from the world, you dress the same so that you can look like them, be like them, act like them. Musicians could also release their own fashion range too. This supports young people being able to wear clothes made by a certain artist or group.

There are other types of media I like such as video games. I own a PlayStation 3 (PS3). Some of my favourite games on PS3 are Star Wars the Force Unleashed series, uncharted series and lastly the Assassin’s Creed series. My all time favourite have to be Assassin’s Creed series which is based off some real events and people and also fictional, but my favourite is Assassin’s creed Brotherhood which is a game containing events which take place right after Assassin’s Creed 2 (this game is like version 2.3 in the story starting the series at game 1, and then going up to probably game 3) In this game you are a character called Desmond. He is around the age of 26, and is a “test subject”. However, this is not the only character you play as. Desmond is a family member of an Assassin called Ezio De Auditore. To do this Desmond must use a machine called The Animus. In this machine he can “re-live” as Ezio and view his memory’s as they have the same DNA. In the story of Assassin’s Creed series Ezio is fighting the Templars of the age but in the modern day world, Desmond is fighting the modern day Templars by using the memory’s of Ezio to find out history’s greatest secrets. In other words, the whole story of Assassin’s Creed is rather confusing. The only way to take in and understand it is to play the game in my opinion, but what I’ve said above should sum it up nicely.
Here's a trailer showing the upcoming Assassin's Creed Revelations:

Video games such as the Assassin’s Creed series can have a negative effect on people’s behaviour such as never going outside because they want to get to the next level, or maybe that if it’s a violent game then it leads fans of the game to create “weapon lookalikes” and show them off to people, some in which can be deadly if used wrongly, especially with all the new technologies we have today to make such things.

New technologies have changed the way we view and even use media in our world today. I believe that these new technologies such as The Internet and Mobile Phones/and other handheld tech. have all changed the way we view media. The Internet lets us view almost anything we want and in any way we want. On The Internet you can view videos on YouTube about the latest report, and you can also add them to your "favorites box" such as I do with comedy and interesting videos on my YouTube called "erestor629" for easy access.
http://www.youtube.com/user/erestor629?feature=mhee

You can even read blogs about what’s happening in the world today to increase our understanding. Combining this with portable technologies it means that we can use and consume media almost anywhere with an Internet connection. The Internet isn’t the only way we can view media now. We have T.V. DVD’s, Blue Ray and other media devises which we can view content on.

The Internet isn’t the only way I like to view media; I also like to watch T.V. such as BBC 1 which holds many of my favourite T.V. shows. These include Miranda, Outnumbered, Doctor Who and Torchwood. I like this channel as the BBC doesn’t have any adverts during the shows they host on air. It can get very annoying when your watching a film shall we say on Film 4 and an advert appearing in the middle of the story.

My most favourite genre of television has to be either Comedy or Drama. This is because Comedy has a huge range from panel shows to stand up shows. I highly like these as they take very serious matters and make them understandably funny to take in and to catch up on the latest news. However, I also like Drama. Drama shows such as Spooks has to be my favourite show. It has everything which a brilliant T.V. show needs: Cliff-hangers, Story dramatically changes, Tension and many more twists.

The T.V programs I find the most memorable have to be for starters “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” This show I have to call has to be the bases of these new panel shows such as “Mock the Week”, “Nevermind the Buzzcocks” and also “Have I Got News for You”. The show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” stars 4 comedians in total and a panel host. In most episodes 2 of the comedians are “the regulars” and the other 2 are guests. I like this format.
Here is some clips from episodes of "Whose Line Is It Anyways?" to give you a teaser to what it's like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sztkEfoXxsM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKSyilX6k0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a55kjGzYem4&feature=related
If you'd like to watch "Whose Line Is It Anyway" on T.V. then it is on the channel:
"5 USA" on weekends at 12am.

Another show I find memorable has to be Doctor Who. Doctor Who has a different story each episode leading to a big massive season final near Xmas. It has a very unique style.  The Doctor can regenerate 12 times which means that he can change his appearance before he dies. This means that many different actors can play The Doctor which gives this Character so much to play with when writing stories and scripts for the show as each Doctor is never the same but holds small characteristics to the past Doctors. On top of this, he has many different companions to travel on his adventures with. With each new Doctor, he says goodbye to his past self and companion and says hello to the new him and a new companion. This could mean that Doctor Who can go on forever as its format is one of a kind.

Enough about my favourite shows on T.V, I also highly enjoy watching films. Some of my all time favourite films have to be the Star Wars saga, Kill Bill and also The Lord of the Rings. Star Wars has such an epic one of a kind story with a unique feel to it. George Lucas released episodes 4, 5 and 6 before episodes 1, 2 and 3. Never have I seen this done before, releasing the parts 4, 5 and 6 deliberately so that the new technologies can be used for 1, 2 and 3.

I myself am not a media producer in film. However, I did work experience at Epic Studios in Norwich. There, I looked on how they did auditions for an Internet fashion show called “Event Dog” (you may still be able to see it on the Internet today.) I helped out with a discussion at the end of the additions with the producers about who was good and who wasn’t so good. Also because they thought that it would be ideal that a young person should comment as the show was aimed at younger audiences into fashion.

Eventdog bringing a blend of live internet TV, direct from Epic Studios in Norwich. Using and supporting new local talent within music and fashion.  - Eventdog, Twitter.

Even through the media have its benefits to the world by viewing it over the Internet, portable devices and other such means. It has its bad side to. Such as there can be more violence, racism involved which can be seen, also, if you’re at home everyday, all day on The Internet then you would lose your sense of time and that you would/might gain weight as you’re not doing any sports.

Taking this into account if I had to create a piece of media I would do a film with a message about what the future may hold for people who use media in their everyday life via a phone, IPad, MP3 Player  and the Internet. How it will affect their life and their living health by keep looking at screens for most of their life.

I have chosen media studies as an A-level subject because I highly enjoyed media studies at GCSE. I got a B grade at GSCEs and I thought that I should continue doing something I like and enjoy as well because I got a good grade for it. On the other hand, I also wanted to do Media Studies as a subject because it fits well with my other A-levels which are Animation, Photography and lastly Business Studies. I believe that this mix mach of subjects fits very well together as a whole and will lead me into the world of media.