Independent Case Study - Theories, Issues & Debates, Wider examples and secondary texts

Theories

1) What media theories can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media theories and explain how they are relevant to your case study. Note: these can be ANY of the theories we have learned over the whole of Year 12 and 13.

Uses and Gratifications

• Media audience are more active and have been given the opportunity to choose how they consume media and at present, the popular trend appears to be VoD services such as Netflix and LoveFilm. 

Techno-Panic/Moral Panic

• Despite the quicker and more accessible nature of watching films that NDM developments have brought a lot of people are quite scared as to the information that people can access about them through a simple VoD profile. Not only this many people stick with the cinema because they are cautious of linking their credit/debit cards to an online site given many recent stories about some of the large conglomerates being hacked and similar. 

Cultivation Theory - Gerber

• The increased subscriptions of VoD services and the time spent on them could begin to shape our perceptions of social reality. On average we are spending 2 hours on such platforms and this type of exposure could mean that we see reality differently. For example, if we expose ourselves to a lot of violent films then we could shape a perception of reality that the real world is a violent place. 

Issues/debates

1) What media issues and debates can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media issues/debates and explain how they are relevant to your case study.

Technology

The VoD world and technology, in general, is still a fairly new concept and still developing... What does that really mean for the survival of the traditional cinema film distributors? What could further developments mean for them, will it allow them to better compete or shut them down for good?

(SHEP) Economic

Previously, we would be paying for a single film at the cinema costing upwards of £20 anyway in addition to snacks etc. Now with the developments of NDM and the VoD, we can pay a set fee (Netflix = £7.99 a month/ Now TV: £9.99 a month) and enjoy an unlimited film catalogue. It is a much more cost-efficient strategy, therefore, attracting more people. There are many people who never used to watch films at all because the cinema was too expensive but now they can in a way that is affordable for them.   

(SHEP) Historical

In the past, there was first a time when cinemas did not exist at all. Then cinema screens came along but they were primarily used for people to view the news and information about the latest war developments and similar and the rare film showings could only be afforded by the elite. However, the changes are dramatic. We have gone from the phenomenal development of watching films at the cinema to watching them streaming straight from our phones, tablets and computers. 

Wider examples and secondary texts

1) What other texts or institutions are also relevant to your case study? What would be good secondary texts or examples to use to support the findings of your independent case study?

• Instant Video is only available to Amazon customers who pay for its "Prime Instant Video" membership, which costs £5.99 a month, or the online giant's £79-a-year "Prime" service. Both offer a month's free trial.

Now TV offers four packages to customers:

• Entertainment Month Pass
• Sky Cinema Month Pass
• Kids Month Pass
• Sports Month Pass

Unless cancelled these month passes renew at:

• Kids £2.99pm
• Entertainment £6.99pm
• Sky Cinema £9.99pm
• Sky Sports £33.99pm.