Consumption & Production

This week we discussed consumption and production of media. Traditionally consumers of professional media content didn’t produce, but only consumed. This has changed in the advent of new technology. This new technology has enabled the everyday person to create and publicize media content. The technology includes personal media players like iPods, mobile phones and Smartphones (iPhones). These gadgets have inbuilt camera/video camera’s so the user can create, view and publish content on the fly. The medium by which media content is viewed includes ‘big’ screens and ‘small’ screens. The ‘big’ screens of life are cinema TV and PC. The ‘small’ screens of life are personal media players and mobile phones. Through these small screen technologies the consumption of media is becoming increasingly personal. Previously, most media was viewed at a local cinema or hall where a projector was set up and everyone had to share. These media viewing spots were public and only consisted of big screen mediums. This is no longer the case because of the increase in personal media technology.

The ability to upload a video clip on You Tube has opened up the production of media content to almost anyone. Once a clip is on You Tube, potentially, millions of people can view it. Being able to get content out to this many people has caused many to become involved in producing small-scale media projects. In the lecture, we discussed fan-films and trailer mash-ups, which are created by amateurs and sourced through internet sites like You Tube. Here is an example of a trailer mash-up:

Napolean Dynamite / James Bond