Unit 6:Task 1

Audience research is always extremely important and that is no exception when it comes to the political campaign. Political parties must understand their audience in order to win them over, discover what their views and ultimately win their votes.

Quantitative research:

Quantitative audience research is information that is gathered from an audience and portrayed as numerical data. Quantitative research is about numbers and what they represent, these numbers can help you learn a lot about your audience. This research may include things like viewership numbers and ratings these facts and figures can be useful to a presidential campaign as the parties can see from previous televised debates how many viewers they get and who the viewers are, meaning they can tailor their questions and answers around the majority of the viewers. 

Quantitative research can be done by turning the audiences opinions into numerical data when asking the audience a particular question the answers can be turned into numbers. For example audiences may be asked to rate a certain statement from 1 to 5 depending on how strongly they agree with that statement, this rating system helps make the research easier to analyse as all the data as turned into and easy to understand set of figures. Political parties can use research like this to see how the general public agrees with their policies and find out what percentage of the average population rates their policies highly.

Qualitative research:

Qualitative audience research is about the content of the research itself and not just the statistical information, what this means is that qualitative research focuses more on the answers that are given to the questions that are presented. This research can be used to find out exactly what an audience wants and what their opinions are on matters, it is less so used to make graphs and present statistics unlike quantitative research. Methods of this type of research include focus groups, questionnaires and interviews.

During the political campaign it is vital that the parties conduct thoroughly both types of research. Qualitative research is important as it allows you to find out exactly what your audience wants on a much more personal bases. Answers are more tailored to the individual who is answering the questionnaire or taking part in the focus group allowing whoever uses the research to get a better understanding of each audiences members wants and needs. In a presidential campaign it is important for the parties to know the wants and needs of their audience in order to capture their votes, they must pander to their audience in order to make sure their support can be guaranteed. 

If the parties conduct their research correctly before events such as political debates they have a much better chance of appealing to their audiences.

Audience Classifications

Grouping audiences into categories can make you have a better understanding of them. For example psychographics is the understanding of audience and their values, including grouping them together based on their personality, interests, opinions and lifestyles. An example of using psychographics would be to group audience members by their lifestyle, putting them into groups based on which socio-economic class they fall into. Audiences can be grouped into; working, middle and upper class. This information can be used to understand common trends between socio-economic groups, for example whether or not there is a correlation between peoples attitudes to politicals ie; which party they are in favour of and their socio-economic background.

Unit 6: Task 2 Part C

Task 2 Part C
of the assignment is an individual evaluation of our thoughts on the media's role and effect on this years presidential election.

Now that the election campaigns are over for both parties I can safely conclude that I think the media played a huge part in the outcome of the election. This years election was probably the most controversial of all time, with two very opinionated candidates who are either loved or hated and we all know that controversy makes for great news stories and television. Because of all this controversy surrounding the candidates they both got a lot more exposure than any other politicians would have, and they say that not all publicity is bad publicity but is that true for Hillary?

Hillary Clinton lost this years election to Donald Trump, a shock victory in most people's eyes, but how much of a part did the media play in this? A large one I believe, Hillary was painted as a villain due to her email scandal which the media jumped on quicker than you can shout 'delete.' Reports of Hilary illegally deleting her emails in order to hide what she had been doing spread like wildfire, the FBI even got involved and Hillary was investigated. Obviously this caused rumours to start, why did she delete those emails? Was she selling weapons to ISIS? Covering up what happened in Benghazi? Nope, nothing was found and the deleted emails were simply very boring. Being innocent as not as interesting as being guilty in the eyes of the media so no one really cared after the FBI cleared her but it was too late, the impression that Hillary was some sort of evil war monger had already been planted in the minds of the Public, leaving many to believe that Donald Trump was the lesser of two evils.

It wasn't only the news on television reporting on the election, but everyone. It was all social media was focused on a good month leading up to the actual election. Mark Zugerburg himself said that facebook can be partly to blame for the result, as the site has little to no monitoring of fake news stories. Apparently an abundance of fake news stories were posted about both candidates on the site slandering their names and users of facebook had no reason to not believe the stories. As well as this Donald Trump gathered a large following on social media, mainly twitter, due to the controversial things he said on there. His tweets gathered so much attention that they actually became a bigger talking point than the debate itself. People clearly liked how opinionated and honest Trumps twitter came across as in garnered a large following and this incredible use of social media may have played a hand in his victory. Trump managed to be so controversial on twitter that he was literally always in the news, whether that be mainstream news outlets or on social media. Always being in the public eye clearly helped him to victory even though he was in there mainly for the wrong reason.

To conclude yes, I believe the media had an eaffect on the presidential race of 2016, Trumps social media domination clearly earned him enough support from people who shared his views. In a rapidly modernising world I think not only the mainstream media but social media too will continue to grow and continue to influence big political events like these, all over the world. We are all connected now and gives politicians a great platform to interact with their intended audiences and I think Trump did this well. Let see what happens next.

Unit 6: My Section of the Report for Task 2

I will be comparing and contrasting 2016 US election and the presidential debates, the audience's view on this and how the media covered the debates and discussing whether or not this coverage was fair and equal and how this may influence the voter. When it comes to the American electoral process media coverage is crucial to candidates from both the major parties. Presidential debates are held in the late electoral cycle when both parties have chosen their candidates. Candidates from the two main parties (Republican and Democrats) meet in front of a live audience and debate the most pressing and controversial issue and pitch their party's policy on how to deal with these. The debates target undecided voters who may want to find out more about each candidate's policy and attitudes towards being president and because of this the debates can be a game changer in the presidential race. Therefore the media coverage that these debates receive is very important.

The first presidential debate of the 2016 election took place on Monday the 26th of September and whilst tickets were extremely limited the media coverage was huge. As long as you had access to a TV or even the internet you could watch it, it was broadcast live on all cable news channels including CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network and MSNBC as well as being live on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. Not only was it on every channel you could think of but it was also broadcast free live on YouTube and twitter.

Each news outlet has a different audience with different views to one another, in order to accommodate these views news outlets may not cover the electoral debates equally meaning that viewers who are on the fence may be influenced by coverage that is not impartial. For example media outlets such as Fox news, the New York post and the New York Observer have all been accused of being ‘pro Trump’ rather than being impartial. Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly who are both presenters on Fox News are known Trump supporters, Trump was endorsed by the New York post back in April of this year and the New York Observer is owned by Donald Trump's son in law. The fact that all of these outlets have an association with Trump may affect their ability to be impartial thus presenting unbalanced information onto their audiences.

Donald Trump is known to have old fashioned far right views that are very conservative in nature, many whom are against Trump have accused him of being out right racist saying things such as ‘They're bringing crime and they're rapists’ when talking about the Mexican people. Fox news’s producers may be aware that certain views will appear more to their audiences because of their demographic. According to Nielsen TV data the average age of a Fox news viewer is 68 which the majority of them being conservative and white. Only 1.1 per cent of Fox viewers are black. This means fox may tailor their political coverage in favour of Trump in order to keep their audience happy, an audience who predominantly share similar views to Trump being far right and conservative.

On the other hand Trump and his views have gained a huge amount of media coverage due to their controversy. Everytime Trump makes a controversial statement the media blows up. Every single outlet covers it because something that is controversial and offensive draws in viewers. Audiences (especially ones who aren’t that interested in politics) engage with stories that are controversial as everyone wants to share their opinion on the subject matters that have been addressed. News sources than are supposedly impartial or even Pro Hillary can end up benefiting Trump's campaign by giving it exposure, they say all publicity is good publicity, and this may be the case for the Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. Trump is so far right and so controversial that he is always in the media's eye and this may actually be a strategy of his. Even if the media are slatting him he is still getting TV time, he is everywhere and viewers are constantly exposed to his views and this may actually sway them in his favour.

Hillary Clinton and her campaign are viewed as less controversial, while Hillarys views may be safer and more PC they do not gain as much media traction due to the fact that she is overshadowed by Donald Trump, with him dominating the headlines Hillary may be in danger of being forgotten about as her views are not getting as much exposure as Trumps. His effects the audiences as it means that voters who are undecided may not be sure on Hillary's policies meaning they are unlikely to vote for her. Although some of Trumps views may be scary he represents change, by playing it safe Hillary Clinton and the Democrats risk losing touch with a large part of America. Trumps target audience is the largest part of America, those with working class lifestyles whom live in southern states around the so called bible belt. By targeting this large unhappy area of America and pandering to their belief system Trump can guarantee that a majority of Americans are on his side even if these Americans are out of the way of the media's eye.

In Conclusion Trumps media domination may be Hillary's downfall, pro Hillary news outlets may actually be helping Trump by giving him so much exposure and the media themselves should be careful about how they present their information in order to stay morally correct they should not try and effect the opinion of the viewer and just present them with information from things such as the debates.

Unit 62: Digital Video Production for Interactive Media (Task 1)

I have been asked to present a report on the applications and technology used in creating a video for the River Tees Rediscovered website and how these things can improve the users interactive experience. The report will include how digital video is used across various platforms, the technology that needs to be considered in the production of digital video and the purpose, uses for digital video in interactive media products and how that enhances the user experience of certain platforms.

Digital video production for interactive media is the process of creating a video that can enhance the users experience of an interactive media platform. A digital media platform is something that displays digital media to an audience. In the example of our brief the platform that we will be creating a digital video for is the River Tees Rediscovered website, this video should aim to give the user a more interactive experience on the website as they will be able to view and share the video. As well as this the user will be more engaged as audiences prefer to watch videos in order to absorb information rather than read long text-based articles, videos help keep the attention of the user and they are therefore more likely to listen to the message that is being foretold.

There are many platforms in which digital media is portrayed on. The applications of digital video can enhance the experience of a website, for example; YouTube is a video sharing website in which users can interact with each other's videos by watching them, sharing them, commenting on them and even leaving a like or dislike rating on them. As well as this users can upload their own user-generated content to the site which can be then interacted with by other users. It allows content creators to make and share their own videos, adverts and even short films. This level of interactivity keeps audiences engaged with the website as there is so much to do. An application is a use of digital video for example digital video can be used to create; short Films, adverts, user generated content, trailers, promotional material and games just to name a few.

User Generated Content: User generated content is huge on websites such as YouTube, pretty much all the content on YouTube is user generated. A huge selection of this content is available without even searching for it as when you go on YouTube popular and recent videos appear on the home screen so that you can easily find and view them. This means that users can upload their own content to the site thus interacting with it, people can also give the videos feedback via comments adding a new level of user interaction. Users can run their own channels on the site where they can upload all of their own user-generated content and even get paid for it. All the content is very different as you can upload whatever you want as long as it does not break any community guidelines. There are many websites that allow the contribution of user generated content including social media like Facebook and twitter though it is not their primary purpose as it is YouTube's. Site' such as blogger allow users to make their own blogs which can be interactive and is also user generated content. This enhances the users experience of the website as it allows them to get involved and create their own products.
Example: https://www.youtube.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ https://www.blogger.com/home

File Formats & Media Players: Digital video is captured and saved into different file formats depending on what it is shot with. There are many different types of file formats, for example: the Sony cameras that we use in college save the raw video files as AVCHD files, this file format is for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video. Developed by Sony and Panasonic, the format was introduced in 2006 primarily for use in high definition consumer camcorders. This file format is good to use as it allows the storage of high-quality video images which can then be imported directly into editing software that supports the file format such as Premier Pro. The disadvantage of having a video file stored in an AVCHD format is that most media players cannot play the format, for a video to be played back your computers media player, which is the system that plays the video, must support the file format of the video that you are trying to play. If it doesn't then the video won't play. This means AVCHD file may have to be converted into another file format in order to be able to watch it, this can be done by putting the AVCHD file into an editing software and exporting as a different file type. The best file types to export HD videos as are MP4 and QuickTime files as popular media players such as Windows Media Player and Quick Time Player can play these files. Another popular file type for HD video is WMV (windows media video) which is a good file time put only for a windows computer as Mac computers cannot play WMV files. This links to user-generated content as it is important for content creators to make sure their video is saved in a format that is compatible with the website that it is being displayed on.

Example
YouTube recommends users uploading their own content to use these file types as these are the ones supported by the website:

• MOV
• MPEG4
• AVI
• WMV
• MPEGPS
• FLV
• 3GPP
• WebM

Resolution: the size of the video, when uploading a video to YouTube it recommends that to perfectly fit the screen the resolution of the videos must be: 

• 2160p: 3840x2160
• 1440p: 2560x1440
• 1080p: 1920x1080
• 720p: 1280x720
• 480p: 854x480
• 360p: 640x360
• 240p: 426x240

If you are uploading a video bigger than 128GB then YouTube recommends that you compress it.

So why does YouTube do this? Well YouTube recommends these file formats as they are common and supported by their website. If they aloud you to upload a file type that was not supported by there site then their would be issues, the site wouldn't know how to play the video and therefore people would not be able to see it. It also recommends these file types as they are known to be off a suitable quality and can easily be streamed which is important as YouTube is a video streaming website after all. YouTube recommends specific resolutions to ensure that the videos uploaded to the site are the right size to fit onto computer screens. Obviously other resolutions can be uploaded but the ones YouTube suggest are standard and guaranteed to be the right size. Also the higher the resolution the better quality the video is, YouTube give guidelines on the sizes of these HD resolutions so that everyone can upload quality content.

Compression: Compression is the act of making a file smaller in order to make it take up less space digitally , the smaller the file the faster it can be copied, moved and even uploaded. The tow types of compression are lossy and lossless, lossy compression is where the original image is turned into a smaller version of itself and there for takes up less space, the issue with lossy compression is that during the process the unnecessary parts of the image are removed in order to compress it down meaning that if the image is enlarged you may notice a reduction in quality. On the other hand lossless compression is the same thing however none of the quality is lost in the process meaning the image will always look smooth and will not be pixilated. When you zoom in on a photo and it becomes pixilated this may be due to lossy compression, generally videos are compressed losslessly and photos are compressed via lossy compression.

The impact this has on filmmakers means that they are limited to what type of files they can upload to YouTube but this also helps content creators as it means that they have to use file types and resolutions that will benefit their content by making it a better quality.

Film Trailers: Found film trailers on websites such as IMDB, when you open the site the first thing that appears on the home screen is a selection of new film trailers. The fact that they re right in front of the viewer and easier to find means they are more likely to be seen. They enhance the experience of the website as it gives the website users a better look at the films that the website meaning they can learn more about them. Its purpose is to get people interested in the films and attract people to the site to watch the latest trailers. The trailers on IMDB also fall under the interactive media category of Promotional Material as they are in turn advertisements for products, the product being the film itself.
Examples: http://www.imdb.com/ http://www.showcasecinemas.co.uk/

Virtual Reality Tours/Games:  GeoGuessr.com is a great example of two kinds of interactive media, the premise of the site is that Google street view is turned into a game. Using Google street view you are dropped into a random street which could be anywhere in the world, you have to navigate through the street and surrounding areas and try and find clues based on real world locations to find out where you are. Then when you think you know where you are you have to place a guess on a map and the closer you get to guessing you start location the more points you get. Its really fun and addictive and turns something that wouldn't normally be exciting into a Virtual Reality Tour based game.
Example: https://www.geoguessr.com/world/play

Short Films: The applications of short films is that they can be uploaded to websites such as YouTube and Vimeo to help get them watched by people all around the world. This helps filmmakers get their products seen as allows audiences to interact with the products themselves. This is good for young and up & coming or indie filmmakers who may want to distribute their short films in a manor that allows people to see them for free. It may even help get their work noticed. https://www.youtube.com/

Advertising/Promotional Material: Advertising can also be used on digital media platforms. Some websites are funded solely by other companies placing adverts on their website when someone clicks on the advert on the website it earns that website money via ad revenue advertisers will also pay the website to host their adverts, by doing this on popular sites such as facebook, YouTube and twitter advertisers guarantee that people see their adverts. As a content creator on YouTube you can actually earn money by having certain companies adverts play before someone watches your video, this is known as ad revenue and allows content creators to get paid for providing people with free content. As well as this, advertisers may use video hosting sites and social media platforms such as YoutTube and Facebook to launch marketing stunts. Promotional material are advertisements created with the intention of drawing the attention of the customer for example; promotional material for films may include, brand tie-ins, movie posters, merchandise and TV adverts. Usually, films have huge expensive promotional campaigns for example; the movie Skyfall is estimated to have a £93 million promotional campaign which include things like brand tie-ins with huge companies such as Heineken, Omega Seamaster and Sony laptops.