Technological Determinism Theory

I have been meaning to write up this post for a couple of days now, it is about the Technological Determinism Theory, a subject we spent a 2 hour lesson getting a clear idea of what it is exactly. We viewed a presentation our teacher had made of her life in technology, it said that Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. Here is a screenshot of some of the slides;

'I can express a preference, but have less choice'


'As a society, we multi task with technology'


'Apple, for example, has created a need for a product no-one needed.'




The theory was thought up by Marshall Mcluhan in 1962, it was said that media technology shapes how we as individuals in a society think, feel, act, and how our society operates as we move from one technological age to another (Tribal- Literate- Print- Electronic). 


I am now going to think about my life through technology and create a presentation which i will name, 'My life determined by technology' i will then consider Meta-theoretical Assumptions and upload to my blog shortly.

Set Brief 3!

After mentioning it at the bottom of my last post, i thought it was about time i mentioned my idea for which is hopefully going to be set brief 3, 'An advertising package for a new product or service, to include two TV advertisements, together with two of the following three options:

• A radio advertisement;
• A TV programme sponsorship sequence;
• a web pop-up.

So, my idea really comes from something relatively new to the fashion promotion scene; short advertising films. As a short example, this is a video made for the launch of the Kate Moss Autumn/Winter collection for Topshop, Produced by Pretzel Films..

Kate Moss from DYPKA on Vimeo.

Along with this main item i will create a recurring theme through a sponsorship sequence for something i will decide when i know the branding of my own promotional product, and then either a web pop-up or a radio advertisement. This is just a rough idea so i don't forget more than anything! Also, it will be nice to be able to refer all, if not a large percentage of the work i do in lessons back to this idea.

Signs & Semiotics (Seminology)

'Semiology is an approach that can be used to understand how media texts make meaning for their audiences. The approach can be applied to all forms of media texts from newspapers and magazines to documentaries and soap operas. Semiology provides a way of thinking about media texts.'

The wording above has been taken from a fact sheet given to me electronically as it was used as a nice summary of our lesson last week, the same lesson we also learnt Denotations and Connotations. In the fact sheet i found some points about semiotics. I am going to begin with a brief description of how signs, being essentially the way information is communicated within a media text, and how in the media industry because every sign that we see has been carefully chosen by the producer it means therefore that we need to accept that they have a meaning and/or a specific purpose. For example, the image to the right hand side of the screen. At first glance, the signifier of the scales may represent health, along with the clinical colour scheme, but definitely are a sign associated with people who are concerned about their weight. You would probably not have guessed i found it on a website featuring a piece of journalism about pro-anorexia, until you looked closer and read that the scales infact say 'eat less, eat less, eat less'. I would have thought the image was positive, or sent out by the NHS to promote healthy living, not anorexia.


This is something that i should be aware of when making my whole practical coursework piece, but more when creating either my radio advertisement or web pop-up depending on where my work takes me.

Informative!

I was browsing vimeo and decided to type in 'asos marketplace'. Fortunately i came across this brilliant video! It really highlights through its use of visuals exactly how the marketplace works and the thoughts behind it, but also how many different media technologies are used within this idea. I found it really really interesting so thought i would share it on here. Also, after todays lesson (which i will be posting about ASAP!) it began to hit me exactly how many of the different ways of access to things like the asos marketplace there really is. Luckily i found the video on youtube also so i was able to post it onto my presentation, however when showing it in school i will not be able to see the video, so thought i would embed the vimeo video on blogger also. Here is hoping it is an interesting for others as it is for me :)



Untitled from Profero on Vimeo.

Basic Definitions of Denotations and Connotations.

In Tuesdays' media lesson i worked with Kieron Marchese, and we were given a sheet of paper with numerous photographs on which i believe Kieron is going to scan on for me to pinch and apply to my blog asap. Basically, they featured a collection of women and a collection of men. We were then asked to write what we could see in the pictures, and then what we thought they were trying to say about the person or figure shown. This is the difference between connotation and denotation;
Connotations are ideas or feelings that are implicated - 'the implied or resultant meaning'
Denotations are what we can physically see in a picture or image.
for example, out of this context, the word home would be a denotation, and from it could come connotations in the form of a place of warmth, comfort and affection.

First Presentation

I have chosen to collate information about online fashion store ASOS - it was an instant and easy choice for me as i receive weekly emails and seasonal magazines from themselves. I have 'liked' the facebook group and follow the twitter page, i feel that over the past few years the company have grown with the promotional fashion retail market. There are a great deal of exhibition and distribution methods used, however, i have picked a specific few to talk about on my prezi which is in working progress and will be posted when it is finished, i will then hopefully post a short evaluation on how the research i endure has helped me progress further and produce a successful (or not!) presentation.