Media Studies - Media Ecology Practice Question

 What are the most significant changes in the media industry recently? [30]

P1: AI affecting algorithms; makes content watched more addictive to users - leading them to never get off the app.

P2: AI helps creators and prosumers create create content and appeal to audiences, increasing profits

P3: AI is now able to be a substitute to regular social media apps, without requiring human users to interact with human users but instead interacting with AI users instead.

The media industry is an ever changing landscape that has been evolving since its conception. In recent years, there have been many developments in human technology that has shifted and flipped the media industry on its head. Many would argue that, especially in the last 2-3 years, the most revolutionary and controversial of such technologies would be the dawn of Artificial Intelligences being used in the media industry, Artificial Intelligence (or AI for short), has led to massive changes in many aspects of the media industry regarding media production, consumption, etc. Prominent examples that will be discussed in the following paragraphs include; how AI has affected the algorithms social media platforms use to cater towards users, how its helped media prosumers create content using deep fake technologies, and how AI has helped form the basis for social media apps themselves, that are based on interactions with AI instead of other human users.

Firstly, it is commonly known that most social media platforms heavily use algorithms to find posts and content that consumers will most likely want to see. These algorithms work on a myriad of social media apps like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. However, with the rise of AI, more and more apps have begun integrating AI into the technology of their algorithms. This has been most noticeable in the short form video sharing platform known as TikTok, that has been rising in popularity since the beginning of the 2020's. TikTok's AI algorithm has been under the spotlight recently, specifically how effective it is at recognizing the types of content users like and want to see on the app. AI, specifically machine learning, work by analyzing the different types of content that is preferred and frequently watched by "groups" of users, that the AI group together based on how similar their content preferences are. They then analyze hundreds of thousands of patterns that can be seen in the likes of these users, which are then pushed to the "For You Page" of these other users. This AI has been incredibly effective in targeting audiences and leads to the algorithm being able to make sure that what users see on their For You Page, is something they are guaranteed to like and watch. This then allows TikTok to hook users in for hours and hours, without ever needing to click off the app, as the AI algorithm is able to provide video after video that users can scroll through mindlessly and be entertained, essentially forever. This is extremely beneficial for TikTok as a corporation as the more users watch videos, the more advertisements they will see as well, which is the main pathway through which TikTok makes its money from. As other social media apps begin to use and harness these AI's and algorithm's, the "addiction" that people have with social media may begin to worsen even more, as people begin to spend even more of their lives on their screens.

AI is not only beneficial for large corporations though, as content creators/media prosumers have also been able to effectively use the capabilities of AI in the creation of their content. The specific type of AI technologies used by these content creators are known as virtual avatars. Essentially, AI is used to artificially create an animated rendition of a content creator, which they can then share and broadcast to their viewers. The most notable and popular examples of this would be in the world of "VTubers". VTubers and content creators/live streamers that own channels controlled by real people, but often use these virtual AI generated avatars in most of their content. These avatars often resemble cute Anime Characters, which appeal greatly to their target audiences. A prime example of a VTuber who has maximized the usage of these avatars would be the Japanese female musician VTuber Gawr Gura, whos real name is Senzawa. Gawr Gura has been able to use this AI avatar in the creation of the majority of her content which focusses on music and livestreaming, which she does on YouTube, where she also uploads her own videos. Many VTubers like her have witnessed immense success in their personal endevours, without ever having to reveal their true identity or face, a development that has been magnified by the usage of AI tools like these virtual avatars. From YouTube alone, Gawr Gura has an estimated monthly revenue of over $30,000 a month, which goes to show the true capability and benefits that AI is able to provide to content creators. These AI avatars, according to Baudrillard, can be seen as an example of Simulacra, as it does not actually provide a meaningful representation of the media prosumer, since they may not look anything like this in real life. However, as is with his theories regarding hyper realities, this form of content is what audiences will be more likely to enjoy, as it acts as an escape from reality.

Lastly, social media apps and platforms themselves are facing new competition in the form of AI based platforms that allow individuals/consumers to, instead of interacting with other human users, interact with AI's that have been programmed to talk and replicate human speech/texting patterns. A prime example of a platform that allows for this is an AI dating app/site called "Kupid AI". Compared to traditional dating sites like Tinder or Bumble, where users will interact with other real users for the opportunity to meet and form relationships in the real world, Kupid AI allows its users to skip the hardships of finding a perfect match, and provides its users the ability to simply start talking to a artificially generated intelligence that the software feels would make a good match to the user, based on pre-given information like interests, hobbies, personality traits, etc. Kupid AI is able to reach and cater towards their target audience incredibly well, which mainly revolves around lonely men, from a variety of ages. This, boosted by the modern "loneliness epidemic", has led to Kupid AI making huge sums of money off of their premium subscription membership program, which provides users with more advanced AI that they are able to interact with. In this sense, Kupid AI has effectively commodified the loneliness of men all over the world, by providing them with AI generated love interests that cater to their every need, something that would be extremely appealing for them in this period of their lives. According to Blumler's and Katz's theories regarding why audiences consume media, this is a prime example of how audiences choose to use media platforms to divert themselves from their ongoing struggles. Instead of trying to make real meaningful connections, audiences can endulge themselves in the world of AI and never have to leave their comfort zone to feel satisfied.



Why is Data so important to media corporations? [30]

The media industry is an ever changing landscape that has been evolving since its conception. In recent years, there have been many developments in human technology that have shifted and flipped what media corporations find important and prioritize. Currently, one of the most controversial and debated areas of the media industry is the ability for corporations to find, harness, and exploit personal data of their users. Media corporations now more than ever try to utilize the data they collect from their users to magnify their profits. This essay will discuss and elaborate on how media corporations, using data, are able to improve customer loyalty, and how by analyzing user patterns they are able to maximize profits by keeping audiences hooked in and getting them addicted to their product.

Firstly, user data can be collected and stored by media companies privately, but can also be released and shared back to said users to create a personalized and unique experience. A prime example of a media corporation that has implemented such practices would be the online music streaming service Spotify, specifically in their program Spotify Wrapped, colloquially known to users as just “Wrapped”. Wrapped is an annual marketing campaign by Spotify, released at the end of every year, that allows Spotify users to view a compilation of data about their activity on the platform over the course of the past year in the hopes to, as described by Spotify, “Tell a personal story that users are able to read and go through to understand and build a deeper connection with the music they listen to”. Wrapped essentially works by compiling all aspects of user’s listening data over the course of a year, and transforms said data into a visual and fun form for individual users to see, giving and informing them on specific details such as the artists they listened to the most, the total amount of minutes they spent listening to music, and other interesting statistics as well. However, Wrapped isn’t as simple and basic as merely allowing users to see their listening statistics, instead Spotify uses Wrapped to give its users a sense of purpose when viewing their statistics. Along with their Wrapped, users are also given awards and badges that depict the accomplishments they make based on their listening habits, i.e. being in the top 0.0005 percent of an artists fan base (based on total minutes listened). These badges and accomplishments can then be shared through other social media apps, which gives users a sense of pride and belonging - this form of marketing is supported by the beliefs of Henry Jenkin’s theory of Fandom, in which he states how such practices build upon the relationships consumers have with each other, as they are able to share their interests to other consumers and find solace and belonging in a community of other individuals who also like a certain bands/artists music, which they can see in others from the Wrapped that they have also shared, which further increases the popularity of Spofity. In the end, using this user data to deliver a more personalized experience has proven to work wonders for Spotify, as in recent years, wrapped has become a phenomena/event that is anticipated by hundreds of millions of spotify users across the world, anxious to share their listening time and accomplishments to social media. This is supported by the fact that in 2022, Wrapped was shared over 120 million times by spotify users, which in turn is able to create huge amounts of publicity for Spotify due to the audiences that are reached by seeing their friends’ Wrapps on other social media apps. This leads to consumers who don't already use spotify to not want to miss out and start listening as well, and for consumers who do use the app, to continue listening which leads them to spending more time on the app, and more profits for Spotify in the form of monthly subscriptions to the Spotify Premium Program. 

Next, companies can also use user data in the form of algorithms to maximize profits by collecting information on what users specifically like and don’t like, and catering users' content towards what they like, as to get them addicted to the app, which leads to more profits from ad revenue. This is the case for many social media apps, but can most notoriously be seen in the Chinese developed short form video sharing platform “TikTok”. TikTok’s algorithms have been under heavy scrutiny lately, due to how much user data they collect, and how effective it is in getting users to never leave the app. TikTok’s algorithm works by collecting information on large groups of users, and then comparing the data collected there to the data of individual users, to deliver an incredibly accurate and personalized user experience, that can strictly show users videos that they are sure to enjoy watching. This leads to users being constantly in a state of euphoria as they scroll mindlessly through their “For You Page”, without ever feeling the need to leave, as the videos that they watch are all entertaining and enjoyable. This can be seen in the US with findings from a study conducted by Business Insider that focussed on teens across a variety of different US States, which found that the average teenager from the ages of 13 to 19, will reportedly spend 2 or more hours a day purely watching TikTok. As the main usage of TikTok is diversion, according to Katz and Blumler’s Uses and Gratification theory, the more users like what they watch, the less reason they have to stop watching. This addiction that the algorithm (which is heavily based on the collection of user data) has created, allows for more and more money to be made through the advertisements (which are also personalized individually based on viewing habits) that are watched by users as they continue to scroll past video after video. This further goes to show that when a product is free, the user themselves are the product that generate revenue, which stands true in this example This leads to user data being extremely important to TikTok, as without it, they would never be able to replicate the amount of time users spend on the app, and would thus not be able to make nearly as much money through the advertisements shown to users.

Media Studies - COMP 3 Star & Casting development

This blog post (Written by me, Maxi) details the development of elements from our music promotion package (specifically the music video), which specifically includes the choosing of our cast, and artist's name, as well as the reasons for choosing them. Ideas were all brainstormed and put together as a team, however individually I refined our teams reasoning and created a clearer outline of the ideas we wanted to explore.

Artist’s name: Since we wanted our artist to be a female of Asian descent, the name of our artist had to match her ethnic background. Thus, we discussed some potential aesthetically pleasing Asian girl names since the way an artists name looks on an album cover or on a song title plays a large part in their branding and how audiences see them. However, since we also needed to cater to English speaking audiences, we didn’t want to extend too far into our artists cultural heritage. Hence, we focused more on more mixed (caucasian/asian) sounding names, with a western first name, and then a more Asian sounding surname. We decided on sticking with a “first name - surname” naming format as it is what the majority of artists in the pop genre, and female artists as a whole tend to have as well. However, we also experimented with shortening versions of these names as well, and seeing how they’d look with different capitalizations, as these are also commonly seen forms of stage names for female artists of the genre. From this discussion, here are a few names we initially thought of:

• Kiara Bel
• KIARA
• Isabel Tan
• Isabel Kim
• Isabelle
• BELLE
• Jasmine Wang
• JMIN
• 伊莎贝尔

In the end, we decided to settle with the name KIARA, as we believed that it was a simple, yet representative name of our artist. It stands out and follows the general conventions of names of female artists in the industry, but is unique in the sense that it is quite exotic and uncommon, which makes our artist stand out and gives her a sense of individuality.

Cast: The idea of what we want our Artist to be like has been stated in our statement of intent, which states that we want her to be a fun, outgoing, and humble individual that fans are able to relate to and feel as if they’re just like them. Since we also want her to be of Asian descent, we discussed potential actors who fit the aforementioned trop, who also look conventionally attractive, as most female artists in the music industry generally conform to modern beauty standards. For this, we decided on the following individuals who we could see being our artist:

Artist (Lead Female):

- Jasmine May Riadi

- Eugene Evelina Nugroho

- Elvina Laurencia Ryanto

As mentioned in our statement of intent, we wanted our music video to follow our artist and a group of her friends as they go out, have fun, and make unforgettable memories. For this, we want to have a primarily female cast, as after breakups, girls will often find solace and comfort in a group of her other girl friends, instead of a group of guy friends. Thus to accurately represent this, we want to cast girls who will fit into the group of our artist, for which we originally decided on this list of names; actors who are already friends in real life and will thus most likely be able to accurately portray the chemistry found in tight knit girl friend groups. The names of these actors are as follows:

Artists Girl Friends:

- Elvina Laurencia Ryanto

- Chelsea Graciella Liem

- Eugene Evelina Nugroho/Jasmine May Riadi

- Keyla Lisgianto Josono

- Nayana Sumaniaka - Laeticia Adidharma Lee

- Giann Fico Suwangsa

Artist’s Ex Boyfriend (Male Lead): 

- Han Hyun Woo

- Nicholas Gerwin Mawardji

- Gede Danny Putra Budiada 

Screen Tests & Finalized Cast List:

After finalizing this cast list, we decided to have screen tests for the possible actors that we've chosen to see who would be the best fit to portray the characters in our music video. The video of the various screen tests from our actors can be seen here in this Google Drive link. After conducting these screen tests, we deliberated on the final list of cast members who we want to star in our music video. After weighing each actor based on their personalities, acting skills, and overall ease of working with them, the finalized cast list became:

Artist (Lead Female): - Jasmine May Riadi

Artists Girl Friends:

- Elvina Laurencia Ryanto

- Chelsea Graciella Liem

- Eugene Evelina Nugroho - Laeticia Adidharma Lee

- Keyla Lisgianto Josono

Artist’s Ex Boyfriend (Male Lead): 

- Han Hyun Woo

Reflection: By creating a detailed cast list and conducting screen tests, we are able to accurately pick the best actors for the roles for the characters in the music video. This helped us ensure that the cast of our music video would work together well and would be able to accurately and effectively represent the people groups and issues that we try to portray. Without first drafting out a cast list, we would have been lost in deciding who we should cast for our actors, but instead we were proactive and planned ahead, which allowed us to secure the best possible actors for our music video, which will help us in the production process immensely. Screen tests were also a pivotal part of our development process as they allowed us to see who would be the best fit for our star, and who would play her most accurately. Comparing this to instead picking a random name from a list without any other consideration, which would have many consequences, I believe we were responsible and made the right choice. 

Media Studies - COMP 3 Moodboard

This Blogpost, written by me (Maxi), features the development of our Music Videos mood board, which allows us to pinpoint the aesthetic of our music video, and the overview of what types of colors, scenes, locations, and more we want to use in our music video. As a team, we all compiled several images together and gave our own individual thoughts and ideas, however the final collage itself was put together by Nayana.

Reflection:

From this mood board; it should be clear that the type of music video we want to create is fun, energetic, exciting, and cheerful. Since the song we chose focusses on enjoying life after going through a breakup, we want to exemplify these emotions by showcasing various different fun and joyful activities that reflect the nature of the song. Furthermore, since we plan to have a female artist, and the song itself is told from the female Point of View, we plan on showing activities and events that are usually done/participated in by females. This allows our target audiences to relate and resonate with the story of the music video, as it contains activities that they would most likely enjoy and also want to participate in in real life. Activities like going to the beach, having picnics in parks, doing make up together, getting ready for a night out, and driving around while singing to the radio are all activities that we believe adolescent/teenage girls will highly associate with memories of excitement and pleasure. We also aim to shoot our music video in several different locations, as can be seen in the mood board, in areas like a girls' room, the beach, scenic grass fields, and more. We believe this will give our music video a larger variety of scenes that audiences will be less likely to find boring or repetitive. Overall, this mood board definitely helps us as a team as we now can all be on the same page in the creative decisions we'll end up making together, and ensures that the vision of our music video is shared and agreed upon throughout the whole team.

Media Studies - Lip Syncing Practice

This Blogpost, written by me (Maxi), features my teams experimentation and practice with lip syncing for our music video, which will be important as lip syncing is an important and common convention of music videos. 

We have been assigned a short task by our teacher Mr. Nick to create a short music video in one lessons' period, for a couple verses from the 90's pop classic "I Want It That Way", performed by the Backstreet Boys. I hope from this quick mini project that we will be able to create a fun music video and will be able to demonstrate and use effective editing and filming techniques that we'll be able to use in our actual music video,  and get good practice in lip sync editing so that we'll have a smooth time doing it for our real music video. 

Below are the verses that were assigned to our group (the ones highlighted)

Additionally, here is the rough storyboard (Drawn by Timo) that we used for the video.

And here are the 2 final videos (1 for each verse), as well as the final put together music video that was compiled together by our teacher Mr. Nick, which includes the verses done by our team and all of the other teams in our class.

Verse 1

Verse 2

Final Music Video

Reflection: 

During the filming of the video, I played the actor and helped record some scenes as well, specifically the ones where Timo was on screen. Meanwhile, Timo recorded and edited, and Sharon controlled the music being played throughout filming. After filming and seeing the short lip sync video, I believe we were able to effectively use different camera techniques to show our members lip syncing in a fun and creative way. We used full shots, close up shots, and pan shots, while also filming in many different locations and not only sticking to one spot. This added to the variety and excitement of the video, and made it more interesting for people to watch. 

Overall, it went well but problems arose during the editing process as syncing the shots with the music itself ended up being a bit difficult, as we had not used a clapboard or given an easy way to sync the footage with the song in the editing software. We will remember this when we film our actual music video so that it'll make the editing process much easier and the syncing will be better. Furthermore, personally while acting, it was a bit hard to improvise the dance moves/actions for the whole verse, as there was no precursor/material to follow to base my actions on. This could've been improved by having a specific script/screenplay that actors can follow, which we will definitely make use of when we film our actual music video. We had also forgotten to film a line, which we fixed by filming a last minute filler shot in class. In the future, we will be more organized and tick off lines and scenes once we're done recording them, so that we can see better which lines we still need to film, and keep more organized throughout the shooting process in general.

Media Studies - Quick Cut Editing

This Blogpost features my experimentation using quick cuts, an editing form that we may use in our music video. Timo recorded the videos and edited them while I gave ideas and played the actor.

Quick cutting can be defined as a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration. It can be used to quickly convey much information, or to imply either energy or chaos. It can be used to portray boring tasks as energetic and exciting, which we've done in this example. 

In the following video, it is showcased how we've used quick cuts to show our character arriving late to school. Overall, I think the video and edits effectively portray the panic the character feel and his efforts of trying to get to school on time. It also provides comedic effect in combination with the audio effects we chose to put it with.  This type of editing is definitely something we could use in our music video to connote a more friendly and more relaxed environment that audiences may find easier to watch/relate to.

Reflection:

I believe that this video is able to effectively showcase quick cuts. However, something I feel we may have wanted to do differently in the video would've been to have more consistent lighting, as some parts of the video felt too dark, while others felt very bright. We will consider this in our music video's production and make sure our lighting is even and fits the emotions we try to portray in each shot. We will also consider whether there will be any shots in our music video in which quick cutting would be a beneficial editing technique we could use, however since quick cuts are generally not conventionally seen in music videos, we may not find a place to use them.

Media Studies - COMP 3 Licensing Request Email

This blogpost, written by me (Maxi), showcases the request which we sent towards our artists record label, asking for permission to use their music in our Component 3 project.

As outlined in our statement of intent, the song we chose to use for our music video was "Feather", by Sabrina Carpenter. Through conducting some research, Sharon found that Carpenter was signed to Universal Music Group, a dutch-american record label. We went onto their website and found an e-mail address that would allow us to contact them and enquire on whether we could license their music for our school project. The e-mail address listed was "licensinginfo@umusic.com". After obtaining this e-mail, I then on behalf of my team, contacted UMG about the possibility of using Carpenter's "Feather". The e-mail I sent can be seen below.

Reflection:

Although it is highly unlikely that contacting UMG will lead to us even receiving a response, not to mention the rights to actually license one of their artists' songs, by following official procedures that are followed in the media industry, we can learn about what is expected regarding the level of professionalism in the industry, and gain experience for scenarios in the future where gaining the rights to use a private corporations intellectual property will actually be something we must consider in the production of a project. Overall, this has helped me gain insight into what it actually feels like to correspond with and write professional e-mails to large corporations, and hope to get better at this as I move on in life, since it is quite a valuable skill to have.

Media Studies - COMP 3 Statement of Intent

This Blogpost (Written by me, Maxi) features our Music Promotion Package's statement of intent, which details what song we chose, our artist's personality, target audience, genre, and more. As a team, we all discussed and brainstormed the initial ideas and themes for our music video, while as an individual, I wrote out and expanded upon those original concepts, putting it all in standard essay form.

Statement of Intent:

For our music promotion package, we have decided to make a music video in the pop genre that targets young-adult, female audiences from the age of 16-25, from all ethnicities and backgrounds, but more-so targeting Asian demographics, as we aim to have our artist be Asian, as well as using other Asian actors to play as additional characters in our music video. Our artist will be a 17 year old Asian up-and-coming artist, who is already well known from being a child actor in her youth. By doing so, we are also trying to represent a commonly under-represented demographic in the western and english speaking music industry, which would be Asian artists. We want our artist to have a cute and warm personality and a celebrity that still feels like someone audiences know and can relate to. 

We decided that to best represent our artists personality and beliefs, to use the song "Feather", from the 5th studio album of American pop singer Sabrina Carpenter, "emails i can't send". We believe the song itself would be perfect for our artist and music video as the songs lyrics focus on topics and issues that we believe audiences in our target age group and demographic care deeply about and can definitely resonate with. We can see this as in the song, Carpenter focusses on how after cutting ties from a toxic relationship, she once had, she feels much lighter and is able to live her life to the fullest. This allows us to spread the message of how instead of being sad and feeling down over a break-up, audiences should instead see how life can and should actually become exponentially better after ending a harmful and hurtful relationship. This idea/message is something that we believe many young people, and especially female audiences, will be able to connect with, appreciate, and want to have in their own lives.  Furthermore, the vibe of the song is funky, fun, and disco influenced and has a very catchy beat and chorus. The lyrics themselves are relatable and empowering, which all in all will allow us to showcase an inspiring and compelling storyline through our music video. The song is a feel-good anthem that is perfect for singing along with a group of friends, and allows audiences to feel relieved as they forget about their problems, which are feelings we aim to shine the spotlight on. 

Thus, for our music video, to capture these feelings of joy and the energy of freedom and letting go, we will follow the songs eccentric storyline and portray the experience of our artist enjoying every moment of her newly found single life - filled with experiences that are fun, exciting, and euphoric. These emotions are also commonly explored in, and are a convention of the pop genre, which will help us engage audiences who are interested and enjoy pop songs and their music videos. We want our artist/music video to promote and explore the representations of the topics discussed in the song like taking care of oneself, and letting go of what doesn't matter, a message that we believe our audiences will greatly appreciate and will want to hear. To effectively spread this theme and message, the general idea of the plot of our music video will most likely follow our artist and a group of her girlfriends as they hang out and partake in a variety of thrilling, exciting, and fun activities that girls that age like to do, for example including scenes where the group does makeup together, dance and sing, try on clothes, have a picnic, sleep over in a villa, and more. Additionally, since these representations of activities and our artist are similar to our target audience, they're interests will most likely fall in line with what is shown and portrayed in the video, which further allows them to relate and enjoy the video further.

Here we break the convention of the average "break-up" song, as most songs that talk about losing a partner often include connotations and representations of sadness, but instead we will follow the feel of the song and go for a happy vibe instead. According to Steve Neale's genre theory, breaking these conventions of sad breakup songs/music videos will help our music video stand out compared to other music videos of the same pop/breakup genre. We want the music video to be fun and for our target audience to have the chance to feel like them and their problems are being represented by our music video, such that when they watch, they'll be able to feel as if they're there with the artist and her friends, living in the moment and enjoying all the new experiences she's able to go through now after she's freed herself from the chains and anchors of her toxic partner.

Reflection:

Through creating this statement of intent, we were able to string along and list all the important features and ideas that music videos should include. We were able to, as a team, pinpoint the specific people groups, interests, and social issues that we aim to represent and portray. We were also able to effectively choose our song and analyze the meaning it has, which allows us to create a better plan on what we want our music video to eventually look like, the actors we want to cast, etc.

Below is a broken down form of our statement of intent that focusses on each element individually (written by me and Sharon):

Media Studies - Post Modernism Exam Practice

Analyze the key characteristics of postmodern media. [15]

Post modernism and post modern media is believed to be a rejection of modernism. It aims to subvert the mainstream conventions of standard media narratives and today, postmodern characteristics are often used in almost all media texts today.  This essay will aim to provide and thoroughly explain the different characteristics and the effects that they have in postmodern texts, for example the usage of features like parody, self reflixivity, and satire, as well as the ideas of the hyper reality, using appropriate case studies and media theories.

An example of a media text that heavily employs postmodern elements like self reflexivity, satire, and parody would be the Disney+ Marvel Spin-off show She-Hulk, released in 2022, where said elements can be seen throughout a majority of episodes. Specifically, we can take a look at the show's season 1 finale, episode 9. Firstly, self reflexivity is used all throughout the episode in numerous scenes where the main character (She Hulk), addresses the audience directly and speaks out against the creative decisions that were taken in the writing of the episode, directly questioning "why the plot of her final episode isn't making any sense", talking to the writers of her show. We also see her literally "breaking the 4th wall" as she jumps through a Disney+ home screen and into Disney's Hollywood studio, and argues with her writers. This propels the plot of the story while also subverting audience expectations, and it is not something you usually see in superhero movies, hooking in audiences. The finale also utilizes heavy themes of satire in which She Hulk provides commentary on how all Marvel Movies /Shows follow the same plot, and are incredibly predictable. Audience most likely will agree with this and find it funny that a show by Marvel themselves would raise the point and criticize themselves. Examples of parody are also utilized, as we see She Hulk battle a machine that is responsible for all the plots and narratives of marvel movies, who is named "K.E.V.I.N". This is in reference to Marvel Executive Producer Kevin Feige, who in real life is responsible for a majority of creative decisions that occur in Marvel products. Audience's who understand the reference will most likely find the resemblance amusing, and is thus an example of Barthes' Cultural Code. However according to Guy Debord, these characteristics like satire often are hypocritical. Applying these ideas to the case of She Hulk, She Hulk includes satire on how all Marvel Movies follow the same plot line, however, She Hulk itself falls into this same category, as the key narratives of She Hulk still are in accordance with how superhero's movie always go, as the show still ends with the Super Hero winning the final battle and getting their happy ending, thus proving Debord's critiques of postmodernism to stand true. All in all though, She Hulk is an example of a text that is very post modern, and is the epitome of what a post modern text generally looks like.

Another key characteristic of postmodernism is the idea of hyper reality and heightened reality, vs reality itself. Jean Baudrillard believed that in this post modern age, it becomes nearly impossible for audiences to differentiate between media texts that are set in a hyper realities, and those that occur in our actual realities, due to the incorporation and occurrence of simulacra (representations that have lost all meaning, or never had any meaning in the first place) in media texts. He also believed that audiences actually preferred to live in this hyper reality, as it is more exciting and interesting than their “boring everyday lives”. Examples of media texts that audiences can still understand as the truth, and are still based in reality, would be David Attenborough's nature and wildlife documentaries, like "The Blue Planet" that can be streamed and watched on BBC Wildlife. In these documentaries, we are shown animals and plants in an ecosystem as we view their lives and behaviour. There still may be elements that are artificial like music or commentary that are included in post production, however these additions are still separated enough to the point where audiences can determine what is real and what is not. This leads to simulacra occurring only minimally, as what we see on the screen is usually what actually happens in real life, e.g. animals eating each other, or dying. On the other hand, examples of hyper-real texts would be the American reality television series "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", that focusses on the lives of the Kardashian-Jenner family, a high profile and elite American Family that rose to fame in the mid-2000's. Keeping Up With The Kardashian's is considered a hyper real text due to most of the events that are portrayed in the show being an example of simulacra - a made up version of reality that doesn't exist. For example, in Season 3 Episode 4 of the series, we see members of the family preparing for the 2022 Milan fashion week, but have conflicts arise between family members when things don't go as planned. The conflicts, arguments, and reactions that all family members have are all scripted events that the actors (in this case the Kardashians), have been told to say by directors and producers. These arguments and the emotions that were portrayed on the screen never actually happened in real life, and are thus all simulacra. As mentioned previously, Baudrillard would argue that audiences prefer to live in this hyper reality because it's more entertaining. However, according to Guy Debord, this is a problem due to these simulacra leading to a loss of authenticity in our everyday lives, as audiences can no longer determine what is real from what is not. This leads audiences into being misled to believing that the Kardashians are actually like this in real life, which they are not. This proves Debord's critique of postmodernism to stand true. 

Media Studies - Critiques of Post Modernism: Guy Debord

Guy Debord coined the "Theory of the Spectacle" in which he criticized post modernism and the mass media, saying how media corporations are trying to commodify everything and how their only focus is consumerism and spreading this idea to audiences. The term "Spectacle" refers to how he believes that all media corporations are now spreading spectacles instead of actual art, and commodifying serious issues like war, hunger, disease, etc.

Debord's critiques of postmodernism were rooted in his broader concerns about the dehumanizing effects of consumer culture and the spectacle, as well as his call for a more authentic and revolutionary engagement with society.

His main critiques included the: 

Commodification of Culture: Debord criticized postmodernism for perpetuating the commodification of culture, where art and culture become commodities to be consumed rather than authentic expressions of human creativity.

Idea of the Spectacle: He argued that postmodern society is dominated by the "society of the spectacle," where images and representations of reality take precedence over authentic experiences. This leads to a superficial and alienating culture.

Simulacra: Debord shared concerns with Jean Baudrillard about the proliferation of simulacra—copies without an original—in postmodern culture. He believed that reality itself was being replaced by hyperreal simulations, making it difficult to discern what is real.

Alienation of individuals: Postmodernism, according to Debord, perpetuates alienation by promoting a culture of passive consumption and the pursuit of false desires created by the spectacle. This alienation separates individuals from their true desires and from one another. (The mass media promotes things that lead to audiences believing that its the one thing that they need in their life, and that becomes their sole life's purpose.)

Loss of Authenticity: He argued that postmodern culture erases the authenticity of lived experiences, replacing them with mediated and commodified representations of reality. This contributes to a sense of disillusionment and disconnection. 

Desire for Authenticity: In contrast to postmodernism's embrace of the hyperreal and superficial, Debord advocated for a return to authentic human experiences, genuine interactions, and a rejection of the spectacle-driven culture.

Media Studies - Post Modernism & Jean Baudrillard

 Baudrillard had many ideas about post modernism.

Previously, everything in the media, like the locations, people, and events were all an accurate portrayal of real events that actually happened. Nowadays, in this postmodern world, they have all been replaced by representations of what the producers want you to see using many different techniques like editing, CGI, etc.

According to Baudrillard, our real lives are all played out in reality. However in the media we see heightened and hyper realities. A heightened reality is a form of media that has links to reality, but still has artificial elements that are added in. For example, David Attenborough's wildlife documentary or a Football Game being broadcasted live. We are shown the actual animals and the actual players but wildlife documentaries often add music, commentary and more that aren't actually real. Football Games and the news will show specific events through the lens of their own agenda. The football game's broadcasters will put the focus on a specific player, or the moves of a single player and will broadcast something that creates a story catered towards audiences. Compared to in actual reality, where you can see all players and everything they do.

In Hyper reality, media is packaged as real but actually has little to no connection at all to reality. It is difficult for audiences to determine whether what is shown in these hyper realities are real or not as they are filled with simulacra (which are things that have lost all meaning or never had any meaning in the first place due to its portrayal in the media over and over again.) Reality TV shows like the Kardashians and what we see on the social media pages of influencers are all forms of Hyper reality as none of what we see is actually the accurate portrayal of events, as they are all artificial events that happened in real life. Baudrillard further states that people, audiences, and society as a whole actually prefer to live in this hyper reality, as it is more entertaining and comforting than watching the actual and more boring events.