Video games: Call of Duty

Aim: To apply knowledge of media products and audiences to gaming.


Ownership: published and owned by Activision: is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica.

Franchising: Activision also franchises the Call of Duty brand to a number of different companies. Merchandise includes action figures, comic books and card games.
                                                                                               

(annotation for diagram on left) develop games on a rotational basis - though Treyarch generally develops the Black Ops series.


Marketing and distribution:

( image on left) the company used the same image across all the billboards to create a sense of branding for the company.

Marketing strategy for this years call of duty title "WW11".

Billboards also make fans feel more physically connected and involved on the ground with the call of duty community.

The new game and trailer will be revealed in a live stream on callofduty.com, Facebook, twitter and instagram. On the same day, five billboards will go up in New York City, Los Angeles, London and Paris. There are unique codes hidden on the billboards for fans to find. The gamers can then piece the codes together and unlock them on a website. When the codes are cracked, gamers can unlock exclusive content related to "ww11" that cannot be obtained anywhere else.

WW11 reveal trailer:
points below give a cinematic aesthetic to the trailer.

• xcu/ cu - demonstrates quality of graphics 
• tracking shots 
• use of uo
• slow motion 
• sfx
• handheld camera - dynamic energetic 
• quick cuts 

WW11 story trailer: 

• more cut-scenes 
• mise-en-scene lightly developed - rain, detail of uniform, rifles, setting 
• less in game footage 
• low key lighting 
• different angles (high, low) 
• gaming footage gives a sense of involvement to audience 

Advertising: above the line, traditional
E.g. BFI Imax, London

On the billboards there are QR codes that take users to the website - combination of traditional- digital advertising.

The website:

• Has a drop down menu for different incarnations of the game 
• Option to buy new Black Ops, with trailer embedded 
• It also features a 'community' section of the site, enabling users to discuss the games on forums.

Target audience for call of duty, although rated a Pegi 18, is actually a lot younger around 14/15 years old as it uses rush game play (nstead of tactical game play) which is smaller maps and involves less strategy and thinking and includes more open violence.

Audience and regulation questions:

1. What does ‘PEGI’ stand for?  PEGI stands for pan European game information 
2. What does PEGI do? Pegi is a European video game content rating system established to help European consumers make informed decisions when buying video games or apps through the use of age recommendations and content descriptors.
3. What are the different PEGI ratings? parental guidance recommended, 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, 18+

4. Name a problem with the current PEGI ratings relating to violence. they can't define what violence fits in to each age category, as it has been shown that violence in video games influences young people into violent tendencies.

5. Which of the theories we’ve studied could you apply to this article? 

Theories:

• Active/ passive audiences 
• Hypodermic needle
• Desensitisation 
• Moral panic 

Legal and ethical issues:

Hypodermic Needle Theory: 

• Theorises that audiences are essentially passive, and will readily absorb messages relayed to them by media 
• This means that, after watching a violent horror film, or playing a violent POV shooter, audience members will be negatively influenced 
• This presupposes that audiences are passive (unable to reject media messages) rather than active  ( they make sense of media messages through personal and social contexts) 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) 

• Banned in the UK from 1975 to 1999, as part of the 'video nasties' campaign, in part spearheaded by Mary Whitehouse 
• During this era - and especially through the 1980's, with the boom of VHS - films were often banned. sometimes this would be due to their title alone ( e.g. if they included the word 'chainsaw', with members of the BBFC travelling through lists of new releases. 
• Some people argue that, as a result of increasingly violent media, audiences are becoming desensitised - that is, numbered by the effects of this exposure.
• The remake of Texas chainsaw massacre (2003) featured an array of hewn body parts, graphic bloodshed and horrific gore - but neither the censors nor audiences batted an eyelid.

Psycho (1960) 

• Earlier audiences might be considered naive by comparison 
• For example, many audience members were traumatised by psycho when its first came out - though the then notorious shower scene is tame by todays standards. Main actress Janet Leigh was terrified of showering after wrapped, and took baths instead. 
• Similarly, there were reports of audience members fainting and throwing up during cinema screenings of The Exorcist (1973)

Moral panic and folk devils 

• In 1972, stanley Cohen developed the moral panic theory. This encompassed ideas of folk devils in society 
• Moral panic happens when "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests". 
• His research was based on the mods and rockers on the 1960's, but has since been applied to the media.

The stages of moral panic: 

• Someone, something or a group are defined as a threat to social norms or community interests.
• The threat is then depicted in a simple and recognisable symbol rouses public concern. 
• There is a response from authorities and policy makers.
• The moral panic over the issue results in social changes within the community. 
• VHS is introduced. Audiences can now rewind and rewatch segments of film.
• The Jamie Bulger case in the UK focused public attention on screen violence.
• Mary Whitehouse spearheads a campaign against screen violence; she gains wide support.
• BBFC starts to censor films or ban them outright; certification becomes stricter.
• Fewer people are able to consume violent films.

You could look at hoodies as an example of devils, with the moral panic escalating around the time of the London riots. Afterwards, the government considered shortening school summer holidays as a way of containing the threat - though, at the time, this was not specifically linked to the riots. Many clubs, pubs and shopping centres have banned hooded tops. 

Exam question:
unit 1 exam = 80 marks

 Discuss the positive and negative media effects a product you have studied might have on its audience. (20 marks)

• Use call of duty 
• Pegi as the game regulator 

Media Effects Debate: Anders Breivik claimed to have used as a training tool for the massacre he perpetrated: 

"Norman 

 20 marker = 'media regulation is an outdated concept in the digital age' Discuss the statement using contemporary examples and theoretical ideas to support your answer.