Outcome

Logos in public signage

Location: Outside the relevant shop

Noticeable?

Though it is large and an obstacle on the path back home, I have not really taken notice of the sign before. This is due in part to the fact that the information in this media is not relevant to me, and the fact that many shops and services have similar signs, reducing its notability

Actions Taken: No actions taken

Intended Effect: I believe its intended effect is not to immediately draw in passersby but rather stimulate people who are slightly interested to take action at a later date. It also prominently advertises the purpose of the brand.

Player and tournament sponsorships

Location: In a video logging a fighting game event.

Noticeable?

The player sponsorships are fairly noticeable since few players are good enough to receive sponsorships. The tournament sponsorships on the other hand are less noticeable given that there are many of them and they are somewhat small.

Actions Taken: No immediate action taken. Increased respect for the companies for sponsoring the event

Intended Effect: To increase brand awareness and reputation

Use of intellectual properties in other media

Location: A fighting game

Noticeable?

Yes since the game prominently features characters and settings from these outside intellectual properties

Actions Taken: Increased interest in the game due to the presence of outside IPs

Intended Effect: To increase interest in the game and have the game appeal to fans of those intellectual properties in addition to fighting game enthusiast. It also has the two-fold effect of drawing fighting game fans towards those IPs

Articles discussion the merits of another piece of media

Location: Online article

Noticeable?

Subtle, given that it’s hard to differentiate the fact that media discussed in the article is essentially displayed just as prominently as the article’s content.

Actions Taken: Renewed interest in the film (which I had made note of before) and a desire to see the film at some point (since the article informed me it was officially released)

Intended Effect: To encourage readers to watch the film.

Presence of licensed music in games

Location: The game Metal Gear Solid V

Noticeable?

Yes since the media audibly plays and is actual licensed music not made by the game creators.

Actions Taken: Listened to the song afterwards having heard it played in game.

Intended Effect: To add a sense of time and place to the game space, in addition to allow for the creation humorous moments by the user.

Summary:

While conducting this exercise, I gained greater awareness of where the media I consume is located and learned things about how they were used in the contexts of those locations. Some media, like signs and logos, I was fairly aware of before the exercise, due to how prominently they were displayed, the frequency in which they are encountered, and the close relation between their location and intended effect. Other media, specifically the integration of media within different mediums, I had not really noticed before, and having done the exercise I was surprised at how frequently this occurs and the variety of ways that it happens. Of the experiences documented above, the forms of integration I found most noticeable were the direct usage of other intellectual properties in other media. This is due in part to the large number of tie-in products that intellectual properties produce (such tie-in movies and books), but also because fan creations also fall into this category of media. The less obvious pieces of media were those that were featured in either critical or subtle contexts. In the example of the article, the discussion in the article did not make it immediately apparent that it technically features a piece of media, and in the case of the licensed music, the media was integrated in a way that served to enhance the surrounding work. On a whole, this exercise has brought to my attention the various ways that media subtly encapsulates other media, as well as the effect that it has on me as a consumer.