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//Click on the college crest to go to the Kapiti College official home page //**Welcome to the Kapiti College Media Studies Department**

=**So, how to explain Media Studies? **= ===**If you are not a Matrix fan or have never seen the film (that is the Wachowski Brothers' masterpiece - not the other two of the triology) then skip to a more conventional exploration of the subject by clicking on the words 'Media Studies?' above. **===

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** The Matrix as an analogy of Media Studies – watch the film extract then read the script ** // They walk down a busy street, full of people going to work. Morpheus casually walks through them, but Neo keeps on being hit or shoved aside. As they walk, Morpheus begins to talk. // // A woman walks by, standing out from all the people in suits, as she is wearing a bright red dress, and bright red lipstick. Neo stares. // // Neo turns around, to see that the woman in the red dress has turned into an agent, and is pointing a gun at his head. Neo ducks, covering his head with his hands. // // The people and animals around them stop, frozen. // // Neo looks at the frozen agent. // // Neo looks puzzled //
 * Morpheus**: The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around. What do you see? Business people, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy.
 * The media is a system, Students. The system is not our enemy but when you are inside, you look around. What do you see? Business people, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But, until we do, these people are still part of the media //(as audience, as consumers)// and that makes them very interesting. **
 * Morpheus**: You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependant on the system, that they will fight to protect it. Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?
 * You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the media, that they will fight to protect it. Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress? //(A typical media technique, using sex and glamour, to prevent you from ‘seeing’ for real and keeping you as an inert media consumer)// **
 * Neo:** I was...
 * Morpheus**: Look again...
 * Morpheus:** Freeze it.
 * Neo**: This....this isn't the Matrix?
 * Morpheus:** No. It's another program, designed to teach you one thing: If you are not one of us, you are one of them.
 * No. It's another program, designed to teach you one thing: If you are not one of us, you are one of them. **
 * Neo**: What _are_ they?
 * Morpheus**: Sentient programs. They can move in and out of any software still hard-wired to their system. That means that anyone we haven't unplugged is potentially an agent. Inside the Matrix, they are everyone and they are no one. We have survived by hiding from them...and by running from them. But they are **the gatekeepers**. They are guarding all the doors; they are holding all the keys, which means that sooner or later... someone is going to have to fight them.
 * Sentient television programmes, news broadcasts, films, media producers, media industry magnates, advertisers, newspapers. They can move in and out of any medium still hard-wired to the media. That means that anyone we haven't unplugged is potentially an agent. Inside the Matrix, they are everyone and they are no one. We have survived by hiding from them in colleges, polytechnics and universities...and by running from them. __But they are the gatekeepers__. They are guarding all the doors; they are holding all the keys, which means that sooner or later... _someone_ is going to have to fight them. **
 * Neo**: Someone?
 * Morpheus:** I won't lie to you, Neo. Every single man or woman who has stood their ground, everyone who has fought an agent has died. But where they have failed, you will succeed.
 * I won't lie to you, Students. Every single man or woman who has stood their ground, everyone who has viewed endless film clips, over and over, compared broadcasts, analysed television programmes, written extensively on the media, trawled the depths of issues and ethics, studied media producers and battled with media terminology has become exhausted, tired and even despondent, but they have overcome challenges . But where they have failed, you will succeed. **
 * Neo**: Why?
 * Morpheus**: I've seen an agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them, and hit nothing but air. Yet _their_ strength and _their_ speed, are still based on a world built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong, or as fast, as you can be.
 * I've seen a television programme punch through your living room wall, burst through your television screen or invade your computer screen. Men have emptied entire clips at them, and hit nothing but air. Yet _their_ strength and _their_ speed, are still based on a world built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong, or as fast, as you can be. **
 * Neo:** What are you trying to tell me? That I can...dodge bullets?
 * Morpheus**: No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you, that when _you're_ ready... _you_ won't have to...
 * No, Students. I'm trying to tell you, that when you're ready..(When you have completed these courses) you won't have to... **

=Because you will understand **MEDIATION** = =The media world around us presents __mediated__ versions of reality. = =Media producers construct media products from real events, real issues, real people. = =But, the way these events, issues and people are represented in the media and the way the media product is constructed the original reality is __mediated__ by: =


 * ===the technology used ===
 * ===the values and beliefs of the media institutions or media producers ===
 * ===the cultural contexts of the media industries and media producers ===
 * ===**the commercial, political and ideological contexts in which the media product is created ** ===
 * ===**<span style="color: #943634; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">the audiences who interact with the media products.. ** ===

= **JUST LIKE THE MATRIX** =