Examples of fandom: fan videos
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| Fan videos allow fans to build on an existing franchise, and to communicate with other fans, a process that Jenkins refers to as participatory culture |
In the 3rd person action videogame Dark Souls 3, players are encouraged to fight through a ruined world filled with extremely difficult encounters.
The Dark Souls series is famous for it's difficulty, and hardcore fans have flocked to this niche product as it's difficulty differentiates it from other modern games. Ask a true videogame nerd what they think of Assassin's Creed, and they'll likely laugh at you: Assassin's Creed is a game for casual gamers...
But Dark Souls is also famous for it's narrative, or perhaps its apparent lack of narrative. Unlike many modern games (like Assassin's Creed) there's no attempt to explain the 'plot to its audiences. Instead the player has to piece the puzzle together themselves, if they care enough to do it!
This is an example of a double mode of address, where a media product (in this case a game) targets two different audiences at the same time. Some players (such as myself) really enjoy the Dark Souls series and its difficulty, but frankly don't care about the 'story'. They just enjoy the atmosphere and the thrill of exploration.
Other players, the hardest of the hardcore, will analyse every single aspect of the game, and even make extremely well researched fan videos explaining what is going on
Task: watch the first two-ish minutes of this video
Please note: none of this is clear in the game at all. I played the entire game and literally knew none of this stuff.
- Why did 'Vaati Vidya' make such a technically accomplished and extremely well researched video?
- How does this video address its audience? Think language, vocal delivery, editing...
- Who is the target audience for this video?
- Take a look at the number of views and answer again: who is the target audience for this video?
Henry Jenkins and fan theory
The above video is an excellent example of what the media theorist Henry Jenkins refers to as fandom.
Task: before you do anything else, check out this video introducing Henry Jenkins' theory of fandom, making notes on all the key points
A fan is different to an audience member. An audience may enjoy a media product. They might watch every new Avengers film for example. But in order to be a fan, they need to go further. Put extremely simply, a fan is somebody who actively does something with a media product. Fandom can manifest itself in lots of ways , but it can be evidenced in the following, non-exhaustive ways:
- Attending a convention
- Dressing up as a character from the franchise (cosplay)
- Getting a themed tattoo (not a good idea lol)
- Joining and contributing to an online forum on the topic
- Buying themed merchandise, for example action figures
- Writing fan fiction
- Going on holiday specifically to visit where a film was filmed
- Wearing a band T-shirt
- Following a band on tour
- Etc etc etc
Fandom is fascinating, as it demonstrates ways in which audiences can truly actively engage with a media product.
Task: complete the research task outlined in the image below
First of all, complete the task for the Assassin's Creed franchise.
Then, as an extension task, do it again for any other videogame franchise you are interested in.
Remember, the more ridiculous examples you can find, the more likely you are to remember them in the exam!
Extension: podcasts and videogame fandom
One excellent way that fans can interact with videogames and the videogame industry is through recording and listening to podcasts. Podcasts can range from the extremely amateurish, to the professional examples that I have linked below. We're really getting in to extension and wider reading territory here, but if you want to push your knowledge of participatory culture and the videogame industry, these podcast tasks would make for an excellent example to refer to in the exam.
Extension task: listen to the following podcasts (just a minute or two each, and make notes under the following headings:
- Target audience
- Mode of address
- Subject matter
- USP (unique selling point)