We have now completed our second in-depth CSP topic - print magazines. You now need to create a final index of all the tasks we have completed for GQ and The Gentlewoman. Hopefully we all know by now that keeping an up-to-date index of all your work is extremely good practice from a revision perspective. It keeps the vital CSP information fresh in your mind and also highlights if you've missed anything over the last term. This is also important because you'll have a baseline assessment when we come back in September on magazines and radio. It will also be an opportunity to improve your UCAS predicted grade for your university applications if you need it.
Remember, for your index it needs to link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work and revision notes quickly and easily.
Extra study sessions for those behind on the blog
We'll be running a compulsory extra study session for Year 12 Media students who are behind on blog work on Monday 21 July (after the Year 12 final day). Make sure you catch up with any missing blog work before then to avoid being called in!
Our final piece of work on magazines looks at the appeal of print in the independent magazine sector. This is crucial concept because The Gentlewomanis a small, niche independent magazine - completely different from the global brand that is GQ. We need to explore the surprising rise in independent publishing in recent years and why some small print magazines seem to be surviving in the digital age.
Lesson notes The independent print magazine is characterised as: “…published without the financial support of a large corporation or institution in which the makers control publication and distribution…'independent' in spirit due to a maverick editor or publisher who leads the magazine in an exploratory, noncommercial direction” (Thomas 2007).
Despite the renaissance of print through independent magazines, there are still huge challenges:
Distribution: finding distributor, risk of unsold stock
Lack of advertising revenue: meaning high cover price (all over £5, many around £10 or more)
Audience: finding and targeting a viable audience
Ironically, the internet has proved an unlikely saviour for independent magazines – it facilitates direct sales and subscriptions and allows magazines to find niche communities, crowdfunding and contributors.
The Gentlewoman and print
The Gentlewoman continues to exist but has had to offer a markedly different product to traditional print magazines:
Industries: the appeal of print - blog tasks Work through the following tasks to complete your work on magazines. You will find the reading gives you a brilliant insight into a vital aspect of media - the power of independent institutions. 1) Writer's Edit journal article Read this excellent Writer's Edit academic journal article on the independent magazine industry and answer the following questions: 1) What is the definition of an independent print magazine? 2) What does Hamilton (2013) suggest about independent magazines in the digital age? 3) Why does the article suggest that independent magazines might be succeeding while global magazine publishers such as Bauer are struggling? 4) What does the article suggest about how independent publishers use digital media to target their niche audiences? 5) Why is it significant that independent magazines are owned and created by the same people? How does this change the creative process and direction of the magazine? 6) What does the article suggest regarding the benefits of a 'do-it-yourself' approach to creating independent magazines? 7) The article discusses the audience appeal of print. Why might audiences love the printed form in the digital age? 8) What are the challenges in terms of funding and distributing an independent magazine? 2) Irish Times feature on independent magazines Now read this short feature in the Irish Times on the growth of independent magazines and answer the following questions: 1) Why are independent magazines so popular? 2) Why is the magazine publishing industry set up to favour the big global conglomerates? 3) What does the article suggest regarding finding an audience for an independent magazine? 4) What are the challenges for magazine distributors? 5) The article suggests that many independent magazines only make money by diversifying into other products. What examples do they give?
The summer project is a vital element of your coursework - an opportunity to plan three outstanding TikTok videos and a music documentary billboard advert and then present it to class in September. Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching TikTok videos, creating a concept, writing a first draft Statement of Intent and presenting this to class as an Ignite presentation in September. However, you may wish to also plan and film elements of your production over the summer while you have time available - this is up to you.
Your AQA coursework brief is here: NEA Student Booklet - Brief 6. Summer project tasks Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your coursework blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning': 1) Research: TikTok videos You need to write a 150-word close-textual analysis of SIX TikTok videos that will inform your production work. The TikTok videos you analyse are up to you but focus on a different aspect of media language for each one (see guidance below).
TikTok videos TikTok Video 1: Narrative How is narrative used in the TikTok video and what impact does this have on the audience? Can you apply any narrative theories to the story in the TikTok video? TikTok Video 2:Camerawork (shots, angles, movement) Look for particular camera shots and movement - remember that movement is a critical convention of most music videos and performances and camerawork can contribute to this. TikTok Video 3:Mise-en-scene What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Use CLAMPS to help you here and think in particular about how mise-en-scene is used to communicate the genre of music and the personality or brand identity of the band/artist.
TikTok Video 4:Editing
For editing, analyse pace, transitions, the number of shots and juxtaposition. How does the video create pace and excitement - or does it create a different effect for the audience?
TikTok Video 5:Music Video Conventions
Think back to our Introduction to Music Video and our work on Andrew Goodwin's theory on music video conventions as part of the Ghost Town CSP. How many key conventions of music video can you find in your fifth TikTok example?
TikTok 6:Visual effects, intertextuality or product placement
Choose a TikTok video that has interesting visual effects or intertextuality and analyse the effect this creates and how it is constructed. Alternatively, you could look at product placement here and see how a band or artist has incorporated a brand or product into their video. You can start adding TikTok links to this shared document that should help with research and, of course, or you are free to select videos of your choice. You may wish to write more about one video than another but as long as you have 800+ words of TikTok video research in total you will be fine. Feel free to use bullet points if this is helpful.
2) Planning: THREE TikTok video treatments A treatment is like a script for a TikTok video - it tells the band or artist exactly what will happen in the video and the kind of style or effect the video will have. You'll need choose what songs you are going to use at this point - remember, you can use an existing artist's work but it needs to be appropriate for the brief.
For this aspect of your summer project, write a basic treatment that gives your reader a good idea of what each of your three TikTok video will look like. The most important thing is to keep in mind the brief - the TikTok video can feature any of the following:
interviews/AMAs with band members
content created by band members
performances, live shows or personal
appearances
band members taking on a TikTok challenge
the band interacting with fans
• fan-made content
merchandise or promotion of the band’s
music
any other content or combination of content
you think would be appealing to the audience
and promote the band effectively.
Start each of your THREE treatments with the following key details:
1) Artist/band and song(s) you will use for video.
2) Original name for artist/band you have created - MUST be completely original
For example, Ed Sheeran - Shape of You is the artist and song you plan to use but your original name for your artist will be John Smith - Shape of You. 3) Statement of Intent Write the first draft for your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.
It should explain:
the ways in which you will apply knowledge and understanding of media language and media representation to your products
how your products will target the intended audience
the industry context they are created for
how you will exploit the opportunities for digital convergence between the products
This is just your first draft of the statement so try and keep it under 500 words if you can. That will leave a bit of room to add later when you do your next draft.
4) Ignite presentation Prepare a 5-minute, 20-slide presentation using the Ignite format in which you present your coursework project. In effect, this is your statement of intent in presentation format. You must cover:
Your TikTok videos and billboard posters concept: your new originalartist, genre, song and TikTok video treatments. Then, your print brief: documentary title, artists / bands featured, eras covered, etc.
Media language: how you will use TikTok video conventions and billboard advertising conventions - e.g. camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene to create meanings for your audience.
Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes in your TikTok video and music documentary adverts; applications of representation theory; social and cultural contexts - how your coursework will reflect contemporary media culture and society.
Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures - why they would enjoy your TikTok video and magazine; audience theory if relevant.
Media industries and digital convergence: the potential record company that would promote your band or artist; the streaming service for your music documentary; the brand identity for your artist; how fans would engage with your products etc.
Ignite presentations have very specific rules: you must create exactly 20 slides with each slide set to 15-second auto-advance. This means your presentation will be exactly five minutes followed by questions and comments from the class. You will deliver your presentation on your coursework planning in the first week back in September. Your Ignite presentation will be marked out of 30 on the following criteria (each worth a possible 5 marks): 1) Research (through the presentation AND your blog - make sure it is posted before you present) 2) Coursework concept 3) Language: terminology and theory 4) Representations / social and cultural contexts 5) Audience and Industry / digital convergence 6) Presentation delivery You can find more information about Ignite presentations - including examples - in this Ignite presentation blogpost here. Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in first lesson back in September
Summer project: optional extensions Pre-production tasks Some students in previous years expressed an interest in filming their video production over the summer break. This makes a huge amount of sense - far more availability of actors, much more time to schedule filming etc. If you do want to film over the summer, make sure you complete the following pre-production tasks here: TikTok video planning and treatment This is effectively your script for your TikTok video. There is guidance/links above on how to write a great TikTok video treatment. Storyboard Sketch out a selection of critical shots from your TikTok video, take a photo of the storyboard and upload it to your blogpost. What visual style are you trying to create? Storyboard sheets can be downloaded from here. Shot list Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for the TikTok video AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find a film example here. It makes sense to organise your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the TikTok video in chronological order. Mise-en-scene What iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre you are working in? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. Shooting schedule Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the summer. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it! Non-assessed participants You will need to provide a written record of all non-assessed participants in your production work (both video and print). Keep a record of everyone involved - actors, camerawork, sound etc. You will also need a keep a record of any non-original sound and note it on the Candidate Record Form - so this means the song for your music video. Keep these on your blog for easy reference when submitting your work in Year 13. Production: Filming and photography Once you have completed your pre-production tasks, you can film or carry out photoshoots as you wish. Good luck!
The second part of our Gentlewoman case study explores Audience and Industry contexts.
These concepts require us to explore who reads The Gentlewoman, who produces it and how the magazine is branching out beyond print into events and online.
Audience
The Gentlewoman describes its audience:
“The Gentlewoman is enjoyed by confident, independent and stylish women and men from a strikingly broad range of age groups.
“Characterised by their desire for cultural entertainment in their media, readers of The Gentlewoman enjoy the highest quality fashion, social pursuits and creative happenings.”
Media Kit
The best way to learn about The Gentlewoman's audience is via the Media Kit (you'll need your Greenford Google login to open).
Audience theory: Clay Shirky
Clay Shirky suggests the 20th century media model “with professional producers and amateur consumers” has been replaced by a more chaotic landscape that allows consumers to be producers and distributors. The Gentlewoman is fighting back against this, offering a curated, high-quality mix of writing, fashion and photography.
Shirky says: “We now publish first, and then filter. We find the good stuff after the fact.” In contrast to this, The Gentlewoman is trying to offer its readers the ‘good stuff’ without having to filter it first.
Audience pleasures
There are many potential audience pleasures for The Gentlewoman readers. Applying Blumler & Katz’s Uses & Gratifications theory, three in particular would be:
Personal identity: Readers enjoy having their lifestyle and fashion choices endorsed and reflected by the magazine. The magazine promises to feature “women as they actually look, sound and dress.”
Personal relationships: The Gentlewoman is presented as a club to be part of – literally in the sense of in-person events around the world.
Surveillance: The Gentlewoman describes itself as “Intelligent, opinionated and entertaining, it has set a new standard in women’s magazines with its high-quality writing”.
They created The Gentlewoman as a women’s version of their “genre defining gentleman’s style journal” Fantastic Man.
Distribution
Despite being a niche London-based magazine, The Gentlewoman reflects the global nature of the media. The website and social media are major reasons for its international reach.
Its readers are based:
UK 51%
Europe 23%
USA 18%
Rest of the World 8%
The Gentlewoman Club
The Gentlewoman Club is an international society of the magazine’s readers, which currently has up to 39,000 active members – sophisticated women and men who demand quality and originality from their agenda of cultural happenings. These loyal subscribers attend the Club’s get-togethers in substantial numbers, notified of which via the Club’s monthly newsletter
and social media platforms.
This is an example of diversification – moving beyond a print magazine to offer readers experiences and events to engage with.
Magazines: regulation
The magazines industry is regulated by IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. This is an independent regulator - effectively meaning the industry is self-regulated by the Editors' Code of Practice. We will look at more on press regulation when we study newspapers.
The Gentlewoman: Audience and Industries blog tasks
There are five reasonably short tasks for The Gentlewoman - Audience and Industries plus some optional extension work for those aiming for the very top grades. Create a blogpost called 'The Gentlewoman: Audience and Industries' and work through the following:
1) Media Magazine feature: Pleasures of The Gentlewoman
Go to our Media Magazine archive and read the article on The Gentlewoman (MM84 - page 34). Answer the following questions:
1) What does the article suggest is different about the Gentlewoman compared to traditional women's magazines?
2) What representations are offered in the Gentlewoman?
3) List the key statistics in the article on the average reader of the magazine.
4) What is The Gentlewoman Club?
5) What theorists does it suggest we can apply to the Gentlewoman's club?
6) What does the writer of article suggest they are getting out of their relationship with the magazine?
7) Who are the team behind the magazine?
8) How does the Gentlewoman use their website and social media to promote the magazine?
9) What are the 'creative collaborations' in the magazine? How do they 'spill over into real life'?
10) How does the article sum up the audience pleasures of the Gentlewoman?
2) On the 'Digital' page, what different sections of the website are there and how do these offer opportunities for audience engagement and interaction?
3) What are the audience demographics for The Gentlewoman?
4) What is The Gentlewoman Club and what does it offer readers?
2) Visit the magazine page of the website. How much of the magazine is available to view online? Is this a smart marketing technique to sell print copies or is it giving content away for free?
If you're interested in design and how the media is becoming increasingly digital then this in-depth Medium feature is great. It's a case study from a designer who converted an issue of The Gentlewoman from print to digital as a design project. Reading this will give you a really in-depth understanding of the construction, design and overall look and feel of your CSP as well as an introduction to website building and graphic design.
We have now finished our work on the latest targeted close-study products - Radio. Before we start the coursework, we need to complete a short Radio index to ensure we've completed the three tasks for this unit.
As ever, this will highlight if you've missed anything and allow you to catch up if you have fallen behind with anything in the last three weeks.
Your Radio index should include the following three tasks: 1) Radio: Introduction to Radio 2) Radio: BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat 3) Radio: War of the Worlds For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each aspect of the case study quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in future exams due to gaps in your knowledge.
Note: there will be a baseline assessment at the start of Year 13 testing your latest CSP units on Magazines and Radio.
Our second CSP for radio is the 1938 CBS broadcast of War of the Worlds. This is a famous broadcast of Orson Welles's radio play - an adaptation of HG Wells's science-fiction novel of the same name. It is a text of historical significance due to a long-running debate over the effect the broadcast had over audiences at the time.
Narrative and background War of the Worlds, a science-fiction novel by author HG Wells, was first published in 1898. It is a story of alien invasion and war between mankind and an extra-terrestrial race from Mars. The original 1938 Orson Welles broadcast is available here:
In particular, focus on the following extracts: Opening: 0.00 – 4.00 Development: 10.00 – 13.00 Emergence of alien: 17.00 – 19.00 Middle section: 39.00 – 41.00 Ending: 57.00 – end Think about these questions while you listen:
How does the radio play seek to engage the audience?
What effect do you think this may have had on radio audiences in 1938?
Hybrid genre
Orson Welles was initially reluctant to adapt War of the Worlds, describing it as 'boring'. He was persuaded by the prospect of using recent developments in radio news reporting to create a hybrid-form radio play designed to sound like a real breaking news story. The broadcast begins with a music performance that is increasingly interrupted by breaking news of martians invading New Jersey. Historical context
In 1938, the world was on edge as Germany mobilised to invade Europe and populations feared gas attacks from another world war. In the weeks leading up to the 1938 broadcast, American radio stations had increasingly cut into scheduled programming to bring news updates from Europe on the chances of war. This meant Welles's use of radio news conventions had more of an impact on listeners who were unaware that it was a fictional radio play.
Media effects theories
The War of the Worlds radio play has become a much-studied text with regards to media effects theories. The initial reported reaction from audiences provided evidence for the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory which suggests people believe whatever they see or hear in the media. Orson Welles himself, speaking to the BBC in the 1950s, said that he wanted the broadcast to be a lesson to audiences that they shouldn’t believe everything they hear.
We can also apply Gerbner's Cultivation Theory, the two-step flow model and Stuart Hall's Reception Theory to Orson Welles's War of the Worlds broadcast. For example, what was Welles’s preferred reading for the broadcast?
Audience reaction: exaggerated?
Although War of the Worlds is a brilliant case study in audience effects theory, it may also be an example of the way media industries respond to competition in the media marketplace.
Indeed, later studies suggested the audience reaction was exaggerated by the newspaper industry (under threat from radio at the time) and that audiences are more sophisticated consumers of media than first thought.
Radiolab podcast on War of the Worlds The American podcast Radiolab looked back on the significance of the 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds and later attempts to recreate the effect. It's a brilliant summary of the context and reaction from the audience alongside clips from the broadcast and transcripts from interviews at the time. In particular, make sure you listen to the first 30 minutes and the last 10 minutes as these sections are absolutely perfect for A Level Media students. You can listen to the Radiolab podcast here.
War of the Worlds: Blog tasks
Media Factsheet Read Media Factsheet #176: CSP Radio - War of the Worlds. You'll need your Greenford Google login to download it. Then answer the following questions: 1) What is the history and narrative behind War of the Worlds? 2) When was it first broadcast and what is the popular myth regarding the reaction from the audience? 3) How did the New York Times report the reaction the next day? 4) How did author Brad Schwartz describe the the broadcast and its reaction? 5) Why did Orson Welles use hybrid genres and pastiche and what effect might it have had on the audience? 6) How did world events in 1938 affect the way audiences interpreted the show? 7) Which company broadcast War of the Worlds in 1938? 8) Why might the newspaper industry have deliberately exaggerated the response to the broadcast? 9) Does War of the Worlds provide evidence to support the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory? 10) How might Gerbner's cultivation theory be applied to the broadcast? 11) Applying Hall's Reception Theory, what could be the preferred and oppositional readings of the original broadcast? 12) Do media products still retain the ability to fool audiences as it is suggested War of the Worlds did in 1938? Has the digital media landscape changed this?
Media Magazine article on War of the Worlds
Read this excellent article on War of the Worlds in Media Magazine. You can find it in our Media Magazine archive - issue 69, page 10. Answer the following questions:
1) What reasons are provided for why the audience may have been scared by the broadcast in 1938?
2) How did newspapers present the story?
3) How does the article describe the rise of radio?
4) What does the article say about regulation of radio in the 1930s?
5) How does the article apply media theories to the WOTW? Give examples.
6) Look at the box on page 13 of real newspaper headlines. Pick out two and write them here - you could use these in an exam answer.
A/A* Extension tasks: Analysis and opinion questions
1) Why do you think the 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds has become such a significant moment in media history?
2) War of the Worlds feels like a 1938 version of 'fake news'. But which is the greater example of fake news - Orson Welles's use of radio conventions to create realism or the newspapers exaggerating the audience reaction to discredit radio? 3) Do you agree with the Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle theory? If not, was there a point in history audiences were more susceptible to believing anything they saw or heard in the media? 4) Has the digital media age made the Hypodermic Needle model more or less relevant? Why? 5) Do you agree with George Gerbner's Cultivation theory - that suggests exposure to the media has a gradual but significant effect on audience's views and beliefs? Give examples to support your argument. 6) Is Gerbner's Cultivation theory more or less valid today than it would have been in 1938? Why?
