Film language: Sound presentations and homework

This is always a great lesson - seeing your parallel and contrapuntal sound presentations. When they are done, we'll watch the last two clips analysing sound then you'll need to complete the following tasks on your blog:

Presentation feedback/learner response

• Upload your presentation/collages along with a YouTube/Soundcloud link to the music you chose. Remember to embed your presentation in your blog post using Google Slides (you must upload it to Google Drive first).
• Type up your feedback and then reflect on your work. Add three WWWs and three EBIs underneath the feedback I've given you.
• Learner response: compare your presentation against your evaluation of the top three presentations in the class. Who did you think was best and why?

Sound task

Find a film clip on YouTube that uses sound in an interesting way. Analyse the use of sound, making sure you use the key language we have learned about sound in film:

• Diegetic and non-diegetic sound
• Parallel and contrapuntal sound
• Sound bridges

Remember to discuss/analyse all the different types of sound present in the clip:

• Music
• Dialogue
• Voiceover
• Sound effects

You also need to highlight or put in bold any use of media language.

Complete for homework - due next week.

Year 12: Institution feedback and learner response

Once we've finished teaching our lessons on some of the biggest media institutions in the world, we need to put our feedback on our blogs. Complete the following:

1) Upload your lesson on your blog (make sure you embed your presentation in your blog - upload it to Google drive, open in Google Slides and then choose File > Publish to the web)

2) Type up the feedback I give your group on your blog (this needs to be done individually)

3) Use this feedback and your own reflection to write three WWWs (What Went Well) and three EBIs (Even Better If) below my feedback on your blogpost.

4) Write a sentence for each of the seven institutions we have covered in these lessons. How much have we learned?

1. Trinity Mirror
2. BSkyB
3. News Corporation
4. Sony
5. Vivendi
6. Time Warner
7. Viacom

5) Research the three institutions that weren't selected in the original draw:

• The BBC
• The Walt Disney Company
• Comcast

Find out all the key details for these institutions (history, ownership, influence etc.) and write at least 150 words on each of them plus a final sentence that sums up the entire institution.

Complete for homework if you don't finish it in the lesson - due next week.

Film language: Sound

A reminder of our notes on Sound:

Sound is incredibly important to our understanding of a film.  The music, dialogue and sound effects (SFX) all contribute to the way we appreciate what we are watching on the screen.    

Diegetic and non-diegetic sound

Diegetic sound comes from the world of the film we are watching.  This could include dialogue by characters in the scene or music or other sound that comes from a source we would naturally expect that sound to come from, e.g. a radio or TV.

Non-diegetic sound is added during post production, e.g. voice over or music sound track.

Parallel and contrapuntal sound

Parallel sound is music we would normally expect to hear accompanying a scene, e.g. soft romantic music might be played over a love scene.

Contrapuntal sound is music that we don’t normally associate with the scene we are watching, e.g. classical music played over a bloody fight scene.

Sound bridge

Sometimes you will notice that sound from a scene continues even though the visual image has moved to the next scene. This is a sound bridge and helps create a smooth transition from one scene to the next.

Homework: parallel and contrapuntal sound presentation

1) Choose a 30 second piece of music. 

2) Using PowerPoint, produce two collages – one that appears parallel to the music and one that is contrapuntal. If you can, add the music to the PowerPoint.

3) Save the PowerPoint to Google Drive and then open it up (this will open it in Google Slides). If you click on 'File' and then 'Publish to the web' you can find an option to embed your powerpoint in Blogger.

4) Present your collage to the class next week, explaining the thinking behind your work.

Film Language: Lighting

You'll need to use the Film Language Powerpoint to work through the Lighting tasks. These are:

Look at the still images on slides 19-23. Copy the images into your blog and answer the questions for each:

1. Identify examples of high and low-key lighting.
2. Say which depict top, back or under lighting.
3. What effects are created by the lighting in each image?     

When these are complete, you need to do the following on a separate blog post:

1. Research ‘film noir’ focusing on the genre’s distinctive lighting style. Find a YouTube clip that fits the film noir genre and embed it alongside your research.

Anything you don't complete in the lesson will be homework, due next week.

Year 12: The story so far in AS Media

We've covered a lot of material in the first couple of weeks - make sure you're up-to-date on all the work set. You should have completed the following:

General tasks

• Set up TWO blogs - one for MEST1 exam work and one for MEST2 coursework tasks.
• Sign up to Twitter and follow the department's Macguffin Blog account

Exam side of course (MIGRAIN intro to Media)

• Media consumption homework - how do you interact with the media?
• Reading an image - analysis of the RBK 50 Cent advert + advert of your choice

Coursework side (Film language unit)

• Film poster analysis (8 film posters)
• Mise-en-scene tasks and analysis

Links to your blogs will be up this week on the main Year 12 blog. We'll then meet with you individually to check your blogs and discuss your target grade in Media.

You have 48 hours to get everything complete and up on your blog!

Film Language: Mise-en-scene

Complete the two extension tasks for mise-en-scene in the Film Language booklet:

1) Find a distinctive still image and write an analysis of the mise-en-scene. Use each of the aspects you've learned in the lesson.

2) Find three film extracts on YouTube from films of different genres (e.g. horror, sci-fi, costume drama) and write a comparison of the mise-en-scene in each.

You'll have a certain amount of lesson time for this but will need to complete the rest for homework - due next week.

MIGRAIN introduction to Media: Reading an image

Complete the following from our double lesson on reading an image:

1) Analyse this RBK 50 Cent advert using the key media language you learned today: denotation, connotation, colour, pose, framing, composition, size, type of shot, subject matter, setting, lighting.

2) Next, analyse a print advert of your choice using the same key words.

Remember to put media language in bold or highlight/colour it. Another reminder of the key words:

• Denotation, connotation, colour, pose, framing, composition, size, type of shot, subject matter, setting, lighting.

And always ask the two key questions: Who do you think is the target audience? How does it address/attract that audience?

Due: Friday (12C)

Introduction to Media: Media consumption audit

Create a blogpost on your MEST1 Exam Blog outlining your consumption of the media.

Answer the following questions on your blog:

Newspapers

• Which daily newspapers (if any) do you read?
• What sections of newspapers do you turn to first, and why?
• What sections do you never read, and why?
• What kinds of stories do you usually read and why?
• Do you, or someone else, buy the newspaper you read?
• Do you look at the online versions of any newspapers? Which newspapers? Why do you visit their website and not others?

Magazines

• What magazines (if any) do you buy regularly?  Why
• What sections of the magazines do you read and not read, and why?

Television

• Approximately how many hours a week do you spend watching television?
• What times of day do you usually watch television?
• What programmes do you like best and why?
• Do you watch alone or with others? If you watch with others, who decides what you will watch?
• Do you watch 'live' TV or on-demand/catch-up? Do you use any other devices to watch TV (such as laptop of tablet?)

Radio

• Do you listen to the radio?
• If yes, what stations do you like best and why?
• Approximately how many hours a week do you spend listening to the radio?
• What times of the day do you usually listen to the radio?
• Where do you listen to the radio?
• What other activities (if any) do you do whilst listening to the radio?

Cinema

• What films have you seen in the cinema in the last month?
• What films have you seen in other places – for example, through rental, satellite film channels (free or otherwise) or through video-on-demand?
• Who else watched the films with you?
• Who decided what films to watch?
• What devices do you typically use to watch films: TV, laptop, tablet, phone etc.?

Online

• How often do you access the internet?
• Where do you access the internet?  At home, at college or school, or at work?
• What are the main sites that you access?
• What are the main reasons for accessing these sites – for example, for information, to make purchases, communicate with friends or for entertainment?
• What other activities (if any) do you do whilst accessing the internet?
• What different devices do you use to access the internet? What is your primary device for accessing the internet?
• What social networks do you use regularly (e.g. Twitter, Instagram)? Why do you belong to these networks in particular?

Due: next week

Year 12 Media blogs: an update

Having taken some feedback from students and staff regarding AS Media last year, we have decided to have TWO Media blogs for each student to keep exam work and coursework separate and easier to track.

This means you need to set up another blog and rename your first blog as follows:

MEST1 Exam Blog

Your new blog needs to be called:

MEST2 Coursework Blog

Please post your NEW coursework blog URL as a comment on this blogpost. 

We will collate and link them to our main blog hub next week.

We're confident this development will help you keep track of your homework and revision material more easily.

If you have any questions, speak to any of us in the Media department.

Introduction to Film Language: homework

Carry out the 'Film Poster Analysis' from the Film Language PowerPoint:

• Analyse all EIGHT posters in as much detail as possible;
• Try to include media terminology that you might have learnt at GCSE;
• Explain WHY for each of the three questions for each poster;
• Post up all your answers on your new blog;
• Include the actual posters in your blog posting.

Due: next Thursday

Follow GHS Media on Twitter

The key to success in A Level Media is being engaged with the media and knowledgeable about the big stories of the day.

To help you do this, I'm delighted to say that the legendary Greenford High School Macguffin Blog is on Twitter. We'll be posting links to interesting Media stories, homework reminders and deadlines throughout the year. You'll find us:

@blogmacguffin

If you haven't joined Twitter, do so: it's a brilliant way of keeping up with what's happening in the media and you don't have to publish tweets yourself if you don't want to. Once you're on board, follow the following Twitter accounts to give yourself a comprehensive daily update on the media world:

Newspaper media sections

Media Guardian @mediaguardian

i newspaper @theipaper

Independent Media @TheIndyMedia

Telegraph film   @TelegraphFilm

Useful Media Studies-related accounts

The Media blog    @TheMediaTweets

Brilliant Ads @Brilliant_Ads

Pete Fraser @petesmediablog

Media Edu @mediaedusites

Big media personalities

Rupert Murdoch @rupertmurdoch

Piers Morgan @piersmorgan

Alasdair Campbell @campbellclaret

Journalists

Roy Greenslade @GreensladeR

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan

Owen Jones @OwenJones84

Nick Sutton @suttonnick

Nick Davies @Bynickdavies

Others

Film4 @Film4

Mo Farah @Mo_Farah

YouGov polling  @YouGov

There are many, many more Twitter accounts you can follow to keep up on certain aspects of the media and anything else you're interested in. Get involved and immerse yourself in the world of the media.

Welcome to AS Media!

We are delighted you have chosen AS Media Studies and can confidently say that if you attend lessons and meet your deadlines you WILL get a fantastic grade in this subject. 

Your first jobs are to get an A4 ring binder folder with dividers (bring it to every lesson) and start your Year 12 Media blog. You can find step-by-step text instructions to setting up your blog here. Once you have your blog URL, post it as a comment below this post with your name clearly written next to it. For example:

Comment Mr Halsey's blog: http://mediamacguffin12.blogspot.co.uk/ 

IMPORTANT: It is absolutely essential you remember your log-in details for this blog - it is where your Media work will be posted for the next two years. Make sure you do the following:

• Add your mobile phone number so you can get a code by text if you forget your password
• Email your log-in details to yourself using your SCHOOL email address

We have a track record of excellent results in A Level Media and last year students made more progress with us than in any subject in the school. Our A Level results were:

68% A-B
100% A-E

You've got a lot of hard work ahead of you but with commitment, creativity and engagement with the Media you WILL be successful!