The nominations are in for the Media Awards 2023! We now have a date for the ceremony: Tuesday 19 September 2023. We've had an incredibly difficult job finalising the nominations - the quality level at both GCSE and A Level is excellent and there has been a lot of good work that hasn't made the cut.
If you haven't been before, the Media Awards is our Oscars-style ceremony where we award trophies for the best Media coursework at GCSE and A Level. It's a major event in the Greenford calendar and tickets have completely sold out whenever we have run the event in the past. The details for this year's awards: Date: Tuesday 19 September Time: 5.30pm - 7.30pm Tickets: £5 Tickets will go on sale when we're back at school after the summer break - keep an eye for on-sale dates then. There will be an exclusive pre-sale window for Media students before general sale to any Greenford student in Year 10 or above. Remember - you need to be quick. The event has sold out in just four days in previous years!
A Level nominations
BEST A LEVEL SOUND DESIGN
Wasif – Throne
Scarlett – Pink Music
Thomas – TRB
BEST A LEVEL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Rish – Sharu
Krissie – Chimes
Saad – Young Abz
BEST A LEVEL PRODUCTION DESIGN
Kanye – Ambiguous
Nikhil – Witold
Ashleen – Beelzebub
BEST A LEVEL EDITING
Tarliyah – Ciel
Lemmy – Poki
Sade – Mars
BEST A LEVEL MUSIC PROMO CONCEPT
Zayna – Reign
Haaris - Brain
Jadesola – Yomi
BEST A LEVEL POST-PRODUCTION
Isra – NVU
Sade – Mars
Ismail – Rocky
GCSE nominations
BEST GCSE MUSIC VIDEO CINEMATOGRAPHY
Krrish – Something In The Way
Kriti – Youth
Mohammed – Stand By Me
Sally – Ghosting
BEST GCSE MUSIC VIDEO CONCEPT
Malak – Happier Than Ever
Waleed – Eye Of The Tiger
Amariah – She’s All I Wanna Be
Mamdouh – Till I Collapse
BEST GCSE MUSIC VIDEO EDITING
Sally – Ghosting
Diako – Sticky Situations
Rishi – It Was A Good Day
Greta – Hide ‘n’ Seek
Best Actress and Actor
BEST ACTOR 2023
Khalid
Abayomi
Thomas
Haaris
BEST ACTRESS 2023
Amariah
Scarlett
Zayna
Ashleen
Congratulations to all our nominees and we look forward to seeing you at the Media Awards on Tuesday 19 September!
The summer project is a vital element of your coursework - an opportunity to plan an outstanding crime drama video/print project and then present it to class in September. Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching music videos and promos, 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 and actors available - this is up to you. Summer project tasks Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your coursework blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning': 1) Research: TV crime drama extract analysis You need to write a close-textual analysis of six TV crime drama extracts. For each extract, focus on a different aspect of media language, and embed each one on your blog: TV crime drama extract 1: Narrative and genre How is the narrative and the crime drama genre communicated to the audience? TV crime drama extract 2:Mise-en-scene What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Think CLAMPS. TV crime drama extract 3:Camerawork Here you are looking for particular camera shots and movement. E.g. Are close-ups used to show the reaction of key characters to the audience? How are establishing shots used? TV crime drama extract 4:Editing Analyse pace, transitions, number of shots and juxtaposition e.g. eyeline matches. How is editing used to create meanings for the audience? TV crime drama extract 5: Sound Analyse both diegetic and non-diegetic sound in the extract - music, dialogue, voiceover, SFX, background or foley sound. You can find a range of TV drama extract examples in this blogpost.
In total, your research notes on your blog will be approximately 1,000 words - bullet points are fine.
2) Planning: TV crime drama concept
TV crime drama
In order to produce a successful crime drama extract, you will need to plan out an overall narrative arc for the whole episode or season of your drama. This may include the main characters in your drama and the narrative conflict driving the main protagonist for example. This overall picture of your crime drama will inform both your TV extract and the TV listings magazine feature. Your three-minute extract
What will your three-minute extract involve? A chase scene? Dialogue? Disequilibrium? It needs to feature the typical codes and conventions of TV crime drama. Look at the minimum requirements of the brief in order to ensure you plan for everything you need.
Complete this TV crime drama extract pitch template to plan these elements (you can copy the questions into your blog or complete on your own Google Doc and link from your blog) to demonstrate you have planned your video production.
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. The original AQA brief is here: NEA Student Booklet 2024 submission - brief 1.
We also strongly recommend you look at our Statement of Intent 2024 questions to consider document too (you'll need to log in with your Greenford Google account to read this). 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 TV crime drama concept: title, tagline, narrative, characters etc.
Media language: how you will use conventions, camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene and sound to create an effective TV crime drama extract.
Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes; representation theory.
Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures; audience theory.
Media industries and digital convergence: the potential companies or organisations that could produce or stream your TV drama; how your extract will encourage audiences to discuss your new TV drama on social media.
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 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) 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 second week 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: Crime drama script Write a script for your TV drama extract. You'll find guidance for writing a script in the BBC Writers' Room (click on the Script Library to read real examples of professional TV drama scripts from recent BBC drama productions). Storyboard Sketch out a range of critical shots from your extract, take a photo of the storyboard and upload it to your blogpost. What visual style are you trying to create? Storyboard sheets are available in DF07 or you can download and print out an AQA storyboard template from here. Shot list Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for the extract 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 an example here. It makes sense to organise your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the trailer in chronological order. Mise-en-scene What iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre you have chosen? 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 (this is allowed - you just need to keep a record of it). 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!
Your summer project will involve researching and planning your coursework. You will then present this work to the class in September in the form of an Ignite presentation. This will be a hugely valuable exercise as it will allow you to test your idea in front of a potential audience - and make sure your coursework concept is communicated clearly. The Ignite presentation format offers a particular challenge and will force you to carefully consider how to pitch your project to the class. The Ignite tagline is simple: “Enlighten us, but make it quick.” Ignite talks are a popular presentation format online. The rules are simple:
20 slides
15 second auto-advance
5 minutes
1 topic
Here's a good Ignite talk about giving an Ignite talk:
Here are some media-related examples:
And here's another Media-related example that shows you why PRACTICE is so important - the speaker never keeps up with his slides and therefore the whole presentation is rushed:
Summer project: Ignite presentation Your Ignite presentation will be on your coursework plan - effectively a presentation version of your Statement of Intent. This means telling your audience the concept, genre, narrative, media language choices, representations, audience and industry factors in just 20 slides and 5 minutes. Good luck!
Learning the conventions, pacing and construction of a variety of TV drama extracts will be essential to achieving a top grade in your coursework. The following TV drama extracts will hopefully give you an idea of what we need to produce: Killing Eve (BBC) This is a great scene for dialogue, camera shots and female representation - all in a familiar domestic location.
Luther (BBC)
This clip is around the same length as our three-minute brief and contains some interesting camera framing, good use of non-diegetic music and a narrative conclusion.
The Shield (FX)
Watch the shaky, handheld camerawork that injects tension into this scene. Just remember that you won't be able to use weapons of any kind in exterior locations in your coursework (the location here is brilliant). It's also a phenomenal cliffhanger at the end of an episode.
Top Boy (Channel 4)
This is a scene from the original Channel 4 Top Boy - note the cross-cutting between different locations and the gradually increasing tension. Again, remember that you won't be able to film any scenes with weapons when planning your own production.
Top Boy (Netflix)
This is the opening scene of Netflix's development Top Boy and just like the Channel 4 original it brilliantly establishes the London location with its choice of shots and soundtrack. It also begins to introduce character and narrative with a clear underlying tension.
Peaky Blinders (BBC)
This is a masterclass in terms of writing and editing - note the set-up, the tension, the clear establishment of character roles.
The Bay (ITV)
Note how this establishes character and narrative through establishing shots, dialogue and cross-cutting. You may well want to make your extract an opening scene that introduces characters and narrative.
There are so many more crime dramas out there - look on iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ or the amazing collection of international dramas on Walter Presents. The more you watch (particularly opening scenes) the better your own production will be.
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. This will be on magazines and will 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 compulsory extra study sessions for Year 12 Media students who are behind on blog work on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 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?
3) Interview with Ruth Jamieson
Finally, read thisexcellent interview with Ruth Jamieson, who has written a book on the renaissance of the independent magazine sector. Answer these three quick questions:
1) What does Ruth Jamieson suggest about the 'death of print'? 2) What are the common themes for successful independent magazines? 3) How many of these aspects can you find in The Gentlewoman?
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.
