MEST2 Print brief

Your MEST2 Print brief is as important as the video work you are currently filming. It is crucial that you research, plan and design print work that could comfortably holds its own alongside professional examples. Our AQA MEST2 brief is here, with the key task as follows:

Print
Create a front cover and two further pages from a specialist souvenir magazine that will be produced to promote the broadcast production at the time of broadcast.

Now complete the following tasks to plan and prepare your print work:

Research

1) Key conventions. Look over the magazine cover key conventions notes sheet and ensure you can confidently identify the key aspects that are found on a magazine cover.

2) Write a detailed analysis of this Doctor Who magazine front cover using the 12 key conventions from the notes. For each one, explain the purpose of the convention and the effect or impact it has on the audience.

3) Find at least 5 magazine covers aimed at a similar target audience to E4 and embed them on your blog. For each one, pick out one cover line that is similar to one you could use in your own magazine cover (e.g. an interview with a celebrity that also appeals to your target audience).

4) Find at least one TV souvenir magazine cover and embed it on your blog - Doctor Who magazine is always a good option (don't use the example above).

Planning and sketching

1) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of all the things your target audience might be interested in. How can you use this information to create a main cover story and smaller cover lines that will appeal to your E4 target audience?

2) Produce an A4 sketch of your front cover including the key conventions you have studied in existing magazines and then planned in planning task 1 above.

3) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of ideas for your double-page spread article. Write a list of potential headlines and sub-headings for the article you choose to go with.

4) Produce an A4 landscape sketch of your double page spread design now you have chosen the subject matter.

Photoshoot

1) Which of your main characters will appear on the front cover of your magazine?

2) What image or images will you use for the double-page spread?

3) Write a shot list for the photoshoot. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.

4) What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot?

5) How will you make sure you have everything prepared for the photoshoot on Monday 26 January?

Use the lesson to complete these planning tasks but you'll need to finish for homework - due Monday 26 January.



Homework for next week
In Microsoft Word, write the text for your double page spread feature. Plan it out carefully then write a headline, sub-heading and at least 500 words for the main article.

Due: next week

Ill Manors film trailer analysis

Homework

A reminder of your homework - write a 750 word review of Ill Manors. All the details and compulsory planning sheet are on this blogpost.

Ill Manors trailer analysis



Consider the discussion points from analysing the Ill Manors film trailer in class - then watch it again and answer the questions below on your blog:

1. What are the typical codes and conventions of film trailers - what information is usually provided?
2. How are trailers distributed? 
3. How does the Ill Manors trailer use trailer conventions?
4. Who is the target audience? Does it have a unique selling point or use particular techniques to appeal to the audience? Consider the way the scenes are edited together – does the trailer give away any clues about the narrative? Are the main stars visible in the trailer? Is there information about the director of the film? Is there information about the release date? Is a narrator’s voice-over used? Why?
5. How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music/dialogue, camera shots/movements/angles and editing?

The final questions (4 and 5) require you to carry out a detailed analysis like you would for a Section A exam question so make sure you include specific examples from the clip and use correct media terminology. If you are looking for an A grade, try and apply some media theory too. 

If you don't finish in class, finish for homework.

Ill Manors Film Review

12C - please complete for Wed 21/1...

1. Use the above to write a plan for a film review of ''Ill Manors". Post the notes on your blog.

2. After planning, write a review of the film of at least 750 words (posted on your blog).

You should refer to the best film review sites to help you...

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

Metacritic

...but DO NOT plagiarise anything. Your review MUST be entirely in your own words.

Happy New Year!

Welcome back to A Level Media - we hope you had a brilliant holiday and are refreshed and ready for a very busy term ahead.

You'll be making your two-minute TV opening scenes, carrying out a professional photoshoot for your print work then designing a magazine front cover and two-page inside spread on Adobe Photoshop. Throw in a 1,500 word evaluation and that's plenty to do in a short, sharp 12-week term.

On the exam side, you'll be doing an in-depth case study on the blistering low-budget British urban film Ill Manors as part of your work studying the wider film industry. We've got a brilliant conference at the BFI on the British film industry coming up in a few weeks' time and you'll also be doing an in-depth independent case study on a big-budget Hollywood film of your choice.

Remember: you've got a MEST1 Section A assessment on Friday so make sure you are revising EVERYTHING you've learned in Media so far.

There's an A grade waiting for you if you're willing to put the work in - good luck!

End of unit task: Introduction to Media Index

To finish off our Introduction to Media unit you need to create an index of ALL your MIGRAIN Introduction to Media tasks from the last 14 weeks. This will be hugely useful for revision for the upcoming January assessment, February mock exams AND the real MEST1 exam in May.

Use the MIGRAIN Powerpoint to help you (and to revise).

It should follow a clear format:

Date > Key concept > Title of work as a link to blogpost

Example:

September 2014 > Media Language > Media consumption task

September 2014 > Media Language > Reading an image 50 Cent analysis

October 2014 > Narrative > Narrative theory clip analysis

November 2014 > Audience > Uses and Gratifications blog task

At the end of the index, check that you’ve covered all 7 key concepts:

Media Language
Institution
Genre (note: largely covered in Film Language unit)
Representation
Audience
Ideology
Narrative

Complete this index for homework this week if you don't finish it in the lesson.

If you have missed any of the key concepts, you can access the blog archive down the left-hand side of the main Year 12 Media Macguffin blog. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure you have covered all the course concepts prior to sitting the final exam.

Ideology and binary opposition

The key notes from today's lesson:

Ideology

What is an ideology?
An ideology is a world view, a system of values, attitudes and beliefs which an individual, group or society holds to be true or important; these are shared by a culture or society about how that society should function.

Dominant ideologies

Ideologies that are told to us repeatedly by important social institutions such as the government or media are called dominant ideologies.

Dominant ideologies are ideologies or beliefs that we live by in our day-to-day lives and often do not question – they have become 'natural, common sense' things to do. This effectively dissuades people from rebelling against these beliefs, and keeps a sense of stability in society.

Why is ideology important in Media Studies?

Media texts always reflect certain values or ideologies though sometimes we may not be aware of this. When studying a media text you may look for the dominant ideology present and question whose world view is represented and which groups have not been represented.

Levi-Strauss: Binary opposition

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) was a French philosopher and one of the most important cultural theorists of the 20th century. 

His theory of binary opposition is important for media students.

Levi-Strauss suggested everyone thinks of the world around them in terms of binary opposites such as up and down, life and death etc. and therefore every culture can be understood in these terms.

Binary opposition in media

Binary opposition is used to create narrative and conflict in media. It is also used to simplify complex situations for easy consumption (e.g. TV news).

Along similar lines, if something is not easily reduced to binary opposites, it is far less likely to receive widespread media coverage.

Binary oppositions can be used to create stereotypes and promote certain ideologies or beliefs.

BBC Question Time: binary oppositions and ideology

Watch this clip from BBC Question Time with Russell Brand and Nigel Farage. The BBC deliberately placed the two against each other and the episode resulted in far more people watching and tweeting than usual.

What examples of binary opposition can you suggest from watching this clip?

What ideologies are on display in this clip?

Embed the video into your blog (as above) and answer these two questions in full paragraphs.

Research and planning checklist

All of your MEST2 Research and Planning is due on Friday 9 January - the first week back after Christmas.

This Research and Planning checklist will help you ensure that you've completed everything required.

Don't forget to use the OFCOM Broadcasting Code outlining the pre-watershed rules to make sure you don't fall foul of the guidelines.

Good luck!