Film & TV Language: Cinematography blog tasks

We have watched some superb film and TV clips for cinematography, learning the importance of camera shots, angle and movement.

Being able to confidently analyse camera shots and movement is essential for media textual analysis and may well be required in both media exams (e.g. TV drama or music video).

Your cinematography blog tasks are as follows:

Find the opening sequence to a film or TV drama of your choice on YouTube and embed the video in a blogpost called 'Cinematography blog tasks'. 

1) Write an analysis of the cinematography in the opening sequence. Highlight your use of media language and try to cover camera shots, angles and movement using the terminology we have learned in lessons.

2) How does the camerawork give the audience clues about the setting, narrative and character?

3) Find and analyse four film or TV stills. Embed the images in your blog and analyse the camera shot/angle and what they communicate to the audience.  

Due: next week (day specified by your coursework teacher)

MIGRAIN: Audience theory 1

To develop our study of audience, we need to explore the effects that media products have on us and apply a range of theories to help us do this. 

Does consuming media make us violent? Anti-social? More aggressive? Or has digital technology and social media actually contributed to the lowest drug, alcohol and teenage pregnancy statistics for many years? In addition, we also need to explore what audiences enjoy about the media and ask how active or passive audiences are.

Audience theory:notes

The hypodermic needle model

This is a crude theory from the 1920s that suggests the media injects information into the audience like a hypodermic needle and therefore can have a dangerous effect on us.

The two-step flow model

The two-step flow model was developed in the 1940s because the hypodermic needle theory was considered too simplistic, assuming the audience consumed media without thinking.

The two-step flow model instead suggests the audience are influenced by ‘opinion leaders’ in the media who mediate how the audience react to media texts. The theory suggests the media is not all-powerful and that social factors are important.

Blumler & Katz: Uses and Gratifications theory

Researchers Blumler and Katz reignited audience theory in 1974 by stating that media audiences are active and make conscious choices about the way they consume media.

They suggested there are four main uses or gratifications (pleasures) that audiences get from the media.

Diversion: escape from everyday problems and routine - entertainment.

Personal Relationships: using the media for emotional and other interaction (e.g. developing affection for characters in TV)

Personal Identity: finding ourselves reflected in texts or learning behaviour and values from the media. Reality TV or documentary (Educating Yorkshire) are good examples.

Surveillance: Information useful for living (e.g. Weather, traffic news, holiday bargains etc.)

Rokeach and DeFleur: Dependency theory

Rokeach and DeFleur took Uses and Gratifications one step further in 1976 in suggesting that people have become dependent on the media.


With Dependency theory, they suggest that people rely on the media for information determining their decisions. This means the media can create many different feelings such as fear, anxiety, and happiness.

Audience theory: blog tasks

Hypodermic needle model

1) Read this Mail Online article about the effects of videogames. How does this article link to the hypodermic needle model?

2) How does coverage of the Talk Talk hacking case (see Daily Mail front page below) link to the hypodermic needle model? Why might someone criticise this front page? 

Two-step flow model

1) Summarise the two-step flow model. In your opinion, is the two-step flow theory still relevant today?

2) How does this YouTube blogger fit into the two-step flow model?

3) How this this Telegraph feature on Britain's most popular tweeters fit the two-step flow model? Do you think these accounts genuinely have an influence over their audience?

4) Read this BBC profile of Jamal Edwards. How does Jamal Edwards link to the two-step flow model?

Uses and Gratifications theory

1) For each of the four categories, write about one media text that fits that particular audience use or pleasure. Make sure you explain WHY it fits the category and use images or clips to illustrate your points.

Diversion: 

Personal Relationships: 

Personal Identity: 

Surveillance: 

Dependency theory

1) Do you agree that audiences have become dependent on the media? What evidence or examples can you provide to support your view?

2) How has the growth of new and digital technology in the last 15 years changed people's dependency on the media? Is this a new problem?

3) Reflecting on your own media use, how does your media consumption impact on your emotions? Does the media have an overall positive or negative impact on your health and wellbeing? Why?

Remember, anything you don't complete in the lessons you need to finish for homework - due next Friday.

Film & TV Language: Cinematography video task

Cinematography is the key term to describe camerawork: framing, angle and camera movement.

You need to be able to accurately identify camera shots, angles and movement - and most importantly the effect it has on the audience.

Practical task: create a one minute cinematography video that illustrates the main types of camera shot, angle and movement that we learned in the lesson on cinematography.

Complete the following:

1) Get into pairs or work individually. Note: although the planning and filming can be done collectively, all students MUST edit their own video.

2) Plan out the different shots, angles and examples of camera movement you need to include.

3) Film everything you need - as creatively as possible. You can use comedy, narrative or just keep it simple. However, you MUST make sure the framing and media terminology is accurate.

4) Edit your video to approximately one minute, adding music, voiceover, titles, effects and anything else that will make your film visually effective and entertaining for an audience. You can edit in school using Premiere Pro but are welcome to edit at home if you have the software to do it.

5) Export your finished video, upload it to YouTube and post it to your blog along with a 100-word explanation of your work.

Here's an example from last year to give you an idea of what we're after:



And here's an example from a similar task (camerawork and editing) that a student at Lingfield College created:




*Deadline extended due to lack of availability of equipment. New deadline: Wednesday 14 November

MIGRAIN: Audience classification

Our next key concept of Media Studies is Audience - a crucial aspect of the subject.

We need to study both how audiences are targeted and also why audiences enjoy or use certain types of media. There are a range of theories we need to learn over the next few lessons alongside important terminology.

Target audience profiling

Media institutions are always looking for more detailed audience profiling – so they can target their product more successfully.

These include VALS (values, attitudes and lifestyles) or Mosaic consumer classification. There's a good PDF explaining the Mosaic consumer classification here. 

Advertisers and institutions also use Psychographics.

Psychographics

Young and Rubicam invented a successful psychographic profile known as their 4Cs Marketing Model: Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation. They suggested people fit into one of seven groups:

Resigned
Rigid, strict, authoritarian and chauvinist values, oriented to the past and to Resigned roles. Brand choice stresses safety, familiarity and economy. (Older)

Strugglers
Alienated, Struggler, disorganised - with few resources apart from physical/mechanical skills (e.g. car repair). Heavy consumers of alcohol, junk food and lotteries, also trainers. Brand choice involves impact and sensation.

Mainstreamers
Domestic, conformist, conventional, sentimental, passive, habitual. Part of the mass, favouring big and well-known value for money 'family' brands. Almost invariably the largest 4Cs group.

Aspirers
Materialistic, acquisitive, affiliative, oriented to extrinsics ... image, appearance, charisma, persona and fashion. Attractive packaging more important than quality of contents. (Younger, clerical/sales type occupation)

Succeeders
Strong goal orientation, confidence, work ethic, organisation ... support status quo, stability. Brand choice based on reward, prestige - the very best . Also attracted to 'caring' and protective brands ... stress relief. (Top management)

Explorers
Energy - autonomy, experience, challenge, new frontiers. Brand choice highlights difference, sensation, adventure, indulgence and instant effect - the first to try new brands. (Younger - student)

Reformers
Freedom from restriction, personal growth, social awareness, value for time, independent judgement, tolerance of complexity, anti-materialistic but intolerant of bad taste. Curious and enquiring, support growth of new product categories. Select brands for intrinsic quality, favouring natural simplicity, small is beautiful. (Higher Education)

Psychographics: pair presentations

In pairs, you are going to investigate one of Young and Rubicam’s Psychographic groups.

You need to put together a presentation in which you create an example couple for that particular psychographic group and suggest what their media consumption might involve.

Note: You need to publish the tasks on each of your blogs individually.

Structure

Who you are working with:

The psychographic group you are researching:

Introduce your example couple that represents your group:

1) Make up their names:

2) Where do they work/study?

3) What do they do in their spare time?


Now suggest their media consumption:

Print: What newspapers/magazines does your group read (if any)? Is this on paper or tablet? 


Broadcast: What TV programmes/channels do your group watch? Radio stations? TV package – Freeview or Sky? Films?


Online: What technology do they own? What websites do they visit (if any)? What social media do they use?

Homework: Audience classification blog tasks 

Work through the following tasks to complete your introductory work on audience and psychographic profiling:

1) Make sure your psychographics presentation is uploaded on your blog with all details of the couple and their media consumption (it needs to be on everybody's blog individually but can be a duplicate of your partner's post).

2) Which psychographic group do you feel best fits your lifestyle and personality? Explain how and why you made your decision and provide evidence justifying this.

Due date: Monday 5 November

Film & TV Language: index

We are half-way through our Film & TV Language unit and need to create an index to ensure we are up-to-date on all work so far.  

Film & TV Language index

Keeping an index of all your work is extremely good practice from a revision perspective. Not only does this keep the concepts and media terminology fresh in your mind but it will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips. Your index should currently include the following:

1) Film poster analysis
2) Mise-en-scene blog tasks
3) Star persona: video feedback and learner response
4) Lighting blog tasks
5) Sound blog tasks

6) Sound: parallel and contrapuntal video feedback and learner response

For your index, it needs to link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each key concept quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can now catch up with the work/notes and won't underperform in future assessments/exams due to gaps in your knowledge.

Important: your index needs to be completed during the lesson. Any missing work MUST be caught up over half-term.

MIGRAIN: index and folder check

We are approaching the halfway point in our MIGRAIN Introduction to Media unit and need to create an index to ensure we are up-to-date on all work so far.  

As you will have seen with your recent assessment, it is important we are revising terminology and theory on an ongoing basis and making sure there are no gaps as the course continues. 

MIGRAIN index

Keeping an index of all your work is extremely good practice from a revision perspective. Not only does this keep the concepts and media terminology fresh in your mind but it will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips. Your index should currently include the following:

1) Introduction to Media: 10 questions
2) Media consumption audit
3) Language: Reading an image - advert analyses
4) Reception theory
5) Semiotics: icons, indexes and symbols
6) Genre: Factsheets and genre study questions
7) Narrative: Factsheet questions

For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each key concept quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can now catch up with the work/notes and won't underperform in assessments or exams due to gaps in your knowledge.

Important: your index needs to be completed during the lesson and anything missing completed over half-term.

Folder check

An organised folder is absolutely vital when it comes to keeping notes for revision in future. At the beginning of the year you started an A4 ringbinder folder with dividers - now we need to check we have all our notes in chronological order and a space for our marked assessment when it is returned after half-term.

We will be carrying out folder checks in the week after half-term so make sure you have the following with you for Media lessons after the break:

• A4 ringbinder folder or equivalent
• Dividers
• Notes/Film & TV Language pack for all lessons so far
• Space for your marked assessment

Deadline: After half-term

Film & TV Language: Sound video feedback and learner response

This is always a great lesson - screening your parallel and contrapuntal sound videos. 

When they are done, you'll need to complete the following tasks on your blog:

Video feedback/learner response

Create a new blogpost called 'Sound video feedback and learner response'. 

1) Make sure your video is on YouTube and embedded on your blog. 

2) Type up your feedback from your teacher.

3) Type up your feedback from fellow students.

4) Now reflect on your work and write your own comments. Add three WWWs and three EBIs underneath the rest of your feedback.

5) Learner response: compare your own video against your evaluation of the top three videos in the class. Whose did you think was best and why? How could you have improved your own video?

Complete this for homework if you don't get it done in the lesson - due date specified by your coursework teacher. Don't forget the additional blog tasks for Sound too!