Evaluations

12E/12D - you ALL need to complete your coursework evaluation by the first lesson back after Easter.

Please ensure that it's...

• word processed and printed before the lesson;
• also posted up on your blog;
• includes a word count at the end;
• spaced one and a half (use the paragraph tool in Word);
• carefully spell-checked and grammar-checked etc.

It's vital you use as much media terminology as possible throughout.

Use the exemplar we gave you in class to help you.

You may also find the Evaluation chapter from the AQA textbook useful too (it has another exemplar there and some good advice).

And follow the Evaluation Guidance closely so you know what to include and how to structure it.

12D Easter Homework - Section A Practice

You need to carry out TWO exam practices (one/week) over Easter and post up your answers on your blogs for Monday 15/4.

Watch each media product THREE times. In between viewings, for about five minutes, you should make notes in response to the questions below. 

Then you should spend approximately 15 MINUTES answering each question, supporting your answers with evidence from the media product.

Remember to include media terminology, media theory, and detailed examples.

Also, don't forget to use the AS Revision Booklet to help you, especially when it comes to knowing which theories/keywords to use for each question.

1. Guardian News Advert

• Media Forms: What techniques does the ad use to persuade the audience to consume the Guardian?
• Representation: How is the news represented in the ad?
• Media Institution: What issues of new technology does this ad raise and what does it tell us about the values of The Guardian?
• Audience: On the basis of this ad, who does the Guardian brand appeal to?

2. Call of Duty video game trailer

• Media Forms: What codes and conventions does the trailer use to establish the text’s genre?
• Media Representations: How is war represented in the trailer?
• Media Institutions: In what ways is the trailer typical of the video game industry?
• Media Audiences: Who does this text appeal to and what pleasures does it offer?

12D/12E Cover Work

• For 12E on Thur. 21/03/13.
• For 12D on Mon. 25/03/13 - complete for Tues. 26/03.

Complete the following MEST 1 Section A exam practice on your blogs. Answer all four questions in detail. 

Use the AS Media Exam Revision Booklet to help you.

Your media text is the front page of the ‘i’ newspaper from Tuesday 5 June 2012.

The main story in the news that day was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – celebrating 60 years on the throne.

The ‘i’ newspaper has been a notable success story in the newspaper industry in the last two years. Costing just 20p Monday-Friday (30p Saturdays), circulation figures for January 2012 had the ‘i’ selling 243,000 copies daily. When the ‘i’ was launched in October 2010, it was noted that the ‘i’ found 170,000 readers that were not taken from other publications – meaning that previous to buying the ‘i’, their readers were not engaging in newspapers at all.

The ‘i’ is a sister paper to the Independent, owned by Alexander Lebedev, and its editor is Stefano Hatfield. Its political leanings are liberal.

Questions

Media Forms
How does the text both subvert and reinforce the typical conventions for a newspaper front page? (12 marks)

Media Institutions
Why might the ‘i’ newspaper have been successful in a newspaper industry that has generally been in decline? (12 marks)

Media Audiences
What would you expect the ‘i’ newspaper’s target audience to be based on this front page? (12 marks)

Media Representations
How is Britain represented in this text? (12 marks)

Case Study #2 Checklist

For your second text, you'll need to analyse a range of texts from each of the three platforms (like you did for 'Ill Manors')...

...for each text:

• identify the main codes/conventions being used (media language, genre, narrative...)
• analyse the representations (of characters/stars) and how they are constructed
• identify the institution(s) responsible for the text
• identify the target audience(s) (demographics, psychographics) and how the text is promoted to them and will appeal to them (audience theories)
• consider any cross-media connections (synergy, intertextuality)
• compare with 'Ill Manors' (similarities and differences)
• evaluate how effective they are

12D: Ensure you've done last week's homework (about the text, the website and the trailer), complete the classwork (analysing a print text), and analyse TWO more texts (one broadcast; one e-media) covering all the questions above. Deadline: Monday 18/03/12.

Case Study #2

12D (for HW for Mon 11/3)...

1. Visit the IMDB and Wikipedia pages for your film.

On your blog, write an outline of your second film text (American, bigger budget, more mainstream than 'Ill Manors') to include...

Director, Producer, Starring, Production/Distribution Companies, Release Date(s) including Home Media, etc., Running Time, Budget, Box Office takings, Certificate.

2. Watch your film (even if you've already seen it before) and include details about the following...

Plot/Narrative, Characters/Representations, Settings, Critical Response (read some reviews), Genre Conventions, Media Language (Cinematography, Editing, Mise en Scene – CLAMPS, Sound/Music).

3. What are the main similarities/differences between your new film and 'Ill Manors'?

4. Go to the official website of your film. Analyse it. What different features does it contain? How does it try to engage the audience?

5. Embed the official trailer on your blog. Analyse it. Consider the Media Language used and how it would appeal to audiences.

12D Essay Question

You'll be doing a 45 minute timed essay (from June '09) in class on Monday 4/3 p3/4. This will count towards your interim report that you receive on parents' evening.

Please plan/prepare your answer in advance, using all your research...

Account for the similarities and differences in the codes and conventions used in the media products from your case study.

In your answer you should:

● provide a brief outline of your case study

● compare how and why media products from your case study are similar and/or different within and across media platforms

● support your answer with reference to a range of examples from three media platforms.

Try to use some of these key words/theories in your answer.

12E Revision for Assessment on Thursday!

Revise these key words and theories for your assessment on Thursday. This will count towards your interim and will be your first opportunity to experience a Section B style question under exam conditions.

Section B: Cross Platform Case Study REVISION

KEY WORDS

Convergence

The coming together of media technologies – blending together a variety of media forms into one platform (e.g. phone or tablet).

Synergy

The process through which a series of media products derived from the same text is promoted in and through each other. E.g. Disney’s High School Musical – Cinema, DVD, CD, app, merchandise etc.

User-generated content (UGC)

Media content produced by the audience. E.g. social networking; YouTube comments etc.

Web 2.0

A term coined in 2004 to describe the second generation of web-based communities such as social networking, wikis etc. This is to do with how we use the web rather than technological changes.

Intertextuality

Within a media text, references are made to other media texts. Parody and pastiche are good examples – such as the Simpsons parodying classic films. Advertising also regularly uses intertextuality.

Polysemic

More than one meaning; open to interpretation.

KEY THEORIES: AUDIENCE

Hypodermic needle

Dating from the 1920s, it is a crude model that suggests that audiences passively receive information transmitted via media text, without any attempt to process or challenge the data.

Uses and gratifications – Blumler and Katz (1974)

Individuals choose and use a text for the following purposes: Diversion (escape); Personal Relationships (emotional interaction); Personal Identity (finding yourself reflected in texts); Surveillance (useful info for living - news, weather)

Reception theory – Stuart Hall

Encoding/decoding model of communication - text encoded by producer and decoded by reader. There may be major differences between the two readings of the same code. However, by using recognised codes and conventions, producers can create agreement on what the code means. This is known as a preferred reading. An alternative interpretation is known as an oppositional reading.

KEY THEORIES: IDEOLOGY

Ideology

A set of beliefs and values. Put simply: the ideas behind a media text; the agenda of its producers.

Dominant ideology or hegemony

The process in which a power relationship is accepted, consented to and seen as ‘common sense’. E.g. Football currently has hegemonic status in the UK – no one is forced to watch it but a look at newspapers or TV schedules shows its power.

KEY THEORIES: NARRATIVE

Barthes

Codes: signs and signifiers. Texts can be open or closed to a variety of interpretations.

Myth

Accepted connotation, or myth, is created by the culture we are part of. Our myth of the countryside, for example, refers to a chain of concepts such as: it is good; it is natural; it is beautiful. Link to ideology.

Todorov – Equilibrium

Narratives begin with a state of equilibrium, where there is harmony and balance between characters and their environment/situation. Then comes some form of disruption which sets in motion a train of events. At the end of the narrative a new equilibrium is reached.

KEY THEORIES: REPRESENTATION

Mulvey – Male gaze

Mulvey declared that in patriarchal society ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’. Men do the looking; women are there to be looked at.

Kaplan – Male AND female gaze

Kaplan argued that the gaze could be adopted by both male and female subjects: the male is not always the controlling subject nor is the female always the passive object.