We have completed some excellent work on our Advertising and Marketing CSPs. We now need to create an index to ensure we haven't missed any vital notes or tasks.
As you know, keeping an index of all your work is extremely good practice from a revision perspective. This keeps the vital CSP information fresh in your mind and also highlights if you've missed anything through absence or trips. It's particularly important this year as it gives you a chance to check your work, revise or go back and extend your answers as we cope with working in lockdown.
Advertising and Marketing index Your Advertising and Marketing index should include the following:
For your index, it needs to link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work and revision notes quickly and easily. This also means 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.
New and digital media - the internet - has had a huge impact on the television industry in the last 10 years. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have fundamentally changed the way we watch television. In just 15 years, Netflix has gone from a mail-order DVD company to a giant in the television industry. Next year, Netflix plans to spend $8 billion making original TV programmes. Watch Newsweek magazine's short video on how Netflix changed TV: TV Drama One of the key genres for Netflix and Amazon Prime is TV drama. Many of these dramas now have the budgets and production values of Hollywood movies and many top actors are choosing to work in television rather than film. In addition, the increase in streaming services has created a worldwide distribution network for acclaimed foreign-language TV dramas such as Deutschland 83.
Streaming services and audience
For audiences, streaming has changed the way we watch television. 'Event TV', when millions of people around the country would tune in to watch the latest episode of a drama at a set time, is far less common now. Many people now 'binge-watch' TV dramas by watching multiple episodes back-to-back.
The impact of new/digital media on TV: blog task Go to our Media Magazine archive and read the article on Netflix and the Cultural Industries (MM63 - page 45). Create a blogpost called 'The impact of new/digital media on TV' and answer the following questions: 1) What does the 'industry' concept in A Level Media Studies refer to? 2) What does David Hesmondhalgh argue with regards to how the creative industries have changed since the 1980s? 3) Choose the three most significant points Hesmondhalgh makes regarding the changing cultural industries. Why are these the most significant in your view? 4) What is technological convergence? 5) How are technology companies challenging traditional broadcasters in the TV industry? 6) What budgets will Netflix, Amazon and Apple spend on original programming next year according to the article? 7) How many countries are Netflix and Amazon available in? 8) The global nature of modern television means producers are having to consider international audiences when creating content. What example from Netflix does the article use to explain this? 9) Do you think technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon will increase their interest in the television industry? 10) How do changes in technology influence the creation of TV dramas such as Capital or Deutschland 83? Try and make specific references to the two TV CSPs in your answer.
You'll need to complete this for homework - due first lesson after Easter.
We have now come to the end of the Advertising and Marketing unit. Normally, we would be doing an assessment in class in exam conditions but these are clearly not normal times! Instead, we are going to set you a blog essay that you can take as long as you wish to complete. This means you have access to ALL the information, theories, quotes and CSPs so everyone should do extremely well. Advertising assessment: tasks Revision We know that some of these Advertising CSPs will come up in your Paper 1 exam next year. Therefore, it's vital we have good quality revision material to return to over the next 15 months at various end of year exams and assessments. Look over your blogs and create revision cards or knowledge organisers for each of the Advertising and Marketing CSPs:
Here's an example template you can use for a Knowledge Organiser for this topic. You'll need to log in to your school Google account to view it. Alternatively, you may prefer simply to make flash cards for the theories and CSPs we have covered in this unit.
Assessment
David Gauntlett has argued against the idea that masculinity is 'in crisis’. To what extent do you believe masculinity is 'in crisis'? In your response you should refer to your Advertising and Marketing Close Study Products: the Score hair cream advert (1967) and the Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ YouTube advert (2017). [20 marks]
Our second Advertising and Marketing CSP is the 2017 Maybelline 'That Boss Life Pt 1' mascara video advert. This gives us an opportunity to explore the idea of gender fluidity in society and the media - plus compare the changing representation of masculinity in advertising. Notes from the lesson are here: Gender fluidity Gender fluidity is when gender expression shifts between masculine and feminine. Indeed, gender identity has become a major media and social issue in the last 10 years. Young (and some older) people are increasingly identifying as gender fluid – and some have credited the internet for this change. They suggest that millennials grew up with the internet so can easily find information on topics like gender expression. You can read more on this view and gender fluidity in this CNN article here.
Maybelline 'That Boss Life Pt 1'
The Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ advert is part of a digital campaign for their ‘Big Shot Mascara’ product. It has now been removed from YouTube but is available for Greenford students at this link (you'll need to sign in with your Greenford username and password). The campaign is significant as it was the first time Maybelline used a male brand ambassador and digital influencers. The use of YouTube stars Manny Gutierrez and Shayla Mitchell means the brand can reach their combined 5.1 million Instagram followers and 2.5 million YouTube subscribers. In addition, Gutierrez (‘MannyMua’) is Mexican-Spanish-American and openly gay, offering a very different representation of masculinity and sexuality to the 1967 Score hair cream advert.
Blog task: Maybelline 'That Boss Life' case study and wider reading Work through the following tasks to make sure you're an expert on the Maybelline CSP and particularly the wider social and cultural context. 'That Boss Life' close textual analysis Use your notes from watching the video to write about the connotations and representations created by the following technical and audio codes. Write at least a paragraph on each: 1) Narrative & genre: narrative theory and sub-genre 2) Cinematography: camera shots and movement 3) Mise-en-scene: costume & props 4) Mise-en-scene: actors, setting, lighting and colour 5) Editing: pace, transitions and visual effects 6) Graphics: text/graphics on screen 7) Sound: dialogue, music and sound effects
Maybelline 'That Boss Life': wider reading Read the following articles on this campaign: Glamour: Manny Gutierrez Is the First Man to Star in a Maybelline Campaign, and It’s a Huge Deal Your Story: Cosmetics giant breaks gender stereotypes by choosing male model as a face of the brand Complete the following questions/tasks: 1) Why was this campaign such a landmark for beauty product advertising? 2) What do the articles suggest regarding the changing representation of sexuality and masculinity? 3) Read this WWD article: Maybelline Taps Digital Makeup Influencers for New Mascara Campaign. Why might 'digital influencers' be so attractive to companies? 4) Why do you think Maybelline chose to use MannyMUA and MakeUpShayla in particular? 5) What does the WWD article suggest is the crucial factor for brands regardless of whether they use influencers or more traditional celebrities? Media Magazine: The Changing Face of Masculinity Now go to our Media Magazine archive and read the feature 'The Changing Face of Masculinity' in MM63 (page 15). This will allow us to compare our two advertising CSPs - the Score hair cream advert and the Maybelline digital campaign. Answer the following questions: 1) What message does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert is trying to communicate to the 1967 audience? 2) How does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert uses narrative to sell the product? 3) What 1967 stereotypes does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert reinforces? 4) Applying Stuart Hall's reception theory, what does the article suggest the preferred and oppositional readings could be for the Score hair cream advert? 5) Moving on to the Maybelline advert, why is the background of Manny Gutierrez and Shayla Mitchell significant? 6) What is the narrative of the Maybelline advert? 7) What does the article suggest the Maybelline advert's message is? 8) The final section of the article focuses on masculinity. What do the Score advert and the Maybelline advert suggest regarding the changes in society and media between 1967 and 2017? Complete this for next Monday.
The television industry has changed significantly in recent years - with subtitled foreign programming a perfect example. Through globalisation and developments in technology, the way we watch television is completely different to even 15 years ago. We need to explore the rise in popularity of foreign-language television and work out why audiences like it and what is behind the recent surge in interest. Foreign-language television Foreign-language television is becoming increasingly mainstream with the rise of on-demand services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime alongside UK digital channels such as BBC4. Audiences are now accustomed to 'binge-watching' TV drama and seem increasingly open to content from around the world. This perhaps reflects the global nature of the internet and the fact younger generations are more likely to see themselves as global citizens. It also reflects the global nature of the television industry with a small number of international media conglomerates owning the vast majority of TV production companies.
Walter Presents ‘Walter Presents’ is a video-on-demand (VOD) service from Channel 4, available through their online streaming site All4. The service presents international TV drama curated by Walter Iuzzolino. The service aims to avoid so-called arthouse programming in favour of more mainstream productions, aimed at competing against Netflix and Amazon Prime. Walter Iuzzolino stated any selected show must be popular in its native country and it must be “award-winning or critically acclaimed”. Watch the trailer for the ‘Walter Presents’ service and think about the following questions:
Close-textual analysis: how does the trailer use film language to encourage the audience to watch?
What conventions of TV drama are highlighted in the trailer?
How many clips from Deutschland 83 can you spot?
What audience pleasures are suggested by the trailer?
Meet Walter promo clip Channel 4 created a short introductory video for ‘Walter Presents’. Watch the clip and think about the following:
How is Walter introduced?
What target audience is this aiming at?
What audience pleasures are suggested from the promo?
What does Walter say about TV drama?
The rise of foreign-language TV: Blog tasks To continue our work on Deutschland 83, we need to read a range of articles on the foreign-language TV phenomenon. When answering the questions, consider the issues from both an audience and industry perspective. Independent: British viewers can't get enough of foreign-language dramas Read this Independent feature on foreign-language dramas. It features an in-depth interview with Walter Iuzzolino who curates Channel 4's Walter Presents programming. Answer the questions below: 1) What does the article suggest regarding the traditional audience for foreign-language subtitled media? 2) What does Walter Iuzzolino suggest is the key appeal of his 'Walter Presents' shows? 3) The article makes an interesting claim for the popularity of subtitles in the multi-screen age. What does it suggest? 4) What are the other audiences pleasures of foreign TV drama suggested by the article? Now look at the bonus article - on Sherlock and how viewers are steering their favourite shows. 5) What examples are provided of how TV companies are increasingly using audiences to inform the production process? Film School Rejects: The foreign TV dramas you're missing out on Now read this Film School Rejects feature on the foreign TV dramas you're missing out on. This contains some particularly useful background on Deutschland 83's reception internationally. If the website is blocked, you can access the article text here. Answer the following questions: 1) What does the article tell us about Deutschland 83's release schedule? 2) The article contains important statistics on viewing figures in different countries. What were the German viewing figures for the first and last episode? What were Channel's 4's viewing figures for Deutschland 83? 3) Who are the two production and distribution companies behind Deutschland 83 and what did they announce in October? 4) What does the article suggest was the driving force behind the series being renewed for a new season (and possibly two new seasons)? 5) How does Walter Iuzzolino use social media to engage audiences in new international TV dramas? How does he suggest this has changed the reception of foreign productions in the UK? IndieWire: The rise of international television Now look at this IndieWire feature on the rise of international television. If the website is blocked, you can access the text from the article here. Answer the questions below: 1) What does the article suggest regarding the difference between TV and film? 2) What cultural differences are highlighted in the article - for example in turning 'Prisoners of War' into 'Homeland' when remade in the US? 3) Why do you think Deutschland 83 was able to rise above these cultural differences to be successful in the US and UK? Did this inadvertently make the drama fail in Germany? 4) What does the article suggest about subtitling? 5) What does Sopranos actor Steven Van Zandt suggest is the appeal in foreign television drama? The Guardian: How tech is changing television Finally, read this Guardian feature on how tech is changing television. This has some particularly useful aspects from an industry perspective - how TV is made, the different formats of TV drama and more. Answer the following questions: 1) What are the traditional lengths for TV drama and what dictated these programme formats? 2) How have streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime changed the way TV drama narratives are constructed? 3) Why has the rise in streaming led to more complex storylines and an increase in cliffhangers? 4) How have the "economics of production" kept TV drama largely sticking to the 45- or 60-minute episode format? 5) How has "permanent 24/7 connectivity" changed both the production and consumption of TV drama? There is a fair amount of work here - the questions are not too challenging but there is plenty to read. However, this will prepare you brilliantly for the extended essay question in Media Paper 2 - particularly if the question focuses on industry or audience. Complete for next Monday.
With school now closed for the majority of students, we are going to have to make our A Level Media lessons entirely blog-based for the next few weeks. This won’t be too different to how we work normally – we’re lucky to have our blog system already set up and ready to go. The immediate priority is finishing our current units, Advertising and Marketing and Television, and getting through to Easter. The first thing you need to do is check all the recent work is posted on your blog and complete. This means the following for Advertising and Marketing:
Most of you will have these done already but it’s worth checking first. In terms of new Media work, from now on the week’s work will be emailed to you and put on the Year 12 Media blog as normal. You can then work on that during the week when is convenient for you – but aim to have it complete and posted on your blog by the following Monday. We’ll also email you new work on Monday too. Remember, if you need more work to do then use the resources we have available – for example, our Media Magazine archive contains hundreds of articles on a huge range of topics. If you have the A Level Media textbook or theory book, you can work your way through that. Alternatively, spend some time watching brilliant TV or film to increase the variety of media you consume (such as watching the rest of Deutschland 83). We are living in very strange times but if we can keep on top of our work things WILL settle down eventually and we can look forward to some fantastic A Level grades next year.
Postmodernism is one of the more challenging ideas in A Level Media but fortunately Deutschland 83 provides a brilliant case study as a postmodernist media text. We need to be able to look for postmodern ideas in the media texts we study - and some of that we've done already in our work on advertising and marketing, intertextuality and genre. Notes and definitions
Postmodernism: a late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories. (Source: Dictionary definition) A brief history Postmodernism is linked to the premodernism and modernism eras. Pre-modernism: up to late 19th century. Religion dominates society. Modernism: late 19th century to mid-20th century Science dominates; religion questioned; distinct difference between high culture (e.g. art) and low culture; industrialisation. Postmodernism: mid- to late-20th century to present Blurring of high and low culture/art and popular culture; media-driven hyper-reality; style over substance.
Postmodernism and the media Postmodernism is often defined by scepticism, irony, self-referentiality or intertextuality. What does that mean? The Simpsons provides an example. The structure is a classic family sitcom but the content ridicules authority (including its media conglomerate owner) and is full of intertextual references to other films, TV shows and popular culture.
Further examples of postmodernism An example in architecture would be Las Vegas; in art, Andy Warhol's pop-art of the 1960s. Award-winning 1998 German film Run Lola Run (‘Lola Rennt’) is credited with revitalising German cinema with a postmodern take on crime drama that features a repeating narrative and a blurring of genres.
Postmodernism: theory and terminology Strinati
Dominic Strinati identified five ways to define postmodernism: 1. ‘Media-isation’ of culture – we make sense of reality using media texts 2. Emphasis of style over substance e.g. celebrity, reality TV 3. Breakdown of difference between art and popular culture 4. Confusion over time and space – modern society is built on the instantaneous 5. Decline of meta-narratives or grand narratives (e.g. religion or political theories such as communism) Key terms There are some key terms we need to learn when studying postmodernism in media texts: Bricolage The juxtaposing of old and new texts, images, ideas and narratives to create new meanings. Hyper-reality Jean Baudrillard argued that audiences view the ‘copy’ of reality in the media as more real than the original. Fredric Jameson discussed the idea of ‘historical deafness’ by suggesting the media-isation of history means we only understand historical events through their media representation.
There are some key terms we need to learn when studying postmodernism in media texts:
Pastiche
This refers to media products that imitate the style of another text, artist or time period. Pastiche is an example of intertextuality and takes a positive view of the original source.
In contrast parody is similar but ridicules the original source (e.g. Scary Movie parodies horror).
Fredric Jameson on parody and pastiche
“Pastiche is, like parody, the imitation of a peculiar or unique, idiosyncratic style, the wearing of a linguistic mask, speech in a dead language. But it is a neutral practice of such mimicry, without any of parody’s ulterior motives, amputated of the satiric impulse, devoid of laughter.”
Jameson suggested pastiche does not offer up comment on society or history – it is simply done because it is ‘stylish’. He marks this as an example of ‘historical deafness’.
Deutschland 83: a postmodernism text
The following scenes of Deutschland 83 provide excellent examples of bricolage, hyper-reality and pastiche:
Opening scene: 0.00 – 3.00
Title sequence followed by archive footage: 8.10 – 9.15
Running/supermarket scene: 17.10 – 18.10
Postmodernism & Deutschland 83: blog task Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #54: Introduction to Postmodernism. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets - you'll need to save the factsheet to USB or email it to yourself in order to complete this at home. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions: 1) Read the section on Strinati's five ways to define postmodernity. What examples are provided of the breakdown of the distinction between culture and society (media-isation)? 2) What is Fredric Jameson's idea of 'historical deafness'? How can the idea of 'historical deafness' be applied to Deutschland 83? 3) What examples and theories are provided for the idea of 'style over substance'? 4) What examples from music are provided for the breakdown of the distinction between art and popular culture? Can this be applied to Deutschland 83? 5) What is bricolage? What examples of bricolage can be found in Deutschland 83? 6) How can the audience pleasures of Deutschland 83 be linked to postmodernism? Read 'The decline of meta-narratives' and 'Media texts and the postmodern' to help answer this.
7) Read the analysis of media concepts and postmodern approaches on page 3 of the factsheet. Choose three of the concepts and write an example from Deutschland 83. Clue: genre, representation, ideology and audience would all be good options for this task. 8) Now look at page 4 of the factsheet. How does Deutschland 83 demonstrate aspects of the postmodern in its construction and ideological positioning? 9) Which key scenes from Deutschland 83 best provide examples of postmodernism? Why? 10) Why might audiences enjoy the postmodern aspects of Deutschland 83? What audience pleasures might elements of bricolage or pastiche provide viewers?
There is a lot of challenging work here - you will have over a week to complete it so take your time, read around the subject and re-watch the scenes from the first episode on All4 to help develop impressive academic answers to these questions. Deadline: confirmed by your coursework class teacher.
