We are over halfway through our introduction to GCSE Media Studies - we've already learned a huge amount about media language and audience. We now need to create an index of all our blogposts so far this term. This process is an excellent start to your revision for the January assessment in Media (not to mention the exams next year!) and will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips. Your index should include the following:
For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work quickly and easily for checking and revision. This also means if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in assessments add exams due to gaps in your knowledge.
Index due date: complete during the lesson. Anything missing needs to be caught up over Christmas. Christmas homework: revise for assessment You need to revise everything we have studied in Media so far for your assessment in January. This will focus on all the media language and theory we have learned in the last 15 weeks. Due: first lesson back in January
Your audience power essays have shown fantastic progress in Media - well done! It's brilliant to see you writing in such depth having clearly picked up many of the key points regarding audience, power and the impact of the internet. The first part of your learner response is to read the email from your teacher giving you feedback on your essay. If anything doesn't make sense, ask your teacher - that's why we're here! Your audience essay learner response is as follows: Create a new blog post called 'Audience essay feedback and learner response' and complete the following tasks: 1) Copy and paste your feedback from the email in full - WWW, EBI and LR. 2) What was the word count for your essay? 3) What was your strongest paragraph? Why do you think it was better than others? 4) What was your weakest paragraph? Why do you think it wasn't as good as others? 5) Re-write one of your paragraphs from the essay - your teacher may have suggested an area to focus on. Make sure the written English is perfect, the paragraph sharply focuses on the question (audience power and the internet) and you include examples and statistics where possible. Extension task Research one of the three industries (music, film/TV, news) and find statistics and quotes that link to how the audience experience of that industry has changed as a result of the internet. For example, social media has now overtaken TV as the main news source for young people - showing how power is shifting in the news industry away from traditional institutions (full details in this BBC news article).
If you do not finish your learner response in the lesson, this needs to be completed at home by your next Media lesson.
Over the two-year Media course, we need to study the following for the Industries key concept:
How media is produced and who produces it: the companies or organisations behind the media – owners, structures, channels, distributors, film studios etc.
How the media is increasingly global in terms of products and ownership.
How the media is funded: where does the money come from? What different funding models exist?
The regulation and control of media in the UK – including how the internet has challenged traditional rules.
Movie marketing: Film industry blog task
Research the institutional details behind ONE of the following films in list 1 OR list 2: List 1
Use imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com and any other relevant websites you can access to find out the following information about the film you have chosen... Your chosen movie 1) Which film have you chosen? 2) Why did you choose this film in particular? Institutional background Use IMDB to find out the institutions behind your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then look for the production company and UK distributor. 1) What was the film studio or production company behind your chosen film? E.g. Warner Brothers, Paramount etc. 2) Who was the distributor for the theatrical release of the film in the UK? No brand loyalty 1) What genre does your chosen film fit into? 2) How can you tell it fits that genre? Be specific with reference to the trailer. 3) Does your chosen film have any stars or a director that are known for that particular genre? It’s all a matter of timing 1) What was the UK release date for your chosen film? 2) When did the first trailer appear on YouTube for your movie? Find the earliest example you can and embed it in your blog. 3) What other examples of marketing (teaser trailers, main trailers, newspaper or TV interviews etc.) can you find for your chosen film from before the film’s release date? It’s a social thing 1) What was the word-of-mouth like for your chosen film? If you can’t find tweets (probably blocked) use the IMDB user review rating or the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating to judge whether the public have given the movie a good review. 2) Find three quotes (no more than 25 words each) from user reviews of your movie to create a picture of what the public reaction to the film has been. Post them on your blog. Risky business Use IMDB to find out the box office records for your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then Box Office/Business. You may want to use the excellent website Box Office Mojo to find out the budget and box office success for the film. 1) What was the original budget for your chosen film? 2) How much money did the film make in the opening weekend? 3) How much money has the film made in total? (Look for the subheading ‘Gross’ which has the total box-office earnings listed). 4) For a film to be considered a box office success, it needs to make at least two-and-a-half times the budget in box office takings. Using this method, was the film you have chosen a success? Stars in their eyes Research the stars and director for your chosen film. 1) What films has the director previously directed? Are they in the same or similar genres? 2) Who is the main star in the film? 3) What other films has the main star appeared in? Are any of the films similar to the one you are researching? 4) Are the stars or the director or writer mentioned in the trailer for the film?
When you've finished the questions... Go back to the list of films and choose a film to research from the other list. Then, work through the questions again for your second film. This will give you a brilliant insight into both big-budget Hollywood productions and lower-budget British films. If you're looking for a 7+ grade in Media this is the kind of comprehensive research and knowledge you need to build up over the GCSE course. Take it even further... If you've finished the questions above for TWO films - well done! Now, work through the following tasks to take your case studies to another level: Newspaper reviews A more traditional starting point for word-of-mouth is press reviews of the film. Almost all national newspapers carry film reviews of the big releases and positive review quotes are often used on the film's marketing material. Read three newspaper reviews for one of your chosen films and select five quotes from each review that tell you what the reviewer thought of the film. You can look at the Guardian film website, the Telegraph film website and other reviews in magazines such as Empire.
Additional promotion Look back 'It's all a matter of timing' question 3... What other examples of promotion can you find for one of your chosen films? TV chat show appearances (e.g. Graham Norton, the One Show etc.) Radio interviews? Make notes and embed any clips in your blog.
Reception theory is an important media theory exploring how audiences respond to media texts. Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist who looked at the relationship between the text and the audience. He suggested that meanings are fluid and open to interpretation depending on context and the consumer’s experiences as individuals as well as communities.
Hall states there are three readings to any media text:
Preferred reading
The meaning the producers intend to communicate. This builds on the idea that producers can position the audience in a certain way and influence their reading so they accept the intended message by using recognised codes and conventions (such as stereotypes).
Negotiated reading
Somewhere between the preferred and oppositional reading. The message is modified (partly accepted and partly rejected) depending on the individual experiences of the audience (e.g their age, gender or social class).
Oppositional reading
The oppositional reading goes against the meaning the producers are trying to create. The audience reject the intended message and construct an opposite reading instead. This can be due to their own social, political or moral beliefs and values.
Reception theory: blog task
Create a new blogpost called 'Reception theory'.
1) What is the preferred reading of a media text?
2) What is the oppositional reading of a media text? Re-watch the trailer for the film Harry Brown:
3) How does the Harry Brown trailer position the audience to respond to the teenage characters in the film?
4) Why might young people reject this reading and construct an oppositional reading of the trailer?
Look at this McDonald's advert:
5) Write a 200 word analysis of the McDonald's advert using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.
6) Now find your own advertisement and write a 200 word analysis using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.
Extension task:
Watch the rest of the Plan B TEDx lecture about his plan to help disadvantaged young people through film and music. Do you agree that he presents a positive view of young people? Finish for homework if you don't complete this during this week's lessons - due next Thursday.
This week's work has explored audience power and whether the internet has given audiences more or less power in the media. This is a crucial media debate and over the course of the GCSE you need to develop your own opinions on these questions. We will be using this particular topic to start developing our essay writing skills in preparation for the longer, high-mark exam questions. Blog task: audience power essay Create a new blogpost called 'Audience power essay'. Then, use the following guidance to help you write the essay on your blog: Essay question: “The internet has given audiences much more power than ever before.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? Word count: 500-800 words Optional essay plan You may find the following useful. However, you do not have to follow it exactly and will be credited for alternative or original responses that are convincing and highly effective. Introduction (50 words): Thesis Statement (setting out your argument)
Introduce the question and how it will be answered. Summarise how the internet has changed the position of the audience (consumer) in relation to the producer.
Explain what your own argument is: do you think that the internet makes the audience more powerful or less powerful and why?
Music Industry: (150-250 words) What changes have happened to the music industry since the rise of the internet? Advantages for audiences:
What are some examples of how audiences have benefited from the rise of digital media in the way that they access and consume music? Think about downloading and what platforms users are using to access music.
Think about ‘bedroom bands’ and subscription services such as Spotify and Apple Music. How do these services and opportunities help the audience?
Disadvantages for audiences:
What are the benefits of word of mouth advertising (and re-tweets, shares etc) for the producers?
What might happen to music artists if audiences are unwilling to pay for their music?
What are the issues for audiences in having so much content available to them?
Film and TV Industry (150-250 words) What changes have happened to the film and television industry since the rise of the internet? Advantages for audiences:
What are some examples of how audiences have benefited from the rise of digital media in the way that they access television and film? Think about downloading and new platforms for film and television.
Think about piracy and Apps such as Showbox: what do they offer to the consumer?
What about subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. How do these services and opportunities help the audience? What content is available to them? What about when they can watch?
Disadvantages for audiences:
What potential issues are there with ‘binge-watching’ TV series?
How might watching TV shows and films on a small screen (e.g. phone) affect the viewing experience?
Why are companies producing less interesting films and TV shows? (E.g. sequels and reboots)
Newspaper Industry (150-250 words) What changes have happened to the news industry since the rise of the internet? Advantages for audiences:
How has the internet changed the way audiences can access news?
What is Citizen Journalism and how has it given the audience more power over reporting and receiving the news?
Disadvantages for audiences:
What is fake news? Why is this a problem for audiences?
Are there any problems or concerns with citizen journalism?
Conclusion (50 words)
Have you answered the question with a clear conclusion? Have you demonstrated that the internet makes the audience more powerful or less powerful and why?
Complete this essay for homework - due Thursday 7 December. Remember: the word count MINIMUM is 500 words.
As well as studying target audience demographics and psychographics, we also need to explore WHY audiences use the media. Audience theory: key notes and terminology Passive & Active Passive: This is the view that audiences passively take in information from the media and that these messages have the same effect on everyone. Active: This is the more modern and generally accepted view that audiences interact with and make conscious choices regarding the media they consume.
Hypodermic Needle Theory
This is the suggestion that audiences are always passive and therefore take the intended message from the producer as if it was injected into their minds. This assumes no individual difference in audience members.
Uses and Gratifications - Blumler & Katz
INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE: learning information that you did not already know or that is useful for living (e.g. documentaries; weather or traffic).
IDENTITY: personally relating to something - seeing your lifestyle on screen.
DIVERSION/ENTERTAINMENT: escapism and being entertained away from your normal life.
RELATIONSHIPS: social interaction, caring about characters or celebrities, forming relationships e.g watching a soap opera for a long time because you care about what happens to long-standing characters.
Audience theory: blog tasks
Create a new blogpost called ‘Audience Theory’ and complete the following tasks: 1) Write a definition of a passive audience: 2) Write a definition of an active audience: 3) Write a definition of the hypodermic needle theory: 4) Write down a media text for each category of Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory and WHY it fits that particular audience use/gratification: INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE: > Why:
IDENTITY: > Why:
DIVERSION/ENTERTAINMENT: > Why:
RELATIONSHIPS: > Why:
5) Re-watch the clip from Blue Planet above and write a paragraph analysing how elements of the clip offer the audience pleasures (use media terminology from Uses and Gratifications theory - notes outlined above).
Extension: To take this further, select a media text of your own choice, embed it in your blog and write another detailed paragraph analysing the audience pleasures in that product.
Finish for homework if you don't complete it in the lesson - due next Thursday.
Media institutions are always looking for more detailed audience profiling – so they can target their product more successfully. This means they need more than just demographic details - they also want to know about their lifestyles, values and attitudes. One way of classifying these additional details is psychographic profiling.
Psychographics
Young and Rubicam invented a successful psychographic profile known as their 4Cs Marketing Model: Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation.
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).
Photoshop task: Audience Profile
1) Open your Photoshop Audience Profile document and finish the demographic details.
2) Find images that represent the psychographics (hobbies and interests) of your audience and add these to your document.
3) Add at least 50 words of TEXT to show you understand what categories your target audience falls under e.g. Reformer =
4) Save as a JPEG and upload to a new blog post called ‘My Audience Profile’.
Well done on completing your first GCSE Media Studies assessment - it's an important first step in identifying our strengths and weaknesses in the subject so far. The first part of your learner response is to look carefully at your mark, grade and comments from your teacher. If anything doesn't make sense, ask your teacher - that's why we're here! Your learner response is as follows: Create a new blog post called 'October assessment learner response' and complete the following tasks: 1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential). 2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Write down the mark you achieved for each question: Q1: Q2: Q3: etc. Where you didn't achieve full marks, write WHY you think you missed out on the extra marks. Use the indicative content suggestions in the mark scheme to help with this. 3) Did you get any media terminology wrong in the assessment? Make a note of it here for future revision: 4) Identify one of your stronger questions. Why did you do better on this question? 5) Identify one of your weaker questions. Why did you score lower on this particular question? 6) Re-draft your answer to Q9 and type it out in full. Use the mark scheme to identify anticipated content you can add to your response and make sure your typed re-draft is a top-level answer of at least three paragraphs.
If you do not finish your learner response in the lesson your work is returned, this needs to be completed at home by your next lesson.
Notes from today's lesson on Audience Demographic classification:
Age
Gender
Education
Social class
Race/ethnicity
Job/profession/earnings
Home (city/village/countryside)
Social class classification
Advertisers have traditionally classified people into the following groups:
AB – Managerial and professional
C1 – Supervisory and clerical
C2 – Skilled manual
DE – Unskilled manual and unemployed
Audience profiles
Advertisers these days are interested in more than just a social class classification. Now they try to sell a brand or lifestyle.
So you also need to think about the kind of brands your audience will be interested in.
Armani and Porsche? Banana Republic and Apple? John Lewis and The Times? Nike and PlayStation? Peppa Pig and Haribo?
Audience profile task
Create an audience profile for a magazine of your choice using Photoshop.
First, use demographics: Age, gender, education, social class, race/ethnicity, job/profession/ earnings, home (city/village/countryside). Then write some statements that your target audience agree with. Look at the NME example for inspiration. Statements such as 'It's important to look good' or 'Enjoy life and don't worry about the future' work well for this part of the profile.
Then use brand logos that the audience will use or enjoy and build them into your profile.
NME magazine example:
Make sure you save your audience profile in your folder on the Media Shared drive - we will be adding to it in future lessons as we learn more about audience!
We are now going to use everything we have learned about film language (camera shots, movement and editing) to produce a shot-by-shot analysis of key shots in the Minority Report sequence. Remember, writing analysis in Media means picking out the interesting or important aspects of something and then examining WHY or HOW they have been put together to create an effect on the audience.
The images are below and also on the M: Media Shared drive > Resources > GCSE > Introduction to Media > Camerawork - Minority Report
Here's an example of what you need to do:
Over-the-shoulder / medium shot (OTS/MS)
The over-the-shoulder angle allows a point-of-view shot from the perspective of the man reading the newspaper. The medium shot allows enough background to establish the location as a metro train. The corner of the seat immediately in the foreground also helps place the location. The over-the-shoulder shot also means the following shots, with the newspaper man recognising the fugitive, are easy for the audience to interpret.
The shots you need to analyse:
Shot 1
Shot 2
Shot 3
Minority Report: Blog task 1) Import these images into your own blogpost (from the Media Shared drive - M: Media Shared > Resources > GCSE > Introduction to Media > Camerawork - Minority Report) and write an analysis of each just like the example above (minimum 50 words per shot). 2) Why does the pace of the editing change in this sequence and what is the effect on the audience? Finish for homework if you don't complete this during the lesson - due in your first lesson after half-term. Reminder: you need to be revising everything you've learned in Media this half-term for your assessment on Thursday.
In some shots, the camera or picture moves to survey the action or follow the subject. We need to be able to recognise and analyse this camera movement when studying film or television. As ever with media, we need to be able to explain the effect this camera movement has on the audience. Camera movement: notes Pan: horizontal turn left or right
Used to follow movement. A whip pan (very fast pan) can create a feeling of action or drama.
Track/Dolly: Camera moves on tracks/wheels
Tracks action smoothly – look for in chases or fast-moving sequences.
Handheld: camera held by hand, often shaky
Handheld camera can add urgency, realism, pace or unease to a scene.
Zoom: focal length of lens changed to make subject appear closer or further away
A zoom into a character’s face can show realisation or an emotional reaction.
Crane: Camera attached to crane – can pan, track or ‘swoop’ in or out as required
Crane shots are often high angle and show large, epic scenes of dramatic action.
Tilt: Camera tilts up or down from fixed point
The hero or villain can be made to look weak or powerful using a tilt (high/low angle).
Camera movement: blog task
Find a clip from a TV Series no longer than 3 minutes. Embed the clip onto your blog with the title of the series.
1) Pick three camera shots and explain the effect they have on the audience.
2) Pick two camera angles and explain the effect they have on the audience.
3) Analyse the camera movement at two key points in the clip and write about why the director chose to use that camera movement.
Suggestions for possible TV dramas if you’re stuck: Waterloo Road, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, Glee, Ackley Bridge. Extension: find an example from YouTube of each type of camera movement and embed the videos on your blogpost below the initial task.
Example: The Night Manager (BBC, 2016)
1) Three camera shots: - The opening establishing shot clearly shows the characters getting off a boat and walking into the restaurant. This both sets the scene for the following action and also confirms the characters are very rich. - The extreme close-up on the main character's eye at 0.52 successfully communicates the intensity of the scene and the mixture of fear and emotion he feels as he watches his son being kidnapped. This has the effect of causing the audience to sympathise with the main character and wonder what will happen to the boy after being taken. - The over-the-shouldershot at 1.13 shows the main character recognises the man who saved the boy and that the man with the face injuries is not who he says he is. Like many over-the-shoulder shots, it is also a medium close-up which allows the audience to see the confusion on the main character's face and the realisation that he has seen him before. 2) Two camera angles: - The power between the two key characters is shown using camera angles. The high angle shot at 1.21 looking down on the man who has been beaten up shows his powerlessness and that he will rely on others to make him better. He looks broken and defeated as the close-up shot from above shows him looking up at the main character. - In contrast, the main character is shown in a low-angle close-up immediately afterwards (1.23) to show his power over the broken man. The camera is looking up at him from the perspective of the man on the floor. This introduces a clear power relationship between the two characters - emphasised by the dialogue at the end: "We're going to take care of you." 3) Analyse the camera movement: The camera movement at the beginning of the scene is slow, steady and fits the relaxed atmosphere as they enter the restaurant. The smooth track or dolly shot as they walk to the table (0.14 - 0.17) makes the audience feel as if they are joining the party and included in the exclusive group in the island restaurant. This all changes in the scene where the kidnappers take the main character's son. The camera movement is suddenly handheld and edgy, signalling the tension and danger to the audience. This adds realism and suspense and contrasts strongly with the smooth camera movement of the opening to the scene. The camera continues to move (handheld) throughout this scene as the kidnapping develops - this keeps the audience on edge and creates the idea that danger or something terrible may be happening. As the kidnappers try to escape, the camera pans loosely from left to right and back again (0.57) to create the effect of someone looking around to see where the next danger will appear from. Finally, when the kidnappers have gone and the boy is returned safely, the camerawork is still handheld but not as shaky as previously. This restores normality to the scene as the danger has passed.
Complete for homework if you don't finish it in the lesson - due date specified by your teacher.
You will be receiving blog feedback from your teacher via email this week. This is a very important opportunity to reflect on the work you've done so far in GCSE Media Studies and identify the areas you need to improve over the next few weeks. Whenever you receive blog feedback over email you must do the following: 1) Open up your email and read the feedback carefully 2) Copy and paste your feedback and LR into a NEW blogpost in your blog called 'Blog feedback and Learner Response'. 3) Below the feedback, complete the learner response tasks or questions and then publish the blogpost. 4) Reply to the original email from your teacher confirming you have completed the learner response and provide a link to your learner response blogpost. This is how we get better in Media Studies - make the most of this opportunity!
The nominations are in for the Media Awards 2017! With the ceremony just two weeks' away, these are the films and music videos that will be battling it out for a prestigious Greenford High School Media Award. The quality level at both GCSE and A Level was exceptionally high and it has been an extremely difficult process narrowing down the nominations for our Oscars-style event. Tickets will go on sale on Monday 9 October priced £4 for early bird tickets and £5 in the week of the Awards. Be quick - the event sold out in just three days last year! A Level nominations Best Year 12 Original Screenplay Out of Mind Hiraeth Nowy Poczatek Best Year 12 Production Design Voice of the Void Euphoria Nowy Pockzatek Best Year 12 Dialogue/Voiceover Click Approval Euphoria Best Year 12 Cinematography Unstable Voice of the Void Click Best Year 12 Sound Design Voice of the Void Approval Out of Mind Best Year 12 Film Editing Unstable Click Hiraeth
GCSE nominations
Best GCSE Cinematography Take a Bow – Shanella Dammanpilage Done Earthquake – Ahmed Hassan Unfaithful – Blaise Marden Best GCSE Music Video Concept Radioactive – Tyler-Jade Kelly Don’t – Shabd Magon Mrs Potato Head – Areej Mehdi Best GCSE Production Design Unfaithful – Blaise Marden Mrs Potato Head – Areej Mehdi Wolves – Annya Ranshi Best GCSE Editing Symbolism – Mariam Ahmadyar Untitled – Kacper Ikwanty Party – Shahir Joian
Best Actress/Actor
Gifty Kumi – Unstable
Sophie Robertson – Out of Mind
Nasteha Mohamed – Approval
Abdullah Al-Fadhli – Click
Mr Mather – Training
Hussein Hamume – Click
Congratulations to all our nominees and we look forward to seeing you at the Media Awards on Tuesday 17 October!
