Magazines and advertising assessment: Learner response

The assessment on our magazines and advertising CSPs was a good opportunity to demonstrate our progress in Media.

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 - it's absolutely crucial that you understand your feedback and learn how to improve in future. 

Your learner response is as follows:

Create a new blog post called 'Magazines and advertising 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 through your answers again. Write down the mark you achieved for each question:

Q1:
Q2:
Q3:
Q4:
Q5:
Q6:

3) Write down five magazine cover conventions. Look back at the original notes if you need help.

4) Look at the mark scheme for this assessment. Question 3 asked you to write about how the CSP magazine covers persuade the audience to buy the product. Copy two bullet point answers for Reveal magazine and two bullet point answers for Tatler magazine from the mark scheme that you didn't use in your original answer.

5) Look at the mark scheme for Question 5 on the NHS Represent advert. Write down three of the people in the NHS Represent advert (include both their name and what they are famous for) and why they subvert the stereotype for gender or race/ethnicity.

6) For Question 6, read the exemplar answer in the mark scheme. Re-write your own answer to Question 6 making sure you include all three advertising CSPs: OMO advert, Galaxy advert, NHS Represent blood campaign.

Your learner response must be published before you leave the lesson.

TV: Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child blog tasks

The television Close-Study Products are in-depth which means we need to know them inside out. 

We will get questions on a specific clip we are shown in the exam PLUS an extended essay question testing our knowledge of both CSPs and the wider industry. 

Notes from the lessons can be found in this separate blogpost here. If you're struggling with any of the questions below then look over the notes in your book and in this blogpost before you ask for help.


Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child blog tasks

Work through the following tasks and questions to demonstrate your comprehensive knowledge of Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child.

Language and close-textual analysis

1) Write an NCIS analysis for the episode - using notes from the screening in class. Make specific, detailed reference to moments in the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.)

An Unearthly Child

Narrative:

Character:

Iconography:

Setting:


2) How does Todorov's theory of equilibrium apply to An Unearthly Child? Try and use the expanded version of Todorov's theory: Equilibrium - Disruption - Recognition - Reparation - New equilibrium.

3) Applying Propp's character theory, what character roles do each of the main characters in An Unearthly Child fit into? Alternatively, you may wish to discuss how characters do not fit Propp's character types.

4) What enigma and action codes (Barthes) can you find in An Unearthly Child? Make specific, detailed reference to the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.)

5) What examples of binary opposition (Levi-Strauss) can you find in An Unearthly Child? How do these create narrative or drama for the audience?


Representations

1) What stereotypes of men are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

2) What stereotypes of women/girls are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

3) What are common media stereotypes of young people and old people? Do any of the characters or scenarios reinforce or subvert these conventional stereotypes (consider this was 1963)? Has this changed in more recent series of Doctor Who?

4) What representations of race/ethnicity can be found in Doctor Who: An Earthly Child? Is this surprising or not? Give reasons for your answer and consider historical / cultural context (the 1960s). Has this changed in more recent series of Doctor Who?

5) How is social class represented in An Unearthly Child? Think about how education and knowledge is presented in the episode.

Audience

1) Who is the target audience for Doctor Who? Has it changed since 1963?

2) What audience psychographic groups might particularly enjoy Doctor Who?

3) What audience pleasures are offered by An Unearthly Child? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.

Personal Identity:

Personal Relationships:

Diversion (Escapism):

Surveillance (Information / Facts):

4) What additional Uses and Gratifications would this episode provide to a modern 2018 audience?

5) Thinking of the 3 Vs audience pleasures (Visceral, Vicarious and Voyeuristic pleasures), which of these can be applied to An Unearthly Child?


Industries

1) What was the television industry like in 1963? How many channels were there?

2) Why is Doctor Who such an important franchise for the BBC? 

3) How does Doctor Who meet the BBC's mission statement to 'inform, educate and entertain'?

4) How is the BBC funded?

5) Who regulates the BBC and what is the watershed?


Social and Historical context

1) How does An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical contexts of the 1960s?

2) How might audiences have felt towards science fiction in the 1960s?



Grade 8/9 extension tasks and reading

Read this Media Magazine article tracing the cultural impact of Doctor Who. What does it suggest regarding the importance of Doctor Who, representations and industry?

Read this Guardian feature on female characters in Doctor Who. What does it suggest regarding the representation of women over time in Doctor Who?

Read this New Statesman feature on Doctor Who as a global phenomenon. What does it suggest about Doctor Who fandom, British identity and the importance of the brand to the BBC?

Read this Guardian feature on the representations of race and ethnicity in Doctor Who over the last 55 years. How has the programme changed in its representations of race and how does this fit the BBC's remit to inform, educate and entertain? 


We're giving you loads of time for this work because we know there are also final bits of coursework to complete. However, it is absolutely critical that you complete the whole of this case study in depth and detail as a large proportion of Media Paper 2 will be on these TV CSPs.

TV: Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child notes

Our first television Close-Study Product is Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child from 1963.

This is an in-depth study which means we need to analyse the product in terms of media language, industries, audience and representation. In addition, this CSP will be examined in Paper 2 with a short clip to analyse. This means we need to put in extra work on this media topic to ensure we are confident analysing clips in detail.

You'll find the case study blog tasks for Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child on this separate blogpost here.

Notes from the lessons

Television CSPs - what we need to study

Episode 1 of Dr Who: An Unearthly Child, 1955
Episode 4 of Class: Co-owner of a Lonely Heart

Media Language: how the television shows communicate their message through mise-en-scene and narrative.
Industry: how the shows are produced and marketed; BBC funding and regulation.
Representation: How certain groups and individuals and ideas / issues are represented in the shows.
Audience: Target audience and audience pleasures.
PLUS: Historical, cultural and social significance of the television shows.

Television will in Media Paper 2 Section A:
Two medium response questions on an extract clip = one worth 8 marks and one worth 12.
One extended essay style response about the whole of the episodes you have studied.

Example questions:
How is the genre of Dr Who: An Unearthly Child demonstrated in this extract? [8 marks]

‘Narrative features grab and hold the audience’s attention’. How far does an analysis of the extract of Dr Who: An Unearthly Child show this to be true? [12 marks]

‘The Science Fiction genre deals with society’s changing hopes and fears.’ To what extent is this true of television drama? Answer with reference to the first episode of  Dr Who: An Unearthly Child (1963) and Class, Co-owner of a Lonely Heart (Close Study products) [20 marks]

Language

TV drama conventions: 

• Dramatic narrative, usually linear (with continuity across episodes.) This is called narrative arc e.g 13 Reasons Why and The Killing where the mystery spans the series.
• Ensemble cast (characters with own storylines). Sometimes an episode will focus more on one character e.g. in LOST.
• Specific technical codes e.g. realistic lighting and editing for social dramas to keep it gritty.
• Use of stereotypical characters to get messages across quickly.
• Narrative formula that is always followed e.g. Casualty (3 Strand); Homeland (multi-strand narrative).
• Common use of flashback, point of view shots, dialogue and voice over, enigma and action codes throughout. 

Science Fiction conventions - NCIS

Narrative

• Alien invasion
• Scientific advancement
• Artificial intelligence
• Time travel  
• Mutation
• Post-apocalyptic struggles to survive
• Chemical poisoning
• Advanced technology
• Experimentation
• Disease / Contamination
• Space travel 

Characters

• Doubles / Doppelgangers / Clones
• Aliens who look like humans
• Aliens who look different 
• New species
• Scientists 
• People with advanced / superior intelligence
• Robots and advanced AI e.g. computers who can think

Iconography

• Futuristic hair and clothing
• Military uniforms
• Spaceships
• Space suits and helmets
• Futuristic weapons (light sabers / laser guns)
• Laboratories and experimental props
• Prosthetics / make-up
• Colours- blue, silver, grey, green 
• Time machines / advanced computers/gadgets

Settings

• Futuristic worlds
• Parallel universes / alternate dimensions
• Different time periods
• Space or other planets
• Dystopian or post-apocalyptic environments
• Laboratories
• Contaminated or toxic environments

Narrative theories

Todorov: equilibrium

Todorov suggested that all narratives follow a three part structure.

They begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when a new equilibrium is restored.

Equilibrium > Disequilibrium > New equilibrium


This can be applied to most media narratives.


Propp: character types


Vladimir Propp stated that there were seven basic character roles when he analysed classic fairy tales and that these were present in most narratives. Media products still use these recognisable character types today:

Hero, Villain, Heroine/Princess, Father, Donor, Helper/Sidekick, False Hero

Doctor Who: An introduction

• Listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world with over 800 episodes.
• The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS [Time And Relative Dimension In Space]. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside.
• The Doctor travels through space and time preventing evil aliens or people from harming innocent people or changing history.
• The Doctor has gained numerous reoccurring enemies during his travels, including the Daleks and the Cybermen.
• Twelve male actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the show with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation. In 2018 the BBC had their first female incarnation for the thirteenth Doctor.

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

Social and historical context

First episode: Saturday, November 23rd,  1963 on the BBC. The plot was a narrative arc (a story over several episodes) involving the Doctor and his companions voyaging 100,000 years into Earth’s past to help some cavemen discover fire. 

William Hartnell was the first Doctor, as an anti-hero who frequently put his companions in jeopardy for his own curiosity. Daleks made an appearance in the first series, as the arch enemies of the Doctor.

Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor in 2018 and is the first woman to be cast as the character. 

1960s Britain

1961- First man in space

1963- American President J.F. Kennedy assassinated

1963- Martin Luther King gives his “I have a dream” speech

1964- Beatlemania takes over America

1965- The introduction of the mini skirt in a fashion show

1966- England wins the football world cup

1968- Martin Luther King assassinated

1969- First Man on the moon

1969- Concorde is flown for the first time

The ‘hippy’ sixties as they are often called, had a shift in culture. There was more freedom for young people and a breakaway from traditions.

Episode analysis: An Unearthly Child

An Unearthly Child (sometimes referred to as 100,000 BC) is the first narrative arc in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963. Scripted by the Australian writer Anthony Coburn, it introduces William Hartnell as the First Doctor and original companions; Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman, with Jacqueline Hill and William Russell as school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton. The first episode deals with Ian and Barbara's discovery of the Doctor and his time-space ship TARDIS in a junkyard in contemporary London. 

Plot of episode 1

Schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are concerned about one of their pupils, Susan Foreman, who seems to have a very ‘alien’ outlook on England. They have come to her listed address to investigate. They arrive in a junkyard and find a police box, which proves to be no ordinary police box. When Ian and Barbara enter, they discover it to be much bigger on the inside than the outside. In the TARDIS is Susan and her grandfather, the Doctor. Fearing that Barbara and Ian will give away the secret of the TARDIS, he kidnaps them and takes the machine to the Stone Age, where they will have to fight for their lives.

The First Doctor was played as less mischievous and more cruel than later incarnations. He also seems less concerned about saving the human race. 

His companion was made his ‘granddaughter’ because it was thought inappropriate for an old man to be accompanied by a young girl if she were unrelated to him. 

Representations

Daniel Chandler's representation theory: CAGE

This is a theory about how the media constructs or represents individuals or groups of people through the media. Key markers of identity can be remembered through the acronym CAGE:

C- Class
A- Age
G- Gender
E- Ethnicity

Characters and representation in An Unearthly Child

Susan Foreman
Susan Foreman is the first of a long-standing tradition of Doctor Who companions.  It was felt improper in 1963 for an older man, such as the Doctor, to be travelling through space with a young 15 year old girl; so she was written as his Granddaughter.  She is a strong link to the young target audience and will often react in ways that the audience might in future episodes [e.g. screaming at aliens].  Classically relatable.

She also provides a link between the chaotic alien madness of the Doctor and the human confusion embodied by Barbara and Ian (and the audience).  She is therefore a translator of the more Sci-Fi elements of the story to a naïve 1960s audience.   She can often be seen explaining some of the Doctor’s stranger outbursts to the humans Barbara and Ian.  Another example of exposition.

The Doctor
The Doctor represents the new age of technology and science that was emerging in the 1960s.  The ‘space race’ was underway and the world was fascinated with all things space travel and linked to other planets.  He represents this new world of discovery.

He is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and he explores the universe with usually human companions who serve as audience surrogate characters to ask questions which allow the Doctor to provide relevant exposition.  He is often eccentric, distracted and dark in mood.  Some commentators have said he symbolises the struggle between good and evil, some have said he is a symbol of a God-like presence who wanders through time and space trying to change history for the better. 

Teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton

Barbara and Ian represent traditional human values and are classically middle class. They are the people the Doctor explains everything to, so that the audience understands as well.  This is known as exposition.

They are also Science and History teachers so often offer advice and opinions to the Doctor on matters of space and time.  They also have very clearly defined gender roles in the series.

Barbara and Ian also play the narrative role of mother and father to Susan who is very naive and who has not had that paternal guidance from the Doctor.  They are very traditional in their gender roles.  Ian is very physical when there is fighting or physical work to be done. Barbara is represented in a more homely, caring role in the series. These were stereotypical gender roles in the early 60s – but times were changing.  Ian and Barbara are bonded by their human characteristics in their Space adventures.  They represent the caring, empathetic part of the human condition in how they look after Susan and, in later episodes, the Doctor himself. 

Audience

General audience notes:

• Mainstream – broad appeal as millions of people watch the BBC
• Long-running which shows it appeals to masses (12-40) and the reboot helped gain younger fans.
• 12 certificate so maybe young teens
• References to popular culture (pop culture) has meant an appeal to a wider age range.
• Demographics: A-E class as some complex plot points but also action and SFX that are easy to understand
• Gender- split down middle (although boys are more usually fans of science fiction, this has changed over time. Also introduction of romance and drama in narrative. From 1970-2010 the female audience grew by 22%.
• More diverse representation over recent years (gay characters, black central characters, strong female characters and of course the new female doctor) have all encouraged a wider audience.

Industries

Importance of Doctor Who to BBC

Doctor Who is one of the most iconic franchises that the BBC has.  It has been launched all over the world through BBC Worldwide and generates huge income for the BBC.

In 2014, a BBC Worldwide Report stated Sherlock and Doctor Who as the BBC’s biggest exports of the past year. The worldwide simulcast (simultaneous transmission) of “The Day of the Doctor” in 2013 saw this episode air at the same time in 98 countries on six continents.

BBC: Industry notes

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a public service organisation and the oldest national broadcaster and the biggest in terms of employees [over 20,000]. It is different from other TV broadcasters in that funding comes from us all as BBC licence fee payers whereas other channels rely on advertising and sponsorship.  The BBC has 3 key purposes: To Inform, Educate & Entertain. This means:

• To provide information (that is supposed to be balanced)
• To support learning for people of all ages
• To produce creative output
• To have diverse content (such as with its representations)
• To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world

BBC regulation

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a board of governing members and is independent of government intervention.  This means that it can produce content free impartially.

Since 2017, The BBC is now regulated by OfCOM (the Office of Communications).  OfCOM oversees all media channels and produces a code of conduct that all media channels must follow or have their licence to make content removed and/or be fined heavily.  

This includes suitable programmes before the 9pm watershed and various other quality standards.