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You need to focus on one production piece

and analyse it in terms of: Genre/

Narrative/ Representation/ Audience/Media Language

Must use media theory/ theorists

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You do NOT need to:

Learn a load of quotes although one or two may be useful

Explain their theories in great depth

Know them all

You DO need to:

Use a few quotations if you can keep them short

If you dont have a quotation try to summarise the idea and

apply it to your trailer/music video/poster etc

Be able to apply them to your work/ case studies

Consider how useful/ not useful they are when discussing your

work

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Quote Summarise Comment

Assume your reader knows about the theory/ theorist. Dont explain the theory; use it. A Todorovian analysis would argue Mulveys notion of the Male Gaze provides a useful way of

understanding the video in that Kate Wales statement that Genre is... an intertextualconcept could be useful here because

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Denis McQuail The genre may be considered as a practical device for helping any mass medium to produce consistently

and efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations of its customers.

Nicholas Abercrombie It makes sound economic sense. Sets, properties and costumes can be used over and over again.Teams of stars, writers, directors and technicians can be built up, giving economies of scale Directors/stars are used to

portray genres.

Christine Gledhill Differences between genres meant different audiences could be identified and catered to... Thismade it easier to standardise and stabilise production Different genres have different audiences

John Fiske A representation of a car - we are unlikely to have experienced one in reality, therefore intertextually.Repetition/stereotypes/conventions makes us understand the genre

Andrew Goodwin -Genres change and evolve

David Buckingham - Genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation andchange. Genre changes with culture

Stephan Prince Horror, unlike other genres, challenges the unknown. Good vs evil (foil) has evolved into crazy dad orneighbour etc, this has happened through time. Humans are not top of the food chain, which creates helplessness

There is no pleasure without difference, Genres are instances of repetition and difference - Steve Neale

How we define a genre depends on our purposesChandler

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Tzetvan Todorov Narratives always have a structure of Equilibrium/

Disequilibrium/ New equilibrium Story versus plot Levi-StraussHuman cultural understanding is based upon a system of

binary opposites (good/ bad/ black/ white/ male/ female).Narratologists have taken this theory and applied it to narrative, arguingthat binary opposition forms a fundamental way of understandingnarrative.

Roland Barthes: Enigma code; Action code. Also, Open and Closed texts. Proppargued that narratives always have certain character types who

perform certain actions. Characters are agents of action. Noel Carroll - Traditional 3 part structure for horror: Onset phase where

a disorder is created, Discovery phase, where characters discover thedisorder, Disruption phase where characters destroy the source and

restore normality. Horror genre most important characteristics are the modes of affect that

horror films intend to create in their audiencesother characteristics andgeneric conventions evolve - Brigid Cherry

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Representation is what are the connotations of the media text - Symbolism. Verisimilitude

appears to look real. Socially what they look like, and how they are represented throughsociety e.g. policeman with respect.

Stereotypes are used to generalise and represent society. It is easier to groupcharacteristics and social positions together as it builds a stronger ideology of what theyare like, without actually knowing them (assumption) Shown through:Appearance andBehavior.

Perkins argues that stereotypes are not simplistic, they contain complex understanding of

roles in society. Not always negative and often contain truth. Dominant Ideology Widely held belief by many members of society. Marxist theory

Dominant ruling classes shape culture (Hegemony) Baudrillard We watch hyperreality were everything is a depiction of what the world is like.

Laura Mulveyargues that cinema positions the audience as male. The camera gazes atthe female object on screen. It also frames the male character watching the female.

We watch the girl; we see the male watching the girl; we position ourselves within the text

as a male objectively gazing at the female. Hegemony leadership by one smaller group over another larger group (male over female,

the consumer is forced to accept what has been shown) Pluralism that the audience can choose wither to accept what they watch is real etc. Selection:What shot has been chosen to go into media text. Organisation: Mise-en-scene Focusing: What we are forced to focus on; by choice of the cameraman and director

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Stuart Hall- Encoding and Decoding; Preferred/ negotiated/ oppositional readings Denis McQuailUses and Gratification theory (audiences consume media texts for Surveillance;

Personal Identity; Presnal Relationships; Escapism/ Diversion. Dyers Utopian theory How audiences consume media products with a clear set of pleasures to draw

from that experience. Escapism from peoples real lives. The Hypodermic Syringe - According to the theory the media is like a syringe which injects ideas,

attitudes and beliefs into the audience who as a powerless mass have little choice but to be influenced-in other words, you watch something violent, you may go and do something violent.

The Culmination Theory - Years and years of watching more violence will make you less sensitive toviolence

Morleys Research- Women tend to watch something whilst doing something else and they watch soapsetc. Men put full focus onto watching a film, sports and news.If a media text attracts a wealthy amount of people then it is likely to continue even if that percentage is

small. A series such as Star Trek (attracts single male men), although it only attracts a small amount ofpeople, the figures and collectables that come with it, make the series successful.Audiencehood is becoming an even more multifaceted, fragmented and diversified repertoire of practicesand experiences. Ien Ang

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Camera Angles, shots, body language etc.. Style and type of editing and filming

Written, Symbolic, Technical (WST) Semiotics Signs of what we see (signifier) Denotation/Connotation Iconography Paradigm set of codes that we see in a

media text

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Is also the conventions that we expect of themedia product -

E.g. music video editing in time to the music,montage, direct address, abstract or visuals thatmay link to the music or the musical genre, starconstruction, the creation of the relationship

between the star and the performer Intertextuality is important in music videos and

gives additional meanings for the audience.

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It is really important to give clear examplesfrom the piece that you have decided to

analyse.