Welcome to Media Studies GCSE!

EXAM 40%Unit 1: Investigating the Media

Written Paper- 1 hr 30 mins – 60 marksAt the end of the two year course (Y11 Summer Term)

COURSEWORK 60%Unit 2: Understanding the Media

Three assignments to be completed over the two year courseI. Introductory assignmentII. Cross-media assignment

III. Practical production and evaluation

Firstly...You will need to buy a coursework folder (bring this in next lesson)

• It is your responsibility to look after this over the two year course

• You will also need to use a memory stick, so that you can back up all you coursework.

Talking Point... Instant Survey

• Each student to write down their two favourite and two least favourite films.

• Combine whole class into two lists

• Do the same types of films – such as adventure, fantasy, science fiction, romantic comedy- appear on both lists? Were the same types of films popular with boys and girls?

Favourite Films Least Favourite Films

Types of Films are called...GENRE• You already know a lot about Genre...• You can probably tell from the first few

seconds of a TV trailer or even from a poster what genre a film is likely to be and you will have certain expectations as a result.

• What film genre do these three words suggest? Saloon, Sheriff, Gunfight?

• You probably thought Western before you even got to read the second word. Media Producers rely on your ability to recognise genre when they promote new films.

Activity 1

• Work in pairs. Make a table like the one below to show the characteristics of four popular genres: Romantic comedy, Disney Animation, Science Fiction and Horror

Genre Typical Setting

Typical Characters

TypicalPlots

Typical props

Typical Themes

Romanticcomedy

Young man, young woman

They meet, hate each other, coincidence throws them together

Assignment 1: Introduction to the Media

TOPIC Analytical task Research and planning task

Packaging of DVDs Analyse the covers of TWO film or television programme DVDs. How does each cover appeal to its target audience?

Your analysis must include an explanation and should total approx 500 words.

Design a DVD cover for a film or television programme targeted at a specific audience.

When analysing apply concept of:

• Connotation: What is the meaning behind a text/image?

• Denotation: What do I see?

Apply concept of Denotation and Connotation to this DVD Cover

Target AudienceYou must be able to identify the TARGET AUDIENCE for the DVD

cover you are analysing.1. Write down as many ways as possible we can classify an

audience.• Age• Ethnicity• Gender• Location• Occupation• Income• Lifestyle choices• Attitudes• Political persuasions

Audience theory: Uses and Gratifications

In the 1970’s media theorists Blumler and Katz came up with five reasons why audiences consumed media texts:

1. To be informed and educated2. In order to identify with characters and situations3. To be entertained4. To enable themselves to socially interact with

others5. To escape from their daily troubles and woes

Apply Uses and Gratifications theory to 3 different media texts that you consume.

• Feedback in pairs• Did you find the theory to ring true? Explain

your findings.

Homework: Create a survey on a sample of ten people measuring their

film consumption

Film Consumption

DVD'sCinemaTVInternet/illegal down-loads

Analysing a DVD cover

• W

...What is the genre? How do we know? Who is the target audience?How do we know?

Keywords: Iconography

• Iconography = the images or items that we often associate with a given genre

Think of a genre...

• Now list as much of the iconography associated with that genre as you can think of...

What is an Institution?

• The organisations or companies that produce and/or distribute media.

What is the name of the institution behind your DVD cover?

What does Representation mean in the Media?

The idea that all media texts are artificial versions of reality. Representations can be seen as positive or Negative.

Your Writing must include the following: Packaging of DVD’s

• Apply media terminology, the effect of MEDIA LANGUAGE

• Apply analytical techniques; denotation connotation

• Identify how GENRE is established• Discuss how NARRATIVE is suggested• Make judgements about who the TARGET

AUDIENCE might be• How might the product be consumed?

Designing a DVD cover

• Homework: Write up the blurb and the tag line for your imaginary movie.

• Make sure you look at Style Models that are in the same genre.

• Who is your target audience?

Write a paragraph explaining the ways this DVD cover appeals to it’s target audience.

Design a DVD cover for a film or television programme targeted at a

specific audience

Check your design has all the ingredients

for a DVD cover.

The National Readership SurveyAudience classification through occupation and income

KEY QUESTION:What problems do you think could arise through this type of audience profiling?

Don’t forget to mention...

Denotation and connotationColoursLighting (high-key and low-key)Camera shotsInformation given:Director’s name, actors involvedStar ratingInstitutions involved (magazine reviews etc)How the blurb appeals to the target audiencePictures

Create a target audience profile for your DVD

• Your profile should include:– A picture of the typical target audience (clothes, hair etc)

– Age– Location– Interests/hobbies– Favourite magazines– Beliefs/values– Music tastes

10th October 2012 By the end of the lesson

• I will know what a top grade DVD analysis looks like

• I will have identified the points I should try to include when writing up my own analysis

DVD 1

DVD 2

The Analytical Task

• How does each cover appeal to its target audience?

• Connotation and denotation Recap...

• This is key to you being able to discuss the target audience effectively.

11th October 2012By the end of the lesson:

• I will have started to improve my writing for the Analytical Task (DVD assignment 1)

• Have identified the ingredients of a good DVD design and applied it to my own design

In groups highlight the moments in the analysis which you think are strong

• Look for Connotation• How is the target audience addressed?• How is genre addressed?• Which parts were you particularly impressed

with?

Some useful ways in to your writing

• I have chosen...• The facial expressions of the protagonists...• The tagline...• The DVD is produced by...• The main image...

• This indicates• This gives the impression • This makes the audience think• This connotes

DVD ChecklistHave you included...

FRONT COVER: DVDtitle Large central image Tag line Star rating and

magazine/newspaper name Age certificate Format logosSPINE: Format logos Age certificate Thumbnail image DVD title

BACK COVER:BlurbMontage of imagesExtracts from reviewsSpecial features boxList of people and institutions involved, Eg.‘music by, costume designer, production designer, edited by, director of photography, screenplay, produced by, directed by’...Age certificate BOXInstitutional logosBarcode

Evaluation of Task

• Write one to two paragraphs explaining how you went about the process of designing a DVD cover. Important points to include:

• Your target audience and the choices you made as a result of the type of DVD you went for.

• Media Language that you used to appeal to the target audience.

• What difficulties arose and how you overcame them. • Conclusion: How successful do you think the final

product is? What would you improve?

ASSIGNMENT 2: Cross Media TaskTOPIC ANALYTICAL TASK RESEARCH & PLANNING

Film PromotionCovering key concepts of Representation and Institution.

Compare the impact and effectiveness of two promotional methods used by one film. E.g. Poster; cinema, television or viral trailer; web page; magazine article; television interview.

Print or web based/new media- •Mock up design for a poster, •Magazine article, •Internet home page•Audio-visual media- •Devise a storyboard for a trailer or •A script for a television or radio interview promoting the same film.

Film trailers are a form of advertising. Trailers include the best bits of the film in

order to encourage as many people as possible to see the film.

• Complete the worksheet after watching the trailer twice

• Write in much detail as possible

TaskChoose two trailers to compare and

contrast, highlighting the similarities and differences write two or three paragraphs

• Use the notes on the grid that you have noted• Aim for a lively response• Use the correct terms • Imdb.com