YEAR 12 MEDIA STUDIES HOMEWORK BOOKLET 2012

MEDIA STUDIES

YEAR 12

SUMMER HOMEWORK

Audience and Institution 25% of your media grade requires you to understand how films are made. Youll need to be able to compare US films and British films at every stage of production from pitching an idea, gaining funding, casting, filming, editing, advertising and finally distribution. Task: Select ONE a film from the following list and complete a case study on it Brave The Amazing Spiderman Fast Girls The Dark Knight Rises

Below is a list of the basic things you must write about 1.) An explanation of the films plot 2.) The films genre (who do you think would want to watch it? Teens, Adults, Males, Females etc) 3.) The films rating (e.g, is it 15, 18, PG?) 4.) The films budget (i.e. how much it cost to make) 5.) Who directed the film (is this film typical of their work?) 6.) Who starred in the film (are they major stars or relative unknowns? What films have the previously been in?) 7.) Which Studio(s) produced the film (and more importantly WHO owns them?) 7.) The technology involved (was it filmed on film or digital, is it 3D? Does it use CGI? etc) 8.) Which studio(s) distributed the film (and once again who owns them?) 9.) The films release date in the UK and the US 10.) How many screens was the film shown on? (This is a tricky one) 11.) FIVE different examples of how the film was marketed (e.g. Posters, trailers, premiers etc). Useful websites: imdb.com (general film info) wikipedia.com screendaily.com/ (website dedicated to films) makingof.com/ (site dedicated to how films are made) the-numbers.com/charts/today.php (US Box office figures) ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/weekendboxoffice (UK Box office figures) cjr.org/resources/ (Find out who owns the companies who make your favourite films) eleanorwatsonlcmedia.blogspot.com/2011/05/case-study-kingsspeech.html\ (an example of the standard of research required at AS level)

Representation By definition, all media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means that they are intentionally composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded, targeted and censored by their producers, and that they are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us. When studying the media it is vital to remember this - every media form, from a home video to a glossy magazine, is a representation of someone's concept of existence, codified into a series of signs and symbols which can be read by an audience. The study of representation is about decoding the different layers of truth/fiction. In order to fully appreciate the part representation plays in a media text you must consider: Who produced it? What/who is represented in the text? How is that thing represented? It is worth thinking about each of these for a moment- the first one is the more straightforward - the media are in the business of describing things to us- they represent people and types of people to us so that we end up feeling that we know what they are like Any representation is a mixture of: 1 The thing itself. 2 The opinions of the people doing the representation 3 The reaction of the individual to the representation 4 The context of the society in which the representation is taking place. Representation of certain groups is very common, for example, age, sexuality, gender. This makes it easier for media producers to get their message across and we recognize the clues quicker.

Representation in TV Drama or Soap Opera Learning Objectives: To ensure an understanding of Representation within television programmes and how programme makers achieve this through narrative and mise-en-scene. Task 1: Choose a character and think about how they are represented in the show in which they appear. Make notes on the following points: Tv drama/soap

Genre of tv drama/soap

Actor/actress

Name

Age

Ethnicity Regional identity

Costume usually includes Sum up lifestyle in 5 words

Friends include

Interests

Motivation in most situations Love life

Problems in life

Key moment in drama series / soap

Prediction for future narratives(storylines)

Task 2:

How is the audience supposed to react to them? Explain view.

Design a new narrative that is suitable to your character within the show they star in. Involve known character/s. Write a script of dialogue, stage directions and description of how characters should appear. Make this about 10 lines long in total.

6
Explore a: Confrontation / argument about an issue A revelation about something (where they learn something important) Plan a scene with care, make notes, discuss with a friend, think about you want the audience to receive them and how their actions / dialogue reflect the notes you made above.

Set your script out correctly:

Scene:___________________________(E.g. pub/launderette/park) Character 1: (stage directions in brackets) ______________________________ Character 2:______________________________________________________

Task 3:

Look at the representation of age in your chosen TV drama/soap. How are old or young people shown? Is that how they really are in life? Why have the programme makers shown them in the way they have? Comment on the following and whether they are typical of how young/old people are shown.

Character Age (approx) Example of clothing/appearance Example of behaviour/actions

e.g. Grantly Budgen late 50s students, (Waterloo Road)

tweed jacket, scruffy, browns and greens

out of touch with grumpy, tired

ANALYSING MAGAZINES TASK: Select a magazine of your choice and answer all the questions. Consider the title of the magazine: Why is it called that? What are the significant words? What connotations do they have? The publisher of the magazine: Who publishes the magazine? What other magazines (if any) does it publish? What other media interests (if any) does it have? How much does the magazine cost? How often is it published? What is its circulation/ readership? Does the magazine have a website? The target audience for the magazine: What type of reader is it targeting? How do you know this (i.e. types of articles and advertisements)? How does the reader interact with the magazine? The cover of the magazine: Analyse the images on the cover; the types of facial expressions, body language, clothing, etc. used. What do they tell us about the target audience for the magazine? What else appears on the cover? Why are particular items in the magazine featured? Explain why particular typefaces, types of graphics, colours, etc. are used. Does the cover look similar to other magazines? If so, why? If not, how does it look different? The style of presentation of the magazine: What do you notice about the magazines presentation? Does it look cheap or expensive? How does it compare with other similar magazines? How does it use colour, print style, artwork, etc. to convey an overall effect?

The mode of address of the magazine: How does it address its readers? How and when are readers allowed to address the magazine? What types of articles/ features does it contain? What subjects are covered?

The advertisements that appear in the magazine: What are the main types of products being advertised? What is their price range? Who are they aimed at? Why are these products featured particularly? How do the models featured in the advertisements relate to the target audience? Representations in the magazine: How are men and women represented? (look at both the images and the text.) Are there conflicting representations? If so, why is this? How do these representations relate to the readership? Is there a limited range of representations for man and women? If so why are they and why? What groups do not appear in the pages of the magazine? Why? Are celebrities featured in the magazine? If so, what kinds of celebrities? Why have they been chosen? The competition for the magazine: What other titles are in competition with it? What are their circulation/ readership figures? How much do they cost? What are the similarities/ differences? Finally: What do you think are the reasons for its popularity (or otherwise)? What does the magazine offer its readers? What values or ideologies are implicit in the magazine?

Why does the institution use a slogan? Why do magazines use straplines? How does the masthead fit in with the genre of the music magazine?

Look at the positioning of the main image over the masthead. What does it suggest about the readership of the magazine?

Comment on the main image. Camera shot/ depth/subject/colour/costume.

How many colours have been used on the cover and why these colours? 10 Look at the fonts and comment on why they have been used to appeal to audience and genre. Appeal to audience?

Why does the barcode appear here? How do the cover lines entice the reader? Institution 1. Who publishes Kerrang! magazine? 2. What else do they publish? 3. Are they part of another media company? 4. How much revenue did the magazine make last year? 5. Now look at a front cover of a magazine of your choice and annotate it looking at the conventions used to appeal to a certain audience 6. Then look at who publishes the magazine and then answer the questions above.