A2 Examination - Q1(a) definitions

What are media conventions?
Media conventions are the established ways of creating meaning in media texts.  These can be technical (camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene) or symbolic (see Barthes' codes).  Some things that you might think of in your own product are:

• Camera - shots, movement and angles, e.g a canted angle in a horror
• Editing - e.g. the fast pace of an action movie or flashbacks in a sci-fi film about past events
• Sound - e.g. creepy piano music in a horror or the sounds of battle in a war film (NB don't forget dialogue)
• Mise-en-scene - e.g. in a horror film you might have an isolated house, low-key lighting and a knife glinting in the moonlight (iconography)
• Characters - e.g. vulnerable, attractive female in horror; tough, maverick in action films
• Narrative - e.g. thrillers will provide lots of enigmas and unexpected twists; sci-fi will often involve some sort of major disruption, such as the outbreak of a virus or an invasion by aliens
• Representation - archetypes, stereotypes, typical locations, social groups, national stereotypes etc.
• Genre - all of the above help to establish genre through film language

Also think about the conventions of form (e.g. film opening, trailer, short film).  All of these forms have their own conventions relating to structure.  A film opening will try to create a setup (see here for further info http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Narrative), a trailer will try to create enigmas by showing key extracts from the film and using narrative devices (see here http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Trailers and here http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/a2-examination-q1b-narrative-devices.html) and a short film will try to put across a key message in a short space of time, often using a small number of influential characters.

What is creativity?
"Creativity is just connecting things." (Steve Jobs)
“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” (Edward de Bono)

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” (Mary Lou Cook)

A question on creativity can be related to creative use of research and planning, creative production techniques (e.g. camera, mise-en-scene, sound) and creative post production (e.g. editing and sound effects).  Creativity does not have to be innovative.  As Jobs suggests in the quotation above, it could be simply how you saw a convention in a similar product and used technology to recreate it in your own media product.  A creativity question is often linked to technology.

A2 Examination: Q1(b) definitions

What is film language?

"The cinema is quite simply becoming a means of expression..."  "By language, I mean a form in which and by which any artist can express his thoughts..."  (Asturic 1948)

"Film may not have a grammar, but it does have a system of 'codes'.  It does not, strictly speaking, have a vocabulary but it does have a system of signs and codes of a number of other communication systems."  (Monaco 2000)  NB - see Barthes below

• Film language refers to how meaning is created (stories, characters etc.)
• Film language includes: cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and dialogue, special effects, genre, narrative and representation.
• Film language is a system of signs - Roland Barthes: enigma code (puzzle to be solved); action code (a code from which we expect to see certain consequences based on other similar films we have seen); semantic code (the connotative meaning of characters, objects or settings, such as the villain dressed all in black); symbolic code (oppositions such as good/evil, light/dark, innocent/corrupt); cultural code (the world outside the film that is referred to, such as the world of adolescent young men in The Inbetweeners Movie)
• Film language is not definitive; it depends on the viewer (spectator) and reception (see Stuart Hall's Reception Theory).
• Also see Michael Wohl.

The media audience 

"There is no stable entity which we can isolate and identify as the media audience, no single object that is unproblematically ‘there’ for us to observe and analyze. … It becomes harder to specify exactly where media audiences begin and end. The conditions and boundaries of audiencehood are inherently unstable."  (Shaun Moores)

1 Who would be your target audience?

In North America (US and Canada), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) carries out research into movie audiences.   They classify audiences as:

• frequent moviegoers (once a month or more)
• occasional (less than once a month)
• infrequent (once in 12 months)
• non-moviegoers (no visits in the last 12 months)

(Don't forget that films can be distributed in a number of other ways (e.g. DVD, Netflix, Youtube, film festivals) and your audience might not access the film in the cinema.)

Frequent moviegoers buy 50% of all tickets sold.

In terms of age groups, the MPAA use the following audience segments:

• 2-11
• 12-17
• 18-24
• 25-39
• 40-49
• 50-59
• 60+

The most frequent moviegoers are the 25-39 age group (about a quarter of all tickets sold) with the 18-24 group in second place. Traditionally, the movie industry chased viewers between the ages of 15-24 because they were considered to have the highest disposable income but movie audiences have been getting older. The gender split for moviegoers is almost 50/50.  Action, fantasy and animation dominate the top 20 box office movies.

In the UK, the British Film Institute (BFI) gather statistics on audiences.  They segment age groups as follows:

• 7-14 (14%)
• 15-24 (33%)
• 25-34 (19%)
• 35-44 (16%)
• 45-54 and 55+ (18%)

Percentage of UK cinema admissions for 2014 in brackets.

The BFI note that animations are particularly popular in the 7-14 group and that comedy and action are very popular with 15-24 year olds.  Action is also very popular with the 25-34 group. Animation is also a genre widely viewed by 35-44s (perhaps because many are mothers and fathers, what we call a secondary audience).  Drama is a genre favoured by 45-54 year olds.  Fantasy is universally popular across the 15-54 age range.  Males prefer action, thriller and comedies while females enjoy a broader range of genres.

You might also consider your audience in terms of demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, family status), geography (residence location, work location, place of birth, choice of recreation area), usage/behaviour  (frequent/infrequent, subscriber/single ticket, plan-ahead/impulse), stated intentions (plan to come more/less/the same, will/will not renew), attitude/belief/opinion (likes/dislikes, preferences, values).

2 How would an audience respond to your product?

• Hypodermic needle theory - this suggests that audiences passively receive the media and rarely use their critical faculties, accepting and absorbing the messages contained within the text.  Theories that argue that audiences are passive are sometimes called manipulative models.
• Theories that argue that audience responses are varied and unpredictable are sometimes called pluralist models.
• Uses and gratifications theory - this suggested that audiences choose their media for a variety of different needs: 1. to escape everyday life; 2. to gain information; 3. because the consumer identifies with characters and/or situations; 4. to interact and discuss what they have consumed with family and friends.  
• Coding and encoding - Stuart Hall argued that audiences readings are determined by their gender, social and ideological positions.  Messages may be encoded with a preferred reading but audiences may have different and alternative interpretations. Hall identified three reception codes: dominant, negotiated and oppositional.  See here for more information: http://www.slideshare.net/dphillips4363/reception-theory-presentation-833299  http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience
• Fandom - some consumers have a very close relationship with a product and a high level of interest and devotion.  These fans develop interpretive communities and often have a participatory culture (see Henry Jenkins); in other words, they are very active.
• Spectatorship - film theory is often concerned with the notion of the spectator. Spectatorship is influenced by: where you watch; when you watch; who you watch with; why you are watching; genre; your previous experience; values; morals; beliefs; your ability to suspend disbelief; how questioning (critical) you are; interaction; emotion; cultural/ethnic background; understanding; technology; mood; distractions; prior knowledge (e.g. reviews); expectations; fandom; interpretive reading; attraction; problem-solving; and the impact of the film after it has ended.  
• Audience positioning - how did you as a film-maker position your viewer?  This is the relationship created between your product and the viewer and how you address and communicate with them via film language.  For example, you might want the viewer to sympathise or identify with a particular character and so you might have privileged that character with more shots, perhaps using close-ups and music that helped to develop your desired emotional response.
• Don't forget about your audience feedback.

3 How might content influence who might be able to see your film?

• themes
• offensive language
• violence
• imitable techniques
• horror
• drugs

See the BBFC's guidelines http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/guidelines

What is genre?

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevel.php?pageID=filmgenre
http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/chandler_genre_theory.pdf
http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/
http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/intgenre5.html

What is narrative?
A narrative is some kind of retelling of something that happened (a story). The narrative is not the story itself but rather the telling of the story. While a story is just a sequence of events, a narrative recounts those events, perhaps leaving some occurrences out because they are from some perspective insignificant, and perhaps emphasizing others. In a series of events, a car crash takes a split second. A narrative account, however, might be almost entirely about the crash itself and the few seconds leading up to it. 

David Bordwell  in his essay, Three Dimensions of Narrative, splits the 'narrative' into three areas:

1. "...the story world: its agents, circumstances and surroundings..."
2. "...plot structure, the arrangement of the parts of the narrative..."
3. "...narration, the moment-by-moment flow of information about the story world."

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=narrative
http://www.slideshare.net/petefrasers/narrative-theory-hand-out-copy
http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2014/01/12/understanding-film-narrative-the-trailer/

What is representation?
"The meaning of an event...does not exist until it has been represented...We’re talking about the fact that it has no fixed meaning, no real meaning in the obvious sense, until it has been represented. And the representations – since they’re likely to be very different as you move from one person to another, one group or another, one part of society or another, one historical moment and another – just as those forms of representation will change, so the meaning of the event will change."  (Stuart Hall)

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=represent

• Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci – Marxist perspectives

Karl Marx was interested in power.  He did a lot of work thinking about how societies are structured and how they are unfair.  His main idea was that the masses (he called them the proletariat) were controlled or dominated by the elite (the bourgeoisie).  The powerful elite (bourgeoisie) own the means of production and therefore they have power over the workers (proletariat).  This unfair social dominance serves the elite but it is exploitative of the workers and society is kept like this because it suits those at the top.  The main way this is done is through the superstructure of society (the way people are influenced) namely religion, education, law, politics.  He called all this stuff the ‘ideological state apparatus’.  If this didn’t work, then the bourgeoisie would crush their working classes using the military state apparatus like the army and the police.

Although print and cinema were around when Marx was writing, the media was less prolific than it is now and lifestyle advertising was not in full swing – he doesn’t focus on the media all that much although he does consider propaganda.  Gramsci took his ideas on in the 1920s and the Birmingham School (Hall and Williams) took them on again in the 70s and 80s… These Marxist media theorists applied some of Marx’s key ideas to the mass media – especially ideas about ideological influence (HEGEMONY).

This idea of Hegemony is very important to representation theory because the way people and groups are represented and the messages and ideology we receive as the mass audience could influence public opinion.  For example, in some right wing news media (such as the daily mail) we often see pretty negative representations of immigrants… Shows like ’24’ produced by Fox (part of News Corp International) often depict asian and muslim people as potential terrorists.  It is important to interrogate how such ideologies serve the elite and influence the masses.

Let’s have a look at Top Boy (produced for Channel 4).  What do we know about Channel 4?  In what what can a Marxist reading of this text help us understand it in a fuller and enriched way?

• The Male Gaze – Laura Mulvey – Feminist Theory – Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema – Written in 1975

The cinema apparatus of Hollywood cinema puts the audience in a masculine subject position with the woman on the screen seen as an object of desire. Film and cinematography are structures upon ideas. Protagonists tended to be men. Mulvey suggests two distinct modes of male gaze – “voueuristic (women as whores) and fetishistic – women as unreachable madonnas”.  (Also narcissistic – women watching film see themselves reflected on the screen).  (Film texts:  Alien, Jackie Brown vs Foxy Brown…).

Here are some clips from a variety of media texts. Try applying Mulvey’s theory to these clips…

People who criticise her ideas say that she is ignoring the fact that all genders – male and female want to feel dominated and overwhelmed by the cinema experience.  Also, she ignores the fact that men are capable of ‘metaphoric transvestism’ whereby they are able to view the film from the perspective of a woman. (Thelma and Louise, The Piano, Knocked Up, Brick Lane).

• Lacan – Psychoanalysis and ‘The Mirror’

Lacan’s theory of ‘the mirror’ is an idea around the idea of identity.  He considers the point at which a person develops a sense of self and conscious identity.  He considers the point at which a child recognises their own reflection and begin to consider how others peceive them, modifying their appearence to satisfy their perceptions of how others see them.  Mulvey extends this idea when she writes about ‘the silver screen’ which she suggest operates like a metaphorical mirror; reflecting back to the female viewer representations of female identity, but these representations are not genuine reflections of the viewer but rather male perceptions of idealised femininity.

• Queer Theory – Judith Butler

Emerging out of field of Gender studies (the study of males and female roles historically, politically, socially etc).  Queer theory challenges the idea that gender – being male or female – is part of the essential self, that it is fixed, immovable – in other words Queer theory suggest that our male or female gender does not control all aspects of our identity or how we perceive other peoples identity.  In other other words gender, particularly as it is represented in performance – on TV, Film etc, is fluid, flexible depending on the context in which it is seen.   For example an audience can see Tom Cruise playing a “straight” pilot in The Right Stuff and interpret his gender, although male, as having very “queer” or “gay” attributes.   The theory developed as a way of combating negative representations of gay sexuality in the Media.  It combats the idea that people should be divided and categorised, indeed marginalised, due to their sexual orientation or practice and that a persons identity should not be limited to their sexual preference.  It asks us to consider how the media constructs gay representation. (Apply to representation of gay sexuality in Knocked up…any others? What about Graham Norton? Alan Carr? Does Post Modern Irony regarding representation of gay characters relieve the audience of burden of moral responsibility regarding evolving attitudes a more flexible idea of gender?)

• Subculture – Representation of Groups – Dick Hebdidge

In his book, Subculture and The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdidge said that a subculture is a group pf like minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and who develop a sense of identity which differs to the dominant on to which they belong.  Ken Gelder lists 6 ways in which a subculture can be recognised: 1) Often have negative relationship to work 2) Negative or ambivalent relationship to class 3) Through their associuations with territory ( The street, the hood, the club) rather than property  4) Through their stylistic ties to excess 5) Through their movement out of home into non-domestic forms of belonging (social groups as opposed to family)  6) Through their refusal to engage with they might see as the ‘banalities’ of life.
Other ways of recognising a subculture might be symbolism attached to clothes, music, visual affectations  like tattoos etc.  (Examples – Ben and his friends in Knocked up representing a subculture some of the values of which Alison and as such the America she initially represents might benefit from).   Subcultural values often associated with being ‘cool’.

• Anthony Giddens – Traditionalist vs Post Traditionalist views of society

Media representations of society can be seen as traditional or post traditionalist.  Traditional societies are ones in which individual choice was limited by its dominant customs and traditions.  Whereas post traditionalist societies are one where the ideas set by previous generations are less important that those of individuals.  Post traditional societies are no longer feel so depenwere limited to time and place.  Giddens says, we are living in a post traditional society where we are much less concerned with precedents sest by previous generations and that our options are only limited by what the  law and public opinion allows.  We have replaced seen/discreet systems  with remote ‘expert’ systems, institutions and corporations.

• Bell Hooks:  Interconnectivity of race, class and gender.

Pen name of Gloria Jean Watkins.  First major work “Ain’t I a woman? Lack, women and feminity” written in 1981.  Focused on the perpetuation of systems of oppression and domination in the media paying particular attention to the devaluation of black womanhood. The idea of ‘lack’ or ‘otherness’ refers to the way that women and ethnic minorities are usually represented as ‘other’.  Their primary purpose is simply to be other than the norm (usually a white male hero).  They are therefore known more by the context of lack than by a realised or complex identity.  This theory can be linked to ideas of the monstrous feminine found in feminist analysis of literature and art.

___________________________________________________________________________

Representation of youth and teenagers

Considering Quadrophenia.

This film is great for thinking about subculture. The film looks and mods and their ‘interaction’ with the rockers. Think about how fashion, music, language, drugs and sex are used symbolically to make meaning and represent values like rebellion , anger and disillusion. Dick Hebdige said that subcultures use style to represent their resistance to the dominant ideologies of a corrupt society. They take symbols like the smart clothes or mopeds and modify or customise them to show their alternative values. Watch the film again and see if you can identify these symbols and what they represent.

Can this theory be applied to more recent films depicting youth? Watch 8Mile and think about the urban music / hip hop rap subculture. Can the symbols of this subculture be analysed in a similar way to Quadrophenia?

A2 Examination: Q1(a) and Q1(b) key lessons from examiners' comments

Opening paragraph

• State your task(s) and the aims and context of your product(s).
• Define the concept you are being asked about - e.g. 'research and planning' for Q1(a) and 'audience' for Q1(b).
• Show that you understand what the question is asking you to do.

Examples (4-5)

• Use clear and specific examples from your production(s) that have good relevance to the question.
• Analyse your examples with explicit reference to the concept you are being asked about.
• For Q1(b), analyse your examples with reference to media theory/ theorists.
• For Q1(b) you can use quotations from the theorists.
• You may be able to use theorists for more than one concept.
• Use media terminology where appropriate and state the names of any software you used.
• For Q1(a), you must write about your skills development across the two years.
• Be reflective - explain how you made choices and how those choices influenced outcomes. You can use audience feedback in assessing success (don't just use your own opinion).

Conclusion

• For Q1(a), briefly summarise your skills development.  For Q1(b) you should summarise the success of your product in terms of the concept you are being asked about.
• Return to the original question by 'name-checking' it.

What is 'narrative structure'?

What is Narrative Structure? 

Narrative structure is really about two things: the content of a story (i.e. what a story is about) and the form used to tell a story (i.e. how a story is told). 

Two common ways to describe these two parts of narrative structure are: story and plot.

Story refers to the raw materials of dramatic action as they might be described in chronological order in a film. 

Plot refers to the form of storytelling, or the structure the story follows. 

An example may be helpful.

If we want to analyze narrative structure, we can use Who? What? and Where? questions to look at the story or content of a movie.  ‘How?’  questions are used to examine plot structure. So, to describe the story in Star Wars, for example, we would need to answer the following questions:

·         Where is the story set?

·         What event begins the story?

·         Who are the main characters?

·         What conflict(s) do they face?

·         What happens to the characters as they face this conflict?

·         Who wins the conflict?

·         What rewards do they receive?

To describe the plot structure of the movie, we would need to answer these questions:

·         How is the major conflict in the story set up?

·         How are the main characters introduced?

·         How is the story moved along so that the characters must inevitably face the film’s central conflict?

·         How is the dramatic confrontation set up as the film draws to its close?

·         How does the film resolve most of the major conflicts set up at the outset?

From the audiences’ perspective, story and plot refer to the different ways movies construct meaning for spectators. Story is about trying to determine the key conflicts, main characters, setting, and events in a movie. Plot is about determining the stages at which key conflicts are set up and resolved. What’s interesting about most of the movies made in Hollywood is that, while the stories may change, the plot structure is virtually identical in most of the movies made by Hollywood.  

According to Bordwell and Thompson, the plot is what we explicitly see and hear while the story includes information that is inferred (suggested) to the viewer.

H O L LYWOOD AND THE CLASSICAL NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

The most common narrative structure in mainstream films is called the Classical Narrative Structure.

The Classical Narrative Structure

The Classical Narrative Structure is called this because it is the way most movies are made in Hollywood. It’s not classic because it is the oldest structure of storytelling or the best, but the most common. It is the storytelling structure in Star Wars, Buster KeatonÕs The General (1926), The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999), and any number of other films we might think of.  It’s based on a three-act format that organizes the story in the following way.

Act I  The Setup

Here, we are introduced to the main characters in the story, their goals, and the obstacles they are likely to face to achieve their objectives. The main conflict in the story is introduced, as well as the major antagonist (the villain) who will stand in the way of the protagonist’s (the hero’s) objectives.

We can call Act I in a movie the Hook. It sets up the story so that the film engages the attention of the audience and suggests the story’s likely development. Act I generally takes up about one quarter of a film’s total length.

Act II  The Development

Here plot complications are added to the story. An increasing sense of urgency is created when the main characters encounter obstacles that stand in the way of their journey. The second act generally occupies the middle two-quarters of the film and it often includes a false resolution to the main conflict set up in Act I. Once the false resolution has been encountered, the action in the movie generally points inevitably toward a necessary climax.

Throughout Act II, Cause-Effect Relationships propel the main characters along. Cause-effect rela- tionships involve actions that force a reaction on the part of some character, leading to a new action and reaction, and so on.

Act III  The Resolution
In the final segment of the film, the results of the story’s main conflict come to dramatic con- frontation. This is called the Climax. It is the point where key struggles are waged and an eventual victor is determined. In Hollywood films, needless to say, the eventual victor is usually our hero.

Following the climax, Closure is introduced into the story, which simply means that all the major conflicts, issues, or ideas in the story are resolved. The so-called Hollywood ending is the most popular kind of closure in the classical narrative structure. Films with this kind of conclusion usually close with a sense that the protagonists in the film live happily ever after.

Media in the online age - privacy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data

OCR Media Studies Resource Site

http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com/index.html

What is narrative? A2 Exam Q1 (b)

• Narrative - You can use Todorov, Levi-Strauss, Barthes and Propp to deal with a question on narrative.  Also  the following will help you to respond.  (You don't want to simply tell the examiner what happens in the sequence or short film.  You want to explain how the story is structured and fits in with narrative theories.)

What is Narrative Structure? Narrative structure is really about two things: the content of a story (i.e. what a story is about) and the form used to tell a story (i.e. how a story is told). Two common ways to describe these two parts of narrative structure are: story and plot.

Story refers to the raw materials of dramatic action as they might be described in chronological order in a film. Plot refers to the form of storytelling, or the structure, the story follows. An example may be helpful.

If we want to analyze narrative structure, we can use Who? What? and Where? questions to look at the story or content of a movie.  ‘How?’  questions are used to examine plot structure. So, to describe the story in Star Wars, for example, we would need to answer the following questions:

·         Where is the story set?

·         What event begins the story?

·         Who are the main characters?

·         What conflict(s) do they face? (What motivates the characters to enter into this conflict?)

·         What happens to the characters as they face this conflict?

·         Who wins the conflict?

·         What rewards do they receive?

To describe the plot structure of the movie, we would need to answer these questions:

·         How is the major conflict in the story set up?

·         How are the main characters introduced?

·         How is the story moved along so that the characters must inevitably face the film’s central conflict?

·         How is the dramatic confrontation set up as the film draws to its close?

·         How does the film resolve most of the major conflicts set up at the outset?

From the audiences’ perspective, story and plot refer to the different ways movies construct meaning for spectators. Story is about trying to determine the key conflicts, main characters, setting, and events in a movie. Plot is about determining the stages at which key conflicts are set up and resolved. What’s interesting about most of the movies made in Hollywood is that, while the stories may change, the plot structure is virtually identical in most of the movies made by Hollywood.  According to Bordwell and Thompson, the plot is what we explicitly see and hear while the story includes information that is inferred (suggested) to the viewer.

The most common narrative structure in mainstream films is called the Classical Narrative Structure.

The Classical Narrative Structure

The Classical Narrative Structure is called this because it is the way most movies are made in Hollywood. It’s not classic because it is the oldest structure of storytelling or the best, but the most common. It is the storytelling structure in Star Wars, Buster KeatonÕs The General (1926), The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999), and any number of other films we might think of.  It’s based on a three-act format that organizes the story in the following way.

Act I  The Setup

Here, we are introduced to the main characters in the story, their goals, and the obstacles they are likely to face to achieve their objectives. The main conflict in the story is introduced, as well as the major antagonist (the villain) who will stand in the way of the protagonist’s (the hero’s) objectives.

We can call Act I in a movie the Hook. It sets up the story so that the film engages the attention of the audience and suggests the story’s likely development. Act I generally takes up about one quarter of a film’s total length.

Act II  The Development

Here plot complications are added to the story. An increasing sense of urgency is created when the main characters encounter obstacles that stand in the way of their journey. The second act generally occupies the middle two-quarters of the film and it often includes a false resolution to the main conflict set up in Act I. Once the false resolution has been encountered, the action in the movie generally points inevitably toward a necessary climax.

Throughout Act II, Cause-Effect Relationships propel the main characters along. Cause-effect rela- tionships involve actions that force a reaction on the part of some character, leading to a new action and reaction, and so on.

Act III  The Resolution

In the final segment of the film, the results of the story’s main conflict come to dramatic con- frontation. This is called the Climax. It is the point where key struggles are waged and an eventual victor is determined. In Hollywood films, needless to say, the eventual victor is usually our hero.

Following the climax, Closure is introduced into the story, which simply means that all the major conflicts, issues, or ideas in the story are resolved. The so-called Hollywood ending is the most popular kind of closure in the classical narrative structure. Films with this kind of conclusion usually close with a sense that the protagonists in the film live happily ever after.

An example of a two paragraph point for Q1(a), A2 Exam

Question about digital technology:

For our Foundation Portfolio, we made a two minute opening to a new feature film with titles.  We used a standard definition (SD) camera but were disappointed with some of the footage which was grainy and lacked sharpness.  So, for our Advanced Portfolio film trailer, we decided to use a high definition (HD) camera.  This gave us the desired sharpness and clarity to our video but we were shocked how much space HD video took on an SD memory card.  Our card was 512Mb and it was filled up in no time!  We bought a much bigger card, 16Gb, and this provided all the storage we needed, even for HD.

 

The small SD cards are definitely an improvement on the past in terms of portability.  Our teacher showed us a camcorder that used VHS storage and it was huge!  However, we did encounter one problem because of the miniature size of digital storage; we lost our SD card and could not find it for three weeks.  This put us behind schedule and we were worried we would have to reshoot.  Eventually, we found it but I resolved to always return the SD card to the slot in the camcorder after using it in my laptop so that it would not get lost again.

Past questions for Q1(a) Critical Perspectives in Media

Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making.  Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.  (Jan 2010)

Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.  (June 2010)

Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time. (Jan 2011)

Explain how far your understanding of the conventions of existing media influenced the way you created your own media products. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how this understanding developed over time.  (June 2011)

Describe how your analysis of the conventions of real media texts informed your own creative media practice.  Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.  (Jan 2012)

Describe a range of  creative decisions that you made in post-production and how these decisions made a difference to the final outcomes.  Refer to a range of  examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.  (June 2012)

Explain how your research and planning skills developed over time and contributed to your media production outcomes.  Refer to a range of examples in your answer.  (Jan 2013)

A2 Exam - Media in the Online Age Video Summary

Here is a video that attempts to bring together the major points of many of the topics and theories that we have studied.  Remember that you can also use your case studies - e.g. Wikipedia, Google, Myspace, iPlayer etc. - to support your points.  You can also use your knowledge of the film industry in the online age.

I forgot to come back to Napster, but you can read about the site's history here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster

A2 Examination - Q1b: What is Media Language?

Media language is how you create meaning, using technical skills such as sound, camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.  You need to explain, using examples (one from each technical area at least), how you created meaning and how successfully this was accomplished (use feedback to evaluate your success).  See the 'key terms' tab on this blog for technical terminology that you can use.


"Media language refers to the ways in which media producers make meaning in ways that are specific to the medium in which they are working and how audiences come to be literate in ‘reading’ such meaning within the medium. For example, the ‘language of film’, print layout conventions, web design and navigation conventions in gaming.  These medium specific languages will often be closely connected to other media concepts such as genre or narrative and candidates are at liberty to make such connections to a greater or lesser extent in their answers." (OCR)

If you are writing about film language in a trailer then the following links will be useful:

http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/analysing-trailer.html
http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/synergy-a2-evaluations.html
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/language_of_film.html

A2 Examination - relevant tabs

If you are in Year 13 and taking your exam this Friday, a reminder that the relevant tabs for you are:

• A2 Examination
• Critical Perspectives in Media (the title of your exam paper)
• Media in the Online Age (Q2)
• Key Concepts (Q1b)
• Representation (Q1b)
• Genre (Q1b)
• Audience (Q1b)
• Narrative (Q1b)
• Media Language (Q1b)

A2 Examination - Q1b: Audience (useful reading)

Audience theory:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/pph9701.html
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience

Audience profiling:

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity and cultural background
• Education
• Religious and political affiliations
• Economic status
• Employment
• Sexual orientation
• Family background
• Marital status
• Group membership
• Interests 

Also use your audience feedback, focus groups and evaluations of your productions.

Media in the Online Age - "Inside Facebook" (BBC)

As Facebook heads for its 100 billion dollar flotation, Emily Maitlis updates her recent documentary on the prospects for Mark Zuckerberg's social network phenomenon.

She examines how Facebook, now with 900 million users, plans to earn the billions its new investors will expect from it. With exclusive access to Mark Zuckerberg and senior executives, Emily tells the Facebook story, and reports on its challenge - to build its advertising business from the personal information its users provide, without losing their trust.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017ywty

Another documentary on Facebook here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WiDIhIkPoM

Media in the Online Age - The Vitual Revolution: "Homo Interneticus?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5kguqbbI1c

Dr Aleks Krotoski concludes her investigation of how the World Wide Web is transforming almost every aspect of our lives.

Joined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Al Gore and the neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, Aleks examines the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and asks how they are changing our relationships.

And, in a ground-breaking test at University College London, Aleks investigates how the Web may be distracting and overloading our brains

Here is a very good summary of the series:
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/engineering-and-technology/technology/the-virtual-revolution-themes-and-alternative-readings

The Virtual Revolution - "The Cost of Free"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ3ci16tk7I

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qx4vy

Twenty years on from its invention, Dr Aleks Krotoski continues her investigation of how the World Wide Web is transforming almost every aspect of our lives. She gives the lowdown on how, for better and for worse, commerce has colonised the web - and reveals how web users are paying for what appear to be 'free' sites and services in hidden ways.

Joined by some of the most influential business leaders of today's web, including Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon), Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google), Chad Hurley (CEO of YouTube), Bill Gates, Martha Lane Fox and Reed Hastings (CEO of Netflix), Aleks traces how business, with varying degrees of success, has attempted to make money on the web.

She tells the inside story of the gold rush years of the dotcom bubble and reveals how retailers such as Amazon learned the lessons. She also charts how, out of the ashes, Google forged the business model that has come to dominate today's web, offering a plethora of highly attractive, overtly free web services, including search, maps and video, that are in fact funded through a sophisticated and highly lucrative advertising system which trades on what we users look for.

Aleks explores how web advertising is evolving further to become more targeted and relevant to individual consumers. Recommendation engines, pioneered by retailers such as Amazon, are also breaking down the barriers between commerce and consumer by marketing future purchases to us based on our previous choices.

On the surface, the web appears to have brought about a revolution in convenience. As companies start to build up databases on our online habits and preferences, Aleks questions what this may mean for our notions of privacy and personal space in the 21st century.

A2 Examination - OCR documents

http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gce/amlw/media_studies/documents/

Here you can find past papers, mark schemes and examiner's reports.  If you scroll down to the 'support materials' section you will find exemplar answers for your exam (G325).

The Virtual Revolution - "Enemy of the State"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0-i2_coqU
http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/makingofprog2.shtml

Twenty years on from the invention of the World Wide Web, Dr Aleks Krotoski looks at how it is reshaping almost every aspect of our lives. Joined by some of the Web's biggest names - including the founders of Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, and the web's inventor - she explores how far the Web has lived up to its early promise.

Here, Aleks charts how the Web is forging a new brand of politics, both in democracies and authoritarian regimes.

With contributions from Al Gore, Martha Lane Fox, Stephen Fry and Bill Gates, Aleks explores how interactive, unmediated sites like Twitter and YouTube have encouraged direct action and politicised young people in unprecedented numbers.

Yet, at the same time, the Web's openness enables hardline states to spy and censor, and extremists to threaten with networks of hate and crippling cyber attacks. 

Media in the online age - theories and theorists that you need to know

Dan Gillmor

Review of “We the Media”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/nov/06/highereducation.news

The book:  http://www.authorama.com/we-the-media-1.html

His website:  http://dangillmor.com/

Video explaining citizen journalism (“grassroots journalism”) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLHxyKwsxZ8
Example of how it works in practice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYlwMWY5PG8&feature=related

David Buckingham

Is there a digital generation?  http://www.childrenyouthandmedia.org/cscym/attachments/074_Buckingham%20Digi%20Gen2.pdf

Media Vultures: Media Technology and Everyday Creativity  http://www.participations.org/Volume%207/Issue%201/buckingham1.pdf

Henry Jenkins

Convergence:  http://www.phase1.nccr-trade.org/images/stories/jenkins_convergence_optional.pdf

Transmedia (and his site):  http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html

Michael Wesch

Youtube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch#p/u/4/09gR6VPVrpw

Information revolution:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CV05HyAbM

Clay Shirky

www.shirky.com/weblog

Here Comes everybody:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_Everybody

Review:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/22/society1

Video on Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_0FgRKsqqU

Chris Anderson

The Long Tail:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail

Video of the Long Tail (relating it to film and music):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yku0GTrcuw

John Plunkett
The impact of digital technology on the media since 2006 (podcast)

Media Talk: http://www.theguardian.com/media/audio/2014/may/30/media-talk-final

David Gauntlett

Media Studies 2.0:  http://www.theory.org.uk/mediastudies2.htm

 http://www.newmediastudies.com/intro2000.htm

Video explaining how the media world is changing:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlzu8UYidTY
Videos on media theory  http://www.theory.org.uk/video/
http://davidgauntlett.com/

Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams

Wikinomics:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikinomics:_How_Mass_Collaboration_Changes_Everything

http://www.wikinomics.com/book/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/05/digitalmedia

Interview with Tapscott explaining Wikinomics:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjGLsp9a6bg

Charles Leadbeater

‘We Think’ explained with a Youtube video and links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiP79vYsfbo
http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/home.aspx

Review:  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/here-comes-everybody-by-clay-shirky-wethink-by-charles-leadbeater-798702.html

Nicholas Carr

What the Internet is doing to our brains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaiyBcvHdV8

Andrew Keen
Digital Vertigo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY2CjqafwQk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAf__0k0l-c

Evgeny Morozov
Does digital technology really provide greater freedom?
http://www.ted.com/talks/evgeny_morozov_is_the_internet_what_orwell_feared

Douglas Rushkoff
Present shock.  When everything happens now.
https://vimeo.com/65904419

Web 2.0 (and Web 1.0)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Web 2.5
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/27258/1/Web_2.5_(LSERO).pdf

Web 3.0
https://lifeboat.com/ex/web.3.0

The Virtual Revolution - "The Great Levelling"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBZ018z2WKM

This programme considered the ongoing battle between, on one side, the original libertarian ideals of the Worldwideweb's founders and, on the other,  the people who do not pursue their ideal of freedom and sharing knowledge, but desire to regulate and/or profit from the web.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qn37q

Twenty years on from the invention of the World Wide Web, Dr Aleks Krotoski looks at how it is reshaping almost every aspect of our lives. Joined by some of the web's biggest names - including the founders of Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, and the web's inventor - she explores how far the web has lived up to its early promise.

In the first in this four-part series, Aleks charts the extraordinary rise of blogs, Wikipedia and YouTube, and traces an ongoing clash between the freedom the technology offers us, and our innate human desire to control and profit.

What is 'libertarianism'?

According to Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz, Free Press, 1997. 

Libertarianism is the view that each person has the right to live his life in any way he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others. Libertarians defend each person's right to life, liberty, and property-rights that people have naturally, before governments are created. In the libertarian view, all human relationships should be voluntary; the only actions that should be forbidden by law are those that involve the initiation of force against those who have not themselves used force-actions like murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud.

We made detailed notes.