13A HT HW: Research/MEST 4 CW Ideas

For Mon 01.11.10 (MEST 4 lesson)...

A-Z RESEARCH

Read the Media A-Z (as much as possible). At the very least, read/highlight the following (but don't highlight too much!)...

Issues/Debates

• Representation and stereotyping
• Media effects
• Reality TV
• News Values
• Moral Panics
• Post 9/11 and the media
• Ownership and control
• Regulation and censorship
• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century
• The effect of globalisation on the media

Theories

• Semiotics
• Structuralism and post-structuralism
• Postmodernism and its critiques
• Gender and ethnicity
• Marxism and hegemony
• Liberal Pluralism
• Colonialism and Post-colonialism
• Audience theories
• Genre theories

...and also any additional terms that are flagged up under each of these headings (they appear in a different font to denote that there are entries for them elsewhere in the dictionary).

MEST4 COURSEWORK IDEAS

On your MEST4 blog...

Write THREE critical Investigation titles/Linked Production ideas in full. Make sure you're clear about your main text and that there's enough detail included.

Select the best one (of the above) and make notes on the following...

• MIGRAIN
• SHEP
• Theories
• Issues/Debates
• "This fits into the contemporary media landscape because..."

Also, include...

FIVE internet links to relevant research on your text/topic. Make sure they're from different sources, hopefully as academic as possible.

13C HT HW: Alternative Representations in Hip Hop

Due Tue 02.11.10 (MEST3 lesson)...

Do alternative representations exist of male and/ or female roles in the hip hop genre? Find an example and explore how the representation differs from those typically found. (Have a look at the Sarah Jones video, above, for an excellent feminist critique of the misogyny in hip hop).

Write up an analysis (1,000 words) using still images/screen grabs to illuminate your points.

Also, please ensure you're up-to-date with ALL the following...

Gender & Advertising HW

Feminism/Post-Feminism HW

13A - Half Term HW - Due Monday 1 November

On your blog, answer the following questions regarding your representation case study.

1. What group of people or place you will be studying the representation of, and on which platform(s):
2. Why have you chosen this topic and why do you think it will be a rich area of study?
3. Identify at least 3 media texts that you will use as your primary sources (e.g. a specific newspaper, TV programme, film, magazine, website...)
4. List the theorists who are relevant for your study (choose from: Gaye Tuchman; David Gauntlett; Laura Mulvey; Judith Butler; Stuart Hall; Antonio Gramsci; Anthony Giddens; Manuel Alvarado; Nick Lacey; Richard Dyer; Marshall MsLuhan; Theodor Adorno.)
5. What have your chosen theorists written about your topic area? Include quotations and comment on their connection to your topic area.
   

13C Media - work for 20/10/10 - Period 2 and HW for half-term

For homework you should have written a first draft of the introduction to your critical investigation question. Please email this to lwigley by 20/10/10.

If you have not already done so, apply MIGRAIN and SHEP to the two media texts which will form the main focus of your critical investigation. Post this to your blog by 20/10/10.

By 23/10/10 add to your blog a list of the first 5 texts you have read as research for your critical investigation. Quote all sections of the texts which are relevant to your question and comment on their relevance. Remember to update your bibliography with all the books and websites you have used in your research so far.

Over half term - continue with your research. Use the internet (remember to use the Media Magazine website!!) and text books to find at least 5 more texts (10 in total so far) which are relevant to your question. Post relevant quotations to your blog and comment on their connection to your question. Update your bibliography. Be ready to present all you research on 3/11/10.

Remember to take notes on all the Media Theorists at the media magazine conference on Thursday - much of this may be relevant to your area of study.

13C HW: Feminism/Post-Feminism

1. Comment Notification
Set up: 'Comment Notification Email' on both your blogs. Go to 'Settings'-'Comments'-'Comment Notification Email' (at the bottom of the page) and enter the email address you check most regularly. This way you will receive an email (with the comments) every time someone comments on your blog - important when teachers/students provide you with feedback.


2. Read/Highlight Exemplar Essay
Read: Bianca's essay... What are the different representations of women in adverts and how are they signified? and paste onto your blog, along with the embedded videos.
Highlight: (in a different colour, on your blog) the media keywords she uses in her essay.


3. Peer Assess Essay
Read: Someone else's advertising essay (apart from Parminder's, Ahmed's or Yusra's as these were the other best ones).
Comment: on their answer, providing www/ebi feedback. Consider: spelling/punctuation/paragraphing, use/highlighting of media terminology, quality/development of argument, etc.


4. Understanding Post-Feminism
Read: FAQ: What is “Post-feminism”?
Rank: the FOUR 'Clarifying Concepts' - paste them onto your blog in your order with an explanation.

5. Post-Feminism Reading/Reserach

Read: POST-FEMINISM AND POPULAR CULTURE and post the link to the paper on your blog.

Identify: FIVE media texts referenced (by name or genre) in the paper. For each one find a relevant clip or online print version and post up on your blog including TWO or THREE key quotes from the paper that outline its significance in the debate.

6. Mulvey Reading/Essay

Read: the Laura Mulvey article highlighting and annotating key points.

Find: a clip/ sequence from a recent film or TV programme which you feel demonstrates Laura Mulvey’s Theory. Write: a detailed analysis (750 words min.) using media language and relevant key concepts of how the ‘male gaze’ has been constructed in the text. Include in the analysis stills from the clip to highlight your points.

HW for 13A - Due 14/10/10

Please see HW for 13C posted on 3 October - your HW is the same (a 1000 word analysis of 2 TV ads - on which represents women positively and one that represents women negatively)

Gender & Advertising HW

For 13C to be completed by Tue 12.10...

Reading/Questions

After reading 'Gender in Advertising' (Gauntlett, from 'Media, Gender & Identity'...the link provides most of the book - read it!) and 'Sexism With an Alibi' (from 'The Guardian'), answer the following questions (on your blogs)...

1. What sort of images of women and men dominated advertising pre-1970s? Why was this the case?
2. How did the advertising of the 1970’s continue to perpetuate the stereotype of women, despite depicting women in a greater range of roles?
3. Can Gaye Tuchman’s quote regarding under-representation and the ‘symbolic annihilation of women’ still be applied in 21st Century advertising? If so, how?
4. Do you agree that adverts, such as those for the 1990’s Boots No. 7, ‘It’s not make-up. It’s ammunition.’ campaign, are post-feminist (thereby representing women as better than men?). Explain your answer.
5. Is the representation of women by the media accountable for the results of a survey in which ‘women were up to ten times more likely than men to be unhappy with their body image’?
6. Is the contemporary representation of men in advertising perhaps also a negative one where they too are treated as sex objects?

Research

Using YouTube, find the following and embed on your blogs...

1. THREE historical adverts (1950s-1970s) featuring women - one positive representation, one negative, and a third you find interesting (could be either)
2. THREE adverts featuring men - one historical, two contemporary (one of which treats men as sex objects)
3. A post-feminist advert (research this idea if you're unsure what it means)

For each one, provide a paragraph of textual analysis, explaining how it is positive or negative and why you think this is so.

Remember to include the gender keywords (below) where possible and try to make reference to the theorists and researchers in Gauntlett's article too...

Misogyny, Patriarchy, Self Objectification, Feminism, Post-Feminism, Voyeurism, Androgyny, Male Gaze (Mulvey), ISA/RSA (Althusser), Dominant/Subordinate, Content/Textual Analysis, Naturalisation, Myth (Barthes), 'Fourth Estate', Phallic Symbols, Fetishization, Hegemony, Abnormal/Deviant, Femme Fatale, Stereotype, 'Symbolic Annihilation' (Tuchmann), Sex/Gender

TV Ad Analysis HW (Gender)

For 13C to be completed by Tue 05.10...

Select TWO contemporary TV advertisements (ONE that you think offers a negative representation of women and ONE that you consider to offer a positive representation of women).

Write a detailed analysis (paying close attention to media language, narrative structure and genre codes) of how women are represented in them both and WHY this might be, using relevant media terminology and theory.

Embed the YouTube clips on your blog and include stills to support your argument.

Some Keywords to consider...

Misogyny, Patriarchy, Self Objectification, Feminism, Post-Feminism, Voyeurism, Androgyny, Male Gaze (Mulvey), ISA/RSA (Althusser), Dominant/Subordinate, Content/Textual Analysis, Naturalisation, Myth (Barthes), 'Fourth Estate', Phallic Symbols, Fetishization, Hegemony, Abnormal/Deviant, Femme Fatale, Stereotype, 'Symbolic Annihilation' (Tuchmann), Sex/Gender

1,000 words approx.

HW for 13A - 30/09/10 - Due 6/10/10

Visit the MediaGuardian100 2010 site and research the following.

Post your findings, including images, onto your MEST 3 blog:

1. What is the Guardian 100 and who are the panellists that create it?
2. How many women are in the top 100?
3. What companies do these women work for and in what roles?
4. What percentage of the 100 is women?
5. How would you assess the balance of power in this list and why do you think it is this way?"

13C Media - HW - 30/9/10 - Due 6/10/10

On your MEST 4 blog post your initial ideas for your Critical Investigation and Linked Production.

List at least 2 Media texts do you plan to investigate.
Why have you chosen these texts?
Apply MIGRAIN/SHEP to the 2 texts.
What are the issues and debates surrounding these two texts?
State why you believe the 2 texts fit the 'contemporary media landscape'.
Which media theories might you apply to the 2 texts?

Please ensure this information is posted on your blog before the lesson on Wednesday 6 October.

MediaGuardian100 2010

For 13C to be completed by Wed 29.09...

Visit the MediaGuardian100 2010 site and research the following.

Post your findings, including images, onto your MEST 3 blog:

1. What is the Guardian 100 and who are the panellists that create it?
2. How many women are in the top 100?
3. What companies do these women work for and in what roles?
4. What percentage of the 100 is women?
5. How would you assess the balance of power in this list and why do you think it is this way?

Best Internet Video

For those of you who haven't seen it, here's the best (and certainly the funniest) video produced before the summer when you were asked to summarise some of your introductory learning for MEST3 Critical Perspectives: The Impact of New/Digital Media...well done to Kalbir and Jason:

Video Peer Assessment

For 12C1...

Write a self-evaluation (on your blog) of your internet video, summarising the info on your feedback forms. Make explicit reference to the level descriptors (ACTUP) and WWW/EBI.

Create a links list in your sidebar (on your blog) for the New Media (MEST 3) blogs of everyone in Year 12 (use the links here).

Watch & compare all the videos produced by all Year 12 students.

Select the FIVE best and post links to the specific videos or embed them in a new posting (on your blog).

For each video you choose, award the student an ‘eCommendation’ in their comments section. Explain why (ACTUP) and thank them for their efforts.

12C2 Video H/W

TASK (individual or pairs) – By Wednesday 7th July

Set up a new individual blog called MEST3 Critical Perspectives

Post up the address in the comments section of ‘The internet: Everything you...’ before the deadline

On your blog, post up your written summary/response to: The internet: Everything you ever need to know

Create a ONE MINUTE video that consolidates your learning about the impact of new/digital media so far (you should use Premiere or Movie Maker); post it on YouTube (you may need to set up an account); and embed it into your blog

Include text (summarising some of the information you’ve learned + some new research); images (moving or still; shot yourself or found online); and an appropriate soundtrack

Answer the key questions - What is so special about the internet? What is wrong with the internet? How does the internet change audiences?

Use the original lesson slides to help...

MEST3 Internet Lessons 1-3

Summer Research Project

For all Year 12 students (who'll be Year 13 in September '10)...

The following needs to be completed by the first lesson you come back at the start of September..

• Start a new blog. Call it MEST 4: Research & Production
• Leave a comment with the address and your name in the relevant MEST4 section below so I can put up a link on this blog.
• Choose a film or television text that you are really interested in and that is less than five years old.
• Get hold of a copy of your text. Watch it at least once over the summer. While you are watching it make key concepts notes and post them up on your new blog, considering the following questions for each key concept...
  

Media Representations

Who is being represented?

• In what way?
• By whom?

Why is the subject being represented in this way?

• Is the representation fair and accurate?
• What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?

Media Languages and Forms

• What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?
• What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
• What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?
• What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings?
• What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text?
• What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
• What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)?

Narrative

• How is the narrative organised and structured?
• How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
• How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
• What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
• What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
• What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?

Genre

• To which genre does the text belong?
• What are the major generic conventions within the text?
• What are the major iconographic features of the text?
• What are the major generic themes?
• To what extent are the characters generically determined?
• To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
• Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?

Media Institutions

• What is the institutional source of the text?
• In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
• Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?
• Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?
• How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology

• What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
• What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?

Media Audiences

• To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?
• What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
• What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
• In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
• What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
• What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?
• How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?

Other Tasks to complete by the start of September...

• Research your text on the internet. Start by using the de.li.cio.us tags that are on the sidebar ('Macguffin Links') to guide your research. These links are some of the best sites for Media Studies.

• Post up all evidence of research on your blog. You are looking for the following: reviews, newspaper/magazine articles, useful book titles linked to your text, relevant theory, relevant media issues and debates, information about wider contexts, etc.

• Don't just cut and paste mindlessly - be selective, try to summarise the information, comment on it and explain why it is useful. Also, make sure that you include specific links to all the sites you find.

• Feel free to be as creative with your blogs as you can. Include pictures, clips, reflections, links, etc.

• Prepare a presentation to be given to the class during the first week you return. In this you will show everyone your blog and talk through the research you found. Also, you will need to put together a five-minute Powerpoint presentation that summarises what you've found out. Use the Significance, Structure, Simplicity, Rehearsal checklist on slide 58 of the guide about how to prevent Death by PowerPoint as this will help you produce a more interesting presentation.
  

Good luck. There is a lot to do here. Our advice is to work on this throughout the Summer rather than leaving it all to the last minute. It should be an enjoyable process - finding out about something that you're interested in. If you have any problems then please don't hesitate to email me.

And remember, the aim of this is to develop your key research skills that you'll be using when you do your coursework next year...and these are skills that are vital for any subject you do in Year 13 or at university.

Mest4 Blogs 12C1

Mest4 Blogs 12C2

Mest4 Blogs 12D1

The internet: Everything you ever need to know

Excellent Guardian article...

The internet: Everything you ever need to know

Free Online Media Textbook!

Download this...

Media and Cultural Theory

And, in particular, check the sections on...

• Marxism
• Neo Marxism
• Post Modernism
• Feminism
• Post Colonialism