Countdown

Med 5 Deadline

As you already know (but it can't hurt to be reminded) the deadline for the first draft of your Independent Study coursework is...

• Monday 5th February

By this date, a complete 3000 word first draft should have been posted up onto your blog, along with footnotes and a complete, detailed bibliography (set out correctly). If you're in any doubt about what this should look like then please check out some of the finished grade 'A' and 'B' Independent Studies from last year.

These will also be helpful when thinking about how to write your essay (what to include in the introduction and conclusion, how to structure the work, how to set out quotes, the correct tone, and how much research to include - they each contain between 20 and 40 footnotes, etc.)

But please ensure that all writing is done in your own words. Plagiarism is a very serious business and anyone found simply copying from other sources (either students or books/websites) will be in real trouble. And you will be found out if you do! We're not stupid - we know how you write, and we know very well what was in the previous studies (and there are numerous online checkers that we can feed your work into to see if it has been plagiarised).

The other thing you'll need to do is hand in a hard copy (on paper) in your first lesson nearest the deadline (so Monday 5th February for 13C, and Tuesday 6th February for 13D). This should be set out in one and a half spacing, and justified on both left and right hand sides.

Good luck!!

Med 5 Tutorials

You will be each be receiving a crucial one-to-one tutorial with your Media teacher during January 2007. However, you must have completed all blog tasks (1-14) to be eligible for this so these need to be done by the day we return after Christmas (Monday 08-01-07). Also, when you attend the tutorial you must bring your fully organised research folder with you so get those in order now if you haven't done already.

Finally, the deadline for the completed first draft of the Independent Study is...

• Monday 5th February

This means that if you have a tutorial towards the end of study leave you will only have one and a half weeks to get all 3000 words done (with footnotes and a full bibliography for it to be accepted) so the advice would be to get in early for a tutorial.

Available times will be posted below for each class...

13C Tutorials

Arrive at the Media Suite (E05) at least five minutes early and make sure you have completed all Med 5 Tasks 1-14 and that you have your Media folder with you...

• Wednesday 10-01: Ashley (9am), Jaskeerat (9.30am), Kiranjit (10am), Nathan (2pm)

• Thursday 11-01: Jatinder (9.50am), Shreena (1pm), Avinash (1.30pm), Kelly (2pm), Ajay (2.30pm), Priya (3pm)

• Friday 12-01: Alliaya (11am), Pip (11.30am), Ruby (midday), Heena (1.30pm), Navdeep (2pm), Kalpan (2.30pm), Anika (3pm)

• Monday 15-01: Kiran (9am), Alice (9.30am), Sam (10am)

13D Tutorials

Times will be posted up here.

Module 1 Preparation

Your revision/preparation for the Module 1 re-sit in January should be...

• Revision of MIGRAIN - key questions to ask, keywords/glossary .

• Read through all Module 1 class notes, practices and handouts.

• Re-read Module 1 revision pack, focusing especially on the print info/examples.

• Timed practice - MIGRAIN analysis of a range of print texts...

1. film posters (of different genres/decades, using imdb & clicking on posters in the sidebar)
2. tabloid & broadsheet newspaper front & back pages (use del.ici.ous links to find them)
   
3. magazine & newspaper adverts (you actually need to buy a few here!)
   
4. front covers of magazines (again, different genres; & see this article that analyzes teenage mags)
5. CD, DVD & video game covers (try Amazon for examples)
   
6. paperback book covers (again, try Amazon)
   

It is vital that you practice under exam conditions - spend 15 minutes annotating/planning and then one hour writing your answer.

If you are short for time then you can always just do the 15-minute MIGRAIN note-taking exercise on some days but try to do this as often as possible in the run-up to the exam (every day?).

For homework over the holiday, you must complete at least three of these practice exams and post them up on your Module 6 blogs. Failure to do so will mean we will not pay for any further re-sits you wish to take.

Please post up as comments on here a record of the practice you have done - it will be useful for people to share ideas about what texts are good to try, where you can get links to them online, and an opportunity to ask Macguffin any questions about any of the Key Concepts. Also, your Module 1 teacher will be alerted when you've finished a timed essay and you can get some feedback on it.

And don't forget - you can bring in any hand-written timed essays during the one and a half weeks when we return after Xmas to show to your teachers before the exam on Wednesday January 17th at 1.30pm. ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!

Finally, there is a compulsory REVISION CLASS on the first day back after school - Monday 8th January at 3.25pm - and this is the deadline for the three practice exams to be done and posted up to your blogs. 13C should go to E01; 13D to P06.

Module 2 Preparation

Your revision/preparation for Module 2 re-sit in January (only a few of you) should be...

• Read through all notes, handouts and past essays on the key texts...

1. Film & Broadcast Fiction - 'Bullet Boy', 'City of God', 'Curb your Enthusiasm', 'Eastenders'.
2. Documentary - 'Bowling for Columbine', 'Big Brother', 'Man With a Movie Camera', 'Triumph of the Will'.

This includes all the general handouts on documentary, soaps and sitcoms, etc. You can download study materials on 'Bullet Boy', 'City of God' and 'Bowling for Columbine' at Cineschool. Also, put any of the texts into Wikipedia - it usually has good background info/links.

• Try to watch the texts again. A lot are available online - just click on the links above.
  

• Make new notes on each key text (above)...your own mini-revision guides, focusing on the Key Concepts for each one.

• Re-read Module 2 revision pack.

• Revision of MIGRAIN - key questions to ask, keywords/glossary + film language worksheets.

• Read through all 'Film & Broadcast Fiction' & 'Documentary' past questions.

• Write essay plans for as many different questions as possible.

Complete as many timed essays as you can (45 minutes/question).

And as with Module 1 - you can bring in any hand-written timed essays during the one and a half weeks when we return after Xmas to show to your teachers before the exam on Wednesday January 17th immediately after the Module 1 re-sit.

Med 5 Blog Task 14

The following comprises TASK FOURTEEN. It also needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Monday 8th January, 2007. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Type out the full title of your independent study, highlighting what you consider to be the keywords in a different colour.
  

• Then write out the first paragraph and post it on your blog. This is usually the hardest in any essay (along with the last one!) Obviously, it must be a clear introduction that makes reference to the keywords in the title and outlines the various areas that you will be exploring in the course of the essay. It may introduce a hypothesis (something that you will seek to test/prove during the next 3000 words). For example, you may be arguing that 'Kill Bill' demonstrates a change in the representation of women. It's a bit like the debate in this sense - you are putting forward a proposition and making points that will back it up (although you will also be given credit here for considering both sides of the argument too).

Med 5 Blog Task 13

The following comprises TASK THIRTEEN. It also needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Monday 8th January, 2007. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Produce a detailed essay plan for your independent study, covering everything that you hope to include in your submission. Break your ideas and research down into sections and paragraphs with headings, summaries and a list of references that you hope to include at each step. You can see an excellent one from last year by Manjoth (Navdeep's big sister).
  

• Make sure that you label each point you hope to include by linking it to Key Concepts (MIGRAIN) and Wider Contexts (SHEP). (You could just include the initial letter in brackets). This way you can see whether you have covered everything that you need to in an even way. Also, ensure that you think about where you will include theories/theorists and media keywords. (Keep the 'Essential Word Dictionary' handy).

• This will make writing your essay so much easier. However, it is a big task as it requires you to read through all your research very carefully (including reviewing all the work that you've posted up in your blogs and checking through the comments/suggestions you've received).

You may want to produce this plan as a straightforward series of bullet points or as a more complex mindmap. If it's the latter you may have to do it by hand and then scan it in before posting it up on your blog. Or you may want to try out a free trial of some mind-mapping software.

Med 5 Blog Task 12

The following comprises TASK TWELVE. It needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Monday 8th January, 2007. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Research a historical text that you can use to compare with your contemporary one (that is the main focus of your study). By 'historical' it is meant anything pre-1990 but the 40s, 50s, 60s or even 70s might be more fruitful because they pre-date many of the important changes that have occurred recently (such as the gains for women as a result of feminism). The purpose here is to be able to demonstrate how society has changed over the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts.

• Ideally, you will watch at least one film/tv programme from the past, make notes on it and research it in Media/Film Studies textbooks and on the internet. The best option is to watch the whole text on DVD (you may be able to borrow it from us) or otherwise you might be able to see extracts on YouTube. How is it similar/different to your text? How does this show how the genre/society has changed? (A highly recommended text here is 'The Cinema Book', edited by Pam Cook and Mieke Bernink and available in the school library. If you follow the link here you can read the contents page and index online and this will be useful). Through this you will become aware of developments in the genre you are researching - look for a range of titles (at least five) that you can refer to in your essay - and you should be able to link them to the wider contexts that were present at the time.

• If you can't get hold of the text it's not the end of the world - you are stuck with doing just secondary research instead of this and primary research. Just make sure you do plenty of it.

• List your media texts, research, analysis and links/bibliography in a blog post entitled 'Historical Texts'.

Debate Teams

We've had some exciting lessons over the past two days as both sides elected their captains and selected the teams to contest the Great Media Debate 2006. In the lists that follow you'll see the captains of each team in each debate highlighted in red, followed by the rest of their team (with researchers/subs in brackets). Here they are...

13C ('C-Squad')

• Captain: Parampreet (aka 'Pip')

13D ('G-Unit')

• Captain: Rajan (aka 'Minty')

The Women Debate

• 13C: Navdeep, Ruby, Avinash (+ Heena, Sam, Anika, Priya)

• 13D: Bushara, Sherish, Dinveer (+ Prascilla, Furzana, Rishi)

The Genre Debate

• 13C: Jaskeerat/Jatinder, Alice (+ Kelly, Kalpan, Kiranjit)

• 13D: Puja, Gurveer, Harveen (+ Sawan, Harpreet, Sonal)

The Hegemony Debate

• 13C: Pip, Ashley, Kiran (+ Alliaya, Ajay, Shreena, Nathan)

• 13D: Rajan, Kavita, Balinder (+ Raspreet, Mo, Ramneet)

It promises to be a superb battle, not least because of the strength of the teams. Did you know, for instance that every single captain got a grade A for their AS? And, also, I was really impressed at how focussed and on-task both sides were when they got together in their groups on Thursday and Friday. You are taking this seriously, which is great - the harder you work now, the more chance you have of winning and the more you learn for your coursework/exams.

Everyone's a winner...except this isn't exactly true because one side will lose the debate! Get your homework done this weekend to keep your side ahead in the pre-contest buildup!

And post up a comment below to tell us what you think of your team's chances (but no personal attacks, please). Let the hype begin!!

Media Debate 2006

It's time to start preparing for this year's Media Debate! Each side - 13C vs 13D, that is - must field three teams of three students each. Like last year, there will be three separate debates about three different media topics on the day. The rest of the group members will be involved in researching beforehand and asking questions during the debate.

We have booked the date for it to take place - Thursday 14th December, after school in the Sixth Form Block. The audience will include all Year 12 Media Studies students and various members of staff so the pressure is on! We will start preparing you for the event this week. You need to think about who your team members will be - and you need to elect a captain.

Bush (13C) and Munro (13D) will be acting as official trainers. You can call on us for support and advice and we will be offering some additional time in lessons over the next two and a half weeks to get you ready. Mr Day and Mrs West will be available to offer expert debating advice to the team members and will also go on to act as impartial judges on the big day. They will also be offering both sides a special preparation session which is provisionally arranged for Tuesday 5th December at 3.25pm in E01. You are all expected to attend this meeting because you will otherwise not know about the correct procedures for formal debating nor will you know about the best strategies for winning.

The event will be captured on digital video - shot by Year 12s - so make sure you look good in every way as we hope to avoid the way it all descended into (enjoyable) farce at the end of last year's event.

The three debates are as follows...

The Women Debate

Mulvey continues to be relevant because women remain subordinate to the power of the male gaze and this demonstrates how the media is still inherently patriarchal.

The Genre Debate

Hollywood produces repetitive, formulaic and unimaginative genre movies that pander to 'dumbed down' audiences and this means that independent, art-house films are all that is worth watching.

The Hegemony Debate

The mass media in the UK still seek to promote hegemony and are responsible for injecting passive audiences with dominant ideologies.

Homework - due on Monday 4th December (13C) or Tuesday 5th (13D) - is to have started researching your topic on the internet and to bring this material to the lesson. You need to get on with this as there will only be one and a half weeks to go before the debate (in front of the 50+ Year 12 audience and guests too) and you need to get the information together so that you can start practicing. Don't forget - you won't know until the day itself whether you are required to debate in favour or against the motion so you have to research both sides of the argument and think about objections to your points and how you will counter them.

Tips are as follows...

The Women Debate

To start with, use your Independent Study research material for this one - at least half the people in each class are covering this topic in one way or another. You will have lots of case studies to draw from, many concrete examples and theory etc. that you've got from the library and the internet.

Then refer to the handouts you've received so far in lessons about the subject - from 'Media Gender & Identity' (Gauntlett), from 'Introducing Media Studies' and from the articles you've been given from 'The Guardian'. These make ideal starting points from which you can go on to explore key ideas and theorists in more depth.

Do more internet research, beginning with the following sites...

David Gauntlett's 'Media, Gender & Identity' Site...really useful articles and links.
MediaKnowall...has a good overview on representation and links to stuff on gender.
The Media & Communications Studies Site...loads of links to some very academic articles.
MediaGuardian and The Guardian websites...do searches on the 'representation of women'.

And, obviously, check out all the del.ici.ous links that are tagged women, representation, or Med 4.

The Genre Debate

As with the Representation Debate your Independent Studies are the best starting points. You (should) know these texts really well so you can use them as case studies and include specific examples from them to back up your points.

Then you will need to research genre theory. We will be covering this later in the course so you will be able to pick up some handouts on this from school but you will also find a lot about it on the internet...

Film Education has resources on genre and how it operates in the film industry.
Introductory stuff on genre from a sixth form college website.
The Media & Communications Studies Site...lots of links to articles outlining genre theory.
Guardian Unlimited Film is a great starting place to search for topical discussions.

Also, be sure to make full use of the other del.ici.ous links, especially the Med 4 ones.

The Hegemony Debate

You will need to research representation theory (hegemonic and pluralistic views), audience theory (effects, uses and gratifications, reception theory, etc.) and you'll need to know about media institutions/ownership(use the case studies you all did on your blogs) along with stuff about globalisation and marxism. Look at all the handouts you've received in your Module 6 lessons. You will also find a lot about it on the internet...

The Media & Communications Studies Site...lots of links to articles outlining various theory.
Also, be sure to make full use of the other del.ici.ous links, especially the Med 6 ones.


Finally...
Don't forget - all of this research serves a dual purpose in that it is also directly linked to your coursework and your exam modules. If you work hard here in an attempt to win the debate (and avoid looking stupid) then you will have also done invaluable preparation in your quest for excellent A Level results. Good luck!!

Med 5 Blog Task 11

By Monday 27-11 for 13C. For 13D - discuss with teacher.

TASK ELEVEN
Mulvey

• In your own words, write a summary on your blog of the arguments that Laura Mulvey puts forward in her Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975). (13C should have already done this) As you know, this is one of the key texts in Media Studies when considering the representation of women. You can consult the two handouts that you've been given so far on her ideas or do some additional research on the internet (and don't forget to check the Essential Word Dictionary). Try to include as many of the keywords that we have covered...

Freud, psychoanalysis, the unconscious, resistance, repression, scopophilia, voyeurism, castration, sadism/masochism, fetishization/fetish object, objectification, patriarchy, misogyny, identification, narcissism, idealization, anxiety, audience positioning/spectatorship, MALE GAZE, narrative cinema, phallic objects, womb/penis envy.

• Then post up on your blog a mini-essay about how the theory could be useful for you in your Independent Study. How can you apply it to your text and the representations within it? Again use as many of the keywords as you can. For most of you this will definitely be the case and even where it is not immediately obvious that you might be able to refer to it, try to be creative because it is a theory that you must know well. If there are men or women in your text then it's likely to be possible! Try to identify key scenes/moments where the theory is especially useful as well as considering the whole text/genre in the light of Mulvey's ideas.
  

• If you really feel that it's not relevant to you (although it's doubtful that this is the case) then you need to choose another theory/theorist that you haven't already covered and do the above with them.
  

Best 13C - Best Med 5 Blogs

Congratulations to the following 13C students who have produced the best Med 5 blogs for the first half term...

1 Credit Blogs

• Anika - Solid and committed effort, providing a good basis for starting the Independent Study essay.
  

• Kiran - Meticulous and well presented blogwork with a range of useful research.

• Kiranjit - Good research and appropriate links to other sites.

• Sam - Lively and attractive blog, covering most of the tasks well.

• Shreena - Quite detailed with some interesting contextual articles included.
  

3 Credit Blogs

• Ajay - Some thorough research, meeting deadlines very well.

• Avinash - Colourful blog with detailed explanations of links and keywords.

• Kalpan - A great deal of self-directed research and media theory is covered well.

• Parampreet - Good understanding of media keywords and intelligent analysis.

• Priya - Nice template and lots of institutional info that could be useful.
  

5 Credit Blogs = Automatic Commendation

• Alice - Excellent blog: every post is clear and concise yet contains really useful detail.
  

• Heena - Demonstrates excellent hard work and independence: loads of self-directed research.
  

• Jaskeerat - Extremely well researched: shows a real interest in the text and topic.
  

• Jatinder - Some excellent, really engaged research: grasps well a challenging topic.
  

• Navdeep - Really detailed work: shows effort and commitment to the task.

For homework (for 13C students) please visit all the 5 Credit blogs over the next week and leave a comment on the most recent post (which should be entitled...'What do you think of my blog?') saying what you like about them (give specific details). Also, choose one of the postings/links that they each include and appropriate it. This means that you copy and paste the info to your blog (in a post entitled 'Appropriated Research') and say who it's from and how it's relevant for your study.

13D - Best Med 6 Blogs

Congratulations to the following 13D students who have produced the best Med 6 Blogs for the first half term...

3 Credit Blogs

• Dinveer - Some interesting comments and well chosen articles (including a useful one giving advice for people considering a Media degree).

• Furzana - Detailed and well presented blog (except for the article on the Pope!?).

• Harveen - Clear and focussed research (and good links to other institutions).

• Puja - A range of good media stories.

• Raspreet - Good comments throughout and visually appealing with appropriate images included.

5 Credit Blogs = Automatic Commendation

• Bushara - Really engaged approach demonstrated by passionate comments, especially in relation to issues relating to Islamaphobia in the Media.

• Rajan - Detailed and intelligent opinions throughout and an excellent format for reporting the stories with a summary section (in his own words!) before his comments.

• Sherish - Some excellent comments and a very professional-looking blog (great template!).

For homework (for 13D students) please visit all these blogs over the next week and leave a comment on the most recent post (which should be entitled...'What do you think of my blog?') saying what you like about them. Also, choose one of the stories that they each comment on and say what you think about them. Do you agree or disagree with them? What's your take on their story?

This way we can be sure that you've checked them out and learnt from them!

Med 5 Blog Task 10

TASK TEN
Book Research

Although you've been doing some excellent internet research, it's crucial if you want a top grade (i.e. an A or B) to include a wide range of book research as part of your study too. The internet has only been around as for a decade or so and absolutely anyone can publish on the web. This means that when it comes to academic investigations books still carry much more authority.

You'll need at least a dozen decent book references in your bibliography. By 'decent' we mean relevant academic works or textbooks that you actually quote or refer to in the main body of your essay. It won't be enough just to copy out a long list of related books - you have to have read at least part of each one and identified useful material that you can use from them. Use the contents page and index in each book to help you select that nugget of information that could be helpful.

Please carry out the following by the time you return after half term (31-10-06)...

• This week you must visit the school library which, quite frankly, has the best range of media books for miles (better than Ealing libraries for sure). As everyone in Year 13 is doing this task (nearly forty of you) it would be a bit selfish to borrow the books from the library because it stops anyone else from using them. Therefore, until Friday (20-10) please treat all media-related books as reference books and don't take them out. (But if you want to borrow them over the holiday then please do so from the last day before it starts).
  

• Check through all the media- and film-related books. Then photocopy some of the relevant pages and highlight and annotate the essential details you expect to include. Or you can make notes/copy out quotes that might be relevant for your essay

• Post up at least TEN books you've started researching in a posting entitled: 'Bibliography: Books'. For each one write a brief summary about how it will be useful - be specific! Make sure you include all the required information in the correct way (and this includes keeping a record of page references)...

Author Surname, Author First Name (year of publication): Title. Place of Publication: Publisher.
eg...Craig, Steve (1992) : Men, Masculinity and the Media. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

If you can add more now then please do - you'll have to in the future.

During the holiday it's also advisable to go to Ealing libraries (Greenford, Ealing Broadway, etc.) to see what they've got. Also, you could visit larger bookshops (e.g. Waterstones in Ealing, Borders in Brent Cross) and see what they have on offer.

Make sure that you bring all the photocopied/highlighted/annotated research to the lesson on the deadline day!

Blog Buddies

Here's the full listing of all the Blog Buddies decided last week. For some of you it was love at first sight; for others, one or both of you were playing hard to get. Most of you now have your Task 9 Proposals posted up on your blogs but if you haven't then you must get this done before Monday 15-10. Here are the beautiful new relationships (buddies from the other class in brackets)...

13C ('C' Groups)

• Ajay (Raspreet) + Pip (Puja)

• Navdeep (Sherish) + Avinash (Harveen)

• Alice (Harpreet) + Kelly (Harpreet)

• Nathan (Rajan) + Ashley (Mo)

• Alliaya (Balinder) + Shreena (Balinder)

• Priya (Bushara) + Sam (Furzana) + Ruby (Prascilla)

• Heena (Dinveer) + Kiranjit (Rishi)

• Kiran (Sawan) + Anika (Sawan) + Kalpan (Kavita)

• Jatinder (Ramneet) + Jaskeerat (Sonal)

13D ('D' Groups)

• Harpreet (Alice, Kelly) + Furzana (Sam)

• Harveen (Avinash) + Balinder (Shreena, Alliaya)

• Sonal (Jaskeerat) + Prascilla (Ruby)

• Dinveer (Heena) + Rishi (Kiranjit)

• Ramneet (Jatinder) + Mo (Ashley)

• Sherish (Navdeep) + Bushara (Priya)

• Raspreet (Ajay) + Puja (Pip)

• Rajan (Nathan) + Kavita (Kalpan)

• Sawan (Kiran) + Gurveer

Most of you now each belong to two different pairings (i.e. you have two different Blog Buddies: one from your class; one from the other class) and two different groups (which we'll call Blog Buddy Groups: one for where you are in the 'C' group listing; the other for where you are in the 'D' group listing). Your pairings are the same whichever way you look at it but the groups are usually different (except for those highlighted in blue) because your Blog Buddy from the other class will have selected a different Blog Buddy from their class to the one that your Blog Buddy from your class selected from the other class. (I think!?)

Confused? Don't worry about it! It just means that this process has thrown up some interesting combinations whereby you have identified a range of different links between your Med 5 studies. There will be various paired and group activities to come where you'll be supporting each other, collaborating on projects and critiquing each other's work, so what you should ensure is that you regularly check back on the progress of your Blog Buddies' and your Blog Buddy Groups' online work so that you're familiar with what they're doing for when the tasks are set. And, obviously, by doing this you're bound to get lots of ideas about how to progress with your own study. Feel free, of course, to start communicating with each other and sharing ideas before you're set any formal tasks...a bit of self-directed collaboration won't go amiss!!

Remember - ultimately, we're all Team GHS...we're working together to get the best results for all of us, not in petty competition with individuals when there are 10,000 other A2 Media students out there!

Med 5 Blog Task 9

TASK NINE
Find Your 'Blog Buddies'

You should know a lot about each other's blogs by now - through doing the comments task and through checking out each other's links in Task 7. Now you need to find the two blogs that share most in common with your own in terms of the texts/topics/issues/debates being studied.

The first needs to be from your class; the second needs to be from the other class, so you'll each have two 'Blog Buddies' by the end of this process.

When you've decided which ones are suitable you need to contact the other bloggers by leaving a comment on their most recent post explaining why you think you're similar. Think of it like a coursework dating game where your job is to pull the right blogger. Don't be shy or you'll get left out! Make the first move!

If you agree with each other then you need to put together a detailed joint proposal explaining why you should be 'Blog Buddies'. This must be posted up on both your blogs and should include the following...

• A short summary of each study

• Areas of overlap between each study (texts, topics, issues, debates)

• What you've each learned from looking at each other's study that might be useful

And remember, if you're not quick about it your ideal Blog Buddy will be snatched from you by someone else and you'll be left with one that may not be as good!

Med 5 Blog Task 8

TASK EIGHT
Self-Directed Research: Report

Some of you are going above and beyond the call of duty in your quest to create a great research blog that will really help you construct an excellent Independent Study. It's not enough simply to carry out the Tasks set each week - some of this is supposed to be 'independent' after all - so those of you who are adding posts when you've not even been told to do so are really entering into the right spirit of things. It's supposed to be on a topic you enjoy so it shouldn't be too painful.

We call this 'Self-Directed Research' and that's what we need to see more evidence of - stuff you find out for yourselves, either by using the del.ici.ous links or through your own searches.

Start a new post called 'Self-Directed Research' and provide a list with links of everything you've done in this area. And then do some more!

Med 5 Blog Task 7

TASK SEVEN
Keywords x10 (again!)

Using the Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary that everyone now has you need to identify TEN MORE keywords, ideas, theories or theorists that are relevant for your study. For each one, provide a definition of the term and then explain how it is useful or can be linked to your study.

If in doubt take a look at other people's blogs to see which key terms they find helpful.

Med 5 Blog Task 6

The following comprises TASK SIX...

• Carry out a close textual analysis of a chosen scene from your main text and post it up on your blog. The scene should be able to exemplify some of the key points you wish to make in your Independent Study and link with some of the key issues and debates that your text raises.

Think of the task as like a Module 6 analysis but with one text instead of two - so you need to cover MIGRAIN and SHEP and you are advised to watch the scene several times and to make detailed notes before embarking on the write-up. Also, use the Key Concepts Glossary from Year 12 to help you think about terminology to use (see below). You should be including as many of these keywords and ideas as possible in your analysis.

Glossary: Key Concepts/Key Terminology

Media Language (M)
what techniques are being used to make meaning in the text?
semiotics: non-verbal codes, denotation/connotation, signs, signification, anchoring
cinematography, camerawork: composition, framing, BCU, CU, MS, LS, pan, tilt, tracking shot, zoom
mise-en-scéne: clothing, props, gestures, facial expressions, sets, setting
lighting: key light, back light, filler light; underlighting, top lighting, back lighting; low-key/high-key lighting
sound: diegetic/non-diegetic; on/off screen, sound bridge; parallel/contrapuntal sound, voiceover narration
editing: continuity editing, jump cut, dissolve, wipe, fade in/out, cross-cutting, paralleling, cutaways,
montage, suturing (shot/reverse shot)

Institution (I)
who produces, distributes, regulates the text?
production: Hollywood/non-Hollywood
promotion: reach, trailers, posters, publicity, marketing
distribution: mainstream, multiplex cinema/independent, alternative, art-house cinema
scheduling: prime-time; the ‘watershed’
broadcasting: public broadcasting (BBC, public service)/commercial television (advertising, profit)
ethics: (non) intervention, manipulation, ‘set-ups’, reconstruction, simulation, exploitation, ‘dumbing down’

Genre (G)
what type of text is it?
hybrid genre, sub-genre
generic conventions/repertoire of elements: iconography, style, setting, narrative, characters, themes
repetition/variation
appropriation: parody, pastiche, formulaic, homage
film genres: film noir, horror, gangster, melodrama, teen movie
documentary elements: ‘fly on the wall’, observational documentary, actuality, ‘vox pops’, formats
documentary genres: institutional, ‘reality TV’, social issue, reportage/investigative, docudrama, docusoap
development of doc: Vertov, Riefenstahl, propaganda, city symphony, cinema vérité, Direct Cinema
broadcast fiction genres: one-off drama, series, serial/mini-series, soap opera, sitcom
broadcast fiction elements: title sequence, theme tune, melodrama, tragedy, comic relief

Representation (R)
who or what is being represented in the text? how?
gender, ethnicity
positive/negative: fair, accurate, reflects society
stereotypes: challenge/reinforce
mediation: constructed, constructedness, mis-representation, selection, compression
realist aesthetic, naturalism

Audience (A)
who consumes the text?
primary/secondary audiences
target audience: age, gender, ethnicity, social background, interests
(genre) expectations: fulfilled/cheated, subverted
narrative pleasures: suspense/dramatic irony, identification/alienation, stars, escapism, entertainment
aesthetic/visual pleasure
sexual/psychological pleasures: sadism, voyeurism
reception: how? when? where? possible audience readings
appeal, popularity

Ideology & Values (I)
what are the belief systems/messages/values underpinning the text?
liberal values: progressive values, anti-racism, multi-culturalism
dominant ideology: traditional values, maintain the status quo
positive values: to educate, to inform, to create sympathy, to encourage social or political change
patriarchy: misogyny, feminism

Narrative (N)
how is the narrative in the text organized and structured?
closed narrative/open narrative
exposition: recapitulation, foreshadowing
closure: denouement, resolution/cliffhanger, resisting closure
linear narrative: chronological
non-linear narrative: flashback
narrative structure: equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium (Todorov)
narrative roles: protagonist, hero/rescuer, villain, princess/rescued (Propp)
narrative themes: binary oppositions (Levi-Strauss)
enigma codes: question, disruption (Barthes)
strands, multi-stranded narrative

Med 5 Blog Tasks 1-5

Here's a checklist of the Tasks set so far for your Med 5 coursework...

TASK ONE
Summer Research Project

Most of you have done a really good job here and there have been some excellent Powerpoint presentations. However, there are still a number of aspects of the Task that need more work. In particular, the answers to the Key Concepts questions are often too brief so these need to be expanded upon if that's the case with you. (There should be a separate, detailed posting for each Key Concept). The same goes for Theory and Wider Contexts.

Also, make sure that you upload any research that you included in your presentations that isn't yet on your blogs - including images, summaries etc. If it was substantially different to what's on your blog then you should post up the whole presentation.

TASK TWO
Comments x5

You should have checked all the other Year 13 Med 5 blogs in the sidebar and identified the five studies that share most in common with your own. Then you should have commented on each one of these offering three positive points and one suggested improvement or idea for further research. Links to these comments needed to be posted up on your blogs too.

The aim here is to create a collaborative learning community where you will all support each other in addition to the help you receive from your teachers. And through helping others to think you will clarify your own ideas and understand the specifics of your own study better. Everyone's a winner!

TASK THREE
Video Clip

Find trailers and excerpts from your text (or related texts) that are available online and post up the links or embed a video player window in your blog.

The best place is, obviously YouTube, but there are plenty of other sites too. Start searching at Macguffin's del.ici.ous video bookmarks.

TASK FOUR
Keywords x10

Using the Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary that 13C have received (and 13D will get this week) you need, in the first instance, to identify TEN keywords, ideas, theories or theorists that are relevant for your study. For each one, provide a definition of the term and then explain how it is useful or can be linked to your study.

TASK FIVE
del.ici.ous Links x10

It is noticeable that too many of you haven't been using the list of Med5 links that Macguffin has put together for you that are really useful for your research. There are over 100 carefully selected sites that will lead you to the right kind of infornmation you need for a top grade.

Over the next term you need to have explored all of them but for the time being you need to select TEN that are directly relevant. Navigate your way to specific links within the site (don't just stay put at the homepage) and copy these to your blog. Under each one explain what it is and how you will use it in your essay.

ALSO...
In addition to this you should be progressing with your own self-directed research. Don't just wait to be told what to do - seek out useful information etc. and keep posting to your blog. Some people are doing this really well already...well done!