Med 5 Cw 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 over the next fortnight (by Monday 12-11-07)...

• 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). [TIP: Use the online library catalogue to search for books as well as looking on the shelves]. As everyone in Year 13 is doing this task (nearly fifty 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 next Monday (5-11) please treat all media-related books as reference books and don't take them out. (But if you want to borrow them over the following week then please do so).
  

• 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.

Over the weekend 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!

Med 5 Cw 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 another 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 (before next Monday 5-11) 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!

Evaluations

It's that time of year already!

To be completed over the course of the next week (by Friday 19-10).

Your responses will be used to help write your Interim Reports and help us to plan a better course for you.

1. SELF EVALUATION
Write an evaluation of your progress on the Media course so far.
Post the work up on your Module 5 blogs.

a. Comment on each of the following, giving yourself a grade with an explanation outlining why:

(Grading should be1-5: 1 = excellent, 2 = v. good, 3 = good/average, 4 = poor, 5 = v. poor)

• Attainment
• Effort
• Punctuality
• Submission and quality of homework
• Ability to work independently
• Quality of writing
• Organisation of Media folder
• Oral contributions in class
• Standard of Module 5 blog
  
• Standard of Module 6 blog
  

b. Make a list of three achievements (www) and three targets/areas for improvement (ebi) over the next half-term.

2. COURSE EVALUATION

Write an evaluation of the actual course/teaching.
Please submit the work as a comment after this post. Include your name!

a. Answer each of the following with a grade (1-5), giving reasons/examples:

(Grading should again be1-5: 1 = excellent, 2 = v. good, 3 = good/average, 4 = poor, 5 = v. poor)

• How well is the course organised?
• How interesting is the content that is covered?
• How useful are the handouts?
• Have the lessons been well-paced?
• What is the standard of the teachers’ presentation/subject knowledge?
• How well has the course met your expectations?
• Have the extra-curricular events been useful? (eg. Awards Eve., Trips)
• Has the Macguffin Blog been useful?

b. Make a list of three things you like and help you to learn (www) and three suggestions of things you’d like to see changed/improved (ebi).

Med 5 Cw 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 Cw 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.

Don't Be A Loser!

It's nearly half term yet there are a number of people who still haven't sent Macguffin their blog addresses so they can be included as links here on the sidebar. This was required in July (for Med 5) and the start of September (for Med 6). Without these we cannot do your assessments for your interim reports and you'll end up with the lowest grades...do you really want to be that much of a loser?

Apologies to those people whose names are listed below but who have tried (unsuccessfully) in the past to send this info. Just leave it as a comment on the post below and your name will be removed from the wall of shame...

Med 6
Kabir
Karina

Med 5 Cw Task 6

The following comprises TASK SIX, which need to be done by the start of next week (15-10-07)...

• 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

FILM CLUB

Film Club is starting this Thursday 11th October at 3.30 in the Lecture Theatre (Block B). This week we are watching 'CITY OF GOD' so if you want to see it again - come along!

13C1 CW: Game Shows (STE)

I am not in the lesson on Wed 10th October so here is the work to be completed. You still need to come in and register in DF05, then go and complete the work in the LRC.

Analyse and compare the 2 clips from 'The Weakest Link' (BBC1) and 'Deal or No Deal' (C4) focusing on what the game shows demonstrate about the channel they are broadcast on. You may want to consider PSB and consumerism as well as MIGRAIN and SHEP issues.

This work is due in on paper next lesson WED 17th OCT

13C1 Hw: Bollywood (STE)

Analyse the 2 Bollywood clips and analyse how the genre has changed over time; how Globalisation has affected the genre and any other SHEP issues that arise from comparing the two clips.

Post your analysis/comparison on your MED6 blog by next lesson (Wed 10th Oct)

Med 5 Cw Tasks 4 & 5

Here's are the two Tasks set this week for your Med 5 coursework, both of which need to be fully complete by the start of next week (08-10-07)...

TASK FOUR
Keywords x10

Using the Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary (that you should have recently received) 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 information 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!