Med 1 Re-sit Revision

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 moving image info/examples.

• Timed practice - MIGRAIN analysis of a range of two-minute (or less) moving image sequences...

1. extracts, title sequences and opening sequences from any genre of TV programme or film (soap, sitcom, documentary, news, gangster, thriller, etc.).
2. TV adverts and film trailers.
3. video games, music videos and internet viral videos.

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. Deadline for this is January 6th 2009.

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 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 Thursday January 15th at 1.30pm. ARRIVE at least 20 MINUTES EARLY!!

Finally, there are TWO compulsory REVISION CLASSES after Xmas - on Wednesday 7th January at 3.25pm and Wednesday 14th January at 3.25pm - go to DF05.

Med 2 Re-sit Revision

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' , Kidulthood'
2. Documentary - 'Bowling for Columbine', 'Man With a Movie Camera', 'Triumph of the Will'.

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

• Make sure you watch the texts again. A lot are available online - just click on the links above or use this list (but some no longer work).

• 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). THIS REALLY IS THE BEST PREPARATION!!

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 Thursday January 15th immediately after the Module 1 re-sit (in the afternoon...from 1.30pm).

Coursework Tutorials

You will be each be receiving a crucial one-to-one tutorial with your Media teacher during January 2008. However, you must have completed all blog tasks to be eligible for this so these need to be done by the lesson we return after Christmas (Tuesday 06-01-09). 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...

• Tuesday 3rd February 09

This means that if you have a tutorial towards the end of the exam period 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 so you can start the essay as soon as possible.

Available times & confirmed appointments will be posted below for each class, so watch this space and make sure you book early to avoid disappointment...

First Paragraph Task

For 13C2 & 13D1...

The following task needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Tuesday 6th January, 2009. 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 'Sex and the City' demonstrates a change in the representation of women. It's a bit like a 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).

Essay Plan Task

For 13D1 & 13C2...

The following task needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the lesson you return on Tuesday 6th January, 2009. 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 some excellent ones from previous years by clicking on Manjoth or Jatinder (and there are others too).

• 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 or use an online tool like bubbl.us.

Historical Text Task

For 13C2 & 13D1...

The following task needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the lesson you return on Tuesday 6th January, 2009. 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'.

Essential Reading List

As you know, a detailed bibliography is crucial for the top grades in the coursework. What you see below are 45 of the most important books for the independent study, all of which are either in the school library or media suite. Those underlined are the twenty most important but, obviously, not all of the texts on this list will be directly relevant for you...you'll need to spend a fair amount of time searching through them (especially the contents and indexes) to find the key quotes and ideas that will impress the examiners. You must include references to quite a few of these books if you want an A or B so borrow/buy these books and read them over Christmas...

ALTMAN, RICK Film/Genre

BELL, JOYCE AND RIVERS Advanced Level Media

BENNETT, JACQUI AS & A2 Media Studies

BIGNELL, JONATHAN Introduction to Television Studies, An

BLANDFORD, GRANT, HILLIER (Eds) Film Studies Dictionary, The

BORDWELL AND THOMPSON Film Art: An Introduction

BRANSTON, GILL; STAFFORD, ROY Media Student's Book, The

BURTON, GRAEME More than Meets the Eye: An Introduction to Media Studies

CASEY, CALVERT, FRENCH, LEWIS (Eds) Television Studies: The Key Concepts

CLARK, VIVIENNE; BAKER, JAMES et al Key Concepts And Skills For Media Studies

CLARK, VIVIENNE; JONES, PETER et al Complete A-Z Media And Film Studies Handbook

COOK AND BERNINK Cinema Book, The

CREEBER, GLEN Fifty Key Television Programmes

CREED, BARBARA Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism and Psychoanalysis, The

DUTTON, O’SULLIVAN, RAYNER Studying the Media

FERGUSON, ROBERT Representing 'Race' : Ideology, Identity And The Media

GANTI, TEJASWINI Bollywood

GAUNTLETT, DAVID Media, Gender and Identity

HARTLEY, JOHN Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: The Key Concepts

HAYWARD, SUSAN Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts

HOLLAND, PATRICIA Television Handbook, The

LACEY, NICK Image and Representation / Key Concepts in Media Studies

LACEY, NICK Narrative and Genre / Key Concepts in Media Studies

MACDONALD, MYRA Representing Women

MACKINNON, KENNETH Representing Men

MALIK, SARITA Representing Black Britain: Black And Asian Images On Television

MARSHALL AND WERNDLY Language of Television, The

MARTIN, ROGER TV for A Level Media Studies

MISHRA, VILJAY Bollywood Cinema

NEALE, STEVE Genre and Contemporary Hollywood

NEALE, STEVE Genre and Hollywood

NELMES, JILL (Ed) Introduction to Film Studies, An

O’SULLIVAN AND JEWKES Media Studies Reader, The

O'SULLIVAN, TIM; DUTTON, BRIAN et al Studying The Media

PHILLIPS, PATRICK Understanding Film Texts

PROBERT, DAVID AS/A-Level Media Studies: Essential Word Dictionary

RAJADHYAKSHA AND WILLEMEN Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema

RAYNER, WALL AND KRUGER (Eds) Media Studies: The Essential Resource

RAYNER, WALL, KRUGER AS Media Studies: The Essential Introduction

ROBERTS AND WALLIS Introducing Film

SARDAR, ZIAUDDIN; VAN LOON, BORIN Key Concepts and Skills For Media Studies

STRINATI, DOMINIC Introduction to Studying Popular Culture, An

STRINATI, DOMINICA Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture, An

TASKER, YVONNE Working Girls : Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema

WILLIAMS, KEVIN Understanding Media Theory

13C2 COVER Fri 12.12.08 p5/6

Be warned...there is A LOT to do here, but it has to be done by our last lesson on Tuesday 16th December or you will have to stay behind at lunchtime to complete it!

You MUST sign in with Mr Babu (in the media suite) at 1.45pm and collect the following resources from him...

1. 'Why are women directors such a rare sight'

2. 'Gender Studies'

3. An example of a 'subvertisement'

Go to DF07 and spend Period 5 reading and highlighting the handouts.

You can go home (NOT back to the common room to hang out!) at the start of period 6 to do indepedent study or stay in the classroom if you want to use the computers (I won't accept excuses next week that your internet at home wasn't working).

Your Period 6 work is to return to the Gauntlett piece on 'Gender in Advertising' that you read for homework (Mr Babu will have spares if you were absent on Tuesday) and to summarise the following theorists/researchers on your blogs, including a date and key quote(s)/statistics...

- Gunter

- Cumberbatch

- Scheibe

- Macdonald

- Greer

- Walker

- Cortese

Then watch two short YouTube films that summarise some of this, making brief notes on paper while you're watching...

1. The representation of women in commercials

2. Exploitation of women in ads

Homework (for 13c2 AND 13D1)

1. On your blogs, provide FIVE reasons why women directors are such a rare sight; research FIVE women directors and put brief summaries of them and their films on your blogs; suggest THREE ways the number of female directors could be improved.

2. Create your own 'subvertisements' that draw attention to the sexism, objectification and stereotyping in advertising. Choose one advert from the past and two contemporary examples. Use an image editing software or the online application Picbite to add an ironic caption or tagline that highlights - in a humorous way if possible - the negative representations of women we often see. You need to post the three examples up on your blogs...here are some examples from last year.

3. Go to YouTube and find THREE examples of historical adverts that feature women either as housewives or sex objects. Good ones to consider are Shake and Vac, Flash, Flake, etc. Post your choices on your blogs and write a short analysis of each one linking their representations to the reaidng you've done (include quotes/statistics from theorists).

4. Then find THREE examples of more contemporary adverts that show a change in the representation of women and carry out the same procedure (post up, analyse). You could consider a cleaning product that features a man, or one of the famous 'Diet Coke Break' adverts which highlight the 'female gaze'. But make sure one of them also shows how the old, stereotypical representations still endure.

13C1 Cover Work Miss Holliday P 5&6

In groups research the following terms to do with Laura Mulvey's theory:
Freud/psychoanalysis, The unconscious, resistance/repression, scophophilia, voyeurism, castration, sadism/masochism, fetishisations/fetish object, objectification, patriarachy/misogyny, identification, narcissism, idealisation, anxiety, audience positioning/spectatorship, narrative cinema, phallic objects, womb/penis envy.

Ensure everyone understands the words and their definitions and then in groups no larger than 3 (try to get a boy in each group) prepare a presentation with examples of each from media texts with a focus on films, TV and magazines. You will be presenting this back next lesson.

13D1 P3 & P5 Miss Holliday Cover Work Thurs 4th December

CENSORSHIP & REGULATION

Read the case study on
http://www.sbbfc.co.uk/Exorcist.asp

Watch the orginal trailer of the 1973 version and the version produced in 2004

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jGdbbVcKJlc

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hmPxv1ko9q8

Considering issues of censorship and regulation write a comparative critical analysis of the two texts. Remember the question, as always is: 'Using the comparison of these two texts as your starting point, explore the media issues and debates which they raise.'

Your analysis must address fully all relevant media language (MIGRAIN) when referring to specific examples from the 2 texts and account for why there are differences in content, production values etc through SHEP making sure you consider any other issues and debates raised by the two texts (in particular re censorship and context of production).

Essay format, typed and no less than 1,000 words please for next lesson.

Issues and debates quiz wk 6

Apologies for the 2-week break. The answers to the wk 5 questions are now alongside the original post; and here are 5 new questions to test your knowledge of the media world, essential if you're to get the top grades in your Med 6 exam. You'll find all the answers on the guardian media website. Email your answers to Ms Jones.

1. What's the connection between failed retailer Woolworths and the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide?
   
2. Which television advert for a new media product has just been banned by the ASA for misleading viewers?
   
3. A million fewer viewers watched the second episode of this BBC drama than they did the first. Which drama am I talking about?
   
4. Which classic comedy, starring Rowan Atkinson, is due to return to the small screen this Christmas?
   
5. Which women's organisation, famous for its jam-making, has been asked by a government minister to monitor sex ads in the local press?
   

Book Research

For 13c2 and 13d1

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 Tuesday 09-12-08)...

• 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 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 (1-12) 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). Also, see Mr Babu in the Media Suite who has an extensive range of media books that you can borrow - many of those in the library are also there.

• 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, Foyles at Westfield) 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!

13C2 COVER Tue 25.11.08 p3/4

Stay in the classroom throughout the two periods.  

You need to read the following photocopied chapters from David Gauntlett's 'Media, Gender & Identity' very carefully, highlighting key points/information (theorists, statistics, key texts, quotes, etc)...

• Representation of Women in the Past
  
• Representation of Women Today

Then, for each one, produce your own detailed summary of this information on your blogs.  

Complete for homework if you run out of time, but by Ms Jones' lesson on Thursday when I'll come in and set you work to do on RA Day (which should be a study day) an for th weekend.

13D1 COVER Tue 25.11.08 p2

I may not be in the lesson today, but you still need to be on time - Ms Holliday will let you in.

Please complete the following and stay in the classroom throughout the period...

Get into threes, trying to ensure each trio is mixed (male + female).

In your groups, log onto a PC and watch the following five-minute YouTube video...

Girls, Sexuality and the Media

Then, on the sugar paper provided, create your own group poster highlighting the different media representations of women.  Cut out the images you have brought to the lesson and stick them onto the poster, perhaps identifying similar images and grouping them together.  Annotate each image/group, analysing them, using language/key media terminolgy you've learnt so far or that are in the handouts you've been given (especially the one with cartoons and the exemplar essay on men's magazines).

When your poster is complete, start rehearsing a presentation (that you'll give to the whole class during tomorroe morning, when I will be there, and should involve everyone in your group equally) about the representation of women in print media, using your poster as the main focus.

13D1 Cover Miss Holliday P3 & P5 Thurs 27th Nov Censorship vs Classification

BBFC Lesson: Classification

Research the following information using http://www.sbbfc.co.uk/ and put the answers on your Med 6 blogs. Please write in full sentences., not bullets.
1. From where does the BBFC get its funding?
2. What types of texts do the BBFC classify?
3. What are the problems / issues that the BBFC must deal with when classifying material? Look at the types of things they classify, ability to account for all types of content, changing context etc.
4. Note the range of classification categories and what they mean e.g. U, PG, 12A etc.
5. Look at how different themes /content within texts are classified. Make notes. Why might a DVD featuring content of skateboarders and BMX bikers performing dangerous stunts be classified as 18 but a film containing a sex scene and use of the ‘f’ word only get a 15 rating?
6. Why might a film be given a rating of 15 upon release at the cinema but 10 years later be classified as a 12?
7. Who is responsible for classifying films in the USA? How has this changed over time? (Look back to the studio system of the 1940’s).
8. Research the following case studies exploring why they were brought to the attention of the BBFC:
a. Canis Canem Edit (2006, Rockstar)
b. Crash (1996, David Cronenberg)
c. A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)
d. Fight Club (1999, David Fincher)
e. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001, Simon West)
f. Sweet Sixteen (2002, Ken Loach)
g. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, Martin Scorcese)
h. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper)

Homework: Is the role of the BBFC simply to classify material to provide guidance or is its role that of a censor? Discuss making reference to a range of examples. (500 words minimum). Post onto your MED 6 blogs.

13C2 COVER Fri 21.12.08 p5

I'll be late to the lesson today, but you still need to be on time - Ms Holliday will let you in.

Please complete the following before I arrive back...

Get into threes, trying to ensure each trio is mixed (male + female).

In your groups, log onto a PC and watch the following five-minute YouTube video...

Girls, Sexuality and the Media

Then, on the sugar paper provided, create your own group poster highlighting the different media representations of women.  Cut out the images you have brought to the lesson and stick them onto the poster, perhaps identifying similar images and grouping them together.  Annotate each image/group, analysing them, using language/key media terminolgy you've learnt so far or that are in the handouts you've been given (especially the one with cartoons and the exemplar essay on men's magazines).

When your poster is complete, start rehearsing a presentation (that you'll give to the whole class during period 6 when I expect to return, and should involve everyone in your group equally) about the representation of women in print media, using your poster as the main focus.

13D1 COVER Wed 12.11.08 p2

The following needs to be done by 13D1 in the lesson today (and finished for homework for tomorrow... 13.11.08). 

It also needs to be done by 13C2 as homework (for next Tuesday 18.11.08).

• 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. Make sure it is a scene you haven't analysed before (and, if at all possible, NOT a trailer) and embed the YouTube link in your posting.

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, which should be in essay format. Also, use the Key Concepts Glossary 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 (where relevant...this won't always be the case), along with ideas you've picked up from the Media Keywords A-Z and the stuff we've been doing on representation.

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