Issues and debates quiz wk 11

The final one (I purchased the prize at the weekend). Post your responses on your Med 6 blog, or email them to Ms Jones. Remember: you'll find all the answers on the Guardian media website.

1. Which 1989 film was enjoyed by 7.3 million viewers on Sunday night, and why was the repeat deemed 'timely'?
2. Which news agency is set to make some 140 journalists redundant?
3. What is Fiona's Story and why is it controversial?
4. Why is the Daily Telegraph concerned about its own blog?
5. Which popular BBC1 show is being re-scheduled to make room for the football?

Module 6 Revision+Preparation

Your revision/preparation for Module 6 should be...

• Read through all Module 6 notes, handouts and past essays/practices.

• Read and revise all the Issues & Debates/Media Theory revision sheets...

1. Effects Theory (hypodermic needle model...passive audience, cultivation theory + desensitisation, two-step flow),
2. Reception Theory (context of consumption + David Morley...dominant/negotiated/oppositional readings)
3. Uses & Gratifications Theory (Blumer & Katz, Denis McQuail...active audience)
4. Narrative Theory (Propp, Levi-Strauss, Barthes, Todorov)
5. News Values (Galtung & Ruge)
6. Audience Profiling (demographics, psychographics, the four Cs)
7. Advertising (covert advertising, product placement, sponsorship, plugs, viral advertising)
8. Postmodernism (pastiche, parody, irony, playfulness, reflexivity, ambiguity, intertextuality, bricolage, hybridity, Baudrillard...hyperreality, simulacra)
9. Marxism (Althusser...ISAs, interpellation, Gramsci...hegemony)
10. Pluralism (media literacy, audience choice, media as fourth estate)
11. Ownership (vertical/horizontal integration, synergy)
12. Globalisation (digital revolution, new technology/new media, cultural imperialism, the 'global village')
    

• Revise everything you've ever covered in Media Studies this year and last year as this is the synoptic unit...

1. Genre, especially genre theory (Altman, Neale, Maltby, Phillips etc.)
2. Representation, especially feminist theory (Mulvey, Clover, Gauntlett, Gunther, Tuchman, Elasmar, Miles, Cortese, etc.) & post-colonialism (Hall, Nandy, Spivak, Bhahba etc.)
   
3. Documentary (mediation, construction, Direct Cinema, Cinema Verite, reality TV)
4. Film & Broadcast Fiction, especially film language (cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene, sound)
5. Module 1 MIGRAIN keywords/glossary
   

• Keep reading the 'Media Keywords A-Z' handout (the big one) and test yourself on media terminology.
  

• Re-read the online guide to wider contexts.

• Read through the Med 6 Issues & Debates blogs (see links on the sidebar) as they are full of information about everything already mentioned above and more besides. In particular, make sure you check out those by Baldip, Neelema and Zainab because they have links to lots of the key media stories over the past year which you may well need to know about in the exam.
  

• Revise your wider contexts timelines.
  

• Keep up-to-date with media developments right up to the exam. Log on to Media Guardian every day and keep posting summaries and links to them on your blogs!
  

• Do timed practice - carry out comparisons of a range of two-minute (or less) moving image sequences with 2-3 page print texts (or less)...

So analyse and compare...

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

with...

1. newspapers and magazines (front pages, contents pages, back pages, both tabloid and broadsheet, etc.).
2. adverts (from the above).
3. DVD, CD or video game covers.
4. billboards and posters (especially for films).
5. book covers (really!).
   

Remember, the question is always..."Using the comparison of these two texts as your starting point, explore the media issues and debates which they raise."

It is vital that you practice under exam conditions - spend 30 minutes note-taking/annotating/planning (and watch the extract three times during this period) and then one hour writing your answer.

If you are short for time then you can always just do the 30-minute note-taking exercise on some days but try to do this as often as possible (every day?). Remember to use two sides of A4 paper (one for Text 1, one for Text 2) and include the following sections going down the page...

1. form & function
2. similarities & differences
3. key concepts (MIGRAIN)
4. theory
5. issues & debates
6. wider contexts (SHEP)
7. other texts
   

Please record the practice you have done as a comment after this posting - it will be useful for people to share ideas about what texts are good to try and an opportunity to ask Macguffin any questions about any of the theories, issues & debates and wider contexts.

Also, please post comparison notes and finished essays on your blogs for others to see and learn from. The best ones will be highlighted on this page as links.

And don't forget - you can bring any timed essays in over the next month to show to your teachers before the exam on Thursday June 12th at 1.30pm in the Hall. ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!

Module 4 Revision+Preparation

Your revision/preparation for Module 4 should be...

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

Representation...Representation packs (with cartoons), Gauntlett handouts, Guardian articles, Independent Studies on this topic, your own self-produced revision guides, teacher's summary notes, the mock exam, essay plans, etc.

Genre...
Genre pack, Slasher pack, repertoire of elements worksheets (on each slasher film), watch key clips from the texts again (they might still be available on YouTube but most of the links here have been taken down on this list...do a new search and you mind find them), genre theory quotes, your own self-produced revision guides, the mock exam, teacher's summary notes, essay plans, etc.

• Read through all 'Representation' and 'Genre' past questions - identify keywords etc.

• Write essay plans for as many different questions as possible (all of them if you can). See these particularly good ones from last year...Alice, Heena, Jaskeerat, Jatinder, Kalpan, Pip. And if you post them up to your Med 5 blog as they did we'll give you some feedback on them.
  

• Complete as many timed essays as possible (45 minutes/question).

Don't forget - you can email Macguffin with queries and you can bring any timed essays in over the next month to show to your teachers before the exam on Thursday June 12th at 1.30pm in the Hall (before the Module 6 exam). ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!

The BEST Coursework!

Another superb year of coursework has finally come to a close. We say this every year but again it's true...the overall standard has been better than ever so well done! The vast majority of you didn't just meet your minimum target grades but went one higher (and in some cases two!). This is brilliant news and means you are really set up to achieve outstanding results again come August...so long as you make sure you revise hard for the exams!

What you see below are links to six of the best of the 'A' grade essays that were submitted (there were more but not all of them have been posted up by their authors). It is strongly recommended that you read through these as part of your revision programme. Not only will they provide you with plenty of synoptic material for Med 6 but they all make crucial links to Med 4 which will help refresh your memories about what you need to know here and, most probably, provide you with new case studies and examples to present in your essays.

In particular, make sure you read those by Rohini (genre), and Tanya (representation of women).

GENRE

“Don't mess with the flow, no no/
Stick to the status quo”

To what extent and why does Disney’s High School Musical (2006) conform to the conventions of its generic predecessors – the ‘teenpic’ and the traditional musical genres?

...Truly outstanding work from Rohini...full marks, and containing some superb references which you could all 'appropriate' for your exam essays!








“I don’t think after Jurassic Park that we can, or should ever accept a model animated dinosaur again”.

How has CGI ensured the box office success of the animation genre, paying particular attention to ‘Shrek the Third’ (2007)?

....An extremely well researched essay from Chintan.

“Cuarón has created the thinking person's action movie.”

Is Children Of Men a typical science-fiction film?

...Amandeep made superb use of his 'study leave' to produce this really concise, yet fluent study.











REPRESENTATION

“Always bet on a blonde”.

How and why has the representation of women changed in the British soap opera “Eastenders”?

...excellent essay by Tanya that covers much of the essential research and theory on the representation of women.












“We’ve always been ready for female superheroes. Because women want to be them and men want to do them.”

How are female characters represented in Heroes and how does this signal a break from superheroes of the past.

...A clear and engaging study by Pooja.








Catwoman, with a central female protagonist, might be seen as victory for women. However Catwoman is a sex symbol, thus the film is guilty of double standards in terms of gender representation.

...A well argued and detailed essay by Baldip.

Issues and debates quiz wk 10

Just over 4 weeks now until the Med 6 exam. I'm glad to see that many of you have been posting your quiz responses on your blogs - I will check these, as well as my inbox (those who email their responses to me need to send them to Ms Jones), before I award the final prize next week.

1. Which radio station won the 'station of the year' prize at the Sony awards?
2. Which Sunday newspaper is looking for a new political editor, and why?
3. Which British drama series has been bought by ABC for its prestigious 10pm slot?
4. According to the Public Accounts Committee, how should the BBC be saving money on equipment?
5. What is Google's 'Street View' service, and why is it controversial?

MD13c1 Cover Work: Fri 09-05-08

Make sure you sign in and stay in the classroom throughout the period - teachers will be checking from time to time to monitor your progress!

Write a 45 minute essay (at least two sides) on the following question...

Recent developments in genre have included the emergence of parody, pastiche and hybrid forms. Show how such developments have influenced the nature of media texts.
(January ’06 b)

Also don't forget the important homework that's due in on Monday (12th) for both 13c and 13d...

Make revision notes on genre.

• Go through all your notes (handouts, repertoire of elements sheets, your own research you may have done on the topic for Med 5, etc.)

• Then type out concise summaries of everything.

• Use bullet points, highlighting, italics, underlining, headings, subheadings, bold etc. to make it as easy to remember as possible.

• You obviously need to cover all genre theory (especially the BFI pack), genre quotes, history of slasher (including the significance of each of the films you've studied and how they relate to the WCs).

Issues and debates quiz wk 9

Email your answers to Ms Jones.

1. What is 'Freesat' and who is planning to set it up?
2. Why has Talk Sport radio presenter James Whale lost his job?
3. Which ITV disaster drama 'leaked' a million viewers on Monday night (May 5th)?
4. Which London newspaper is credited with winning the office of mayor for Boris Johnson?
5. Which national newspaper has admitted that female journalists are paid less than men in equivalent jobs?