Best Independent Study Work!!

Well done to everyone for another year of brilliant coursework! The vast majority of you exceeded their minimum target grades which is a great achievement.

Now, could all of you take time to read some of the following A Grade Med 5 essays. It's excellent revision for the exams as it will build up your synoptic ability (for Med 6), and they're all about the representation of women so they'll help, particularly, with the Med 4 exam (giving you the chance to revise key quotes/theories, and providing you with more examples/case studies to refer to). It's a good idea to make condensed revision notes from each one.

At the very least, make sure you read these by Avneet, Hardeep and Madenah as they're truly outstanding...

• “Who the hell is she…..a whore?”Are women in action movies represented as empowered female role models or as sex objects? With Particular reference to “Wanted” (2008).

• “You think of women as disposable pleasures rather than meaningful pursuits.” Has the representation of females changed in the action adventure genre?With reference to 'Casino Royale' (2006).

• “Mankind faces extinction...This fall...One woman...Is the final hope...For our survival.” How has the on screen representation of women changed, with particular reference to the action/horror film 'Resident Evil: Extinction'?

Then, consider these excellent efforts too, by Jaspreet, Samandeep, Rajan, Priyanka and Ajitpal...

• “You know me I don’t really believe in marriage; now Botox on the other hand works everytime.” Do representations of females in 'Sex and the City: The Movie' differ from representations of females in previous media texts? If so, how? And why?

• ‘‘Kiranjit finds herself behind bars and her punishment is lifetime imprisonment but she is instead relived. Why? Because behind bars she finally found life…freedom.’’ How are Asian women represented in the film ‘Provoked’?

• "The WWE Divas are the sexiest women on television." How and Why Have the Representations of Women Changed Over Time in World Wrestling Entertainment?

• How has the role of female characters changed in action adventure movies and become more dominant over the years with reference to “Resident Evil Extinction.”

• Historically, James Bond movies have confirmed Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze. Is that still the case today?

Module 6 Exam Revision

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.
  
• 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, 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.

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

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 11th at 1.30pm in the Hall. ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!

Module 4 Exam Revision

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, 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, 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 past students...Alice, Heena, Jaskeerat, Jatinder, Kalpan, Pip. And if you post them up to your Med 5 blog as they did we can 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 11th at 1.30pm in the Hall (before the Module 6 exam). ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!