MEST4 recap: work required on blog

We have some truly superb ideas coming together for summer projects and critical investigations.

Most of us have our work up-to-date but with a few gaps in places it is worth checking all of the work that should be on our MEST4 Coursework blogs is posted in the right place.

The following work should be on your MEST4 Coursework blog:

1) Introduction to Critical Investigation: Issues and Debates: Factsheet questions and tasks

2) Summer project: FIVE potential ideas

3) Summer project proposal

4) Summer project research: Media Language questions completed and posted to new Summer Project research blogpost

The due date for this will be set by your MEST4 Coursework teacher but you must make sure you are up-to-date and that all work is in the right place. You want to hit the ground running in Year 13 as it can be difficult to catch up if you miss these crucial initial tasks.

Good luck!

Internet videos: learner response

Your short videos about the internet are a great opportunity to refresh technical skills and consolidate our learning from the unit so far.

In class, you'll be screening your videos and taking feedback from other students in the room as well as your exam teacher. You then need to use this feedback to complete the learner response tasks below.

Internet videos: blog learner response task

Create a new blogpost called Internet videos: learner response on your MEST3 Exam blog and embed your internet video from YouTube.

1) Type up your WWW/EBI feedback from your teacher.

2) Type up a bullet-pointed list of the WWWs and EBIs provided by the rest of the class giving feedback on your video.

3) Now self-assess your video: what was the strongest aspect of the video? What was weakest? Did you struggle with any of the technical aspects? Has it changed your plans for the linked production coursework next year?

4) Make a list of at least FIVE positive aspects to the internet (benefits) that you've learned from these screenings and the lessons so far.

5) Make a list of at least FIVE negative aspects to the internet (problems) that you've learned from these screenings and the lessons so far.

You should be able to complete this in your lesson but if not make sure it is done for homework - due by your next exam class lesson.

NDM: Institutional bias - fading influence?

One crucial aspect of our work studying the internet is judging the degree to which major institutions have influence over audiences.

There is a strong belief that new and digital media has taken power away from traditional institutions and placed it in the hands of the audience. But is this true? Media ownership sees major institutions dominating all platforms - including online. 

Media influence and politics

There have been many political campaigns in recent years that provide evidence for both sides of the debate. These are excellent examples to study when trying to judge the influence of the media on audiences.


The influence of media institutions: theory and quotes

There is less censorship and a lack of control of online information in comparison to traditional ‘mass media’ so it has become associated with what Castells describes as a “technological blossoming of the culture of freedom, individual innovation and entrepreneurialism” (Castells, 1996, 5).

The existence of this ‘anti-establishment culture’ has led some people to question the power that traditional institutions have over the internet.

Negroponte writes that ‘the monolithic empires of mass media are dissolving into an array of cottage industries’ (1997, 106).

However, Herman and McChesney (1997) were not convinced that the power of traditional institutions will be relinquished so easily:

"The internet and the digital revolution do not pose an immediate or even foreseeable threat to the market power of the media giants. In the current political climate, moreover, it is likely that the global media firms will be able to incorporate the internet and related computer networks into their empires, while the egalitarian potential of the technology is minimised."


Institutional bias: blog tasks

Read 'The Press and the Prime Minister' - an analysis of the media coverage of the 2015 UK general election. You'll need our Media Magazine archive - go to MM53 (page 12).

1) What does the article suggest was the main media influence on the 2015 general election?

2) What examples are provided of how social media was used during the 2015 election campaign?

3) Does analysis of the 2015 election suggest that new and digital media has challenged the power of traditional institutions?

Now read this Guardian article on social media influence in the recent 2017 UK general election. 

4) Why does it suggest Labour "won the social media election" in 2017?

5) What examples are provided of how the parties used social media during the 2017 election campaign?

6) Does analysis of the 2017 election suggest that new and digital media has challenged the power of traditional institutions?

7) Finally, write a paragraph summarising your own opinion on this debate: Have the inequalities that characterise old media ownership extended into new media ownership? Is the internet run by powerful media institutions?

Finish for homework if you don't complete it in the lesson - due next Thursday.

MEST4 Summer Project

Your summer project involves vital research that leads into your Critical Investigation - the most important aspect of your coursework in Year 13. 

The following needs to be completed by the first lesson back at the start of September:

1. Choose a media text and media debate/issue that you are interested in and that is less than five years old. Get this choice of text and topic approved by your coursework teacher.

2. Spend several hours analysing the text – watching, reading, annotating, notetaking, re-watching, discussing with others (and considering the MIGRAIN questions below) etc. 

3. Research your text online.

4. Post up all evidence of research on your MEST4 blog. You are looking for the following: reviews, newspaper/magazine articles, online comments or blogs linked to your text, useful book titles linked to your text, relevant theory, relevant media issues and debates, information about wider contexts, your own bullet-pointed notes on each concept etc.

5. Don't just cut and paste mindlessly - be selective, try to summarise the information, comment on it and explain why it is useful. Also, make sure that you include specific links to all the sites you find.

6. Feel free to be as creative with your blogs as you can. Include pictures, clips, reflections, links etc.

7. Prepare a 5 minute, 20-slide 'Ignite' presentation on your text to be ready for the first week back. If you're unsure how these work, remind yourself by reading through the lesson slides: Introduction to the Critical Investigation 2017, and look over our blogpost with good Ignite examples.

8. Try to address as many of the Key Concepts (MIGRAIN) as you can in your presentation (you won't be able to cover them all in 20 time-limited slides), and provide bullet-pointed answers to the following questions on your research blogpost...

MIGRAIN key concept research

Media Representations 

• Who is being represented? In what way? By whom?
• Why is the subject being represented in this way? 
• Is the representation fair and accurate?
• What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?

Media Languages and Forms 

• What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?
• What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
• What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?
• What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings (CLAMPS)?
• What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text?
• What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
• What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)?

Narrative 

• How is the narrative organised and structured?
• How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
• How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
• What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
• What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
• What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?

Genre 

• To which genre does the text belong?
• What are the major generic conventions within the text?
• What are the major iconographic features of the text?
• What are the major generic themes?
• To what extent are the characters generically determined?
• To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
• Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?

Media Institutions 

• What is the institutional source of the text?
• In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
• Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?
• Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?
• How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology 

• What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
• What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?
• How does the text fit into the current political landscape?
• Does the text promote a particular political viewpoint - either explicitly or implicitly? 

Media Audiences 

• To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? (Demographics, Psychographics)
• What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
• What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
• In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
• What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
• What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text? 
• What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications?  (Refer to theory).
• How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?

Good luck. There is a lot to do here. Our advice is to work on this throughout the Summer rather than leaving it all to the last minute. It should be an independent, enjoyable process - finding out about something that YOU are interested in and have chosen specifically. If you have any problems then email us or discuss the project in school on one of the exam result days (17th and 24th of August).

And remember, the aim of this is to develop your key research skills that you'll be using when you do your coursework next year...and these are skills that are vital for for all subjects in Year 13 and at university.

We look forward to watching your Ignite presentations in the first lesson back in September!

NDM: The Internet - A One Minute Video

Your homework for the mid-point in our new/digital media unit on the Internet is to create a video containing what you've learned so far.

This is a great opportunity to refresh your technical skills in Media and show your creativity and imagination. You can interpret the brief as you wish and should think of innovative or unusual ways of presenting the information.

Task: Internet video

Create a ONE MINUTE video that consolidates your learning about the internet so far – the positives and negatives.

• Use Premiere Pro (or your own editing software at home) 
• Post it on YouTube and embed it into your blog
• Include text (summarising  some of the information you’ve learned); images (moving or still; shot yourself and found online); and an appropriate soundtrack
• Answer the key questions: What is so special about the internet? What is wrong with the internet? How has the internet changed audiences?

Examples

We've had some fantastic, creative responses to this task in the past. Use these as inspiration:

This is due for screening on Thursday 29 June - good luck!

Summer project: proposal

You need to finalise your choice of topic and text for your MEST4 Summer Project.

You should have a shortlist of FIVE texts and topics that you have discussed in class with peers to help narrow down your selection. 

Now, you need to choose ONE of those ideas and complete the following MEST4 Summer Project proposal on your MEST4 Coursework blog:

Summer Project: proposal

Media text: Chosen Media text from last five years

Media issue/debate: e.g. Media effects, representation, moral panic, regulation and control etc. Be specific.

Link to Media key concepts (MIGRAIN) - at least THREE: e.g. Ideology, Narrative, Representation. Explain the link between each concept and your chosen text/topic.

Wider context - impact of text/topic on society: Why is your chosen topic important? What impact does this debate have on audiences or institutions?

Linked production: Looking further forward, write a brief description of the media product you intend to make as a linked production to run alongside your investigation.

NDM: What's wrong with the internet?

Is the sheer amount of information available on the internet a cause for concern not celebration? Should we be worried how companies use our data?

It's far too simplistic to simply say the internet is a wonderful, democratising tool. Although there are significant benefits to audiences, we also have to explore the impact the internet has had on quality, creativity, and privacy - three key areas for Media students to form opinions on.

Social concerns

There are other debates concerning the internet and its impact on society. Pornography is now more available and more difficult to regulate than ever - leading to debates regarding 'rape culture' and a call for porn and consent to be added to sex and relationship education in schools. Similarly, there are question marks over the accuracy of the web and whether audiences can trust the internet - the recent storm over 'fake news' and the election of Donald Trump in America provides a compelling example of this.

Online privacy

Another key debate with regards to new and digital media concerns privacy online. How should social media companies be able to use the data they have on us? Should the government be able to use anti-terror laws to access private WhatsApp messages? Should potential employers or universities be able to check our social media history before offering us a job or place at university?

Blog task

Read ‘Somebody’s watching you: Social media and surveillance’ – MM52 p13. Our Media Magazine archive is here. Complete the following tasks on your MEST3 Exam blog:

1) Summarise the article in 50 words.

2) Are you worried about companies tracking your online movement?

3) Are the problems with the internet (such as concerns over data and privacy) a price worth paying for all the benefits we gain from life online?

4) Should governments be able to spy on our activity online? Where would you draw the line - social media? Private messaging conversations? Our phone photos and contacts?

5) Read this Guardian news story from last week on Harvard withdrawing offers due to offensive memes on Facebook. In your opinion, were Harvard right to rescind those offers?

Complete for homework if you don't get through it in the lesson - due next double lesson.

Summer Project: Ignite presentations

Your summer project will involve researching a media text and topic and then presenting it to class in the first week of September in the form of an Ignite presentation.

This will hopefully form the basis of your Critical Investigation next year - meaning you'll already have an excellent amount of research on your chosen text at the beginning of Year 13.

The Ignite tagline is simple:

“Enlighten us, but make it quick.”

Ignite talks are a popular presentation format online. The rules are simple:

• 20 slides
• 15 second auto-advance
• 5 minutes
• 1 topic

Here's a good Ignite talk about giving an Ignite talk:

Here are some media-related examples:

And here's another Media-related example that shows you why PRACTICE is so important - the speaker never keeps up with his slides and therefore the whole presentation is rushed:

Blog task

Your blog task is incredibly simple: choose FIVE potential media texts you could research for your summer project AND a related media issue/debate for each one. Examples:

Media text: American Sniper (2014)
Media issue/debate: Islamophobia

Media text: Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines music video (2013)
Media issue/debate: Representation of women

Post these five potential texts to your MEST4 Coursework blogs by next lesson.

Good luck!

Introduction to the Critical Investigation: Issues and Debates

A key aspect of A2 Media Studies is engaging with Issues and Debates in the media.

The media debates that AQA suggest we cover include the following:

• Representation
• Media effects
• Reality TV
• News Values
• Moral panics
• Post 9/11 and the media
• Ownership and control
• Regulation and censorship
• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century

Some of these we'll cover in exam lessons over the next 12 months while others will be a crucial aspect of your Critical Investigation. Regardless of where you address them, you need to be forming strong opinions on these issues and debates based on the evidence and theory you read and engage with.

Blog task: Media Factsheet 147 - Issues and Debates

Complete the following tasks using Media Factsheet 147: Issues and Debates. You'll find it in our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets.

Make sure post this to your new MEST4 Coursework blog.

Important: remember that Drive Access on the school website has been shut down permanently due to security fears - so you'll have to save the factsheet to USB or email it yourself from school if you want access at home.

1) Write a one-sentence answer to the initial questions in the factsheet:

• Do fashion magazines contribute to the occurrence of eating disorders?
• Do games make people behave violently?
• Does advertising work?
• Does social media generate misogyny?

2) Having read the two sides to the discussion, what is your opinion on the effects debate? 

3) Summarise the two sides of the example issues and debates on page 2 of the factsheet:

• Twitter's influence on the news
• New technology, privacy and Wikileaks
• Social media and racism, sexism or threats online

4) What is your opinion on the growth of transgender issues in media debates?

5) Complete the MIGRAIN table below (also on page 4 of the factsheet) linking media products to issues and debates. For each question, you need to write two or three specific media products (e.g. a film, TV programme, a particular newspaper or news story, a certain music video etc.) that you could use when discussing that media debate.

Media language

How is digital technology changing the media language of moving image products?

Media products: Tangerine (award winning movie shot entirely on iPhone), news coverage of London Bridge attacks - citizen journalism.

Does the language used in tabloid and broadsheet news media shape the meaning of news stories differently?

Media products:

Ideology

Does the political persuasion of the news media have an impact on the politics of a culture?

Media products:

Do ‘twitter storms’ reflect dominant cultural values?

Media products:

Genre

After 100 years, is it possible for horror films to generate fear?

Media products:

How real is ‘reality TV’? 

Media products:

Representation

Do marginalised groups have the power to self-represent?

Media products:

Are mainstream media representations of marginalised groups reinforcing or challenging traditional stereotypes?

Media products:

Audience

What gratifications does interaction provide for an audience? 

Media products:

What relationships do audiences have with media institutions?

Media products:

Institution

What are institutions doing to offset ‘the culture of free’?

Media products:

Do streaming and on demand services alter audience behaviours?

Media products:

Narrative

Why do some modern films and broadcast fictions use non-linear narratives?

Media products:

Does it matter that newspapers structure stories using narrative roles such as ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’?

Media products:

It's unlikely you'll get this finished in the lesson so complete for homework - due in your next Media coursework lesson.

Year 12 - Introduction to NDM: reading and blog task

For Year 12 Media students...

Your first task for our new/digital media topic is to read some recent Media Magazine articles and consider the impact these changes have had on your life.

Go to our Media Magazine archive and open up MM56 - April 2016. You need to read the following articles:

Page 10: Living and learning in a digital age.

Page 46: Periscope and the implications of live streaming.

Page 53: A2 A* exam essay on Spotify.

Note: You'll need to set up your Year 13 MEST3 Exam and MEST4 Coursework blogs before you can complete the blog aspects to this task.

You then need to complete the following tasks on your new MEST3 exam blog:

1) Read the first two articles. Write one paragraph on each summing up the key aspects.

2) Now read the A2 A* essay. Why do you think it was so successful? 

3) Finally, answer this question in a well developed paragraph on your blog: How has digital media changed your life in the last 5 years (for positive or negative)?

Finish this for homework - due Friday.

Welcome to Year 13!

Although you are officially still in Year 12, in Media we are starting Year 13 from Monday 5 June. This means you need to working here on our Year 13 Macguffin Blog from now on.

(If you're a Year 13 student looking for last-minute MEST3 exam resources, just scroll down - and good luck!)

One of the first things you need to do if you're not doing so already is follow the blog on Twitter. We'll be posting crucial links to interesting Media stories, homework reminders and deadlines throughout the year. In fact, we'll even be doing a lot of your homework for you and posting it up on the Twitter account. You'll find us:

@blogmacguffin

If you haven't joined Twitter, do so this week: it's a brilliant way of keeping up with what's happening in the media and you don't have to publish tweets yourself if you don't want to. Once you're on board, follow the following Twitter accounts to give yourself a comprehensive daily update on the media world:

Newspaper media sections
Media Guardian  @mediaguardian
Independent Media @TheIndyMedia
Telegraph film   @TelegraphFilm
Viral stories from the Independent @indy100

Useful Media Studies-related accounts
The Media blog    @TheMediaTweets
Brilliant Ads   @Brilliant_Ads
Pete Fraser   @petesmediablog

Big media personalities
Rupert Murdoch  @rupertmurdoch
Piers Morgan  @piersmorgan
Alasdair Campbell  @campbellclaret

Journalists
Owen Jones @OwenJones84
Roy Greenslade  @GreensladeR
Mehdi Hasan   @mehdirhasan
Nick Sutton   @suttonnick
Nick Davies   @Bynickdavies

Other media-related accounts
Film4    @Film4
Everyday Sexism blog @EverydaySexism
YouGov polling  @YouGov

There are many, many more Twitter accounts you can follow to keep up on certain aspects of the media and anything else you're interested in. Get involved and immerse yourself in the world of the media - you cannot achieve an A grade in Year 13 without an understanding and appreciation of the wider media.

We really believe you can achieve great things in Year 13 and learn the skills you will need at university and beyond. Good luck!

Y12 task: Set up your MEST3 Exam blog!

For current Year 12 Media students...

Your first task in Year 13 Media is to create your TWO new blogs for all Year 13 work.

The first blog you need should be called MEST3 Exam Blog.

In the comments section (at the end of this post) submit your new 'MEST3 Exam Blog' address with your first name in the comment so we can link to your blog.

This is where you'll include all the preparation work/research for the two hour MEST3 Critical Perspectives exam in June 2017:

Section A (40%) 1 hour

• Unseen stimulus materials - TWO media texts e.g. DVD clip/website screengrab (15 mins viewing/annotating) 
• Three short answer questions (45 minutes, 32 marks)

Section B (60%) 1 hour

• Pre-set topic area: The impact of New/Digital media
• One essay question from choice of two (1 hour, 48 marks)

Make sure your MEST3 Exam Blog is set up today!

Y12 task: Set up your MEST4 Coursework blog!

For current Year 12 Media students...

Your first task in Year 13 Media is to create your TWO new blogs for all Year 13 work.

The second blog you need should be called MEST4 Coursework Blog.

In the comments section (at the end of this post) submit your new 'MEST4 Coursework Blog' address with your first name in the comment so we can link to your blog.

This is where you'll include all the planning/research for the Research and Production Unit, worth 50% of the A2...

Critical Investigation (48 marks: 60%)
2,000 word fully researched and referenced essay on a media topic/text of your choice.

Linked Production (32 marks: 40%)
Media production of your choice linked to your Critical Investigation.


Make sure your MEST4 Coursework Blog is set up today!