Videogames: Henry Jenkins - fandom and participatory culture

Henry Jenkins is a key audience theorist – an expert in fandom and participatory culture.

We need to apply Jenkins's ideas to our videogame CSPs but also think back to where his ideas are relevant with other media texts we have studied. His work on participatory culture links with Clay Shirky in places and the concept of fandom is important to many media texts - from TV drama to magazines.

Notes

Henry Jenkins is an expert in fandom and participatory culture. Key to this idea is the concept of the ‘prosumer’ – audiences that create as well as consume media. This culture has revolutionised fan communities with the opportunity to create and share content. It also links to Clay Shirky’s work on ‘mass amateurisation’.

Fandom is now big business – with Comic-Con events making millions. More importantly, the internet has demonstrated the size of fan communities so it is no longer a minority of ‘geek’ stereotypes but mainstream popular culture (such as Marvel, Harry Potter or Doctor Who).




Jenkins defends fan cultures and argues that fans are often stereotyped negatively in the media because they value popular culture (e.g. films or games) over traditional cultural capital (high brow culture or knowledge). The irony is fan culture is often dominated by middle class, educated audiences.

Jenkins discusses ‘textual poaching’ – when fans take texts and re-edit or develop their meanings, a process called semiotic productivity. Fan communities are also quick to criticise if they feel a text or character is developing in a way they don’t support.


EU copyright law: a threat to participatory culture?

A new copyright law currently moving through the European Parliament has been described as a potential 'meme-ban'. It would place the responsibility for the distribution of copyrighted material with the platform rather than the user or copyright holder - and therefore could lead to huge amounts of content being removed. If implemented in full, it could end textual poaching, fan-made texts and re-edits and many more examples of fandom and participatory culture. You can read more on the potential implications in this Wired feature.

Henry Jenkins - fandom blog tasks

The following tasks will give you an excellent introduction to fandom and also allow you to start exploring degree-level insight into audience studies. Work through the following:

Factsheet #107 - Fandom

Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #107 on Fandom. Save it to USB or email it to yourself so you have access to the reading for homework. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What is the definition of a fan?

2) What the different types of fan identified in the factsheet?

3) What makes a ‘fandom’?

4) What is Bordieu’s argument regarding the ‘cultural capital’ of fandom?

5) What examples of fandom are provided on pages 2 and 3 of the factsheet?

6) Why is imaginative extension and text creation a vital part of digital fandom?

Tomb Raider and Metroid fandom research

Look at this Tomb Raider fansite and answer the following questions: 

1) What types of content are on offer in this fansite?

2) What does the number of links and content suggest about the size of the online fan community for Tomb Raider and Lara Croft? Pick out some examples from this page.

3) Scroll to the bottom of the page and look at the short ‘About me’ bio and social media updates. Is this a typical example of ‘fandom’ in the digital age? Why?

Now look at this Metroid fansite and answer the following: 

1) What does the site offer?

2) Look at the Community Spotlight page. What does this suggest about the types of people who enjoy and participate in fan culture?

3) There is a specific feature on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. What do the questions from fans tell you about the level of engagement and interest in the game and franchise from the fan community?

Henry Jenkins: degree-level reading

Read the final chapter of ‘Fandom’ – written by Henry Jenkins. This will give you an excellent introduction to the level of reading required for seminars and essays at university as well as degree-level insight into our current work on fandom and participatory culture. Answer the following questions:

1) There is an important quote on the first page: “It’s not an audience, it’s a community”. What does this mean?

2) Jenkins quotes Clay Shirky in the second page of the chapter. Pick out a single sentence of the extended quote that you think is particularly relevant to our work on participatory culture and the ‘end of audience’ (clue – look towards the end!)

3) What are the different names Jenkins discusses for these active consumers that are replacing the traditional audience?

4) On the third page of the chapter, what does Wired editor Chris Anderson suggest regarding the economic argument in favour of fan communities?

5) What examples does Jenkins provide to argue that fan culture has gone mainstream?

6) Look at the quote from Andrew Blau in which he discusses the importance of grassroots creativity. Pick out a sentence from the longer quote and decide whether you agree that audiences will ‘reshape the media landscape from the bottom up’.

7) What does Jenkins suggest the new ideal consumer is?

8) Why is fandom 'the future'?

9) What does it mean when Jenkins says we shouldn’t celebrate ‘a process that commodifies fan cultural production’?

10) Read through to the end of the chapter. What do you think the future of fandom is? Are we all fans now? Is fandom mainstream or are real fan communities still an example of a niche media audience?

Extension: EU copyright law - is a meme ban coming?

Read this Wired feature on the upcoming EU copyright law (Article 13 and Article 11) and discuss the potential implications for participatory culture and fandom. How might this impact on fans' 'textual poaching'?

There is plenty of work here but you will have the Christmas holiday to complete it. Exploring Jenkins will also give you a high-level academic theorist to employ in your upcoming Media PPEs.

Fandom work all due: Monday 13 January

Coursework: draft deadlines

After filming our trailers and completing some superb work in our photoshoots, it's now time to look at draft deadlines.

*EDIT: Due to the loss of data from Media Shared, we have revised the below deadlines and will re-do photoshoots in class this week for anyone who has lost their images*

This is the most important part of the coursework - the actual editing, design and construction of professional-level media productions. We know this is time-consuming - professional work takes serious commitment in the edit suite. Hopefully, the opportunity to download and use Creative Cloud software at home is useful and allows you to dedicate a day or two of your Christmas holiday to creating some media magic. 

Upcoming deadlines

Print OR video draft submission: Thursday 9 January 
Second submission: Thursday 16 January 

This allows you to prioritise your own project and deliver EITHER the video trailer OR the print work on 9 January and then submit the other half of the coursework the following week.

The video requires an exported 90-120 second TV drama trailer rough cut for the drama outlined in your Statement of Intent. This needs to be clearly labelled in your folder on Media Shared.

The print pages require four completed PDF files in your folder on Media Shared. You also need to save JPEG versions and post these to your blog.

You will then be given final tutorials on these rough cuts and drafts prior to the final deadline after February half-term.

Videogames - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Our second videogames CSP is Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004).

This is another in-depth CSP so will require significant work and research for an extensive blog case study.

The basics

• First-person action-adventure game produced for Nintendo GameCube (2004)
• Part of Metroid franchise – 7th game in series, sequel to Metroid Prime (original Metroid was 1986 on NES; latest release was Metroid: Samus Returns in 2017 on 3DS)
• Sold around 800,000 copies worldwide (quite low based on Nintendo franchises and previous Metroid games) 
• Game follows bounty hunter Samus Aran as she is sent to rescue Galactic Federation Marines
• She must battle the Ing (a destructive race from another dimension) and a mysterious version of herself called Dark Samus
• The game’s head-up display simulates the inside of Samus’s helmet and features map, radar, health bar, weapons and more
• Prime 2 Echoes is the first Metroid title to feature a 4-player multiplayer element

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Metroid Prime 2: Echoes case study' and complete the following in-depth tasks.

Language

Analyse the game cover for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (above).

1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?

2) What does the cover suggest regarding gameplay and audience pleasures?

3) Does the cover sexualise the character of Samus Aran? Why/why not?


Trailer analysis

Watch the trailer for the game:




1) What do you notice about genre?

2) How is the character introduced? Is Samus Aran obviously female?

3) How can we apply Steve Neale’s genre theory that discusses “repetition and difference”?

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:





1) What does the gameplay for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes involve?

2) Write an analysis of the media language choices in the construction of the game: e.g. genre, narrative, mise-en-scene, camera shots etc.

3) Analyse the clips for audience pleasures, applying audience theory and considering media effects.



Audience

Research the audience for Nintendo and specifically the Metroid franchise, including Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. You may wish to start with the following pages:

Reddit discussion of why people play Metroid
Giant Bomb forum: Who exactly is Nintendo’s demographics?
Reset Era: Nintendo’s audience getting older

1) Who might the target audience be for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, based on your research? Discuss demographics and psychographics.

2) How has Nintendo’s audience changed since the original Metroid game in 1986?

3) What audience pleasures are offered by Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or the wider Metroid franchise?

4) What effects might Metroid have on audiences? Apply media effects theories (e.g. Bandura’s social learning theory, Gerbner’s cultivation theory). 

Read this Gamesparks feature on gaming demographics and answer the following questions:

1) Who is considered to be the stereotypical gamer?

2) What has changed this?

3) What role do women play in the videogames market? Quote statistics from the article here.

4) Why are older gamers becoming a particularly important market for videogames producers? How can you link this to the Metroid franchise?

5) What does the article suggest regarding audience pleasures and expectations for different generations of gamer?


Industries

Read this Destructoid blog on the Metroid franchise. Answer the following:

1) Why has Metroid never quite fitted with the Nintendo brand?

2) What franchises have overtaken Metroid in the sci-fi hyper-realism genre in recent years?

3) Why does the writer link old boy bands from the music industry to the Metroid franchise? Do you agree with this reading of the brand?

4) What is an ‘AAA’ or ‘triple-A game’ in the videogames industry?

5) Do you think there will be further Metroid games featuring Samus Aran? Should there be?


Representation

Read this BBC3 feature on Samus Aran and answer the questions below:

1) What was notable about the original Metroid game in 1986?

2) What were the inspirations behind the gameplay and construction of Metroid?

3) Why are the endings to the original Metroid considered controversial?

4) What reaction do you think the reveal of Samus Aran in a bikini would have got when the game was first released in 1986? Have attitudes towards women changed?

5) How have later versions of the Metroid franchise sexualised the character of Samus Aran?

6) How can we apply Liesbet van Zoonen’s work to Samus Aran and Metroid?

7) What did Brianna Wu suggest regarding the character of Samus Aran?

8) Do you see Samus Aran as a feminist icon or simply another exploited female character?


Read this Houston Press feature on Samus Aran and entitled male gamers. Answer the following questions:

1) What does Anita Sarkeesian suggest regarding Samus Aran?

2) Why does Brianna Wu (and others) suggest Samus Aran may be transgender?

3) Why is Samus Aran useful for male gamers trying to argue videogames are not sexist?

4) Why are Lara Croft, Zelda and Peach not ideal examples to argue for female equality in videogames?

5) What does the ‘SJW’ in ‘SJW-gender politics’ refer to?

6) How can we apply Gerbner’s Cultivation theory to representations of women in videogames as discussed in the article? How might this lead to ‘entitled male gamers’? 


7) Does the videogame industry have a problem with gender? Provide evidence for your argument.

Complete for homework - due in the first lesson back after Christmas.

Videogames: Tomb Raider Anniversary

Our first videogames CSP is Tomb Raider: Anniversary (2007).

This is an in-depth CSP so will require significant work and research for an extensive blog case study.

The basics

• Released in 2007 on multiple consoles, PC and Mac. 
• The Wii version had active features; on Xbox it was the first game to be offered on Xbox Live Marketplace.
• 11th version of the Tomb Raider franchise.
• Marked 10th anniversary of original 1996 Tomb Raider game.
• Sold 1.3m copies – good but nowhere near original (7m+ copies).
• Game was based on original (offering nostalgia) but with updated graphics and gameplay – faster and more agile; more realistic visuals.
• Genre: Action adventure
• Protagonist/avatar (character player controls): Lara Croft
• Quest narrative driven by enigma and action codes and culminating in a final confrontation with antagonist. Lara Croft is dispatched to New Mexico to recover part of the Scion of Atlantis
• Gameplay involves: Exploration; Overcoming physical obstacles; Puzzles; Fighting; Gunplay.

Tomb Raider Anniversary: blog tasks

Language and Audience

Analyse the game cover for Tomb Raider Anniversary (above).

1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?

2) How does the pose and costume of the character appeal to primarily male audiences?

3) How might the cover be read as empowering for female gamers?

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:



1) What does the gameplay for Tomb Raider Anniversary involve?

2) Write an analysis of the media language choices in the construction of the game: e.g. genre, narrative, mise-en-scene, camera shots etc.

3) Analyse the clips for audience pleasures, applying audience theory and considering media effects.


Representations

Read this NME feature on the evolution of the character of Lara Croft. Answer the following questions:

1) Note the statistics in the opening paragraph.

2) How does the article describe the cultural change in society and the media since the early 00s?

3) How was the original 1996 Lara Croft received by audiences and critics?

4) What did the 2013 re-launch do differently – and how successful was it?

5) How is ‘woke Lara’ defined in the conclusion of the feature?


Now read this feature – Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft: feminist or femme fatale? 

1) Why is Lara Croft considered a “polarising figure among gamers”?

2) How did the limitations of game construction in the 1990s help to establish the way female characters were animated?

3) Why were Lara Croft’s physical attributes emphasised in the original games?

4) How does Anita Sarkeesian describe Lara Croft?

5) Why has Lara Croft’s appearance and characterisation changed over time?

Industries

1) Why is Lara Croft such an iconic figure in the gaming industry?

2) What products and spin-offs have featured Lara Croft or the Tomb Raider brand?

3) Why might Lara Croft be considered a postmodern icon?

4) Why is Tomb Raider Anniversary a 'case study in conglomerate ownership'?


Grade A/A* extension tasks

Link Tomb Raider Anniversary to our work in the unit so far:

1) What examples from the Tomb Raider franchise are included in Anita Sarkeesian's video series 'Tropes vs Women in Video Games'?

2) How can we apply Liesbet van Zoonen's work to Lara Croft and Tomb Raider?


Complete for homework - due in your second lesson next week.

Videogames: Further feminist theory

As part of our study of women in videogames, we need to develop our understanding of feminist theory.

We have looked at a range of feminist ideas earlier in the course including Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler, Angela McRobbie, the concept of post-feminism and more. We now need to explore this further by bringing in the work of bell hooks and Liesbet van Zoonen.

Notes from the lesson

Watch this short extract from Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox interviewing bell hooks at The New School in New York:



bell hooks is a highly influential radical black feminist.

She sees feminism as a struggle to end patriarchal oppression - it should be a serious political commitment rather than a fashionable lifestyle choice. “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression”

bell hooks also points to the importance of race and class when studying oppression.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is defined as the common point of two forms of oppression and how they work against a particular group of people. For example, black feminism addresses both gender and race discrimination.

bell hooks suggests that race is so significant that the experiences of gender, class or sexuality-based discrimination cannot be fully understood without also considering race.

This is important when analysing power in society. For example, men generally have more power then women – but white, middle class western women generally have much more power than women from BAME backgrounds.

Liesbet van Zoonen

Liesbet van Zoonen is an influential feminist academic and linked gender roles and the media explicitly in her 1994 book Feminist Media Studies. Some of her key ideas:

• Gender is constructed through media language
• These constructions reflect cultural and historical contexts
• The objectification of the female body is a key construct of western culture (building on Mulvey – male gaze)
• If women have to be like men to be treated equally, then equality itself is repressive

Further feminist theory: blog tasks

Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #169 Further Feminist Theory. Save it to USB or email it to yourself so you have access to the reading for homework. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What definitions are offered by the factsheet for ‘feminism ‘and ‘patriarchy’?

2) Why did bell hooks publish her 1984 book ‘Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center’?

3) What aspects of feminism and oppression are the focus for a lot of bell hooks’s work?

4) What is intersectionality and what does hooks argue regarding this?

5) What did Liesbet van Zoonen conclude regarding the relationship between gender roles and the mass media?

6) Liesbet van Zoonen sees gender as socially constructed. What does this mean and which other media theorist we have studied does this link to?

7) How do feminists view women’s lifestyle magazines in different ways? Which view do you agree with?

8) In looking at the history of the colours pink and blue, van Zoonen suggests ideas gender ideas can evolve over time. Which other media theorist we have studied argues this and do you agree that gender roles are in a process of constant change? Can you suggest examples to support your view?

9) What are the five aspects van Zoonen suggests are significant in determining the influence of the media?

10) What other media theorist can be linked to van Zoonen’s readings of the media?

11) Van Zoonen discusses ‘transmission models of communication’. She suggests women are oppressed by the dominant culture and therefore take in representations that do not reflect their view of the world. What other theory and idea (that we have studied recently) can this be linked to?

12) Finally, van Zoonen has built on the work of bell hooks by exploring power and feminism. She suggests that power is not a binary male/female issue but reflects the “multiplicity of relations of subordination”. How does this link to bell hooks views on feminism and intersectionality?

Extension task

If you’re interested in some of these ideas, there is plenty more reading and watching you can do. For example, watch this TEDx talk by renowned Nigerian/American novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ‘We should all be feminists’:

The Factsheet questions must be completed for homework this week - due next Monday.

Videogames: Introduction - Women in videogames

Our final in-depth media topic is Videogames.

Our Videogames CSPs are Tomb Raider Anniversary, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and The Sims FreePlay.

These are in-depth CSPs and need to be studied with reference to all four elements of the Theoretical Framework (Language, Representation, Industries, Audience) and all relevant contexts.

This will be tested in Media Two exam – a 25 mark essay question.

Videogames: an introduction

The videogames industry is a huge media market – bigger than video and music combined. It is worth £3.86bn – more than double its value in 2007. Remarkably, these figures do not include mobile and free games such as Fortnite (which has over 200 million players worldwide).

With FIFA19, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 each selling more than 1m copies, it is important to consider the influence games can have on audiences and society.

Women in videogames

The representation of women in videogames has long been considered sexist. Female characters are rarely playable and usually reinforce traditional gender stereotypes. Games that did feature female characters presented them as damsels in distress or sex objects.

Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series is one of the most iconic characters in videogame history. But while she is a strong, independent playable character, her appearance and costume turned her into a digital sex object.  

Tropes vs Women in Video Games

Vlogger and gaming expert Anita Sarkeesian has produced two series of YouTube videos documenting the representation of women in videogames.

Vlogging as Feminist Frequency, the series are an important example of digital feminism (and a superb resource for Media students). However, as a result, she has been a target for online abuse and threats – most notably as part of the #gamergate controversy.

Women and videogames: blog tasks

Work through the following blog tasks to complete this introduction to women in videogames.

Part 1: Medium article - Is Female Representation in Video Games Finally Changing?

Read this Medium feature on whether female representation in videogames is finally changing. Answer the following questions:

1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?

2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?

3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?

4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?

5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?


Part 2: Tropes vs Women in Video Games – further analysis

Visit Anita Sarkeesian’s ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games Series 2’ YouTube playlist and watch ONE other video in the series (your choice - and feel free to choose a video from season 1 if you prefer). Write a 100 word summary of the video you watch:

Title of video: 

100 word summary: 


Part 3: Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview

Finally, read this Gamespot interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency and answer the following questions:

1) What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.

2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?

3) Why do stories matter?

4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?

5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?

6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?

7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?

8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?

9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?

10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?

Optional extension task
To find out more about the online backlash and #gamergate, this Guardian feature links the online abuse to the American alt-right movement also credited with electing Donald Trump.

Deadline: Complete for homework what you don't finish in the lesson - due next week.

Coursework: Print magazine research and planning

The Print aspect to our coursework brief is as important as the video work you are currently filming. 

It is crucial that you research, plan and design print work that could comfortably holds its own alongside professional examples. You will also need to include a short paragraph regarding your print magazine work in your redrafted Statement of Intent. A reminder of the coursework brief is here, with the key tasks as follows:

Print
You should create 4 pages of a culture magazine. The magazine targets adult audiences who enjoy the analysis and critical discussion of popular culture.

You should create a front cover and a two-page feature on the genre you have chosen to work in.

You can choose the focus of the feature article but for example, the feature could offer a history of the genre, an analysis of the genre’s conventions or offer a critical discussion about some aspect of the genre such as its gender representations.

The front cover and the two-page feature should relate to the TV show you are promoting in task 1 in some way.

The third page should be one of the following:

• a contents page
• a single page advert reflecting the potential interests of the target audience
• a single page feature on a contemporary cultural product
• a single page providing a summary of recent cultural news items

What do you need to produce?

1) The front page for a new, original culture magazine that you have created:

• Title and masthead
• Selling line
• Cover price
• Dateline
• Main cover image and at least two further smaller images related to the content of the magazine
• At least 5 cover lines

2) A contents page (or one of AQA's alternatives listed above):

• Content that is appropriate to the conventions of the genre of magazine being created
• Each page to use original images as illustrations (the main cover image must not be repeated but the smaller images from the front cover can appear on internal pages)
• Internal pages should reflect the design codes and conventions of the genre of magazine being created

3) A double-page spread feature linked to your TV drama production as outlined in AQA's guidance above:

• Content that is appropriate to the conventions of the genre of magazine being created
• Original copy (at least 400 words)
• Each page to use original images as illustrations (the main cover image must not be repeated but the smaller images from the front cover can appear on internal pages)
• Internal pages should reflect the design codes and conventions of the genre of magazine being created

Print brief - overall minimum requirements

• A clear house style should be used in the presentation of all pages.
• A minimum of 7 original images should be included in the submission.
• All copy should be original and a minimum of 400 words should be
• submitted
• Work should be presented on pages that are an appropriate size or in proportion to the size of paper used by magazines

We recommend that all of the above should be A4 page size (with the double-page spread doubling up so A3 size).

Research and planning blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Print brief research and planning' and complete the following tasks to plan and prepare your print work:

1) Research magazine cover key conventions. Look over the magazine cover key conventions notes sheet and write which of these you will use for your magazine cover.

2) Find at least five culture magazine front covers (either current or former magazines) aimed at a similar target audience to your project (adults interested in popular culture). For each one, pick out one design idea that you could use in your own print work. Some examples you may wish to look at include the Guardian Guide, Sunday Times Culture magazine, Time Out, The Face, the Radio Times, Aesthetica, the move and Paper:

3) Find at least three contents pages from culture, lifestyle or music magazines on Google images. How are contents pages designed? How do they use a combination of text and images to create an effective design?

4) Find at least three double-page spread features from culture, lifestyle or music magazines on Google images. How are they designed? How are text and images displayed? What design tricks can you borrow from your examples?

5) Read at least three example features from newspapers and magazine to learn the format, writing style and content for a culture magazine. You may wish to use the following to help you:

Guardian review of The Morning Show - new Apple TV drama (500 words)

Time Out - The 10 Best TV shows of the week (1,500 words)

Benedict Cumberbatch hints at female future (250 words)

Planning, sketching and writing

1) Plan a title and slogan for your new, original culture magazine. Sketch out possible designs for the masthead - font, style, colour etc.

2) Plan the content for your magazine front cover. Your double-page spread will be the main story but what other cover lines, images and more will you include on the cover?


3) Write a list of the all the features, regular sections and more that will appear on your contents page. If you've chosen to produce a different internal page, plan that here instead.

4) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of all the issues or topics your TV drama addresses. How can you use this information to create a main feature for your culture magazine about your TV drama that will appeal to your target audience?

5) Write the text for your double-page spread feature. This needs to be a minimum of 400 words and be completely original and feature an aspect of your TV drama. Make sure you include a headline, subheading and any pullout quotes or sidebar contents. 

6) Produce an A4 sketch of your front cover including the key conventions and design tricks you have studied in existing magazines and then planned in planning task 1 above.

7) Produce an A4 sketch of your contents page. This can be a single page of A4 or alternatively a double-page spread (A3).

8) Produce an A4 landscape sketch of your double page spread design now you have chosen the subject matter.

Photoshoot

1) Which of your main characters will appear on the front cover of your magazine?

2) What image or images do you need for the contents page?

3) What image or images will you use for the double-page spread? Remember, you need seven different original images across the print brief.

4) Write a shot list for the photoshoot. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.

5) What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot?

Use the next two weeks of lessons plus homework to complete these planning tasks - due date is your class's photoshoot (confirmed by your coursework teacher).

OSP: Final index

We are now at the end of our Online, Social and Participatory media unit and need to create an index to ensure we have completed all the work set. 

You'll have a January assessment on this topic and the weekly stories you've been collecting for Teen Vogue and The Voice will provide excellent examples and evidence for your exam essays. 

Online, Social and Participatory index

This process is an excellent start to your revision for the Media Two exam in the summer as well as your upcoming January mock exams. It will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips and allow you to catch up before we get fully into the next topic. 

Your index should include the following:

1) OSP: Clay Shirky - End of Audience blog tasks
2) OSP: Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis
3) OSP: Teen Vogue - audience and representation
4) Baseline Assessment learner response
5) OSP: Teen Vogue - industry and social media
6) OSP: Hall and Gilroy - media theory
7) OSP: The Voice - blog case study
8) OSP: The Voice and Teen Vogue news articles (minimum 4 from each)

For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each aspect of the case study quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in the exam due to gaps in your knowledge.

Index due date: next exam lesson.