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

Read Media Factsheet #107 on Fandom. Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) or log into your Greenford Google account to access the link. 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 site that you find interesting.

Now look at this Metroid fansite and answer the following: 

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

2) 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?

A/A* extension: 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?

Optional extension: EU copyright law - is a meme ban really being considered?

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: due date on Google Classroom.

January mock exams - what to revise for Media

Your January A Level Media mock exams are the real deal - the opportunity to put everything you have learned to the test.

Students typically do better in the summer exams than the last set of mocks - but usually only by around a grade. This means you need to make sure you are fully prepared for these exams with the aim of achieving your target grade or just off it.

The following will help you plan your revision:

Media Paper 1

Media Paper 1 Section A will always focus on Media Language and Representations. This means the following CSPs:

Advertising & Marketing
Score & Maybelline That Boss Life

Music Video
Letter to the Free & Ghost Town

Media Paper 1 Section B will always focus on Media Audiences and Industries. This means the following CSPs:

Film Industry

Blinded By The Light

Radio

BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat and War of the Worlds

Newspapers (not in January PPE - we haven't learned this yet)

The Daily Mail and The i

Unseen question

The first question in Media Paper 1 Section A will always be an unseen media product.

The second question will also relate to the unseen while also bringing in a CSP. This means it is likely the unseen product will link to advertising and marketing or music promotion.

20-mark essays

There will be TWO 20-mark essays in Paper 1 – at the end of each section. AQA states for your extended response questions:

“You will be rewarded for your ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning which is coherent, relevant, substantiated and logically structured.” This means you need to write an essay that constructs an argument that answers the question you have been given.

You can look through this AQA Specimen Paper 1 paper to familiarise yourself with the structure of the paper.

Media Paper 2

The first question in Media Paper 2 will always be a 9-mark question on an unseen media product.

Aside from Q1, Media Paper 2 tests your in-depth topic areas:

TV

Capital and Deutschland 83

Magazines

Men’s Health and Oh Comely

Online, Social and Participatory

Teen Vogue and The Voice

Videogames

Tomb Raider Anniversary, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes & The Sims FreePlay

Indeed, the majority of Paper 2 will be THREE 25-mark essays on your in-depth topics. AQA states for your extended response questions:

“You will be rewarded for your ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning which is coherent, relevant, substantiated and logically structured.”

Q4: Synoptic question

The final question in Paper 2 will always be the synoptic question – which requires you to demonstrate knowledge of the whole two-year course of study. AQA states:

“Question 4 is a synoptic question in which you will be rewarded for your ability to draw together different areas of knowledge and understanding from across the full course of study.”

How do we do this? Answer: Key concepts and CSPs. Try and answer the question by linking it to other key concepts (Language, Industries, Audiences, Representations) and by mentioning other relevant CSPs that link to the question. This will demonstrate your knowledge of the whole course - but make sure you do stay focused the question!

You can look through this AQA Specimen Paper 2 paper to familiarise yourself with the structure of the paper.

Finally, revise EVERYTHING you have learned over the last 18 months for A Level Media in preparing for these exams - terminology, theory and CSPs. Good luck!

Videogames - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

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

This is another in-depth CSP so will require a decent amount of 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's gender clear? Why?

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. You can use bullet points here and/or type up your notes from the analysis in class.



Audience

Research the audience for Nintendo and specifically the Metroid franchise, including Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. You may wish to start with looking at the following pages (note: some links may be blocked in school):

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? Explain your opinion on this question and provide evidence for your argument.

Complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Coursework: rough cut deadline

After filming the majority of our interviews and cutaways for our TV documentaries, it's now time to deliver a 3-minute rough cut of the video production.

This is the most important part of the coursework - the actual editing and construction of a professional-level media production. We know this is time-consuming - professional work takes serious commitment in the edit suite. You will be given two weeks of lesson time plus homework time to edit your work.

Re-shoots and additional filming

We understand that there will need to be some additional filming or re-shooting of certain shots. That is natural for any production aiming for a top grade. However, you should all have plenty of material to be editing over the next two weeks even if there may be some re-shoots required at some point. 

Rough cut deadline: Monday 13 December

The rough cut deadline requires you to deliver an exported 3-minute opening sequence to your TV documentary. This needs to be clearly labelled in your folder on Media Shared and also uploaded on YouTube and to your blog. You will be given a feedback tutorial.

After Christmas, we will be starting the print side of the brief and revising for the full mock exams in January.

Good luck and let's make some outstanding, professional documentary openings!

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 date on Google Classroom.

Creative Mentor Network opportunity

There's a fantastic opportunity for Year 12 and 13 students who want to work in the creative industries in future.

The Creative Mentor Network is an organisation that tries to get students in comprehensive schools placements with mentors in the creative industries. 

There are eligibility criteria but they are reasonably wide - if your parents did not go to university it's likely you'll be able to apply. 

We're holding an event in the Library on Thursday 2 December at 3.15pm to find out more - make sure you're there!

Videogames: Further feminist theory

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

We have looked at a range of feminist ideas earlier in the course including Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler, Liesbet van Zoonen, the concept of post- or fourth-wave feminism and more. We now need to explore this further with a deeper understanding of bell hooks and 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) or here using your Greenford Google login. Find Media Factsheet #169 Further Feminist Theory, read the whole of the 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 if you don't finish in the lesson - due date on Google Classroom.

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 the Media Two exam with 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 FIFA, 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 - due date on Google Classroom.

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 an assessment on this topic next week and need to be able to make specific reference to both OSP products in your 25-mark essay.  

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 January mock exams. It will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or self-isolation and allow you to catch up before the assessment. 

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: Gilroy - diasporic identity
7) OSP: The Voice - blog case study

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 assessment due to gaps in your knowledge.

Index due date: next exam lesson.

Coursework: Pre-production

Pre-production work for a documentary is a little trickier than narrative filmmaking as by definition you don't know exactly what your interviewees will say or do.

However, we can still enhance our prospects of producing professional-grade work by planning everything we do have control over. Work through the following pre-production tasks and plan out everything you can.

Research

Never stop carrying out research! Although you've done your main research as part of your summer project and perhaps watched the programmes we suggested back in July, keep watching more documentaries (particularly those similar to your subject/topic) to see how they use conventions, shot types, montages, music, voiceover, text on screen and any other aspects to professional documentaries. 

If there's something specific you're not sure how to set up, watch some professional examples and try to replicate the style or format they use.

Script

A documentary script will need to be a working document because you don't know exactly what your interviewees will say. However, there is a lot that you CAN plan: the opening montage shots, the title sequence, music, voiceover, how you introduce your interviewees, how you link the different interviews, how you end your opening sequence to clearly signal that the documentary is going to continue for another 27, 37, 57 minutes depending on the format you have chosen.

You can find an example documentary script opening here. This one uses two columns - one for video and one for audio. It's a good format which forces you to think about what video and audio you will need for each part of your production and it helps to plan cutaway shots, introductory montages and more.

Interview questions

One element that links closely to your script that you HAVE to plan is the interview questions. Think carefully about the kind of thing your want your interviewee to say and then write questions that give them the opportunity to do that. Plan follow-up questions and be prepared to think on your feet during the filming if your interviewee says something interesting or unexpected. Finally, ask your interviewee if they can include the wording of your question in their answer as this will make your job when editing MUCH easier.

Here's a good webpage with video that goes through top tips for writing documentary interview questions.  

Shot list

Once you have a script, your shot list should be pretty easy to put together. This is every shot you plan to shoot in each location / interviewee / section of documentary. See it as a working document that you print out and take with you when filming - literally tick each shot off as you film it so you can be certain you have enough. Focus particularly on introductory montage shots, cutaways, close-ups and other shots that will help you in the final edit. Here's an example of a shot list:

You don't need to worry about the lens but shot number, description, equipment, movement, shot type and estimated time are all very helpful to think about in advance of your shoot. 

Look at this still from the BBC documentary Fever Pitch (about the creation of the Premier League in the 1990s). Note the multiple cameras and lighting set-up used to achieve the professional end result:

Mise-en-scene

This is another area you can plan in advance and doing this well will help you pick up the 15 marks awarded for Media Language. What iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands your topic and gets to know your interviewee? Plan your interview location, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting for each part of your documentary. 

Shooting schedule

Finally, plan out your shooting schedule and make sure you can get everything filmed in the filming window we have given you. Be realistic: filming a three-minute documentary is going to take TIME and you're going to need to plan several days to get all the different elements filmed. Leave some time as backup in case anything falls through and make sure you have a plan B. 

Your shooting schedule can be as simple as a Word or Google Doc / spreadsheet. Include when, where, who is required, planned equipment and any other aspects you need to arrange. 

Coursework: Statement of Intent, pre-production and filming

Our coursework projects are really starting to take off with some brilliant preliminary exercises. Now it's time to update our Statements of Intent and plan our documentary filming schedule.

The next stages of the project are critical - this is where the video project will stand or fall. The next tasks and deadlines are as follows:

Statement of Intent second draft - THIS WEEK
Submitted as a NEW blog post AND hard copy from Microsoft Word / Google Docs. Statement of Intent guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent questions to consider document too (you'll need to log in with your Greenford Google account to open these documents). 

Finally, here's an example Statement of Intent from 2019 (different brief - TV drama trailer) to give you some ideas on how you can use layout and bullet points to include a large amount of information without going too far over the word count.

Statement of Intent deadline: Week commencing Monday 1 November

Documentary pre-production and filming

If you are planning to film over half-term, you'll need to plan your pre-production this week (script, shot list, mise-en-scene and shooting schedule). Keep an eye out for blogposts to help with this planning over the next two weeks.

Filming of documentary

Filming window: Friday 22 October - Monday 22 November.
Deadline: Monday 22 November

Tutorials
While you work on the above deadlines, you will have another tutorial with your coursework teacher looking at your latest Statement of Intent and checking pre-production planning. For those who film early in the filming window, it will also involve checking the 'rushes' (the film clips as they come in).

Mark scheme

A few of you have requested the mark scheme for the Statement of Intent. You can find it in the A Level Media specification document here - on pages 21-22 (if you keep scrolling you can also find the mark scheme for the remaining 50 marks for your productions).

If you need a recap on the brief from AQA, you can find the brief here - Brief Three: TV documentary.

This is the moment you need to step up... we're demanding professional standards to match the incredible production work Greenford Media students have produced at A Level in the past. Good luck!

OSP: The Voice - blog case study

Our second Online, Social and Participatory CSP is the Voice newspaper website - a niche publication targeting the black British community.

The Voice has a significant place in the social and historical context of race relations and representation in Britain, launching in 1982 in the wake of the Brixton race riots. It is also the perfect case study to further develop our understanding of Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory we studied last lesson.

The Voice - background and notes

The Voice, founded in 1982, is the only British national black weekly newspaper operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by GV Media Group Limited, and is aimed at the British African-Caribbean community. The paper is based in London and is published every Thursday. 

The first issue of The Voice was printed to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1982. Its cover price was 54 pence, and was only sold in London.

You can read more of this background from the original source - the Voice website About Us page.

The Voice: social and historical context

In 1981, the Brixton race riots shone a spotlight on race relations in Britain. 

The Voice emerged in 1982 partly as a result of these riots – both due to the need to offer a voice and representation to black Britons and also due to a business loan from Barclays Bank. The bank was keen at the time to improve their reputation with the black community due to investments in Apartheid South Africa.

Social context - The Battle for Brixton documentary:

The Voice analysis: production values

The Voice offers a strong contrast to Teen Vogue with significantly lower production values across its digital operations – website design, video content and social media. However, the growth of digital technology means that the Voice can effectively compete on the same playing field as Teen Vogue, albeit targeting a niche audience.

Watch this video on influential black women in business and compare it to Teen Vogue’s video content – similar in ideology but very different in production values (note the view count for the Voice video too):

The Voice: representation

The Voice was launched to cater for the interests of British-born black people. Applying Gilroy’s work on “double consciousness”, it could be argued that the Voice was launched to give black audiences an opportunity to see media through their own eyes rather than through the prism of white, often-biased (or even racist?) mainstream British media. This also links to Hall's work on representation and the idea of individuals having their own 'conceptual map'.

The Voice: industries

The Voice is owned by Jamaican media group the Gleaner company and published in Britain by GV Media Group. It is a significant contrast to Teen Vogue and the international giant Conde Nast.

Recently, in a similar move to The Guardian's request for donations, The Voice asks its readers to support the publication by paying donations via PayPal. This raises interesting questions regarding the financial viability of online news media and particularly niche publications such as The Voice (or indeed magazines like Oh Comely).

The Voice: case study blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'The Voice case study' and complete the following tasks:

Overview: Media Factsheet #229 - Applying Post-Colonial Theory to The Voice Online

Read Media Factsheet #229 - Applying Post-Colonial Theory to The Voice Online (login using your Greenford Google account) and answer the following questions: 

1) What does the factsheet suggest regarding how The Voice is constructed from a media language perspective?

2) Complete Activity 3 on Page 2 of the Factsheet - analyse The Voice's website and suggest a possible demographic and psychographic breakdown for The Voice's audience.

3) How can we apply Stuart Hall's audience theories to The Voice?

4) What is an anti-essentialist perspective and how does this link to Paul Gilroy? 

5) Choose three of the key terms from Gilroy's post-colonial theory on page 3 of the factsheet and apply them to The Voice as a media product.

6) How does The Voice link to Gilroy's Black Atlantic theory?

7) Look at page 5 of the factsheet. What news stories are highlighted as examples of the way the media reports differently depending on the race or ethnicity of the victims?

8) How does the factsheet summarise and apply wider media theories The Voice on the final page?

Language and textual analysis

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

1) Does The Voice homepage tend to use news or magazine website conventions? Give examples.

2) How does the homepage design differ from Teen Vogue? 

3) What are some of the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content, values and ideologies of the Voice?

4) Look at the news stories on the Voice homepage. Pick two stories and explain why they might appeal to the Voice's target audience. 

5) How is narrative used to encourage audience engagement with the Voice? Apply narrative theories (e.g. Levi-Strauss and binary opposition, Todorov's equilibrium or Barthes’ enigma codes) and make specific reference to stories on the homepage and how they encourage audiences to click through to them.

Lifestyle section

Now analyse the Lifestyle section of the Voice and answer the following:

1) What are the items in the sub-menu bar for the Lifestyle section and what does this suggest about the target audience for The Voice?

2) What are the main stories in the Lifestyle section currently?

3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?

4) Do the sections and stories in the Voice Lifestyle section challenge or reinforce black stereotypes in British media?

5) Choose two stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?

Feature focus

1) Read this Voice opinion piece on black representation in the tech industry. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?

2) Read this feature on Michaela Coel supporting Oxfam's Second Hand campaign. Why might this feature appeal to readers of The Voice?

3) Read this Voice news story on Grenfell tower and Doreen Lawrence. How might this story reflect the Voice’s values and ideologies? What do the comments below suggest about how readers responded to the article? Can you link this to Gilroy’s work on the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?

Audience

1) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).

2) Give examples of sections or content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.

3) Can you find any examples of content on the Voice website created or driven by the audience or citizen journalism? How does this reflect Clay Shirky’s work on the ‘end of audience’ and the era of ‘mass amateurisation’?

Representations

1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations in the Voice website?

2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying to this text?

3) What kind of black British identity is promoted on the Voice website? Can you find any examples of Gilroy’s “liquidity of culture” or “unruly multiculturalism” here?

4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice?

5) Do you notice any other interesting representations in the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups (e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries etc.)

Industries

1) Read this Guardian report on the death of the original founder of the Voice. What does this tell you about the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand? 

2) Read this history of the Voice’s rivals and the struggles the Voice faced back in 2001. What issues raised in the article are still relevant today? 

3) The Voice is now published by GV Media Group, a subsidiary of the Jamaican Gleaner company. What other media brands do the Gleaner company own and why might they be interested in owning the Voice? You'll need to research this using Google/Wikipedia or look at this Guardian article when Gleaner first acquired The Voice.

4) How does the Voice website make money?

5) Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make profit?

6) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?

7) Analyse The Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as Teen Vogue)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?

8) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTube channel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?


Homework and deadlines

There is plenty of work here - at least 3 to 4 hours - but this is the only blog task on the Voice and covers all four of the key concepts.

Finish for homework - due date set on Google Classroom.