Med 5 Cw Task 10

TASK TEN
Book Research

Although you've been doing some excellent internet research, it's crucial if you want a top grade (i.e. an A or B) to include a wide range of book research as part of your study too. The internet has only been around as for a decade or so and absolutely anyone can publish on the web. This means that when it comes to academic investigations books still carry much more authority.

You'll need at least a dozen decent book references in your bibliography. By 'decent' we mean relevant academic works or textbooks that you actually quote or refer to in the main body of your essay. It won't be enough just to copy out a long list of related books - you have to have read at least part of each one and identified useful material that you can use from them. Use the contents page and index in each book to help you select that nugget of information that could be helpful.

Please carry out the following over the next fortnight (by Monday 12-11-07)...

• This week you must visit the school library which, quite frankly, has the best range of media books for miles (better than Ealing libraries for sure). [TIP: Use the online library catalogue to search for books as well as looking on the shelves]. As everyone in Year 13 is doing this task (nearly fifty of you) it would be a bit selfish to borrow the books from the library because it stops anyone else from using them. Therefore, until next Monday (5-11) please treat all media-related books as reference books and don't take them out. (But if you want to borrow them over the following week then please do so).
  

• Check through all the media- and film-related books. Then photocopy some of the relevant pages and highlight and annotate the essential details you expect to include. Or you can make notes/copy out quotes that might be relevant for your essay

• Post up at least TEN books you've started researching in a posting entitled: 'Bibliography: Books'. For each one write a brief summary about how it will be useful - be specific! Make sure you include all the required information in the correct way (and this includes keeping a record of page references)...

Author Surname, Author First Name (year of publication): Title. Place of Publication: Publisher.
eg...Craig, Steve (1992) : Men, Masculinity and the Media. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

If you can add more now then please do - you'll have to in the future.

Over the weekend it's also advisable to go to Ealing libraries (Greenford, Ealing Broadway, etc.) to see what they've got. Also, you could visit larger bookshops (e.g. Waterstones in Ealing, Borders in Brent Cross) and see what they have on offer.

Make sure that you bring all the photocopied/highlighted/annotated research to the lesson on the deadline day!

Med 5 Cw Task 9

TASK NINE
Find Your 'Blog Buddies'

You should know a lot about each other's blogs by now - through doing the comments task and through checking out each other's links in Task 7. Now you need to find the two blogs that share most in common with your own in terms of the texts/topics/issues/debates being studied.

The first needs to be from your class; the second needs to be from another class, so you'll each have two 'Blog Buddies' by the end of this process.

When you've decided which ones are suitable you need to contact the other bloggers by leaving a comment on their most recent post explaining why you think you're similar. Think of it like a coursework dating game where your job is to pull the right blogger. Don't be shy or you'll get left out! Make the first move!

If you agree with each other then you need to put together a detailed joint proposal explaining why you should be 'Blog Buddies'. This must be posted up on both your blogs (before next Monday 5-11) and should include the following...

• A short summary of each study

• Areas of overlap between each study (texts, topics, issues, debates)

• What you've each learned from looking at each other's study that might be useful

And remember, if you're not quick about it your ideal Blog Buddy will be snatched from you by someone else and you'll be left with one that may not be as good!

Evaluations

It's that time of year already!

To be completed over the course of the next week (by Friday 19-10).

Your responses will be used to help write your Interim Reports and help us to plan a better course for you.

1. SELF EVALUATION
Write an evaluation of your progress on the Media course so far.
Post the work up on your Module 5 blogs.

a. Comment on each of the following, giving yourself a grade with an explanation outlining why:

(Grading should be1-5: 1 = excellent, 2 = v. good, 3 = good/average, 4 = poor, 5 = v. poor)

• Attainment
• Effort
• Punctuality
• Submission and quality of homework
• Ability to work independently
• Quality of writing
• Organisation of Media folder
• Oral contributions in class
• Standard of Module 5 blog
  
• Standard of Module 6 blog
  

b. Make a list of three achievements (www) and three targets/areas for improvement (ebi) over the next half-term.

2. COURSE EVALUATION

Write an evaluation of the actual course/teaching.
Please submit the work as a comment after this post. Include your name!

a. Answer each of the following with a grade (1-5), giving reasons/examples:

(Grading should again be1-5: 1 = excellent, 2 = v. good, 3 = good/average, 4 = poor, 5 = v. poor)

• How well is the course organised?
• How interesting is the content that is covered?
• How useful are the handouts?
• Have the lessons been well-paced?
• What is the standard of the teachers’ presentation/subject knowledge?
• How well has the course met your expectations?
• Have the extra-curricular events been useful? (eg. Awards Eve., Trips)
• Has the Macguffin Blog been useful?

b. Make a list of three things you like and help you to learn (www) and three suggestions of things you’d like to see changed/improved (ebi).

Med 5 Cw Task 8

TASK EIGHT
Self-Directed Research: Report

Some of you are going above and beyond the call of duty in your quest to create a great research blog that will really help you construct an excellent Independent Study. It's not enough simply to carry out the Tasks set each week - some of this is supposed to be 'independent' after all - so those of you who are adding posts when you've not even been told to do so are really entering into the right spirit of things. It's supposed to be on a topic you enjoy so it shouldn't be too painful.

We call this 'Self-Directed Research' and that's what we need to see more evidence of - stuff you find out for yourselves, either by using the del.ici.ous links or through your own searches.

Start a new post called 'Self-Directed Research' and provide a list with links of everything you've done in this area. And then do some more!

Med 5 Cw Task 7

TASK SEVEN
Keywords x10 (again!)

Using the Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary that everyone now has you need to identify TEN MORE keywords, ideas, theories or theorists that are relevant for your study. For each one, provide a definition of the term and then explain how it is useful or can be linked to your study.

If in doubt take a look at other people's blogs to see which key terms they find helpful.

Don't Be A Loser!

It's nearly half term yet there are a number of people who still haven't sent Macguffin their blog addresses so they can be included as links here on the sidebar. This was required in July (for Med 5) and the start of September (for Med 6). Without these we cannot do your assessments for your interim reports and you'll end up with the lowest grades...do you really want to be that much of a loser?

Apologies to those people whose names are listed below but who have tried (unsuccessfully) in the past to send this info. Just leave it as a comment on the post below and your name will be removed from the wall of shame...

Med 6
Kabir
Karina

Med 5 Cw Task 6

The following comprises TASK SIX, which need to be done by the start of next week (15-10-07)...

• Carry out a close textual analysis of a chosen scene from your main text and post it up on your blog. The scene should be able to exemplify some of the key points you wish to make in your Independent Study and link with some of the key issues and debates that your text raises.

Think of the task as like a Module 6 analysis but with one text instead of two - so you need to cover MIGRAIN and SHEP and you are advised to watch the scene several times and to make detailed notes before embarking on the write-up. Also, use the Key Concepts Glossary from Year 12 to help you think about terminology to use (see below). You should be including as many of these keywords and ideas as possible in your analysis.

Glossary: Key Concepts/Key Terminology

Media Language (M)
what techniques are being used to make meaning in the text?
semiotics: non-verbal codes, denotation/connotation, signs, signification, anchoring
cinematography, camerawork: composition, framing, BCU, CU, MS, LS, pan, tilt, tracking shot, zoom
mise-en-scéne: clothing, props, gestures, facial expressions, sets, setting
lighting: key light, back light, filler light; underlighting, top lighting, back lighting; low-key/high-key lighting
sound: diegetic/non-diegetic; on/off screen, sound bridge; parallel/contrapuntal sound, voiceover narration
editing: continuity editing, jump cut, dissolve, wipe, fade in/out, cross-cutting, paralleling, cutaways,
montage, suturing (shot/reverse shot)

Institution (I)
who produces, distributes, regulates the text?
production: Hollywood/non-Hollywood
promotion: reach, trailers, posters, publicity, marketing
distribution: mainstream, multiplex cinema/independent, alternative, art-house cinema
scheduling: prime-time; the ‘watershed’
broadcasting: public broadcasting (BBC, public service)/commercial television (advertising, profit)
ethics: (non) intervention, manipulation, ‘set-ups’, reconstruction, simulation, exploitation, ‘dumbing down’

Genre (G)
what type of text is it?
hybrid genre, sub-genre
generic conventions/repertoire of elements: iconography, style, setting, narrative, characters, themes
repetition/variation
appropriation: parody, pastiche, formulaic, homage
film genres: film noir, horror, gangster, melodrama, teen movie
documentary elements: ‘fly on the wall’, observational documentary, actuality, ‘vox pops’, formats
documentary genres: institutional, ‘reality TV’, social issue, reportage/investigative, docudrama, docusoap
development of doc: Vertov, Riefenstahl, propaganda, city symphony, cinema vérité, Direct Cinema
broadcast fiction genres: one-off drama, series, serial/mini-series, soap opera, sitcom
broadcast fiction elements: title sequence, theme tune, melodrama, tragedy, comic relief

Representation (R)
who or what is being represented in the text? how?
gender, ethnicity
positive/negative: fair, accurate, reflects society
stereotypes: challenge/reinforce
mediation: constructed, constructedness, mis-representation, selection, compression
realist aesthetic, naturalism

Audience (A)
who consumes the text?
primary/secondary audiences
target audience: age, gender, ethnicity, social background, interests
(genre) expectations: fulfilled/cheated, subverted
narrative pleasures: suspense/dramatic irony, identification/alienation, stars, escapism, entertainment
aesthetic/visual pleasure
sexual/psychological pleasures: sadism, voyeurism
reception: how? when? where? possible audience readings
appeal, popularity

Ideology & Values (I)
what are the belief systems/messages/values underpinning the text?
liberal values: progressive values, anti-racism, multi-culturalism
dominant ideology: traditional values, maintain the status quo
positive values: to educate, to inform, to create sympathy, to encourage social or political change
patriarchy: misogyny, feminism

Narrative (N)
how is the narrative in the text organized and structured?
closed narrative/open narrative
exposition: recapitulation, foreshadowing
closure: denouement, resolution/cliffhanger, resisting closure
linear narrative: chronological
non-linear narrative: flashback
narrative structure: equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium (Todorov)
narrative roles: protagonist, hero/rescuer, villain, princess/rescued (Propp)
narrative themes: binary oppositions (Levi-Strauss)
enigma codes: question, disruption (Barthes)
strands, multi-stranded narrative

FILM CLUB

Film Club is starting this Thursday 11th October at 3.30 in the Lecture Theatre (Block B). This week we are watching 'CITY OF GOD' so if you want to see it again - come along!

13C1 CW: Game Shows (STE)

I am not in the lesson on Wed 10th October so here is the work to be completed. You still need to come in and register in DF05, then go and complete the work in the LRC.

Analyse and compare the 2 clips from 'The Weakest Link' (BBC1) and 'Deal or No Deal' (C4) focusing on what the game shows demonstrate about the channel they are broadcast on. You may want to consider PSB and consumerism as well as MIGRAIN and SHEP issues.

This work is due in on paper next lesson WED 17th OCT

13C1 Hw: Bollywood (STE)

Analyse the 2 Bollywood clips and analyse how the genre has changed over time; how Globalisation has affected the genre and any other SHEP issues that arise from comparing the two clips.

Post your analysis/comparison on your MED6 blog by next lesson (Wed 10th Oct)

Med 5 Cw Tasks 4 & 5

Here's are the two Tasks set this week for your Med 5 coursework, both of which need to be fully complete by the start of next week (08-10-07)...

TASK FOUR
Keywords x10

Using the Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary (that you should have recently received) you need, in the first instance, to identify TEN keywords, ideas, theories or theorists that are relevant for your study. For each one, provide a definition of the term and then explain how it is useful or can be linked to your study.

TASK FIVE
del.ici.ous Links x10

It is noticeable that too many of you haven't been using the list of Med5 links that Macguffin has put together for you that are really useful for your research. There are over 100 carefully selected sites that will lead you to the right kind of information you need for a top grade.

Over the next term you need to have explored all of them but for the time being you need to select TEN that are directly relevant. Navigate your way to specific links within the site (don't just stay put at the homepage) and copy these to your blog. Under each one explain what it is and how you will use it in your essay.

ALSO...
In addition to this you should be progressing with your own self-directed research. Don't just wait to be told what to do - seek out useful information etc. and keep posting to your blog. Some people are doing this really well already...well done!

Med 5 Cw Tasks 1-3

Here's a checklist of the Tasks set so far for your Med 5 coursework, all three need to be fully complete by the start of next week (01-10-07)...

TASK ONE
Summer Research Project

Most of you have done a really good job here and there have been some excellent Powerpoint presentations. However, there are still a number of aspects of the Task that need more work. In particular, the answers to the Key Concepts questions are often too brief so these need to be expanded upon if that's the case with you. (There should be a separate, detailed posting for each Key Concept). The same goes for Theory and Wider Contexts.

Also, make sure that you upload any research that you included in your presentations that isn't yet on your blogs - including images, summaries etc. If it was substantially different to what's on your blog then you should post up the whole presentation.

TASK TWO
Comments x5

You should check all the other Year 13 Med 5 blogs from this year (13c1, 13c2, 13d1) in the sidebar and identify the five studies that share most in common with your own. Then you should comment on each one of these on their most recent posting. Offer three positive points (www) and one suggested improvement or idea for further research (ebi). Links to these comments need to be posted up on your blogs too with the names of who you're commenting on.

The aim here is to create a collaborative learning community where you will all support each other in addition to the help you receive from your teachers. And through helping others to think you will clarify your own ideas and understand the specifics of your own study better. Everyone's a winner!

TASK THREE
Video Clip

Find more trailers and excerpts from your text (or related texts) that are available online and post up the links or embed a video player window in your blog. A lot of you have done a fair amount of this already...do some more! But always make sure you summarise the extract and comment on its significance or aspects of its media language.

The best place is, obviously YouTube, but there are plenty of other sites too. Start searching at Macguffin's del.ici.ous video bookmarks.

Med 6 Blog Setup

For all Year 13s...

Next week you all need to set up a new blog (in addition to the Med 5 - Independent Study one that you should have already done, including the Summer Research Project). This one is for Med 6 - an exam that you'll be taking next June - and will be where you include research about the media in general (that's not directly related to your coursework).

The following needs to be completed by Monday 24-09-07...

• Set up a new blog on Blogger (make a note of your username and password and don't forget them!)
• Call the blog Med 6: Issues & Debates
• Email Macguffin the link
• Carry out your First Research Task...

Choose a large media institution (one that produces media texts). You could choose from the following suggestions (or come up with your own) but try to do something different from that you know someone else is doing...

BBC, News Corp, C4, Disney, EMAP, Fox, MGM, ITV, Zee TV, Microsoft, Sony BMG, Google, IPC, C5, HBO, Time Warner

Carry out a case study into its workings, using at least three different internet sources. (Include the urls in your posting). Find out...

• who owns it...people and other organisations involved
• a history of the institution...how has it developed or changed
• the texts it produces...give lots of examples
• information about its finances & income...provide actual data
• recent developments...how is it responding to the 'new media' age

Try to make this as detailed as possible, include images & logos etc. that are relevant, and make sure it has been written in your own words and not cut and pasted from other sources. You will be required to make a presentation on this topic - without notes - in lessons w/c 24th September.

Summer Research Project

For all Year 12 students (who'll be Year 13 in September 07)...

The following needs to be completed by the first lesson you come back at the start of September...

• Start a new blog. Call it after the name of your text/topic that you're doing for your Independent Study.
  

• Email Macguffin the address so I can put up a link on this blog.

• Your first post should be a revised/completed version of your proposal. Remember that this needs to include: a brief summary of your investigation (and, ideally, your hypothesis too); a few lines on each of the key concepts (MIGRAIN); a few lines on each of the wider contexts (SHEP); two or three theories/theorists and how they will be relevant; and a short list of related other texts that you hope to consider alongside your main one.

• Get hold of a copy of your text. Watch it at least once over the summer. While you are watching it make key concepts notes like we have done on Module 2 texts all year. You need to consider the following questions for each key concept...
  

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?
• 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?

Media Audiences

• To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?
• 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?
• 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?

Other Tasks to complete by the start of September...

• Start researching your text/topic on the internet. Use the de.li.cio.us tags that are in the sidebar on the main Macguffin page to guide your research. These links are the best sites for Media Studies. In particular, you must work through all of the sites for Med5 which have been specially selected to help you.

• Post up all evidence of research on your blog. You are looking for the following: reviews, newspaper/magazine articles, useful book titles, relevant theory, relevant media issues and debates, information about wider contexts, etc.

• 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 (this will be crucial when it comes to putting together your bibliography).

• Feel free to be as creative with your blogs as you can (just like you were for Module 3). Include pictures, clips, reflections, links, etc.

• Prepare a presentation to be given to the class during the first week you return. In this you will show everyone your blog and talk through the research you found. Also, you will need to put together a five-minute Powerpoint presentation that summarises what you've found out so far in answering your question. Here it is best to use the format/structure of your proposal but also try to make it interesting by including pictures/clips 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 enjoyable process - finding out about something that you're interested in. If you have any problems then please don't hesitate to email me.

Independent Studies...Final Drafts!

Well done to everyone in Year 13 for completing their independent studies and making such a good job of it...the standard, overall, was better than ever!

What you see below are links to most of the 'A' grade essays submitted by 13C. It is strongly recommended that you read through these as part of your revision programme. Not only will they provide you with plenty of synoptic material for Med 6 but they all make crucial links to Med 4 which will help refresh your memories about what you need to know here and, most probably, provide you with new case studies and examples to present in your essays. In particular, make sure you read those by Alliaya and Heena (representation of women), Pip (representation of Asians), and Jaskeerat (genre).

And for those of you in 13D...if you post up your final drafts on your blogs I'll put links to the best ones here so that, again, the rest of the year can take a look and, hopefully, learn something.

Patrick 'Kitten' Braden: “Well, you see, the thing is, Bertie, I'm not a girl”. Bertie: “Oh, I knew that, Princess” How is male-to-female cross-dressing represented in film, with particular reference to “Breakfast on Pluto”?

...by Alice, who got the top mark in the year...60 out of 60...well done! Extremely well researched and fluently written with lots of original ideas.

‘So I told him, brush your teeth after you...' How is youth represented, especially females, within contemporary media? With specific reference to "Kidulthood".

Certainly the rudest title in this essay by Alliaya. Very useful for Med 4: representation of women.

“Reggay Boyz.” To what extent and why is contemporary reggae music being used to promote homophobic attitudes?

Intelligent and thoughtful approach from Ashley that provides an informative overview.







“I'd recognise that arse anywhere, you piece of s**t.” Are women in Hollywood films represented purely as sex objects to entertain and pleasure men, with particular reference to ‘Charlie’s Angels-Full Throttle’?

Well researched effort from Heena that summarises many of the key arguments you need to know for Med 4: representation of women.





“I want what any princess wants – to live happily ever after… with the ogre I married.” How are heroes/heroines and villains typically represented in contemporary animation films, paying close attention to “Shrek 2”?

A comprehensive and detailed essay from Kalpan.









“Finally a programme that represents Asians properly.” How accurately are Asians represented in ‘Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee?’

Really useful (and superbly written) treatment of some of the key relevant issues for Med 4: representation of Asians, by Pip.



“…he creates his own world; he creates his own style." Is the auteur theory any longer significant in contemporary Hollywood, with a focus on Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ and his oeuvre?

Jatinder's sophisticated approach to this topic links with a lot of the stuff we've been covering for Med 4: genre.










"Who died and made you f***ing king of the zombies?" How does British zombie film ‘Shaun of the Dead’ follow the codes and conventions of the zombie genre?

A knowledgeable study from Jaskeerat that is good background material for Med 4: genre.

Representation Essay Plans

For 13C & 13D...

Please get the following essay plans posted up on your Med 5 blogs before the end of the week...

• What is there to be said for or against stereotyping in the media? Answer with reference to specific examples. (Specimen Question, ’00 a)
  

• Compare the media portrayal of two social groups. (June ’02 b)

• It is argued that dominant media representations serve the interests of the powerful. Discuss with reference to one or more social group or place. . (June ’04 b)

Additionally, you should make sure that you've read all the new handouts we've given you on genre and representation, and that you've completed your summary/revision packs for both of these Med 4 topics.

Slasher Texts Online

To save you the trouble, Macguffin has trawled YouTube to track down key clips from the slasher films you studied as your case study for the Med 4 Genre module.

By clicking on this link (or on Eminem, alongside, sporting his Jason mask and carrying his chainsaw...thus appropriating slasher iconography in a different medium) you will come to a menu that includes most of the films' openings, key murder scenes (or 'narrative moments') and trailers.

These will help refresh your memories and, used in conjunction with your 'repertoire of elements' sheets and slasher pack, will help you illustrate your essays with detailed examples from the texts.




But don't forget...this is to be done in conjunction with learning about genre as a concept: genre theory, key quotes, etc., and planning and writing timed essays. You won't do well simply by watching the films again and again!

Module 4 Revision/Preparation

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

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

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

Genre...
Genre pack, Slasher pack, repertoire of elements worksheets (on each slasher film), watch key clips from the texts again, genre theory quotes, your own self-produced revision guides, the mock exam, teacher's summary notes,essay plans, etc.

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

• Write essay plans for as many different questions as possible (all of them if you can). See these particularly good ones from...Alice, Heena, Jaskeerat, Jatinder, Kalpan, Pip.
  

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

Don't forget - you can email Macguffin with queries and you can bring any timed essays in over the next month to show to your teachers before the exam on Monday June 18th at 1.30pm in the Hall (after the Module 6 exam). ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!

Module 6 Revision/Preparation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Re-read the online guide to wider contexts.

• Read through the 13D Issues & Debates blogs (see links on the sidebar) as they are full of information about everything already mentioned above and more besides. In particular, make sure you check out those by Bushara, Dinveer, Kavita, Rajan and Sherish because they have links to lots of the key media stories over the past year which you may well need to know about in the exam. Also, they have some very good exemplar Module 6 essays (comparing 'Fawlty Towers/'The Beano' and 'The revolution will not be televised'/'Your Revolution'). Read these to give you ideas about how to incorporate Issues & Debates and Theory into your comparisons.
  

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

• Do timed practice - carry out comparisons of a range of two-minute (or less) moving image sequences...

So analyse and compare...

1. extracts, title sequences and opening sequences from any genre of TV programme or film (soap, sitcom, documentary, news, gangster, thriller, etc.).
2. TV adverts and film trailers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And don't forget - you can bring any timed essays in over the next month to show to your teachers before the exam on Monday June 18th at 1.30pm in the Hall. ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!