Med 1 Re-Sit Preparation

Your revision/preparation for the Module 1 re-sit in January should be...

• Revision of MIGRAIN - key questions to ask, keywords/glossary .

• Read through all Module 1 class notes, practices and handouts.

• Re-read Module 1 revision pack, focusing especially on the print info/examples.

• Timed practice - MIGRAIN analysis of a range of print texts...

1. film posters (of different genres/decades, using imdb & clicking on posters in the sidebar)
2. tabloid & broadsheet newspaper front & back pages (use del.ici.ous links to find them)
   
3. magazine & newspaper adverts (you actually need to buy a few here!)
   
4. front covers of magazines (again, different genres; & see this article that analyzes teenage mags)
5. CD, DVD & video game covers (try Amazon for examples)
   
6. paperback book covers (again, try Amazon)
   

It is vital that you practice under exam conditions - spend 15 minutes annotating/planning and then one hour writing your answer.

If you are short for time then you can always just do the 15-minute MIGRAIN note-taking exercise on some days but try to do this as often as possible in the run-up to the exam (every day?).

For homework over the holiday, you must complete at least three of these practice exams and post them up on your Module 6 blogs. Failure to do so will mean we will not pay for any further re-sits you wish to take. Deadline for this is January 7th 2008.

Please post up as comments on here a record of the practice you have done - it will be useful for people to share ideas about what texts are good to try, where you can get links to them online, and an opportunity to ask Macguffin any questions about any of the Key Concepts. Also, your teacher will be alerted when you've finished a timed essay and you can get some feedback on it.

And don't forget - you can bring in any hand-written timed essays during the one and a half weeks when we return after Xmas to show to your teachers before the exam on Wednesday January 16th at 1.30pm. ARRIVE at least 20 MINUTES EARLY!!

Finally, there is a compulsory REVISION CLASS next week - on Tuesday 18th December at 3.25pm - go to DF05.

Med 2 Re-Sit Preparation

Your revision/preparation for Module 2 re-sit in January (only a few of you) should be...

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

1. Film & Broadcast Fiction - 'Bullet Boy' , Kidulthood' (for 13c1, 13d1), 'Hidden' (for 13c2)
2. Documentary - 'Bowling for Columbine', 'Big Brother', 'Man With a Movie Camera', 'Triumph of the Will'.

This includes all the general handouts on documentary, film, etc. You can download study materials on 'Bullet Boy' and 'Bowling for Columbine' at Cineschool. Also, put any of the texts into Wikipedia - it usually has good background info/links.

• Make sure you watch the texts again. A lot are available online - just click on the links above or use this list (but some no longer work).
  

• Make new notes on each key text (above)...your own mini-revision guides, focusing on the Key Concepts for each one.

• Re-read Module 2 revision pack.

• Revision of MIGRAIN - key questions to ask, keywords/glossary + film language worksheets.

• Read through all 'Film & Broadcast Fiction' & 'Documentary' past questions.

• Write essay plans for as many different questions as possible.

Complete as many timed essays as you can (45 minutes/question).

And as with Module 1 - you can bring in any hand-written timed essays during the one and a half weeks when we return after Xmas to show to your teachers before the exam on Wednesday January 16th immediately after the Module 1 re-sit (in the afternoon...from 1.30pm).

Med 5 Cw Task 14

The following comprises TASK FOURTEEN. It also needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Monday 7th January, 2008. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Type out the full title of your independent study, highlighting what you consider to be the keywords in a different colour.
  

• Then write out the first paragraph and post it on your blog. This is usually the hardest in any essay (along with the last one!) Obviously, it must be a clear introduction that makes reference to the keywords in the title and outlines the various areas that you will be exploring in the course of the essay. It may introduce a hypothesis (something that you will seek to test/prove during the next 3000 words). For example, you may be arguing that 'Kill Bill' demonstrates a change in the representation of women. It's a bit like a debate in this sense - you are putting forward a proposition and making points that will back it up (although you will also be given credit here for considering both sides of the argument too).

Med 5 Cw Task 13

The following comprises TASK THIRTEEN. It also needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Monday 7th January, 2008. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Produce a detailed essay plan for your independent study, covering everything that you hope to include in your submission. Break your ideas and research down into sections and paragraphs with headings, summaries and a list of references that you hope to include at each step. You can see some excellent ones from previous years by clicking on Manjoth or Jatinder (and there are others too).
  

• Make sure that you label each point you hope to include by linking it to Key Concepts (MIGRAIN) and Wider Contexts (SHEP). (You could just include the initial letter in brackets). This way you can see whether you have covered everything that you need to in an even way. Also, ensure that you think about where you will include theories/theorists and media keywords. (Keep the 'Essential Word Dictionary' handy).

• This will make writing your essay so much easier. However, it is a big task as it requires you to read through all your research very carefully (including reviewing all the work that you've posted up in your blogs and checking through the comments/suggestions you've received).

You may want to produce this plan as a straightforward series of bullet points or as a more complex mindmap. If it's the latter you may have to do it by hand and then scan it in before posting it up on your blog. Or you may want to try out a free trial of some mind-mapping software or use an online tool like bubbl.us.

Historical Texts

The following task needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the lesson you return on Tuesday 7th January, 2008. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Research a historical text that you can use to compare with your contemporary one (that is the main focus of your study). By 'historical' it is meant anything pre-1990 but the 40s, 50s, 60s or even 70s might be more fruitful because they pre-date many of the important changes that have occurred recently (such as the gains for women as a result of feminism). The purpose here is to be able to demonstrate how society has changed over the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts.

• Ideally, you will watch at least one film/tv programme from the past, make notes on it and research it in Media/Film Studies textbooks and on the internet. The best option is to watch the whole text on DVD (you may be able to borrow it from us) or otherwise you might be able to see extracts on YouTube. How is it similar/different to your text? How does this show how the genre/society has changed? (A highly recommended text here is 'The Cinema Book', edited by Pam Cook and Mieke Bernink and available in the school library. If you follow the link here you can read the contents page and index online and this will be useful). Through this you will become aware of developments in the genre you are researching - look for a range of titles (at least five) that you can refer to in your essay - and you should be able to link them to the wider contexts that were present at the time.

• If you can't get hold of the text it's not the end of the world - you are stuck with doing just secondary research instead of this and primary research. Just make sure you do plenty of it.

• List your media texts, research, analysis and links/bibliography in a blog post entitled 'Historical Texts'.

Med 5 Cw Task 11

TASK ELEVEN
Mulvey

• In your own words, write a summary on your blog of the arguments that Laura Mulvey puts forward in her Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975). As you know, this is one of the key texts in Media Studies when considering the representation of women. You can consult the two handouts that you've been given so far on her ideas or do some additional research on the internet (and don't forget to check the Essential Word Dictionary). Try to include as many of the keywords that we have covered...

Freud, psychoanalysis, the unconscious, resistance, repression, scopophilia, voyeurism, castration, sadism/masochism, fetishization/fetish object, objectification, patriarchy, misogyny, identification, narcissism, idealization, anxiety, audience positioning/spectatorship, MALE GAZE, narrative cinema, phallic objects, womb/penis envy.

• Then post up on your blog a mini-essay about how the theory could be useful for you in your Independent Study. How can you apply it to your text and the representations within it? Again use as many of the keywords as you can. For most of you this will definitely be the case and even where it is not immediately obvious that you might be able to refer to it, try to be creative because it is a theory that you must know well. If there are men or women in your text then it's likely to be possible! Try to identify key scenes/moments where the theory is especially useful as well as considering the whole text/genre in the light of Mulvey's ideas.
  

• If you really feel that it's not relevant to you (although it's doubtful that this is the case) then you need to choose another theory/theorist that you haven't already covered and do the above with them.

13d1 Cover Work

Tuesday 11th December, periods 1, 5 & 6

A.

Ensure that all work from yesterday is completed (especially if you weren't in)...

1. Reading & highlighting the following double-sided handouts...

• "Gender Studies"

• "Women & Film"

2. Answer all checkpoints and action points on the sheets

3. Reading and highlighting "Why are women directors such a rare sight?"

B.

Today's work (enough for three periods plus homework ).

You must stay in the room period 1 but if you wish to work elsewhere periods 5 & 6 you can, provided you have the all the handouts you need (on the desk or available from Ms Jones) and you've written down all the instructions.

1. Reading & highlighting "a beginner's guide to...Laura Mulvey"

2. Reading & highlighting: "Psychoanalytic Models of the Viewer..."

3. Get in pairs and do Exercise 12.1 (or do alone if no-one else is around)

4. Post up 250 words on Med 6 blog summarising your conclusions to exercise 12.1 (for Thur 13th).

The deadline to complete all this work is this Thursday 13th December, periods 1 & 2 when I will be taking your double lesson instead of Ms Jones.

13c1 Cover Work

Thursday 29th November, periods 5 & 6

Using YouTube or any other video sharing website, find five television adverts that represent women in different ways. Also, ensure that they come from a range of historical periods to show how things have developed (e.g. one from the 50s, one from the 70s, one from the 80s, and two contemporary ones).

Post these videos up on your Med 6 blogs under the heading "Women in Advertising". For each one write a paragraph analysing and evaluating the representation, ensuring that you include references to some of the keywords, theorists or media researchers in each description (use the Gauntlett handouts to help you).

13d1 Cover Work

Tuesday 20th November, periods 1, 5 & 6

Period 1.

• First, make sure you have completed all the work that was set yesterday...
  

A.
- First half of lesson...have a 25 minute meeting with your blog buddy (if they're not in then join another pairing).
- Discuss research completed for homework, then make a list of THREE more areas/texts to research each.

B.
- Post up a summary of your blog buddy meeting on your blog and outline the next stage of research (if the computers are working).
- Go to see Mr Babu in the media suite and borrow one book to do some research over the next week (post up your findings on your blogs for homework).

• Spend the remaining time in the classroom doing silent reading/notetaking for independent study.
  

Periods 5 & 6.

• Work in the LRC (someone will be in to check you're there).

A.
- Post up TEN new media keywords from the A-Z with your own definitions and explanations of how they can be linked to your study.

B.
Find TEN more pieces of online research related to your study. You could either use the delicious links or use the info from your recent reading to direct you to new areas you haven't come across before. For each link provide a brief description and explain how it is useful for your coursework.

C.
Read BOOKS that you've borrowed for independent study and do notetaking etc.

Bring all books back to next Monday's lesson (26th). This is also the deadline for all this work to be completed...you have been warned!

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.