MD12C2 Cover work

Your next lesson with me (you will still be expected in Mr Bush's lessons this week) will be on Wednesday, July 2nd. You must register at the start of each lesson this week, then you may go to DF07 (if available) or the LRA to work on your Independent Study proposals, due on July 9th. Your proposals, which should be posted on your Med 5 blogs, should include:

• a hypothesis
• a brief summary of your topic, and texts covered
• a MIGRAIN analysis of a short scene (or the film's trailer)
• details of any theorists you will refer to
• issues and debates that you plan to discuss
• research planned for the summer holiday

Use Tanya's proposal as a guide (you'll need to scroll down). Explore the del-icio-us tags to aid you in your research.
We will begin the lesson on the 9th by hearing from those who have not already presented their ideas, and then discussing any developments in our proposals.

Med 5 Blog Addresses

Welcome, Year 12s, to Year 13!

Please post up as a comment your name, independent study blog address and the class you're in (12c1, 12c2, 12d1). Then we'll get a link put up in the side bar.

Make sure you look at the best completed studies of the past few years...this year, last year and 2006. And also look at the blogs that other students have produced previously...they contain lots of useful (and possibly inspiring) ideas.

Issues and debates quiz wk 11

The final one (I purchased the prize at the weekend). Post your responses on your Med 6 blog, or email them to Ms Jones. Remember: you'll find all the answers on the Guardian media website.

1. Which 1989 film was enjoyed by 7.3 million viewers on Sunday night, and why was the repeat deemed 'timely'?
2. Which news agency is set to make some 140 journalists redundant?
3. What is Fiona's Story and why is it controversial?
4. Why is the Daily Telegraph concerned about its own blog?
5. Which popular BBC1 show is being re-scheduled to make room for the football?

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, Phillips etc.)
2. Representation, especially feminist theory (Mulvey, Clover, Gauntlett, Gunther, Tuchman, Elasmar, Miles, Cortese, etc.) & post-colonialism (Hall, Nandy, Spivak, 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 Med 6 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 Baldip, Neelema and Zainab 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.
  

• Revise your wider contexts timelines.
  

• 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 with 2-3 page print texts (or less)...

So analyse and compare...

1. extracts, title sequences and opening sequences from any genre of TV programme, film (soap, sitcom, documentary, news, gangster, thriller, etc.).
2. TV adverts and film trailers.
3. video games, music videos and internet viral videos.

with...

1. newspapers and magazines (front pages, contents pages, back pages, both tabloid and broadsheet, etc.).
2. adverts (from the above).
3. DVD, CD or video game covers.
4. billboards and posters (especially for films).
5. book covers (really!).
   

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/annotating/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 Thursday June 12th at 1.30pm in the Hall. ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!

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 (they might still be available on YouTube but most of the links here have been taken down on this list...do a new search and you mind find them), 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 last year...Alice, Heena, Jaskeerat, Jatinder, Kalpan, Pip. And if you post them up to your Med 5 blog as they did we'll give you some feedback on them.
  

• 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 Thursday June 12th at 1.30pm in the Hall (before the Module 6 exam). ARRIVE at least 15 MINUTES EARLY!!

The BEST Coursework!

Another superb year of coursework has finally come to a close. We say this every year but again it's true...the overall standard has been better than ever so well done! The vast majority of you didn't just meet your minimum target grades but went one higher (and in some cases two!). This is brilliant news and means you are really set up to achieve outstanding results again come August...so long as you make sure you revise hard for the exams!

What you see below are links to six of the best of the 'A' grade essays that were submitted (there were more but not all of them have been posted up by their authors). 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 Rohini (genre), and Tanya (representation of women).

GENRE

“Don't mess with the flow, no no/
Stick to the status quo”

To what extent and why does Disney’s High School Musical (2006) conform to the conventions of its generic predecessors – the ‘teenpic’ and the traditional musical genres?

...Truly outstanding work from Rohini...full marks, and containing some superb references which you could all 'appropriate' for your exam essays!








“I don’t think after Jurassic Park that we can, or should ever accept a model animated dinosaur again”.

How has CGI ensured the box office success of the animation genre, paying particular attention to ‘Shrek the Third’ (2007)?

....An extremely well researched essay from Chintan.

“Cuarón has created the thinking person's action movie.”

Is Children Of Men a typical science-fiction film?

...Amandeep made superb use of his 'study leave' to produce this really concise, yet fluent study.











REPRESENTATION

“Always bet on a blonde”.

How and why has the representation of women changed in the British soap opera “Eastenders”?

...excellent essay by Tanya that covers much of the essential research and theory on the representation of women.












“We’ve always been ready for female superheroes. Because women want to be them and men want to do them.”

How are female characters represented in Heroes and how does this signal a break from superheroes of the past.

...A clear and engaging study by Pooja.








Catwoman, with a central female protagonist, might be seen as victory for women. However Catwoman is a sex symbol, thus the film is guilty of double standards in terms of gender representation.

...A well argued and detailed essay by Baldip.

Issues and debates quiz wk 10

Just over 4 weeks now until the Med 6 exam. I'm glad to see that many of you have been posting your quiz responses on your blogs - I will check these, as well as my inbox (those who email their responses to me need to send them to Ms Jones), before I award the final prize next week.

1. Which radio station won the 'station of the year' prize at the Sony awards?
2. Which Sunday newspaper is looking for a new political editor, and why?
3. Which British drama series has been bought by ABC for its prestigious 10pm slot?
4. According to the Public Accounts Committee, how should the BBC be saving money on equipment?
5. What is Google's 'Street View' service, and why is it controversial?

MD13c1 Cover Work: Fri 09-05-08

Make sure you sign in and stay in the classroom throughout the period - teachers will be checking from time to time to monitor your progress!

Write a 45 minute essay (at least two sides) on the following question...

Recent developments in genre have included the emergence of parody, pastiche and hybrid forms. Show how such developments have influenced the nature of media texts.
(January ’06 b)

Also don't forget the important homework that's due in on Monday (12th) for both 13c and 13d...

Make revision notes on genre.

• Go through all your notes (handouts, repertoire of elements sheets, your own research you may have done on the topic for Med 5, etc.)

• Then type out concise summaries of everything.

• Use bullet points, highlighting, italics, underlining, headings, subheadings, bold etc. to make it as easy to remember as possible.

• You obviously need to cover all genre theory (especially the BFI pack), genre quotes, history of slasher (including the significance of each of the films you've studied and how they relate to the WCs).

Issues and debates quiz wk 9

Email your answers to Ms Jones.

1. What is 'Freesat' and who is planning to set it up?
2. Why has Talk Sport radio presenter James Whale lost his job?
3. Which ITV disaster drama 'leaked' a million viewers on Monday night (May 5th)?
4. Which London newspaper is credited with winning the office of mayor for Boris Johnson?
5. Which national newspaper has admitted that female journalists are paid less than men in equivalent jobs?

Issues and Debates quiz wk 8

Not long now until the Med 6 exam - use this quiz (and the Guardian Media website, where all the answers can be found) to stay on top of current issues and debates. And email your answers to Ms Jones for a chance to win the end-of-year prize.

1. Which terrestrial broadcaster faces a record fine from Ofcom, and why?
2. Which women's magazine is about to undergo a re-vamp, and who are its core readership?
3. How has Miley Cyrus offended her young fans?
4. Which company currently has 70% of the digital music market?
5. Which national newspaper is trying to re-brand its readership, and why?

Revision Guide Online

There is a sample chapter online from an A Level Media revision guide which is well worth buying. It has an excellent section on Wider Contexts, which is especially important, and it's the homework for all Year 13s this week to print off and read through the whole chapter (the first part is all about Key Concepts and textual analysis - really useful revision) and to highlight key points worth remembering.

This needs to be done by the time you return after the bank holiday for checking and discussion in lessons.

Issues and debates quiz wk 7

1. Who has suggested that BBC Radio 1 and 2, and Channel 4, should be privatised, and why?
2. In this time of financial crisis, which media organisation is giving Wall Street a shot in the arm?
3. Why is Coca-Cola being targeted by pro-Tibet protestors?
4. Which media mogul is making waves at the Wall Street Journal?
5. Which 2005 hit took £127m at the global box office, and how much did it cost to make?

Email your answers to Ms Jones.

MD13c2 Cover Work: Wed 02-04-08

Make sure you stay in the classroom for both periods - we will be checking from time to time to monitor your progress!

Task
A Med 6 practice exam (as you have your mock as soon as we return after the holiday).

Text One
'The Sun Online' homepage from 02-04-08.

Text Two
BBC News report about the Tiananmen Square massacre, first broadcast on BBC1 on 04-06-89.

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

Spend period 2 note-taking/planning (and watch the extract three times during this period) and then spend period 3 writing your answer...type up on your blog and finish for homework (it must be at least 1000 words)

Use two sides of A4 paper for notes/planning (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

Homework

1. Complete this task.
2. Attend the revision class on Monday 14th April.
3. Do the Wider Contexts Timeline research task on your blog.
4. Prepare and revise for the Med 4 & Med 6 mock exams.
5. Post up one Media Guardian story on your Med 6 blog each week, including your own commentary.
   

Exam Questions

You should all be revising for your mock exams which take place right after the holiday. One of the key things you'll need to do is work through the Med 4 past questions which you'll find here...

• Genre

• Representation

Another really useful resource is...

• AQA Past Question Papers & Mark Schemes

...and this includes Med 6 too.

Remember, if you can't do timed essays at least have a go at brainstorming your answers (producing mind maps etc.) and writing essay plans.

Issues and debates quiz wk 6

Are you keeping up with contemporary issues and debates in the media, in preparation for your med 6 exam? If you are, you should be able to answer these questions (email your answers to Ms Jones).

1. What is the 'Byron report', and what does it recommend?
2. Which magazine is to blame for children's reluctance to complete their homework?
3. Which controversial tv channel has recently lost 15 of its staff?
4. Which social networking website is working with NME, and in what capacity?
5. What is 'Miss Bimbo', and why is it under investigation by regulators?

WC (SHEP) Timeline

For all Year 13 students...

You need to do some important research over the holiday where you will find out about the key social, economic and political aspects of different historical eras and then go on to produce a timeline on your blogs. This is because the Module 6 text(s) could be from any decade since the 1950s so you have to have some general knowledge and understanding about them in order to answer the question.

This is work you will need to have completed by the day we come back after Easter...Monday 21st April.

To help you - here are a list of good links to try out...

• The BBC's 'TV on Trial' Timeline

• Media History Timeline

• Infoplease: Year By Year

• Infoplease: Movie Timeline

• Infoplease: Broadcasting Timeline

Please post up the research to your Med 6 blogs, making six diffferent posts, one for each decade - 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s.

In each post you need to cover the following...

• Social issues (status and roles of different social groups, e.g. women, ethnic minorities, gay people, the family, etc.)

• Political issues (key events: wars, elections, political movements and changes, like feminism, civil rights, etc.)

• Economic issues (state of the local - UK - and global economy)

• Media issues (key texts, major developments, important people, changes in technology and censorship, etc.)

Be selective when choosing information and avoid covering too much American content as usually one - and often both - of the texts are British in the exam. And don't just copy and paste up events etc. that you don't understand or couldn't explain - the whole point is to make you confident about referring to this info in the exam so do extra research when this is the case.

Mocks & Revision

For all Year 13s...

Don't forget...mock exams are fast approaching and you should all be revising hard for them NOW. This is your only chance to practise these questions and develop these skills under full test conditions so make the most of the opportunity - if you haven't prepared you'll be wasting both your own and your teacher's time as the only feedback you'll get is 'do some work' - not very helpful when the purpose is to help you improve for the real thing on June 12th.

The dates/times are (during the first week back after the Easter holiday)...

• MODULE 6 Mock for 13c1 & 13c2 - Wednesday 23-04, periods 2 & 3 (working through break)

• MODULE 4 Mock for 13c1 &13c2 - Thursday 24-04, periods 5 & 6
  

• MODULE 4 Mock for 13d1 - Tuesday 22-04, periods 5 & 6
  

• MODULE 6 Mock for 13d1 - Thursday 24-04, periods 1 & 2
  

Your revision/preparation should be...

MODULE 6

• Read through the Med 6 'Issues and Debates' blogs.

• Read through the handouts on 'Issues & Debates' (Marxism, Uses & Gratifications, etc.).

• Read the Media Keywords A-Z handout (the big one).

• Practise note-taking/comparing two different texts - one moving image, one print - (MIGRAIN, WC: SHEP, Issues & Debates/Theory) for half hour stints.
  

MODULE 4

• Read through all notes and handouts on the two key topics...

• Representation - Representation pack (cartoons), Gauntlett, Mulvey, etc.

• Genre - Genre pack, Slasher pack, repertoire of elements worksheets, etc.
  

• Read through all 'Representation' & 'Genre' past questions.

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

• Complete at least one timed essay for each topic (Rep, Genre - 45 minutes/question).

And, obviously, the best way to support your revision is to turn up to the (compulsory) Easter Revision Class which is on Monday April 14th from 9am-4pm.

Slasher Schedule

Please note the revised schedule for the remaining slasher genre film club screenings in DF02...

• Tue 25-03

Scream (Wes Craven, 1996, 111 mins.)

• Thur 27-03

Scary Movie (Keenen Ivory Wayans, 2000, 88 mins.)

• Tue 01-04

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003, 98 mins.)

Then we have three more scheduled genre film clubs on these dates...

• Thur 04-04

• Tue 22-04

• Thur 24-04

Rather than dictate what we watch on these occasions, though, we thought it would be best if YOU decided. Each of these screenings will be a STUDENT CHOICE from the following...

Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960, 101)
Britain's answer to 'Psycho', and the killer's phallic murder weapon is a camera tripod!

Black Christmas (1974, Bob Clark, 98 mins.)
Introduces most of the slasher staples before 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.

When A Stranger Calls (1979, Fred Walton, 91 mins.)
The creepy opening phone sequence inspires the later 'Scream'.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (Jim Gillespie, 1997, 100 mins.)
Second most successful franchise of the 90s slasher cycle.

Psycho (Gus Van Sant, 1998, 105 mins.)
Shot-for-shot remake of the original, un homage to the "granddaddy of the slasher genre."

My Little Eye (Marc Evans, 2002, 95 mins.)
Slasher meets reality-TV in this British-Canadian low budget movie.

Switchblade Romance (aka Haute Tension) (Alexandre Aja, 2003, 91 mins)
The French can do slasher too (naturellement).

Wolf Creek (Greg McLean, 2005, 99 mins.)
And the Aussies.

Hostel (Eli Roth, 2005, 94 mins.)
One of the most significant of the new 'torture porn'/'painography' genre that is superseding slasher.

When A Stranger Calls (Simon West, 2006, 87 mins.)
Remake of the 'golden age' era movie.

Black Christmas (Glen Morgan, 2006, 84 mins.)
And another remake!