COURSEWORK BRIEFS

Here is the link to the coursework briefs for this year. We will spend one lesson in the week commencing 22nd September going over these and supporting you in your selections

You choose ONE brief and then complete TWO tasks.

coursework briefs

LESSON 120315: TEXT MESSAGING

Objective 1  how media forms can be used to explore ideas within a text

Objective 2 To apply the currently held learning

Recap lesson 2 learning

This session we are going to explore a little deeper and begin to think about the ways in which media products also contain a way of seeing the world [its ideology] that it transfers to audiences. Such messages [via saturation / repeated exposure] may influence audience behaviours and thinking.

We are not suggesting either that [1] exposure to a violent act in a film will provoke violence in the audience watching it but [2] as media students we have  to be capable of stepping outside ourselves and be open to ideas about viewers and audiences in general as well as our own particular experience.  This is a key idea  to grasp at this stage.  You need to begin to transfer your own viewing and media consumption to enable a bigger understanding of audience behaviours as a whole but also to see that behaviours  difficult to grasp are nonetheless valid.  In simple terms we need to look at our own media consumption to see how audiences use the media but at the same time  to understand that just because we feel ‘invulnerable’ to violent video game content  to see that others may be influenced by such ideas. 

An ideology is a set of ways of thinking about the world that governs our subsequent behaviours - our belief in what is right and wrong is why we don't steal etc.

Sometimes this conveying of ideology is deliberate and premeditated [explicit products such as political propaganda or adverts];

Sometimes this is simply a by-product of a text [implicit products such as a soap opera or film] being constructed by human beings that are influenced by the context of creation and of consumption [the zeitgeist] – essentially who they are becomes part of how the text represents the world. 

Consider what happens at the end of a Hollywood romance - the lovers get together and marry.  Repeated exposure to such narrative conclusions helps us believe that marriage is the 'accepted' outcome of such relationships. This may not be the intention of the film-maker but it is a likely consequence - an implicit understanding of a message wrapped in the film's narrative.

Watch the campaign advert from Barnardos

What is the message of the campaign overall?

What is the intention of this particular advert?

In what ways has the product been constructed to reflect the underlying ideas of the campaign as a whole?

List the media forms / devices used to do so

How successful is the advert in conveying the campaign message?     

Look at the article below from Brand Republic. What were the reasons for the advert attracting so many complaints?  

Do you feel the ASA judgement was correct? Why?

http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/868438/Distressing-Barnardos-ad-escapes-ban-almost-500-complaints

[B] Watch the advert ‘Meet the Superhumans’ which was the channel 4 promotional advert for its coverage of the Paralympic Games in 2012.  This product was also the key text for the 2014 AQA AS Media exam so early on gives a good idea of what it is that students will have to be able to discuss if they are to be successful.

Task:

How are media forms used to represent disability?

This is not just a write down and discuss everything you can see and hear but requires focus and critical selection of the salient points.  

The promotional trailer was part of Channel 4 attempt to re-position itself in the TV marketplace by redefining its core values of taking risks and being seen as a channel that challenges its audience.  they had invested a great deal of money into gaining the rights to cover the paralympic games which [at that time] were very much seen by the media [and thus the public] as a second-class event

Homework:  Write up the task below [about 300 - 400 words]

How does the Channel 4 product use media forms to represent / brand the channel itself? 

LESSON 120215: THE ART OF GETTING DOWN

PART ONE:

WE'LL START BY LOOKING AT HOW TO CREATE YOUR BLOG SITE FOR LINKING TO THE DEPARTMENTAL SITE

CREATING YOUR MEDIA STUDIES BLOG


__________________________________________________________________________________

PART TWO:

The lesson will begin with a clip from PSYCHO the famous psychological horror/thriller by Alfred Hitchcock.

[1] Watch the clip.

[2] In pairs : How does the clip construct the sense of tension/horror?
Which elements can you identify and what part do they play?

The clip is a good introduction to what we call media forms, specifically the language of film.  Film language is made up of a number of elements that work together to create audience understanding of [1] what is happening [2] how we should feel about this [audience positioning] [3] create a sense of shared values/ideas about the content of the film [its story; its concerns] which forms part of what is termed the zeitgeist.

In the shower scene from PSYCHO the tension is created by a masterful interplay of sound [and silence],music, lighting, shot composition, audience point of view, editing of the shots and the actual narrative [the intercutting sequence of when/how things are revealed to us].  This is termed mise-en-scene  – roughly ‘everything in the frame‘

Mise-en-scene will form a key part of how we discuss moving image products this year.

Applying the media forms ideas discussed for PSYCHO :

How does this product construct a representation of youth? 
What is it?
 Is it an accurate representation?

What expectations does it set up for audience [of predominantly youth]? 
What ‘pleasures’ are offered to audience?

HOMEWORK: 

[1] Find a [2 minute] clip to present to the group with your media form analysis as to how a mood/idea/representation are created in the clip [DEADLINE Lesson 5]

[2] embed the clip [and your analysis] in your blog

LESSON 120115: LONG LONG AGO...

Today we intend to help you start off on the right foot by providing a detailed introduction to [1] what media studies is [sort of] [2]why we study it [3] how we will be studying it here this year. You will need to read through the Student Handbook distributed today with special emphasis on the section Key Concepts in Media which will form the backbone of all of the lessons this year and of your coursework portfolio. The Student Handbook is also reproduced digitally on the Student section of the Great Barr School Media Blog themediastudiesteacher.blogspot.com

The PowerPoint will emphasise some of the issues that underline the importance of the concepts and how we will go about applying them to analysis of commercial media products and to our own work.

You will also be introduced to the media diary – a log of your own personal media consumption that you will be required to complete for a period of 1 week which will then form the basis of lessons 6 and 7.

HOMEWORK: Create your media studies blog [using blogger] and email the link to Media staff

Plenary – preparation for for lesson 2 :