This document provides guidance for answering Section A of a media studies exam. Question 1(a) asks students to discuss the development of their skills from AS to A2 in relation to aspects like digital technology, creativity, research and planning, or using conventions from real media texts. For 1(a), students should spend 30 minutes answering, discuss both their AS and A2 coursework, demonstrate progress, and refer to specific examples. Question 1(b) asks students to analyze one of their coursework products in relation to a specified theoretical concept like narrative, audience, genre, or representation. For 1(b) as well, students should spend 30 minutes answering, demonstrate their understanding of theory, and relate it to specific examples from
2. A2 MEDIA STUDIES EXAM –
SECTION A: THEORETICAL
EVALUATION OF COURSEWORK
In Section A you answer both 1(a) and 1(b).
Question 1(a) will ask you to discuss the development of
your skills from AS to A2 in relation to one or two of the
following aspects:
Digital Technology
Creativity
Research and Planning
Post-production
Using conventions from real media texts
5. Write out the following generic question in the
middle of your page and annotate the key words
according to what you understand them to
mean/stand for
0 Describe and evaluate your skills development over
the course of your production work from the
Foundation Portfolio to the Advanced Portfolio
Problems
Solutions
What I learned
How
successful
6. Question
Either:
0Describe how your research and planning informed
your own creative media practice. Refer to a range of
examples in your answer to show how these skills
developed over time.
Or:
0Describe how you were creative in your use of digital
technologies and how these skills developed over time
between your Foundation and Advanced Portfolios.
7. Research and Planning for
1(a)
0 What were the different processes that went into
your pre-production work across AS and A2?
0 Different approaches to research/planning
0 How you recorded all of this
0 Audience consideration/research and its effect on the
planning/production
0 Research into institutions
0 What you had to have in place before you went to film
10. Explain how your skills in the use of digital
technology developed over time. Refer to a
range of examples from your media
productions in your answer.
0 30 minutes
0 You can talk over ideas with each other
0 You can ask me to look over paragraphs /ask
questions
0 You can eat biscuits
12. Note examples of films/videos /digipaks and
websites you used as well as the conventions
Thriller Genre Music Videos Digipaks Websites
Hitchcock Katy Perry - Roar Lowgold Kasabian
Using conventions from real
media texts
15. What exactly IS Media
Language?
0 How a media text communicates meaning through:
0 Camerawork
0 Editing
0 Mis-en-scene
0 Soundtrack
0 Film uses verbal and written language as well as the
languages of moving image
0 Each form of communication has its own creative language
0 Camera close-ups convey intimacy or discomfort at being so
near a subject, big fonts in the titles signal significance
0 The symbolism in the choice of ‘Pariah’ as a title. Using
understood internet ‘codes’
0 Using radio montage in Lily to signify the effect of what
audience has just seen
16. Media Language
Tackle this one in much the same way as you tackled the TV Drama exam at
AS. You should be ANALYSING your work (not describing), discussing how
you created meaning for the audience on particular issues such as genre,
representation, narrative, audience, atmosphere etc.. Basically WHY you
chose particular shots, sounds, transitions etc
0Intro: Explain what text you are analysing
0Main: Include all 4 of the following key areas with theorists
0 Genre – Neale, Altman, Chandler, Wales, Goodwin, Carlsson
0 Narrative – Todorov, Goodwin, Barthes, Cameron
0 Representation – Mulvey, Hall, Dyer, Gauntlett
0 Technical Aspects:
0 Camera – shot size, framing, high & low angles, subjective & objective filming,
hand held, tilts, pans, zooms etc, green screen
0 Sound – diegetic and non-diegetic, sound effects, ambient sound, dialogue, music,
voice over
0 Editing – fades, cuts, wipes, dissolves, slow motion, fast motion, colour effects like
black & white, green screening and any After Effects work
0 Mise En Scene – costume, lighting, location, body language, acting, make up, props
etc
0Conclusion: How well do you think you used media language to
communicate meaning to an audience?
17. Theorist Theory – what to write about
Blumler & Katz /
Richard Dyer
Uses & Gratifications theory /– explaining how your use of
MEDIA LANGUAGE offers these to an audience
Vladimir Propp Propp’s Character theory – how your MEDIA LANGUAGE helps
audiences identify particular characters as heros / villains etc
Stuart Hall Explain that your decision to use the MEDIA LANGUAGE you
chose was to create a “preferred reading” for your text. But that
audiences are used to Encoding and Decoding tests AND could
take a negotiated or oppositional reading
Rick Altman – Explain how you used MEDIA LANGUAGE to include Semantic
Elements (eg signs such as knives, blood, dark colours, eerie
music) or to signify Syntactic elements (eg themes like love,
revenge).
18. Narrative How does the structure of your narrative reflect
the genre of your product? Is your narrative
determined by the medium you use, e.g. how
does your narrative structure reflect the
conventions of the music video?
Genre How did you use generic codes to communicate to
the audience? What are the specific generic codes
of the medium you used? With music videos you
need to consider the generic codes of music videos
generally, generic codes of the genre of music, and
possibly generic codes of the mode of the narrative
(e.g. romance).
Technical
Aspects
How did you make use of camerawork, editing,
sound, and mise-en-scene to communicate meaning
to the audience?
Representation How did your use of media language allow you to
construct representations?
19. Media Language
0 Understanding the grammar, syntax and metaphor
system of media language increases our appreciation
and enjoyment of media experiences
0 Example: The camera positioning in the shower scene of
‘Psycho’ places the viewer as a voyeur; in the first instance
watching Marion as she washes and then
positioning them as being able to foretell of
her death at the hands of ‘Mother’.
0 The camerawork constructs connotations of
fear and suspense, two generic expectations
20. Semiotics – Barthes (1977)
0 We last saw this theorist with Representation
0 Key words
0 DENOTATION = Signifier [Visual/physical on screen]
0 CONNOTATION – Signified [Suggested or Culturally
agreed meaning]
0 John Fiske (1982) ‘denotation is what is filmed,
connotation is how it is filmed.’
21. Media Language and
Genre/Narrative
0 Meaning is created through analysing the micro elements of a
film
0 Camerawork – shot types, movement, composition of frame,
angles
0 Soundtrack – diegetic, non-diegetic
0 Editing – organisation of scenes to create meaning – link to
narrative. Continuity editing (match on action, 180 degree
rule, S/R/S. Long or short takes?
0 Mis-en-Scene – Iconography, setting, lighting, costume and
props
0 Discuss how generic codes and conventions are displayed
through the use of these micro elements in your film
0 Stuart Hall (1980) – how you encoded meaning for your
audience and what you wanted them to decode
22. Structure your Writing
Suggestion 1 (if you think you might struggle with this Q)
0 Separate out your essay to discuss the four technical elements
Suggestion 2 (if you think you can aim for high B/A)
0 Separate out your essay to discuss the production process
0 Pre-production – research into generic codes and conventions,
how you applied this in your location search and storyboarding
0 Production (filming) – how you applied camerawork codes and
conventions into your filming, costume considerations,
characterisation
0 Post-Production – use of your titles, how did your choice of font
reflect certain connotations about your film? Soundtrack choices
– did you add any foley (sound-effects/hyperbolic sounds) to
your film? Voice/over? Diegetic/non-diegetic
23. Techniques I used in the film What it signified to an audience
Camera:
Mise-En-Scene:
Editing:
Sound:
27. Representation in Music VideosRepresentation in Music Videos
Solo Female/MaleSolo Female/Male
Boy/Girl GroupsBoy/Girl Groups
Male/Female BandsMale/Female Bands
37. ED SHEERAN –
THINKING OUT LOUD
Traditional gender representations
Use of dance – reinforces the stereotype – male leads the
dance
Feminine apparel of the woman
Emphasis on the strength of Sheeran in the lifts and
masculinity in his outfit. Focus on the rolled-up sleeves
revealing tattoos
Male gaze concept: at one point Sheeran ‘plays’ the dancer’s
leg like a guitar – she is literally his instrument/object to
40. COUNTER ARGUMENT –
TESSA PERKINS (1979)
Stereotypes are not always negative
Are not always about minority groups
Stereotypes are not always false
Apply this to your characters in your videos
• E.g. What social group(s) do your characters belong to? How
is this made clear?
• What age group do your characters belong to (e.g. Nervous,
unsure teenagers...)
43. LEVI-STRAUSS
Levi-Strauss describes narrative as created by constant
conflict of binary opposites
Love – Hate
Black – White
Man – Nature
Light – Darkness
Peace – War
Protagonist –Antagonist
Movement – Stillness
Civilized – Savage
Young – Old
Control – Panic
Strong – Weak
Man – Woman
Wealth – Poverty
Mankind – Aliens
Humans – Technology
Ignorance - Wisdom
45. REPRESENTATION -
RESEARCH
What representations have you discovered in your case
studies? Dominant? Marginalised? Stereotypes?
Demographics (Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Sexuality, National
Identity etc…) Sociographics (teen culture, professions,
social groups, interests/activities)
What are you coming to recognise as the conventional
stereotype in your research and how might you adapt this
to conform or challenge the stereotype in your own
production?
46. COUNTER ARGUMENT –
DAVID GAUNTLETT AND
MARTIN BARKER
Identities are not given but are constructed and negotiated
(Gauntlett)
Martin Barker condemns stereotypes for mis-representing
the real world by reinforcing false stereotypes
David Gauntlett acknowledges pluralistic change (e.g.
stereotypes can be varied) but suggests a hegemonic
framework still exists in society but also in media
representations – This can act as a positive point to help
audiences decode meaning quickly from media texts
47. REPRESENTATION -
RESEARCH
What did you base your representations on?
Refer to research – what did you discover about the
individuals/groups from Ariel Pink, Muse, Kasabian,
Pavement, Little Mix, Katy Perry, etc.
What did you come to recognise as the conventional
stereotype in your research and how did you adapt this to
conform or challenge the stereotype?
48. EXAMPLES – LIST THE GROUPS,
COMMENT ON REPRESENTATIONS
Radiohead - Just
The Dandy Warhols – Bohemian Like You
Blur – Coffee and TV Katy Perry - Roar
Foo Fighters – Learn to Fly
52. GENRE – FILM/MUSIC
VIDEO
You have 5 minutes to write down how your Advanced
Portfolio music video fits into a specific genre
•What generic features of a music video are contained within?
•Sub-genre: Music video genre (rock/RnB/Indie…)
•Music video style: Performance/pastiche/narrative/abstract (does
this contain recognisable narratives e.g. Romance?)
Back this up with specific examples that show how you’ve
replicated this genre
Must be specific – titles, actions, camera/sound/MES/editing
53. MUSIC VIDEO GENRE
THEORY
Katie Wales, 'genre is... an intertextual concept', and nowhere is
this more appropriate than with music videos
Andrew Goodwin - music videos follow the following
conventions:
1.Conventions depend on the genre of the music
2.Star persona is important and companies use close ups to sell
them to the audience
3.Voyeuristic images are used to attract an audience
4.They often contain intertextual references to other media
5.There is a link between the lyrics and the visuals
6.There is a link between the visuals and the music / pace etc
54. ANDREW GOODWIN
‘DANCING IN THE DISTRACTION
FACTORY’
Certain music genres contain conventions that audiences
wish to see:
•Rock bands traditionally will have performances of the band
energetically singing the track – perhaps in front of an audience,
drummers emphatically drumming, singers scowling down the mic
– all to show how tough they are
•Girl bands traditionally have a focus on heavily choreography
dance routines, fashion, attitude, independence
55. SVEN E CARLSSON
Music videos mostly fall under 2 categories:
•Performance (dance, song or instrumental focus)
•Conceptual (abstract ideas the artist wants to promote
through their song)
56. APPLYING THEORY
You have 5 minutes to explain how your film opening or
music video is part of the ‘classic, traditional’ or
‘experimental, contemporary’ ideas of genre theory
•Refer to specific examples from your production that show
how your text as a ‘classic’ or ‘evolving’ piece
•Refer to specific theorists
57. HOMEWORK – DUE
NEXT THURSDAY
Apply theories of Genre to one of your production pieces.
[25]
Explanation/Analysis/Argument – 10marks
Use of Examples – 10marks
Use of Terminology – 5marks
59. Nicholas Abercrombie (1996) – The boundaries between genres
are shifting and becoming more permeable. He identifies the use of genre
for media producers when he writes “Television producers set out to
exploit genre conventions” – Can apply this to Music Videos/Films
David Bordwell ‘any theme may appear in any genre' ‘One could...
argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off
genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary
film-goers would find acceptable'
HOWEVER,
60. PROBLEMS WITH GENRE CLASSIFICATION
Theorist and Critic Rick Altman (1999) came up with a list of points he found problematic
with genre classification .
a) Genre is a useful category, because it bridges multiple concerns.
b) Genres are defined by the film industry and recognised by the mass audience.
c) Genres have clear, stable identities and borders.
d) Individual films belong wholly and permanently to a single genre.
e) Genres are transhistorical.
f) Genres undergo predictable development.
g) Genres are located in particular topic and narrative structure
h) Genre films share certain fundamental characteristics.
i) Genres have either a ritual or ideological function.
j) Genre critics are distanced from the practice of genre.
You can refer to Altman in creating a counter-argument to the traditional theorists in
explaining divergences in genre
61. GENRE THEORY
Daniel Chandler: Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion
that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings -
iconography) and/or form (including structure and style) which are shared by the
texts which are regarded as belonging to them.
The Shining could be read according to this
theory as conventionally, thrillers will seek to
place protagonists in an isolated location – The
Overlook Hotel
This convention is emphasised in
the film’s climax whenJack
pursues his wife into a bathroom
where she cannot escape. Pursuit
of an innocent victim as another
thematic convention (cf. North
by Northwest, Cape Fear)
62. LILY, THE MESSAGE,
PARIAH
Think carefully about your own films
Themes and Iconography
(plot
info/props/characters...)
Structure and Style
(camerawork and editing)
66. STEVE NEALE
Genres are ‘constantly changing and evolving’ and are not set
in stone. He thinks there are 5 main stages in film genres. Which
stage does your film fit into? Explain why.
Thrillers
The form finding itself (Vertigo)
The classic (The Shining/Usual Suspects/LA Confidential)
Stretching the boundaries of the genre (Memento)
Parody (High Anxiety)
Homage (Shutter Island)
67. Traditional argument: Genre is fixed.
Contemporary argument: 'genre is not... simply "given" by the culture:
rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change' - David
Buckingham
Buckingham’s argument therefore would compare nicely to Steve Neale
to add a further theoretical approach to your response
Fatal Attraction
Casino Royale Casino Royale
69. PROBLEMS WITH GENRE CLASSIFICATION
Theorist and Critic Rick Altman (1999) came up with a list of points he found problematic
with genre classification .
a) Genre is a useful category, because it bridges multiple concerns.
b) Genres are defined by the film industry and recognised by the mass audience.
c) Genres have clear, stable identities and borders.
d) Individual films belong wholly and permanently to a single genre.
e) Genres are transhistorical.
f) Genres undergo predictable development.
g) Genres are located in particular topic, structure and corpus.
h) Genre films share certain fundamental characteristic.
i) Genres have either a ritual or ideological function.
j) Genre critics are distanced from the practice of genre.
71. PLOT VS. NARRATIVE
Plot = the chronological events of a story. E.g. The story of
Titanic begins when people board a really big boat and it
ends with the peaceful death of the old lady (Rose).
Narrative = the organisation of this story. E.g. The film of
Titanic begins in the present with the old lady relaying her
story before the film has prolonged flashbacks to the past
72. CREATE A NARRATIVE
FROM THESE PLOT
EVENTS
A plum is
eaten
A telephone rings
Busy traffic
A man dies
Ink
Spills
73. THEORISTS YOU NEED
TO KNOW (AND LEARN
TO LOVE)
Tzvetan Todorov (Structure of narrative)
Vladimir Propp (Characters in narratives)
Roland Barthes (Codes of narratives)
Claude Levi-Strauss (Binary oppositions)
78. COMPLETE THE LEFT-HAND
COLUMN AS WE RE-WATCH YOUR
VIDEO THEN NUMBER THE ORDER –
THINK ABOUT USE OF VOICEOVER
TOO
Narrative Event Chronological Plot
Order
79. TODOROV
Todorov describes narrative as going from equilibrium to
disequilibrium back to an altered equilibrium
Standard 3-
point
narrative.
•Beginning
•Middle
•End
More
detailed 5-
point
narrative
80. TODOROV
Equilibrium: (sets the scene)
Everyday Life
Disruption: (complication)
Something happens to alter the equilibrium
Conflict: (climax)
Trying to solve the problem (seek resolution)
Resolution:
Problem is sorted
New Equilibrium: (satisfactory end)
Back to normal (but never the same)- a new normal
82. BARTHES’ 5 CODES
Action Code:
something the audience knows and doesn't need explaining e.g. someone being
wheeled out on a stretcher tells us they are going to hospital
Enigma Code:
something hidden from the audience (creates intrigue)
Semic Code:
something that the audience recognize through connotations
Symbolic Code:
Something that symbolizes a more abstract concept e.g. a darker than usual room of
a murder scene could symbolize the depth of darkness and depravity
Cultural Code:
Something that is read with understanding due to cultural awareness (e.g. youth
culture use certain words that are understood by that culture)
86. PROPP
Studied Russian folktales and created a list of
distinguishable character typologies
(categories) including:
The hero (sent on a quest)
The villain (struggles against hero)
The princess/prize (what the hero
seeks in completing the quest)
The donor (gives vital information
or object to hero)
The helper (aids in the quest)
89. Propp’s eight character roles and
how they can be applied to the
shining.
The villain— struggles against the hero- In the shining
this character type could be considered to be either Jack as
he gets possessed and tries to kill his family or the hotel as
this is what possesses him.
The dispatcher—character who makes the lack known
and sends the hero off- This character type can not be
related to The Shining
The helper — helps the hero in the quest- In the shining
the helper could be the character Dick as he does help
Danny at some stages throughout the film and Danny
could be seen as one of the heroes.. However, this does
not directly relate.
90. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable
to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's
journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain-
In the shining the princess or prize would be the main female protagonist Wendy
as she is the only female character; the former husband Jack deserves her but as
he comes possessed he no longer deserves her. The prize could be the character
Danny.
91. The donor —prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object- The
donor in The Shining could be the character Dick as he enabled Danny to use
his power by making him aware of it.
The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess- The
hero in The Shining could either be Danny or Wendy as they both survive until
the end.
False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess-
The false hero could either be Jack as he pretends to be someone he is not or it
could be Dick.
92. To some extent, Propp's eight character types do relate
to the film The Shining. However, not all of them can
be connected such as; the dispatcher and the father.
94. Bordwell and Thompson never did come up with a
complete narrative theory, they did however come up
with some interesting ideas.
They believed that chain of events within a media
form cause effects on a relationship occurring in time
and space and the narrative shapes this material in
terms of time space such as; where and when things
take place. This can be portrayed through using
effects to show the time and space by using flash
backs, forwarding time, slow motion and speeding
up.
95. This theory is evident within The shining. We see
the character Jack having flashbacks from past
events and we see Danny seeing things in the
future due to his power. Inter titles are used
frequently within the movie showing which day it
is connoting the high impact of the time in this
film.
97. Claude Levi- Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of "
Binary oppositions" focusing on the different sets of opposite
values which reveal the structure of the media texts. His
narrative theory is different compared to other theorists as he
focused more on the arrangement of themes rather than the order
of a media text.
98. Examples of these binary
oppositions could be :
Earth – space
Good – bad
Past- Present
Normal- abnormal
Humans- Aliens
Known- Unknown
Dead- Alive
Happy- sad
Weak- strong
99. These binary oppositions can be applied to the film
The Shining in several ways. They moved to an
Isolated place when they were used to living in a
civilised area. The character Jack’s sanctity changed as
he became insane. Another example of these binary
oppositions could be the character Wendy; she
appeared weak at the beginning of the film but then
became a much stronger character at the end. Lastly
Danny appeared to be a normal boy at the beginning
but he soon realised, with Dick’s guidance that he had
a power.
101. Todorov was a Bulgarian linguist who produced and
published influential narrative theory work from the
1960’s onwards. His theory suggested that stories
begin with an equilibrium where any opposing force
are in balance. This equilibrium is then disrupted by
an event which leads to a series of other events
leading to the stereotypical end of all major events
being restored.
102. Todorov’s narrative theory can be applied to The Shining as the
film begins normally – the family moving away. A change in
equilibrium then occurs- Jack slowly becoming mental and then
the enigma is then resolved at the end as Jack dies and Wendy
and Danny escape unharmed.
103. COMPLEX NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
Today’s narratives have become increasingly complex as producers
know that audiences have a greater sense of media literacy when it
comes to making meaning of the text and reading the signs. There
are often numerous plot twists and surprises that keep the audience
intrigued with carefully spun storylines.
Films such as “Memento” (Nolan,2000) which weaves the story in reverse
gives the audience a similar experience to the protagonist who has
short term memory loss, as they try and fit the clues together through
the use of restricted narrative.
Unrestricted Narrative: What the are assumed to know e.g. thriller
there will be a crime so they will be expecting it
Restricted Narrative: The information that is withheld from the
audience
http://quizlet.com/4162490/narrative-theorists-flash-cards/
Now test your knowledge:
106. INTRODUCTION
Why do you watch music videos?
What do you gain from the experience?
Think about how you consume music videos – mostly
through YouTube, I imagine! How does a music video
keep your attention?
107. YOUR MUSIC VIDEO
What information have you found in your audience interviews that
could help your planning decisions?
Has this helped you define a primary target audience? Mass or Niche?
Did you ask them what kind of videos they enjoy watching and what it
is that appeals to them?
What evidence in your planning shows you are aiming to target to a
certain audience? (Camera, MES, Editing, Choice of song)
Demographics/Psychographics: Who is your audience? Media-savvy
young adults, perhaps? (Hartley’s classifications)
How is your video going to reflect a digital convergence culture that
demand engaging content?
108. LINK TO RECEPTION
THEORY – STUART
HALL/DAVID MORLEY
Are you positioning your audience into decoding a dominant preferred
reading? (David Morley)
What is your message you wish your audience to decode? Is this open
to interaction or it is a one-way flow of information from producer to
consumer? (Stuart Hall)
How are you doing this, technically? (camera, editing, MES)
How are you doing this through genre style?
(narrative/abstract/performance) (Simon Firth)
How are you placing key signifiers/signs for your audience to decode
meaning? (David Morley)
109. LINK TO THEORY – USES
AND GRATIFICATIONS
Using your audience responses, what needs are you fulfilling
based on the information have you gained from your key
[demo/psycho]graphics?
1. Diversion - Escapism.
2. Personal Relationships - Substitution of media for
companionship.
3. Personal Identity or Individual Psychology - Value
reinforcement or reassurance; self-understanding.
4. Surveillance - Information about factors which might
affect them personally, or will help audience do or
accomplish something.
Early days, but also consider how your band website and CD
package could fulfil these needs? (e.g.
interactivity/comments/feedback on YouTube/website)
110. THEORY GRIDS
Refer back to your notes from last session when we research
audience theories
1. Hypodermic needle theory
2. Stuart Hall – encoding/decoding
3. Lazerfeld & Katz – Two-step flow
4. Ien Ang’s audience theories
5. David Gauntlett – prosumers
6. Blumler & Katz – uses & gratifications
7. David Morley – reception theory
Complete the grid together discussing how you will apply
theory to your music video
111. HOMEWORK
Explore how your music video is being planned in relation to
the concept of audience theory.
Due: next Tuesday
113. AUDIENCE THEORIES
1. Hypodermic needle theory
2. Stuart Hall – encoding/decoding
3. Lazerfeld & Katz – Two-step flow
4. Ien Ang’s audience theories
5. David Gauntlett – prosumers
6. Blumler & Katz – uses & gratifications
7. David Morley – reception theory
114.
115. THE HARTLEY
CLASSIFICATION
There are 7 socially grouped categories when it
comes to identifying audience:
Self – ambitions or interests of the audience
Gender
Age Group
Class – different social classes e.g. working,
upper etc.
Ethnicity
Family
Nation
116. JOHN HARTLEY
His best-selling book, Reading Television published inin
1978 andco-authored with John Fiske, was the first to
analyse television from a cultural perspective, and is
considered a defining publication in the field.
This work also established Hartley as a pioneer and
international leader in contemporary television and
cultural studies.
117. Hartley also suggests that institutions produce:
“Invisible fictions of the audience which allow
the institutions to get a sense of who they
must enter into relations with”
In other words, they must know their audience to
be able to target them effectively.
It also suggests that the notion of a ‘target
audience’ is a fabrication designed purely for
producers to justify their decisions.
118. DENIS MCQUAIL
An audience can be described as a temporary collective
(McQuail, 1972). ‡
Key terms: Mass / Niche & Mainstream / Alternative
119.
120. ACTIVE /
PASSIVE
AUDIENCE
Audiences are much more active – and interactive – than ever
before
Social media, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – musicians take
advantage of technological convergences
124. MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF
NEEDS
Music videos can fulfil
our social needs
Audiences use social
media to meet these
needs
Uses and gratifications
can apply here
ABRAHAM
MASLOW
US PSYCHOLOGIST
THEORY = 1943
130. STUART HALL
How messages are produced by media institutions for the audience to
receive
Four-Stage process
1. Production
2. Communication
3. Use (Distribution or Consumption)
4. Re-production
The focus and control is on the producer
encoding a message for the audience to
respond to
131.
132. CRITICISM FOR THIS
MODEL OF THEORY
A linear approach to consuming media
Allows for little interaction by the audience
Producer is autonomous (they decide what they want
audience to understand)
This model is rapidly losing favour in a Media 2.0 society (re:
Gauntlett)
134. RECEPTION THEORY
In decoding the messages of media producers, audiences
will create their own meaning according to 3 readings:
1. Dominant (the preferred meaning the producer wants
them to have)
2. Negotiated (audience mostly accept the meaning but may
resist or challenge certain aspects)
3. Oppositional (a rejection of the dominant code leading to
an alternative result e.g. when watching a television
broadcast produced on behalf of a political party they
normally vote against).
135. THE IDEA OF AUDIENCE
IS CHANGING…
Julian McDougall (2009) suggests that in the
online age it is getting harder to conceive a
media audience as a stable, identifiable
group.
However, audiences still make sense of and
give meaning to products.
136. IEN ANG
• Ien Ang, a leading professor of Cultural
Studies believes
“audiences only exist as an imaginary
entity, an abstraction, constructed from
the vantage point of the institution, in the
interest of the institution”.
“what matters is not the certainty of
knowledge, but ongoing critical and
intellectual engagement”
• She follows the belief that media forms are
not truly reflective of people’s views and
serve only to aid producers
137. JULIAN
MCDOUGALL
Julian McDougall (2009) suggests that in the online age it is getting harder to conceive
a media audience as a stable, identifiable group. ‡
Building on work from David Buckingham, Steven Johnson and David Gauntlett, he
advocates a shift away from students viewing cultural products as texts to a view
where even video games need analysis, explanation and research.
He invites students to analyse the relationship between new media and postmodern
theories,
Audiences ‡
However audiences still clearly make sense and give meaning to cultural products. ‡
138. JOHN HARTLEY
“Institutions are obliged to speak not
only about an audience, but crucially,
for them, to talk to one as well; they
need not only to represent audiences
but to enter in to relation with them”
Also suggests institutions should produce
“invisible fictions of the audience
which allow the institutions to get a
sense of who they must enter into
relations with”
Therefore, the institutions must know their audience, in
order to target them effectively.
139. HOWEVER
Audiences still make sense and give meaning to cultural
products.
Audiences are necessary for media products to work as
without a a demographic to aim at (however niche or
mainstream) it would not be received by anyone.
140. HYPODERMIC
NEEDLE THEORY
The Hypodermic Needle Theory, also known as the Magic
Bullet Theory, was the first major theory concerning the
effect of the mass media on society. Originating in the
1920s, the theory was based on the premise of an all-
powerful media with uniform and direct effects on the
viewer or audience. (i.e. information is injected into
audiences)
141.
142. BLUMLER AND KATZ
USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS
THEORY
The Gratifications Theory assumes audiences actively seek
out media to satisfy individual needs. The uses and
gratifications theory looks to answer three questions:
What do people do with the media?
What are their underlying motives for using said media?
What are the pros cons of this this individual media use?
143. USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS
What the audience does for the media not what the media does for the
audience.
Audience takes an active role on their media choice, which by seeking
out the media, a person fulfils the need to be informed:
(1) Diversion - Escapism.
(2) Personal Relationships - Substitution of media for
companionship.
(3) Personal Identity or Individual Psychology - Value reinforcement
or reassurance; self-understanding.
(4) Surveillance - Information about factors which might affect them
personally, or will help audience do or accomplish something.
150. WHAT DO THESE
IMAGES SIGNIFY?
Consider:
Costume
Props
Differences in clothing and
positioning
151. HOW TO APPLY THEORY
IN YOUR WRITING AND
USE THE THEORISTS
Assume your reader knows about the theory/theorist
Don’t explain the theory; use it
A Todorovian analysis would argue...
Steve Neale’s statements that Genre is ‘made up of repetition and
change’ could be useful here because...
Barthes’ notion of action codes provides a useful way of
understanding the film in that...
152. FERDINAND DE
SAUSSURE -
SEMIOTICS
Meaning is constructed through the
interpretation of signs.
• Signifier = the physical/visual object i.e. A knife
• Signified = the meaning it creates i.e. Threat,
aggression, violence/self-defence and protection
Representations are created through signs
which signify meaning. Like the knife, signs
can have more than one meaning leading to a
polysemic reading of signs
153. LOOK OVER YOUR
IMAGES AGAIN
Can you apply Saussure’s semiotics to polysemic
representations of the visual signs in the frames?
154. LIST THE CHARACTERS
IN YOUR FILMS
Who are they?
What roles do they have in the narrative?
155. COUNTER ARGUMENT –
DAVID GAUNTLETT AND
MARTIN BARKER
Identities are not given but are constructed and negotiated
(Gauntlett)
Martin Barker condemned stereotypes for mis-representing
the real world by reinforcing false stereotypes
156. BAUDRILLARD
Postmodern theorist
Argues that representations no longer refer to reality or real
things
The representation has become more real to us than the reality –
i.e. The representation of mob bosses as Italian Mafia men
instilled through The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Sopranos
This is re-presentation of reality is termed a simulacrum – a copy
of reality
For Baudrillard, these images have become hyperreal – have no
relationship to the real. CSI and Silent Witness as examples of
forensic science investigations that through their popularity
seem to typify our perception of what that reality is like
For your A2 music video consider how you have represented
young adults, lovers/relationships – What are your sources for
this?
157. YOUR CHARACTERS
Pick one of the characters from your A2 music video
Create a profile about them
• Motivation
• Who they represent
• What they represent
Where did you get your inspirations for your
characters? From reality or from media
representations on film and television? Remember
your research for AS Cite these in your answer.
Real news stories (BBC) Documentaries?
Kidulthood? The Bill? Life on Mars…?
Are they, therefore, arguably a simulacrum of reality?
158. REPRESENTATION OF
PEOPLE AND PLACES
Male
Female
Students/Young
Adults
Lovers – Straight
and Gay
British
Caucasian/White
Suburbia (WOTE)
Seaside tourist
town/beach
(Drive)
Comfortable
home (Both)
Graveyard (Drive)
160. What exactly IS Media
Language?
0 How a media text communicates meaning through:
0 Camerawork
0 Editing
0 Mis-en-scene
0 Soundtrack
0 Film uses verbal and written language as well as the languages of
moving image
0 Each form of communication has its own creative language – e.g.
Camera close-ups convey intimacy or discomfort at being so
near a subject, big fonts in the titles signal significance
0 The symbolism in the choice of ‘404’ as a title. Using understood
internet ‘codes’
0 Using deliberately blurred footage to convey anonymity in Sea
View News interviews
161. Media Language
0 Understanding the grammar, syntax and metaphor
system of media language increases our appreciation
and enjoyment of media experiences
0 Example: The camera positioning in the shower scene of
‘Psycho’ places the viewer as a voyeur; in the first instance
watching Marion as she washes and then
positioning them as being able to foretell of
her death at the hands of ‘Mother’.
0 The camerawork constructs connotations of
fear and suspense, two generic expectations
162. Media Language
Tackle this one in much the same way as you tackled the TV Drama exam at
AS. You should be ANALYSING your work (not describing), discussing how
you created meaning for the audience on particular issues such as genre,
representation, narrative, audience, atmosphere etc.. Basically WHY you
chose particular shots, sounds, transitions etc
0Intro: Explain what text you are analysing
0Main: Include all 4 of the following key areas with theorists
0 Genre – Neale, Altman, Chandler, Wales, Goodwin, Carlsson
0 Narrative – Todorov, Goodwin, Barthes, Cameron
0 Representation – Mulvey, Hall, Dyer, Gauntlett
0 Technical Aspects:
0 Camera – shot size, framing, high & low angles, subjective & objective filming,
hand held, tilts, pans, zooms etc, green screen
0 Sound – diegetic and non-diegetic, sound effects, ambient sound, dialogue, music,
voice over
0 Editing – fades, cuts, wipes, dissolves, slow motion, fast motion, colour effects like
black & white, green screening and any After Effects work
0 Mise En Scene – costume, lighting, location, body language, acting, make up, props
etc
0Conclusion: How well do you think you used media language to
communicate meaning to an audience?
163. Theorist Theory – what to write about
Blumler & Katz /
Richard Dyer
Audience
Uses & Gratifications theory /– explaining how your use of
MEDIA LANGUAGE offers these to an audience
Vladimir Propp
Narrative
Propp’s Character theory – how your MEDIA LANGUAGE helps
audiences identify particular characters as heros / villains etc
Stuart Hall
Representation
Explain that your decision to use the MEDIA LANGUAGE you
chose was to create a “preferred reading” for your text. But that
audiences are used to Encoding and Decoding tests AND could
take a negotiated or oppositional reading
Rick Altman
Genre
– Explain how you used MEDIA LANGUAGE to include Semantic
Elements (eg signs such as knives, blood, dark colours, eerie
music) or to signify Syntactic elements (eg themes like love,
revenge).
164. Narrative How does the structure of your narrative reflect
the genre of your product? Is your narrative
determined by the medium you use, e.g. how
does your narrative structure reflect the
conventions of the music video?
Genre How did you use generic codes to communicate to
the audience? What are the specific generic codes
of the medium you used? With music videos you
need to consider the generic codes of music videos
generally, generic codes of the genre of music, and
possibly generic codes of the mode of the narrative
(e.g. romance).
Technical
Aspects
How did you make use of camerawork, editing,
sound, and mise-en-scene to communicate meaning
to the audience?
Representation How did your use of media language allow you to
construct representations?
165. Semiotics – Barthes (1977)
0 We last saw this theorist with Representation
0 Key words
0 DENOTATION = Signifier [Visual/physical on screen]
0 CONNOTATION – Signified [Suggested or Culturally
agreed meaning]
0 John Fiske (1982) ‘denotation is what is filmed,
connotation is how it is filmed.’
166. Media Language and
Genre/Narrative
0 Meaning is created through analysing the micro elements of a
film
0 Camerawork – shot types, movement, composition of frame,
angles
0 Soundtrack – diegetic, non-diegetic
0 Editing – organisation of scenes to create meaning – link to
narrative. Continuity editing (match on action, 180 degree
rule, S/R/S. Long or short takes?
0 Mis-en-Scene – Iconography, setting, lighting, costume and
props
0 Discuss how generic codes and conventions are displayed
through the use of these micro elements in your film
0 Stuart Hall (1980) – how you encoded meaning for your
audience and what you wanted them to decode
167. Structure your Writing
Suggestion 1 (if you think you might struggle with this Q)
0 Separate out your essay to discuss the four technical elements
Suggestion 2 (if you think you can aim for high B/A)
0 Separate out your essay to discuss the production process
0 Pre-production – research into generic codes and conventions,
how you applied this in your location search and storyboarding
0 Production (filming) – how you applied camerawork codes and
conventions into your filming, costume considerations,
characterisation
0 Post-Production – use of your titles, how did your choice of font
reflect certain connotations about your film? Soundtrack choices
– did you add any foley (sound-effects/hyperbolic sounds) to
your film? Voice/over? Diegetic/non-diegetic
168. Techniques I used in the film What it signified to an audience
Camera:
Mise-En-Scene:
Editing:
Sound:
