THESE ARE ALL EXAMPLES OF STUDENTS' WORK FROM OCR. MANY OF THEM ARE GRADED SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR IDEA OF WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU. DON'T FEEL YOU HAVE TO USE THE SAME THEORY, WHILE SOME IS RELEVANT FOR MOST SCHOOLS SUCH AS TODOROV, LEVI-STRAUSS OR BARTHES YOU WILL FIND THAT THEY'VE USED SOME THAT YOU HAVEN'T AND THAT YOU'LL KNOW SOME THAT THEY HAVEN'T. WHAT COUNTS IS THAT ESSAYS ARE STRUCTURED AND WELL EXPRESSED AND THAT THERE IS AN EFFECTIVE COMBINATION OF THEORY AND EVIDENCE.
EXAMPLE 1
1a
Over the two year media course we had to produce both a foundation portfolio of a school magazine and music magazine as well as an advance portfolio of a horror teaser trailer, film magazine – developing foundation skills further and a poster to advertise our trailer.
In the first year we researched existing music magazines and analysed each one so that we could gain knowledge of particular layouts, fonts and key elements that need to be contained in our production to make it successful. Research and planning allowed us to recognise ‘mastheads’ on magazines as being the most important and therefore the need to focus on a font more detailed to keep continuity with the contents page and double page spread which we also had to create. Personally I researched ‘Rock’ magazines such as Kerrang, NME and others because I had chosen after carrying out a questionnaire to use Rock music as my theme. The real life media texts allowed me to visualise my favourite parts from each magazine – wripped sticker graphics and broken font on my own work which I then attempted to recreate within Photoshop CS4. In year one we were limited to what we could research because magazines were the only theme however, in the second year I was able to develop my ability to research real life media texts much further because we had a range of products we needed to create all under the ‘horror’ genre this time. I was able to research teaser trailers analysing my favourite and least favourite parts allowing me to plan with a mood board which I produced from a range of stills from previous horror films my ideas for my own trailer which helped me to develop my production of my products in relation to real life media texts and techniques such as restricted narration and handheld camera found in the ‘Blair Witch Project’ trailer which inspired my trailer ‘Laquem’ which is also set in the woods. Research into film documentaries like the ‘American Nightmare’ inspired me to create a product which reinforced fear and went against usual horror conventions to make it more interesting. Over the second year research became so important to achieving a product which was realistic and is now like my own distributed on on youtube as a real life media text of its own.
Real life media texts like advertising film posters were able to help me develop my Photoshop skills further because I was able to push myself with the ‘colour burn’ filters and want to create the scary atmosphere of my trailer from just an image and text which I found really fun.
Research into film magazines allowed me to develop my work from AS level so much further because I was able to produce a high standard piece of work in two weeks this year when the magazines took over 3 months last year which shows how much my skills have improves just by being able to constantly refer back to real life media texts for inspiration and even colour schemes that work well together such as black and red which in the first year I just found experimenting with. Research into horror trailers allowed me to recognise different styles of film and how we like Alfred Hitchcock could be an auteur creating new angles and ideas using generic conventions as well as unconventional representations that I have picked upon when watching films and analysing certain techniques which I have then attempted to do in Final Cut Pro when editing certain shots together to create collision cutting and changes in pace which my trailer does extremely well. I was inspired initially by the hand held camera in the
trailer REC and the fact I want as an auteur to change the stereotyped representations to be able use a female psycho killer.
Research also allowed me to produce text and intertitles that shook in order to capture my audience but narrating the story slightly so the shots when together made sense. Research into types of camera movements needed were really helpful and allowed me to completely change the pace with tracking shots and handheld camera which I noticed was used in Silent Hill and American Werewolf in London which I analysed and placed on my blog for reference as some pieces of footage I wanted to recreate including the final girl representations.
EAA 8
EG 8
T 4
(20)
1b)
The media production I am going to write about in relation to genre is my favourite piece from the whole course which is my horror teaser trailer.
The genre of the trailer is obviously ‘horror’ and this in itself allowed us to be creative with narrative etc but limited us because we had to stick to a certain amount of generic conventions in order for it to be recognised by it’s existing target audience. Steve Neal said that ‘genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations’ which meant certain generic features had to be included and repeated which in my case was the use of a creepy location of the woods as well as hand held camera and restricted narration to cause disorientation and suspense within our trailer. However, the pattern of variation Neal describes also links to my horror teaser trailer because we were able to creatively push the boundaries by twisting some generic features in order to make the trailer interesting and therefore cause the audience to want to watch the full movie. For this my group chose use a female psycho killer I order to subvert the stereotypical male dominated role. This female identification through point of view shots etc captured our female audience because were providing them with power and this is unusual for the horror genre although it is known for its forward thinking approach as it often attempts to focus on subcultural views instead of targeting the mainstream. Genre encompasses many parts and the trailer links to it in more ways than one. Its use of enclosed location and the fact the woods attempts to reinforce our society’s fear of loneliness and isolation which the woods creates when the three friends get lost. In these sections of the trailer we used a lot of heavy cross cutting between the female victim who is running anxiously through the woods in order to find her friends and get home safely. We also used the Kuleshove and collision cutting methods as the pace began slow as the friends head our in the car unaware of the danger before them and once they are in the woods we deliberately quickened the pace of editing to cause tension and to show that something is not right, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.
Editing and mise-en-scene is really important to genre and reflects very quickly certain moods and atmospheres. Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes argued that the horror genre like many others used ‘binary oppositions’ in order to show the contrast between good and evil in order to force the audience to be constantly questioning the trailer for example; in my trailer I used light and dark to connote their happiness and carefree attitude in the daytime and the darkness to emphasise their fear and reliance
on their senses. This is particularly important to the horror genre as characters are often shown in high angle shots to appear vulnerable and therefore under threat.
Gore or ‘body horror’ is also a common generic convention used by most horror films that we studied including Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero who used it to make the audience feel sick by forcing them to see extreme violence. In my own trailer we were inspired to use gore differently by showing a hanging scene in slow motion to create tension and the centoring in on the face and neck which had been broken and this was shown by the rope burn we had made from latex and the blood pouring down her chest. This shot moves clockwise and slowly zooms in to force the audience to see what the hang (woman) has done. In our final two shots we finish the trailer with the male anti hero being lifted off the ground with blood pouring out of his mouth which causes the audience to assume no one survives because the final girl is stabbed by her friend accidentally which quickens the pace and adds tension but she is the survivor who as Carol Clover suggests will be terrorised throughout the film and finally overcome the monster. This plays with the audiences emotions and links back to the horror genre well by creating our own style of horror. Andrew Sarris argues because it encompasses so much and is key to explaining a film. Genre is the ideas that collectively make a particular recognisable style that draws in its existing target audience. My horror trailer had expressionist camera angles as the female victim desperately trips over the camera and we see her running above it as well as close ups of her facial expression that causes us to identify with her fear and therefore makes us scared. This meant the audience also were forced to objectify the female victim from the high angle camera shot down her top in which we can see her breasts slightly after watching other Hitchcock movies which use the male gaze theory by Laura Mulvey to force us to take a male’s viewpoint.
In my trailer we also used an iconic symbol of the noose because obviously as a hangwoman she needed the prop but also as a female the circular shape suggested female power and this is something the horror genre often does but for male characters using guns etc as phallic symbols which we also used as the male anti hero takes out a knife and stabs his friend frantically when she walks up behind him. The horror trailer was made much darker in Final Cut Pro using the brightness and contrast menu and also dragged the saturated colours towards the blue in order to create a dark, dusky night time atmosphere a generic convention of horror trailers.
The generic conventions we chose to use were all important to the success of our product and since distributing it on YouTube we have over 4000 which I am really pleased with and gives me the confidence that we obviously stuck to the genre enough to capture our intended target audience but were creative enough to make people want to keep watching the trailer and virally sharing it with others.
Genre places a media text into a grouping giving it an identity which can be recognised by the mainstream society and I believe my product is successfully fitted to the horror genre using the narrative that todorov argued was important to the horror genre by following an equilibrium at the beginning then a problem which in our case was the male anti hero playing a joke on the soon to be female victim making jump running after him causing their separation then a pathway to resolution – as they attempt to find each other and then a new equilibrium at the end which we deliberately left as an open ending to capture our audience effectively.
EAA 10
EG 10
Term 5
(24/25)
Total Section A 45/50
Over the two year media course we had to produce both a foundation portfolio of a school magazine and music magazine as well as an advance portfolio of a horror teaser trailer, film magazine – developing foundation skills further and a poster to advertise our trailer.
In the first year we researched existing music magazines and analysed each one so that we could gain knowledge of particular layouts, fonts and key elements that need to be contained in our production to make it successful. Research and planning allowed us to recognise ‘mastheads’ on magazines as being the most important and therefore the need to focus on a font more detailed to keep continuity with the contents page and double page spread which we also had to create. Personally I researched ‘Rock’ magazines such as Kerrang, NME and others because I had chosen after carrying out a questionnaire to use Rock music as my theme. The real life media texts allowed me to visualise my favourite parts from each magazine – wripped sticker graphics and broken font on my own work which I then attempted to recreate within Photoshop CS4. In year one we were limited to what we could research because magazines were the only theme however, in the second year I was able to develop my ability to research real life media texts much further because we had a range of products we needed to create all under the ‘horror’ genre this time. I was able to research teaser trailers analysing my favourite and least favourite parts allowing me to plan with a mood board which I produced from a range of stills from previous horror films my ideas for my own trailer which helped me to develop my production of my products in relation to real life media texts and techniques such as restricted narration and handheld camera found in the ‘Blair Witch Project’ trailer which inspired my trailer ‘Laquem’ which is also set in the woods. Research into film documentaries like the ‘American Nightmare’ inspired me to create a product which reinforced fear and went against usual horror conventions to make it more interesting. Over the second year research became so important to achieving a product which was realistic and is now like my own distributed on on youtube as a real life media text of its own.
Real life media texts like advertising film posters were able to help me develop my Photoshop skills further because I was able to push myself with the ‘colour burn’ filters and want to create the scary atmosphere of my trailer from just an image and text which I found really fun.
Research into film magazines allowed me to develop my work from AS level so much further because I was able to produce a high standard piece of work in two weeks this year when the magazines took over 3 months last year which shows how much my skills have improves just by being able to constantly refer back to real life media texts for inspiration and even colour schemes that work well together such as black and red which in the first year I just found experimenting with. Research into horror trailers allowed me to recognise different styles of film and how we like Alfred Hitchcock could be an auteur creating new angles and ideas using generic conventions as well as unconventional representations that I have picked upon when watching films and analysing certain techniques which I have then attempted to do in Final Cut Pro when editing certain shots together to create collision cutting and changes in pace which my trailer does extremely well. I was inspired initially by the hand held camera in the
trailer REC and the fact I want as an auteur to change the stereotyped representations to be able use a female psycho killer.
Research also allowed me to produce text and intertitles that shook in order to capture my audience but narrating the story slightly so the shots when together made sense. Research into types of camera movements needed were really helpful and allowed me to completely change the pace with tracking shots and handheld camera which I noticed was used in Silent Hill and American Werewolf in London which I analysed and placed on my blog for reference as some pieces of footage I wanted to recreate including the final girl representations.
EAA 8
EG 8
T 4
(20)
1b)
The media production I am going to write about in relation to genre is my favourite piece from the whole course which is my horror teaser trailer.
The genre of the trailer is obviously ‘horror’ and this in itself allowed us to be creative with narrative etc but limited us because we had to stick to a certain amount of generic conventions in order for it to be recognised by it’s existing target audience. Steve Neal said that ‘genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations’ which meant certain generic features had to be included and repeated which in my case was the use of a creepy location of the woods as well as hand held camera and restricted narration to cause disorientation and suspense within our trailer. However, the pattern of variation Neal describes also links to my horror teaser trailer because we were able to creatively push the boundaries by twisting some generic features in order to make the trailer interesting and therefore cause the audience to want to watch the full movie. For this my group chose use a female psycho killer I order to subvert the stereotypical male dominated role. This female identification through point of view shots etc captured our female audience because were providing them with power and this is unusual for the horror genre although it is known for its forward thinking approach as it often attempts to focus on subcultural views instead of targeting the mainstream. Genre encompasses many parts and the trailer links to it in more ways than one. Its use of enclosed location and the fact the woods attempts to reinforce our society’s fear of loneliness and isolation which the woods creates when the three friends get lost. In these sections of the trailer we used a lot of heavy cross cutting between the female victim who is running anxiously through the woods in order to find her friends and get home safely. We also used the Kuleshove and collision cutting methods as the pace began slow as the friends head our in the car unaware of the danger before them and once they are in the woods we deliberately quickened the pace of editing to cause tension and to show that something is not right, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.
Editing and mise-en-scene is really important to genre and reflects very quickly certain moods and atmospheres. Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes argued that the horror genre like many others used ‘binary oppositions’ in order to show the contrast between good and evil in order to force the audience to be constantly questioning the trailer for example; in my trailer I used light and dark to connote their happiness and carefree attitude in the daytime and the darkness to emphasise their fear and reliance
on their senses. This is particularly important to the horror genre as characters are often shown in high angle shots to appear vulnerable and therefore under threat.
Gore or ‘body horror’ is also a common generic convention used by most horror films that we studied including Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero who used it to make the audience feel sick by forcing them to see extreme violence. In my own trailer we were inspired to use gore differently by showing a hanging scene in slow motion to create tension and the centoring in on the face and neck which had been broken and this was shown by the rope burn we had made from latex and the blood pouring down her chest. This shot moves clockwise and slowly zooms in to force the audience to see what the hang (woman) has done. In our final two shots we finish the trailer with the male anti hero being lifted off the ground with blood pouring out of his mouth which causes the audience to assume no one survives because the final girl is stabbed by her friend accidentally which quickens the pace and adds tension but she is the survivor who as Carol Clover suggests will be terrorised throughout the film and finally overcome the monster. This plays with the audiences emotions and links back to the horror genre well by creating our own style of horror. Andrew Sarris argues because it encompasses so much and is key to explaining a film. Genre is the ideas that collectively make a particular recognisable style that draws in its existing target audience. My horror trailer had expressionist camera angles as the female victim desperately trips over the camera and we see her running above it as well as close ups of her facial expression that causes us to identify with her fear and therefore makes us scared. This meant the audience also were forced to objectify the female victim from the high angle camera shot down her top in which we can see her breasts slightly after watching other Hitchcock movies which use the male gaze theory by Laura Mulvey to force us to take a male’s viewpoint.
In my trailer we also used an iconic symbol of the noose because obviously as a hangwoman she needed the prop but also as a female the circular shape suggested female power and this is something the horror genre often does but for male characters using guns etc as phallic symbols which we also used as the male anti hero takes out a knife and stabs his friend frantically when she walks up behind him. The horror trailer was made much darker in Final Cut Pro using the brightness and contrast menu and also dragged the saturated colours towards the blue in order to create a dark, dusky night time atmosphere a generic convention of horror trailers.
The generic conventions we chose to use were all important to the success of our product and since distributing it on YouTube we have over 4000 which I am really pleased with and gives me the confidence that we obviously stuck to the genre enough to capture our intended target audience but were creative enough to make people want to keep watching the trailer and virally sharing it with others.
Genre places a media text into a grouping giving it an identity which can be recognised by the mainstream society and I believe my product is successfully fitted to the horror genre using the narrative that todorov argued was important to the horror genre by following an equilibrium at the beginning then a problem which in our case was the male anti hero playing a joke on the soon to be female victim making jump running after him causing their separation then a pathway to resolution – as they attempt to find each other and then a new equilibrium at the end which we deliberately left as an open ending to capture our audience effectively.
EAA 10
EG 10
Term 5
(24/25)
Total Section A 45/50
EXAMPLE 2
At AS (Foundation Portfolio) I created the opening two minutes of a new feature film. I chose the genre of Social Realism and the narrative of the film was about a teenage girl (roughly 15) who ended up pregnant but who then after having her baby got in with the wrong crowd of people who then lead her astray, causing all sorts of problems for the young girl, her family and her baby. The main issue we wanted to raise and explore through the world of media was teen pregnancy and the problems/issues that come with it.
The main character in this film was a young girl (15 years of age) and her name was Linda, there was also another main character who was Linda’s best friend, another female character called Courtney; These characters were the binary opposition of each other.
At the A2 (Advanced Portfolio) I created a teaser trailer for a new feature film, soon to be released. I changed the genre of this production from AS work to the sub genre of slasher from the genre of Horror. I did this because I wanted and was capable of a whole different challenge.
The Teaser Trailer was about a young couple (aged between 17 and 18) who started off their relationship well and full of love, until the arguments began they end up splitting up while the young female is moving on with her life, tutoring a guy from her class, her best friends start to disappear (and are murdered). The young girl thinks its her ex-boyfriend, killing her friends out of spite but the twist actually is that it’s the guy who she it tutoring who has a huge obsession with the girl. However the trailer doesn’t show this and it portrays her ex-boyfriend as the killer.
There are a few main protagonists/antangonists throughout this production. To start with there is ‘Carie’ the main protagonist (young girl) and ‘Ben’ the main protagonist but the audience think he is the antagonist when really ‘Paul’ is the main antagonist (the killer). Lastly there is ‘Carie’s’ best friend ‘Hannah’ who ends up getting killed but she is a binary opposite to ‘Carie’.
I carried out a lot of research into real media texts, using digital technology such as websites (eg. www.imdb.com); this website was very useful when carrying out research into real media texts as I was able to research texts that would help me to develop my creativity from my own productions: I used this website for research for both my AS and A2 productions and it was very helpful. This researched had a big impact into my own production work because I was able to find out what the key codes and conventions were from real media texts and artificially inject them into my own productions.
A real media text I researched a lot in my AS production was ‘wish you were here’ starring Emily Lloyd and set in the seaside town of Brighton. This film had the same genre as my AS piece (social realism) and it was tackling the same issues (teen pregnancy). From this research we decided to give our main protagonist the same name as the main protagonist in ‘Wish You Were Here’ which was ‘Linda’ so the name our main protagonist was informed by research into real media texts as we wanted to intertextually link our production in with ‘Wish You Were Here’ which inspired me greatly. I used research methods such as the internet for ‘Wish You Were Here’ (www.imdb.com).
At A2 we worked on the genre of Horror (the sub genre of slasher) as this genre was completely different to our AS genre we had to do all our research from scratch. One
way in which my production has been informed by research into real media texts is taken from the film ‘Psycho’, we were really inspired by ‘Psycho’s’ famous shower seen, which we researched through ‘YouTube’ and watched many different clips of. We wanted to intertexually link this in with our production so we challenged this convention and added a bath killing scene into our montage of killings. This basically was a close-up-shot of a girl in a bath with a high angle a medium shot of the mirror showing a dark figure which could trigger a narrative enigma next to another shot of a shadow of a knife coming down. This is how proved that a killing was taking place without showing any nudity or blood.
Research into real media texts was a lot easier as we had more resources and our knowledge of where to find different resources was greater we were able to have acess to a wide range of dvds in the library that were linked into our genre that were not there when we were completing our AS productions.
At A2 we were also able to acess a wide range of books in the library which weer linked in with our genre which we didn’t have at AS. So at AS we were very limited with what resources we could actually use and I do feel that if I had had the books, dvds etc that I had at A2, that my production at AS would have benefited.
It was harder to research for my AS task because we were looking at the openings of films which were a lot harder to find on the internet but for A2 we were looking at teaser trailers anf the web (including www.imdb.com and ‘youTube’) are absolutely full of trailers.
EAA 8
EG 7
T 3
(18)
1b)
For my A2 production (Advanced Portfolio) I created a teaser trailer in the sub-genre of slasher from the genre of Horror. The synopsis of this teaser trailer is about a young couple (roughly 17-19 years of age) who are in love in the beginning but the relationship turns sore and they split up, the girls moves on with her life and the boy doesn’t like this and starts to follow her; The girl starts tutoring a guy in her class who is struggling but who is a complete binary opposition to her ex-boyfriend in the sense that he is a bit of a geeky character and her ex-boyfriend is a Jock (both of these characters you will find stereotypically in horror films) one by one the girls friends keep disappearing or are murdered and the suspision lies in the hands of the ex-boyfriend due to spite. But the question is does he really love her enough to not kill her? Throughout the trailer the audience thinks the ex-boyfriend si the killer but actually as it turns out it’s the geeky boy who has become very obsessive over the girl and wants her to himself.
The characters in this production are all very stereotypical of what you would find in an American ‘slasher/horro’ film. The two main female protagonists are ‘Carie’ and ‘Hannah’ Carie is your stereotypical ‘final girl’ which you would find in of not all, most horror films, this character is always brunette and seen to be ‘innocent’ we used this key code and convention of the genre horror from the film ‘Halloween’ staring ‘Jamie Lee Curtis’, As she is the ‘final girl’, she has brunette hair, the same as ‘Catie’ and she also wears the coulor blue as throughout our production ‘Catie’ is seen wearing the colour blue. For ‘Hannah’ she is our stereotypical ‘scream queen’ we looked at a film called ‘Hell Night’ and from seeing this their ‘scream queen’ was
wearing red, had red lipstick and had blonde hair, we chose our character of ‘hannah’ specifically so that she would have blonde hair and we also dressed her in a red costume and put red lipstick on her for her makeup. These two characters are complete binary opposites and are juxtaposed together.
From our research into ‘Horror’ teaser trailers we found that a common code and convention was a fast montage so we created a fast montage of all the killings throughout the film, however we also found that ‘slasher’ films portrayed someone else as the killer so that the audience don’t actually know who the killer is, or the suspect that the wrong person until is revealed at the end of the film; this is strereotypically done in horror films to create tension, suspense and even a narrative enigma.
On some shots of the killings eg. When the killer is following ‘Abby’ one the girls friends down into an underground tunnel, you have a point of view shot in the perspective of the killer walking behind Abby with the view of her back, we also tried to create yellow tinted lighting, using colour filters as we also found that this was a common code and convention of ‘horror’ also with the colour blue.
Through using these different lighting effects I have tried to anchor the preffered reading so the audience can tell what the genre of the film would be but also to connote that something bad is about to happen to that specific character.
There were many more signifiers throughout our media production that would have signified the genre to the audience however it was difficult with having to create a piece that lasted between 60-90 seconds and due to the fact that we are young film makers we don’t have big Hollywood film funding budgets. We only have small budgets to go on make-up and costumes. Had we had larger budgets though we would have been able to create a production a lot better. So there were limitations which could have had an effect on the genre.
EAA 6
EG 7
T 3
(16)
Total section A 34/50
The main character in this film was a young girl (15 years of age) and her name was Linda, there was also another main character who was Linda’s best friend, another female character called Courtney; These characters were the binary opposition of each other.
At the A2 (Advanced Portfolio) I created a teaser trailer for a new feature film, soon to be released. I changed the genre of this production from AS work to the sub genre of slasher from the genre of Horror. I did this because I wanted and was capable of a whole different challenge.
The Teaser Trailer was about a young couple (aged between 17 and 18) who started off their relationship well and full of love, until the arguments began they end up splitting up while the young female is moving on with her life, tutoring a guy from her class, her best friends start to disappear (and are murdered). The young girl thinks its her ex-boyfriend, killing her friends out of spite but the twist actually is that it’s the guy who she it tutoring who has a huge obsession with the girl. However the trailer doesn’t show this and it portrays her ex-boyfriend as the killer.
There are a few main protagonists/antangonists throughout this production. To start with there is ‘Carie’ the main protagonist (young girl) and ‘Ben’ the main protagonist but the audience think he is the antagonist when really ‘Paul’ is the main antagonist (the killer). Lastly there is ‘Carie’s’ best friend ‘Hannah’ who ends up getting killed but she is a binary opposite to ‘Carie’.
I carried out a lot of research into real media texts, using digital technology such as websites (eg. www.imdb.com); this website was very useful when carrying out research into real media texts as I was able to research texts that would help me to develop my creativity from my own productions: I used this website for research for both my AS and A2 productions and it was very helpful. This researched had a big impact into my own production work because I was able to find out what the key codes and conventions were from real media texts and artificially inject them into my own productions.
A real media text I researched a lot in my AS production was ‘wish you were here’ starring Emily Lloyd and set in the seaside town of Brighton. This film had the same genre as my AS piece (social realism) and it was tackling the same issues (teen pregnancy). From this research we decided to give our main protagonist the same name as the main protagonist in ‘Wish You Were Here’ which was ‘Linda’ so the name our main protagonist was informed by research into real media texts as we wanted to intertextually link our production in with ‘Wish You Were Here’ which inspired me greatly. I used research methods such as the internet for ‘Wish You Were Here’ (www.imdb.com).
At A2 we worked on the genre of Horror (the sub genre of slasher) as this genre was completely different to our AS genre we had to do all our research from scratch. One
way in which my production has been informed by research into real media texts is taken from the film ‘Psycho’, we were really inspired by ‘Psycho’s’ famous shower seen, which we researched through ‘YouTube’ and watched many different clips of. We wanted to intertexually link this in with our production so we challenged this convention and added a bath killing scene into our montage of killings. This basically was a close-up-shot of a girl in a bath with a high angle a medium shot of the mirror showing a dark figure which could trigger a narrative enigma next to another shot of a shadow of a knife coming down. This is how proved that a killing was taking place without showing any nudity or blood.
Research into real media texts was a lot easier as we had more resources and our knowledge of where to find different resources was greater we were able to have acess to a wide range of dvds in the library that were linked into our genre that were not there when we were completing our AS productions.
At A2 we were also able to acess a wide range of books in the library which weer linked in with our genre which we didn’t have at AS. So at AS we were very limited with what resources we could actually use and I do feel that if I had had the books, dvds etc that I had at A2, that my production at AS would have benefited.
It was harder to research for my AS task because we were looking at the openings of films which were a lot harder to find on the internet but for A2 we were looking at teaser trailers anf the web (including www.imdb.com and ‘youTube’) are absolutely full of trailers.
EAA 8
EG 7
T 3
(18)
1b)
For my A2 production (Advanced Portfolio) I created a teaser trailer in the sub-genre of slasher from the genre of Horror. The synopsis of this teaser trailer is about a young couple (roughly 17-19 years of age) who are in love in the beginning but the relationship turns sore and they split up, the girls moves on with her life and the boy doesn’t like this and starts to follow her; The girl starts tutoring a guy in her class who is struggling but who is a complete binary opposition to her ex-boyfriend in the sense that he is a bit of a geeky character and her ex-boyfriend is a Jock (both of these characters you will find stereotypically in horror films) one by one the girls friends keep disappearing or are murdered and the suspision lies in the hands of the ex-boyfriend due to spite. But the question is does he really love her enough to not kill her? Throughout the trailer the audience thinks the ex-boyfriend si the killer but actually as it turns out it’s the geeky boy who has become very obsessive over the girl and wants her to himself.
The characters in this production are all very stereotypical of what you would find in an American ‘slasher/horro’ film. The two main female protagonists are ‘Carie’ and ‘Hannah’ Carie is your stereotypical ‘final girl’ which you would find in of not all, most horror films, this character is always brunette and seen to be ‘innocent’ we used this key code and convention of the genre horror from the film ‘Halloween’ staring ‘Jamie Lee Curtis’, As she is the ‘final girl’, she has brunette hair, the same as ‘Catie’ and she also wears the coulor blue as throughout our production ‘Catie’ is seen wearing the colour blue. For ‘Hannah’ she is our stereotypical ‘scream queen’ we looked at a film called ‘Hell Night’ and from seeing this their ‘scream queen’ was
wearing red, had red lipstick and had blonde hair, we chose our character of ‘hannah’ specifically so that she would have blonde hair and we also dressed her in a red costume and put red lipstick on her for her makeup. These two characters are complete binary opposites and are juxtaposed together.
From our research into ‘Horror’ teaser trailers we found that a common code and convention was a fast montage so we created a fast montage of all the killings throughout the film, however we also found that ‘slasher’ films portrayed someone else as the killer so that the audience don’t actually know who the killer is, or the suspect that the wrong person until is revealed at the end of the film; this is strereotypically done in horror films to create tension, suspense and even a narrative enigma.
On some shots of the killings eg. When the killer is following ‘Abby’ one the girls friends down into an underground tunnel, you have a point of view shot in the perspective of the killer walking behind Abby with the view of her back, we also tried to create yellow tinted lighting, using colour filters as we also found that this was a common code and convention of ‘horror’ also with the colour blue.
Through using these different lighting effects I have tried to anchor the preffered reading so the audience can tell what the genre of the film would be but also to connote that something bad is about to happen to that specific character.
There were many more signifiers throughout our media production that would have signified the genre to the audience however it was difficult with having to create a piece that lasted between 60-90 seconds and due to the fact that we are young film makers we don’t have big Hollywood film funding budgets. We only have small budgets to go on make-up and costumes. Had we had larger budgets though we would have been able to create a production a lot better. So there were limitations which could have had an effect on the genre.
EAA 6
EG 7
T 3
(16)
Total section A 34/50
EXAMPLE 3
G325 June 2010 39/50 Section A
1a)
I feel that my production skills from foundation to Advanced have greatly improved. My thriller opening sequence was about two men who prey on suicidal teenage girls on the internet, titled “Caught in the Web.” The men rape and murder their victims but frame it as a suicide, using the suicide support website (where they preyed on them) as evidence of this suicide. It is a dark enigmatic and gripping film which captivates the audience (according to my feedback). My music video (Advanced Portfolio) is to the song “Voodoo Child” originally by Rogue Traders, but our girlband uses the name The Vixens. We used 4 girls and our video transports the audience to the mind of the main girl, where her alter-egos (dressed as the deadly sins) corrupt her. It is a racy funky video that creates a strong band image.
My research for both projects included researching genre conventions (horror/thriller opening sequences such as “Se7ev”, and electropop-rock/dance/glam music videos such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry) and was expanded to include components that didn’t specifically relate to genre. For my thriller I researched films where they have internet conversations (as in our opening sequence, the girl is talking to who she thinks is an agony aunt over an internet forum) which led me to films including “The Holiday” and “Something’s Gotta Give”, showing me how to successfully change from filming the person typing the words on the screen and then reading their message aloud. I developed this skill in my music video research by looking at other media texts, not just other music videos. I started with trying to be inspired by original music video concepts such as Radiohead’s video for “Just” in which a man lies down in the street and the audience can’t hear what he’s saying to explain himself to passers by. This inspired me to create ambiguity in my video which differs from standard pop videos where a lot of the visuals illustrate the lyrics. I expanded my research to fashion magazines and photographs of different eras, since a major concept in this video was the power of women as confident, independent, sexual beings. Our costume was very important in constructing meaning and without in-depth research into the 7 deadly sins the audience would not have grasped why we had girls dressed in bold outfits to symbolise the sins; red, velvet leotard and back combed hair for “wrath”, a Marie Antoiinette inspred look of a pale blue and pink corset, white face make-up, an [cannot read text] with one long curled piece of hair, and a chunk of chocolate cake that signified “Greed”, a black corset with leather leggings to signify “Lust”, and a green dress, heavy green eye make up and glittery diamond jewellery connoting “Envy”.
I think that without doing research into character types, character costume, and genre conventions for my thriller I wouldn’t have known what to look for when researching for my music video because they can be so abstract and there aren’t many constraints. I also learned to be open minded.
Since I was one of the performers in our music video, it pushed me to think more practically – our ideas had to be creative yet do-able on our small budget and time constraints. After watching several videos on YouTube of thriller opening sequences and music videos I realised that it is good to have layered meaning a production because it makes it more interesting for the audience as it challenges them to come up with their own interpretations and gives the production playability. In the Thriller project, after researching storylines and narrative themes, my group and I had a strong idea of what our film was about. Despite the fact we created enigma, we still wanted
the audience to understand our dominant reading, however in my music video, I realised that it is better to- people to have different interpretations as I found that the most popular current music videos are those that are quirky, different and weird, like Lady GaGa.
In conclusion my foundation portfolio greatly aided my advanced portfolio because my skills were refined and I have produced an ever better end product.
EAA 8
EG 8
T 4
(20)
1b)
Genre is often used as a way of distinguishing one style from another; it categorises works so that the audience can more easily choose what they want to experience. For my music video, the genre of our music was a hybrid of electropop/rock/dance, which come mostly from the original song and from our personal tastes. Since our genre is modern and not common, we drew conventions from artists that had similar styles to ours. The conventions we found for music video for our genre are; editing often cuts to the beat; for female artists – costumes are bold, they wear high heels, ands the performances are strong and full of attitude. Examples of artists’ videos that do this are Beyonce (through her powerful dance routines and sexy costumes) and Lady GaGa (who wears extreme hair, costume and makeup).
My music video consisted of my group members (4 girls) giving powerful performances with sections of dance routine. We stuck to these conventions because we wanted the audience to recognise it as belonging to a genre and looking back at it now I think we succeeded. The genre has postmodern influences as does our video. It starts with a short narrative to no music, where a girl looks at a picture in a locket of her and a guy, slams it shut and looks in a mirror – which transports her into ‘subconscious mind’. We filmed the bulk of our video in an all-white studio and with our powerful costumes that intertextually referenced the deadly sins and Marie Antoinette the audience can quite clearly see that it is not reality.
You can see that our video promotes strong women by their feisty performance and this is emphasised by the use of a male, white headless, mannequin with a ‘perfect’ torso. In the video the sins are corrupting the girl (but they are all just facets of her personality) and they dominate the mannequin. This is in contrast with Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ whereby media is predominantly made with a male or masculine audience in mind. Our target audience is 14-25 year old women, and this is obvious because the audience immediately identify with the main girl since she is the focus of the narrative and on the mannequin’s torso is a kiss mark, showing the women ‘marking their territory’ on him. If we were targeting men we would’ve used a real man, but by our production decisions the target audience and genre is clear.
We followed the convention of cutting shots to the beat, however we challenged the convention of keeping lines of the song in one shot. We cut midway through words and phrases in order to quicken the pace, which is often fast for this genre. An aspect of the genre which we developed is comedy. In some of the music videos artists take themselves very seriously, however we combined the sexy performances with the comic editing and cut aways to five the characters a ‘human feel’ in the make believe
world. For example we used what was originally going to be an outtake, where one girl shakes her bum from side to side, and we matched it to the beat, giving it a comic edge.
You can apply Lyotard’s theory of mete-narratives to our video since it blurs the lines between reality and fantasy using the key signifier of a mirror in the opening narrative.
I think the my music video successfully conveys its genre while still maintaining enigma. The Reception Theory can be applied, since from feedback, many people had different interpretations, which is what this genre is all about. Looking at it objectively I would say that it is a fun, interesting video that invites playability and successfully promotes the song, which is the aim of a music video.
EAA 7
EG 8
T 4
(19)
Total for Section A 39/50
1a)
I feel that my production skills from foundation to Advanced have greatly improved. My thriller opening sequence was about two men who prey on suicidal teenage girls on the internet, titled “Caught in the Web.” The men rape and murder their victims but frame it as a suicide, using the suicide support website (where they preyed on them) as evidence of this suicide. It is a dark enigmatic and gripping film which captivates the audience (according to my feedback). My music video (Advanced Portfolio) is to the song “Voodoo Child” originally by Rogue Traders, but our girlband uses the name The Vixens. We used 4 girls and our video transports the audience to the mind of the main girl, where her alter-egos (dressed as the deadly sins) corrupt her. It is a racy funky video that creates a strong band image.
My research for both projects included researching genre conventions (horror/thriller opening sequences such as “Se7ev”, and electropop-rock/dance/glam music videos such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry) and was expanded to include components that didn’t specifically relate to genre. For my thriller I researched films where they have internet conversations (as in our opening sequence, the girl is talking to who she thinks is an agony aunt over an internet forum) which led me to films including “The Holiday” and “Something’s Gotta Give”, showing me how to successfully change from filming the person typing the words on the screen and then reading their message aloud. I developed this skill in my music video research by looking at other media texts, not just other music videos. I started with trying to be inspired by original music video concepts such as Radiohead’s video for “Just” in which a man lies down in the street and the audience can’t hear what he’s saying to explain himself to passers by. This inspired me to create ambiguity in my video which differs from standard pop videos where a lot of the visuals illustrate the lyrics. I expanded my research to fashion magazines and photographs of different eras, since a major concept in this video was the power of women as confident, independent, sexual beings. Our costume was very important in constructing meaning and without in-depth research into the 7 deadly sins the audience would not have grasped why we had girls dressed in bold outfits to symbolise the sins; red, velvet leotard and back combed hair for “wrath”, a Marie Antoiinette inspred look of a pale blue and pink corset, white face make-up, an [cannot read text] with one long curled piece of hair, and a chunk of chocolate cake that signified “Greed”, a black corset with leather leggings to signify “Lust”, and a green dress, heavy green eye make up and glittery diamond jewellery connoting “Envy”.
I think that without doing research into character types, character costume, and genre conventions for my thriller I wouldn’t have known what to look for when researching for my music video because they can be so abstract and there aren’t many constraints. I also learned to be open minded.
Since I was one of the performers in our music video, it pushed me to think more practically – our ideas had to be creative yet do-able on our small budget and time constraints. After watching several videos on YouTube of thriller opening sequences and music videos I realised that it is good to have layered meaning a production because it makes it more interesting for the audience as it challenges them to come up with their own interpretations and gives the production playability. In the Thriller project, after researching storylines and narrative themes, my group and I had a strong idea of what our film was about. Despite the fact we created enigma, we still wanted
the audience to understand our dominant reading, however in my music video, I realised that it is better to- people to have different interpretations as I found that the most popular current music videos are those that are quirky, different and weird, like Lady GaGa.
In conclusion my foundation portfolio greatly aided my advanced portfolio because my skills were refined and I have produced an ever better end product.
EAA 8
EG 8
T 4
(20)
1b)
Genre is often used as a way of distinguishing one style from another; it categorises works so that the audience can more easily choose what they want to experience. For my music video, the genre of our music was a hybrid of electropop/rock/dance, which come mostly from the original song and from our personal tastes. Since our genre is modern and not common, we drew conventions from artists that had similar styles to ours. The conventions we found for music video for our genre are; editing often cuts to the beat; for female artists – costumes are bold, they wear high heels, ands the performances are strong and full of attitude. Examples of artists’ videos that do this are Beyonce (through her powerful dance routines and sexy costumes) and Lady GaGa (who wears extreme hair, costume and makeup).
My music video consisted of my group members (4 girls) giving powerful performances with sections of dance routine. We stuck to these conventions because we wanted the audience to recognise it as belonging to a genre and looking back at it now I think we succeeded. The genre has postmodern influences as does our video. It starts with a short narrative to no music, where a girl looks at a picture in a locket of her and a guy, slams it shut and looks in a mirror – which transports her into ‘subconscious mind’. We filmed the bulk of our video in an all-white studio and with our powerful costumes that intertextually referenced the deadly sins and Marie Antoinette the audience can quite clearly see that it is not reality.
You can see that our video promotes strong women by their feisty performance and this is emphasised by the use of a male, white headless, mannequin with a ‘perfect’ torso. In the video the sins are corrupting the girl (but they are all just facets of her personality) and they dominate the mannequin. This is in contrast with Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ whereby media is predominantly made with a male or masculine audience in mind. Our target audience is 14-25 year old women, and this is obvious because the audience immediately identify with the main girl since she is the focus of the narrative and on the mannequin’s torso is a kiss mark, showing the women ‘marking their territory’ on him. If we were targeting men we would’ve used a real man, but by our production decisions the target audience and genre is clear.
We followed the convention of cutting shots to the beat, however we challenged the convention of keeping lines of the song in one shot. We cut midway through words and phrases in order to quicken the pace, which is often fast for this genre. An aspect of the genre which we developed is comedy. In some of the music videos artists take themselves very seriously, however we combined the sexy performances with the comic editing and cut aways to five the characters a ‘human feel’ in the make believe
world. For example we used what was originally going to be an outtake, where one girl shakes her bum from side to side, and we matched it to the beat, giving it a comic edge.
You can apply Lyotard’s theory of mete-narratives to our video since it blurs the lines between reality and fantasy using the key signifier of a mirror in the opening narrative.
I think the my music video successfully conveys its genre while still maintaining enigma. The Reception Theory can be applied, since from feedback, many people had different interpretations, which is what this genre is all about. Looking at it objectively I would say that it is a fun, interesting video that invites playability and successfully promotes the song, which is the aim of a music video.
EAA 7
EG 8
T 4
(19)
Total for Section A 39/50
Example 4
G325 June 2010
Section A 42/50
Section B - Collective Identity - 48/50
Total 90/100
Examiner’s Comments
1a The candidate writes clearly about how they researched audience demographics, conventions and existing market trends. They discuss their research into Kerrang, NME and Q with specific examples of how this research informed what they did. They accompany this with evaluative views, with hindsight, on how they might have made more of a semiotic approach. Professional practice is discussed in terms of audience research and industry research extends into an email interview with a newspaper editor. However no detail is offered on how this informed production so the mark for examples and e/a/a is lowered accordingly. Skills development is a constant theme of the answer.
1b The candidate immediately defines genre, gives examples and then describes their own intention to challenge conventions. Fiske is quoted and genre is then set up as open to debate – hardly any candidates did this. Later, Richard Jenkins on identity is utilised and in both cases these ideas are immediately related to the candidates’ own production work. Finally a speculation (perhaps tokenistic, but still reflective) that they ‘could, however have experimented with postmodern bricolage and pastiche in order to blur genre boundaries and create a more immersive experience’ ensures full marks for terminology at this level (in conjunction with the aforementioned citations).
6 Discussing the representation of women in both contemporary and historical media, the candidate uses the ideas (accurately referenced) of Buckingham, Gauntlett and Adorno along with Mulvey and Butler and throughout the answer s/he is in command of this theory and constantly applies it to relevant examples – Nuts magazine, Cosmopolitan and an older reference to Tomb Raider for historical context. Structuralist and queer theory are comfortably handled later and Adorno is even referred to as a ‘quasi-Marxist’. This highly theoretical approach is only ONE way of accessing level 4 and other candidates will get there with different approaches but in this case the requirements for a deep understanding of media theory and relevant application to contemporary media along with personal engagement and fluency are all met securely.
Candidate Answer
1a)
Research is essential during the construction of media texts. It allows you to identify audience demographics, conventions, existing market trends and more. I feel that with the transition from my Foundation Portfolio to my Advanced Portfolio, my skills and ability to conduct effective research have developed considerably.
For my Foundation Portfolio I produced pages for a music magazine- the front cover, contents page, and a double-page feature spread. My research was limited and this is reflected in the quality of my final product.
I undertook basic market research by identifying existing magazines of the specific genre I had chosen (Indie music) such as ‘Kerrang!’, NME and Q.
These were analysed for recurring codes and conventions which I could note in my production blog and later adapt or challenge in the production stage. Although this was useful, in hindsight now my ability has developed I could have performed a semiotic analysis of the key conventions; or analysed the real texts in greater textual detail for more than simply common conventions. This would have ensured a much more effective final product, based on both producer creativity and market research; rather than just what I felt was best.
In addition to this I used the internet to carry out research into target audience – demographics of readers of existing media texts and how I could use these to refine my target audience and further identify their wants and expectations. This is something I feel I could have built upon considerably. It is secondary research; I missed the opportunity to carry out primary audience feedback in the form of questionnaires and similar to gain first-hand opinions of my target audience.
The level of research and uses for it during my Advanced Portfolio however represents a clear increase in ability and a development of skills.
For my audience research this time, I distributed questionnaires locally to identify audience demographics, readership statistics for local newspapers (my task was to product the first 2 pages of a local newspaper) and audience requirements from a new local newspaper. With the results of this primary research I created bar charts so trends could easily be indentified.
Focus Groups also played a major role in my research. I decided that this time, constant audience feedback and further research during the construction stage would improve the overall effectiveness of my final product. From my target audience I selected 10 people to become part of a focus group, which I would then present with potential fonts, layouts, images and other micro-elements for feedback; showing how I have considered primary research more.
In addition to this, for my Advanced Portfolio I also analysed existing media texts of the same genre as with my Foundation Portfolio.
However this time I performed a full semiotic analysis on the front covers of existing newspapers using Roland Barthe’s levels of signification, therefore enabling myself to identify how real media texts target their audiences and draw attention from a semiotic approach.
When compared with my basic textual analysis at AS; the semiotic approach used in addition to a more complex textual analysis at A2 demonstrates a development of my skills and an increased knowledge in the importance of research into real media texts.
I carried out further primary research for the Advanced Portfolio using digital technology by e-mailing the editors of existing real newspapers enquiring about how to effectively capture an audience’s imagination and what constructs a successful local newspaper. This I believed would provide vital primary research, giving me an insight into the construction
process in the contemporary newspaper industry which I could then apply to my own production. This would have created an effective final product if I had used it at AS as I did at A2, and arguably contributes to the skills development that led to my A2 product being much more effective.
In conclusion with the progression from Foundation to Advanced Portfolios, my use of primary research as opposed to secondary and adaption of more complex research techniques highlights a development of my skills and offers an explanation as to why my final A2 product was a deal more successful than AS.
EAA 8
EG 8
T 3
(19)
1b)
Genre is the placement of media texts into categories for identification based on conventions, style, and their general form. Genres can be fairly fixed and stable, for example, ‘Action’ or can become blurred and undergo postmodern bricolage to end up a new sub-genre for example ‘Action-comedy’. Genre is important when producing a media text in order to be able to direct a text at an audience, and for this audience to be able to identify the text’s form.
As part of my Foundation Portfolio I produced 4 pages of an Indie Music magazine. Genre was particularly crucial for this production.
I chose to challenge the traditional convention of ‘specialising’ to sub-genres with my genre of magazine: constructing it around the Indie genre in general rather than the sub-genre of Indie-Rock or similar which can be identified in similar real media texts such as ‘Kerrang!’. This generalised adaption of a broad and solid genre allowed fro a wider target audience, and increased opportunity to creatively experiment with codes and conventions fro the construction of genre.
Codes and conventions are elements of a media text that we as an audience expect to see in a particular genre; those we use to identify it. Whether the view is taken that an audience have broadly similar expectations or John Fiske’s view than “there is no audience, only individuals with varying tastes” is adapted; codes and conventions are crucial for consumers to identify genre.
On the front page I conformed to the convention of having a large image of the featured artist. Although her clothing represents her as fairly understood (arguably a challenge of convention for this genre) they still in terms of colour and form have semiotic connotations of the Indie sub-culture; allowing consumers an easy link by which to identify genre.
Research showed me that real media texts such as NME in this genre end to write in a linear narrative, with restrictive language in an informal style. This is a key convention of the genre, and is one I chose to develop during the construction of my Foundation Portfolio by writing in an informal, almost ‘chatty style’. This, despite being appealing to my target audience, further represents my production as being of the Indie music magazine genre. Crucially, it creates a representation of the Indie genre as youthful, reinforcing the dominant myth that Indie is somehow the ‘genre of the younger generation’. The connotations of the genre can be effective, giving the sub-culture a sense of identity which they may feel they need – as Richard Jenkins said in 1966, “Without it [identity], social life is unimaginable.” I have therefore used genre here to construct identity, allowing a sub-culture comprising mainly of my target audience to relate to the product more as a direct result of its genre. On close analysis I feel that I have used genre effectively. My use of codes and conventions allowed me to effectively construct and incorporate genre into my
magazine so it can easily be identified as a result of genre categorisation. I could however have experimented with postmodern bricolage and pastiche in order to blur traditional genre boundaries and create a more innovative final product as a result. However mainly, I feel my construction of genre is effective, and that my consideration of escapism as a form of consumption (Uses and Gratifications) that led to the consideration in turn of identity being represented by genre allowed me to use the concept of genre to a great degree to create a solid, effective and appealing final product for the Foundation Portfolio.
EAA 10
EG 8
T 5
(23)
Section A Total 42/50
Section B Question 6 Media and Collective Identity
For A2 I have studies the representation of women in both contemporary and historical media. As David Buckingham noted in 2008, “identity is fluid and changeable” – and arguably the identity of women in recent times has changed, some may argue it has become more mediated.
Identity itself refers to who we actually are, the construction of ourselves – perhaps even the representation of ourselves and our social groups that we as media consumers wish to have. While many such as Buckingham and Gauntlett champion the fact the create and construct our own identities; others such aa Theordore Adorno see identity as something pushed upon us by the mass media, that we have no alternative but to take the dominant identities we are exposed to “something is offered for all so that none may escape,” he writes in explanation of this fact. Adorno therefore argues that our identities are becoming increasingly mediated – that is, that they influenced by the mass media, inherent identifies are weak and influenced by the media around us.
‘Nuts’ magazine is a stereotypical ‘lad’s mag’, aimed at 18-24 year old males. In ana analysis of the 19-25th March 2010 issue I performed the content proves interesting with regards to representation of women. Images of semi-naked females in suggestive poses represent women as victims of symbiotic annihilation. They are portrayed as merely objects of sexual pleasure for men – the images have been constructed, Laure Mulvey would argue with her theory of the Male Gaze, solely with the male consumers in mind, who using the Uses and Gratifications Model are consuming the text for sexual pleasure. Most significant here, however, is the so-called Mirror Effect of Mulvey’s Male Gaze.
This states that women themselves consuming the images will apply the Male Gaze, and see the female in the image in a sense of what Baudrillard would call hyperreality, assuming the idea that this representation is ‘how women should be’ and in turn they should construct their identities similarly in order to appeal to males – aftr all women are the subdominant group in an apparent patriarchal society. Identity therefore has become mediated in this situation as Adorno says. The “culture industry” that is the mass media has imposed a dominant representation onto a collective group; who have felt pressured to adapt it as part of their collective identity.
In the 2001 film “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, Lara Croft, the main female character is represented as fairly masculine (stereotypically masculine) in terms of her choice of
clothing, body language and manner. All of these micro-elements construct her identity. However, throughout the film, we also see Croft use what can be considered the concept of femininity to her advantage, flirting with male characters and wearing stereotypically feminine clothes towards the final scenes.
In terms of her character’s identity this supports Buckingham’s aforementioned assumption that “identity is fluid and changeable” but also conforms to Queer Theory. Queer Theory is widely recognized in Judith Butler’s 1990 book ‘Gender Trouble’ and states that the genders male and female are just as much the product of representation as the concepts of masculinity and femininity. She calls for a blurring of boundaries between genders and their stereotypical identities and calls for the media to celebrate such diversity. As a character, Croft arguably has blurred the boundaries displaying traits of both male and female behaviour.
If Adorno’s assertions are applied here it can be argued that again the dominant identity of women as sly, untrustworthy and in need of patriarchal dominance is being applied through Croft’s deviant use of fronting identity to her advantage.
However some could argue that the prominence of Queer Theory does not encourage the mediation of female identity instead it encourages dominant representations to be characterized and boundaries to be blurred – implying greater personal control over identity as advocated by John Fiske and David Buckingham rather than mediated identities.
Cosmopolitan is a magazine aimed at females around 30+. In all ways it can be said that pragmatically the magazine pushes femininity as an identity for itself, with stereotypically female colours and text styles. In turn, the feminine identity of the magazine is applied as a representation of the readers, further suggesting a mediation of women’s identity. The magazine focuses heavily on beauty and fitness, reinforcing the dominant ideology of the “ideal” women that women should aspire to a fixed concept of beauty.
As an example in the April 2010 issue a large image of Holly Willoughby (celebrity) features on the cover. Although unlike Nuts magazine, she is wearing fairly covering clothing and lacks cosmetic make-up, it is interesting to note that her clothing is white in colour – Ferdinand de Saussure would note that this has semiotic significance using his semiotic theory and Roland Barthe’s levels of signification, we can identify that white has connotations of innocence and weakness. Therefore this represents her as innocent and weak – reinforcing dominant patriarchal representations of women. Due to her status as a celebrity, her level of influence is great. In herself she is a semiotic symbol of success and affluence, so those who take inspiration from her will take this constructed innocence and weakness and apply it to their own identities. This is a clear example of the mediation of identity. It suggests a passive audience, influenced by the mass media as Adorno and other quasi-Marxists would suggest.
It can be seen therefore, that as post modernists say, we live in a media saturated society. We are surrounded by signs which cannot be ignored. Women in the media are often represented as varying, whether it be as sexual objects for the pleasure of males; or as innocent, as ‘stay at home’ housewives as suggested in 2008’s film Hancock. Here, despite possessing stereotypically male strength and ‘superpowers’, the lead female aspires to be a housewife – reinforcing the sub-dominant representation of women. Either way however women are often the victims of mediation. The theories of consumption and construction of identity from theorists such as Adorno and Mulvey clearly show that despite
the specific representations, one common identity is ‘forced’ upon women in the media – a subdominant social group living in a patriarchal society. Identity is constructed using this as a basis; and even media texts which challenge this representation and encourage Queer Theory diversity are still arguably mediating identity with their influence. Identity is fluid and changeable and can be individually constructed as Gauntlett and Buckingham state. But arguable, the mass media are, and have, mediated the identity of women in contemporary society.
EAA 20
EG 18
T 10
(48)
Section A 42/50
Section B - Collective Identity - 48/50
Total 90/100
Examiner’s Comments
1a The candidate writes clearly about how they researched audience demographics, conventions and existing market trends. They discuss their research into Kerrang, NME and Q with specific examples of how this research informed what they did. They accompany this with evaluative views, with hindsight, on how they might have made more of a semiotic approach. Professional practice is discussed in terms of audience research and industry research extends into an email interview with a newspaper editor. However no detail is offered on how this informed production so the mark for examples and e/a/a is lowered accordingly. Skills development is a constant theme of the answer.
1b The candidate immediately defines genre, gives examples and then describes their own intention to challenge conventions. Fiske is quoted and genre is then set up as open to debate – hardly any candidates did this. Later, Richard Jenkins on identity is utilised and in both cases these ideas are immediately related to the candidates’ own production work. Finally a speculation (perhaps tokenistic, but still reflective) that they ‘could, however have experimented with postmodern bricolage and pastiche in order to blur genre boundaries and create a more immersive experience’ ensures full marks for terminology at this level (in conjunction with the aforementioned citations).
6 Discussing the representation of women in both contemporary and historical media, the candidate uses the ideas (accurately referenced) of Buckingham, Gauntlett and Adorno along with Mulvey and Butler and throughout the answer s/he is in command of this theory and constantly applies it to relevant examples – Nuts magazine, Cosmopolitan and an older reference to Tomb Raider for historical context. Structuralist and queer theory are comfortably handled later and Adorno is even referred to as a ‘quasi-Marxist’. This highly theoretical approach is only ONE way of accessing level 4 and other candidates will get there with different approaches but in this case the requirements for a deep understanding of media theory and relevant application to contemporary media along with personal engagement and fluency are all met securely.
Candidate Answer
1a)
Research is essential during the construction of media texts. It allows you to identify audience demographics, conventions, existing market trends and more. I feel that with the transition from my Foundation Portfolio to my Advanced Portfolio, my skills and ability to conduct effective research have developed considerably.
For my Foundation Portfolio I produced pages for a music magazine- the front cover, contents page, and a double-page feature spread. My research was limited and this is reflected in the quality of my final product.
I undertook basic market research by identifying existing magazines of the specific genre I had chosen (Indie music) such as ‘Kerrang!’, NME and Q.
These were analysed for recurring codes and conventions which I could note in my production blog and later adapt or challenge in the production stage. Although this was useful, in hindsight now my ability has developed I could have performed a semiotic analysis of the key conventions; or analysed the real texts in greater textual detail for more than simply common conventions. This would have ensured a much more effective final product, based on both producer creativity and market research; rather than just what I felt was best.
In addition to this I used the internet to carry out research into target audience – demographics of readers of existing media texts and how I could use these to refine my target audience and further identify their wants and expectations. This is something I feel I could have built upon considerably. It is secondary research; I missed the opportunity to carry out primary audience feedback in the form of questionnaires and similar to gain first-hand opinions of my target audience.
The level of research and uses for it during my Advanced Portfolio however represents a clear increase in ability and a development of skills.
For my audience research this time, I distributed questionnaires locally to identify audience demographics, readership statistics for local newspapers (my task was to product the first 2 pages of a local newspaper) and audience requirements from a new local newspaper. With the results of this primary research I created bar charts so trends could easily be indentified.
Focus Groups also played a major role in my research. I decided that this time, constant audience feedback and further research during the construction stage would improve the overall effectiveness of my final product. From my target audience I selected 10 people to become part of a focus group, which I would then present with potential fonts, layouts, images and other micro-elements for feedback; showing how I have considered primary research more.
In addition to this, for my Advanced Portfolio I also analysed existing media texts of the same genre as with my Foundation Portfolio.
However this time I performed a full semiotic analysis on the front covers of existing newspapers using Roland Barthe’s levels of signification, therefore enabling myself to identify how real media texts target their audiences and draw attention from a semiotic approach.
When compared with my basic textual analysis at AS; the semiotic approach used in addition to a more complex textual analysis at A2 demonstrates a development of my skills and an increased knowledge in the importance of research into real media texts.
I carried out further primary research for the Advanced Portfolio using digital technology by e-mailing the editors of existing real newspapers enquiring about how to effectively capture an audience’s imagination and what constructs a successful local newspaper. This I believed would provide vital primary research, giving me an insight into the construction
process in the contemporary newspaper industry which I could then apply to my own production. This would have created an effective final product if I had used it at AS as I did at A2, and arguably contributes to the skills development that led to my A2 product being much more effective.
In conclusion with the progression from Foundation to Advanced Portfolios, my use of primary research as opposed to secondary and adaption of more complex research techniques highlights a development of my skills and offers an explanation as to why my final A2 product was a deal more successful than AS.
EAA 8
EG 8
T 3
(19)
1b)
Genre is the placement of media texts into categories for identification based on conventions, style, and their general form. Genres can be fairly fixed and stable, for example, ‘Action’ or can become blurred and undergo postmodern bricolage to end up a new sub-genre for example ‘Action-comedy’. Genre is important when producing a media text in order to be able to direct a text at an audience, and for this audience to be able to identify the text’s form.
As part of my Foundation Portfolio I produced 4 pages of an Indie Music magazine. Genre was particularly crucial for this production.
I chose to challenge the traditional convention of ‘specialising’ to sub-genres with my genre of magazine: constructing it around the Indie genre in general rather than the sub-genre of Indie-Rock or similar which can be identified in similar real media texts such as ‘Kerrang!’. This generalised adaption of a broad and solid genre allowed fro a wider target audience, and increased opportunity to creatively experiment with codes and conventions fro the construction of genre.
Codes and conventions are elements of a media text that we as an audience expect to see in a particular genre; those we use to identify it. Whether the view is taken that an audience have broadly similar expectations or John Fiske’s view than “there is no audience, only individuals with varying tastes” is adapted; codes and conventions are crucial for consumers to identify genre.
On the front page I conformed to the convention of having a large image of the featured artist. Although her clothing represents her as fairly understood (arguably a challenge of convention for this genre) they still in terms of colour and form have semiotic connotations of the Indie sub-culture; allowing consumers an easy link by which to identify genre.
Research showed me that real media texts such as NME in this genre end to write in a linear narrative, with restrictive language in an informal style. This is a key convention of the genre, and is one I chose to develop during the construction of my Foundation Portfolio by writing in an informal, almost ‘chatty style’. This, despite being appealing to my target audience, further represents my production as being of the Indie music magazine genre. Crucially, it creates a representation of the Indie genre as youthful, reinforcing the dominant myth that Indie is somehow the ‘genre of the younger generation’. The connotations of the genre can be effective, giving the sub-culture a sense of identity which they may feel they need – as Richard Jenkins said in 1966, “Without it [identity], social life is unimaginable.” I have therefore used genre here to construct identity, allowing a sub-culture comprising mainly of my target audience to relate to the product more as a direct result of its genre. On close analysis I feel that I have used genre effectively. My use of codes and conventions allowed me to effectively construct and incorporate genre into my
magazine so it can easily be identified as a result of genre categorisation. I could however have experimented with postmodern bricolage and pastiche in order to blur traditional genre boundaries and create a more innovative final product as a result. However mainly, I feel my construction of genre is effective, and that my consideration of escapism as a form of consumption (Uses and Gratifications) that led to the consideration in turn of identity being represented by genre allowed me to use the concept of genre to a great degree to create a solid, effective and appealing final product for the Foundation Portfolio.
EAA 10
EG 8
T 5
(23)
Section A Total 42/50
Section B Question 6 Media and Collective Identity
For A2 I have studies the representation of women in both contemporary and historical media. As David Buckingham noted in 2008, “identity is fluid and changeable” – and arguably the identity of women in recent times has changed, some may argue it has become more mediated.
Identity itself refers to who we actually are, the construction of ourselves – perhaps even the representation of ourselves and our social groups that we as media consumers wish to have. While many such as Buckingham and Gauntlett champion the fact the create and construct our own identities; others such aa Theordore Adorno see identity as something pushed upon us by the mass media, that we have no alternative but to take the dominant identities we are exposed to “something is offered for all so that none may escape,” he writes in explanation of this fact. Adorno therefore argues that our identities are becoming increasingly mediated – that is, that they influenced by the mass media, inherent identifies are weak and influenced by the media around us.
‘Nuts’ magazine is a stereotypical ‘lad’s mag’, aimed at 18-24 year old males. In ana analysis of the 19-25th March 2010 issue I performed the content proves interesting with regards to representation of women. Images of semi-naked females in suggestive poses represent women as victims of symbiotic annihilation. They are portrayed as merely objects of sexual pleasure for men – the images have been constructed, Laure Mulvey would argue with her theory of the Male Gaze, solely with the male consumers in mind, who using the Uses and Gratifications Model are consuming the text for sexual pleasure. Most significant here, however, is the so-called Mirror Effect of Mulvey’s Male Gaze.
This states that women themselves consuming the images will apply the Male Gaze, and see the female in the image in a sense of what Baudrillard would call hyperreality, assuming the idea that this representation is ‘how women should be’ and in turn they should construct their identities similarly in order to appeal to males – aftr all women are the subdominant group in an apparent patriarchal society. Identity therefore has become mediated in this situation as Adorno says. The “culture industry” that is the mass media has imposed a dominant representation onto a collective group; who have felt pressured to adapt it as part of their collective identity.
In the 2001 film “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, Lara Croft, the main female character is represented as fairly masculine (stereotypically masculine) in terms of her choice of
clothing, body language and manner. All of these micro-elements construct her identity. However, throughout the film, we also see Croft use what can be considered the concept of femininity to her advantage, flirting with male characters and wearing stereotypically feminine clothes towards the final scenes.
In terms of her character’s identity this supports Buckingham’s aforementioned assumption that “identity is fluid and changeable” but also conforms to Queer Theory. Queer Theory is widely recognized in Judith Butler’s 1990 book ‘Gender Trouble’ and states that the genders male and female are just as much the product of representation as the concepts of masculinity and femininity. She calls for a blurring of boundaries between genders and their stereotypical identities and calls for the media to celebrate such diversity. As a character, Croft arguably has blurred the boundaries displaying traits of both male and female behaviour.
If Adorno’s assertions are applied here it can be argued that again the dominant identity of women as sly, untrustworthy and in need of patriarchal dominance is being applied through Croft’s deviant use of fronting identity to her advantage.
However some could argue that the prominence of Queer Theory does not encourage the mediation of female identity instead it encourages dominant representations to be characterized and boundaries to be blurred – implying greater personal control over identity as advocated by John Fiske and David Buckingham rather than mediated identities.
Cosmopolitan is a magazine aimed at females around 30+. In all ways it can be said that pragmatically the magazine pushes femininity as an identity for itself, with stereotypically female colours and text styles. In turn, the feminine identity of the magazine is applied as a representation of the readers, further suggesting a mediation of women’s identity. The magazine focuses heavily on beauty and fitness, reinforcing the dominant ideology of the “ideal” women that women should aspire to a fixed concept of beauty.
As an example in the April 2010 issue a large image of Holly Willoughby (celebrity) features on the cover. Although unlike Nuts magazine, she is wearing fairly covering clothing and lacks cosmetic make-up, it is interesting to note that her clothing is white in colour – Ferdinand de Saussure would note that this has semiotic significance using his semiotic theory and Roland Barthe’s levels of signification, we can identify that white has connotations of innocence and weakness. Therefore this represents her as innocent and weak – reinforcing dominant patriarchal representations of women. Due to her status as a celebrity, her level of influence is great. In herself she is a semiotic symbol of success and affluence, so those who take inspiration from her will take this constructed innocence and weakness and apply it to their own identities. This is a clear example of the mediation of identity. It suggests a passive audience, influenced by the mass media as Adorno and other quasi-Marxists would suggest.
It can be seen therefore, that as post modernists say, we live in a media saturated society. We are surrounded by signs which cannot be ignored. Women in the media are often represented as varying, whether it be as sexual objects for the pleasure of males; or as innocent, as ‘stay at home’ housewives as suggested in 2008’s film Hancock. Here, despite possessing stereotypically male strength and ‘superpowers’, the lead female aspires to be a housewife – reinforcing the sub-dominant representation of women. Either way however women are often the victims of mediation. The theories of consumption and construction of identity from theorists such as Adorno and Mulvey clearly show that despite
the specific representations, one common identity is ‘forced’ upon women in the media – a subdominant social group living in a patriarchal society. Identity is constructed using this as a basis; and even media texts which challenge this representation and encourage Queer Theory diversity are still arguably mediating identity with their influence. Identity is fluid and changeable and can be individually constructed as Gauntlett and Buckingham state. But arguable, the mass media are, and have, mediated the identity of women in contemporary society.
EAA 20
EG 18
T 10
(48)
EXAMPLE 5
G325 Section B June 2010 38/50
7) Collective Identity
Examiner Comments
In relation to the mark scheme this answer is on the boundary of level 3 (examples and terminology) and level 4 (explanation, analysis, argument). The response is informed and meets the question set squarely, achieves a balance of theory, text and institutional knowledge but lacks clarity in places; hence it only just meets level 4 criteria for the first area. The words ‘in places’ and ‘mostly’ are important in the mark scheme for examples and terms and both apply here. The representation of the family is a fascinating and well judged example for the topic and Marxist theory is relevant to this analysis – this is a good example of how relevant theory is not necessarily ‘contemporary’ – an application of ‘classic’ theory to contemporary media examples is a sound approach, as this candidate demonstrates. To secure a level 4 mark, this candidate would need to use some references / quotations on representation / Marxism / ideology / hegemony and make the connections between examples and the theoretical context much more explicit and sustained. In relation to the specification prompts which are used to set the questions and in the construction of the mark scheme for examiners, this candidate shows understanding of ways in which contemporary media represent groups of people in various ways; deals with historical comparison well and begins to engage with more complex questions of mediation and social implication, through the Marxist approach – but for a secure level 4 we would need to see this theoretical angle contrasted with another way of looking at the representation of the family. The answer concludes with some speculative attention to ‘the self-representation age’ and had the candidate been able to theorise this more coherently – perhaps by setting the ‘we media’ idea against the hegemonic model, the level 4 criteria (clear, fluent balance of theories) would be more clearly applicable.
In this essay I will look at how the family is represented in the media. In the 1950’s and the 1970’s the representation of the family in the majority of adverts was the nuclear family. This consists of a domestic mother based the home a ‘bread winner’ father with a job who can go outside the home roughly two children and usually a pet. A great example of this family being shown is the 1959 Cornflakes advert and the 1960’s Fairy Liquid advert. Both show the traditional nuclear family. This representation is also apparent in films such as the 1970s film Halloween. This film had a monstrous killer who was raised in a dysfunctional family, the fact that the other household don’t have killers suggest that their way of living (nuclear family) was the ideal way.
So why was, and perhaps still is, this representation so dominant in media? One theory is the Marxist Theory. Althussar is an important theorist here, he developed the ideas of Gramsci on hegemony. Hegemony is the process where the ideological beliefs of the ruling class in society become the ruling ideologies, which we all accept as the norm and common sense. Althussar said the family (along with the meida, law education etc) is an Ideological State Apparatus which creates an identity as good little law abiding citizens, who accept the nuclear family as the ideal. Althussar argued that by promoting the nuclear family the ruling powers in society create and maintain a Patriarchal and Capitalist Society.
This is because in the family we learn our morality (it’s wrong to steal), the value of work, the gender division of labour and to submit to often male authority e.g. fathers, bosses etc. Therefore the promotion and maintenance of the nuclear families representation in media is in the interest of those in power. As you can seem the media representation as well as this theory behind it is complex.
In the 1970s big social changes occurred in the form the workers movement. This put an end to the often violent exploitation and objectification of women. So did advertising reflect this social change? Well, the media representations to follow were complicated. Take the 1980’s OXO advert “mums out dad’s cooking.” In this advert role reversal takes place and we see the father cooking instead of the mother. So on the face of it the family is being represented in a progressive way. But if we take a closer look we see that the underlying aspects of the conservative representation still exist. For example, the dad only cooks as a one off because the mother is out shopping. This suggests that the mother is the usual cook and it meets traditional values as the mother is out shopping (consumerist). Therefore this change was only superficial and the hegemonic representation of the family is still dominant. Indeed it seems that this representation may well be straightforward as no texts, as of yet, offer a challenging one.
If we look at current Britain further social change has occurred so it would be reasonable to think that the hegemonic nuclear family ideal is not as strongly represented as the nuclear family only exists in a minority of households (9-20% depending on how you define it). But it still seems that the media is a transmitter of the hegemonic ideal nuclear family. Take the 2005 action film, Cinderella Man. In this film the main male character is losing a crucial fight until he has flashbacks to his family suffering. This then gives him the motivation to go on and win the fight. The family gave him the inspiration needed here. This, like many other Hollywood films, reifies the family into a solid unquestionable thing. If we look at the recent 2009 Lloyds TSB advert ‘For the Journey’ we again see the conservative image of the family reinforced. For example the dad is seen with the bank card suggesting he is the provider and manager of money and he is seen driving the car (implies he’s the dominant figure in the family). The daughter does ballet and the son plays with the toy builder bricks – both are conforming to their family gender roles. In class we undertook a content analysis of a randomly picked sample of TV adverts. We found that roughly 50% of them showed a nuclear family and none of them challenged the ideal family. On the basis of my evidence here we can see the media’s representation of the
family is in-fact relatively simply as all media reifies and reinforces the hegemonic nuclear family.
However there are other media texts who show a different media representation of the family and challenges the nuclear family as well as problematising the Marxist theories. These are media texts such as the long running TV series since 2004, Shameless. In Shameless we see the complete opposite of a nuclear family, a family with no mother, an alcoholic father who hasn’t got a job, family members that regularly break the law (e.g. steal), one family member who is homosexual and family members that have promiscuous sex. Although this working class family don’t meet any typical conventions of the ‘ideal’ family in media they are still shown to be happy and there is love and care within the family. This offers a different representation of an ideal family, therefore this suggests that, with more than one representation, the family representation in the media is more complex than I previously assumed.
Another text which undermines the nuclear family is perhaps the whole genre of soaps. The most popular TV series in Britain, Eastenders, recently had a storyline about a closet homosexual Indian who was married. Unlike other media, soaps explore the internal functions of the family and show how actually they often cause pain, hurt and disharmony. This is what happens in the gay Indian story as his mum and dad gradually find out, we see the pain caused to everyone within the family. So soaps don’t reify the family, they explore its internal aspects and reveal its weaknesses. This again complicates media representations of the family.
As I have just discussed the previous two texts which problematise the Marxist theories, maybe these grand claims about media can’t be made because if they were true texts like Shameless and Eastenders wouldn’t exist. So perhaps we need to look at how specific texts look at specific audiences. Geraghty and Butler explored this area and came up with the ‘gay theory’. Again this is very complicated and puts a different spin of media representations but sadly I don’t have time to discuss it.
In conclusion it is fair to say that media representations of the family are varied and complex. While the Marxist theories may still be possible to make the increasingly diverse ways of living and minority of households which hold a nuclear family is itself evidence against them.
Also the self representation age where we can create our own identities with the use of web 2.0 (on Facebook, Secondlife, World of Warcraft and Runescape etc) will further erode any ideological power corporate, commercial media has over us. However the very fact that we all still seem to carry around the nuclear family image around with us in our head suggests the media may still be playing an ideological role. Either way, as I have shown, it is a very complicated area with no clear answer. Therefore I do agree with the statement.
EAA 16
EG 15
T 7
(38)
7) Collective Identity
Examiner Comments
In relation to the mark scheme this answer is on the boundary of level 3 (examples and terminology) and level 4 (explanation, analysis, argument). The response is informed and meets the question set squarely, achieves a balance of theory, text and institutional knowledge but lacks clarity in places; hence it only just meets level 4 criteria for the first area. The words ‘in places’ and ‘mostly’ are important in the mark scheme for examples and terms and both apply here. The representation of the family is a fascinating and well judged example for the topic and Marxist theory is relevant to this analysis – this is a good example of how relevant theory is not necessarily ‘contemporary’ – an application of ‘classic’ theory to contemporary media examples is a sound approach, as this candidate demonstrates. To secure a level 4 mark, this candidate would need to use some references / quotations on representation / Marxism / ideology / hegemony and make the connections between examples and the theoretical context much more explicit and sustained. In relation to the specification prompts which are used to set the questions and in the construction of the mark scheme for examiners, this candidate shows understanding of ways in which contemporary media represent groups of people in various ways; deals with historical comparison well and begins to engage with more complex questions of mediation and social implication, through the Marxist approach – but for a secure level 4 we would need to see this theoretical angle contrasted with another way of looking at the representation of the family. The answer concludes with some speculative attention to ‘the self-representation age’ and had the candidate been able to theorise this more coherently – perhaps by setting the ‘we media’ idea against the hegemonic model, the level 4 criteria (clear, fluent balance of theories) would be more clearly applicable.
In this essay I will look at how the family is represented in the media. In the 1950’s and the 1970’s the representation of the family in the majority of adverts was the nuclear family. This consists of a domestic mother based the home a ‘bread winner’ father with a job who can go outside the home roughly two children and usually a pet. A great example of this family being shown is the 1959 Cornflakes advert and the 1960’s Fairy Liquid advert. Both show the traditional nuclear family. This representation is also apparent in films such as the 1970s film Halloween. This film had a monstrous killer who was raised in a dysfunctional family, the fact that the other household don’t have killers suggest that their way of living (nuclear family) was the ideal way.
So why was, and perhaps still is, this representation so dominant in media? One theory is the Marxist Theory. Althussar is an important theorist here, he developed the ideas of Gramsci on hegemony. Hegemony is the process where the ideological beliefs of the ruling class in society become the ruling ideologies, which we all accept as the norm and common sense. Althussar said the family (along with the meida, law education etc) is an Ideological State Apparatus which creates an identity as good little law abiding citizens, who accept the nuclear family as the ideal. Althussar argued that by promoting the nuclear family the ruling powers in society create and maintain a Patriarchal and Capitalist Society.
This is because in the family we learn our morality (it’s wrong to steal), the value of work, the gender division of labour and to submit to often male authority e.g. fathers, bosses etc. Therefore the promotion and maintenance of the nuclear families representation in media is in the interest of those in power. As you can seem the media representation as well as this theory behind it is complex.
In the 1970s big social changes occurred in the form the workers movement. This put an end to the often violent exploitation and objectification of women. So did advertising reflect this social change? Well, the media representations to follow were complicated. Take the 1980’s OXO advert “mums out dad’s cooking.” In this advert role reversal takes place and we see the father cooking instead of the mother. So on the face of it the family is being represented in a progressive way. But if we take a closer look we see that the underlying aspects of the conservative representation still exist. For example, the dad only cooks as a one off because the mother is out shopping. This suggests that the mother is the usual cook and it meets traditional values as the mother is out shopping (consumerist). Therefore this change was only superficial and the hegemonic representation of the family is still dominant. Indeed it seems that this representation may well be straightforward as no texts, as of yet, offer a challenging one.
If we look at current Britain further social change has occurred so it would be reasonable to think that the hegemonic nuclear family ideal is not as strongly represented as the nuclear family only exists in a minority of households (9-20% depending on how you define it). But it still seems that the media is a transmitter of the hegemonic ideal nuclear family. Take the 2005 action film, Cinderella Man. In this film the main male character is losing a crucial fight until he has flashbacks to his family suffering. This then gives him the motivation to go on and win the fight. The family gave him the inspiration needed here. This, like many other Hollywood films, reifies the family into a solid unquestionable thing. If we look at the recent 2009 Lloyds TSB advert ‘For the Journey’ we again see the conservative image of the family reinforced. For example the dad is seen with the bank card suggesting he is the provider and manager of money and he is seen driving the car (implies he’s the dominant figure in the family). The daughter does ballet and the son plays with the toy builder bricks – both are conforming to their family gender roles. In class we undertook a content analysis of a randomly picked sample of TV adverts. We found that roughly 50% of them showed a nuclear family and none of them challenged the ideal family. On the basis of my evidence here we can see the media’s representation of the
family is in-fact relatively simply as all media reifies and reinforces the hegemonic nuclear family.
However there are other media texts who show a different media representation of the family and challenges the nuclear family as well as problematising the Marxist theories. These are media texts such as the long running TV series since 2004, Shameless. In Shameless we see the complete opposite of a nuclear family, a family with no mother, an alcoholic father who hasn’t got a job, family members that regularly break the law (e.g. steal), one family member who is homosexual and family members that have promiscuous sex. Although this working class family don’t meet any typical conventions of the ‘ideal’ family in media they are still shown to be happy and there is love and care within the family. This offers a different representation of an ideal family, therefore this suggests that, with more than one representation, the family representation in the media is more complex than I previously assumed.
Another text which undermines the nuclear family is perhaps the whole genre of soaps. The most popular TV series in Britain, Eastenders, recently had a storyline about a closet homosexual Indian who was married. Unlike other media, soaps explore the internal functions of the family and show how actually they often cause pain, hurt and disharmony. This is what happens in the gay Indian story as his mum and dad gradually find out, we see the pain caused to everyone within the family. So soaps don’t reify the family, they explore its internal aspects and reveal its weaknesses. This again complicates media representations of the family.
As I have just discussed the previous two texts which problematise the Marxist theories, maybe these grand claims about media can’t be made because if they were true texts like Shameless and Eastenders wouldn’t exist. So perhaps we need to look at how specific texts look at specific audiences. Geraghty and Butler explored this area and came up with the ‘gay theory’. Again this is very complicated and puts a different spin of media representations but sadly I don’t have time to discuss it.
In conclusion it is fair to say that media representations of the family are varied and complex. While the Marxist theories may still be possible to make the increasingly diverse ways of living and minority of households which hold a nuclear family is itself evidence against them.
Also the self representation age where we can create our own identities with the use of web 2.0 (on Facebook, Secondlife, World of Warcraft and Runescape etc) will further erode any ideological power corporate, commercial media has over us. However the very fact that we all still seem to carry around the nuclear family image around with us in our head suggests the media may still be playing an ideological role. Either way, as I have shown, it is a very complicated area with no clear answer. Therefore I do agree with the statement.
EAA 16
EG 15
T 7
(38)
EXAMPLE 6
Question 1a: Explain how your research and planning skills developed
over time and contributed to your media production outcomes. Refer to
a range of examples in your answer.
Research and planning are essential for both my media productions as
they allow for them to be sophisticated and typical. For my Foundation
Portfolio I created an indie/rock music magazine which required research
into both the typical conventions of the genre and a music magazine as
well as a plan that ensured these conventions were demonstrated. For my
advanced portfolio the demand for research and planning was higher as I
created a magazine front cover, a teaser trailer and a web page meaning
both understanding of conventions and planning had to be more thorough.
To be able to do this I engaged in what McLuhan named a ‘global
village’ through the use of electronic technology.
For my foundation portfolio I had collected a selection of music
magazines, mainly indie/rock and carried out a textual analysis for each.
In doing this I gained an understanding of the structure of magazines and
what it was typical for them to include. However, due to the research not
being in depth my production was typical and did not subvert any
conventions to be original. To avoid this happening during my advanced
portfolio I engaged in what Henry Jenkins named a ‘participatory culture’.
This meant that the majority of my research was carried out through the
use of Web 2.0 and was more thorough as a result. I used Jenkin’s
participatory culture ‘networking’ by finding a large range of trailers,
magazines and webpages to analyse online meaning that I had a deeper
understanding of what was typical for my production as I had seen a
wider range of texts.
I also used the research phase to understand the genre so I could
incorporate it effectively within my planning and production. For my
foundation portfolio I looked through a range of texts, such as magazines
and articles and found elements typical of indie/rock. Ithen put them on a
mood board so when planning the magazine I could refer back to it to
ensure that the genre was displayed. The issue with this was that I was
not fully immersed in the genre which meant that finding ways to express
it were difficult. For my advanced portfolio when researching into the
genre film noir I used Jenkins theory of ‘transmedia navigation.’ I used
convergence to read articles on the history of noir on my phone, read user
generated blogs, expressing ‘collective identity’ and went to the cinema
to see neo-noir film ‘Cooper’. In doing this I was able to fully engage in
the genre meaning I could easily adhere to or subvert the typical aspects
when planning the texts-making the production more original.The method of planning for my foundation portfolio was basic, using pen
and paper to map out the layout for my magazine and then added colour
and wrote what images would be used. This was not all precise and meant
that when it came to production I did not stick to my plan. For my
advanced production I used storyboards to map out my trailer uniting
every element of what would be included (sound, shots etc) making the
production easer.
I also used Web 2.0 to communicate with my group members through
social networking sites such as ‘Facebook’ to share planning ideas. In
doing this I demonstrated the ability to ‘be creative and share’ (Gauntlett)
meaning that my planning was more informed which was then evident
within my production
To conclude, through using Web 2.0 when researching and planning I
was able to be more in depth as there was more information and methods
of planning offered. This meant that my production for my advanced
portfolio was more thought out and as a result was more representative as
a mode of real world process.
Though there is some sense of progression and an honesty about
shortcomings, the range of research and planning cited is all at a general
level , with only one reference to an actual media text cited. There are
elements of level 3 but the lack of specificity draws it more into level 2.
The response is too keen to cite theorists, which doesn’t really carry any
credit in the markscheme, at the expense of material which would be
relevant to the answer.
Overall top level 2 (15)
6) Analyse the impact of media representation on the collective
identity of one or more groups of people
There are many ways that immigrants living in Britain are represented by
the media; most which I was not aware of before studying them. At the
beginning of my studies of the topic of immigration I found that my
perspective and opinion was fairly basic. It was not until I developed a
deeper understanding of the different representations that I began to
realise the impact the media has on representing immigrants.In summer 2010 user generated content was uploaded to the Internet
titled ‘My tram experience’ and was the first representation I found that
truly shocked me. The video is of a woman called ‘Emma West’ who is
expressing her views on immigration. She makes the claim ‘you aint
British, you’re black’ and tells an immigrant on the tram to ‘go back’.
Through interaction and convergence the video went viral and I was
surprised to see numbers of responses from people of all classes and ages
both agreeing and disagreeing with her opinion. It was not until I looked
closer at theory that I began to understand why. Gilroy makes the claim
that ‘Blackness and Britishness are mutually exclusive’ which is evident
in the text when claims “you aint British, you’re black” and Chambers
claims that one view of Britain is ‘anglo-centric’ and ‘backward looking’
evident in “go back”. This then begins to provide a case of where this
representation of immigrants has come from and how her opinion
developed.
In the 1960’s newspapers, in the main, kept to the journalistic values of
balance, fairness and accuracy, which allowed their representations to be
what Albert Szymarshi claimed to be pluralistic. In April 1968 The
Guardian reported on the consequences of Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of
blood’ speech, expressing racist views, with the headline ‘Mr Enoch
Powell dismissed’ which is both a formal and balanced representation.
However, contemporary newspapers instead follow claims by the
Glasgow Media Group and display what Stuart Hall claimed to be
hegemonic representations, providing an understanding of where Emma
West’s opinions have derived from. In September 2011 The Express
published the headline ‘Immigration crackdown needed for the good of
the country’ which negatively represents immigration and expresses
Glasgow Media Group’s claim that journalists reduce complex issues to
simple explanations. This is due to the fact that it blames problems that
occur within Britain on the presence of immigrants, which provides a
simple, unproven explanation and also demonstrates The Glasgow Media
Gorup’s second claim that journalists re-enforce stereotypes, as blame is
stereotypically played on a ‘minority group.’ The headlines are viewed by
millions which provides an explanation to why similar views are reflected
within society. They also provide evidence of what Anderson claims to be
an ‘imagined community’ that is involved with having a ‘national
identity’. Many individuals within today’s society are holding the view of
a community where British attributes are present and are not allowing for
the positive attributes that can be brought from a multi-ethnic society.
Film on the other hand can be said to express more of a pluralistic
representation in both historical and contemporary texts but in today’s world is not as well received. In 1959 ‘Sapphire’, directed by Dearden,
was released. The plot involved a young pregnant woman who was
murdered, the white detectives set about trying to solve the mystery of
her murder and discover that she had ‘black blood’ and it was a racist
attack. It displays a pluralist representation thoroughly evident when the
white detectives are speaking to a ‘black’ club owner and both are
represented in a balanced manner. The film was well received and won a
BAFTA for the Best British Film the year it was released demonstrating
how these views were present within society. Ghost (2006), directed by
Mike Broomfield, showed similar representations but was only seen by
thousands. It involves the plight of illegal Chinese immigrants entering
Britain and again is pluralistic throughout. The sequence where the
immigrants are trapped in a box in a lorry, the camera is in the box held at
shoulder height, the lighting is dark and the breathing is amplified to
create a claustrophobic feel. This then shows a balanced representation of
immigrants but is not one that is strongly evident within society. It
attempts to offer Chamber’s ‘ex-centric’ view of Britain but those who
view an ‘anglo-centric’ representation are not likely to have seen the film.
Despite this ‘We created music expression’ (Gray) offers an ‘ex-centric’
view of Britain which is ‘homogeneous’ and is well received within
today’s society. Dizzzie Rascal expresses the genre in his 2003 album
‘Boy in Da Corner’ which includes tracks such as ‘Jus’ a Rascal’ that
portray lyric evidence of socially and economically deprived areas of
Britain and a ‘multi-ethnic’ environment. In 2006 MTV Base ranked it
the sixth best album of all time. It eliminates what Snow claims to be
‘real or imagined shared attributes and experieces’ that are anglo-centric,
such as, ‘all Britains drink tea’, and instead offers a multi-ethnic
representation and portrays it positively. This is then a direct contrast to
1990s music era where bands such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp made up the
Britpop era which displays Britain as ‘anglo-centric’. The issue is that
Grime is just one small area that represents immigration in a pluralistic
manor. Although it is well received it is not enough to alter a society
where anglo-centric views can be said to be dominant; evident through
Emma West and her responses.
To conclude there are many different ways that immigrants are
represented within the media from evaluating all the different methods I
found that I was not as shocked by Emma West’s views, although they
are presented differently, they are reflected in many other texts,
particularly newspapers. While there are many pluralistic representations
of immigrants present, they are either not as well received or do not have a strong enough impact. This then leads to the claim that they are mainly
represented negatively.
This answer ranges across a number of different media forms and makes
some good reference to theoretical viewpoints and specific critics. It is
argued well and is systematic in its approach to the topic. Examples are
frequently contemporary but rooted in historical context. Overall, there is
definitely enough here to justify level 4 in all three areas.
Total marks 42
Question 1a: Explain how your research and planning skills developed
over time and contributed to your media production outcomes. Refer to
a range of examples in your answer.
Research and planning are essential for both my media productions as
they allow for them to be sophisticated and typical. For my Foundation
Portfolio I created an indie/rock music magazine which required research
into both the typical conventions of the genre and a music magazine as
well as a plan that ensured these conventions were demonstrated. For my
advanced portfolio the demand for research and planning was higher as I
created a magazine front cover, a teaser trailer and a web page meaning
both understanding of conventions and planning had to be more thorough.
To be able to do this I engaged in what McLuhan named a ‘global
village’ through the use of electronic technology.
For my foundation portfolio I had collected a selection of music
magazines, mainly indie/rock and carried out a textual analysis for each.
In doing this I gained an understanding of the structure of magazines and
what it was typical for them to include. However, due to the research not
being in depth my production was typical and did not subvert any
conventions to be original. To avoid this happening during my advanced
portfolio I engaged in what Henry Jenkins named a ‘participatory culture’.
This meant that the majority of my research was carried out through the
use of Web 2.0 and was more thorough as a result. I used Jenkin’s
participatory culture ‘networking’ by finding a large range of trailers,
magazines and webpages to analyse online meaning that I had a deeper
understanding of what was typical for my production as I had seen a
wider range of texts.
I also used the research phase to understand the genre so I could
incorporate it effectively within my planning and production. For my
foundation portfolio I looked through a range of texts, such as magazines
and articles and found elements typical of indie/rock. Ithen put them on a
mood board so when planning the magazine I could refer back to it to
ensure that the genre was displayed. The issue with this was that I was
not fully immersed in the genre which meant that finding ways to express
it were difficult. For my advanced portfolio when researching into the
genre film noir I used Jenkins theory of ‘transmedia navigation.’ I used
convergence to read articles on the history of noir on my phone, read user
generated blogs, expressing ‘collective identity’ and went to the cinema
to see neo-noir film ‘Cooper’. In doing this I was able to fully engage in
the genre meaning I could easily adhere to or subvert the typical aspects
when planning the texts-making the production more original.The method of planning for my foundation portfolio was basic, using pen
and paper to map out the layout for my magazine and then added colour
and wrote what images would be used. This was not all precise and meant
that when it came to production I did not stick to my plan. For my
advanced production I used storyboards to map out my trailer uniting
every element of what would be included (sound, shots etc) making the
production easer.
I also used Web 2.0 to communicate with my group members through
social networking sites such as ‘Facebook’ to share planning ideas. In
doing this I demonstrated the ability to ‘be creative and share’ (Gauntlett)
meaning that my planning was more informed which was then evident
within my production
To conclude, through using Web 2.0 when researching and planning I
was able to be more in depth as there was more information and methods
of planning offered. This meant that my production for my advanced
portfolio was more thought out and as a result was more representative as
a mode of real world process.
Though there is some sense of progression and an honesty about
shortcomings, the range of research and planning cited is all at a general
level , with only one reference to an actual media text cited. There are
elements of level 3 but the lack of specificity draws it more into level 2.
The response is too keen to cite theorists, which doesn’t really carry any
credit in the markscheme, at the expense of material which would be
relevant to the answer.
Overall top level 2 (15)
6) Analyse the impact of media representation on the collective
identity of one or more groups of people
There are many ways that immigrants living in Britain are represented by
the media; most which I was not aware of before studying them. At the
beginning of my studies of the topic of immigration I found that my
perspective and opinion was fairly basic. It was not until I developed a
deeper understanding of the different representations that I began to
realise the impact the media has on representing immigrants.In summer 2010 user generated content was uploaded to the Internet
titled ‘My tram experience’ and was the first representation I found that
truly shocked me. The video is of a woman called ‘Emma West’ who is
expressing her views on immigration. She makes the claim ‘you aint
British, you’re black’ and tells an immigrant on the tram to ‘go back’.
Through interaction and convergence the video went viral and I was
surprised to see numbers of responses from people of all classes and ages
both agreeing and disagreeing with her opinion. It was not until I looked
closer at theory that I began to understand why. Gilroy makes the claim
that ‘Blackness and Britishness are mutually exclusive’ which is evident
in the text when claims “you aint British, you’re black” and Chambers
claims that one view of Britain is ‘anglo-centric’ and ‘backward looking’
evident in “go back”. This then begins to provide a case of where this
representation of immigrants has come from and how her opinion
developed.
In the 1960’s newspapers, in the main, kept to the journalistic values of
balance, fairness and accuracy, which allowed their representations to be
what Albert Szymarshi claimed to be pluralistic. In April 1968 The
Guardian reported on the consequences of Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of
blood’ speech, expressing racist views, with the headline ‘Mr Enoch
Powell dismissed’ which is both a formal and balanced representation.
However, contemporary newspapers instead follow claims by the
Glasgow Media Group and display what Stuart Hall claimed to be
hegemonic representations, providing an understanding of where Emma
West’s opinions have derived from. In September 2011 The Express
published the headline ‘Immigration crackdown needed for the good of
the country’ which negatively represents immigration and expresses
Glasgow Media Group’s claim that journalists reduce complex issues to
simple explanations. This is due to the fact that it blames problems that
occur within Britain on the presence of immigrants, which provides a
simple, unproven explanation and also demonstrates The Glasgow Media
Gorup’s second claim that journalists re-enforce stereotypes, as blame is
stereotypically played on a ‘minority group.’ The headlines are viewed by
millions which provides an explanation to why similar views are reflected
within society. They also provide evidence of what Anderson claims to be
an ‘imagined community’ that is involved with having a ‘national
identity’. Many individuals within today’s society are holding the view of
a community where British attributes are present and are not allowing for
the positive attributes that can be brought from a multi-ethnic society.
Film on the other hand can be said to express more of a pluralistic
representation in both historical and contemporary texts but in today’s world is not as well received. In 1959 ‘Sapphire’, directed by Dearden,
was released. The plot involved a young pregnant woman who was
murdered, the white detectives set about trying to solve the mystery of
her murder and discover that she had ‘black blood’ and it was a racist
attack. It displays a pluralist representation thoroughly evident when the
white detectives are speaking to a ‘black’ club owner and both are
represented in a balanced manner. The film was well received and won a
BAFTA for the Best British Film the year it was released demonstrating
how these views were present within society. Ghost (2006), directed by
Mike Broomfield, showed similar representations but was only seen by
thousands. It involves the plight of illegal Chinese immigrants entering
Britain and again is pluralistic throughout. The sequence where the
immigrants are trapped in a box in a lorry, the camera is in the box held at
shoulder height, the lighting is dark and the breathing is amplified to
create a claustrophobic feel. This then shows a balanced representation of
immigrants but is not one that is strongly evident within society. It
attempts to offer Chamber’s ‘ex-centric’ view of Britain but those who
view an ‘anglo-centric’ representation are not likely to have seen the film.
Despite this ‘We created music expression’ (Gray) offers an ‘ex-centric’
view of Britain which is ‘homogeneous’ and is well received within
today’s society. Dizzzie Rascal expresses the genre in his 2003 album
‘Boy in Da Corner’ which includes tracks such as ‘Jus’ a Rascal’ that
portray lyric evidence of socially and economically deprived areas of
Britain and a ‘multi-ethnic’ environment. In 2006 MTV Base ranked it
the sixth best album of all time. It eliminates what Snow claims to be
‘real or imagined shared attributes and experieces’ that are anglo-centric,
such as, ‘all Britains drink tea’, and instead offers a multi-ethnic
representation and portrays it positively. This is then a direct contrast to
1990s music era where bands such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp made up the
Britpop era which displays Britain as ‘anglo-centric’. The issue is that
Grime is just one small area that represents immigration in a pluralistic
manor. Although it is well received it is not enough to alter a society
where anglo-centric views can be said to be dominant; evident through
Emma West and her responses.
To conclude there are many different ways that immigrants are
represented within the media from evaluating all the different methods I
found that I was not as shocked by Emma West’s views, although they
are presented differently, they are reflected in many other texts,
particularly newspapers. While there are many pluralistic representations
of immigrants present, they are either not as well received or do not have a strong enough impact. This then leads to the claim that they are mainly
represented negatively.
This answer ranges across a number of different media forms and makes
some good reference to theoretical viewpoints and specific critics. It is
argued well and is systematic in its approach to the topic. Examples are
frequently contemporary but rooted in historical context. Overall, there is
definitely enough here to justify level 4 in all three areas.
Total marks 42
EXAMPLE 7
G325
1b Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the
concept of narrative.
1 (b) In this essay I am going to discuss the key elements and the concept of
narrative for my A2 media production. I will achieve this by using genuine
evidence and valid reasoning. I will use examples and quotes from theorists to
support my points.
Starting with ‘Todorov’ who is well known for his theory of chain events in the
narrative – in my music production I found his theory to contain a similar
character and linked them together. His theory follows these chain of events,
‘equilibrium, disruption, possible solutions, climax, resolution.’ In my music
production the music starts quite mysterious and silent, before signifying the
main narrative feature. At this point, the artist is trying to establish his love for
the girl he wants. However the song is disrupted as he finds she does not like
him back. This is more linear narrative, as it follows chronologically. I also
used inspiration from ‘Roland Barthes’ – his codes theory, in particular
‘enigma code.’ Indie music is hugely renowned for its puzzling nature in which
I thought my music video could also play. My video features a lot of fast paced
visual effects that are hard to concentrate on and some structural meanings
are harder to interpret, making it more intriguing as it is suspicious. I am fond
of the enigma style, as it’s less limiting and allows individuals to make their
own judgement on what they believe the message is promoting. Roland
Barthes aimed for two areas, one in which there was to be an unconventional
question, and second, to give the audience a chance to anticipate the
resolution. My production used similar concepts to these theorists as they fit
most suitably to my music production. The narrative storyline is hard to
underline but is conventional for indie music.
These ideas in play worked very well, e.g. – the strobe lighting effect signified
the mood of the production which was upbeat and lively. This was also
determined by the use of colours. The flashing strobe technology helped give
the character the personality of the musician – also a convention of indie
music. More examples consisted of close ups to the star image, trying to
promote aspects of the ‘male gaze’, a form of voyeurism, the audience can
connect with him and start to understand the value and message of the
narrative structure. I also considered elements from ‘Levi-Strauss’ who had
the theory the structure of meaning depends on binary opposition. The
majority of the elements in the video are dominant and emotive, to support
sympathy in response to the star icon. Levi-Strauss used conventions such as
good -> evil, strong ->weak. I thought this was an interesting technique and
considered adapting this to my production e.g. an example of youth could be
determined through camera movement, as it’s constantly moving it has
connotations of young vibe. This is also supported by the fact the members
are young. The music gives a fresh feel and contains many elements
supporting Levi-Strauss’s theory. The binary opposition strategy is useful for a
band such as Indie; as the messages are always envisaged in a way, that the
ideology is twisted and turned against the consumer. With other videos your ideology is maintained safely, but ‘indie’ is unique in assuring that is hard for
you to follow.
In conclusion, narrative is a factor that is hard to achieve in indie productions
as it’s not entirely defined. It is always trying to put the consumer off their
original thoughts. It’s conventional to use this approach but it’s a clever
marketing feet to pull the consumer in. I enjoyed building the narrative to this
production as it was challenging, however it bought new opportunities to try
new ideas as I had taken into account these theorist’s approaches. It was
hard to define what fits to my narrative beat, but I was able to counter act this
concept. Narrative is one of the key motivations in the music video and it was
essential that we interpreted this to the audience in an accurate manner.
This response attempts to apply the concept of narrative through reference to
Todorov, Levi-Strauss and Barthes. It offers some contrast in theoretical
positions and makes an effort to show the relevance of each to the production,
but does not offer enough specific textual evidence to justify level 4. There is
some good understanding shown, but not quite enough application.
Overall a good level 3
G325
1b Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the
concept of narrative.
1 (b) In this essay I am going to discuss the key elements and the concept of
narrative for my A2 media production. I will achieve this by using genuine
evidence and valid reasoning. I will use examples and quotes from theorists to
support my points.
Starting with ‘Todorov’ who is well known for his theory of chain events in the
narrative – in my music production I found his theory to contain a similar
character and linked them together. His theory follows these chain of events,
‘equilibrium, disruption, possible solutions, climax, resolution.’ In my music
production the music starts quite mysterious and silent, before signifying the
main narrative feature. At this point, the artist is trying to establish his love for
the girl he wants. However the song is disrupted as he finds she does not like
him back. This is more linear narrative, as it follows chronologically. I also
used inspiration from ‘Roland Barthes’ – his codes theory, in particular
‘enigma code.’ Indie music is hugely renowned for its puzzling nature in which
I thought my music video could also play. My video features a lot of fast paced
visual effects that are hard to concentrate on and some structural meanings
are harder to interpret, making it more intriguing as it is suspicious. I am fond
of the enigma style, as it’s less limiting and allows individuals to make their
own judgement on what they believe the message is promoting. Roland
Barthes aimed for two areas, one in which there was to be an unconventional
question, and second, to give the audience a chance to anticipate the
resolution. My production used similar concepts to these theorists as they fit
most suitably to my music production. The narrative storyline is hard to
underline but is conventional for indie music.
These ideas in play worked very well, e.g. – the strobe lighting effect signified
the mood of the production which was upbeat and lively. This was also
determined by the use of colours. The flashing strobe technology helped give
the character the personality of the musician – also a convention of indie
music. More examples consisted of close ups to the star image, trying to
promote aspects of the ‘male gaze’, a form of voyeurism, the audience can
connect with him and start to understand the value and message of the
narrative structure. I also considered elements from ‘Levi-Strauss’ who had
the theory the structure of meaning depends on binary opposition. The
majority of the elements in the video are dominant and emotive, to support
sympathy in response to the star icon. Levi-Strauss used conventions such as
good -> evil, strong ->weak. I thought this was an interesting technique and
considered adapting this to my production e.g. an example of youth could be
determined through camera movement, as it’s constantly moving it has
connotations of young vibe. This is also supported by the fact the members
are young. The music gives a fresh feel and contains many elements
supporting Levi-Strauss’s theory. The binary opposition strategy is useful for a
band such as Indie; as the messages are always envisaged in a way, that the
ideology is twisted and turned against the consumer. With other videos your ideology is maintained safely, but ‘indie’ is unique in assuring that is hard for
you to follow.
In conclusion, narrative is a factor that is hard to achieve in indie productions
as it’s not entirely defined. It is always trying to put the consumer off their
original thoughts. It’s conventional to use this approach but it’s a clever
marketing feet to pull the consumer in. I enjoyed building the narrative to this
production as it was challenging, however it bought new opportunities to try
new ideas as I had taken into account these theorist’s approaches. It was
hard to define what fits to my narrative beat, but I was able to counter act this
concept. Narrative is one of the key motivations in the music video and it was
essential that we interpreted this to the audience in an accurate manner.
This response attempts to apply the concept of narrative through reference to
Todorov, Levi-Strauss and Barthes. It offers some contrast in theoretical
positions and makes an effort to show the relevance of each to the production,
but does not offer enough specific textual evidence to justify level 4. There is
some good understanding shown, but not quite enough application.
Overall a good level 3
Example 8
1 (b) 1b Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the
concept of narrative.
My Foundation Portfolio was a title and opening sequence for a film and as such the
narrative was very important as it would set the genre and characterisation of the film.
My sequence was of a teenage girl who escapes the boring monotony of her life by
writing. I came up with this via behavioural insight i.e. watching teenagers when
confronting problems or ideas. I handed out questionnaires to assess what they wanted
in life; the majority said they wanted money, fame, to be the best in their field of
expertise. Very few, if any, were happy with what they were. I reflected this in my
narrative. Another question was regarding emotion and the emotion they disliked
most was loneliness, again I used this to construct my piece. I decided to use minimal
human contact between the protagonist, a teenage girl and the rest of the actors /
characters to infuse the piece with loneliness, to do this I decided to include no
diegetic sound, no dialogue or other noise then overlaid it with a voice-over, a
convention of teenage confessional.
As narrative was so important I decided to include music as I could not find a minor
melody which suited my means. I composed my own using a quartet of violins to
convey the sadness and negativity that teenagers feel. French film critic Benayoun
described all the qualities of teenage confessional films: “normal qualities of youth,
naïveté, idealism, humour, hatred of tradition, erotomania? and a sense of injustice.”
Artard, a drama practitioner, invented the theatre of cruelty which focused on hidden
meanings and connections to different objects within drama.
This idea of iconography is heavily used within teenage confessional narrative so I
decided to link this to her notebook which features pictures and ideas that inspire her.
All teenage confessional movies, such as ‘Another Cinderella Story’ feature close up
of faces and hands as well as the use of ‘stock characters’ such as the nerd, the jock or
the bookworm and reflects the typical image of American high school.
The idea of school is heavily featured within teenage confessional movies as it’s the
place most teenagers spend most of their time. As such the majority of the opening
sequence was filmed at a school, helping to portray teenage life to help the target
audience (teenage girls) relate to the protagonist’s emotions.
I received audience feedback at a lot of points throughout the making of the piece and
advice varied from comments on volume and image effects to narrative.
The protagonist is at the bottom of the school hierarchy and to do and show this I used
a lot of high shots and extreme close ups to show her vulnerability.
The music and storyline is simple meaning there are no hidden messages to confuse
the audience. Narrative was an important concept in relation to my AS coursework
production and I made sure to develop it to create a good story and make the genre
clear upon watching.A clear introductory paragraph, followed by some good references to both the text and
to examples that influenced it, but much is still at the level of ‘what I did’ rather than
‘distanced’ analysis. Not a huge amount addressing narrative, despite some interesting
and unusual theoretical references. Overall level 2
14 marks
1 (b) 1b Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the
concept of narrative.
My Foundation Portfolio was a title and opening sequence for a film and as such the
narrative was very important as it would set the genre and characterisation of the film.
My sequence was of a teenage girl who escapes the boring monotony of her life by
writing. I came up with this via behavioural insight i.e. watching teenagers when
confronting problems or ideas. I handed out questionnaires to assess what they wanted
in life; the majority said they wanted money, fame, to be the best in their field of
expertise. Very few, if any, were happy with what they were. I reflected this in my
narrative. Another question was regarding emotion and the emotion they disliked
most was loneliness, again I used this to construct my piece. I decided to use minimal
human contact between the protagonist, a teenage girl and the rest of the actors /
characters to infuse the piece with loneliness, to do this I decided to include no
diegetic sound, no dialogue or other noise then overlaid it with a voice-over, a
convention of teenage confessional.
As narrative was so important I decided to include music as I could not find a minor
melody which suited my means. I composed my own using a quartet of violins to
convey the sadness and negativity that teenagers feel. French film critic Benayoun
described all the qualities of teenage confessional films: “normal qualities of youth,
naïveté, idealism, humour, hatred of tradition, erotomania? and a sense of injustice.”
Artard, a drama practitioner, invented the theatre of cruelty which focused on hidden
meanings and connections to different objects within drama.
This idea of iconography is heavily used within teenage confessional narrative so I
decided to link this to her notebook which features pictures and ideas that inspire her.
All teenage confessional movies, such as ‘Another Cinderella Story’ feature close up
of faces and hands as well as the use of ‘stock characters’ such as the nerd, the jock or
the bookworm and reflects the typical image of American high school.
The idea of school is heavily featured within teenage confessional movies as it’s the
place most teenagers spend most of their time. As such the majority of the opening
sequence was filmed at a school, helping to portray teenage life to help the target
audience (teenage girls) relate to the protagonist’s emotions.
I received audience feedback at a lot of points throughout the making of the piece and
advice varied from comments on volume and image effects to narrative.
The protagonist is at the bottom of the school hierarchy and to do and show this I used
a lot of high shots and extreme close ups to show her vulnerability.
The music and storyline is simple meaning there are no hidden messages to confuse
the audience. Narrative was an important concept in relation to my AS coursework
production and I made sure to develop it to create a good story and make the genre
clear upon watching.A clear introductory paragraph, followed by some good references to both the text and
to examples that influenced it, but much is still at the level of ‘what I did’ rather than
‘distanced’ analysis. Not a huge amount addressing narrative, despite some interesting
and unusual theoretical references. Overall level 2
14 marks