Blog LR

WWW: I really like your work so far – it shows an engagement and self-awareness that the best A Level Media students have. Your consumption audit is reflective and contains some excellent ideas with regards to podcasts and following a range of journalists to get your news. Your analysis for Reading An Image is very impressive – although we probably need to move away from the bullet-point format and write in well-developed paragraphs.

EBI: The concern is your missing work – which suggests a lack of organisation and attention to detail. Semiotics and Reception theory are two tough pieces of work and neither are posted – I hope they are in drafts but I shouldn’t have to ask you to post them. I have no doubts that you have the mind of an A grade A Level student but I worry that organisation and keeping up with workload may hold you back.

LR: Update your blog to make sure all work is fully completed and posted. Then, reflect on your work in A Level Media so far. What is your strongest piece of work? What is your weakest? What specific skills or knowledge do you need to develop over the rest of the course?


My strongest piece of work, although short, is my reception theory mini essay. In my opinion, It's very articulately put. My weakest work is almost definitely my genre blog task as for some of it the questions were hard to answer. I hope to go over my blog, organise it, highlight key words, finish questions left unanswered and keep on top of future work.

Reception Theory

1) What are the preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings for the adverts you have studied?

The preferred reading for the RBK 50 cent advert is that your past is what makes you, no matter how shameful or crime filled it is. However, a more cynical person may consider this advert to be a greenlight for criminal behaviour. A negotiated reading is that your actions define you no matter how you repent.

2) Do these adverts provide evidence for the idea that audiences are free to interpret messages in a variety of ways - including rejecting them? Answer this question as a mini-essay, exploring both sides of the argument.

I agree with this statement as the iconographies of adverts can be easily confused and misunderstood through different ideologies and mindsets. Someone more geared towards racist ideas may see this advert as confirmation for their pre-formed beliefs as it features a black man (50 Cents) and crime imagery. This, of course, is not the intended meaning of the advert as it only aims to be viewed as a product edgy and dangerous people buy. People reserve the right to have cynical readings of media products such as thinking the rbk advert is supporting crime just as much as people are allowed to recognise 50 cents on the poster and be compelled to buy the product. There is no correct reading, only the universal meaning the company tried to create through design.

Narrative

1) Give an example from film or television that uses Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. 
In Class, April's equilibrium is not sharing a heart with an alien, her disequilibrium is sharing a heart with an alien and her new equilibrium is whatever conclusion she comes to after her final battle with the alien.

2) Complete the activity on page 1 of the Factsheet: find a clip on YouTube of the opening of a new TV drama series (season 1, episode 1). Embed the clip in your blog and write an analysis of the narrative markers that help establish setting, character and plot.


There are typical and iconic settings shown through the opening of this programme. They flash across screen and connote to the typical American High School experience on television (apart from the croquet bat, which is an icon from the original movie). However, there was a creative decision to shine a black light on them to reveal violent marks and secret messages that reflect the show's darker twist on the Teen Drama genre.


3) Provide three different examples from film or television of characters that fit Propp's hero character role.

Shrek from Shrek
Scott Pilgrim from Scott Pilgrim vs the world
Spider man from Spider man

4) Give an example of a binary opposition.

Black and white

5) What example is provided in the Factsheet for the way narratives can emphasise dominant ideologies and values?

Lord of the Rings

6) Why do enigma and action codes (Barthes) offer gratifications for audiences?

When a mystery gets solved, there is a problem solved for the viewer, this is satisfying. 
Action codes can change the direction of a narrative, meaning there are more enigma codes to solve.

7) Write a one-sentence summary of the four different types of TV narrative:

• Episodic narrative (the series): Wherein a show has a new narrative, separate from the previous or next one, each episode.
• Overarching narrative (the serial): Where there is a plot spamming a whole series that should be solved by the end of it.
• Mixed narrative: A mixture of the two above, i.e. Merlin
• Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative): There are multiple overarching plots for clumps of episodes.

8) How does the Factsheet suggest adverts use narrative?  

"In advertising the idea of the problem and resolution is crucial.
Often adverts set up a problem (bad breath) and then immediately
offer the solution (buy their toothpaste) to create a swift resolution

(fresh breath)"

Typically the product is the new equilibrium.

Semiotics

1) What meanings are the audience encouraged to take about the two main characters from the opening of the film?
The two main characters have little bother for normal behaviour, the alien feel is encouraged 

2) How does the end of the film emphasise de Saussure’s belief that signs are polysemic – open to interpretation or more than one meaning?

Media Magazine theory drop: Semiotics 

Greenford Media department has a subscription to Media Magazine - a brilliant magazine designed exclusively for A Level Media students and published four times a year. We strongly recommend you read it regularly and also set plenty of work for the course based on the articles inside. You can find our Media Magazine archive here and for this task need to go to MM68 (page 24) to read the introduction to Semiotics. Once you've read it, answer the following questions:

1) What did Ferdinand de Saussure suggest are the two parts that make up a sign?
the signifier and the signified

2) What does ‘polysemy’ mean?
open to interpretation or multiple meanings

3) What does Barthes mean when he suggests signs can become ‘naturalised’?
When there is a universal connotation that means an oppositional or preferred reading is neutralised 

4) What are Barthes’ 5 narrative codes?

• Hermeneutic code or ‘enigma
code’ – this is anything in the text
that is mysterious or unexplained,
usually raising questions that
the reader or viewer needs
answered. Enigma code is a
really useful bit of vocabulary
for media and film students.

• Proairetic code or ‘action code’
– this refers to how sequential
elements of action in the text
can create meaning. Something
happens (a character picks up their
car keys), and it suggests what
might happen next (they leave
the house and go somewhere).
In many ways this is simple
but it’s quite hard to pin down
examples if you’re not confident.

• Semantic code – this refers to
elements of the text that carry
deeper meaning. It’s basically
connotations so you might as
well stick with connotations as a
term if that’s what you’re used to.

• Symbolic code – you can use
this term to describe anything
that has a symbolic meaning.
Colours in lighting, set design or
costume for example (white for
purity, red for danger or love) are
examples of symbolic codes.

• Cultural code – this refers to
anything in the text which refers
to an external body of knowledge
such as scientific, historical, and
cultural knowledge. A Black Power
salute would be an example of a
cultural code – in a particular part
of the world during a particular
time it is loaded with meaning,
in another place at another
time it might mean nothing.

5) How does the writer suggest Russian Doll (Netflix) uses narrative codes?

The writer suggests enigma codes are used subtly throughout the series as 

The writer talks about the enigma codes used. There is a bowl of fruit that rots as the story progresses yet the main character relives the same day over and over. It isn't until later that the character acknowledges this occurrence, meaning the sinister mystery behind this becomes a Hermeneutic code.

Icons, indexes and symbols

1) Find two examples for each: icon, index and symbol. Provide images or links.

Icon:


Index:

Symbol: 
The fire smoked.

2) Why are icons and indexes so important in media texts?

They can be understood by a global market and do not need to be translated.

3) Why might global brands try and avoid symbols in their advertising and marketing?

They have to be translated into different cultures which takes more time than using globally understood icons and indexes.

4) Find an example of a media text (e.g. advert) where the producer has accidentally communicated the wrong meaning using icons, indexes or symbols. Why did the media product fail? (This web feature on bad ads and marketing fails provides some compelling examples).



Unfortunetly, touch woody means something different in English. They didn't check the meaning after translating.

5) Find an example of a media text (e.g. advert) that successfully uses icons or indexes to create a message that can be easily understood across the world.

genre blog task

Genre: blog tasks

Complete the following tasks using the Media Factsheets available on the Media Shared drive. You'll find them in our Media Factsheet archive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets. Please note that you won't be able to access these factsheets from home so make sure you save the relevant PDFs to a USB, your Google Drive or email them to yourself.

Create a new blogpost in your Exam blog called 'Genre blog tasks' and complete the following:

Read Media Factsheet 03 - Genre: Categorising texts and answer the following questions:

1) What example is provided of why visual iconographies are so important?

"A screen behind the character at the desk and the combination

of media language choices creates an image we associate with a

news broadcast"

The example given was a screen behind a person with specific jargon that viewers now instantly recognise as The News.

2) What examples are provided of the importance of narrative in identifying genre?

"Some genres have particular types of story lines. For example, in a

soap opera it would not be unusual to see one of the story-lines

follow a family having to deal with a domestic situation"

Different genres are naturally geared towards dealing with different themes, meaning the story lines will be similar in concept throughout a genre. An example of this could be the horror genre where a creepy doll is haunting characters. This has been repeated countless times.  

3) What is the difference between character representation in action movies and disaster movies?

"Where the action hero is isolated from other people, the disaster

movie usually often places the heroic role within a group of people."

Action movies deal more with the main character being misunderstood, smarter and stronger than everyone else in the movie. It's more of an ego trip whereas disaster movies are groups of people working together.

4) What are the different ways films can be categorised according to Bordwell? 

He came up with many more potential methods of categorisation –

these are just some examples:

• Period or Country, e.g. US films of the 1930s
• Director / Star, e.g. Ben Stiller Films
• Technical Process, e.g. Animation
• Style, e.g. German Expressionism;
• Series, e.g. Bond;
• Audience, e.g. Family Films

5) List three ways genre is used by audiences.

-It informs their taste, meaning if they enjoy certain conventions in a genre, they will like those same conventions in another series or film of the same genre.

-The audience will have certain expectations of genre.

-The genre can also inform dislikes

6) List three ways genre is used by institutions or producers.

-A template for media producers to follow so it's not as hard to establish their product

-Attracts an audience

-marketing texts

7) What film genre is used as an example of how genres evolve? What films and conventions are mentioned?

Gangster movies are mentioned. The hiding of a gun in a violin case. Producers had to evolve this concept as it became cliched.
Read Media Factsheet 126 - Superheroes: A Genre Case Study and answer the following questions:

1) List five films the factsheet discusses with regards to the Superhero genre.

-Avengers Assemble (2013)

-Scott Pilgrim (2010)

-Chronicle (2012)

-Super (2010)

-Spiderman

2) What examples are provided of how the Superhero genre has reflected the changing values, ideologies and world events of the last 70 years?

-Early Superman fought Europeans to mirror the WWII zeitgeist

-Lex Luther was the ultimate capitalist during the great depression

-Two Faced from Batman Forever was a response to blurred lines over what was good and what was bad. Audience now needed more depth to characters.

-The ensemble cast of mutants in X-men experience prejudice akin to racism and homophobia

3) How can Schatz's theory of genre cycles be applied to the Superhero genre?

Finally, carry out your own genre analysis using the model provided by media theorist Daniel Chandler. Choose a film or TV text and answer the following questions:

On SkinsGeneral

1) Why did you choose the text you are analysing?

I enjoyed it the writing of certain characters and plots greatly.

2) In what context did you encounter it?

I found it on Netflix.

3) What influence do you think this context might have had on your interpretation of the text?

No previous concept of the programme.

4) To what genre did you initially assign the text?

Teen Drama.

5) What is your experience of this genre?

Not overwhelmingly positive, there are a lot of shows that aren't my 'thing' in this genre.

6) What subject matter and basic themes is the text concerned with?
The wacky adventures of 6th formers living in Bristol.

7) How typical of the genre is this text in terms of content?

(based off https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TeenDrama)
-actors are actually adults(x) 
  they got teenagers to play the teenage parts
-unnecessary sex appeal for a female audience (x)
   Maybe sometimes, however I can't think of any examples and I think too highly of the writing staff.
-no more than two non-white main characters (0) 
-teens talk like adults, not teenagers(x)
    to their credit, they use British slang and each character has a different pattern of speech.

8) What expectations do you have about texts in this genre?

I typically expect them to be like 13 Reasons Why and the new Heathers. Where they have a quirk but ultimately don't do anything interesting or watchable with it. A lot of teen dramas are stuck in the 'Cliched' phase of Schatz's cycle.

9) Have you found any formal generic labels for this particular text (where)?

Netflix

10) What generic labels have others given the same text?

Comedy Drama

11) Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?

-Ensemble cast
-stock character types
-multiple narratives
-aim for realism (not very good though)

12) To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?
It deals with a lot of hot topic issues affecting teenagers across Britain.

14) Which conventions seem more like those of a different genre (and which genre(s))?

There are lots of romantic subplots, making Skins sort of like a romance drama.

Mode of address

1) What sort of audience did you feel that the text was aimed at (and how typical was this of the genre)?
Teenage but mostly 18+
(Teenage) but 18+

2) How does the text address you?

I am in the target audience.

3) What sort of person does it assume you are?

Someone who would find the actions in Skins shocking, and therefore interesting.

4) What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?
teenage, mostly white, upper working class and middle.

5) What interests does it assume you have?
teenage life

Relationship to other texts

1) What intertextual references are there in the text you are analysing (and to what other texts)?

There is a reference to Carrie in Cassie's episode when she's leaving the clinic's office.

2) Generically, which other texts does the text you are analysing resemble most closely?
13 Reasons Why

3) What key features are shared by these texts?

-ensemble cast
-dark subject matter

4) What major differences do you notice between them?

-Skins has more of an episodic narrative with a few overarching plot lines over episodes whereas 13 reasons has one huge overarching narrative with episodic narratives thrown in.