Tuesday 1 December 2009

Year 12 Title Sequence Blogs: To Do

Don't be scared when you look through this list children, you should not have all of this done yet by any stretch, but this is what you are aiming for by the end of the coursework project so there's no excuse for anyone to be slacking off!

1. A completed 'Continuity sequence' preliminary task2. A completed titles and opening sequence to a new fiction film (no longer than two minutes)
3. A thorough BLOG evidencing all of your research and planning which highlights the detailed development of your film.

This MUST INCLUDE:
a. Critical analysis of the work of Kyle Cooper and/or Saul Bass
b. Evidence of research into similar media texts and analysis of their forms and conventions
c. A logline for your film idea/concept and or a mind-map exploring narrative/character development
d. Draft storyboards and plans
e. A comprehensive set of posts outlining the processes in the development of your film and the decisions and revisions made
f. YOUR CONTINUITY SEQUENCE

THIS SHOULD INCLUDE:
a. Location shots
b. Casting Shots
c. An animatic
d. Second/third draft storyboards
e. music choices discussion and analysis
f. the first cut with analysis
g. Detailed critique of the developmental process with reflective commentary on the decisions and revisions made.
h. Exploration of why opening title sequences are so important to the film industry?
i. Photographs of the shoot - you in action!
j. Shooting schedule
k. Mini-evaluative postings showing reflective thought processes throughout the project

THIS COULD INCLUDE:
a. Thorough audience research exploring the relationship between opening title sequences and spectator responses to film.
b. A detailed audience profile drawing upon sociographic and psychographic profiling techniques.
c. Audience responses to your finished film.
d. Evidence into 'Film Production' processes undertaking a case-study into a specific studio or film and tracking its production, distribution and marketing strategies.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Year 12 Media To Do

To Do:
ª Upload and comment on Continuity piece if not done yet.
ª Upload Pitches done in other class and write an evaluation comment - what feedback did you get from the class/teacher on your idea?
ª Write up/copy the analysis you did of the Se7en title sequence by Kyle Cooper.
ª Research the other work and biography of Kyle Cooper. Analyse at least one of his other title sequences, comparing it with Se7en to see if you can detect a particular style in his work. Comment on whether his work will influence your own and why/not.
ª Write a 'What next?' plan, detailing further research and planning activities you plan to undertake.

http://www.slideshare.net/belair1981/foundation-portfolio-requirements-tick-list

Wednesday 18 November 2009


Year 10 Blog Lesson

1. Set up a new coursework blog using the same login details.
2. Write up your notes from yesterday on it (Mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound and Dexter analysis). Add as much about Dexter as you can (not just what you wrote down in the lesson).
3. Make sure you've put the photos you took on your other blog and labelled them correctly.

Homework
Watch the titles of your favourite TV drama show and write notes, on your blog, about how they communicate information about the show to the audience through cinematography, mise-en-scene (and sound and editing if you can).

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Year 10 Tasks Wednesday

1. Put all the photos taken by your group last lesson onto your blog and label them correctly (Close-up, Canted angle etc.)
2. Hand in your Textual Analysis essay (Barbie/Hercules).
3. Make sure that you finished your 'My Media', your magazine cover and your banner and that you added them to your blog. These will be assessed for practical production skills so make sure they are as good as possible.
4. Check that everything else is on your blog that should be.
5. Write a post evaluating your performance in media so far - what have you learnt, how have you improved, what are you enjoying and what are you not? Is it what you expected it to be? What else are you hoping we will do this year? What goals are you setting yourself?
6. If you do all that, set up a new blog in the same account called 'Coursework Task 1'. Make a banner for it.

Thursday 22 October 2009

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Music Video Pitching

The purpose of the pitch is to SELL your idea to the class and get their feedback on what you are planning to do. You need to communicate your vision to us through words, images and moving images and should include:
  1. Details of your music act.
  2. A play of your song (or part of it at least) OR a screening of your animatic.
  3. Details of locations you plan to use (with photos if possible)
  4. Details of costumes/make-up.
  5. Explanation of your narrative and/or performance elements.
  6. Justification of WHY you want to make this video for this act - link with Target Audience.

Pitches will take place during the first lesson back after half term.

Year 10 ICT tasks

To do today:

1. Finish you magazine cover in photoshop, save it as a jepeg and add it to your blog.
2. Finish your banner in photoshop, save it as a jpeg and add it to your blog.
3. Start you homework for this week of writing up all of yesterday's notes on your blog.

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Monday 12 October 2009

Audience Profiling Power Point

Music Video Blog Checklist

OK, so you're all clear, you should have all of the following on your blogs by now...
  1. Brief
  2. Case study of an artist/group looking at the creation/development of their image through time.
  3. Case study of a music video director.
  4. Research into one independent and one mainstream record label.
  5. 500-1000 word textual analysis of a music video of a similar genre to the song you are using.
  6. Another textual analysis of another similar video.
  7. Details of the song you have chosen and why.
  8. Details of the music act you have created, including name, back story, ideology, image and target audience.
  9. Mood board (either digital or photos of a hand-made one).

Friday 9 October 2009

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Year 11 Section B Research/Planning

You should have your Brief as your first post and a bubbl.us initial brainstorm of your product before beginning the following:


Week 1: Initial research
-Carry out textual analysis of similar existing products to identify codes and conventions. Decide which of these you will use, which you will ignore/subvert.
-Consider issues of representation - who/what is being represented and in what way? Why?

Week 2: Audience research
-Create an Audience Profile of your target audience using demographic and psychographic techniques.
-Carry out primary audience research (questionnaires) and analyse results. How will this inform your production work?


Week 3: Initial planning
-Depending on your product, begin planning initial elements using a brainstorm/list.
-Make a Mood Board using Glogster to show the key elements (colours/images/tone/words - depending on product) of your production.


Week 4: Final research & planning
-Create thumbnails/storyboards. Select final idea and plan thoroughly. Print = selection of thumbnails with best one selected. Video = script/storyboard + shooting schedule.
-Research Industry (record label/film studio/ advertising agency/video game production co.) Who would produce/market your product in the real world?

Monday 28 September 2009

Essay title

'Does the media merely reflect society or is it instrumental in constructing it?'
Quote at least two media theorists/academics/people who like gobbing off and refer to at least two media texts in your response.

1000words

Thursday 24 September 2009

Friday 18 September 2009

Music Video Article

Mrs Raji found this excellent article on music video - read it now, perhaps refer to it and comment on it on your blog and/or use quotes from it as a basis for comment.

http://www.imageandnarrative.be/issue08/heidipeeters.htm

Wednesday 16 September 2009

Year 11 cover work

All students are working on Section A coursework – finishing it off ready for submission next week. They will all need to do different things, some will need to use the ICT room E15 to work on essays, blogs and photoshop work whilst others will need to stay in the classroom to work on storyboards. THERE IS NO-ONE IN THE CLASS WHO HAS NOTHING TO DO.

Anyone who thinks they have nothing left to do should go through their folder looking for improvements to make and then look on my blog www.brainoverflowarea.blogspot.com at the list of things that should be on their TV drama blog. The vast majority of students in the class need to finish/colour/perfect their TV drama STORYBOARD and/or finish off their Dexter essay.

This is the LAST LESSON to work on this coursework so anyone who chooses not to do anything will only have themselves to blame when their grade is not as good as they’d like.

Year 10 homework

Homework - for next Tues
Make up and conduct a questionnaire amongst your family and friends to find out about media tastes and consumption. Post your results on your blog, along with a paragraph summarising your findings and reflecting on them.

Monday 14 September 2009

Creation of a music act

•Solo artist or group?
•Name - brainstorm then select.
•Back story - who are they, how did they get together/get into the business, what have they done before etc.
•Ideology - what are their values/beliefs, what are they trying to promote in terms of music and/or a general philosophy.
•Image - include drawn images and/or photos of what they artist/band will look like. Clothes, make-up, hair, accessories etc. ‘The look’.
•Record Label - select one and give reasons for choice. Look to similar bands/artists for guidances.

Friday 11 September 2009

Thursday 10 September 2009

Year 12 Media Manifesto

Your manifesto should state to me, yourself, your other media teachers, Ms Beere, the school, THE WORLD, what you think and feel about media AS level, what you hope and intend to achieve this year and how you plan to do it.
Use these questions to guide your writing:
ª How would you sum up yourself as a student up to this point?
ª What were your GCSE results and how did you feel about them?
ª Why did you choose to take Media Studies?
ª What targets/challenges are you setting yourself as you begin your sixth form career?
ª What are you ultimate career aspirations?
ª How will the media studies AS course help you to achieve your ultimate goals?
ª What obstacles might there be for you in achieving well on the course and how will you overcome them?
ª What do you think you will bring to the class that will enhance it?
ª Sum up your philosophy on the media AS course in one sentence.

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Year 10 Blog Tasks

Before doing anything else, please email me your blog link (found in the address bar when you are viewing your blog) to: whittakerl@welling.bexley.sch.uk

1. A few paragraphs answering these questions:
Why did you take media studies?
What do you think you will be good at in media studies?
What do you think you will find challenging?
What are the three main things that you want me (Miss) to know about you?

2. Write up MIGRAIN, with any definitions you are able to add at this time.

3. Go on www.bubbl.us and make the mind map done yesterday in class on 'What is the Media'. When you've done it, save it (you will have to register with bubbl.us to do this - just follow this instructions when you go to 'Save') and then I will show you how to import it to your blog.

HOMEWORK
On your blog, keep a diary of your media consumption for the next week. Don't just write every programme you watch, advert you see etc but write about interesting media texts that you consume, what you think of them, why you chose them etc.

Thursday 16 July 2009

Year12/13 Music Video Holiday Work

Some of you seem to have unfortunately decided to take an early holiday and, whilst this doesn't do much to improve my impression of your work ethic, I am going to give you all a fresh start in September and look forward to seeing you all for some fun Music Video work then. Come September I expect everyone to have the following on their blog:
  • Brief
  • Glogster of your musical tastes/consumption
  • Your favourite music video(s) with brief analysis/opinion comments
  • Case study/presentation of a music video director
  • Case study of a music act focussing on how their image has been created/sustained
  • Research into at least one record label (could be Rough Trade)
  • 500 word Textual Analysis of a music video of your choice

Get it all done and we'll get off to a brilliant start in September. Have a good holiday and see you all then.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

I am disappointed

It is without any pleasure at all that I have to say I'm very disappointed with the attitude of many returning A-Level media students. Lateness to lessons, missing lessons and failing to complete independent study work are NOT acceptable and if I do not see a marked improvement by next week's lesson I will be recommending to Ms Beer (new Head of Sixth Form) that some of you are not given places on the A2 course for September.

It is particularly insulting and frustrating that you are only being taught for one of your 2 hour lessons each week and are still not using the extra time left from the other 2 hour lesson to complete the independent work set for you. We would expect your level of effort to INCREASE from AS to A2, not DECREASE, as A2 requires a more in-depth approach and higher standard of work in order to achieve a good grade.

I sincerely hope that this will be the first and last time I have to talk like this and that you will all rise to the challenge and strive to meet the standards we are setting for you.

I'd also like to mention the following students as being completely exempted from this moan; they are proof that it is entirely possible to achieve everything I am asking of you, and more...

Emily Peachey
http://musicvideos1991.blogspot.com/
Tara Costello
http://videokid-a2media.blogspot.com/
Ross Lusted
http://rosscomusic.blogspot.com/

Thursday 25 June 2009

Year 10 Film Studies Case Study

Case Study

Cover Work for Miss Whittaker Friday 26th June

Period 3 – Year 10 Film Studies
Take the class to the media ICT room (E15) where they should continue working on their film case studies on their blogs. Details of what the case study must consist of can be found above and on the worksheets provided.

Period 5 – Year 10 Media Studies
Students should work on:
EITHER their research and planning blog (they may be allowed to go to the ICT room E15 to work on this)
OR their storyboards for the title sequence of a new TV drama
OR their essay analyzing the ‘Dexter’ Title sequence.

All of these need to be finished by the end of next week and it is up to students to ensure they do whichever is most pressing for them.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Music Video Lesson 1

For those of you who missed the first lesson last week, the flipchart used is below and the work you need to catch up on is detailed on the last slide.

Friday 12 June 2009

Dexter titles Analysis

Some of you still haven't put your sections of Dexter notes onto your blogs. Here's what I have from class:

Cinematography:
Start- focus on mosquito. kills it. camera refocuses on to dexters face (smile).
Extreme close-ups - e.g. cleaning blood,cooking,cutting orange shows intimate detail
Close up on face before leaving house
Mysterious, only see his face clearly at end
dark side

Sound:
Foley track (emphasises sound) digetic sound
- blood dripping
- flossing
- pulling key out
- cooking
- slicing orange
- killing the fly
- eating
- shaving
Non-digetic sound
- creepy music
- jolly/fairground
- ticking
- casual/jaunty
- click at the end
- music fades away when he gets outside (matches his facial expression)

Mise-en-scene
blood, fruit and other red liquids murder
cloths white t-shirt (normality) suggest smuthering
Facial expression creepy and seems like a syco, but is the opposite when he leaves his house
props the way he shaves shows the first sign of blood.Normal morning- Breakfast, flossing, shaving etc.

Editing
Dexter is written in blood
Jump cuts : him waking up and him shaving, the blood drips in the sink and him wipeing the blood slithering down his neck, him wipeing his neck and him cutting open the meat, him putting the meat in the pan and him stabbin and twisting it, he then puts the meat into his mouth and begins chewing it, also the eggs he breaks the eggs and then stabs it it in the pn and twists it like painful stab wound.
The part where he locks his apartment and walks away locking away h

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Year 13 Last Lesson

Contemporary British Broadcasting
Past Questions

Consider the developments in British broadcasting in recent years that have contributed to the industry’s current position.

Discuss the impact of new technology and/or new regulations on the UK broadcast industry in recent years.

What are the factors that have enabled radio and/or television broadcasting to succeed in recent years?

‘They’ve never had it so good.’ To what extent does this view apply to television and/or radio audiences in today’s society?

To what extent has British broadcasting been able to succeed in recent years?

To what extent has deregulation and increased competition improved the quality of broadcasting in the UK in recent years?

How well does the British broadcasting industry serve the public?

Which has had the bigger impact on broadcasting in recent years: new technology or new regulations?


And here's the AMAZING conclusion I wrote and showed you in class:

What are the factors that have enabled radio and/or television broadcasting to succeed in recent years?

Conclusion
The key factors that have enabled broadcasting to be successful in recent years are the implementation of the 1990 Broadcasting Act, as it allowed broadcasters more freedom over content and increased competition in the UK market; new technologies which, being utilized by broadcasters positively, have allowed them to meet changing audience needs and desires and to address the issues of diverse and fragmented audiences caused by a fractured society; and more than anything, the ways in which both PSBs and commercial broadcasters have changed and adapted in all areas to address the constantly changing ideologies of British society. It is this issue of adaptability or lack thereof that will, I believe, ensure the success or downfall of the British broadcasting industry in the future.

Monday 8 June 2009

Year 10 TV Drama Blog CHECKLIST

Here is a list of what you should all have on your blogs by now:

  1. Brief for this project.
  2. Case study of a TV drama of your choice (could be a Glogster).
  3. TV drama mind-map - showing sub-genres and examples (could be a Glogster).
  4. Textual analysis write-up - what are cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound?
  5. Dexter title sequence notes written up - whichever section you were analysing in class.
  6. All other class notes written up.
  7. Details of your own original TV drama written up (could be a Glogster or a bubbl.us)
  8. A lovely banner, created in Photoshop and uploaded to your blog to make it look fancy.

For those who are keen to get the highest grades, here are some extension pieces that you could also add to your blogs:

  1. Analysis of another title sequence of your choice.
  2. Analysis of some TV drama logos.
  3. Research into a television channel of your choice, preferably the channel which broadcasts the TV drama you researched previously.

In addition, you should have written an essay analysing the title sequence of a TV drama of your choice (may be Dexter if you wish). Here's the helpsheet...

Textual Analysis of a TV drama Title Sequence


Analyse a television drama title sequence of your choice to discover how it communicates meaning about Genre, Character, Narrative and Style to the audience. You may wish to consider:
Cinematography
Sound
Mise-en-scene
Editing


Key Vocabulary:
Camerawork – Long shot, mid shot, ¾ shot, close-up, extreme close-up, high angle, low angle, pan, tilt, track
Sound – diegetic, non-diegetic, foley, theme tune
Mise-en-scene – lighting, costume, make-up, performance, facial expression, setting, props
Editing – cut, jump-cut, fade, dissolve, titles, typography
Connotes/connotation
Tone
Style
Anchors/anchorage
Representation

Introduction
State the name of and describe what happens in your chosen title sequence. You may also give some brief contextual information about the show.

Paragraph 1
Analyse how the camerawork adds meaning/creates effects in the sequence.

Paragraph 2
Analyse how the mise-en-scene adds meaning/creates effects in the sequence.

Paragraph 3
Analyse how the sound adds meaning/creates effects in the sequence.

Paragraph 4
Analyse how the editing adds meaning/creates effects in the sequence.

Conclusion
Overall, how do the elements of the title sequence combine to communicate information to the audience? When watching the sequence, what did YOU infer (guess) about the characters, setting, storyline and tone/style of the show? Do you think it is an effective title sequence? Why/why not?

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Year 10 Work Thursday 4th June

Your task today is a blogging one - HOORAY I hear you cry! Basically, you need to transfer all the information about your TV drama show onto your blog and ideally this should be in Glogster format,as that'll make it look really cool and form a sort of Mood Board (remember how we did those for your music acts?) to give all the key information about your show. This should include:

1. Name of show
2. Style/tone (naturalistic/slow-paced/fast-paced /ironic/dark/light- hearted/cynical/fantastical...)
3. Settings
4. Key Characters (name, age, gender, personality, occupation)
5. Narrative structure (different storylines every week/ongoing storylines/a mixture of the two)
6. Example storylines
7. Scheduling (which channel and when)

You may, of course, use images from the internet to show some of these things. For characters, you should think about who you'd like to play them if it was a real show and put their pictures in.

Remember to register and log in to glogster before you start, otherwise you will no be able to publish your glog.

I will be checking your blogs at the end of the lesson so make sure that you publish your glogster to your blog even if it isn't quite finished.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Contemporary British Broadcasting Stat Bank

1990 Broadcasting Act
Act allowed for channel 5 and multichannel satellite television to be created
Stated the bbc was now obliged to source 25% of its output from independant companies
Aim of the act was to reform the entire structure of British Broadcasting
Loosened regulations on programming and advertising
The 1996 Broadcasting act followed highlighting some amendments


1996 Broadcasting Act

The main provisions were:
To legislate for terrestrial TV
To relax ownership provisions
To regulate cross-media ownership arrangements
To introduce a 'restricted television service' licence
To strengthen provisions protecting C3 regional programming
To alter the C4 funding formula
To allow the ITC to regulate commercial services provided by the BBC
To merge the BSC and BCC
To introduce a code for the acquisition of rights to listed events

Public Service Broadcasting
-Refers to Broadcasting benefits public rather than for purely commercial concerns

-Have fulfill certain requirements

-Launch of first commercial broadcaster ITV in 1955

-Channel 4 has projected a £100m funding gap if it is continue with public service broadcasting after digital switch over

-Mass audiences ratings are becoming harder to achieve. In 1998 in top 20 Programmes - Average 17.3 Million people. 2002 it fell to 13.7 Million.

Viewing Figures

BBC is watched for an average for 5 hours a week.

viewing figures have gone down since 2009

BBC viewing shares have gone down alot, whilst satellite channels are taking more viewing shares and continues to increase

1990
BBC 37.0
BBC2 10.0
ITV 4.4
C4 9

2000
BBC1 27.2
BBC2 10.8
ITV 29.3
C4 10.5
5 5.7
Other 16.6

2008
BBC1 21.8
BBC2 7.8
ITV 18.4
C4 7.5
5 5.0
Other 38.8

Funding
The BBC licence fee costs £142.50 per year, per household as of May 2009.
The Future of Television Funding (By Ofcom) Types of funding : Product placement- where programme scripts are build around products,
Programmes made by advertisers
Direct appeals to viewers for funds.

Mixed funding - Mixture of public and commercial revenue.
"In any case income from radio or television advertising remands an important source of revenue for the great majoirty of public broadcasters" - www.ebu.ch
"Ofcom suggests the creation of thsi new PSB body could be facilitated by giving channel 4 a "one off allocation" from the 130m a year BBC licence fee digital switchover surplus to use as funding to take a stake in BBC worldwide, the corporations commercail aim, or a merger with five ior over compainies"
Tv advertising lowered, internet advertising risen.

Technology
The large reduction in Television prices means that multiple TV's in a household is possible (High def, 26 inch TV's can be brought for under £200

The development of mobile services such as 3G and Edge means that television can be watched on mobile phones. Some shows like 24 & Prison break produce "Mobisodes" which are 2minute summaries of episodes.

The future of programming is the internet. Download, streaming and "on demand" services like 4oD and BBC i player are the future of broadcasting

Friday 22 May 2009

Year 12 Media - Rough Trade stuff

OK so here's all the lovely bullet points you made in the lesson (we were let down by the 1978-89 group - thanks a lot Ross and Josie!), I hope nobody's panicking about the exam, you will be FINE. Enjoy the break x

Rough Trade 1976/78:

Geoff Travis collected records while traveling across America
Shipped records back which started the Rough Trade shop in 1976
Specialized in different, unusual music
Had an identity, wasn’t after people money
Became HQ for punk due to position in Ladbrook Grove
Mainstream labels began to take notice of shops record selling power
Formed alliance with West Indian community due to local area.
1977- Spiral Scratch put out record with the idea anyone could make a record without record company backing.
Scritti Politti put instruction on record sleeve, DIY manufacturing
1978- Rough Trade started mail-order to individuals and shops; this led to start of the record label.
People were paid equal money to keep simplistic friendly atmosphere.


Rough Trade’s Downfall:

Found it hard to hold onto bands after they had made their breakthrough
Lack of business experience which caused financial problems.
Majors have a bigger finance, better technology, and wider advertising.
Shop was shut in 1982 due to financial problems
Rough trade rights were sold off
1987- Mismanagement
Bad relationship with The smiths. They wanted to leave, but had to stay because they had a contract with Rough Trade. They eventually left in 1986.
As it got bigger and developed Rough Trade lost collective spirit from the audience.
Technology advances, making it harder for them to distribute.
Went Bankrupt in 1991

Rough trade – Re-invention:

In 1991 Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee set up a shop near the original placing of the shop, to revive rough trade
Started managing Jarvis Cocker from Pulp. Pulp later signed to Island records and reached number 2 in 1995.
Rough trade was re launched in 2000.
They signed The Strokes, who were there biggest signing since The Smiths
June 11th 2002 was bought out by BMG
2006 rough trade celebrated 30 years of Rough Trade. Shops double-album launched a digital store and updated a mail order website.
In July 2007 Sanctuary Records then sold Rough Trade to the Beggars Group making Rough Trade independent once again
Since its rebirth rough trade has released albums by high charting artist such as The strokes, The Libertines, Babyshambles and Belle and Sebastian.
New shop opened in Talbot Road in 2007, it allowed audience not just to buy records/music but to visit the coffee shop, watch live performances stage, exhibition space, and 'snug' internet/workshop corner.
They got there first number one with Duffy “Mercy”.

Rough Trade now:
Still independent.
A much larger organisation that when Geoff and Jeanette started out but still trying to maintain their ethos of non-mainstream, music-that-they-like, treat-the-artist-well, equality-for-all hippyness (don't use that word in the exam!).
CHECK OUT THE 'HISTORY' SECTION OF THE WEBSITE FOR MORE.

Thursday 21 May 2009

Year 10 Essay Question - Dexter Titles

Analyse a television drama title sequence of your choice to discover how it communicates meaning about Genre, Character, Narrative and Style to the audience. You may wish to consider:

  • Cinematography
  • Sound
  • Mise-en-scene
  • Editing

You can use Dexter or choose your own title sequence to analyse. The link for the Dexter sequence is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBN-wXgkUSM

Friday 15 May 2009

Year 10 Homework


You'll find all your blogs now attached to this one as links on the right-hand side so check out how brilliant they're all looking! Homework for this week is to make sure your banner is uploaded to your blod, make sure you have done all the tasks set so far (see posting below) AND write up all class notes. I see Kristina's done a great job on this, but I know she did it first so no copy-and-pasting guys, do it yourself!


BLOG ON KIDS!

Thursday 14 May 2009

Media Studies AS classes, I do feel for you...

As you're all struggling through the practice exam paper I thought I'd try to help you expand your understanding of the music industry and its relationship with audiences. I've found a very interesting website of an online record label that allows audiences to pay whatever they feel a record is worth, taking the Independent ideologies we've seen at Rough Trade to a whole new level. The 'Info' section of the website is very useful and will give you insights into how the industry works and ways in which new technologies are having to be addressed due to audience pressure. Like the founders of Rough Trade, the guy who started Magnatune is a music fan who disagreed with the way things were being done and so decided to do it himself, his own way. The results are interesting. Check it out!

http://magnatune.com/

I've also found some links to articles about Rough Trade which may be of use to you in constructing case studies:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article2401753.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/nov/26/rough-trade-records-30

This article looks at Record Shop vs Online buying:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2007/mar/26/canroughtradesnewrecordsh

This article is about an online music company falling foul of outdated licensing laws and begs the question: how will the music industry adapt to survive the digital age?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/11/digitalmusic-downloads

Here's the link to that essay sharing site too:

http://www.coursework.info/AS_and_A_Level/Media_Studies/

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Cover Work Wednesday 13th May

Year 13 periods 3-4
Take a copy of the 'Future of TV' booklet on my desk and spend 30mins making notes/highlighting from it and then one hour writing an answer to the question: To what extent have technological advancements changed the face of British broadcasting in recent years?

Year 11 period 5
Continue preparing exam. You should be doing task 4 and can use the doodle to help, plus there are copies of storyboards on my desk. In the 'To Return' tray on the windowsill are the tasks you gave me for marking yesterday, so you can take those back too.

Please remember that anything you want feedback on for the exam must be given to me by Monday at the latest.

Wednesday 29 April 2009

Year 10 Blogs

Below you'll find some great tutorials to help you with your blogs, including one about Glogster which is a really great way of including mind-map type information and of making your blogs look really cool.

As of this week you should all have the following blog postings, remember this is part of your coursework and will be assessed!


  • Brief for this project (what you've been told to do)
  • Television Drama Sub-genres and their Codes and Conventions - presented either as a text posting or a Glogster posting. Please note: to upload your glogster piece to your blog you need to have registered with Glogster when you make it, publish the Glog and then copy the HTML code (or embed code) and paste that into the 'Edit Html' window in the 'New post' section of your Blog.
  • Case study of a Television Drama programme of your choice:


Pick one SOAP, SERIES or ONE-OFF TV drama. Find out:
* What time(s) and channel(s) it is broadcast on
* When it started (and finished, if appropriate)
* Who makes it (its Production Company)
* What its highest ratings have been
* What its Target Audience is (demographics and psychographics)
* What the critics have said about it
Also, give a brief synopsis of the show including details of Setting(s), Characters and Narrative.

Great Glog about Glogging!

Glogster Presentation

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Tutorial Blogspot

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Monday 20 April 2009

Year 10 homework

Add the mind-map you made in class today to your blog. You may photograph it and upload the photos to the blog or you may wish to display the information in some other way - as written paragraphs, bullet points, sections...

Friday 3 April 2009

Year 12 Film Studies Homework

Just in case any of you weren't sure what to do...

Answer the same question as that done in class today but comparing American Beauty with Persuit of Happyness; either as an essay or on your blog - or as an essay on your blog! The question is:

16. How far do the two films you have studied for this topic present similar messages and values?
[40]

Enjoy the holidays!

Tuesday 24 March 2009

What is Public Service Broadcasting What is Public Service Broadcasting Leanne
The History of the BBC The History of the BBC Leanne
Rem etc Rem etc Leanne
danni danni Leanne
BBC radio BBC radio Leanne

Monday 23 March 2009

Year 13 - Some good links

Here are some links that I've found useful in looking at the BBC and its place within broadcasting. Check 'em out damn it!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/in_depth/pressure/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/story/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/charter/

Friday 20 March 2009

Year 12 Film Homework

OK so I hope everyone is feeling less fuddled than I am after that rather unproductive lesson this morning; next week will be better I'm sure. As for your blogs, some are looking very good but none are perfect so you all need to do some work on them. They should have the following on them by now:

1. Is Hollywood film purely a commercial commodity?
2. Hollywood film case study
3. American Dream
4. Persuit of Happyness
5. American Beauty case study
6. American Beauty character write-up
7. Analysis/comparison of American Beauty opening and closing scenes


This week's homework, in addition to ensuring all of the above is complete:
Add character studies to your blogs. Remember to summarise what each character brings to the film's representations of Americanism and the American Dream.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Cover Work Thursday 19th March

Period 1-2 Year 10 Media Studies

CD cover photo shoots
All students who have brought their props and costumes and ONLY those who have brought props and costumes will be taking the photos for their CD covers today. Mr Fairnie (E18) will be available to support with this and supply cameras. Students should get changed one group at a time in the media cupboard across the corridor and get on with other work (outlined below) whilst waiting their turn to be photographed in front of the screen at the front of the classroom. If they so wish, they may go outside to be photographed but should note that if they want to be able to cut themselves out using Photoshop the plain background would be best.

Whilst all that is going on, anyone not directly involved in photographing/being photographed should work on completing their sketchbooks, which should include:

1. My Music
2. Questionnaires on music tastes and consumption habits with results written up and/or shown in graph format.
3. Mood Board made, photographed, stuck in book and annotated.
4. Details of your own original music act.
5. Logo analysis (at least 3 annotated)
6. Logo designs x4
7. Final logo design drawn and annotated
8. Logo made in Photoshop, printed and stuck in book with evaluative comments.
9. 5 thumbnail designs for your CD cover – coloured and annotated
10. Analysis of a CD cover of an existing music act of the same genre as yours (last week’s homework)
11. Final draft of 700-1000 word essay analyzing Pink’s ‘I’m not Dead’ CD cover
12. Target Audience profile (demographics/psychographics)

Students MAY use the ICT room along the corridor (E15) if they need to and cover teacher should move between the two rooms to supervise.

After taking photos groups should upload them onto their user areas and begin making their CD covers in Photoshop. Dimensions for a CD cover: 31cmx15cm.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Year 13 Homework

I will attempt to upload your presentations here tomorrow but not today as that would give the other class a right head start when they prepare theirs tomorrow! Good work today though all of you, I think British Broadcasting is slowly becoming less of a mystery to all of you and I have high hopes that you will all be experts in time for the exams.

Your homework this week is:
Create a full BBC/PSB case study on your blog and add your thoughts on the question: What is the role and future of Public Service Broadcasting in Britain today?

Monday 16 March 2009

Year 13 Monday 16th March

Today's Task:

Pick a non-terrestrial channel (Sky/Cable/Freeview) and analyse a Monday and a Saturday schedule for that channel. www.radiotimes.co.uk will help. What do the schedules tell you about the network's:
-Target audience
-Ideology
-Funding/financial situation

Also, what do you learn about the nature of scheduling generally and what influences decisions about scheduling?

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Cover Work for Friday 13th March

I'm so sorry not to be there today but I have a very important ROYAL event to attend which can't be missed! Here's what I want you to do...

Period 1-2 Year 12 Film Studies

Watch ‘The Truman Show’ and complete the Narrative Structure sheets provided, including all key narrative developments (what happens in the story that’s important).

Homework: Analyse and compare the opening and closing scenes of ‘American Beauty’ on your blogs. YouTube links to scenes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GAPl1cNC4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MrnoiHPU3Y


Period 5 Year 10 Media Studies

Use this lesson to get ALL sketchbook work up-to-date. You should have done all of the following:

1. My Music
2. Questionnaires on music tastes and consumption habits with results written up and/or shown in graph format.
3. Mood Board made, photographed, stuck in book and annotated.
4. Details of your own original music act.
5. Logo analysis (at least 3 annotated)
6. Logo designs x4
7. Final logo design drawn and annotated
8. Logo made in Photoshop, printed and stuck in book with evaluative comments.
9. 5 thumbnail designs for your CD cover – coloured and annotated
10. Analysis of a CD cover of an existing music act of the same genre as yours (last week’s homework)
11. Final draft of 700-1000 word essay analyzing Pink’s ‘I’m not Dead’ CD cover

If by some miracle anybody has done all of that then you can complete a Case Study of research into a music artist/band of your choice, looking at how they are represented in the media and how their image has been constructed.

Homework: Prepare for photo shoots next lesson. Ensure that you bring all costumes, make-up and props that you will need to take your CD cover photos.

Monday 9 March 2009

Year 13

OK so just to be clear and get it in writing, you should all by now have a post entitled 'The future is bright for British Broadcasting: Debate' with the arguments For and Against and also the notes from last lesson summarised. This week's task is to write a post entitled 'What I think of British Broadcasting Today' and you can go in whatever direction you want to with that, the point is that you are thinking about the issues.

Enjoy the RE day everyone! See you next week.

Monday 2 March 2009

Year 13 Contemporary British Broadcasting

Year 13'ers, here's some links to get you going on the way to greatness with the current state of British broadcasting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7858062.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7841000/7841499.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7812747.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/23/british-broadcasting-television

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/25/itv-proposes-broadcasting-giant