Media Concepts

Exam Preparation & Essay Tracking

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Assessment

Set up Your Folders

Your Revision Folders

Your Essays

By the time the exams come around, you will have been set and submitted an essay for every type of question that ‘could’ come up in the exam.

Whilst, the actual questions in the exam,  might be worded slightly differently, the aim is that you should have a complete set of essay responses for the exams which will act as an essential revision resource.

However, if you do not have a complete set, then you will not have given yourself the best chance to practise writing a response to one of the questions that could come up.  To maximise your chances therefore, you should make every effort to have at least one draft for all of the essays set and those who are determined to do well, will redraft them in response to the feedback from your teacher.

Once redrafted, you can then resubmit them so that your teacher can give you some final feedback/improved grade.

Many of the essays will be handwritten in class in timed conditions, so typing them up and submitting them online for electronic copies mean you can store them in your Media folders for easy and quick retrieval.

It makes every sense to keep on top of these essays and take the chance to improve on them.  Just see the examples below.  Just from looking at the colours it is easy to see which student gave themselves the best chance of success. The A Grade student redrafted and resubmitted until the page was ‘GREEN’. The C Grade student did not redraft and did not resubmit and often did not complete the essays at all. They were really disadvantaged in the centre assessed grades (exam).

  • RED – MISSING, GRADE D OR BELOW
  • ORANGE – GRADE C SO SHOULD REDRAFT AND RESUBMIT
  • GREEN – GRADE B OR ABOVE – CAN BE REDRAFTED BUT NO NEED TO RESUBMIT
  • WHITE – STILL TO DO OR PENDING

Good luck. Only you can make this happen.

It’s all happening in Classroom!

The assignment will be set in classroom and you will have an individual copy made for you by your teacher. You should fill this in during discussion with your teacher over the next few week. They will also have your candidate numbers.

Critical Reflection Overview

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The Brief:

Candidates must write an evaluative essay of around 1000 words. This critical reflection of their work should be guided by the following compulsory questions:

  1. How do your products represent social groups or issues?
  2. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
  3. How do your products engage with the audience?
  4. How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

This critical reflection must be completed individually, even if candidates had collaborated in the creation of their products.

Task: Initial Brainstorm

You have already done a huge amount of research, planning & design as you made you multi media marketing package for the release of an album

As a whole class we complete round robin and you are going to think about how you would answer these questions using specific products:

  1. How did you try to brand your star?
  2. How did your research inform your music video and the way it uses or challenge generic conventions?
  3. How does your digipack represent the star and the issues they are concerned about?
  4. How does your social media page engage with the audience?

Media Theory & Key Concepts

From now on we are going to be explicitly teaching media theory. Previously we have been teaching this implicitly (without naming specific theory or theorists (except Blumler, Katz & Dyer)) however from now on and in all your exams there is an expectation that you will recognise that Media Studies draws on a range of theorists’ ideas and that you must name them and use some of the terms they used to explain the key concepts in Media Studies, which are:

  • Language
  • Representation
  • Industry
  • Audience

This is also true for the Critical Reflection:

Here is a table which illustrates which theorist / theory you should try and apply to each of the Critical Reflection questions:

The Media Theory Bible

Here is a detailed description of each of the key theorists ideas you need in your exam.

Here is a link to the booklet as a work in progress, but presents a little better.

Please be aware that this includes some theorists that you do no need for the Critical Reflection, but will be used in the component 4 exam (Postmodernism, Media Regulation & Media Ecology). You should also note that this is a work in progress and will develop over the next few months.

Application of Questions to Products

We are aiming for an essay of 1,000 – 1,200 words. You do not have time (300 words max) to elaborate on the details of all your products in each section and so we will be applying specific questions to specific products. See below for details:

Click to see details

Star Image – the performer

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IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STAR IMAGE!

How the star/band/performer is represented in your video and on the digipak and social media page is crucial in constructing the values, attitudes and beliefs of the artist in the mind of the target audience.

REPRESENTATION, AUDIENCE AND OWNERSHIP ARE COMPLETELY INTERTWINED CONCEPTS!

WHAT IS THE INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE OF A MUSIC VIDEO?

Music videos are made primarily to promote the star, in order to sell their music, in order to make money…well mostly!

They are also constructed to construct a set of desires in the target audience to be like them, think like them, love what they love, be involved in their lives & buy what they suggest.

There are huge synergies between marketing and star image! We don’t just buy a product we also buy into the values of the star image and in purchasing their product emulate them. Media representations of the star image is crucial in terms of raising an audience awareness.

STARS SHOULD BE STUDIED AND ANALYSED LIKE ANY OTHER TEXT!

They are essentially walking talking brands, who use their branding to advertise, publicise and sell to fans. Stars have to remain constantly interesting to keep the fans intrigued – the star image evolves and is constantly reinvented by media companies! In fact Stars could be seen as its own special kind of ‘species’.

RICHARD DYER
Richard Dyer Handout

Richard Dyer is a theorist you need to learn about. He came up with some concepts about how ‘star image’ works in the media. The link to the concepts booklet is in the menu at the top of the blog. Find it, add it to your drive, print it, LEARN IT!

TASK

CREATE A ONLINE CONCEPT BOARD IN CANVA STAR IMAGE.

Your task is to take the ‘star’ (performer, duet, band, group…) you analysed when you did the genre analysis and create a ‘concept board’ on how they are ‘represented‘.

Find examples of news stories, incidents, events, digipak covers, music videos, articles, blogs, tweets that all contribute to their ‘star image’. The way they are represented is called their ‘metanarrative‘ (over arching story about them).

Image result for pinterest

And remember, just as you do in your TV drama analysis – you must add ADJECTIVES to how they appear through that particular event, story, picture etc. You can do this task as a group but must all equally contribute to the page.

This is a link to an excellent example. You should have at least 15 – 20 images and comments.

Print Media in The Digital Age

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A Media Ecology or Ecosystem?

Starter Question…

How does a magazine aimed at young people survive in an age when its audience gets most of its entertainment, social interaction, information and personal identity online?

Answer – it doesn’t!

Case Study – Teen Vogue

In 2018 Teen Vogue stopped running a print edition!

What are the implications of this?

How does a magazine survive when a significant portion of its revenue comes from the sale of the physical magazine?

Analysis

In pairs explore the design and analyse the features of Teen Vogue’s online content and ask yourself – ‘how is the content working to engage the audience and how is it making money?’

Be prepared to answer the following questions:

  1. What is the colour scheme used in by Teen Vogue?
  2. What is the design of the Teen Vogue Masthead?
  3. What sort of issues and articles does it cover?
  4. What sort of images accompany the articles?
  5. What tone of voice does the headlines and copy adopt?
  6. What adverts pop up on their platforms?
  7. How does the content encourage clicks and shares?

Key Note Articles

Read through the article and use it to develop your answers and answer the following essay.

Follow up with this article from the BBC about winners and losers in magazine sales.

Essay (750 words)

‘New media will eventually replace traditional media.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement? You should refer to print media in your answer.

Structure the Essay
  1. Introduction and Context
    • Why are media institution moving online?
    • Name your case studies and identify the institutional context.
  2. Which online platforms are publishers using to reach an audience?
    • How does print media make its money and how does this change with the move online?
    • How is advertising placed and targeted in online platforms?
    • What is the importance of clicks, shares and audience participation?
  3. Why is branding still important online?
    • How is brand identity constructed online?
    • How is this integrated and coherent across platforms?
    • How are images and copy used to attract, interest and engage the audience?
  4. How does online content broaden audience appeal?
    • What sort of stories and issues are featured?
    • What ‘tone of voice’ do online publishers use in their headlines and copy?
  5. The Future of Online Publishing
    • What future do newspapers and magazines have in the online age?
    • Is there anything to worry about in terms of our freedom of expression?

Star Image

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Representation and Ideology.

TASK 1 – WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! 

  • The Star Image game.

TASK 2 – The Theory. 

  • This slideshow below tries to explain what representation means and how we can use music star image to illustrate the concept. Also this will act as research into the design of your own star, which you will be photographing in the week beginning 18th November.

TASK 3

Create a Prezi on the representation of a star.

  • Choose ONE music star who would feature in your genre of magazine.
  • Take a copy of this Prezi.
  • Find examples from a range of media texts surrounding your star (their meta-narrative).
  • For each of your media texts include a description of how they are represented through the image,the tweet, the article, the lyric…
  • How is the star image represented, portrayed, conveyed?
    • What is implied, inferred, suggested?
    • Underline or bold every adjectives and every time you use the term represent or a synonym.
    • Illustrate with photos, screen shots and examples to make it less of an essay.

TASK 4 – Design Your Star

Create a Google slide with images of what you would like your cover model to wear….include hair, make up, jewellery, accessories, costumes and any relevant props. Also, indicate how you would like them to pose – their body language, gestures and facial expression to convey their meta-narrative and fit the genre.  How do you want their star image to come across? How do you want them to be represented?

My Audience Profile

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Media Theory Reminder

In order to create a magazine for a specific audience you should understand what makes them tick, especially what reasons they might have for investing their time and money in your magazine.

A couple of theorists who considered this were Blumler & Katz, who suggested that there were four reasons collectively known as Uses and Gratification. Their theory describes an active audience and suggested four reasons for people to actively seek out and consume media:

USES AND GRATIFICATION

Information Self education to suit personal needs; advice on practical matters; information on events or issues of personal interest; curiosity or general interest
Personal Identity Media reinforces personal values; models of behavior; content explored to challenge, adjust or affirm sense of self
Social Interaction Identify with others to gain a sense of belonging; find basis for real life interactions; substitute for real life relationships
Entertainment Escape; diversion; emotional release; filling time; aesthetic enjoyment

Audience Theory Extension

Below is a slideshow on Stuart Hall and his ‘Reception Theory’. Consider what he says about audience.  He argues that an audience decode a media text through the filter of several things:

  • Demographics
  • Psychographics
  • Situation
  • Cultural competence.

Media Theory Booklet

Here is the Theory Booklet with all of Hall’s ideas on Pages 11 and 12.

RECEPTION THEORY

So…what am I supposed to do with all this theory?

TASK – Create a dating profile for your…

Perfect Audience Member

My Research Process

I have decided to make a magazine similar to Kerrang.

Of course I had to understand my audience and what media they consume and use this information to give me ideas for my inspiration search.

I looked at a number of back issues of Kerrang and used YouGov for artists that appeared on those front pages. I took snips of their audience’s demographics and their media consumption, particularly the other musicians/ artists / bands which cropped up. Here is my research on my audience and what media they’re into.

Do similar research for your target audience, and then decide on the following features of your audience:

  • Which other bands/artists your audience would be into?
  • What other media they would consume, fashion tastes, musical genre preferences?
  • What are their values, attitudes and beliefs they hold about what’s important in their lives and the world around them?
  • What demographics describe your audience?
    • Gender
    • Age
    • Education
    • Occupation
    • Marital status
    • Cultural background
    • What ‘communities’ do they belong to?
    • Where do they live, work and play?

HELP

Here is a handout we gave you earlier this year which describes different audience groups / communities which is helpful in reaching some conclusions about their values, attitudes and beliefs, and how to describe their communities and social groups.

Use Google slides to design a profile for your target audience which they might upload to a dating site.  You may want to use someone you know to model the profile on – although don’t use their name or photo!

Give your ideal audience an image, name, gender, relationship status, groups, status, likes, dislikes…all of this should be through the filter of music and should help describe your audience profile. Make it as detailed as possible – why not consider someone you know (do not actually use them) who likes the music, is a fan of that music/band and use them as inspiration.

Here is a template that you may wish to follow:

YOU MUST ALSO USE THIS WEBSITE: yougov.co.uk and mention it in your introduction or even better, take a snipping tool screen shot of the profile target audience for your performer.

KEY TERMS needed in your reflection

‘Preferred reading, encode, decode, oppositional reading, demographics, psychographics, cultural experience, uses and gratification, target audience, producer, target audience, entertainment, education, social interaction and personal identity etc.

Textual Analysis of a Magazine Front Page

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KEY TERMS: represent, connote, infers, implies, suggests etc

Task

Complete a thorough textual analysis of a music magazine from the previous class slideshow (some of the research will already have been done for you).  Choose a different one from the one you did an audience profile for.

The analysis should include the following:

1) A description of their target audience.

  • To help you, you should use yougov.co.uk site and the profiles section
  • Another way to help you understand the target audience (of a commercial media product) is to look at the adverts within it.
    • Not the ads on their websites, (those are generated by cookies that help web companies follow you and give you personalised adverts), but the adverts they put inside the magazine (if you can find those).
    • You should also refer to the attached audience segmentation document to help identify a suitable classification for the target audience.

2) You should also explain their brand, which is defined in their mission statement.

(If you understand the audience and the brand this will help you unpick the design. The designers and editors will have had the audience and brand at the heart of their decision making and so should also be at the heart of your textual analysis.)

3) Use the correct terms for the technical conventions when talking about the design elements attached to them i.e. the masthead represents, the plug language connotes, the cover lines font infers etc…..

4) Consider how those design elements are shaped to communicate meaning, which will reflect the brand and mission statement – look for the signs, symbols, colours, fonts, framing, MES, facial expression, body language, language etc that have been used to convey a narrative, to represent a genre, to sell a brand).

Here is an example from a previous student that includes some very detailed observations:

This is the format we would like you to follow and use the sub-headings included. Some of the sections can be bullet pointed or lists, but others will require some analysis to include the terms: represents, implies, suggests, signifies etc when doing a textual analysis.

Use this link so that you can take a copy of the slideshow and insert your own image and do your analysis.

Magazine Audience and Brand Identity

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KEY TERMS:  DEMOGRAPHICS, PSYCHOGRAPHICS, SEGMENTATION, COMMUNITIES, TARGET AUDIENCE, USES AND GRATIFICATION – B and K

What is the first thing you notice about a magazine cover on the shelves? Image or Name (Masthead)? Probably both, but the image and the masthead are vital design features to catching the reader’s eye and standing out amongst all the other titles on the shelves.

Together they form an instantly recognisable BRAND.

You can see from these mastheads how different they are in size, typography, language and tone. They are clear codes and connotation as to what the magazine is going to contain, the genre or music and therefore attractive to a certain target audience – a certain demographic. This is its BRAND IDENTITY and should be obvious from the front page of the magazine.

Masthead and Brand Identity

Click to see a range of Music Magazine Mastheads

You will be allocated a music magazine cover from the slideshow and it is your challenge to do some research about that magazine’s intended target audience.

TASK 1

Using the yougov.co.uk site and the profiles section, find the magazine (or the band from the main cover line / image) and insert the audience profile by using the snipping tool.

TASK 2

Then do some research as to the mission statement of that magazine. (google it)

TASK 3

Use this audience segmentation sheet to see if you can allocate a certain group to the intended target audience of your magazine and explain why in your annotations.  You will have to apply your ideas.  Reflect on who the target audience is and the evidence you have for this.

You will have to research typical fans for any of the artists on the front cover or inside. This too will give you an idea of who the audience is.

TASK 4

Embed the slide in Audience Profiling and reflect on what you have done, why you have done it and where it will take you.

Resources

Your teacher will share an editable class copy of this slideshow in classroom for you to to complete one slide of.

My images that uses MES to communicate meaning – designing my star

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Remember for this post on costuming and dressing a model for your allocated genre of music performer you should include the following 4 elements in this particular post:

1) MOODBOARD

Explain how you were allocated a genre to research and what you found – refer to the moodboard findings.

Embed the moodboard with images of ideas for how a performer from your allocated genre could be represented in terms of costume, facial expressions, hair, make-up, body language, gestures, props etc. Use adjectives AND describe and pick out some of the most important MES conventions for the genre.

Add in some relevant adjectives as to how that genre is generally represented – edgy, anarchic, produced, synthetic, friendly etc. Use terms Mise En Scene, Genre and Star Image (how are they represented/presented to the audience). If you can get the term ‘CONVENTIONS’ in too that would be great – those expectations, commonalities of the genre.

Made with Padlet

2) POST IT PHOTO

You then used all the research and findings to dress, encode your model as a star from that genre. Include a draft photo with the ‘post-its’ from the class in your test outfit with the comments and adjectives that the class suggested as to how your character was represented.  Reflect on how you, as a producer, used all the conventions from the genre to encode your model with the appropriate MES and the audience decoded them correctly (or not).  Did they read the star image correctly? What were their responses? List and reflect.

3) EMBED THE FOLDER OF ALL THE PHOTOS AND MAKE SURE IT IS SHARED TO THE WORLD

4) FINAL PHOTO

Final and chosen photo of your artist in costume with a commentary on how they are represented/portrayed with plenty of relevant adjectives.

Reflect on how and why that image seems to work better than the other ones from the shoot.

5) REFLECT AND FOCUS FORWARD 

Overall, reflect on the importance of using MES to convey meaning – tell a story – an image and an idea and HOW WILL THIS NOW IMPACT ON YOUR OWN PLANNING/RESEARCH FOR YOUR MAGAZINE PRODUCTION?

Tour Poster analysis

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Remember, what is it ‘saying’?  The denotations (things) all have connotations (meanings).  Use terms like these in your introduction to the post along with decoding, deconstructing, signs, symbols etc to show that you are getting to grips with how to analyse a media text.  You can use synonyms for represent too – portray, suggests, infers, implies, indicates etc.

Use Call Outs on your slide to evidence the comments…

Use this link to open the slideshow, take a copy, delete all the images you’re not going to use and then complete your analysis.

Here is an example from last year:

Take a Copy of This.  Delete the ones you don’t want to analyse and then work on your chosen poster.