Category: Representation

TV Drama – Sound

Representation, Textual Analysis
Sound is our final microfeature – they say a picture tells a thousand stories but sound is hugely important – it includes dialogue, music and sound fx – all essential to convey a narrative, craft and represent characters and convey themes and issues.

 

There is quizlet to take in classroom that you should take to see how much of the presentation you have taken on board.

You should then analyse the sounds in this TV drama sequence and complete the worksheet on classroom.

Analyse the sound in this sequence from Merlin directed by James Hawes. Analyse how the sound helps develop and represent a sense of place, character and story and in particular, overarching themes and issues. You should analyse the following features of the sound:

  • Diegetic Sound
    • Ambient Sound
    • Environmental Sounds Events
    • Dialogue
  • Non-Diegetic Sounds
    • Music
    • Sound Effects

A worksheet with all the terminology included: Sound Notes

Here is a site which is about to describe music.

GLOSSARY OF SOUND TERMS (along with all the terms you need to know linked here).

 

Star Image – Theirs and Mine

Music Magazine, Representation 
KEY TERMS: Star image, ordinary, extraordinary, denotations, connotations, repertoire of elements, conventions.

Task 1

  1. Create a Google Slide called ‘Star Image Research and Planning’.
  2. Choose a famous artist who might appear on the front cover of your magazine.
  3. Complete some research in to how they are represented in the media.
    • Look at a range of different media texts (Metanarrative)
    • … social media, news items, cover stories, fan pages, headlines about them.
  4. Analyze how these images, headlines represent their star image (think ordinary and yet extraordinary).
  5. Use a rich variety of adjectives which help describe their ‘star image.’

See an example from this previous student

Task 2

On a second slide create a collage of mise-en-scene to represent your star in your first photoshoot – your ‘picture perfect’ design:

  • Costume
  • Make up
  • Body Language & Facial Expression
    • Proxemics (if more than one person)
  • Framing & Angle
  • Props
  • Lighting
  • Setting

Remember to identify the element of mise-en-scene and the impact / representation you hope that will convey.

An example

Branding and Mission Statement

Music Magazine, Representation, Year 12 Coursework 
KEY TERMS: mission statement, brand, genre, USP (unique selling point), uses and gratification theory (entertainment, information, personal identity, social interaction).

Task 1 – Which genre?

It’s probably best to choose a genre of music you understand, like and can get excited about.

That said, some genres of music have very specific conventions and might be able to provide you with much more scope for design decisions and copy style. If you are undecided perhaps choose a very obvious genre, such as punk or metal

Research various genres – you will be amazed how many sub-genres and sub-cultures there are. These are just a few.

Have a look at the work on the walls of the classroom to help in your decision.

Task 2 – Develop possible names for your magazine. 

Use a generator app or a thesaurus for simple, catchy and genre specific names for your magazine. For example:

  • Bonus, Fault, Exchange, Storm, Louder, Open Mic, Score, Epoch, Placebo, Audio, Stream, Hustle, Phonic, Whisper, N&U (new and unsigned), Orbit, Swipe, Double Tap, Like, Status, Plectrum.

Task 3 – Branding Ideas and Mission Statement

Create a word-cloud that includes all the words that relate to what might be your mission statement  for your magazine – its PURPOSE AND CONTENTS.  For example will your magazine feature: new talent, unsigned artists, fashion, concerts, festivals, be edgy, anarchic, energetic?  Address all 4 of the Uses and Gratification that Blumler and Katz talk about to ensure maximising your sales to ensure that your contents will appeal to their use of the text.  Include the name of the magazine in a different colour.  Include too, all the necessary generic contents i.e. contents page, interviews, competitions etc.

Here is an example word-cloud and mission statement from last year.

“Amigos pulls people together to love and appreciate their heritage through the power of music, we want to encourage the world to embrace Latino culture and the amazing music that follows it. We want to change the way the world thinks about Latino culture and acknowledge that it is here to stay. We will provide you with the latest information about your favorite artists and tours close to and far away from home”
‘We are a brand, and most of all a community, that believe in the power of diversity within the music industry. Millennial’s ethics are to promote our passions; colour, rhythm, fashion and culture. The R&B community to us, is all about being able to express your creative individuality, while being part of something wider.’
‘Express’ is one of the top ten magazines for those that love Pop music. We cover your favourite Pop artists as well as upcoming stars, giving you exclusive interviews, top stories from your most-loved artists, new album releases and new tour dates from artists topping our charts daily. Express magazine inspires young people to fall back in love with Pop as the new-age of Pop drives the magazine forwards, allowing our readers to express themselves and become the best individuals they can be.

Your post will include: (all key terms as listed above).

  • Introduction to the genre and name for the magazine.
  • Word Cloud
  • Mission Statement

Reflection on the research process and focus forward.

My image that uses MES to communicate meaning

Exam Paper 1, Key Media Concepts, Media Language, Music Magazine, Representation, Textual Analysis, Year 12 Coursework 
KEY TERMS

MISE EN SCENE, CONVENTIONS, GENRE, CONNOTATIONS, REPRESENTATION

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.  Create a ‘padlet’ and share it with your group and all contribute to it in terms of images, ideas, costumes, settings, fonts, colour palettes etc that fit with your genre.

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.

Before next lesson, arrange with your group to bring in any relevant costumes, props that you might have at home – we will have lots here but you never know you might have that ‘punk rock mohican wig’ under the bed!

2) POST IT NOTE PHOTO

You then used all the research and findings to dress, encode your model as a star from that genre. Include a 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) CHOSEN PHOTO and any others you like

Download the photos to one folder and share with your group. Then individually, choose one 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.

4) 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?

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