Section A mock exam feedback

Steave neal - all genres are instances of repetition and difference
Pye films have to conform to expectations about narrative

Reflecting audience expectations of horror being on your door step.

1a media conventions and creativity

1b representations and audience

Answer/give point of view to the question (I think my skills have developed in
Outline briefly what you made across both years
Explain to the examiner how you are going to structure the essay

Approach your essay 3 stages:

1) pre-

Question 1a

G325 Section A: Exemplar Essay

Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making?

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.

Yellow- Explanation/analysis/ arguement

Red- Use of examples

Blue- Use of terminology

There is some sense of proggression and some useful descriptions of technical skills. Mostly relevant and reasonable range of examples of digital technology in relation to creative decisions and outcomes. The answer makes some good use of media terminology with research, planning and production. To improve, candidate needs to think deeper into how they have progressed and give more examples with better explanation.

My mark- 17/25... Real mark 20/25

Section A- Question 1a

Question 1a) 25 marks, 30 minutes to answer, skill development


Describe and evaluate your skill development. College magazine, as music magazine, a2 coursework and ancillary tasks- poster and front cover. You can refer to anything to make outside college

1 or more of these areas

- Digital technology
- Creativity
- Research and planning
- Post production
- Using conventions from real media texts

What did you do?
How did you do it?
How did your skills develop?
All supported with specific examples

Exam tips

How do contemporary media represent different collective groups in different ways?

Diverse representations including fiction, non-fiction and self-representation

Harry Brown, Fish tank, the Inbetweeners, attack the block, London riots, internet and self-mediation

How does contemporary representations compare with that of the past?

Similarities or differences

Quadrophenia- mods and rockers

Plato quote

What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?

What power does the audience have to ‘resist’?

Propaganda, creating moral panic

Youth being filled by adults fears

Cultural hegemony

Stuart hall readings

Statistics on result of these representations on attitudes and beliefs Vs the reality of the issues.

The word sensationalise is a good word to use

To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’?

Increasing media= increasing mediation?

Re-presentation by others/by selves (facebook/youtube)

Be critical of who is offering the representations and for what purpose

Mediated: How the media shapes your world and the way you live in it

Guidance

Add your own personal opinion

What in your opinion is the future of representations and what are you basing on this on?

Connections must be made between examples/ contrasts are discussed

You must embed the theory into what you are saying

MUST refer to more than one media!

Personal target refer to film, internet, newspapers

Introduction- a quote, paraphrase it, and link to issues of identity, representation and the media.

Historical example – quadrophenia

Contemporary examples – harry brown, youtube, facebook

Connect examples together

Conclusion- return to start. Prediction for the future.

Talking about wider content- how did mods and rockers come about? Social mobility, rebelling against society

Use referencing- name and year of publication given after first mention, e.g (Giroux, 1997)

Films, directors

Quote- paraphrase- critique- argue or agree with it

One text older than 5 years.

Other texts should be within last 5 years.

Make a prediction for the future.

 Historial representations

-Example- significance- theory- critique

Contemporary examples - newspapers, film, television

Connotations/ effects

Conclusion

- return to start, summarise key idea, prediction for the future

Mass media construct representations of youth from a middle class, adult perspective, for the ideological purpose of maintaining hegemony

Impact of new media technologies/ internet- more potential for self-representation; limited impact compared to mass media.

Press Representations

Teen Trouble (2007)

12% of offenders under the age of 18
Adults think teenagers are the single biggest threat
Teenagers chose around 10-20%
Media 'their to entertain' .. negative story gets a bigger reception than a positive one
'teens out of control' makes a good story
police think 95% of the time, youths are just hanging around not causing trouble
Mosquito- sends out a noise only teenagers can hear
Police can break up a group of 2 or more on dispersal orders and if they are seen together in the next 24 hours they will get arrested
Real life case Kerry has been blasted in the newspapers for having an ASBO. She has been called 'foul mouthed' and 'teen terror chav scum'
There has been cases where the press have paid youths to make some trouble so that they can report about it
Jamie Bulger case changed the way police viewed children
culural hegemony
cultivation theory - the amount of proliferation of press coverage means that people are more likely to believe its happening in real life, in turn creates moral panic
hypodermic syringe theory - we are passive and are 'injected' by the media and we believe everything that we are injected with, particularly old people
Stewart halls different readings - encoded
youths become desensitisation


CCTV vindicated for saving the day
4.2 million CCTV cameras in the country
young people caught on camera, turn on tv and see antisocial behaviour happening
Knife crime
6% more likely to get injured falling down stairs then getting stabbed


40% of articles focus on violence, crime, anti-social behaviour, 71% are negative
Tv news: Violent crime or celebrities; young people are only 1% of sources
72% of articles were negative; 3.4% positive
75% about crime, drugs, police
Boys; yobs, thugs, sick, feral, hoodies, louts and scum
Only positive stories are about the boys who die young

When TV was covering the riots on a round-the-clock basis, it seemed as always with roling news that they desperately trying to talk about it all the time. Looked for experts, community leaders called to condem the rioters

What role did new media technologies, particularly social networking sites, play in the london riots?

Do media cause riots or revolutions? Campaigns, riots that happened in Egypt

Technology and surveillance: mobile phones, CCTV, 24- hour news

Online media

I associate facebook with

- friends
- arguments
- pictures
- statuses

negatives
- facebook causes a lot of arguements if you don't agree with someones profile.
- facebook is dangerous as paedophiles can disguse themselves as someone young and similar to you to lure you in


positives
- you can connect with people all over the world i.e who you may have met on holidays
- you can stay in the loop with the latest music, news
- anyone can have facebook, it doesn't discriminate against any race, gender, age.


Sharing of information
Globalisation
Development of self- identity
Self- realisation
Collective intelligence
Reshape media messages and their flow
Increased voice
Consumer communication with business (greater influence) - mass collaboration
Awareness- bands/skills
Communication has become an interactive dialogue
User generated content
Self- presentation and self- disclosure
Increasing diversity in subcultures
Online media focus on some or all of the 7 functional building block - identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, representations and groups (kietzmann et al) 2011.

Online media are especially suitible to construct and develop several identities of the self (Turkle, 1998)

Identity consists of several fragments that permanently change, multiple but coharent, a live-long developing and new conceptualized patchwork.

Highlight ke points/quotes that you think are important and then answer these questions when reading this text:

•      Young people are surrounded by influential imagery – popular media (Examples?)

Radio, tv, magazines, music, advertising, internet, music videos, supermodels,

•      It is no longer possible for an identity to just be constructed in a small community and influenced by a family (Discuss)

As we our constantly surrounded by media it is impossible not to be influenced by it. Therefore we construct our identity depending on what we like in the media. Although part of identity is formed by our family and where we live, the media plays a huge role in constructing our identity.

•      Everything concerning our lives is ‘media saturated’ (What does this mean?)

Media is all around us constantly and is heavily integrated into our lives so it’s impossible to ignore it.

In society today the construction of a personal identity can be seen to be somewhat problematic and difficult. Young people are surrounded by influential imagery, especially that of popular media. It is no longer possible for an identity to be constructed merely in a small community and only be influenced by family. Nowadays, arguably everything concerning our lives is seen to be ‘media-saturated’. Therefore, it is obvious that in constructing an identity young people would make use of imagery derived from the popular media.
However, it is fair to say that in some instances the freedom of exploring the web could be limited depending on the choice of the parents or teachers. So, if young people have such frequent access and an interest in the media, it is fair to say that their behaviour and their sense of ‘self’ will be influenced to some degree by what they see, read, hear or discover for themselves. Such an influence may include a particular way of behaving or dressing to the kind of music a person chooses to listen to. These are all aspects which go towards constructing a person’s own personal identity.
Firstly, it is important to establish what constitutes an identity, especially in young people. The dictionary definition states the following:

“State of being a specified person or thing: individuality or personality…” (Collins Gem English Dictionary. 1991).

The mass media provide a wide-ranging source of cultural opinions and standards to young people as well as differing examples of identity. Young people would be able to look at these and decide which they found most favourable and also to what they would like to aspire to be. The meanings that are gathered from the media do not have to be final but are open to reshaping and refashioning to suit an individual’s personal needs and consequently, identity. It is said that young people:

“…use media and the cultural insights provided by them to see both who they might be and how others have constructed or reconstructed themselves… individual adolescents…struggle with the dilemma of living out all the "possible selves" (Markus & Nurius, 1986), they can imagine.” (Brown et al. 1994, 814).

When considering how much time adolescents are in contact with the popular media, be it television, magazines, advertising, music or the Internet, it is clear to see that it is bound to have a marked effect on an individual’s construction of their identity. This is especially the case when the medium itself is concerned with the idea of identity and the self; self-preservation, self-understanding and self-celebration.

 “With a simple flip of the television channel or radio station, or a turn of the newspaper or magazine page, we have at our disposal an enormous array of possible identity models.” (Grodin & Lindlof 1996)

I believe the Internet is an especially interesting medium for young people to use in order to construct their identities. Not only can they make use of the imagery derived from the Internet, but also it provides a perfect backdrop for the presentation of the self, notably with personal home pages. By surfing the World Wide Web adolescents are able to gain information from the limitless sites which may interest them but they can also create sites for themselves, specifically home pages. Constructing a home page can enable someone to put all the imagery they have derived from the popular media into practice. For example:

“…constructing a personal home page can be seen as shaping not only the materials but also (in part through manipulating the various materials) one’s identity.” (Chandler 1998)

This is particularly important as not only are young people able to access such an interesting and wide ranging medium, but they are also able to utilise it to construct their own identity. In doing this, people are able to interact with others on the Internet just as they could present their identities in real life and interact with others on a day to day basis.
In conclusion it can be seen that the popular media permeates everything that we do. Consequently, the imagery in the media is bound to infiltrate into young people’s lives. This is especially the case when young people are in the process of constructing their identities. Through television, magazines, advertising, music and the Internet adolescents have a great deal of resources available to them in order for them to choose how they would like to present their ‘selves’. However, just as web pages are constantly seen to be 'under construction’, so can the identities of young people. These will change as their tastes in media change and develop. There is no such thing as one fixed identity; it is negotiable and is sometimes possible to have multiple identities. The self we present to our friends and family could be somewhat different from the self we would present on the Internet, for example. By using certain imagery portrayed in the media, be it slim fashion models, a character in a television drama or a lyric from a popular song, young people and even adults are able to construct an identity for themselves. This identity will allow them to fit in with the pressures placed on us by society, yet allow them to still be fundamentally different from the next person.


"Identity's complicated - everyone thuinks they've got one" - David Gauntlett

" A focus on Identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups" - David Buckingham

He classifies identity as an 'ambiguous and slippery' term
- Identity is something unique to each of us, but also implies a relationship with a broader group.
- Identity can change according to our circumstances.
- Identity is fluid and is affected by broader changes.
- Identity becomes more important to us if we feel it is threatened.

Cultural imperialism
- American culture being imprinted on british culture
Globalisation

David Gauntlett
Religious and national identities is at the heart of international conflicts.
The average teenager can create numerous identities in such a short space of time.
We all like to think we are unique but Gauntlett questions whether this is an illusion, and we are all much more similar than we think.

5 stages

- Creativity as a process, emotions and experiences
- Making and sharing, to feel alive, to participate in community
- Happiness, through creativity and community
- Creativity as a social glue, a middle layer between individuals and society
- Making your mark, putting your stamp on the world and making it your own

Collective identity: the individuals sense of belonging to a group ( part of personal identity)

Representation: the way reality is 'mediated' and 're-presented' to us.

1.       When was Youtube first released?

2005

2.       According to Michael Wesch what does Web 2.0 allow people to do?

Web is about linking people, sharing ideas with one another. user generated distribution

3.   When media changes what else changes?

Human relationships change

4.       What influenced the loss of community? And what has now filled this void?

When women join the work force, moving from corner store to big superstores, connected only by roadways and tv's. New forms of networks, ie mobile phones. Cultural inversion, increasingly individual but longing for community. Youtube is shaped by this.

5.       How are communities connected?

By youtube, mobile phones,

6.       Explain what he means by voyeuristic capabilities?

It allows you to watch other people without staring at them or making them feel uncomftable.

7.       Write 3 points about what he refers when he discusses playing with identity

8.       What does the ‘Free hugs phenomenon’ suggest about people?