Digital Technology Essay Plan

Audience Theory

Stuart Hall

Dominant view - Agree with the message the piece of media is trying to put across

Negotiated view - Agree with some elements but not others

Opposite view - Found the media piece not enjoyable

Aberrant view - Did not understand the piece of media at all

Uses & Gratifications Theory

The audience look to the media for one of the following:

Entertainment

Education

Information

Self-esteem

Supports moral values

Hegemonic Theory

"The ruling classes are able to rule by ideas and cultural influence rather than force."

- You are ruled by the influences you have.

Convention, Cliché or Challenge?

One of the ways we feel we can identify media texts as 'belonging' to a particular group or category, is to identify common features that both film-makers and audiences recognise.

Convention - a 'rule', usually determining the 'ways that things are done'. These are frequently generic - in other words they signify established practices associated with specific genres.

Cliché - a term used to describe a conventional feature of a text that has become over-familiar usually through either repeated use, or because it is a fairly obvious method of conveying some piece of story information.

Challenges - occur when film-makers are working in clear relation to a specific genre, but are consciously (or subconsciously) attempting to do something different.

Source: Teen Movies and Genre

Debates on Positive and Negative Images

• History suggests that once an oppressed group perceives it's political and social oppression, it begins to try to change that oppression.
• Normally ask for an increase in images of a particular group in order to gain a voice as previously they would of been portrayed as villainous or untrustworthy.
• Once visibility is achieved, it is often argued that more positive portrayals are needed.

Issues Surrounding Changing a Stereotype

• how to define the community
• 'positive' representations
• the effect of employment practices and discrimination in media production processes on such images

If someone is stereotyped as problematic, they are less likely to have access to influential positions in the media or to other kinds of power.

The Burden of Representation

• Most groups large enough to make such demands are homogeneous
• They are read as 'representing' the whole community
• They were often felt to need to 'stand in for' or represent the whole of their particular community
• Being represented in various and ordinary, even 'negative' ways might be a positive step

Source: The Media Student's Book

Creativity and Digital Technology Essay

“Digital technology turns media consumers into producers”. In your experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?

“Digital technology turns media consumers into producers” to an extent is relevant to my productions as software which I was able to gain on my home laptop was used to create my Foundation and Advanced Portfolios. This meant I was able to widen my range of skills and apply them to my work, turning me into a producer.

The editing software used in my Foundation Portfolio was iMovie, where I used an Apple Mac. As I had access to two Apple Macs for 10 hours each week, it meant I could transfer and use this digital technology in my free time as well as during designated editing times. For the thriller production in my Foundation Portfolio it was a fantastic piece of software to use, allowing me to trim film clips as well as adjust the lighting through the colour correction tool to ensure an on edge, eerie atmosphere could be created. However, the film clips timeline is automatically sized to what suits the programme, meaning when it came to trimming the clips to milliseconds, it was becoming an inconvenience as the accuracy took time and patience to gain the needed precision. After using it in my Foundation Portfolio, I knew full well it did not have the effects I wanted for my Advanced Portfolio’s music video. This meant I had to search for a piece of software that did: Cyberlink Power Director – only compatible with PCs rather than Apple Macs. By downloading the programme at home, it meant I could use my laptop in the free time during the days as well as at home, giving me continuous access to it; I could put the time and effort I needed to into my music video. It was particularly effective in the video editing effect zoom, which allowed a fast paced zoom in and out on a film clip when the protagonist is dancing with a stranger, exactly to the beat, applying music to visuals. This was the kind of precision I gained from Cyberlink Power Director that I felt was not possible on iMovie showing my creativity had developed as I was very specific on the image I wanted to create. The only disadvantage to Cyberlink was the effects on film clips were not always available on still image editing, creating a slight issue for the stop frame animation images.

MP3 and file sharing was simplistic in my Foundation Portfolio as I used an online website www.freeplay.com which allowed you to refine your search to a specific track initially designed for home movies. By filtering the searches, I was able to gain the electronic sound I wanted for my modern thriller production. However, the music was not technologically advanced; not something you would imagine could make it into a blockbuster production, but as it was legal and the music suited the atmosphere it was not a hugely important issue. In my Advanced Portfolio music video, I brought the track of iTunes which was a benefit to the artist as well as me as they gained another vote in their rank in the charts and I gained a reasonably priced song. The only disadvantage was the track’s format was not tailored for Cyberlink and so I had to spend time editing the tracks format. However, as I only had to ask the artist’s permission to use their song I realised I could have done the same for my Foundation Portfolio – this shows my creativity and knowledge have developed as it means I can now broaden my research.

In my Foundation Portfolio, I did not only use the web as a means of finding a track for my thriller production but also as I research base. Through the web, I was able to research my target audience and narrow it down to a specific demographic - the broadest one possible. I placed the information found on my blog where I stored all my ideas; however in my Advanced Portfolio the way I presented the information changed showing my creativity and use of the web advanced by using websites such as Flickr and SlideShare to present my information in a unique way rather than plain blocks of texts.

In my Advanced Portfolio I used my mobile phone to play the track whilst gaining the lip syncing images meaning that when it came to the editing later on, it would be a lot easier to apply this one of Goodwin’s principles. This is a strong example of convergence. The issue that arose was the noise of the wind that day drowned the limited volume on my mobile phone. Sometimes, the protagonist had to hold the phone in order to ensure the lip syncing could be gained which limited the angles that I could film as I did not want to capture the mobile in the image.

My ancillary tasks for my Advanced Portfolio showed most development as the programmes I used were new to me:
Serif Photoplus and Pageplus allowed me to use image manipulation, particularly noticeable on the inside of my digipack where there are three images of eyes gradually opening. I used the crop tool on the image and then adjusted the quality of the eyes by using the sharpen tool and the lighting effects, creating a poignant theme in the main and ancillary tasks: the notion of looking. However; never using this programme before meant the layering of the images became quite complicated. This gave me the motivation to download the programme at home, meaning I could transfer my work between two places giving me more time on it. The desktop publishing software on the free version I downloaded at home was not as technologically advanced as the full version available on the school computers meaning some effects did not show up at home, limiting the amount of things I could do in one evening. But, before I created these ideas, I had to voice them to the target audience to ensure they would surpass to buying my product. This involved a pitch using a projector and an iBoard allowing them to view the flat plans of my ideas. The feedback was strong and informative meaning I could adjust my products to suit their needs. Despite this, the pitch did not go completely according to the plan as the images were faded on the projection in comparison to the neon colours I wished to show them. My creativity developed through my ancillary tasks as I was able to explore new programmes and new ideas but also having an official pitch giving me more information on what I could improve on.

In conclusion, “digital technology turns media consumers into media producers” applies strongly to my productions as in my experience I have been able to create ideas and place them in the world using the digital technology that was fortunately available to me. Through the advance in this technology I was able to develop my creativity; broadening my horizons.

Media and Collective Identity

"Identity is complicated. Everyone thinks they've got one." - Gauntlett

"We see characters 'as is' - they are 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' and we are forced to wonder what we would do in their situation. The drama comes from the situation and the way the characters struggle to respond to it. This is the classic neorealist approach - the opposite of a story 'imposed' on the real world." - Stafford

Identity

"A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and their consequences both for individuals and for social groups." - Buckingham

• We can construct an alternative identity for ourselves online if we want to.
• We also employ identity into our everyday life (e.g. semiotic ideas like the clothes we wear, the media we consume, the people we like etc.)
• Combination of these amounts to "the presentation of the self" - Goffman
• Accents take us into the realm of collective identity.

Newspapers

• The target audience relates to how editors, writers, photographers and publishers combine to create a sense of belonging.
• The Marxist idea developed by Althusser's (1971) notion of interpellation.
• Interpellation - taken from Lacan's 'mirror phase' where an externalised image is perceived as both a self and an 'other'; your true self is defined by the 'other' and thus are trapped in it's ideology. The flaw of this is the 'other ' is supposedly created out of no where.
• Cause anxiety and intend to (also known as moral panic).
• 'False consciousness' - we are distracted from the inequality in society, ignore the good and focus purely on the bad.
• "In post-traditional cultures, where identities are not 'given' but need to be constructed and negotiated..." - Gauntlett

British Cinema

• Britain's representation on screen is hugely influenced by economic and political contexts, such as funding, the relationship of British film to the USA and the rest of Europe, dilemmas for producers, audience shifts, government agendas and the relationship of culture to commerce.
• British films are cultural products and look at a range of commercially successful and critically acclaimed films on release, with regard to directors, styles and audience responses.
• British cinema has always suffered, and still does, from a 'burden of representation.'

Film Categories

• Category A - an entirely British film, funded by UK finance, and staffed by a majority of British personnel.
• Category B - majority UK funded
• Category C - more common co-funded scenario
• Category D - US films with some UK creative input

"Every memorable achievement to come out of UK cinema since the war has come out of someone's desire to say something, not to sell it." -Roddick

The Burden of Representation

• Describes the way that the history of social realist British film can weigh on the shoulders of new film-makers and producers.
• The UK has a strong legacy of fiction that attempts to portray issues facing ordinary people in their social situations (social realist films).
• Social realist film should not be thought of as a genre or as a type of film, but as an approach.
• Distinguish between films that lead to serious debate about the 'real world' and real current social issues that affect people at the margins of society, and films that do not make this attempt.
• Social realism seeks to make explicit connections to matters of public debate - the economic system, social relations, relationships between ethnic groups, various forms of exploitation.
• "The work of film-makers today who may be creative, but are always grounded in the actuality of the events within their social contexts... Our experience as audiences is a constant frisson of recognition." - Murray
• Frisson - social realism is often uncomfortable when set against 'escapist' cinema.
• "Their Britishness is in their culturally specific address to audiences at home." - Murray

Source: OCR Media Studies for A2

Representation and Ideology

The conceptual area of representation and ideology considers the relationships between people, places, events, ideas, values and beliefs and how these are represented in the media; and the issues and debates arising from their representations.

Key Questions

1. Whose interests does the text serve? (Written by someone to someone)
2. Who is presented in this text? Who is absent from this text? (Viewpoint? Bias?)
3. What does the text tell us about who made it and when and where they made it? (Detached?)
4. Has its meaning changed over the years and in what ways?
5. What judgements do you make about the truth, accuracy or effect of this text?
6. What judgements might other people or groups make about it? (Their background?)
7. What values are offered, either directly or indirectly by the text?
8. What conclusions can we draw from it, what issues does it raise?
9. What do we need to consider when making a media ext?
10. What messages and values are we using in our decision-making?

Planning (Questions A - E)

The Organisation of Time & Equipment

My time in Foundation Portfolio was organised in a strong, structured manner. To ensure my Foundation Portfolio reached the conventions of thrillers, I had to plan effectively – my equipment was prepared as I used my own Sony video camera and my own lightweight tripod meaning when I was ready to film, I could reach for them and go. However; what needed most planning was ensuring my actors were all available on the same date. Fortunately, have free periods at the same time as the two actors in the opening of the thriller production meant I could plan that quite easily. With the rest of the production it was imperative the meeting for the filming was done as soon as possible so I could begin the editing stage. I organised the filming times by creating a shooting schedule, which had the dates and times agreed with actors to film. Before this could be done, I had to gain all my knowledge possible of what I was producing and so on my media blog I created a poll for my followers to respond to – it was the title of my film. The feedback being in quantitative data gave a clearer view as to what the target audience would like as the title, and by it being complete the planning was. This was effective as it meant I could move swiftly on to the creation of my Foundation Portfolio knowing my planning and equipment worked and were going to achieve the effect I wished to create: suspension, fear and apprehension.
In my Advanced Portfolio my equipment was the same as my Foundation Portfolio meaning I could again grab my equipment (and also a still frame camera) and film. This year I was launched into doing a music video – something I had never attempted before; therefore my planning and organisation had to be rigorous. My approach in my Foundation Portfolio seemed to work however my music video was split into narrative (stop frame animation) and performance (video) – this involved two settings and so took four meetings by splitting the stop frame and performance in to two meant I could re-record any weak parts to the footage. This was effective as it meant all the footage I gained was strong enough, clear enough and well suited to my music video.

The Efficient Choice and Organisation of Actors, Settings & Props

The actors chosen in my film were all selected from the BTEC Performing Arts actors in my sixth form and so I knew they were all highly talented. I chose my protagonist, the unnamed hit man, because his blond hair connotes innocence and purity and yet he is a paid murderer creating juxtaposition. The nervous man at the start of the production portrayed an unsteady and unstable person very well giving the persona of the hit man as a fearful character before the audience are even aware of what has occurred. By having a stranger running into the hit man emphasises the image and he was chosen because he looks normal, and so would act normal, not like someone you would expect to hire a hit man. The central prop being the mask was chosen so I had the option to challenge the convention of hidden identity. By the character being hidden when the clip begins, it conforms to the convention whereas when it is taken off and discarded it challenges this concept of a thriller film as well as challenge the career of the protagonist. In some ways this is reflected in the setting – a public place is the last place you would expect a hit man; he should be lurking in the shadows as an outsider of benign humanity. This was effective as it may have confused the audience, putting them on the edge of their seat: what you expect to happen in a thriller film. The problems encountered would be the public in the background – the noise was disruptive to the sensitivity of the microphone in the camera meaning the protagonist had to speak louder and each clip involved sound editing after. To improve it, I could change the setting to a more remote yet public area, where it is respectful to be private, i.e. by the public river.
In my Advanced Portfolio I chose my actor because I had used him in my Foundation Portfolio and knew he would be well suited as a flexible actor. My female character was chosen because the general closeness of the characters in reality could be portrayed effectively in my music video. The setting of a house for the stop frame animation suited the lyrics as it was about a meeting of a boy and girl at a house party. The nature of the performance based part of my music video was chosen to add a relaxing element to it – also the autumn colours had to be absorbed in some way, and the brightness of the day added to the protagonist’s persona. The props used acted as symbolism, being signs and banners. Having a purpose behind each prop to convey a message shows improvement as it meant the audience had to watch the music video all the way through to ensure the message was clear – there was no need to switch it off.

Scripting and/or Storyboarding

The storyboard in my Foundation Portfolio was a rough idea – with hindsight, I regret not doing a second draft as I feel on the day of filming it would have gone more fluently if the planning was more precise. The scripting however I was proud of for being quite complex and therefore lulling the audience to know more for the rest of the film. This was the effect I hoped to achieve; despite how strong the script was I felt it would have been highly improved by a more focussed storyboard. A problem encountered would be the noise of the setting which again could have been avoided had I looked for a more peaceful, yet eerie, setting.
There were two drafts for my storyboard: the first was doing before my pitch presentation, the final after. The pitch presentation gave me qualitative feedback meaning I could incorporate my target audience’s view into my final storyboard and so I felt it was stronger than last year due to more precise preparation. The script itself was the lyrics; however I annotated the lyrics to apply Goodwin’s principles meaning I was applying the conventions of a typical music video. This ensured I was achieving what was expecting and left me with a reassured feeling. By doing two storyboards in my Advanced Portfolio shows improvement as I learnt the importance of preparation.

Initial Target Audience Research

To research for my Foundation Portfolio, I vigilantly looked into the typical viewer of a thriller film and managed to retrieve quantitative information in the form of pie charts and bar diagrams. Through this I was able to ensure my thriller film was aimed at the correct demographic – those who love being put on the edge of their seat. Relooking at my Foundation Portfolio it was extremely limited to its gender orientation: being an all male class about a stereotypically male profession screams it was targeted at the male audience. Reflectively, I would edit it so it could reach a female audience somehow, perhaps by adding in a love story concept somehow; layering the narrative.
The target audience for my Advanced Portfolio was slightly easier as I knew the artist, I listened to their music and went to their performances and so I knew the demographic they reached out to. By doing my own independent research by going to a live performance, it meant I had gained first-hand experience into the atmosphere and what I need to recreate in my own music video. This shows improvement as it adds a more personal element to the production.

Existing Media Practice/ Products

I researched into my Foundation Portfolio task by watching numerous amounts of thriller openings. The influence of my product was Layer Cake shown strongly by the unnamed protagonist who does an illegal activity and calls it a career. I also researched into the typical conventions of thrillers and how each film I had looked at applied these conventions: some did it how it was expected, others challenged. This research spurred the creativity in my mind to mould an entirely new product – a topic that had not been challenged in any of the films I had seen: the paradox of a hit man being murdered. The key problem encountered was to maintain this idea knowing there was nothing like it. I feel it was a success overall, despite this.
The song and artist chosen for my Advanced Portfolio was clearly under the indie-rock genre and so my research mainly comprised of looking into music videos under this genre. Again I noted the conventions they contained but mostly I took on board this idea of a narrative and performance based music video, advancing in my mind to the product I created. Instead of challenging the conventions as such, I merely elaborated them. Improvement was shown in emphasising a distinction between the narrative and performance: stop frame animation versus visual video footage.

Applying Theorists

My Thriller Production

Many would immediately distance themselves from a hit man, but in my thriller production XYZ he is put forward and placed in front of them as the supposedly trusting character instead of the antagonist of which he should typically be placed as, making 'novel associations which are useful' (Isaksen and Treffinger, 1993). This juxtaposes the audience's original thoughts and takes them out of their comfort zone, whilst 'rule breaking'. Also, the opening scene being a black and white meeting with a character with hidden identity acts as a form of film-noir where shadows often hide a characters face. The idea of film-noir, and yet a quirky and unusual mask suggests, 'The making of the new and the rearranging of the old' (Bentley, 1997).

My Music Video

'The ability to bring something new into existence' (Anthony Starr) could be seen in the lyrics to visuals in my music video as it is in the form of stop frame animation with something different happening each time the lyrics 'just say you will' are sung. Then again, this could be suggested as 'the making of the new and the rearranging of the old' (Bentley, 1997) as it conforms to Goodwin's principles in new, experimental ways. Also, 'new associations which are useful' (Isaksen and Treffinger, 1993) could apply to my music video as the indie-rock genre has only been prominent in the charts in the last 10 years, meaning the genre's conventions in music videos need to be reinforced, e.g. colourisation, close ups of instruments etcetera.

Postmodern Quotes

'The mass media... were once thought of as holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social reality. Now that reality is only definable in terms of the surface reflections of that mirror. It is no longer a question of distortion since the term implies that there is a reality, outside the surface simulations of media, which can be distorted, and this is precisely what is the issue.' - Strinati

'Truth is what we should rid ourselves of as fast as possible and pass it on to somebody else. As with illnesses it's the only way to be cured of it. He who hangs on to truth has lost.' - Baudrillard

'The media do not reflect and represent the reality of the public but instead produce it, employing this simulation to justify their own continuing existence. Thus news feedback functions to confirm to itself, and to convince us, that someone is watching, that the news is important, and that the public are politically interested and mobilised. Desperately needing this confirmation, news programmes tailor questions, debates and features to provoke it, encouraging views to follow and contribute towards the arguments or the fluctuating percentage results of the selected vote of the day.' - Baudrillard

'The term postmodern is often used to describe the work of the Coen Brothers. This is a term which has no easy definition. Their telling of stories which comment on the nature of stories and of storytelling, their reaction against classic genres, their turning over and examination of genre stereotypes and conventions from within their films, are all part of what is being referred to when they are said to be postmodern.' - Levan

Blade Runner Critic Quotations

'Blade Runner hold[s] up to us, a mirror, many of the essential features of the condition of postmodernity.' - Harvey

Blade Runner is a 'vision of the future that extrapolates contemporary trends to envision their possible consequences.' - Byer

'As a consequence, the film falls in with the doom-and-gloom-bell-ringers of the early 1980's who were... reacting to the excessive optimism of 'deterministic futurology.' - McGuigan

'The superficial does not necessarily represent a decline into meaninglessness or valueless in culture.' - McRobbie

'retreat[ing] from the implications of its radical critique into filmic clichés and individualist solutions' - Instrell

'a radical structural analysis of the city can only acquire social force if it is embodied in an alternative experiential vision - in this case, of the huge Los Angeles Third World whose children will be the Los Angeles of the next millennium.' - Davis

Coen Brothers' Presentation

The Coen Brothers

View more presentations from Lorna Wooldridge.

Blade Runner OCR Textbook

• A classic piece of dystopian science fiction
• Often discussed as a postmodern film

Style

• A postmodern aesthetic, mixing textual references and images.
• Film-noir juxtaposed the futuristic, dystopian images (time is manipulated).
• L.A in the future is in itself a pastiche of our ideas of the East, the West and the future.
• Mise-en-scene of decay and decline.
• An end for humanity as we know it.
• The replicants striving for an extension to their lifespan.

Reception

• The meaning of humanity in the postmodern age.
• The distinction between the human and the machine is unclear.
• L.A seen - the postmodern city. (Huge advertising images promoting an off-world colony, the idea that anyone who can has 'fled' the real world for a more virtual experience).

Subject Matter

• Unsure as to whether the protagonist, Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, is human or not, remaining an enigma.
• 'All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.' - Roy Batty, the lead replicant's line when dying.
• Blurring of opposites: reality/fiction, human/machine, life/death and good/bad.
• Deals with racism (the extermination of replicants) and so replaces real world concerns in a fantasy setting.
• The classic oppositions that have defined our philosophy are undermined, or at least exposed as vulnerable.

Source: OCR Media Studies for A2 Textbook

Hyperreality

• Introduced by Baudrillard.
• Disneyland is the best example for understand how our reality works in the postmodern world - a place which is a real, physical space, but also clearly a fictional, representational world.
• Semiotic ideas - signs represent ideas, people or places.
• For Baudrillard there is only surface meaning - nothing is semiotic as there is not anything 'original' for there to be a semiotic of.
• The sign is now the meaning - we inhabit a society built up wholly of simulacra (simulations of reality which replace 'pure' reality).
• Therefore, any boundary between the real and imaginary is eroded.

Postmodernism

Basic Postmodern Ideas

• Postmodern media rejects the idea that any media product or text is of any greater value than another. All judgements of value are merely taste. Anything can be art, anything can deserve to reach an audience, and culture 'eats itself' as there is no longer anything new to produce or distribute.
• The distinction between media and reality has collapsed, and we now live in a 'reality' defined by images and representations - a state of simulacrum. Images refer to each other and represent each other as reality rather than some 'pure' reality that exists before the image represents it - this is the state of hyperreality.
• All ideas of 'the truth' are just competing claims - or discourses - and what we believe to be the truth at any point is merely the 'winning' discourse.

Source: OCR Media Studies for A2 Textbook

Film-Noir

• Voice over is a typical feature of film noir.
• The story involved a crime and an investigating hero.
• Themes include fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia.
• Story lines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music.
• Jarring editing or juxtaposition elements, ominous shadows, skewed camera angles.
• Dramatic patterns of light and shade created by light filtering through a blind or latticed windows.
• Film noir is associated with an urban context, cities and low life areas.
• Women in this genre were either dutiful, reliable, trustworthy, loving or femme fatales.

Science Fiction

• Science fiction is often based on scientific principles and technology.
• Science fiction may make predictions about life in the future.
• Often deals with non-human life forms.
• Can comment on important issues in society.

10 Essentials for Reflective Writing

1) Focus on creative decisions informed by institutional knowledge

You did what you did partly because of what you had learned about how the media produce, distribute and share material.

2) Focus on creative decisions informed by theoretical understanding

You know that you did what you did because of having a point of view in relation to media and meaning, and you can describe that in relation to cultural media theories.

3) Evaluate the process - don't just describe it

Why some things worked well and others not so well.

4) Relate your media to 'real media' at the micro level

Give clear, specific examples of how you used techniques and strategies to create intertextual references to media you have been influenced by.

5) Try to deconstruct yourself

Don't ever think of your own tastes, decisions, preferences, behaviour as just being 'the ways things are'; instead, try to analyse the reasons for these things - it is tough to do this, but worth the effort.

6) Choose clearly relevant micro examples to relate to macro reflective themes

You can't write about everything you did, so be prepared with a 'menu' of examples to adapt to the needs of the reflective task.

7) Avoid binary oppositions

Your media products will not either follow or challenge existing conventions; they will probably do a bit of both.

8) Try to write about your broader media culture

Don't just limit your writing to your OCR production pieces, but try to extend your response to include other creative work or other media-related activities you have been engaged in.

9) Adopt a metadiscourse

Step outside of just describing your activities as a media studies student to reflect, if possible, on the 'conditions of possibility' for the subject and your role within it - what kind of an activity is making a video for media studies, compared to making a video as a self-employed media producer.

10) Quote, paraphrase, reference

Reflective writing about production is still academic writing, so remain within the mode of address.

Source: OCR Media Studies for A2 textbook

Personal Audit

Useful Websites

http://www.alevelmedia.co.uk

http://media.edusites.co.uk

http://longroadmedia.com

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html

G325 Exam - Critical Perspectives in Media

The Exam

- Two hours

- Two compulsory questions

- Total marks available: 100 (1 (a) = 25, 1 (b) = 25, 2 = 50)

Question 1 (a) will ask one of the following:

- Digital technology

- Creativity (tends to be asked with one other)

- Research and planning

- Post - production

- Using conventions from real media texts

Question 1 (b) will ask one of the following:

- Genre

- Narrative

- Representation

- Audience

- Media Language