Sect B past question Year 12

'Our enjoyment of media products is influenced by the platforms we use to access them.'
How far is this true of your cross-media study?
In your answer you should:

• provide a brief outline of your cross-media study
• consider how audiences use and respond to media products from different media platforms
• support your answer with reference to a range of examples from three media platforms

We have worked to plan this answer together in class.
ENJOYMENT = what the audience get out of it = look at audience theory > Uses and Gratifications, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Active/Passive Audiences.

Revise preferred, oppositional and negotiated readings if you can't remember what these mean. Also revise the meaning of a POLYSEMIC text.

Print = limited enjoyment as audience can be argued to mostly be passive. However, print is now changing to encourage audiences to participate on other platforms > this enhances enjoyment.

Moving image = enigma codes create intrigue and mystery for audience, could develop personal relationships as audiences discuss what it means.  Characterisation and narrative allow audience to form an idea of their own personal identity based on what they see.

E-media = most enjoyable as most interactive and personalised for audiences. Can represent self on e-media. Social media allows interaction with favourite artists, entry to competitions, audience given a voice which they do not necessarily have on other platforms. E -media also allows audience to play the role of producer (youtube etc)

Go on the media blog and print off the media terms glossary to revise from. Treat it as a check list when you write answers!

A top band answer will have:

• Thorough application of knowledge and understanding of how audiences respond to media products from different media platforms
• 
  
• Thorough use of a range of detailed examples from three media platforms
• 
  
• Clear, well organised and appropriate communication. Engaged response with fluent use of media terminology
• 
  
• Confident understanding and application of media ideas/issues/theories/ debates

A few moving image texts to analyse before the exam!

First off, John Lewis. We know how much Year 13 love John Lewis and the new advert definitely hasn't let us down. It's almost like a mini film and really creates a sense of nostalgia. Notice how John Lewis never reveal who the advertisement is for until the very end!

'For 150 years you've never stood still'

 

Year 12 exam style questions:

Media Institutions

What brand values are communicated about John Lewis?

(12 marks)

 

Media Forms

How are editing and sound used in the sequence to structure the narrative?

(12 marks)

 

Media Representations

How is family life represented in the sequence?

(12 marks)

 

Media Audiences

How does the advert target the audience?

(12 marks)

 

Year 13 exam style questions:

 

How does John Lewis create a strong brand identity in these print and online products? (8 marks)

 

 

How is the representation of family life constructed to appeal to the audience?

You may also refer to other media products to support your answer.

(12 marks)

 

Is the media able to challenge traditional representations of femininity? You should refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)

 

My personal favourite, Spotify! 'Power to music lovers'

 

Year 12 exam style questions:

 

Media Institutions

What is suggested about Spotify through this advert?

(12 marks)

 

Media Forms

How are sound and editing used to engage the audience?

(12 marks)

 

Media Representations

How are stereotypes subverted through the Spotify advert?

(12 marks)

 

Media Audiences

How do Spotify and Vodafone seek to appeal to their target audience(s)?

(12 marks)

 

Year 13 exam style questions:

 

How do Spotify and Vodafone seek to engage an existing audience and appeal to new audiences?  (8 marks)

 

 

How is the representation of the elderly constructed to appeal to the audience?

You may also refer to other media products to support your answer.

(12 marks)

 

How important is it for producers to have a multi-platform presence?

You should refer to other media products to support your answer.

(12 marks)

 

Iphone 5s 'You're more powerful than you think'

 All of you to analyse:

How many different ways does the advert suggest the Iphone 5S could improve your life?
How do sound and editing convey the idea that an Iphone 5s is necessary to have?
How are Apple's brand values communicated?

 

 

Keep checking the blog and twitter for exam tips. Good luck with revision!

Homework - Past paper question

Spend one hour answering the following exam question:

Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?

This homework should not just be one hour long! You should spend a long time planning and gathering evidence from your case study so that you know what to say. Preparation is key here! Look at the mark scheme to ensure you are doing what you should be.

New/digital media case studies

Here are the case studies you have chosen:

JACK
The future of the games console
A study into how new technology is affecting gaming and how this impacts on the audiences who buy/play the games. As games become more real and interactive, do we become dangerously involved in their narratives? Audience theories are useful here!

SUSIE
Cyberfeminism
Has the internet helped or hindered feminist causes? Has it not created more opportunities for stalking, objectifying and criticizing women? Or is it used to provide freedom of speech and to promote feminist causes?

KIERAN
The impact of Facebook on our lives
A study into how people use Facebook in positive and potentially negative ways. Could look at Facebook campaigns, scams etc as well as controversies over privacy, control and the power and influence it has as a website. Remember to look at how it makes money and how the adverts we see are tailored to our ‘needs’.

ISAAC
Youtube
Content is generated by users however this has caused problems with copyright laws. Youtube is owned by Google so who really benefits from the site’s popularity? Look at 'prosumers'.

ALICIA
The music industry
The internet had created ways for musicians to promote themselves and for some it is the reason they gained fame in the first place. Look at ways artists have used digital media to promote themselves.

REBECCA
 Advertising and branding
A study into how companies use new/digital media in innovative ways to promote brands and products. You could consider how adverts are now tailored to individual users. Is this a form of censorship? Do you see the same version of the internet as everyone else?

JOE
 Mobile Phone Technology and Convergence
Look at the future of mobile phones – how have we changed the way we use them from just being calling/texting devices. In the future your phone could become your wallet, with new technology which will allow you to use it as a payment card.
BECKER
 Apple – the iPod, iPhone and iPad
This brand has been responsible for many innovative products – they have made technology fashionable, functional and above all something which makes a statement about the owner of the device. You could look at the functions of their most iconic products and how they are changing the way we live.

MEST 3 SECTION B WHAT MAKES A GOOD CASE STUDY

SECTION B – WHAT MAKES A GOOD CASE STUDY AND A GOOD EXAM

ANSWER

 

 

WHAT MAKES A GOOD CASE STUDY?

The best case studies include:

 

1. A range of different media products from a range of media platforms

2. Detailed examples from particular media products.

3. Evidence of research into media debates and issues and relevant wider contexts.

4. Theory used to explain and support answers

5. A real interest in the case study chosen, evidenced by engagement with the products and issues and own opinions.

 

HOW TO GET THE BEST MARK YOU CAN

 

1. Having your own individual case study to answer the question.

You shouldn’t all have the same case study. This doesn’t allow you to show evidence of independent study, which excludes you from the higher levels. For example, all writing answers on the representation of youth, with the same or very similar media products, theory, contexts and media debates will limit you. Candidates who have their own case study are more engaged and more willing to focus on the question, rather than repeat a pre learned answer of descriptive points. This will lead to higher marks as it is more independent. The majority of the media products used to support and illustrate your answer should also be individual. You will do a class overview of a topic to introduce it and then you should do your own individual case study with your own choice of media products.

 

2. Answer the particular question that is asked, don’t write ‘everything I know about my case study’. It is best to do a plan before the question is answered.

 

3. Include detailed references to particular media products, rather than just general examples.

For example:

A point explaining that the BBC has adapted to the changes in new and digital media could be illustrated with them reaching a niche audience with BBC3 and some examples of BBC3 programmes and examples from those programmes.

A point explaining how social networking was used to reach audiences in the last election could be illustrated by a particular party or single issue website, with examples from the content of the website.

 

4. Showing range in your answers – platforms, media products

Refer to a wide range of platforms, preferably all three, but at least two.

This can seem more straight forward for some case studies, but even for example in a case study on the vampire genre products could be obviously films and TV programmes, but also teenage girls magazines and fan and official websites.

Refer to a range of different media products to support the answer, not for example just one or two films.

 

5. Having a clear focus.

Answers are better when they have a clear and specific focus.

For example for Representation one social group or one place with detailed examples from particular media products and for New and Digital media one industry and one institution, again with detailed examples from particular media products

 

6. Apply media issues, debates and theories

What does your case study suggest are the current issues in the media?

Apply relevant media theories to your case study and media products, use the theory to answer the question and support the point made, don’t just describe a theory.

 

7. Include relevant wider contexts

Again apply them to the own case study.

MEST3: Critical Perspectives exam - Revision! MOCK ON 10TH DECEMBER

Hello hard-working year 13! 

I know you are all currently working extremely hard on your essays, planning linked production work AND revising for your mock so here is something to help your revision over the next week.  

What do you need to know?

Your mock exam is scheduled for Tuesday 10th December period 5. You will be answering Section A of the exam only; we have not covered everything for Section B yet so this will have to wait. This means you will be spending 45 minutes answering the questions and about 15-20 minutes viewing the text. 

Section A has three questions. You must answer all of them.

There will be information on the products which you should read, highlight and understand in order to answer the questions properly.

You will be shown the two media products three times. In between these viewings you should make notes in response to the questions. These notes will not be marked.

You should spend approximately 45 minutes answering the questions in Section A.
This section tests you on your ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates


Here's what you should revise:

• Media concepts - MIGRAIN
• Semiotics
• Audience theories
• Understanding of a wide range of critical debates/issues/theories (your yellow folder!)
• Examples of a range of media products that might fit with debates/issues/theories
• Media terminology

How you could revise:

• Read through your yellow folder and re-write out notes, make posters, spider diagrams or record what you have learnt in a way that you will remember.
• Collect newspaper articles that are relevant and discuss current debates
• Find a range of examples to fit with each issue or debate we have discussed
• Analyse a few moving image texts - this could be adverts, trailers, extracts from news programmes or anything which involves you analysing how and why it has been constructed.
• Read through all of the past posts on the blog and use twitter to ask us questions
• Use the internet to search anything you may have forgotten or want to develop a proper understanding of

What type of thing will you be presented with?

Some information (which you are expected to highlight and use to inform your answer):

Media Product One – Adidas House Party Advert

Adidas launched the House Party campaign in January 2009. The advert was part of the Adidas Originals brand campaign which used television, cinema, print and online platforms. The Adidas website described the campaign as ‘set against the backdrop of a house party hosting an electric mix of people from the worlds of music, fashion and sport’. The advert includes David Beckham, The Ting Tings, Estelle, Missy Elliot, Katy Perry, Method Man and Run DMC. The song in the advert is the Pilooski re-mix of Frankie Valli’s original version of ‘Beggin’. Adidas also created a version of the advert which enabled users to click at various points of the film to view extra footage. Xbox Live also hosted a dedicated Adidas Originals section on its portal where gamers could browse and download content.

Media Product Two – NHS & Home Office Advert

The £4m campaign targeted 18 to 24 year-olds with the slogan, ‘You wouldn’t start a night like this, so why end it that way?’ There were two TV adverts in the campaign, one focusing on a young man and one on a young woman getting ready to go out. The campaign used TV, radio, press and digital platforms. The TV adverts appeared on youth programming, sport and music channels; the radio adverts on national and regional stations; and the print adverts in youth-oriented titles including Nuts, NME, Glamour and Reveal. In The Guardian, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary at the time, said: ‘This new campaign will challenge people to think twice about the serious consequences of losing control. Binge drinking is not only damaging to health but it makes individuals vulnerable to harm.’

Three questions (which you must check you understand!):

Question 1

Evaluate how each media product represents young people. (8 marks)

Question 2

Why are shock tactics, such as those in media product two, so often used?

 You may also refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)

Question 3

Consider the value of using online marketing to target a youth audience.

You should refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)

Two products (which you must make notes on):

(Sorry for poor quality but I pinched it from Youtube!)

View this blog post as the perfect revision! It is a past paper from 2011. Watch the videos three times and make notes in between on representations, the key concepts, debates in the media and other things you feel are relevant. 

If you are working hard then I expect to see a few answers on this blog post to show me what you can do! 

The best answers will:

• Make detailed references to both products - this means referring to camera shots, music, setting etc
• Show a sophisticated understanding of media concepts - not just listing the concepts but truly engaging with them and exploring what the question asks of you
• A wide range of media issues, theories and debates (Question 2 and 3 requires a range of examples from other media you have seen)
• Critical autonomy - this means making independent points and not just repeating things I have told you without making it relevant to what you have seen. You must be specific to the product you are looking at and how that relates to wider issues within the media. Avoid making general points if you can't explain or support them. You should show an interest in the media and knowledge of many different things. Only the truly engaged and hard-working will be able to do this. Is it you?

Good luck with revision! Keep an eye on the blog and Twitter!

Nike 'Make it count' (Pre-reading for Friday's lesson)

In 2012, Nike launched a campaign called 'Make it count'. At the heart of the campaign was the idea that we step up, exercise and make every day count fully. Nike's campaign had several parts: viral video, youtube videos, posters, Twitter hashtag and website. Remember that a campaign means it will be across several platforms or there will be more than one product. This is in order to reach a wider audience using a variety of techniques.

 

The viral video, produced by Casey Neistat and Max Joseph, shows the two men travelling around the world in ten days with the Nike Fuelband. With over 8 million views and counting, the video spread quickly and worked on the audience's need to escape from the stresses of daily life and immerse themselves in something exciting (diversion).

 

 

 Alongside the viral video, there are also several black and white posters featuring a number of the UK's top athletes making personal pledges for 2012. It then encourages everyone else to join in on Twitter, by announcing their own goals via the hashtag #makeitcount.

Created by Wieden + Kennedy London and AKQA, the campaign includes a series of posters shot by photographer Adam Hinton, which show the athletes at the most intense (and at times painful-looking) moments during training. Each athlete's pledge is then written on top of the image. These vary from the straightforward – "Don't dream of winning. Train for it." from Mo Farah – to the stark: Paula Radclliffe's poster simply states that "nearly isn't enough". 

 

 

 

 

 

As well as being shown on poster sites and online, Adam Hinton's portraits were displayed in Nike's 1948 store in Shoreditch, London from January 18. "We wanted to show the sheer hard work and determination these athletes put into the sports they love," says Hinton of the images. "To be at the top of their game requires enormous amounts of blood, sweat and tears and they train hard, pushing themselves to the limit to get there."

 

There was also a further in-store component to the campaign at Nike's flagship London stores in Westfield Stratford City and Oxford Street, where shoppers were photographed alongside their own handwritten pledges, with the resulting images displayed around the stores. While no mention of the Olympics is made in the ads (Nike was not an official partner of the Games), the theme of the campaign and the decision to use UK athletes only makes it difficult not to link it to the event.

There is also a series of online films, directed by Joe Roberts, expanding on the theme. Mo Farah and Rio Ferdinand's films are shown below. Think about how you might write a semiotic analysis of these videos for Section A of your exam. We will be watching them on Friday and I will expect your input!

 

 

Source:



Creative review

Questions to consider:

1 Media Forms (12 marks) How is the video constructed to engage the audience?

2 Media Representations (12 marks) How are athletes represented in the advert?

3 Media Institutions (12 marks) What values and ideologies are present in this advert?

4 Media Audiences (12 marks) How does the advert try to convince the audience to use Nike products?



Virgin Atlantic exam questions

We have studied the above advert in class and based it on exam questions. Each group should have come up with notes for a particular section.

Here is what you came up with:

1 Media Forms (12 marks) How is the video constructed to engage the audience?

- CGI is exciting - women flying in the air, giant cocktail glasses
- Well-known song - non-diegetic music - Muse - 'Feelin' good' - implies that Virgin customers will feel good and also links to being 'in the sky'
- Intertextuality - golden eye (James Bond) - martini glass connotes glamour, class, sophistication and fun. Oversized so our eye is drawn to it.
- Recognisable cities/landmarks e.g. Gherkin, Statue of Liberty - shows that Virgin can take you anywhere - looks impressive
- No cuts - flowing transition which suggests that the flight and the experience with Virgin will be smooth
- Men poledancing on forks is humorous and shows an alternative representation of men
- Iconography of flying (jet engines, security machines, suitcase, air hostesses, tickets) relates to airplanes and travel experiences - audience automatically recognise what it is about
- Main colour red which creates brand recognition. Secondary colours are glittery which connotes glamour and luxury. The air hostesses also wear purple which connotes sophistication.
- Surreal advert - sizes of women and men, melting women, man on cloud - intrigues viewer - seems magical and perfect.
-Ends with humour at end by using diegetic sound - 'Is that Linda?' 'No, she's in Miami' - humanises the women and makes the audience feel more keen to fly with Virgin.
-Attractive men and women engage audience using their image. Direct eye contact, bold stances and body language.


 
2 Media Representations (12 marks) How is gender represented in the advert?

- Women wear red which connotes glamour and passion
- Women and men in Martini glass look equal, friendly and approachable
- Man being tucked in - presenting women as protective and helpful. Slightly suggestive 'shh' and glance at camera.
- Men in suits makes airline appear smart and sophisticated - they appear confident and in charge.
- Men poledancing and x-ray machine adds element of comedy which shows flight will be fun and entertaining. This also stops advert from purely sexualising women.
- Representation of women normalised at end - women taking off heels shows going back to reality
- Women turn safety procedures into sexualised dances which suggests that women are there to look at (male gaze)
- The focus on giant eyes and lips entices men and again suggests that women are there to be looked at. Ripping of shirt (intertextuality American Beauty) connotes passion and attractiveness.
- Male pilots waving to 'fans' on red carpet appear to be cool and in control. They're to be admired.
- Women as servants - on flight attendants and carrying men on suitcases at beginning
-  All presented as perfect and without flaws.


3 Media Institutions (12 marks) What values and ideologies are present in this advert?

- Playful and fun airline - man sliding down suitcase, going through security, relaxed tone
- Best airline, lots of available flights - several planes in sky at once
- Airline cares - x-rays, tucking man in on cloud, serving on board
- Pilots and airhostesses are smiling so appear friendly and helpful
- End stood on wing looking welcoming
- Woman serving ice cream - shows crew are confident and do their job
- Smooth transitions suggest easy flight
- Red carpet likened them to celebrities - shows in demand company
- Music based on a classic with a modern twist - suggesting Virgin are the same
- Silver cutlery showing high standards
- Final shot of employees appearing humorous shows that Virgin are able to laugh at themselves. It also makes the company seem less intimidating as we can relate to the people that work for Virgin. Ideology could be that they value everyone.



4 Media Audiences (12 marks) How does the advert try to convince the audience that Virgin are the best company to fly with?

- Silhouettes throughout sky showing that Virgin fly all over the world - same is true with the difference locations shown.
-Red carpet and waving tickets shows that it is a company which is in demand and popular- links to celebrity status and shows that they are better than all others. Customers seem desperate to fly with Virgin and have the full 'experience'
- Women serving customers shows airline is helpful and will go the extra mile
- Man sleeping on cloud which has connotations of soft beds and luxury. Hostess tucking him in shows that customers are given the personal touch in comparison with other companies.
- Professional outfits indicates that the company is also professional - corporate image of red shows high standards across the board.
- Technology and cinema style curtains which suggests luxury and access the best items
- Standing on wing at end shows availability of staff
- High quality advert (CGI and transitions) shows that the company also has money available for a good experience and don't try to skip the extra things which make a flight enjoyable.
- Prawn/fresh food, cutlery and cocktails shows that the airline has the best options for their customers
- Fast security - metal detectors.
- All of the above features play on common reports/complaints about airlines. Virgin Atlantic are seeking to establish themselves as a high quality company who won't let you down and are not like other flight carriers. Presenting themselves as celebrities automatically shows that they want to be seen as having a higher status and will do their best to make their customers feel valued and special.


Look over these notes (and others) for your revision. Make sure you can recognise technical codes used to construct adverts and focus on values and ideologies (as this seems to be the one most of you are struggling on). When you watch film trailers and adverts try to look at them as a Media student!

Theories and a glossary to help with your exam

 You'll all be getting a copy of this in the lesson on Monday but I'm also putting it on the blog as a reference point for those of you who 'misplace' things. We have looked at these theories and key words over the last two years but it seems that some of you still need a hand remembering them and being able to apply them to your representation case studies.  

It is important to be following the news and current issues and debates at the same time as learning these theories. The nature of media is that it is always changing - a new issue about your case study could come up at any time! The examiners love to see you mention contemporary issues which shows that you truly do study the media and have given your case study some real thought.

Your section B answer should be a 'sophisticated and comprehensive discussion and evaluation' of your case study. It is impossible to do that if you have only looked at two or three media products!

Theories you need to know!

FUNCTIONALISTS

Believe that the media has a useful and important purpose in people’s lives and that we NEED it. For example:

They believe that it is important to feel as though you belong to a community and to have a national identity. Durkheim believes it is very important to feel a sense of national identity to keep a community going.

Blumler & Katz were functionalists that came up with the “Uses & Gratifications Theory” which states that the media has different functions and uses for audiences.  They think that audiences need different types of media for information, entertainment, escape, identification and social interaction

Richard Dyer’s Utopian solutions theory

He believes that an audience will enjoy a text if it offers them a glimpse of a “utopian” perfect life and if it offers them solutions to particular problems they have.  For example audiences suffering from boredom will need products offering entertainment.  Audiences suffering from isolation will seek out a text that offers them a sense of community

MARXISTS Believe that the media is used to deliberately manipulate an audience into believing specific things.  They think it is a BAD thing because they think we are being duped.  Believe that audiences are passive, and that we are manipulated and the media affects our behaviour and our beliefs about what it is to be British. Karl Marx believed that the ruling class dominates the working class.  And they believe that as the majority of film production companies are large, commercial and run by ruling classes, they tend to perpetuate the dominant ideology to exert hegemonic control over the working classes to create a “false consciousness” where working class people are convinced that society is good and their lives are fine the way they are.  The Marxist group the FRANKFURT SCHOOL came up with the idea of the “HYPODERMIC SYRINGE MODEL” often also known as the “MEDIA EFFECTS THEORY”.  This is a theory which states that the media is like a needle injecting its message into the audience and that all audiences get the same message.  The audience is powerless to resist this message and they are directly influenced by it.

NEO MARXISTS Stuart Hall is a “neo Marxist” who believes that although the media TRIES to manipulate and control audiences, audiences might NOT automatically believe or accept what they see.  He believes that audiences take either a preferred, oppositional or negotiated reading of a text.  He says the way people interpret the media depends on their cultural background and personality He believes that the more a specific representation is repeated in the media, the more it becomes “naturalised” and it can lead to politically constructed representations seeming like “a common sense”. He also believes that the media tends to construct society rather than reflect it.

DANIEL CHANDLER’S CAGE THEORY He believes that our sense of identity is made up of 4 main aspects which he nicknames the “CAGE THEORY”.  This consists of Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity.  He believes the media’s portrayal of these 4 aspects affects how we feel about our own identity. Also agrees with Stuart Hall and thinks that representations which become familiar through constant re-use come to feel 'natural' and unmediated

PLURALISTS Believe that media only reflects what audiences want and that if it didn’t do this, film companies would go out of business. They admit that some representations  are more common, but that this is just because those beliefs already exist in society so films have to reflect them

POSTMODERNISTS Believe that culture is so diverse now that class, gender, ethnicity and age don’t really define who we are.  They don’t think there is a big class divide (or any other divide for that matter) and they believe that audiences are diverse and varied. They don’t believe that having a “National Identity” is possible anymore because Britain is such a diverse place and we are now all so different.  Some postmodernists think that globalisation has led to us being “Americanised” and not having any real sense of national identity.  They think that all around the world people are losing their sense of national identity because of this and that we live in a state of “cultural homogeneity” where all the cultures are virtually the same. Baudrillard also thinks that in this day and age where we are bombarded with media, we often start to accept media as reality without looking at the real world.  He thinks that we prefer the “created” version of reality as it is often more glamourous and entertaining.  He calls this a “hyper-reality”.

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORISTS (Tajfel and Turner) They believe that there is “intergroup discrimination” where audiences enjoy seeing representations of others, that make them feel that they as an audience are better and of a higher status.  They think that audience strive to see themselves as successful and positive and actively seek out products that make them feel assured of their own status.

STANLEY COHEN – MORAL PANICS He believed that occasionally in society there would be panics where the majority of people would be utterly convinced that certain groups in society were going to disrupt society and cause problems.  For example he believes that after 9/11 there was a moral panic involving muslims where ALL muslims were seen as terrorists.  He believes that the media often starts these moral panics and makes them worse.

DAVID GAUNTLETT Thinks the idea that the media affects the way we behave is rubbish.  He studies the Frankfurt schools Media Effects theory and contradicts all of its ideas.  He thinks we: Shouldn’t blame the media for issues that already exist in society Shouldn’t assume the audience is passive and naive Shouldn’t believe the Frankfurt School’s research as it was conducted in an artificial way and there’s no real way we  could ever find out the real effect media has on society Shouldn’t assume that there will only be negative results from consuming a media text.  Sometimes a media text that contains negative issues has a positive repercussion on the audience Believes that we use the “media as navigation points for developing our own identities”. Believes that the media “disseminates a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable forms of self-expression, gender, sexuality and lifestyle.”

JACQUES LACAN – MIRROR STAGE THEORY Lacan carried out research with children and animals using mirrors and discovered that humans reach an age where they are able to recognise their own reflection and that people were able to develop a sense of their own self by examining their reflections

Samantha Lay She thinks that “Film is by and large a commercial medium rather than an educational tool”

Marshall McLuhan “All media exists to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.”

Walt Disney “Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.”

Kathryn Woodward ‘Identities are produced, consumed and regulated within culture – creating meanings through symbolic systems of representation about the identity positions which we might adopt’

www.newinfluencer.com Mass media plays a significant role in the transmission and maintenance of cultural identity, through a repetitive display of cultural norms and values which eventually become seen as simple ‘truths’

Gary Giddens Believes that “mediated experiences make us reflect upon and rethink our own self-narrative in relation to others.”

GLOSSARY OF KEY WORDS

TERMINOLOGY

Higher levels (all of the below, PLUS these ones) Hegemony – The dominance of the ruling class over the working classes Marginalisation – when a group of people are made to seem less important than another Cultural Homogenisation – the process by which culture becomes less unique and becomes more like other cultures Verisimilitude – the “realness” of something, how truthful it is Iconography – images that “mean” something or represent something.  Eg films show British cultural iconography such as black taxis, red buses etc

B/C words (all of the below, PLUS these ones) Dominant Ideology – The commonly held belief within a society about something.  Mediation – an exchange of ideas between the film makers and the audiences Selective Construction – a representation that has been chosen specifically to communicate something, deliberately choosing some aspects and leaving out others. Propaganda – a representation that has been designed to specifically influence an audience, normally to communicate a political message to an audience False Consciousness – A state of mind that audiences sometimes are in where they are not in touch with reality. Demographic – specific section of audience eg young, british male working class audiences Polarised nation – a country that has two extreme opposites of society that do not mix, and often clash Binary Opposites – two very opposite things eg black / white or upper class / working class Social Gulf – A large gap between groups in society Americanisation – the increasing influence of American culture on other cultures Globalisation – the increased global connections between cultures around the world leading to less individual cultures and instead having one large culture across the globe Aspirational – Something that makes people “aspire” or “want” to be better or different than they are.  For example, escapist films are seen as aspirational as audiences want to live like the main characters

Words you should all be able to use Identity – the elements that make up who we are Culture – shared identities, values and beliefs between members of the same community National Identity – shared feelings of identity between people from the same country Representation – the way something is shown Social Realism – a style of film marking which is designed to be “realistic” and gritty, often centred around the working classes Mainstream – something that is considered to be popular Mass-market – something that is considered to be popular Niche – something that is considered to be popular only to a small number of people or a certain type of person Commercial – something that is popular, and makes profit Target Audience – the type of people who the programme or film is made for Working class – people who work for a living, who earn a limited amount of money, often in manual labour jobs Middle Class – people who may or may not work for a living, who earn what is generally considered to be enough money to be comfortable, often in more senior jobs such as doctors or teachers Upper class – people who may not need to work for a living, who earn a high amount of money, who have senior positions in society eg MP’s, lords, ladies, kings etc Underclass – people who are considered lower than working class, may be unemployed, students, pensioners, on benefits Escape – to leave reality and be in a fantasy world Entertainment – something designed to entertain, amuse and interest people Identification – the ability for people to recognise their own lives in a text Film Industry – everything that is part of the businesses that make films eg film companies, audiences, directors, cinemas etc..  The film industry revolves around making money Film Institutions – Companies that make films Realistic – something that is truthful or “real” Unrealistic – something that is not truthful or “real” Fictional – something that is made up, not based on reality