Audience Pleasure

Watch the episode and then do the following:

1. Make brief notes on all the audience pleasures.
2. Answer the question.

Swap with a partner and peer mark. have you included 3 points? have you included 3 examples from the episode? Have you explained how the audience derive pleasure (have you linked the two earlier points?)

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:

• narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
• character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
• pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
• pleasures of difference-within-repetition
• performance unpredictability and spontaneity
• transgressive pleasures
• specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.

Film Poster Research (10WMS1)

Today you will be researching ideas for the next piece of work-the creation of a poster for an action/adventure film aimed at a teenage audience.

Your task is to find at least twenty different examples of movie posters for action adventure films. Save the images in a folder and add them to a PowerPoint. Make sure they are all clear and of the same size on your page. 

Categorise the posters in two ways:

• posters promoting films for a teenage audience
• posters promoting films for an adult audience

Extension task:

You will notice that some movies have multiple posters. Choose a recent action/ adventure film and find as many posters for that film as you can.

Analysing Movie Posters

Task:
Select a poster of your choice from the action genre and answer all the questions below.

Posters occupy a space between art and advertising. They have a clear commercial purpose - to promote an event or product - but they also have artistic value. People buy them and hang them on their walls. Museums have whole galleries devoted to poster art. When analysing a poster it is important that you evaluate both how well it fulfils its purpose (i.e. promotion) as well as its aesthetic value.

First steps

• When analysing a poster, you should consider the following broad questions before you start to focus on the details:
• What are the main colours used in the poster? What do they connote?
• What symbols are used in the poster? Do you need audience foreknowledge to decode the symbols?
• What are the main figures/objects/background of the poster? Are they represented photographically, graphically, or illustratively?
• Are the messages in the poster primarily visual, verbal, or both?
• Who do you think is the intended audience for the poster?

Given that all movie posters have the same purpose - to get audiences to go see a movie -

• What persuasive techniques are used by the poster?
• Which genre conventions are referred to?
• Is a star used as a USP (Unique Selling Point)?
• Are "expert witnesses" (i.e. critics) quoted?
• What pleasures (gratifications) are promised by the poster?
• How is attention gained (humour, shock, surprise familiar face of a star)?
• How does the tagline work? (humour, pun, alliteration etc?)
• Who are the institutions involved in production?

The poster can also give you important information about the production context of the movie:

• How much does the poster tell you about the institutional context of the movie's production?
• How important is this information on the poster (think about information hierarchies)?
• How important a part of the whole marketing campaign is the poster? Where is the poster placed?
• How expensive was this poster to produce?

Critical Evaluation

Finally, you have to pass judgement on the poster.

• Is it a good poster?
• Does it communicate effectively with the audience?
• Are there any alternative readings which might harm the message of the marketing campaign?
• Is the poster offensive in any way? e.g. representation of people or places

TV Comedy: 4a & 4b

Answer both the questions below. You have the whole lesson.

4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels.

State the day, time and channel of each programme.

• Who commissioned the programmes?
• Who produced them?
• What audience are they aimed at? Why?
• Why are they on at that time and on that channel? Link to 'type' of comedy and target audience. 
• Are they on after the watershed? Why?
• Know the audience demographic

You must know:

1. day 
2. time
3. channel

for both programmes (Friday Night Dinner and Bad Education).

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:

• narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
• character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
• pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
• pleasures of difference-within-repetition
• performance unpredictability and spontaneity
• transgressive pleasures
• specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.

Remember to include clear examples from the TV comedy you decide to write about. 

10YMs1 Work To Do

Period 1 Monday 22nd February

You will need to design two posters (a teaser poster and a main poster) for an action adventure film (of your own creation) aimed at a teenage audience.

In today's lesson you need to make progress on the following:

• Decide on the sort of action adventure film you will be making the poster for
• Choose a suitable title for your film
• Decide on a tagline for your title
• Write a brief plot outline for your film
• Decide on the stars who will appear in your film

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

Getting creative with production

The Brief:

Design two film posters (a teaser poster and a main poster) for an original film idea. 
Your film has to be an action/adventure film that appeals to a teenage target audience.

Poster conventions

What do I need to include on my film poster?

• An eye-catching image or images – often related to characters and the stars in the film or the setting of the film
• The title of the film – carefully constructed in terms of font, colour, size and placement. The title has to suggest the film genre
• A tagline for the film – catchy slogan offering a clue to the genre and main content of the film
• The names of key people connected to the film
• Endorsements from other media productions
• Details of any nominations of awards
• The production blurb – information in tiny print that lists the production and distribution companies

GCSE Media Course Outline

Coursework Unit (30% of GCSE) B321
15% Essay (Representation of teenagers) 60 marks
10% Posters 40 marks
 5% Planning & Evaluation 20 marks

Coursework Unit (30% of GCSE) B324
7.5% Research & Planning (Magazine) 30 marks
 15% Magazine construction (cover, contents, double page) 60 marks
7.5% Evaluation (Magazine) 30 marks

Exam (40% of GCSE) B322
Section A  Action Adventure Films (Textual Analysis and Representation) 50 Marks
Section B TV Comedy (Audience and Institution) 30 Marks

Preferred, Oppositional, and Negotiated Readings

When analysing representation it is important to consider not only HOW a character is represented but also HOW the audience react.

In media we refer to films, TV, music, computer games etc as TEXTS. Just like in English, we 'read' these texts and we decide what we think. The creators of TEXTS set out to create a 'preferred' reading; a preferred reading is the one the director wants us to take. However audiences may take an 'oppositional' reading; an oppositional reading is - as you would think - when the audience take the opposite view, we reject the ideas of the director. Finally, and perhaps most commonly, audiences can make a negotiated' reading; a negotiated reading is one where the audience knows what the director wants us to think, knows why that might be an untruthful representation, but forms an opinion which is a combination of both.

I still don't get it sir!

Think of McDonalds. Think of a Big Mac.

The preferred reading McDonalds would like you to make is that Big Macs are delicious and that you'd like to eat one right now because they have fresh lettuce, gherkins, sauce, cheese, two beef patties etc.

The oppositional reading is that Big Macs are unhealthy, they will make you fat, lead to health issues in later life and never look like the advert

 

The negotiated  reading allows us to know that Big Macs may be unhealthy, that they might not always be as attractive as the image BUT that if we eat them in moderation then we wont get fat and we can enjoy them.

When analysing representation in any TEXT, try and consider alternative readings, this will help you access the higher bands when discussing HOW characters are re-presented to an audience.

Edge Of Tomorrow: Beach Battle

11WMS1 Work To Do (10th-12th February)

Finish the tasks that relate to TV Comedy:

Research forScheduling Question (4a)

TV Comedy: AudiencePleasure

Then complete the tasks relating to Action films:

Representation: Edge of Tomorrow

Representation: Edge of Tomorrow

Use the example answers (in posts below) to help you answer the two questions on the Edge of Tomorrow clip. The example answers are on Hot Fuzz and will help with structure and terminology.

The terminology post above should prove useful too. 

Q 1. Explain two ways the characters and/ or events fit the action adventure genre.
Use examples from the extract. [10 marks]

Layout as follows:
Explanation 1...
Explanation 2...

Q 3. Discuss the ways in which people are represented in the extract.
Refer to stereotypes in your answer.
Use examples from the extract. [20 marks]

Q1 Example Answer

The narrative in the extract fits the action adventure genre in various ways. There is a battle between the good and evil which is conventional of the genre, the protagonist (Nic) is shown as confident and able to fight because it’s almost like a one-man army. He is up against more ‘villains’ which makes him outnumbered as they have more weapons too, which again is conventional of action adventure, because it emphasizes his victory (or defeat) in the end.

Another way the extract fits the genre of action adventure is making Nic, the protagonist, independent and confident. The fact that the protagonist is chewing gum in the close-up at the beginning ‘shows’ his confident attitude as if he wasn’t expecting a difficult battle but has come prepared with weapons/objects and team.

Q3 Example Answer

Throughout the extract, characters are portrayed stereotypically and atypically to connote and celebrate different values and ideals. For instance, the representation of age is predominantly unconventional, as it doesn’t follow the stereotype of older people being weaker and calmer. This is shown through the elderly women with a machine gun, who is represented as a powerful, and a threat to Nic. Similarly, most of the adults fighting Nic are fairly old, and so their uncharacteristic representation of using extensive violence perhaps celebrates older people, but also creates humour as there counter hegemonical role is unexpected. The only main stereotype of age is the hero being fairly young.

Gender is also mainly utilised counter-stereotypically, as the genre stereotype of women is to be weaker and less violent and less powerful than men, however, the female antagonists the same violence and power as the male ones, therefore celebrating and connoting gender equality. The fact that women are equal to men also make the hero’s role harder and so his success even more impressive. Again, the only stereotypical representation of gender lies in the hero – he is male, strong and dominant – which are dominant features.

Race and Nationality are not represented prominently – except for the fact that it is an all-white cast, and this representation is stereotypical to the setting of a rural English town. In addition the hero is English, which therefore is patriotic in celebrating England – the country in which the film was produced. The town is similarly stereotypical as it is quintessentially English – pubs, schools and bunting – and the stereotype of the ‘stiff upper lip’ is represented through the antagonists’ serious emotions and nuances such as the ‘one school child’ sign. Finally, the police are mainly represented counter-stereotypically – although Danny Butterman at first fits the lazy, sluggish stereotype – this is subverted by the counter stereotype of him and Nic being powerful and successful in the conflict. This is suprising to the audience and hybridizes action with comedy. The sidekick is also stereotypically portrayed through his overweight build, making him more endearing and vulnerable for the audience. Similarly, the hero is stereotypically represented as powerful, male, calm and violent – thus fulfilling the expectations of the target audience.

Research for Scheduling Question (4a)

4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels.

State the day, time and channel of each programme.

• Who commissioned the programmes?
• Who produced them?
• What audience are they aimed at? Why?
• Why are they on at that time and on that channel? Link to 'type' of comedy and target audience. 
• Are they on after the watershed? Why?
• Know the audience demographic

You must know:

1. day 
2. time
3. channel

for both programmes (Friday Night Dinner and Bad Education).

Extension work:

• Research original scheduling (time of broadcast) for both programmes and any subsequent scheduling that may be different. 
• Account for the reasons why the programmes were broadcast on their particular days. If this changed from series to series comment on this too.

Year 10 Essay (B321)

The essay question you will answer is:

Compare how teenagers are represented in the action adventure films: The Maze Runner and Tomorrowland.

As guidance, the essay should be approximately 800–1,500 words in length and this may be

divided into sections

You need to demonstrate:

• detailed and thorough knowledge and understanding of the texts studied
• thoughtful and insightful analysis and interpretation of the texts
• understanding of how texts represent social and cultural messages and values,
• including proficient identification and interpretation of those messages and values
• understanding of how texts use media language and areas of representation
• knowledge and understanding of the codes and conventions according to generic categorisations of media texts
• accurate use of technical terms and medium-specific terminology, as appropriate
• understanding of the effects of techniques on texts and audiences
• confident comparison of media texts, as appropriate
• appropriate use of some examples to support points made
• personal insights and engagement with objects of study and concepts.

11WMS Work To Do-Friday 5th February

Complete the work in the two posts below (this and this).

Answer the 4b question twice (once for each TV comedy that we've studied).

TV Comedy: Audience Pleasure

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:

• narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
• character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
• pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
• pleasures of difference-within-repetition
• performance unpredictability and spontaneity
• transgressive pleasures
• specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.

Remember to include clear examples from Friday Night Dinner.