Media Studies A Level

Evaluation - The Four Questions

In the evaluation the following four questions must be addressed: 

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 

What have you learned from your audience feedback? 

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

In order to gain as many marks as possible try to make your evaluation as "media -rich" as possible. Present your 4 answers in 4 different ways. Here are some ideas;

1. A screen- capture using Quick-Time. You can record the screen and talk at the same time to explain the work you have done.
2. Create a Prezi
3. Create a power point.
4. Do a Side Share presentation
5. Film yourself explaining your work

Audience Theory; Hypodermic Needle or Bullet Theory

I found this great picture on the Internet - it sums up the theory rather well!

Audience Theory - An essay plan

We have looked at 4 main theories about how audiences interpret a text.

These are;

1. Hypodermic needle or bullet theory
2. Two step flow
3. Uses and gratifications
4. Reception

In the exam you need to relate all four of these theories to one of your own texts. At Bluecoat we focus on creating a film trailer so that should be the text you use.

A good essay plan would be an introduction that briefly mentions the 4 theories above and that has a quick synopsis of your film idea. Then you should have 4 paragraphs. Each paragraph should outline one of the theories and then link it to your film. Remember you will gain extra marks for giving reasons as to how the particular theory can be applied to your work. Give clear examples and express opinions using technical vocabulary where possible.

Christopher Vogler's Narrative Theory

Christopher Vogler is a Hollywood development executive who is well known for the guide he created for screenwriters. This guide develops further the idea of equilibrium, disturbance and new equilibrium. In fact Vogler created the idea that these sections are subdivided into 12 smaller sections. The illustration below shows this.

Vogler originally wrote his book whilst working for Disney in 1992. He edited the book again in 1998 and as recently as 2007 he re-edited the book to show how his theory could be related to more up to date film releases.
It is hard to remember the 12 stages for the Media examination so concentrate on the fact that there are 12 stages and that there are thresholds ( major turning points ) in the story.

Levi Strauss' Narrative Theory

Claude Levi Strauss stated that narratives usually were made up of what he called a binary opposition.
This means that there are 2 opposite positions or characters in a narrative.

Examples of Binary oppositions could be;

War and Peace
Girl and Boy
Rich and Poor
Civilized and Savage

Clearly these oppositions can be quite emotive!

Todorov' s Narrative theory

Todorov had a theory that most narratives were divided into three sections.
He called these three sections;

• The Equilibrium
• 
  
• The Disruption
• 
  
• The New Equilibrium

The Equilibrium at the start is the way in which the characters are presented to begin with. That means how things are - this can be a good or bad situation, it just shows the audience the status quo (how things are for the characters).

The Disruption can come quite soon into the story. It is the moment when something changes - it is the catalyst that kicks off the main narrative of the story. All of the subsequent action/story line stems from this event or moment.

The New Equilibrium is how the story ends. It is called the "New" because the characters have changed and things have happened. This new equilibrium is not necessarily just a happy ending - although in some narratives of course it is. 

Propp's Narrative Theory

Narrative Theory

Study the Narrative theories of at least 4 people who have researched and written about the subject. 

A good place to start is the Russian Vladimir Propp;

He came to the conclusion that most narratives have 7 key characters that appear on a regular basis. 
Here they are;

The Seven Character Types of Vladimir Propp

1. The villain—struggles against the hero
2. The donor—prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object
3. The (magical) helper—helps the hero in the quest
4. The princess and her father—gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished
5. The dispatcher—character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
6. The hero or victim/seeker hero—reacts to the donor, weds the princess
7. False hero—takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Be mindful that not every narrative has all of these characters. 

Also remember that Propp was looking at folk tales and not films - so just be careful what you say!

OCR A Level Media Question 1B

For question 1b you will be asked to discuss a media "text" in relation to one of 5 areas of Media Studies. A "text" in this case means one of your media creations - your trailer, magazine or poster.

The 5 areas are; 

Narrative Theory

Audience Theory

Media Language - Codes and Conventions

Representation

Genre

Magazine Front Cover - some reminders.

Here is a good example of how Empire magazine lays out its front  cover. 

Notice that the main image is a front on shot that is a mid shot. 

The title of the magazine is partially hidden by the photo - this is a common code now. 

There is a date of issue, a bar code and a tag line for the magazine.

The main film is clearly highlighted but there are other films that are advertised too. The sticker type idea is also common to film magazine front covers. Be careful with this as they can look tacky if not executed well. Note that the colours of the fonts are reasonably limited - don't go too crazy on the colours!

Make sure that you use a very good camera with a good lens to make sure that the quality is as good as possible. 

As with the poster shots, take lots of photos so that you can choose the best one to use. 

Remember that you need to think about the consistency between this picture, the poster and the trailer itself. 

Photo Shoot for Poster

Here's an example of a film poster to remind you of the layout and the items to include;

Notice that it goes from a big bold image that fills the poster and that there is a tag line - in this case across the top. The title of the film is very prominent for obvious reasons as are the names of the main actors - the USP. Note too that there is a lot of "blurb" at the bottom and that it indicates a release date. 

Here is a landscape poster. Notice that the ingredients are still similar. A striking image, the title of the film, a tag line. Notice also that there is the same sort of blurb. This time the USP is the director as well as the actors. The poster immediately suggests an urban type film. Remember people will most likely see the poster as they go past a bill board or bus stop so it needs to tell you everything quickly and efficiently. 

Remember! When you take the photos for the poster;

1. Use a good camera - with a good lens.

2. Make sure the mis en scene fits the film footage you have already taken -shoot the photos in the same locations

3. Make sure the continuity is good. That means that the actors wear the same clothes, have the same make up and fit what you have done in the film footage. Consistency is the key. 

4. Think about the lighting

5. Take lots of photos from many different angles so that you have lots of choice when editing.

The Shooting Schedule

The Shooting Schedule should be a working document that shows how you are preparing to film your trailer. It should include at least this information;

1. The dates and times of the shoot.

2. The place to meet or location of the shoot.

3. The people needed - any clothes they need to wear and any props that will be needed. (Umbrella/phone/bag etc)

4. The scenes that will be being filmed.

This can be in the form of a table if that makes it clear.

You may need to add to your shooting schedule as time goes on if there are problems with the light, the weather or one of your characters is unable to be there at the last minute.

Story Board and Recce Templates

Here is a copy of the storyboard page for you to down load or print. If you scroll further down you can find a sheet to help you with your "Recce".

Remember your "recce" involves you going to the places both inside and outside where you intend to film. Whilst there, think about the issues you will face when filming. 

Is it too noisy? 

Will random people come into the shots? Is that ok? 

Will the weather affect the shoot? 

Do you need to go at a certain time of day in order to get the lighting you require?

Remember that the clocks change in November and so there is less daylight time.

Is it a place where your actors will be able to get to easily?

Is it a safe place to film - make sure that there are safe places to film from if you are by roads for example.

Lego Men! Camera angles and types of shot.

The following Lego men shots will help you when you are doing your Story Board. think carefully bout the shots you want for your trailer. Make sure to vary the types of shot to create interest for the viewer.

The Script

Remember that when you write a script it should be in 12 point Courier font.

This is the Industry standard way of producing a script.











Notice that the descriptions are in the present tense.

The (VO) means that there is a voice over for that section.

Pre Production Tasks

Pre production

What else is there to do?

1. You need to complete a proposal - a short summary of the film that you are going to create.
2. Now do some audience research and see what other people think about your idea - remember they need to be people in your target audience. You need to respond to your audience feedback by either amending your story or stating how popular the idea was.
3. Now you need to do 4 pieces of pre-production

• the recce
• the script
• the storyboard
• shooting schedule

A recce - where you go to all of your locations,take a photo and write down the problems you might encounter there - noise,traffic, people etc and then write down how you could get around these problems.

The script - includes the dialogue and the voice over as well as information about who comes in and exits etc

The story board is a picture version of your trailer with the sort of camera shots that you intend to take.

The shooting schedule is simply the times, dates, places, actors and costumes that you organise to take the different parts of the trailer.

More information and blank forms can be found at Public/Media Studies/Y13/Unit 3

Magazine Front Covers  - Codes and Conventions

 The title or Mast Head is always across the top of the magazine. It is often partially covered by the main picture and in particular by the main actor or actors.
As in this edition, the colour scheme of the fonts is directly linked to the photo from the film.
Above the masthead there is usually a leading line that introduces either the film or a special feature of that magazine.
Notice the use of what looks like a sticker on the right hand side. Again this matches the overall colour scheme but it often advertises something else in the magazine - in this case another film.
The bar code always features somewhere but it is moved around each week or month to suit the editor.
Empire magazine always tuck the date and price into the M of Empire.

Notice how many similarities there are between the 2 issues of Empire. Although the features are moved about, it contains the same elements.
There are similarities as well between different magazines - have a look at the front of Total Film here.

Like the Empire front cover, the title of the magazine is obscured by the actors. Again there is a leading tag line across the top of the magazine and some information about the featured film. Notice how this magazine has much more information about the overall contents of the issue.
The date and price are tucked neatly into the M of FILM.
Total film also uses a film strip approach to advertising other films across the top of the magazine. This feature is used by Empire on occasions too.
The circle of stars is like a sticker - again advertising another feature inside the mag.
Notice that, as with Empire, the colour scheme of the fonts is well controlled with a limited number of colours. The steel colour of course to match the title of the featured film.
The following image gives us an insight into how the magazine would be edited together. This might help you as you approach a similar task later.

Codes and Conventions of Film Trailers

• The film trailer starts with a green screen that tells you that it has passed the age related tests. There are websites to verify the authenticity of this.
• There are often quick displays of the film company logos.

• Somewhere in the trailer you get the film title, a tag line, the unique selling points USP - such as the director, the actors, other films that have been linked to these actors/directors. You sometimes get all of these but other times just some of them.

• The montage is usually quite fast paced with the editing cut to flash from one scene to another quickly.
• There is sometimes a voice over, or there are lines taken from the film itself.
• The music is used to add to the tension or the feel of the film. Sometimes a song is used, sometimes it is specially composed music.
• The order of the clips is not necessarily in the order in which they appear in the film.
• The transitions between clips are slick. 
• The actors in the film are seen in the clips and sometimes their names are put up on screen as well.
• The release date is shown or at least it says"Coming Soon". 
• There is some blurb at the end that is similar to the blurb on the posters.
• There are sometimes some more FilmCompany logos at the end.
• More modern trailers often include a Facebook or Twitter or WWW. link so that you can do some more research into the film and the actors. 
• Trailers are designed to be watched on the Internet as well as in cinemas.

A Level Media Students 2014

Current Students' blogs 2013/14
Chikomborero Makondo
Ulera Longwe
Lucy Hicken
Joanna Wong
Misbaah Maahjabeen
Saad Khan
Nafeesah Sharif
Ammar Chaudhry

Codes and Conventions of Film Posters

Codes and Conventions of Movie Posters

1.     Title of the film

2.     Names of actors

3.     Tag line

4.     The blurb – always includes similar info – Give some detail – do a close up

5.     The “Coming Soon” or release date

6.     The links to Facebook or a WWW or Twitter – usually takes you to somewhere to see the trailer

7.     The photo is usually face front and of the main character or characters

8.     The colour scheme of the whole thing works together – integration between text and image

9.     Sometimes there is the use of “From the makers of..” or “From the Director of….” Unique Selling Point or USP

10.   Accolades if the film has won a film competition/ Oscar

11.    Restriction notices – if film is a 15 or 18 for example

The tag line

The actors

The director

The title

The blurb

The release date