Section A of Media A2 Exam

A2 Media Studies Exam – Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Coursework

In Section A you answer both 1(a) and 1(b).

Question 1(a) will ask you to discuss the development of your skills from AS to A2 in relation to one or two of the following aspects:

•Digital Technology

•Creativity

•Research and Planning

•Post-production

•Using conventions from real media texts

1(a)

• In the exam you should spend about 30 minutes answering question 1(a). In order to do well on this question you must remember to:

• Discuss both your AS and A2 coursework

• Demonstrate progress from AS to A2• Refer to specific examples from your coursework

productions• Use terminology

1(b)

Question 1(b) will ask you to select one of your coursework products, either AS or A2 and analyse it relation to one of the following specified theoretical concepts:•Narrative•Audience•Genre

•Representation•Media Language

1(b)

• You will need to spend about 30 minutes answering question 1(b) in the exam. In order to do well you should:

• Demonstrate your understanding of media theory

• Relate theory to a range of specific examples from your coursework product

• Use theoretical and production terminology well

GENRE THEORY

MUSIC VIDEOS

GENRE BINGOGone Girl (2014, Dir: David Fincher)

Zombie (1994, The Cranberries)

GENRE – FILM/MUSIC VIDEOYou have 5 minutes to write down how your Foundation Portfolio film opening or your Advanced Portfolio music video fits into a specific genre

•How is it generically structured as a film opening?

•What generic features of a music video are contained within?

•Sub-genre: Thriller/Music video genre – performance/pastiche/narrative/abstract (does this contain recognisable narratives e.g. Romance?)

Back this up with specific examples that show how you’ve replicated this genre

Must be specific – titles, actions, camera/sound/MES/editing

PROBLEMS WITH GENRE CLASSIFICATION

Theorist and Critic Rick Altman (1999) came up with a list of points he found problematic with genre classification .

a) Genre is a useful category, because it bridges multiple concerns.

b) Genres are defined by the film industry and recognised by the mass audience.

c) Genres have clear, stable identities and borders.

d) Individual films belong wholly and permanently to a single genre.

e) Genres are transhistorical.

f) Genres undergo predictable development.

g) Genres are located in particular topic and narrative structure

h) Genre films share certain fundamental characteristics.

i) Genres have either a ritual or ideological function.

j) Genre critics are distanced from the practice of genre.

You can refer to Altman in creating a counter-argument to the traditional theorists in explaining divergences in genre

GENRE THEORYDaniel Chandler: Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings - iconography) and/or form (including structure and style) which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them.

The Shining could be read according to this theory as conventionally, thrillers will seek to

place protagonists in an isolated location – The

Overlook Hotel

This convention is emphasised in the film’s climax whenJack

pursues his wife into a bathroom where she cannot escape. Pursuit

of an innocent victim as another

thematic convention (cf. North by Northwest, Cape Fear)

LILY, THE MESSAGE, PARIAHThink carefully about your own films

Themes and Iconography(plot

info/props/characters...)

Structure and Style (camerawork and editing)

Rick Altman argues that genres are usually defined in terms of media language (SEMANTIC elements) and codes (in the Thriller, for example: guns, urban landscape, victims, stalkers, menaced women OR certain ideologies and narratives (SYNTACTIC elements – Anxiety, tension, menacing situation)

Tom Ryall (1998) sees this framework provided by the generic system; therefore, genre becomes a recognisable collection of images, sounds, stories, characters, and expectations

TRADITIONAL GENRE THEORISTS

John Fiske defines genres as ‘attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meanings…for the convenience of both producers and audiences.’

Steve Neale (1990) argues that Hollywood’s generic regime performs two inter-related functions:

i)to guarantee meanings and pleasures for audiences [we enjoy what we know]

ii)to play it safe with recognisable genres [hard-to-define films don’t do well, financially at box office: Donnie Darko, Shawshank Redemption]

Dial M For Murder

Cape Fear

Vertigo Dial M For Murder

Steve Neale declares that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference'

He adds that 'difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre': mere repetition would not attract an audience.

Memento is a conventional thriller in

terms of plot – Protagonist seeks revenge

against his wife’s murderer. Yet the

narrative style creates the generic

divergence in being told backwards

Texts often exhibit the conventions of more than one genre. John Hartley notes that 'the same text can belong to different genres in different countries or times' E.g. Alien as bearing the iconography of a Science Fiction film (setting, props, characters), but the stylistic approach of a Horror – Extreme close-ups and heavy use of low-key lighting to unsettle audience

STEVE NEALEGenres are ‘constantly changing and evolving’ and are not set in stone. He thinks there are 5 main stages in film genres. Which stage does your film fit into? Explain why.

Thrillers

The form finding itself (Vertigo)

The classic (The Shining/Usual Suspects/LA Confidential)

Stretching the boundaries of the genre (Memento)

Parody (High Anxiety)

Homage (Shutter Island)

Traditional argument: Genre is fixed.

Contemporary argument: 'genre is not... simply "given" by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change' - David Buckingham

Buckingham’s argument therefore would compare nicely to Steve Neale to add a further theoretical approach to your response

Fatal Attraction

Casino Royale Casino Royale

Nicholas Abercrombie (1996) – The boundaries between genres are shifting and becoming more permeable. He identifies the use of genre for media producers when he writes “Television producers set out to exploit genre conventions” – Can apply this to Music Videos/Films

David Bordwell ‘any theme may appear in any genre' ‘One could... argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film-goers would find acceptable'

HOWEVER,

Daniel Chandler: Embedded within texts are assumptions about the 'ideal reader', including their attitudes towards the subject matter and often their class, age, gender and ethnicity.

David Buckingham

Attack The Block

CONTEMPORARY GENRE THEORISTS

MUSIC VIDEO GENRE THEORYKatie Wales, 'genre is... an intertextual concept', and nowhere is this more appropriate than with music videos

Andrew Goodwin - music videos follow the following conventions:

1.Conventions depend on the genre of the music

2.Star persona is important and companies use close ups to sell them to the audience

3.Voyeuristic images are used to attract an audience

4.They often contain intertextual references to other media

5.There is a link between the lyrics and the visuals

6.There is a link between the visuals and the music / pace etc

ANDREW GOODWIN‘DANCING IN THE DISTRACTION FACTORY’Certain music genres contain conventions that audiences wish to see:

•Rock bands traditionally will have performances of the band energetically singing the track – perhaps in front of an audience, drummers emphatically drumming, singers scowling down the mic – all to show how tough they are

•Girl bands traditionally have a focus on heavily choreography dance routines, fashion, attitude, independence

SVEN E CARLSSONMusic videos mostly fall under 2 categories:

•Performance (dance, song or instrumental focus)

•Conceptual (abstract ideas the artist wants to promote through their song)

APPLYING THEORYYou have 5 minutes to explain how your film opening or music video is part of the ‘classic, traditional’ or ‘experimental, contemporary’ ideas of genre theory

•Refer to specific examples from your production that show how your text as a ‘classic’ or ‘evolving’ piece

•Refer to specific theorists

HOMEWORK – DUE NEXT THURSDAYApply theories of Genre to one of your production pieces. [25]

Explanation/Analysis/Argument – 10marks

Use of Examples – 10marks

Use of Terminology – 5marks

'Uses and gratifications‘ research has identified many potential pleasures of genre, including the following:

•One pleasure may simply be the recognition of the features of a particular genre because of our familiarity with it. [we enjoy what we know]

•Genres may offer various emotional pleasures such as empathy and escapism - a feature which some theoretical commentaries seem to lose sight of.

•Deborah Knight notes that 'satisfaction is guaranteed with genre; the deferral of the inevitable provides the additional pleasure of prolonged anticipation‘ [we anticipate what a genre conventionally includes, the enjoyment is in the payoff]

GENRE AND AUDIENCE

PROBLEMS WITH GENRE CLASSIFICATION

Theorist and Critic Rick Altman (1999) came up with a list of points he found problematic with genre classification .

a) Genre is a useful category, because it bridges multiple concerns.

b) Genres are defined by the film industry and recognised by the mass audience.

c) Genres have clear, stable identities and borders.

d) Individual films belong wholly and permanently to a single genre.

e) Genres are transhistorical.

f) Genres undergo predictable development.

g) Genres are located in particular topic, structure and corpus.

h) Genre films share certain fundamental characteristic.

i) Genres have either a ritual or ideological function.

j) Genre critics are distanced from the practice of genre.

NARRATIVE THEORY

Plot vs. Narrative• Plot = the chronological events of a story.

E.g. The story of Titanic begins when people board a really big boat and it ends with the peaceful death of the old lady (Rose).

• Narrative = the organisation of this story. E.g. The film of Titanic begins in the present with the old lady relaying her story before the film has prolonged flashbacks to the past

Create a Narrative from these Plot events

A plum is eaten

A telephone rings

Busy traffic

A man dies

Ink Spills

Theorists you need to know (and learn to love)

• Tzvetan Todorov (Structure of narrative)

• Vladimir Propp (Characters in narratives)

• Roland Barthes (Codes of narratives)

• Claude Levi-Strauss (Binary oppositions)

Types of Narrative Structure

StructurePlace these narrative events in

order:

• Detective investigates

• Crime conceived

• Crime discovered

• Detective identifies crime

• Crime committed

• Crime planned

StructureThe plot of this story:

• Crime conceived

• Crime planned

• Crime committed

• Crime discovered

• Detective identifies crime

• Detective investigates

Your Films

Complete the left-hand column as we re-watch your film then number the order –

Think about use of voiceover too Narrative Event Chronological Plot

Order

TODOROVTodorov describes narrative as going from equilibrium to

disequilibrium back to an altered equilibrium Todorov describes narrative as going from equilibrium to

disequilibrium back to an altered equilibrium

Standard 3-point narrative.

•Beginning

•Middle

•End

More detailed 5-point narrative

TODOROVEquilibrium: (sets the scene)Everyday Life

Disruption: (complication)Something happens to alter the equilibrium

Conflict: (climax)Trying to solve the problem (seek resolution)

Resolution:Problem is sorted

New Equilibrium: (satisfactory end)Back to normal (but never the same)- a new normal

BarthesBarthes describes narrative as a series of codes that are read and

interpreted by the audienceBarthes describes narrative as a series of codes that are read and

interpreted by the audience

Barthes’ 5 CodesAction Code: something the audience knows and doesn't need explaining e.g. someone being wheeled out on a stretcher tells us they are going to hospital

Enigma Code:something hidden from the audience (creates intrigue)

Semic Code:something that the audience recognize through connotations

Symbolic Code:Something that symbolizes a more abstract concept e.g. a darker than usual room of a murder scene could symbolize the depth of darkness and depravity

Cultural Code:Something that is read with understanding due to cultural awareness (e.g. youth culture use certain words that are understood by that culture)

300

ProppStudied Russian folktales and created a list of

distinguishable character typologies (categories) including:

• The hero (sent on a quest)

• The villain (struggles against hero)

• The princess/prize (what the hero

seeks in completing the quest)• The donor (gives vital information

or object to hero)

• The helper (aids in the quest)

LEVI-STRAUSSLevi-Strauss describes narrative as created by constant

conflict of binary oppositesLevi-Strauss describes narrative as created by constant

conflict of binary opposites

Love – HateBlack – WhiteMan – NatureLight – DarknessPeace – WarProtagonist –AntagonistMovement – StillnessCivilized – SavageYoung – OldControl – PanicStrong – WeakMan – WomanWealth – PovertyMankind – AliensHumans – TechnologyIgnorance - Wisdom

Applying Propp to The Shining

Jack Danny

Wendy Mr Grady Dick

Applying Propp to Memento ?

Leonard

Murderer Leonard’s Wife

Propp’s eight character roles and how they can be applied to the shining.

The villain— struggles against the hero- In the shining this character type could be considered to be either Jack as he gets possessed and tries to kill his family or the hotel as this is what possesses him.

The dispatcher—character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off- This character type can not be related to The Shining

The helper — helps the hero in the quest- In the shining the helper could be the character Dick as he does help Danny at some stages throughout the film and Danny could be seen as one of the heroes.. However, this does not directly relate.

The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain- In the shining the princess or prize would be the main female protagonist Wendy as she is the only female character; the former husband Jack deserves her but as he comes possessed he no longer deserves her. The prize could be the character Danny.

The donor —prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object- The donor in The Shining could be the character Dick as he enabled Danny to use his power by making him aware of it.

The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess- The hero in The Shining could either be Danny or Wendy as they both survive until the end.

False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess- The false hero could either be Jack as he pretends to be someone he is not or it could be Dick.

To some extent, Propp's eight character types do relate to the film The Shining. However, not all of them can be connected such as; the dispatcher and the father.

Bordwell and Thompson

Bordwell and Thompson never did come up with a complete narrative theory, they did however come up with some interesting ideas. They believed that chain of events within a media form cause effects on a relationship occurring in time and space and the narrative shapes this material in terms of time space such as; where and when things take place. This can be portrayed through using effects to show the time and space by using flash backs, forwarding time, slow motion and speeding up.

This theory is evident within The shining. We see the character Jack having flashbacks from past events and we see Danny seeing things in the future due to his power. Inter titles are used frequently within the movie showing which day it is connoting the high impact of the time in this film.

Claude Levi Strauss

Claude Levi- Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of " Binary oppositions" focusing on the different sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of the media texts. His narrative theory is different compared to other theorists as he focused more on the arrangement of themes rather than the order of a media text.

Examples of these binary oppositions could be :Earth – spaceGood – badPast- Present Normal- abnormalHumans- AliensKnown- UnknownDead- AliveHappy- sadWeak- strong

These binary oppositions can be applied to the film The Shining in several ways. They moved to an Isolated place when they were used to living in a civilised area. The character Jack’s sanctity changed as he became insane. Another example of these binary oppositions could be the character Wendy; she appeared weak at the beginning of the film but then became a much stronger character at the end. Lastly Danny appeared to be a normal boy at the beginning but he soon realised, with Dick’s guidance that he had a power.

Tzvetan Todorov

Todorov was a Bulgarian linguist who produced and published influential narrative theory work from the 1960’s onwards. His theory suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium where any opposing force are in balance. This equilibrium is then disrupted by an event which leads to a series of other events leading to the stereotypical end of all major events being restored.

Todorov’s narrative theory can be applied to The Shining as the film begins normally – the family moving away. A change in equilibrium then occurs- Jack slowly becoming mental and then the enigma is then resolved at the end as Jack dies and Wendy and Danny escape unharmed.

Complex narrative structure

Today’s narratives have become increasingly complex as producers know that audiences have a greater sense of media literacy when it comes to making meaning of the text and reading the signs. There are often numerous plot twists and surprises that keep the audience intrigued with carefully spun storylines.Films such as “Memento” (Nolan,2000) which weaves the story in reverse gives the audience a similar experience to the protagonist who has short term memory loss, as they try and fit the clues together through the use of restricted narrative.

Unrestricted Narrative: What the are assumed to know e.g. thriller there will be a crime so they will be expecting it

Restricted Narrative: The information that is withheld from the audience

http://quizlet.com/4162490/narrative-theorists-flash-cards/Now test your knowledge:

AUDIENCE THEORY

John HartleyHis best-selling book, Reading Television published

inin 1978 andco-authored with John Fiske, was the first to analyse television from a cultural perspective, and is considered a defining publication in the field.

This work also established Hartley as a pioneer and international leader in contemporary television and cultural studies.

The Hartley Classification

There are 7 socially grouped categories when it comes to identifying audience:

• Self – ambitions or interests of the audience

• Gender

• Age Group

• Class – different social classes e.g. working, upper etc.

• Ethnicity

• Family

• Nation

Hartley also suggests that institutions produce:

“Invisible fictions of the audience which allow the institutions to get a sense of who they must enter into

relations with”

In other words, they must know their audience to be able to target them effectively.

Stuart Hall

Encoding and Decoding

Stuart Hall• How messages are produced by media institutions

for the audience to receive

Four-Stage process

1.Production

2.Communication

3.Use (Distribution or Consumption)

4.Re-productionThe focus and control is on the producer encoding a

message for the audience to respond to

Criticism for this model of theory

• A linear approach to consuming media

• Allows for little interaction by the audience

• Producer is autonomous (they decide what they want audience to understand)

• This model is rapidly losing favour in a Media 2.0 society (re: Gauntlett)

David Morley

Reception Theory

Reception Theory

• In decoding the messages of media producers, audiences will create their own meaning according to 3 readings:

1. Dominant (the preferred meaning the producer wants them to have)

2. Negotiated (audience mostly accept the meaning but may resist or challenge certain aspects)

3. Oppositional (a rejection of the dominant code leading to an alternative result e.g. when watching a television broadcast produced on behalf of a political party they normally vote against).

The idea of audience is changing…

• Julian McDougall (2009) suggests that in the online age it is getting harder to conceive a media audience as a stable, identifiable group.

• However, audiences still make sense of and give meaning to products.

Ien Ang• Ien Ang, a leading professor of

Cultural Studies believes “audiences only exist as an imaginary entity, an abstraction, constructed from the vantage point of the institution, in the interest of the institution”.

• She follows the belief that media forms are not truly reflective of people’s views and serve only to aid producers

Denis McQuail

• An audience can be described as a temporary collective (McQuail, 1972). ‡

• Key terms: Mass / Niche & Mainstream / Alternative

Julian McDougall Often provocative and controversial, McDougall explores issues in education,

and calls on educators to abandon their prejudices and engage with what students are already actually doing with new media forms. Building on work from David Buckingham, Steven Johnson and David Gauntlett, he advocates a shift away from students viewing cultural products as texts to a view where even video games need analysis, explanation and research.

In this way, he is very much an advocate of exploring new and less traditional forms of literacy, as well as analysing the relationship between new media and postmodern theories,

Audiences ‡ Julian McDougall (2009) suggests that in the online age it is getting harder to conceive a media audience as a stable, identifiable group. ‡

However audiences still clearly make sense and give meaning to cultural products. ‡

An audience can be described as a temporary collective (McQuail, 1972). ‡ Key terms: Mass / Niche & Mainstream / Alternative

John Hartley

• “Institutions are obliged to speak not only about an audience, but crucially, for them, to talk to one as well; they need not only to represent audiences but to enter in to relation with them”

• Also suggests institutions should produce “invisible fictions of the audience which allow the institutions to get a sense of who they must enter into relations with”

• Therefore, the institutions must know their audience, in order to target them effectively.

However

• Audiences still make sense and give meaning to cultural products.

• Audiences are necessary for media products to work as without a a demographic to aim at (however niche or mainstream) it would not be received by anyone.

Hypodermic Needle Theory

•  The Hypodermic Needle Theory, also known as the Magic Bullet Theory, was the first major theory concerning the effect of the mass media on society. Originating in the 1920s, the theory was based on the premise of an all-powerful media with uniform and direct effects on the viewer or audience. (i.e. information is injected into audiences)

Blumler and KatzUses and Gratifications Theory

• The Gratifications Theory assumes audiences actively seek out media to satisfy individual needs. The uses and gratifications theory looks to answer three questions:

• What do people do with the media?• What are their underlying motives for using

said media?• What are the pros cons of this this individual

media use?

Uses and Gratifications

What the audience does for the media not what the media does for the audience.

Audience takes an active role on their media choice, which by seeking out the media, a person fulfils the need to be informed:(1) Diversion - Escapism. (2) Personal Relationships - Substitution of media for companionship. (3) Personal Identity or Individual Psychology - Value reinforcement or reassurance; self-understanding. (4) Surveillance - Information about factors which might affect them personally, or will help audience do or accomplish something.

Two-Step Flow TheoryLazarsfeld and Katz

• Part of Communication theory where they audience have more of a say in the production of media

REPRESENTATION THEORY

Representation

• How the media shows us things about society through careful mediation of re-presenting a shared view of the world

Stuart Hall

In our modern world our life is saturated with visual representations

What do these images signify?

Consider:ColourSymbolism

What do these images signify?Consider:ClothingPropsGesture

What do these images signify?

Consider:CostumePropsDifferences in clothing and positioning

How to apply theory in your writing and use the theorists

• Assume your reader knows about the theory/theorist

• Don’t explain the theory; use it

• A Todorovian analysis would argue...

• Steve Neale’s statements that Genre is ‘made up of repetition and change’ could be useful here because...

• Barthes’ notion of action codes provides a useful way of understanding the film in that...

Ferdinand de Saussure - Semiotics

• Meaning is constructed through the interpretation of signs.

– Signifier = the physical/visual object i.e. A knife

– Signified = the meaning it creates i.e. Threat, aggression, violence/self-defence and protection

• Representations are created through signs which signify meaning. Like the knife, signs can have more than one meaning leading to a polysemic reading of signs

Look over your images again• Can you apply Saussure’s semiotics to

polysemic representations of the visual signs in the frames?

List the characters in your films

• Who are they?

• What roles do they have in the narrative?

Richard DyerStereotypes

• Stereotype (first used as a term by Walter Lippmann in 1956)

• Has come to be defined as a negative representation or over-simplification of a category of people in a group

• Dyer explains that stereotypes reinforce ideas of differences between people which are natural – i.e. Criminals are represented as low-lifes, untrustworthy...

Counter argument – Tessa Perkins (1979)

• Stereotypes are not always negative

• Are not always about minority groups

• Stereotypes are not always false

• Apply this to your characters in your films – E.g. What social group(s) do your characters

belong to? How is this made clear?

– What age group do your characters belong to (e.g. Nervous, unsure teenagers...)

Counter Argument – David Gauntlett and Martin Barker

• Identities are not given but are constructed and negotiated (Gauntlett)

• Martin Barker condemned stereotypes for mis-representing the real world by reinforcing false stereotypes

Baudrillard

• Postmodern theorist

• Argues that representations no longer refer to reality or real things

• The representation has become more real to us than the reality – i.e. The representation of mob bosses as Italian Mafia men instilled through The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Sopranos

• This is re-presentation of reality is termed a simulacrum – a copy of reality

• For Baudrillard, these images have become hyperreal – have no relationship to the real. CSI and Silent Witness as examples of forensic science investigations that through their popularity seem to typify our perception of what that reality is like

• For your AS film consider how you have represented teenage gangs and the police – What are your sources for this?

Your characters• Pick one of the characters from either your AS or A2

film

• Create a profile about them

– Motivation

– Who they represent

– What they represent

• Where did you get your inspirations for your characters? From reality or from media representations on film and television? Remember your research for AS Cite these in your answer. Real news stories (BBC) Documentaries? Kidulthood? The Bill? Life on Mars…?

• Are they, therefore, arguably a simulacrum of reality?

Representation of People and Places

• Teenagers• Students (404)• Police• News presenters• Legal high users• Guidance counsellors• Hackers? Online

attackers/trolls?

• Suburbia (Beyond All Doubt/404)

• Seaside tourist town (Sea View News)

• School