Tuesday, September 8, 2015

GCSE Media Key Concepts

If you missed any of the notes from today's lesson this should help:

Language



  • The Language of Media Studies
  • How we ‘read’ media texts
  • Recognising the codes and conventions of media texts
  • Key media terms e.g. genre… denotation… connotation… narrative… 


Institution


  • The companies or organisations behind the media
  • Most aspects of the media are a commodity: something that is bought and sold. There is competition and a demand for profit.
  • Huge institutions are called multinationals e.g. News International
  • Smaller institutions can include media texts we create ourselves (blogs etc.)


Audience


  • The people who consume media products
  • How does the media influence its audience? Who holds the power?
  • How is an audience targeted? What do the audience enjoy or learn from the media product?
  • Audience research: who exactly is buying our product?

Representation


  • The people who consume media products
  • How does the media influence its audience? Who holds the power?
  • How is an audience targeted? What do the audience enjoy or learn from the media product?
  • Audience research: who exactly is buying our product?

Key Concepts blog task

1) Find a sci-fi film poster of your choice (use Google images)
2) Write an analysis of the film poster on your blog using the four key media concepts: language, institution, audience and representation.

Finish for homework if you don't complete it during today's lessons.


The key questions to ask:

Language: how do we know it is a sci-fi film poster? What impact do the key conventions have on the audience?
Institution: who are the companies behind the film? Who directs or stars in the film? Who is making money?
Audience: who is the target audience for this film? How can we tell?
Representation: what representation of people or groups can we find in this poster? What does it tell the audience?



Example: Splice (2009)


Language
The title and tag-line, release date and billing block (information about the Director and the production company) all follow the expected codes and conventions of a film poster. The effect created here is…

Institution
The film was produced by Dark Castle (for Universal Entertainment) who are associated with horror… It was executively produced by Guillermo del Toro who is a well known director. It was commercially successful (being the highest grossing Canadian feature film in 2010)…

Audience
This looks like it would be targeted at an audience of mixed gender (although perhaps slightly more female?) An adult age range might apply due to the 15 certificate and the content which includes hybridity and genetic experimentation…

Representation
The focal picture shows a female in a dominant position with another female confronting her. There is a male in the background which is perhaps unusual, particularly in science fiction…


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