You need to write an analysis of a film trailer - just like last week's homework - but this time you need to focus on the representation of people, places or groups in the trailer. Make sure you embed the trailer from YouTube and use the key word 'stereotypes' in your analysis. Here's an example for Die Hard 4.0...
A variety of people, places and groups are represented in this trailer. Unusually, the trailer subverts the stereotype of a villain by having the enemy as an American. Often, the villain in an action or action adventure film is foreign. This is largely off-set by the representation of Bruce Willis as a stereotypical white, American patriotic male. He shows key characteristics - bravery, strength, intelligence and a desire to save lives and protect other Americans - that we would expect from the action adventure genre. The representation of women is less positive and very stereotypical for an action film. The only female characters of note are a woman in one early scene in the trailer who is stereotypically beautiful and wearing tight clothing - exactly what you would expect for a genre aimed primarily at a male audience. The more significant female character is Bruce Willis's daughter who is represented as a classic 'damsel in distress' and requires men to save her. There is also a stereotypical representation of young people in the trailer. Younger characters are linked to technology and gadgetry and indeed the very last scene of the trailer mocks the younger characters for this ability ("It's not a command centre - it's a basement"). This is in keeping with the stereotype that young people are comfortable with technology and quite 'geeky' and that older people - particularly those who are strong and brave - are the real heroes. Due: Wednesday 5 December
Well done to every GCSE Media student for the hard work on Assignment 1. There were some absolutely spectacular magazine covers produced and if the written analysis is equally good we'll be looking at a whole host of A/A* grades. We have now started Assignment 2 - Film Promotion. A reminder of your homework:
Make sure your blog is up-to-date with your finished Assignment 1 magazine cover.
Choose a film trailer, embed the clip from YouTube and write an analysis of what genre the film is in and why.
Assignment 1: Print Analytical task: Analyse the cover pages of two popular magazines. How do the covers appeal to their audiences? Pages 1&2 Write a short paragraph introducing the popular magazine you are analysing and outlining its target audience (if you can find the target audience by researching online this is even better). You then need to annotate the magazine cover, picking four or five key aspects that target that specific audience (use the 12 key conventions of magazine covers to help you). Remember to use media language throughout and make sure you are ANALYSING rather than just describing. Page 3 Your third page should analyse your own magazine cover. First, write a paragraph explaining how your research, planning and sketching helped you produce the final mock-up on Photoshop. Next, explain your target audience in detail (use your notes from the audience demographics lesson to help you). Then, annotate your magazine, picking four or five key aspects that target your specific audience. Remember: D = Denotation = What you can see C = Connotation = What it means A = Analysis = WHY it is produced in that way and the EFFECT on the reader/audience
