#MatthewsBlogscarOfTheWeek

#MatthewsBlogscarOfTheWeek this week was a 2 horse race between Ryan Masters and Ali Hammoudi - I literally cannot seperate them so for the first time in he history of the Matthews Blogscar awards the metaphorical statue is shared between these two great minds. Phenomenal contribution in class boys; I hope the verbal answers translate to quality courseworks soon...

Task: magazine audience profile

Demographic classification:

• Age
• Gender
• Education
• Social class
• Race/ethnicity
• Job/profession/earnings
• Home (city/village/countryside)

Social class classification

Advertisers have traditionally classified people into the following groups:

• AB – Managerial and professional 
• C1 – Supervisory and clerical 
• C2 – Skilled manual 
• DE – Unskilled manual and unemployed

Audience profiles

Advertisers these days are interested in more than just a social class classification. Now they try to sell a brand or lifestyle.

So you also need to think about the kind of brands your audience will be interested in.

Armani and Porsche? Banana Republic and Apple? John Lewis and The Times? Nike and PlayStation? Peppa Pig and Haribo?

Audience profile task

Create an audience profile for a magazine of your choice using Photoshop.

First, use demographics: Age, gender, education, social class, race/ethnicity, job/profession/ earnings, home (city/village/countryside).

Then use brand logos that the audience will use or enjoy and build them into your profile.

NME magazine example:

Right and Left Wing - What Does it Mean?

A lot of students have said to me: "Teachers keep talking about ‘left wing’ and ‘right wing’ - but what does it mean?" Well it basically means what people believe a country should do for its citizens.

Left wing beliefs are usually progressive in nature, they look to the future, aim to support those who cannot support themselves, are idealist and believe in equality. People who are left wing believe in taxation to redistribute opportunity and wealth - things like a national health service, and job seeker’s allowance are fundamentally left wing ideas. They believe in equality over the freedom to fail.

In the UK the main left wing parties are the Labour Party and the Green Party. They believe in making laws that protect women, ethnic minorities, and gay people against discrimination. They believe that we should tax rich people more to support people less well off, and they believe we should regulate big businesses so they serve people’s interests. They believe that a good welfare system means people are healthier, more able to work, and will put more back into the economy. They also typically believe country-wide tax-funded action on climate change is necessary.

Right wing beliefs value tradition, they are about equity, survival of the fittest, and they believe in economic freedom. They typically believe that business shouldn’t be regulated, and that we should all look after ourselves. Right wing people tend believe they shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s education or health service. They believe in freedom to succeed over equality.

In the UK the main right wing parties are the Conservative (or Tory) Party, and UKIP (who focus on the UK not being a part of the European Union). They believe that if you have more money, you should get to keep it, and buy better education and health services for yourself. They believe that businesses should be less regulated, and that the more money they earn, they’ll bring more benefits to the country. In 2008 2/3 of Tory MPs didn’t think climate change was a priority, but their leadership says it’s important. They are more likely to focus on energy security (oil and gas are set to run out very soon, and they won’t want to rely on other countries).

Matthews Blogscar of The Week

Matthews' Blogscar of The Week is shared for the first time ever this week - and it goes to Ryan Masters (aka The RyMa Republic) and 'Scroogey' herself...Chloe Ebinezer!

Both produced phenomenally creative graphic identities using photoshop. I'll post their products soon...

Well done guys #A*

Minority Report shot-by-shot analysis

We are now going to use everything we have learned about film language (camera shots, movement and editing) to produce a shot-by-shot analysis of key shots in the Minority Report sequence.

Remember, writing analysis in Media means picking out the interesting or important aspects of something and then examining WHY or HOW they have been put together to create an effect on the audience.

The images are below and also on the VLE > Departments > Media > Shared documents > Minority Report shot 1/2/3.

Here's an example of what you need to do:

Over-the-shoulder / medium shot (OTS/MS)

The over-the-shoulder angle allows a point-of-view shot from the perspective of the man reading the newspaper. The medium shot allows enough background to establish the location as a metro train. The corner of the seat immediately in the foreground also helps place the location. The over-the-shoulder shot also means the following shots, with the newspaper man recognising the fugitive, are easy for the audience to interpret.

Here is the original clip, in case you want to check what shots are juxtaposed with the shots you are analysing:

The shots you need to analyse:

Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3 

Camerawork and editing - notes

Camera shots recap:

• Wide shot / establishing shot (WS/ES)
• Long shot (LS)
• Medium shot (MS)
• Medium close up (MCU)
• Over-the-shoulder shot (OTS)
• Close up (CU)
• Big close up / Extreme close up (BCU/XCU)

Camera angle:

• High angle: makes subject look small and weak.
• Low angle: makes subject look big and powerful.
• Unusual perspective: can be used to surprise the audience or show danger (e.g. looking down off a cliff)

Camera movement

Pan: horizontal turn left or right

Used to follow movement. A whip pan (very fast pan) can create a feeling of action or drama.

Track/Dolly: Camera moves on tracks/wheels

Tracks action smoothly – look for in chases or fast-moving sequences.

Handheld: camera held by hand, often shaky

Handheld camera can add urgency, realism, pace or unease to a scene.

Zoom: focal length of lens changed to make subject appear closer or further away

A zoom into a character’s face can show realisation or an emotional reaction.

Crane: Camera attached to crane – can pan, track or ‘swoop’ in or out as required

Crane shots are often high angle and show large, epic scenes of dramatic action.

Tilt: Camera tilts up or down from fixed point

The hero or villain can be made to look weak or powerful using a tilt (high/low angle).

Editing

You need to learn the following about editing:

• Transitions
• Pace
• Juxtaposition

Transitions

Cut (Straight cut, jump cut, match cut)

Shot changes from one to another – the most common cut.

Dissolve 

Shot melts into another – often shows passing of time.

Pace

The speed at which the film cuts from one shot to the next makes a huge difference to the experience for the audience.

Generally, slow cuts build tension while fast cuts suggest action and excitement.

Juxtaposition

The word juxtaposition literally means ‘the act of placing together side by side’.

In film, two shots may be placed together to create meaning for the audience. E.g. A shot of the hero may be followed by a shot of his love interest to link these in the audience’s mind.

Mr Parker's Media Stars of the Week
Firstly, a huge thank you to Ada and Tyriek who helped out the Media Department at Opening evening last night - they were professional, friendly and a credit to themselves and the school. True Media Stars!

Well done to Deema for a superb blog; Deema has evidently taken time to make her blog look professional and her work is very impressive. Everyone should go and take a look at it as a shining example of what blogs should look like. True Media Star!

Finally, (and this is really difficult because the whole class have impressed me) I'm going for Ihsan for outstanding contributions on in class. True Media Star. 

Well done!

Mr Parker 

Matthews Blogsar of the Week

The first Matthews 'Blogscar of the Week Award' for the 2014-15 cohort goes to Katie Foster for a blog of incredible professional detail, artistic flair and analytical depth. Well done Katie - phenomenal work.

Honorary mentions to Shapol for a superb fruit bowl, Amrit for her superb work ethic and Prabhjot for an equally professional blog.

No pressure guys - but all the A* students from my GCSE class were Blogscar of the Week winners last year.

#MatthewsA*Crew

Shot Types

Once you have your 10 photo storyboard upload the images to your blog. Next to each photo explain the following things...

1. What shot type was it?
2. why did you choose it?
3. What is happening in the narrative?

Eg. XCU - this was chosen in order to show the pain in the eyes of the stabbing victim in our narrative. In the shot the victim (Stephen) has just collapsed after being attacked by his love-rival Ali.

Happy Blogging

Media analysis - BT Sport example

Media Language
The first key convention that tells the audience this is an advert is the BT Sport logo in the bottom right-hand corner. The slogan below – ‘Great sport happens here’ – also tells the audience what the channel is concerned with and tries to convince them that the best sport is on BT rather than rival Sky Sports. The key images on the advert are of extremely famous footballers Gareth Bale, Robin  van Persie and Joe Hart. These superstars of the Premier League are specifically chosen to suggest to the audience that the big matches will be on BT Sport rather than Sky. Van Persie and Hart are both in mid-air to create the idea that BT catches the action – the most dramatic moments of the Premiere League season. The lay-out of the advert with van Persie and Hart both in mid-air gives the advert a perfect balance, with the images symmetrical and appearing to mirror one another.

Institution
The major institution behind this advert is BT Sport, a multimedia company that set up sports channels to rival Sky Sports. The words ‘Game changing’ suggest the fact a rival company is getting involved in the pay-TV sport market and challenging Sky’s dominance in televising the Premier League. 

Audience
The target audience for this advert is primarily football fans. BT will also be targeting current Sky Sports subscribers by suggesting the big action will be on BT Sport in the coming season. The gender breakdown could be as much as 75% male and 25% female. The age range would be wide but perhaps mostly concentrated in the 25-45 age bracket. Due to BT Sport being a paid subscription channel, the advert will be aimed at largely middle-class and wealthy people, perhaps in professional jobs or supervisory or management roles.

Representation
The representation on this advert is exclusively white and male – which perhaps gives us a clue regarding the target audience.  This is slightly surprising because the Premier League contains a huge number of outstanding black players and you might expect one of them to be featured on an advert such as this. Although it is not surprising that an advert for Premier League football (a male league) is dominated by male players, it does serve to highlight the important media debate regarding the lack of representation for women's sport. There is very little TV coverage of women's sport outside of the Olympics and this advert only serves to emphasise that the vast majority of money and coverage is concentrated on male athletes.

Key Concepts - media analysis

Today's task is as follows:

1) Find a print advert for a product or service online (use Google images)

2) Write an analysis of the advert on your blog using the four key media concepts: language, institution, audience and representation.

Make sure this goes on your blog and that we have your blog linked from the main GCSE Media Macguffin page.

If you don't finish in class, this is homework. Due: Thursday 11 September

Example:

Language

The title and packaging of the game, the console logo, background image and web address are all key conventions of a videogame advert. The effect created here is to immediately inform the audience of the genre of the advert - the strong Wii branding will be instantly recognisable to the target audience. The opportunity to 'Text to win' encourages the audience to take action and therefore creates a strong desire to own the game. The web address then gives the audience an opportunity to find out more.

Institution

The game was produced by Ubisoft and is available on multiple platforms. The original game was produced for Wii, a Nintendo brand. It was commercially successful (charting at number 1 in the game charts). Nintendo Wii has a reputation for creating effective marketing campaigns and Just Dance is one of their most successful titles.

Audience

This looks like it would be targeted at an audience of mixed gender (although perhaps slightly more female?) A reasonably wide age range might apply due to family appeal but the words 'Win the ultimate party' certainly suggests a younger audience. The darker colours (giving a nightclub feel) suggest this may be more a teenage audience rather than those younger than 10. 

Representation 

The stylistic cover design makes it difficult to see race or ethnicity but it is notable that the two models at the front are female while in the background are males. This is perhaps unusual for most videogames which appear to be targeted more at the male audience. However, the videogame market is now far more popular with female gamers and perhaps this advert reflects this more modern and progressive representation of women in videogames.

Key Concepts - notes

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?