8 Actors Who Look Exactly the Same in Every Poster

8 Actors Who Look Exactly the Same in Every Poster

Case Studies

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King's Speech Case Study


Attack the Block case study


Looking for Eric

Good revision presentation

Check out slide 13 in particular...

http://www.slideshare.net/tessiemedia/ocr-media-g322-section-b-revision-guide-ppt

Revision lecture 2

Take turns discussing these issues before preparing the 3-step introduction...

Globalisation and Media Ownership

Globalisation describes the spread of ideas and culture around the world. This is not an even process. The media companies who own and distribute 'culture' around the world are in charge, and they are, mostly, American.

The dominance of US-based media companies has some pretty obvious effects - with some counter-arguments, of course.

Firstly, on culture. "Everyone must come to look a little bit like an American, or to love a little bit like an American, or two walk a little bit like an American. That's why television and cultural industries are so critical, because you don't know quite how to qalk and think in American until you look at enough television." (Hall, 2007)

This is a little bit exaggerated. Perhaps you're into Far Eastern culture, or Taoism, or French films. But to a large extent our behaviour, speech patterns (using the word 'like', for example), and definitions of 'cool' all stem from America's dominance over media as the world has gone global.

Secondly, other countries have copied American media strategies for success:
- using branding and advertising to fund expensive production
- copying American-style filming and plot devices
- changing film titles and posters to fit different audiences (going 'glocal')
- buying franchise like Big Brother and making a local version of them.
Everyone wants to be Hollywood: Bollywood; Nollywood. The result is that a lot of the world's culture has become homogenised. The same. Diversity, it seems, is disappearing.

Thirdly, truly 'local' films struggle to compete with the giant juggernauts of US media companies, who have far more money pumped into production, distribution and marketing. Their passage is made even easier by their horizontal ownership of distribution companies that give them a virtual monopoly.


The locals strike back

However, this view is simplistic, for several reasons:

- Local English films now have easier access to the US market. And if the world is getting more fluent in English, that's good for British film (if not world cinema). So in some ways, UK cinema is surfing the wave of US global domination

- The US is a declining force. Sony (Japanese) bought Columbia and TriStar picture in 1989; Rupert Murdoch (Australian) owns 20th Century Fox; Indian company Reliance BIG pictures own a big stake in Dreamworks (2008)

- Local companies will always be able to draw on better knowledge of their audience's tastes, culture and language to make films that are more relevant than those of giant international companies

- While the expensive side of new technology plays into the big companies' hands, the 'user-generated content' aspect will make it possible for smaller companies to drum up support for their product without spending too much money, allowing them to compete.


And Nollywood and Bollywood have their own very distinct stylistic conventions.

Revising Section b

TOP TIP: Consider the issues for the studios and audiences at every stage.


When writing the exam essay - you should look for modern examples in the industry and be able to write a paragraph about:

• the processes of production – how the product is created

• the methods of distribution – how does the product reach its audience marketing

• methods, and processes of marketing as they relate to the institutions

• the way audiences consume the product

• the relationships between audiences and institutions

• issues raised by media ownership within your topic

• convergence and new technologies in production, distribution and marketing and its importance for institutions and audiences

• issues raised by global institutions targeting British audiences

Revision Task 1
1.
In small groups, or as an individual take one of the above bullet points.
2. Give yourself 3-5 minutes to discuss this.
3. Try to reference as much as you can.
4. Share your ideas. Your audience is to make notes on this.
5. Ask your audience to add anything you have missed out. You make a note of this!

Revision Task 2
Read the extract below:

1. Advice from the exam board (OCR) Section B of the exam: Institutions and Audiences:
“Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions.
In addition, candidates should be familiar with:
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences (i.e. digital technology);
• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences: the internet, digital downloads, DVDs, High Definition, CGI, etc.;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
This unit should be approached through contemporary examples in the form of case studies based upon one of the specified media areas”.
This can be done as a group or as a longer revision activity. You could even use the new social network on MediaEdu called ‘Wire’.

1. For each of the bullet points above, write the point in the middle of the piece of paper - or type as a header in a Powerpoint / Word or Pages document.
2. Give yourself 3 minutes on each point. Write down everything you know - don’t worry about sentences or spelling.
3. Go back over them, one by one. Highlight key ideas, and add anything you have forgotten.
4. Write these up as neat notes for your revision closer to the exam - or create a powerpoint for next year’s candidates.

What question next?

For section A, the recent questions have been about: gender, ethnicity, gender, gender and class.


At a guess, gender won't come up this year. Anyway, this is an area you know well. Make sure you're able to talk with insight and sensitivity about the representation of youth, disability and regional location.


For section B, the questions have been about:

effect of technological convergence on institutions and audiences

whether production is dominated by global institutions who distribute to audiences

the significance of digital technology on audiences

media ownership's role in production and distribution of films

marketing and distribution vs production of films


The recent examiner's report says that people are stronger on the institutions than they are on audiences.

Revise audience behaviour, trends, habits, categories, demographics; niche and cult followings

Latest examiner's reports - Section A

Section B - latest examiner's report

General Comments on Question 2
The question provided suitable differentiation of candidate responses. The majority of candidates addressed the issue of digital distribution and marketing more than that of production or audience. The question provoked a range of responses from candidates, many of whom were able to discuss the relationship between production, distribution and marketing in ensuring the success of media products. The most able candidates were clear about the changes that digital
distribution and consumption were having upon the products that were produced.
The best answers were able to create a debate around the relative strengths of distribution practices and marketing strategies by institutions in engaging appropriate audiences through online media and incorporated technologies. Frequently, strong candidates were also able to draw contrasts between mainstream and independent producers, and/or mass audience/niche audience targeting. More candidates are able to show awareness of the trends and strategies that categorise the contemporary media landscape, which included the use of online technologies and distribution platforms. In this session, very few candidates attempted to answer the question without any kind of institutional knowledge or focussing exclusively on texts produced.
Strongest responses came from those candidates who had a wide range of relevant and
contemporary examples of marketing and distribution strategies in their chosen area and could discuss them with confidence. Those candidates that fared less well used a ‘saturation approach’, writing all they could remember, rather than addressing the set question.

On the whole the terminology used for question 2 was good, including candidates’ discussion of convergence, synergy, horizontal and vertical integration as key media concepts. It is advised that centres ensure the appropriate preparation for this section by covering audience in the
same depth as institutions.

Film Industry
The most common approach remains a comparison between major US studios with UK
production companies, often focusing on digital distribution and marketing strategies. There was often an assumption that UK cinema is failing because of low cinema attendance, which obviously underestimates the importance of home exhibition windows in making UK film viable.
There were some excellent answers that referred to the Working Title was the most frequently used case study, along with Warners, Fox and Paramount as American examples; Warp, Vertigo and Film Four were used a number of times as case studies. Newer UK productions such as Shifty, Monsters, Four Lions and Attack The Block were
used by candidates as contemporary case studies to good effect, with some candidates attempting to address specifically the use of You Tube as a potential distribution platform for the future media in discussion of Life In A Day.
Excellent answers engaged thoroughly with new media forms such as social networking sites, You Tube and blogging and how these relate to their chosen case studies. Other strong areas for discussion were in the consideration of audience consumption and distribution through digital technology such as iPhones, BluRay, downloading, iPads, and Sony PSP’s. Candidate discussion of this technology would be better supported with examples. Sometimes these technologies tend to be mentioned without reference to specific examples of products to exemplify how films are distributed and/or marketed using such technologies, which limits
access to higher mark bands.

The advantages of digital distribution and exhibition were discussed, but with varying effectiveness at times, in part because candidates see film as being freely available as a digital format online, which is often not the case. Many candidates accurately argued that digital distribution, marketing and digital practices were important for the frontloading of film marketing campaigns, for example, The Dark Knight, Avatar, Paul and The Kings Speech. Most candidates
are able to show awareness of the trends and strategies that categorise the contemporary media landscape.
There still remains a number of centres that are preparing candidates with inappropriate material. Potted histories of media companies or textual studies are unlikely to be useful for the kind of questions which this paper poses. Candidates should be encouraged to take a selective approach to their case study material, concentrating on what is most relevant to the question rather than trying to get their entire case studies down. Quite a few centres are relying on case
study material which is rapidly dating and there needs to be more emphasis on contemporary examples. Far too many candidates using Working Title as a case study institution are still writing about films which are at least 15 years out of date.

Regional stereotypes

International stereotypes...


Here's a little one I've put together for UK stereotypes. Try your own.

Who are the bigger tanorexics?

An article in the Daily Mail on the difference between northern girls and southern girls...


Further reading:
A good collection of links, with songs, videos, and articles on regional differences...

 

Approaching Section B - video

Useful exam technique advice.

Editing and representation

Really good overview- thanks to whoever wrote this

Continuity editing

Elliptical editing

More elliptical editing

Montage 1
How many other editing techniques can you spot in this?

Montage 2 - A montage about montages
- What rules of Montages are laid out in the lyrics?


Transitions

Jump cuts

Breaking the 180 rule

Parallel cutting

Long takes

Compare this long take(start 59 seconds in) to this fast cutting (start 2 mins in).
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
Now use your knowledge to analyse how editing constructs gender in these clips:

Primeval

Rome

Past papers

Past Papers:

Merlin Series 1 Episode 1

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of class and status using the following:

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

Editing

Sound

Mise en scene



The Street

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of disablity using the following:

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

Editing

Sound

Mise en scene


Whole bunch of clips and ideas on this website - thanks beauchamp college!