Section A: Question B Theoretical Evaluation of Production

G325 - Critical Perspectives in Media

Section A: Question B Theoretical Evaluation of Production
Worth 25 marks.

You will choose to evaluate one of your pieces of coursework in relation to a media concept.
In the exam one of the following areas will be selected for you to write about:

• Genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media language

Genre

Genres are categories or types of media text.
Genres are recognisable through the repeated use of generic codes and conventions:

• Iconographies
• Narrative
• Representations
• Ideologies

Genre and Audience

• Genre offers audiences a structure or framework
• Audience gains enjoyment from "spotting the conventions" (repetitions) and making comparisons with other films of the same genre
• If a text deviates from the conventions it can confuse us, but at the same time we enjoy seeing rules broken
• Audiences like the anticipation of waiting for the predictable features

- would be better for A2 as I can talk about relation to horror

Narrative

Theorists:

• Propp - 8 character roles
• Todorov - equilibrium - disequilibrium - new equilibrium
• Barthes - 5 codes (action, enigma, cultural, symbolic, semic)
• Levi-Strauss - binary opposites

All media texts tell stories. The structure of these stories is called the narrative.
A story must have verisimilitude (area, lighting, props need to be realistic) in order to engage us - how does your c/w have verisimilitude?

- would be better for A2 as a film has a storyline

Representation

Everything in the media is a representation - everything we see is being represented e.g. regions/ locations, individuals, groups, places, nations, ideas

Questions we would ask when analysing representation:

• WHO or WHAT is being represented?
• HOW is the representation created?
• WHO has created the representation?
• WHY is the representation created in that way? What is the intention?
• WHAT is the effect of the representation?

To maintain a representation of reality, media language elements such as lighting, music, editing, camera work and mise-en-scene are used. How did you use these micro-aspects to create representations?
Sometimes, representations are seen to be a deliberate attempt to create associations and ideas for the audience - did you represent any characters in a certain way so as to remind your audience of someone/ something else

- could use either for this question but may be better for AS as in evaluation i have analysed how i represented certain social classes.

Audience

Consider: age, gender, demographic profile, socio-economic group, existing/ new, lifestyle, values, attitude
Categories: A, B, C1, C2, D, E
Is your audience mass or niche?
What would the three reactions to you c/w be?: (Stuart Hall)

1. A preferred reading (intended interpretation) - best to talk about
2. An oppositional reading (someone who didn't like it)
3. A negotiated reading (someone who isn't the target audience but might appreciate it for another reason)

Every media text is made with a view to pleasing an audience in some way - how did you try to please your audience.
Success is measured by the audience's responses to a media text and those that do not attract and maintain an audience do not survive.
At the heart of this is the fact that all media texts are created in order to make money.

- could use for either AS or A2 but AS may be better because evaluation has more detail into the demographics, socio-economic group

Media Language

You will need to write about:

• Denotations
• Connotations
• Anchorage - using anchor - music magazine you have a front cover of lady gaga and then have the title which is represented in the news.

You made lots of decisions regarding the following micro-aspects:

• Camera
• Editing
• Lighting
• Sound
• Mise-En-Scene
• Special Effects

choose 1 page or scene from your c/w and analyse the above aspects in as much detail as possible. analyse the effectiveness of each area as if you were analysing the unseen exam.