Assignment 1: Advertising and Marketing

1. What is Advertising?

In your own words try to come up with a sentence explaining what advertising is.

2. Where is Advertising?

Now you are going to think about all of the different places where you can find advertising in our society. In pairs create a wordle which lists all of the places you can find adverts. Once you have done this you should pick the three which you think are the most effective (the best ways/places to advertise) and explain why you think they are the best.

3. Why does Advertising Exist?

Why do you think companies spend so much money on advertising?

4. Why should we be bothered about advertising?

Now here's the tricky one... as intelligent Media students why do you think we should be interested in the world of advertising?

You should record your responses in your book then write them up as a new post on your own blogs.

Welcome Back! Moving onto GCSE coursework...

Welcome back from your half term break... I'm sure you spent all your time reading over your work and carrying out independent research into the Media. Well after you made such a fantastic start to the course last term, its now time to move onto your first piece of GCSE work (exciting!).

Structure of the GCSE course:

3 Controlled Assessments- coursework projects which make up 60% of your final grade
1 Exam - a one and a half hour paper sat in June (either 2013 or 2014) making up the remaining 40%

Coursework Assignments:
1. Advertising and Marketing (individual)
2. Cross Media Promotion: Film Promotion (individual)
3. Magazine Production (in pairs)

Each coursework assignment will require you to examine an area of the Media and learn how it works as a business, and how it appeals to audiences. You will learn how to analyse various media texts (such as adverts, film posters, magazine front covers etc) and learn specific terminology (words) to make your analyses mature and intelligent. You will also learn how to make your own professional media texts in that specific area using the latest media technologies.

To begin with we will be starting with the first assignment... Advertising and Marketing

Remember to keep checking this blog for information covered in lessons and links to useful resources.

Developing Your Knowledge of Photoshop

In this weeks lessons you are going to be experimenting with Photoshop and learning how to manipulate photographs and create different effects. For today's lesson you should chose one of the tutorials which are on offer on the following website:

http://www.photoshopstar.com

You should chose a tutorial which interests you, and put your before and after pictures up on your blog, with a brief description of the tools which you used to create your image.

Developing Your Knowledge of New Technologies

As technologies have developed we have seen a shift from audiences just consuming the Media, to audiences producing the Media. Think about any media products which you have produced...

In order to develop your skills as a producer, you are going to be learning how to use a variety of different programmes which will enable you to produce your own media texts.

We have our own website which has different tutorials for you to learn from:
http://cbscmedia.weebly.com/

Today we are going to start with Photoshop. The aim of the lesson is for you to learn how to start a new document, how to upload a photo to it, and how to cut a person out from a background. In order to show your learning you are going to write your own 'Guide to Using Photoshop'.

To start log onto the tutorial section below:
http://cbscmedia.weebly.com/photoshop.html

How Media Technologies Have Changed Society

Over the next two weeks you are going to be looking at how the Media has developed in the new millenium, and more importantly how this has changed our society and the way we live.

To begin with you are going to list all of the developments in the Media which you can think of, or find out through research, and put them into a WORDLE document.

Make the list in your book then go to www.Wordle.net and put all of the terms which you can think of into a wordle. You should then save it and upload it to your blog with a paragraph explaining how you think new technologies have changed the way we live.

Written task- Explain in your own words how you think NMT have changed the way people live in our society.

New Media Technologies

As we have looked at how the representation of groups of people in the Media can play a large role in how people think and behave towards others, it is now time to look at how new technologies in the Media have and continue to change our society and the way we interact with one another.

YEAR 9 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROJECT

YEAR 9 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROJECTREPRESENTATION IN THE MEDIA

For this project you will individually choose to research the representation in the media of a particular social group of people that are often represented in a negative way.
Click on this link to see an example of what you are going to produce: http://www.representationofoverweightpeople.blogspot.com/

Information

People are represented in many different ways in the media, and often for some of these groups they are shown in quite a negative way. We may hear lots of stories about them committing crimes in the news or being rude etc. Or in TV shows the characters they play often are seen as bad / lonely / weak / helpless / pathetic / evil etc. Obviously these are not always accurate representations of what these types of people are really like. Instead they are negative stereotypes which are used because it is easy for audiences to understand, is familiar to them (as they have grown up with similar stories) and can be more shocking or entertaining than reality.

Your task it to pick one “social group” from the list below (or if you have another idea, ask to check it is ok). You must then carry out research online to create a DETAILED blog entry discussing how people in that group are usually represented in the media. You research will be split into sections and each section should include pictures, and if possible embedded video clips that you have found online to demonstrate your points.

Social Groups that you could choose: Teenagers, old people, disabled people, gay people, people from a particular ethnic group, asylum seekers, men, women, etc. If you have another idea please ask your teacher first to see if it is ok.

HOW YOUR BLOG POSTS SHOULD BE LAYED OUT

Introduction
In this section you should introduce the social group you are going to investigate and explain why you chose them. For example “For my research project I have chosen to investigate how disabled people are represented in the media. I chose those this because someone in my family is disabled and I often get quite angry at the way they are shown on TV. I wanted to find out how they are represented in all forms of media.”

Section 1 – Television
In this section you are going to give some examples of TV characters from dramas or soaps that fit into the social group you are researching. Use pictures to illustrate your points. For each character explain whether their character is shown in a positive and negative way and explain why. To help you do this, think about whether the storylines in the show represent them as being nice people, or nasty, popular or lonely, powerful or weak etc. Try and give examples of the storylines they have had that back up your points.

Section 2 – Film
In this section you are going to give some examples of films that have featured main characters from the social group you have chosen. Use pictures of the film posters or images of scenes from the film to give examples. For each film explain whether the character you have chosen has been represented in a positive or negative way. To help you do this, think about whether the film represents them as being nice people, or nasty, popular or lonely, powerful or weak etc. Try and give examples of the parts of the films that back up your points.

Section 3 – News
In this section you are going to give some examples of news stories (either from tv news or web news or newspapers) that have featured people from the social group you have chosen. Use pictures, links or “print screens” to give examples of the stories. For each story explain whether the social group has been represented in a positive or negative way. To help you do this, think about whether the news stories represent them as being nice people, or nasty, popular or lonely, powerful or weak etc. Try and give examples of the parts of the news stories that back up your points.

Section 4 – Conclusion
In this section you are going to sum up what you have found out about the ways in which the media (TV, news and film) represent the social group that you have chosen. Explain what effect all these different types of representation could have on audiences that see them.

Key words to try and include
Stereotype Representation / Represents
Negative / Positive Audience
Signifies (it means shows) Suggests

Here is an example which examines the way overweight people are shown in tv / news / film. Use the example to help you see how to lay it out and what level of detail you should be using.
http://representationofoverweightpeople.blogspot.com/

You have just 2 lessons and 1 homework to complete your blogs. You will be assessed on the following:

1. Your understanding of REPRESENTATION

2. Your use of relevant examples in your case studie

3. Your use of Media Terminology (that means specific media language)

Recording Your Representation Knowledge

Representation is one of the key strands of learning in Media Studies; therefore it is essential that you have a good understanding of what it is and how it works in the Media.

1. In your own words explain to the person next to you what representation means, then write a brief paragraph in your books explaining it

2. Pick three groups who are commonly stereotyped in the Media and explain how those groups are generally represented, with examples (you can chose images and stick them in your books)

3. Log onto your Media Learning Blogs and write a blog entry explaining the above and add images to support your points. You should also add the images which you took last lesson and explain how they offer opposite representations of the same group

Creating Your Own Representations

As we discussed in the lesson, representations can play a big factor in creating STEREOTYPES in our society. It is through images and stories in the Media that many people base their opionions on certain groups of people, for example think about how your age group and gender are commonly represented...

Creative Task

Your creative task today involves you creating two media texts which construct specific representations. You are going to create two media texts which offer the following representations:

1. Teenage boys as dangerous and aggressive (a common stereotype in the Media)

2. Teenage boys as kind and caring (an unconventional stereotype)

You should use the digital cameras and upload your pictures to the macs so next lesson you can add them to your own blog.

Exploring Representation

Key Term: Representation

Representation refers to the way the media present a group of people. It is closely linked to stereotypes as representation of groups can be accurate or exaggerated; this means representation can be positive or negative.


Starter:

Using the iPads find film posters or adverts which provide the following representations (open a new page for each example):

1. Young people as dangerous and aggressive
2. Old people as boring
3. Women as sex objects
4. Men as strong and masculine
5. Fat people as funny

Chose two of these examples which you found and explain to the person next to you how they represent that particular group in that way. For example is it through the use of clothing or props in the image, or is it through the use of lighting or camera angles …

Public Service Broadcasting

Alongside these large companies are public service broadcasting (PSB) companies, the largest and most famous being the BBC. Carrying on your research task answer the following:

When was the BBC set up and by whom?
What does BBC stand for?
What is the purpose of the BBC?
How is the BBC funded?
What areas of the Media does the BBC work in?
Why do you think it’s important that we have a PSB in Britain?

Case Study Research

Your first task is going to involve you carrying out research into one of these companies- News Corporation and recording your findings in your learning logs. You need to find out the following details:

1. A brief history of the company- when was it set up and by whom, how have they grown since setting up?

2. What areas of the Media does it operate in- what different mediums does it produce texts in?

3. What are the names of the companies which it owns? Go to http://www.wordle.com/ and create a wordle document with the names of the major News Corp companies. Print this off and stick it in your book.

4. Why was News Corp in the press this summer (2011)? (Hint log onto http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/phone-hacking for help)

WHO OWNS THE MEDIA?

WHO OWNS THE MEDIA?
MEDIA INSTITUTIONS CASE STUDY

The Media is made up of many different companies; some are far more powerful than others these are called Media Conglomerates. A media conglomerate describes companies that own large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet.
Using Wikipedia find out:

1. Who are the top five Media Conglomerates in world currently
2. What types of Media do they operate in
3. List some of the major media companies which they own

Thinking Point: Why do you think having such large and powerful companies might be a dangerous thing to have in our society?

Welcome!

Welcome to your Media Studies learning blog- here you will find details of the work which we cover in the lesson as well as links and videos to useful Media resources. If you find anything interesting let your teacher know and we can post it up on the blog too...