Christmas 2010

Revise Revise Revise

You need to LEARN your toolkit and consolidate your understanding of the terminology by using the glossary and regularly technique spotting when viewing moving image texts.

You also need to improve your visual/aural recall and sharpen your ability to suss out the 'macro' context of any random extract from a moving image text.

For homework use the sheet of ten minute tests and challenges given out in class to get into training...

There is also a copy saved in CWK on Hercules on the school network

You also need to publish a 'training diary' which records at least five activities you have completed and lists which tv dramas you sampled. You should also evaluate what was most helpful and what progress you feel you are making. This could be done as a normal post or as a video diary or slideshow (Word 2010, widely available around school, has the functionality to export Powerpoint as a wmv file which can then be directly uploaded onto your blog without the need for a host site like Slideshare. This is very good news for your coursework so give it a whirl!).

I will be checking your blog progress on January 4 so I am ready to discuss it on Parents' Evening .......

The pace will increase next term - make sure you can keep up. A maximum of 15 lessons before the exam on May 17.

I will organise catch up viewings for any clips you missed because of absence which are not on the system (The Chase and Cutting It)

Merry Christmas!

This week I would like you to apply your developing expertise to your own viewing!

Choose a 3-5 minute extract from a TV Drama (any genre but preferably British and broadcast since 2005) which you think constructs interesting representations of ethnicity.

Best to choose an episode which you have recorded or is on i player/C4OD/ITVPlayer or is on Youtube or which you have on dvd. You will need to view your extract at least five times!

Title : Discuss how (fill in title of programme) uses

camera shots, sound, mise en scene, editing

to construct representations of ethnicity.

You will need to write

1. an introductory overview paragraph which explains the macro analysis of the clip (= genre, main narrative shape, characterisation, pace, atmosphere)

2. 4 further paragraphs which discuss the contribution of each technical code to the representation of ethnicity, with micro analysis of at least 5 relevant examples for each technical code.

Silent Witness
Episode 'Terror', broadcast October 15 2008

Discuss how ethnicity is represented in this clip, supporting your answer with detailed reference to at least 20 specific examples of

• camera shots&movement
• editing
• mise en scene
• sound

Make sure that you choose examples from all four areas and that you analyse the impact of each example with reference to the question focus.

It is fine to work methodically through the clip in narrative order but do not just describe what you see or tell the story!

Post before Monday November 15!

Unfortunately this clip is not on Youtube or anywhere online which I can locate so I can't give you a link. If you need to view it again you will need to do so in school by logging on, opening Clickview and choosing Media Studies. The clip is archived there.

Homework task

Due by midnight Sunday November 7!

How are camera shots and movement used to represent a particular time and place in two trailers for period dramas?

(Desperate Romantics and Downton Abbey - links to view as in previous post)

Success Criteria for each trailer analysis

1.Summarise in a sentence or two your overview of the way the characters and the period are represented in the trailer (= macro analysis)

2. Discuss at least 10 different examples of specific camera shots and movements, making sure you make at least 4/5 points relevant to the question. Chronological order is fine.
(20 marks)

3.USE CORRECT TERMINOLOGY in every example
(10 marks)

4. Analyse in detail the effect and impact of your examples in relation to the question
(20 marks)

(numbers 2-4 = micro analysis)

Compare and contrast if you wish!