Question 1B

A Level Media Studies: Revision Day

Question 1B

Write about your year two project

The 1B question will ask you to apply one of the following key media concepts to your year two production:

GenreNarrativeRepresentationAudienceMedia Language

Mention Diane Railton and her Genre categories

Mention Joe Gow and his Genre categories

Mention Andrew Goodwin – music video codes and conventions

Mention Steve Jones and Genre categories

Recycle your evaluation answer to the question:

In what ways does your production use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Narrative

Narrative is linked with story-telling

How have you decided to tell the story of the song in your music video? What narrative structure did you follow?

Your DVD Digipaks and Print Adverts have an implied narrative through choices such as mise-en-scene, camera angle and composition, body posture and facial expression of the artist or band.

These technical codes are signs (Roland Barthes) that allow the audience to interpret imagery. To make meaning from what they see.

However Steve Archer thinks that music video narrative is different to TV and film narrative:

Music videos ‘only suggest storylines and focus on fragments of the lyrics’ (Steve Archer)

Andrew Goodwin agreed with Richard Dyer; he stated that artists use music videos to create a star image and star persona. This image if reinforced through the music video and print based products (posters, photo-shoots, DVDs etc.)

Henry Jenkins and Participatory Cultures; David Gauntlett and Clay Shirky:

Media technologies have allowed people to produce, share and get feedback on their creative work

This has given birth to the ‘Prosumer’ .

The audience are now Producers and Consumers of media.

Media Language:

Camera angles, movements and composition

Mise-en-scene (including lighting)

Editing (including post-production effects – e.g speeding up a clip, turning a clip black and white)

Sound relationship between the sound and the video

Performance

Andrew Goodwin:

Music videos often use a close-up of the lead artist

Music videos often have a voyeuristic treatment of women

Music genres have their own style and iconography

Intertextual references to other films, TV shows or music videos.

The main aim of the music promo pack is to represent the artist or band in a way that is attractive and appealing to the target audience.

Media Language allows you to create a constructed representation of the artist or band through choices:

Choice of locationChoice of lightingChoice of props and mise-en-sceneChoie of editing

Questions?