Approaching Exam Question 1

In preparation for question 1 of the MS1 paper it is important that you are able to confidently discuss stimulus material which will be distributed. 
In your case it will be print based. Make sure you allow yourself time to plan out your answers.

You will be asked to analyse the

• visual codes, 
• technical codes, 
• genre, 
• language, 
• mode of address, 
• narrative construction.

It is important that you are able to discuss the purpose and effect of the particular technique employed by the text.

Lets go through the key areas:

Visual codes

One of the ways in which media texts transmit meanings is through visual codes.
Messages are encoded by the producers of the texts and audiences decode these messages.
Different audiences interpret and respond to media texts and not all audiences will take away the same messages.
Media texts are polysemic and contain a range of meanings.
In MS 1 it is important that you can offer connotations and not just meanings.
The main visual codes are:
Costume
This communicates messages about the character or person quickly without the need for a complex explanation. Imagine a new character entering the frame of a crime drama wearing a white coat and plastic gloves, the audience knows that he is from forensics and automatically understands his role.
Facial expression
Another way in which messages are communicated.
Emotions be clearly represented and easily interpreted by the audience.
Colour
can transmit messages and be interpreted when they are a key part of a text's construction.
Even types of fragrances can be suggested in a print based text even though the audience can't smell it.
Ads do not have much time to convey meaning so they use colour codes that will be understood by the audience to maximise time.
Body language or gesture
Non verbal communication can cross language barriers.
The gesture of a featured performer on the front of a music magazine can give clues to the genre of his music.
Graphics
Do not ignore the graphics contained in the text you are given the graphics has significance too.
Graphics convey information about the narrative and the pleasures to be gained from the text.
In a print based text such as a CD cover the typography and stylistic features may give clues to the genre of the music and the style of the performer.

Iconography
Objects settings and backgrounds can be analysed for meaning.
Some objects take on significance beyond their literal meaning.
The denotation of Big Ben is a clock in London but when we see it on the news it signifies tradition and reliability and becomes symbolic.
Certain media texts are recognisable by their iconography which can place them in a particular genre, for example the setting of the lab and the forensic instruments in a crime drama.

Technical codes

In audio visual texts this is the way the camera shots, angles, and movements are edited together to give meaning to the audience.
In print based texts, this is the design layout and other key features.
Audiences expect to see certain shots such as a mid shot for the news.
Camera shots.
Close ups create emotion and tension when the audience feels involved with the character.
Extreme close ups withold information to create suspense or highlight a particular thing like a hand on a doorknob.
Long shots are udsed where more information is required. Character and surroundings.
Establishing shots advance the narrative by showing where the narrative will take place.

Camera angles
High angle shot of a character will make him seem vulnerable
Low angle will place the character in a position of superiority
Some shots such as a bird's eye view will tell the audience to expect high production values.

Layout and design
This is the way the print text is constructed using colour, font style, and text positioning. These all contribute to the overall style of the publication.
Magazines have a house style and readers recognize this and they expect it to be consistent.
This might be established through the font style on the masthead.

Camera shots
The choice of shot on a print text helps to communicate meaning. A screen shot from a film will give the audience clues to the genre.
A close up of a performer on a music industry website will give clues to about their star persona and attract a fan base.

Lighting also helps in the construction of messages

Post production techniques
Images in the media are manipulated and enhanced digitally for effect. In advertising, eyelashes are extended and skin is made flawless through airbrushing. Models are given an unrealistic appearance of perfection.

Genre

A genre is a the type or category of a media product

Each genre has its own set of conventions or repertoire of elements that are recognisable to audiences. They are what place that text in a particular genre.

these key conventions are recognised and understood by audiences by being repeated over a period of time.

Some media are of a hybrid genre and modern audiences are sophisticated enough to recognise this.

repertoire of elements can be broken down into key areas:

Narrative-How the story is told. You can apply Todorov's narrative structure and Propp's character functions to narratives even in print based texts.

Characters-Most genres have a set of recognisable characters that help to establish the genre.

Audiences become familiar with certain types and expect these characters to behave in a certain way. Rebellious teenagers for example. cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston for example are expected to be rom coms.

Iconography and setting- also help to establish the genre, rural or urban settings for instance.

Technical codes- Important in establishing genre

Language

Lexis - this means the actual words used in the text which can pertain to the genre of the text and sometimes only be recognisable by the target audience. Gaming magazines for example will use language that only gamers will recognise.

hyperbole- used to make texts seem new and exciting

Imperative- this suggests a sense of urgency, lose weight! Get a six pack!

Ellipses is used as an enigma code to encourage the audience to buy the magazine for example and read on

Slang (colloquial language)- for example in teenage magazines creates an informal relationship between the text and the reader.

Direct quotes suggest realism and can be used on the cover of magazines for real life stories.

Mode of address

Informal

Formal

Direct

Indirect

Narrative construction

lets look at narrative conventions in print texts:

Task 1:

Study the two film posters for Winter’s Bone (2010) and Unknown (2011)

1. Analyse the front covers commenting on:
• visual codes
• layout and design
• genre.

Approaching Exam question 3

Learning objective: How to approach a response to question 3 of the written exam

Questions 2c and 3 are the more challenging questions on the exam paper.
They will ask you to discuss the concept of audience or representation.

It is important that your responses are structured and coherent.
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of these concepts to the examiner.
Have a clear introduction, main body and conclusion to help you achieve a more sophisticated answer.

Opening paragraph:

This should define any key terminology showing that you understand the meaning.
Do not start to analyse the texts until you have shown that you understand the question by defining the key terms they have used.
Place the texts in a context.

You should be able to explore all of these key terms using specific examples:

For audience:

• Audience positioning.
• Audience responses
• Audience appeal
• Audience categories
• Audience construction

For representation:

You should be able to use relevant examples to show understanding of how...

Age

Gender

Ethnicity

Issues

Events

Regional/national identity

...are represented in the media today.

For representation you must be able to include terms like construction, ideology and mediation.

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Example question:

Explore how media texts target different audiences.

(Opening paragraph example)

The aim of all media texts, both print based and audio visual is to target an audience who will then be the consumers of the product. In a competetive, media saturated society it is vital that strategies are used in order to target the appropriate audience. Some texts will target a specific, niche audience and the aim of other texts will be to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. All texts are in competition with other existing products and therefore it is essential that their strategies work. The text may also be targeting a primary, secondary and in some cases a tertiary audience.

I have chosen three different texts to demonstrate how they use different strategies to target their audience....

It is important that you plan your answers using a grid to plan your answers.

Like the example here:

So for those that look like a rabbit in the headlights, here is some help with how to approach a question about audience.

• Audience positioning.

Audiences are not passive, we are active.

Texts are polysemic.

Text producers encode texts according to their own ideology.

The encoders include: Editors, journalists, photographers and designers.

Encoding is done through visual and technical codes, language and mode of address.

Some ideologies from Marie Claire magazine (October 2007 featuring Angelina Jolie)

• Looks and appearance are important
• Other people's opinions of you are important
• Feeling good about yourself and having self confidence is important
• Strong independent women should be celebrated - women hold positions of authority and influence
• Emotions and feelings should be discussed and reflected upon
• Celebrities are people too - with feelings and vulnerabilities
• Women need guidance to help them make the right choices
• Women are maternal
• A fashionable look is important but people (children) shouldn't be harmed in attaining this look
• Materialism

You can also discuss the Hollyoaks extract we looked at or the promotional poster for Kidulthood. (See your own task responses.

Audiences are positioned through the use of camera shots, angles and framing.

Humour and sometimes colloquial language or slang.

• Audience responses

This does not necessarily mean that an audience will accept and agree with these ideologies.

Stuart Hall should be applied when the question asks you about responses.

There are a few important things to remember about the three different positions that we can take.

Preferred Reading

Is not just about 'liking' a text - you must understand what the purpose of a text is and agree with its ideologies and the messages it carries.

Oppositional Reading

Is not just 'disliking' a text - there are many reasons why someone may take an oppositional reading - but whatever these reasons are, the audience member must understand what the intentions of the text are, but reject them.

Negotiated Reading

Can be the case whereby an audience member agrees with some ideologies and not others, but it can also be the case where the audience doesn't fully understand the intentions of the text - or is confused about the purpose of the text.

Readers of Marie Claire might take an Oppositional Reading, which might include...

• Rejecting materialism
• Believing that there are more important things in life than appearance
• Believing that having fashionable clothes is more important than knowing where the clothes come from
• It doesn't matter what others think of you so long as you are happy with yourself

• Audience appeal

Media texts appeal to audiences using a variety of methods:

Technical and audio codes - fast paced editing in an action text or bright colours in a gossip magazine

Language and mode of address - Voice over in a horror genre film may attract an audience with promises of a horrific narrative. 

Subject specific lexis

Hyperbole

Imperatives

Quotes to make the text authentic

Elipsis may put answers in the audiences head. 'Got Milk?'

• Audience categories

Here you can consider Psychometric profiles which deal with values and interests, lifestyles of the audience. 

The 4 C's - Mainstreamers, aspirers, reformers, succeeders.

Demographic profiles 

NRS - A, B, C1, C2. D, E

• Audience construction

This is to do with enigmas that keep the audience hooked. 
This is to do with use of celebrity to endorse a product or be a spokesperson for a campaign.

Magazines use the cover, sell lines and cover lines on its front to construct a clear idea of who the audience is.

____________________________________________________________

Representation

When considering representation of age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality, you should be thinking about the following things:

• ·       Can I identify what approximate age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality the characters are?
• ·      Are people from different age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality groups shown as having different interests, personalities, attitudes, behaviours?  If so, how?
• ·      Is their age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality represented as being important in their life?
• ·      Are people from particular age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality groups portrayed as being better, more powerful, than others?
• ·      Are people from particular age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality groups portrayed as being abnormal /weaker/ more pathetic than others? 
•  How do other characters in the clip treat the characters from different age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality groups?
• What is the message the clip is trying to portray about age, gender, ethnicity, issues, events or regionality?

Age You can refer to The Daily Express covering the London Riots, Waterloo Road, Harry Brown, 

Gender You can refer to Cosmopolitan (Fearn Cotton), GHD, Persil (Rubber).

Ethnicity You can refer to Spooks, Hotel Babylon, Eastenders.

Issues You should discuss body image and teenage delinquency (as seen in the media coverage of the London riots)..

Events You can discuss the media coverage of the London Riots, Christmas as represented in the Sainsburies advert.

Regional/national identity You can refer to Dr Martin

___________________________________________________________

How people, places and situations are represented is also dependent on;

• Costume
• Language / regional identity
• Settings / locations [geographical markers] 

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Task 1: Answer the question below 

Using your own detailed examples, explore the representations of gender in the media today.

Texts: Modes of Address 6.5.15

Learning objective: To consider different ideologies when analysing media texts.

Key terms: Mode of Address, polysemic, psycho-graphic

There are four tasks to complete in your orange books today. All are related to each other. If you can grasp these concepts and use the keywords in your exam it will be very beneficial to your mark.

It is a basic principal of media studies that all texts have the capacity to communicate to an audience. Our 'job' as media students is to search for the ways in which meanings are generated.The simple process model of Sender - Message - Receiver is limited because it doesn't conceptualise the relationship between the message (the text) and the receiver.

This is where Mode of Address comes in.

Who does this text think I am?

In other words; what assumptions are being made about me?
How am I expected to read the text?

If you walk into any High Street bank you are addressed by the decor, the signage, the slogans, the uniforms, the lighting, the way the staff use language. All these constitute a mode of address.

All banks are really saying the same thing within an underlying message..

You are very welcome here as long as you want to deposit money, in fact we will give you a tiny bit more money back occasionally and call it  interest.You can also borrow money from us, we want you to do this and we will charge you a lot of money and also call it interest. If you can't pay us the interest back we will take your house. Either way, welcome. Feel free to contribute to the profitability of our organisation.
(Have this pen to remind you of our offer).

It may be that you don't feel welcome, that you are intimidated, out of place but you don't want them to know that so you create an account with them anyway. They want you to do this!

Ideology

Marxists are likely to find evidence in the modes of address of almost every text that confirms evidence of a class divided society in which workers are exploited by capitalists.

Feminists are likely to find evidence in the modes of address of almost every media text that there are assumptions about gender.

However, without denying the validity of these perspectives it is important to realise that texts offer a range of contradictory subjectivities. Some ads for example invite us to be a rebel while others invite us to fit into and be one of the crowd.

Task 1:
Bullet points.
What assumptions are made about me and how am I expected to read these ads?
Consider: Who these texts are aimed at. How do they sell their brand?
Through what denotations and connotations is the audience positioned.

Ad 1


Ad 2


Ad 3


Ad 4


Texts are multi faceted and allow us the possibility of many ways of reading. This is know as polysemy, the texts are polysemic.
However, we all recognise from time to time that a text is trying to manipulate us, to ease us into a subjectivity that we'd reather not have. As soon as we see through the idealogical effect of a mode of address then it is likely to have the opposite effect on us than the one intended.

Ads from the 60's and 70's now seem unsophisticated and blatant and are only shown for their comedic value.

Task 2: 
Bullet points
What assumptions are made about me and how am I expected to read these ads?

Consider: Dominant British ideology, feminism, do we still expect consumer products to be linked with desirable gender identities?

So we can say that media texts 'invent' a fictional image of their preferred audience.
This is the foundation of psycho-graphic consumer profiling. It works through ideology.
Sometimes a text's mode of address requires a partisan national subject.
If you watch sports coverage from another country or even City, it may seem that they are not addressing you at all, that they are getting excited about things that just don't matter. This is obviously to do with ideology.

Consideration of modes of address need not be limited to singular texts but can be applied to whole TV stations or newspapers. Take for example the coverage of an event by a broadsheet and by a tabloid.
It is the same event but the modes of address and positioning of the audience differ. One may be aimed at business leaders and one may be aimed at lads.

Task 3:
Bullet points Look at the coverage of the London riots by these five different newspapers.
What assumptions are made about the readership and how are they expected to read the various headlines?

Two useful terms associated with modes of address are positioning and register. The idea that a text can position a receiver should be familiar to you by now. If your friend addresses you like a controlling parent, giving you orders in a loud voice and wagging a finger at you then you are being positioned as child. You may wish to reject this subject position but to do this would put you in a position of conflict with your friend. This is a kind of positioning and media producers are aware of this.

Register requires modifications to fit with the requirements of a particular group.
For example a text might adopt one of the following registers:
Formal register
Informal register
Serious register
Light hearted register

You may have watched a TV show or read an article but been unsure of the intended meaning.
You may have asked yourself if the text was meant to be serious. You eventually realise that it was a mickey take. In fact, you were actually checking what register the text required to be understood.

Task 4:

Watch the following ads and discuss the register required to understand them. Point out why.