EXAM HELP : LAST MINUTE CONCERNS

Ok so i have recieved questions about other things there arent included here on this blog. There is definately at least a chance that stuff i havent predicted could come up.. like storyboards for Question 4 instead of Web Design although i think its so unlikely i will shave off all my hair if storyboards do come up !! 

Questions like how have TV crime drama changed and how they will develop in the future are interesting ones though and even if they dont come up as a question on their own could be added on to discussions in question 1 and question 3 anyway... I guess TV Crime Drama like any genre as developed by becoming less generic and adding characters (such as Dexter) who operate as one or two different character roles. Audiences are broed of watching the same formulaic 'cops chasing baddy' style shows from the 70s and we get now a much wider genre in terms of how characters and narratives of the show include a wide variety of themes and setting (e.g The wire) in which all angles of the criminal cycle are explored.

Also i was watching BBC the other day and they had this inetresting clip about how Sherlock has just been remade for American Audiences with Lucy Liu as Watson.. the link to the video is here :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18261136


Anyways.....
Good luck for the exam and remember if you can get into each question or at least somewhere on you exam paper:

• 10 media words (write them down at the top of your paper the first chance you get and cross them off as you use them ) 

• 2 statistics about TV crime drama popularity

•  1 or 2 examples of Media theory (U+G theory and Utopian solutions are Staaaandard bruv!)

Then you will be fine !! Make sure you ideas fit the brief though as a lot of my students are still doing things that are way too scary and horror based for a a family TV crime show !!

 Bless / Safe / Peace etc etc

Preliminary Material : What to do

I have put a copy of the preliminary material for you below (with highlights over the key stuff)... Prelim Material Basically from now until the exam you are preparing the best 4 answers you can using that brief... From discussions in class we have come up with possible ideas for the 4 tasks:



Q1 :Will be some kind of knowledge test about the genre / sub genres and conventions and success and appeals of the genre .

Something like : "Tell us what you know about TV Crime Drama.Is it successful and why does it appeal to people?" 

So in this question you need to use facts and statistics about viewing figures, list and explain the conventions of the different sub genres of TV Crime Drama and always mention lots of examples from shows you have seen. You will need to talk about the typical Audiences and the appeals of the genre to them This question could take the form of an essay, but you can use bullet points to help you

Q2: Willl probably be the PITCH / PROPOSAL question in which you have to present your idea for a show (when coming up with your idea you must remember the stuff from the brief: Family show, Popular, interesting storyline, realistic characters and settings)

It might say "Let us have you ideas for an engaging family TV crime show"

In you pitch you should have:

Title (of show)
Tagline
Synopsis
Character description (2 minimum) : draw them and annotate them if time
Pilot episode narrative outline
Channel + scheduling

Q3: This could be where you have to explain how your idea fits the brief. So in this question you need to justify your ideas and relate them to the brief. So it could be something like  

"Explain why your show will interest the audience and how you might hope to reach them with your marketing strategy"

They might also ask you in this question to draw up ideas for a marketing and merchandising plan.. Think about how you could use traditional and internet /social media to make people watch your show. 

Q4: will be the practical (drawing!!) task where you have to design something.. probably a website for the show but it could be a storyboard for a trailer.. but its more likely they will ask you to design a website as it says in the brief "exploit the potential of new and e-media."

The question could be something like "Show us your designs for a website or online advertising campaign"

So here are some good TV Crime Drama websites for you to research on:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/csi/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t4pgh
http://www.itv.com/midsomermurders/
http://www.itv.com/scottandbailey/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007y6k8

You need to practice drawing yours out (and labelling the key areas explaining why they are good for the audience) because in the exam you will only have 20 minutes to do it!! So get practicing! You dont need to perfectly draw every image or write all the text but just the major interactive parts..


OK THEN ...so remember these are our best efforts at pre guessing the question but they could be slightly different.. and also remember you must include lots of MEDIA WORDS !! but i will try and put more help on this soon ..

Ok get preparing and remember to leave comments here with your ideas or questions if you need help...

Safe bruv... SLOANLOCK

Easter Homework :

1. Watch lots of different dramas : 1 episode of each Think about what makes them conventional but also slightly different. What is their 'gimmick' or 'USP (Unique selling Point). What is their appeal to different types of audiences.

Watch : DEXTER / NUMB3RS / LIE TO ME / SCOTT & BAILEY and 2 more of you choice (come on its not lke you actually have anything to do for 2 and a half weeks)

Use :
CUEVANA or WATCH SERIES for your totally illegal internet streams

Then complete the booklet below. THIS WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR WHEN YOU GET BACK

Easter Revision

ALSO those of you who are still flopping your media life and still have a D or below for your coursework you have until the wednesday we get back to improve it for the final time...

Lesson 7: Audiences

A huge part of making any media text is loking at audiences . You already know this but if you want to egt a good grade in your exam you also need to mention some media theory to make you sound smart and that you know what you are talking about:

Today we talked about tehse key areas :

DEMOGRAPHICS

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS:

NEALE'S THEORY OF REPETITION AND DIFFERENCE

USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY

DYER'S UTOPIAN SOLUTION THEORY :

We then watched 2 clips (the wire and Dexter) and tried to talk about what we had seen using the theories . Difficult but understood very well by most of you ... as a recap the slideshow below has some info (but not all... copy someones notes if you werent in !)

3. Who Watches Crime Dramas and Why?

View more PowerPoint from latymermedia

Lesson 6: Textual Analysis

Good old analysis .. you cant avoid it. Its extremely important to use media language when analysing still and moving images to see how the text is constructed you need to use these words and words like CONNOTATIONS in your Exam..

Today we started off brainstorming all the terms we could use :

Mise en scene / Settings / Diagetic Sound / Editing / Camera Angles / Camera Shots / Props and costume / Lighting / Make up / Dialogue / Soundtrack / Character Expression / Space / Colour / Camera Movement etc etc


Then we looked at some still images and annotated them for the connotations



We then looked at how a media studies text book did it:
Analsyis of Crime Drama Mi Seen Scene

and then stated analysing the opening credits and their use of iconography :





Nice one - get analysing

Lesson 5 : Narrative and Characters

Wow so now you should know about at least 4 old, dead white guys who you can use in your media exam... They are

Propp - characters list : Hero / Villain / Donor / Dispatcher etc

Todorov - Narrative theory : Equillibrium / disruption / new equillibrium

Levi- Stauss - Binary opposites (Good vs Evil / Love vs Hate etc)

Roland Barthes - Enigma Codes - mysteries created for the viewer at the start.

If you name drop these guys in your exam you will definately get some good marks !!!

If you missed the lesson you could check out this lesson powerpoint.....

2. Who Are The Characters In Crime Drama?

View more PowerPoint from latymermedia

We also watched a clip from Luther series 2 episode 1 to spot the narrative devices HERE

Lesson 4 : Case Study - The Wire

Yeah i know its the best show ever and every one loves it ..but why ?? We're Media Students we need to break it down an see what they done did wid dis here package, ya feel me. This aint Baltimore and the 5 0 aint comin but ya still gots ta get the re-up on dat Media Studies terminology ... shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii*!

Ok i better stop and talk like a proper teacher..today we watched the wire as an example fo a Police Procedural Sub Genre and atlked about how it was similar and different to Sherlock.

Watch any episode of Season 4 and think about:


What Genre Conventions can you identify

How is it similar / different to othe TVCDs you have seen ?

Describe the main character(s):

Summarise the Narratives:

What happens at the end? Are the problems resolved ?

Where there any ‘Red Herrings’ ? Why not ?

What ideas could you steal for you own TVCD ? What did you like about it?