In the context of the newspaper industry, what & who is the 'gatekeeper'?
What is newspaper circulation?
How does 'readership' differ from circulation?
What is the difference between 'soft' and 'hard' news?
How is anchorage achieved in newspapers?
Newspapers often use hyperbole in their headlines. What is hyperbole?
EXPLAIN
You can respond to these questions directly into your online journal as we discuss them.
PRACTISE
And now the main event... a unseen source test! Use what you have learnt about newspapers, including critical perspectives, technical codes and ideologies, to answer the questions about these newspaper front pages.
Unfortunately I still can't be with you today. You have plenty of work to do though...
Complete the feminist theory jamboard task (you now have access).
Read the newspaper set text fact sheets (in the sidebar) and post them to your own blogs. In the post, bullet point any words, phrases or concepts that you wish me to clarify next week.
Submit your newspaper front page presentation (explain everything). If you need a microphone, you can borrow one from music or IT.
Complete the 'Newspaper Bias' post, providing real world examples of each type of bias.
Address the feedback provided in the Learning Journal Monitoring Document
Revise the newspaper codes and the moving image media language (change those reds into greens in your audit post) in preparation for one of next week's starters!
Make sure you have read the newspaper chapter in the revision guide (posted last week).
You should also now be able to complete the feminist theory jamboard task. Sorry, I hadn't changed the permissions to 'edit'. Please make sure you have completed this task. Email me if there are any issues with access and I'll send you a personal invite.
It's Parents' Evening next week and Mr Allsopp and I will see you together. Make a 10-minute appointment with him on Monday (CHA students can make the appointment online).
I'm really sorry that your lessons are being disrupted in this way; it really can't be helped and, fortunately, we are ahead of schedule anyway!
I have assessed your online journals and updated the Learning Journal Monitoring Document (see sidebar link). Some of you have some work to correct and others have some work to do! Some good quality work in there too though. Please review your personal feedback page in the monitoring document to see what you have to do.
As I said yesterday, I can't be with you today. However, that never stops us does it!
You have 2 tasks to complete:
Finish your newspaper front page.
Use Explain Everything to present the technical codes you have used in your newspaper front page (record a voiceover and use the annotation tools to signpost codes).
Finish Your Newspaper Front Page
Use QuarkXpress to complete your newspaper front page. Export the final product as a pdf document and 'hand in' in our Google Classroom.
Explain Everything
Use the Explain Everything App, signing in with your school Google account, to present an account of the technical codes you have used in the newspaper front page. Use the annotation tools and record a voiceover to signpost the codes.
Make sure that all 3 tasks are complete before the START of next lesson (Thursday). Also, remember to learn the technical codes in preparation for next lesson's smart start! You may also use the test in the previous lesson to practise (schadenfreude).
I've posted a link to the Cowboys & Aliens (Genre Theory) task in the sidebar. All of these tasks will be posted in the '5-Minute Analysis Page' in the sidebar. Copy the link and post in your online learning journal.
You will be asked to consider this film poster in the context of one of our critical perspectives. You will be asked to support your response, using technical vocabulary, by identifying the media language used to construct meaning. You will bullet point the points you would make if this were an essay question on a virtual sticky note.
You must learn these 20 terms in preparation for next lesson's starter task! Use the flashcards to construct a list of terms & definitions in your post.
Before we start with today's new learning, you must retake the critical perspectives test. Remember, the result from this test will inform my intervention strategy (see you Friday!).
SMART START
Yes, it's 'use your pencil as a camera' time! I'll suggest 5 camera movements and you need to use your pencil to demonstrate your understanding of the technical code!
LEARNING CHECK
How many camera movements could you demonstrate?
THE BIG PICTURE
What is the media language associated with camera angles, camera distances, lighting and editing?
EXPLAIN
We will use the Audio / Visual Media Language page in the sidebar to define camera angles, distances, lighting & editing.
PRACTISE
In your online learning journal, create a post entitled 'Audio Visual Media Language'. List and categorise all of the media language from my teaching blog. For each item in your list, create a hyperlink to the AV example from the teaching blog. If I haven't provided an example, find your own, host in your Google Drive and provide a hyperlink as before.
Then, in the same post, describe the first 2 minutes of following extract using as much media language as possible. I want to be able to visualise the clip in my head from just your description. Consider...
Camera distances
Camera angles
Camera movement
Soundtrack
Lighting
Editing
LEARNING CHECK
How much have you taken on board? Without referring to your online journal (or my media language page), complete the following learning check. How many of the media language examples can you label?
At the end of the test, take a screenshot of your certificate (using Snipping Tool) and post on your blog in a separate post (Media Language Learning Check 1).
It won't surprise you to hear that you will retake this quiz (very soon!), so you need to revise all of the media language defined today. You will keep retaking this test (or something similar) until you have mastered this language!
HOMEWORK
Learn all of the media language covered today. Next week, we will review the media language associated with print products.
Guess what? I think we'll start this lesson with a quick critical perspectives test. You know what you have to do and the times you have to beat! Remember, the only person you have to beat is your previous self (and Katie).
I've marked your work and updated the monitoring document. You can spend this lesson reflecting on and responding to the feedback. This includes making improvements to your Magazine Page & Match-on-Action NEA tasks. You can also address the comments I've made on your returned assignment. You can resubmit your assignments once you have addressed the issues I have raised.
My main observation from marking your assignments is that you need to develop essay writing techniques; deciding a structure and maintaininn an academic register throughout. Maybe this structure will help you...
To help you remember the basics for the critical perspectives relating to media language & representation, I have created the following ebook. Click on the link to read online.
At the start of today's lesson, you will retake the Critical Perspectives Matching Task. Is there anyone who can beat Katie?
In today's lesson, you will exhibit your match-on-action sequence. We will review each sequence looking out for;
Continuity (and continuity errors)
Accurate MOA edits (looks like a single action)
The use of a supportive underscore
The use of realistic, balanced sound effects
We will rank order the sequences to discover the winner of the inaugural Cheslyn Hay Film Festival. I would like to submit my own sequence. How does yours compare to my benchmark production?
The rest of today's lesson will be dedicated to the development of your WaterAid documentary. This will be completed in next Friday's NEA lesson (focusing on Premier Elements skills).
At the start of next Thursday's lesson, we will start our unseen text analyse programme. Once a week, you will be given an unseen text (still or moving image) and asked to review it considering one of the critical perspectives we have studied so far. I will use this mini-assessment to inform my weekly intervention strategy (directing you to attend a catch-up session for each critical perspective you don't know or apply inappropriately). There is no way to magically impart the ability to label these critical perspectives; you just have to learn them the old fashioned way. However, here is a knowledge organiser covering the critical perspectives for 'media language' and 'representation'.
At the start of today's lesson, you will complete the Tide / Kiss of the Vampire assessment. You can access the assignment via our Google Classroom. You will have 30 minutes to complete this assessment.
THE BIG PICTURE
WALT: How do we apply the theoretical frameworks we have studied so far to the 'WaterAid' advert? EXPLAIN & MODEL
We will go through the fact sheet for the WaterAid advert (see sidebar), defining any terms that you are unfamiliar with and clarifying any misconceptions. You would be wise to make notes during this phase of the lesson. PRACTISE
To demonstrate your understanding of the text, you are going to construct a documentary. You have the following resources available to you;
A copy of the WaterAid advert
Adobe Premier Elements
A USB microphone (we only have 1 for the class)
Access to AudioBlocks
In the making of your documentary, you may exploit the following techniques & codes;
A voice-over
Titles (overlays)
Intertitles
Pause & talk
Other creative approaches do exist and you are welcome to consider alternatives.
REVIEW
At the end of the lesson, we will use 'Talking Chips' to share our new knowledge. Whoever is the last person holding a chip... is the loser!
Unfortunately, only half of the class will be with us today. Therefore, we will use the time to regroup and to embed learning. You will complete the following tasks;
Set up own learning journals (blogs) if you haven't already
Publish a post summarising each of the theorists we have covered so far (see below)
Complete and publish all of the NEA skill-building tasks covered so far (see below)
Complete and publish your Tide & Kiss of the Vampire annotations
Each of your practical tasks should be submitted as an assignment on Google Classroom.
Once you have completed all of the tasks above, you may collect your flash drive and start to edit your 'MOA' clip using Adobe Premier Elements.
Summary of Theorists Studied So Far
Steve Neale's Genre Theory
Todorov's Narrative Theory
Levi-Strauss' Structuralist Theory
Van Zoonen's Feminist Theory
bell hooks' Feminist Theory
Paul Gilroy's Postcolonial Theory
David Gauntlett's Identity Theory
Stuart Hall's Representation Theory
Roland Barthes' Narrative Codes
Propp's Character Theory
Summary of NEA Skill-Building Tasks Studied So Far
Fantasy Romance Movie Poster: Blending Images (in Photoshop Elements)
War Film Movie Poster: Making Selections (in Photoshop Elements)
SMART START
At the start of today's lesson, you will demonstrate your understanding of media language relating to camera movements, angles and shot types (see sidebar for revision).
LEARNING CHECK
Following the smart start assessment, you will be placed in groups for today's practical work. The structure of the groups will be informed by the smart start outcomes!
THE BIG PICTURE
WALT: How do you construct a moving image sequence that observes the basic rules of filming to establish a linear narrative that follows the conventions of continuity editing? EXPLAIN The Basic Rules of Filming... Continuity Editing
MODEL
I will quickly direct the shooting and editing of a single match-on-action shot as an example. You will be my crew & actors! PRACTISE
Your task in the second half of the lesson is to plan and shoot a short film sequence that demonstrates your understanding of the rule of thirds, the 180 degree rule and, once edited, match-on-action & continuity editing. The Brief
Plan and shoot a short sequence, lasting no longer than a minute once edited, that represents a journey from A to B. In your sequence, your protagonist must have a motivation to get to point B (e.g. to meet a deadline, to prevent something happening, etc). You must include;
A minimum of 3 match-on-action shots
A variety of shot types, including a least one extreme close up (see media language page in sidebar)
A least one element of camera movement (side media language page in sidebar)
Rules
No dialogue!! (we will add sound effects and an underscore afterwards, but not words!)
No inappropriate activities (drugs, smoking, sexual references, etc)- If in doubt, leave it out!
You will each edit your own version of the sequence
Planning
How will you plan? On the fly? Storyboard? Location recce?
How will you allocated roles within the film crew?
Who will you use as actors?
The Prize
All sequences will be submitted into the 'Cheslyn Hay A2B Short Film Festival'. The sequence voted the best by the judges will win...
REVIEW
At the end of the lesson, you will exhibit your personal edit of the sequence. The critic (me) will evaluate your success and declare somebody the winner!
I'm afraid I'm at a meeting in London today, so can't be with you. However, that doesn't stop us does it!
THE BIG PICTURE
WALT: How do we apply the theoretical frameworks we have studied so far to the 'Tide' & 'Kiss of the Vampire' set texts?
EXPLAIN (TIDE ADVERT)
In a post entitled 'Tide Advert', list and define the terms below (or a Google Doc if you still haven't got a blog). You may research the terms using the internet or any other resource. All these terms are used in the Tide fact sheet (in sidebar) but they aren't explained or defined. It is important that you understand what they mean! You can support your definitions with examples, illustrations, graphics, hyperlinks to sources, etc. Help each other too.
Copy (look at the definitions on the classroom wall)
Z-Line
Rule of Thirds
Serif
Sans-Serif
Dress Code
Mode of Address
Lexis
Hyperbole (pronounced "Hi-per-bal-lee")
Superlative
Tripling
PRACTISE (TIDE ADVERT)
Using our desktop published of choice (QuarkXpress) annotate an image of the Tide Advert (use the 'snipping' tool to take a screenshot from the fact sheet). Use the fact sheet (see sidebar) and your new understanding of key terms to complete the annotation. I only want you to consider the most important information from the following sections of the fact sheet though;
Part 1: Media Language
Part 2: Representation
Do not try to include every piece of information; just the key stuff and, for now, ignore Part 3, the 'Audiences' section, of the fact sheet (we haven't covered these theoretical frameworks yet).
MODEL
Here is my example of what your annotation may look like at the beginning (with only one annotation though - I wouldn't want you to copy me!)...
To make the arrow, I used the line tool and manipulated the width and end point. Have a go!
REVIEW
Once you have completed your annotation, export it as a PDF and submit it in our Google Classroom.
________________________________________________
KISS OF THE VAMPIRE
Repeat the same process for the 'Kiss of the Vampire' film poster. Start, once again, by defining the language used in the fact sheet in a new post.
Intertexts (look around the room for an example of intertextuality to help)
Gesture Code
Icon / Iconography
Again, submit your annotated PDF in our Google Classroom.
