Learning Objective:

1. Learning Objective: How do I conduct research for my Media Studies coursework?

2. 50% of your final AS marks! • Three pieces of linked work: • A pre-production reflecting research and demonstrating planning techniques (20%) • A production piece, developed from the pre-production work (40%) • A report of 1200 – 1600 words (40%).

3. Assessment Objectives • Apply knowledge and understanding when analysing media products and processes, and when evaluating your own practical work, to show how meanings and responses are created. • Demonstrate the ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills. • Demonstrate the ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research.

4. Assessment Objectives • Apply knowledge and understanding when analysing media products and processes, and when evaluating your own practical work, to show how meanings and responses are created. • Demonstrate the ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills. • Demonstrate the ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research.

5. Task One: Write down what you have decided to create and why. E.g. • Does this appeal to your demographic? • Is it a popular genre? • Does it offer the possibility of an interesting narrative? • Is it an area of Media Studies that interests you? • Can you see the possibility of offering something new to this genre? • Could you see the opportunity of expressing your creativity/interest in something? E.g. I have decided to create the promotional materials for a new action film. This is a popular genre for teenagers and adults, and it appeals to my interests in the use of genre and narrative codes in film posters. Or.. Gossip magazines are very popular and it is a saturated market; however, very few gossip magazines are directly targeted towards the demographic that very often read them – teenagers. Therefore, I have decided to design the front cover and feature of a new gossip magazine targeted towards this demographic.

6. Find a style model and drag it into your document (drag URL for YouTube clips). Explain why it is simlar to your intended pre-production/production piece. Start listing the modes of address and the signifiers in the text (e.g. Use of colour/typography/visual codes).

7. Target Audience: Use pages 3-4 in your booklets to help you. Explain: • Who the target audience is and how you know this. You may wish to search online for the magazines ‘rate card’, which will offer detail about the demographic. E.g. ‘Heat’ magazine is aimed at ABC1 adult females, with an interest in celebrity gossip. They tend to watch a lot of television, spend time socialising and have an interest in fashion. There is nothing very intellectually challenging about the magazine, so it is very accessible to a mass audience.

8. How does the text use codes and conventions to appeal to its target audience? Modes of address: The cover makes effective use of both direct and indirect modes of address. Some of the celebrities are looking at the camera, offering a sense of personal connection between the reader and the celebrity (which Richard Dyer may argue is appealing to the reader’s desire for ‘community’, or Blumler & Katz may argue is appealing to the audience’s desires for ‘personal connection’. The indirect mode of address used in some of the images suggest that the magazine also features un-staged and ‘behind the scenes’ access to these celebrities, appealing to the audience’s desire to know more about the lives of these people.

9. Homework (due next lesson): Analyse your style model in detail, exploring the use of (where relevant): • Typography • Visual codes • Genre codes/tropes • Audio codes • Narrative codes You need to explain the appeal of these to the target audience. Please type this in full sentences/paragraphs. Put effort into this, as this will eventually become part of your evaluation, worth 40% of your coursework marks!