New YouTube uploads

Hi all
I've just added a few more of the animations you did last year to the TCC media YouTube channel. Go there and post some comments - who can get the most views?

I'd like to add some of the Music Videos too - any objections to this please let me know. They'll probably be taken down anyway as they are getting tough on copyright. It's for educational use so fear not; none of you are in danger of prosecution!

KEY TERMS

This list is NOT exhaustive - just a few things you might consider touching on in the exam!

The Magazine Industry:
Demographics
Psychographics
niche/mass/mainstream audie
ABC1’s
C2DE’s
aspirational
readership
circulation
cover price
subscription
editor / sub editor
contents page
double page spread
editorial
mode of address
tone (warm and inclusive)
connotations
iconography
symbolism
semiotics
advertorial
feature
regular feature
lead article
revenue streams
profitability
audience as product
consumerism
materialism
capitalism
effects theory
uses and gratifications model
feminism
post-feminism
body colonisation
self esteem
domestic vs public sphere
male gaze - Mulvey
ABC – NRS
synergy
multi platform / cross media
accepted/negotiated/oppositional
branding
affluenza
Body image
Idealised
Unattainable beauty
Airbrushing/photoshopping
Ritual pleasure of consuming the familiar
Tactile – aesthetic

Contemporary British Cinema:
Working Title / Universal
FilmFour (both TV and production co)
BBC Films
Verve Pictures
UK Film Council
Development
Premiere
New Cinema
P & A
Digital Screen Network
First Light Pictures
Skillset
BFI
Screenonline
Sight and Sound
BBFC
Distribution (digital)
Licensing
Marketing (campaign)
Logistics
Vertical integration
Theatrical release
DVD/Video rights
TV rights
Blanket marketing
Staggered release
USP – unique selling point
Audience targeting
Multiplatform
Viral marketing
Social realism
Naturalistic
Super 16 / 35mm
Handheld/immediacy
Budget / production values
Semi-autobiographical
Fractured audiences
Niche / mainstream audience
‘Specialist’ – ‘independent’
Digital / online age
BAFTA / BIFA
DCMS
Bullet Boy (Dibb, 2004)
This Is England (Meadows, 2006)

REVISION SESSIONS

Fancy a spot of revision then?
Get along to one or more of these...

Wednesday 3th June - from 3.20
Tuesday 9th June - from 2.20

All sessions will be in room 101. Content to include: feedback on essays, exam technique, revision tips, wider reading, re-cap and consolidation of knowledge and, of course, some Media Frisbee!

CRS resitters - come along to one of these sessions to pick up your cover sheets - see me ASAP if you need more help or advice.

Please post a comment to this post if you intend coming to any of these sessions so I have a rough idea of numbers.

Happy studying! :-)

Mr. M

Exam revision

So, what are you going to do to make sure you write the perfect Contemporary British Cinema answer in the Issues and Debates paper then?

1. Know at least THREE films inside out. And two or more others for back up. Make sure your big three provide contrast. So, some of the low budget gritty realism of Bullet Boy, London to Brighton or This Is England. One of the big shiny high budget Working Title features (either the 'British history lite for the US market' of Elizabeth or the idealised sunny London middle class nirvana of Love Actually).

2. You should be confident that you know your big three synoptically. That is in terms of:
-Media forms and conventions
-Media representations
-Media institutions
-Media audiences

3. Read widely around some of the issues that currently affect British Cinema. Check the MediaGuardian and other online newspaper pages, the Working Title webpage, sight and sound magazine for what is going on...and the links to britfilms etc (on the right)

4. Choose your question carefully (you anwser one of two questions for each topic) and plan and structure your answer accordingly. Spend 5-8 mins planning you response before writing. This will add clarity and provide a more measured response. Work on 6-8 main body paragraphs along with a brief intro and conclusion. Refer to the question throughout.

5. Have an opinion. It is an issues and debates paper after all so debate the issues! Just make sure you have ample evidence to back up your argument otherwise you sound ill-informed and like you are just having a rant.

6. Learn some quotes. Get on IMDB if you were too lazy to write them down during class.

7. Relax. You should know this stuff by now - it is just a matter of recall and calmly going about answering the question. Breathe 'low and slow' and if you feel yourself tensing up 'stop, drop and flop'.

8. Spend one hour only on each question. Time management is important.

9. Plan and write some answers to past paper questions (OCR site). Bring them to either of us for marking and feedback.

10. Study hard (short term pain for long term gain) and then you can relax like Gal/Ray (above) and hang out by the pool during summer knowing you gave it your best. Just watch out for boulders.

Almost Rosy

Complete the following tasks, based around the article 'Almost Rosy' from Sight and Sound (BFI, January 2007, pp22-24) given out in class this week; which you have ALL read ;)
Complete this in class time and over the weekend for homework. Answers due next week. Any questions - post a comment.

1. What films are FilmFour 'back in business' with? (column 2)
2. What is the main difference between Europe and the UK in terms of the way TV puts money into film. (column 2 + 3)
3. "That is because in the UK the tradition has been less protective of film culture and more concerned with commercial viability". Why does the author see this policy as a 'contradiction in terms'?(column 3)
4. How much of Channel 4's initial programming spend was committed to films? (column 5)
5. How long does the author say FilmFour remained a 'serious player on the UK film scene'?
6. Briefly summarise what happened to FilmFour and it's role now. (column 5,6)
7. While FilmFour 'crashed and burned' what was the BBC doing? (column 6)
8. Briefly summarise how BBC Films operates, how well it is doing and what sort of budgets they work with. (column 7)
9. Which film does Tessa Ross (FilmFour) cite as being most proud of? Why does she feel it best represents FilmFour? (column 8)
10. The Road to Guantanamo (Whitecross/Winterbottom, 2006) was premiered on Channel 4. What did this give the film that it may not have got through a theatrical release? (column 9)
11. What do both Mark Thompson and Tessa Ross believe is the key to success for broadcaster led film companies? (column 9)
12. The Queen (Frears, 2006) tops the box office table in the last page. Why is this film seen as such a shining success? What factors do you think contributed to this?

What I saw in the holidays....

So then, what brilliant/dire/average British films have you seen over the Easter break?

Once you've seen one, get on the net and do a little digging - reviews, box office, production companies, awards, articles - synoptic stuff.


Post a comment as a personal response but try to use some film terms where appropriate (genre, audience, camerawork, editing, characterisation, mise-en-scene, style, tone, lighting and colour, narrative, sound etc)
Stuck for ideas at the video store? How about this years' Bafta nominations for Best British Film? Control, Eastern Promises, The Bourne Ultimatum, Atonement. Last years': Casino Royale, The Last King of Scotland, Notes on a Scandal, The Queen, United 93. After something a little more 'indy'? Here is some nominations from the 2006 BIFA's:
Kidulthood, Red Road, Severance, Shooting Dogs, The Road To Guantanamo, The Wind that Shakes the Barley.



Chocolate bar to the first poster who can name the famous film that this still frame from The Cottage (Paul Andrew Williams, 2008) clearly pays homage to.....

London to Brighton

Find out more about Paul Andrew Williams' blistering feature film debut by following these links:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article645728.ece

http://www.britfilms.tv/index.php?id=1351

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_to_brighton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Andrew_Williams

http://www.l2b-themovie.co.uk/l2b.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0490166/

Read a range of reviews for the film. Is there a common thread of praise or scorn? What are the things that reviews tend to focus on? Add a summary to your viewing notes.

Find out what the budget was. Did they recieve any extra funding? How long did the script take to write - how long to shoot? Find out some detail about the production and add to your screening notes.

Write your personal reponse to the film. Did you like it? What did you like about it/dislike? Also consider the representations of gender and criminality in the film. Be specific and use correct film terminology where appropriate.