Section B: Common Errors

Feedback on Section B Mock Exam:

• Lack of terminology (up tp 10 marks)
• Using exampls that are from OLD exemplar responses- this is very lazy amd these stats are now out-dated
• Referencing examples
• Focus on both- AUDIENCE and INSTITUTION
• Hardware and CONTENT
• Own opinion
• By far the biggest error was the lack of specific case study examples; evidence to support claims/ arugements!!! These need specific examples about content, statistics, figures (audience circulation)

What is the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences within the media area in which you have studied?
Points that should have been covered:

• positive and negative
• advances in technology-can do more, smartphones, iphones, tablets, technology is more accessible/easily available (audiences can access it on the move 24/7), Web 2.0, synergies and convergence
• Software: Apps-specific examples from each institution
• Fanzines: exist now due to proliferation in hardware and software and their accessibilty- examples: Audience: more demanding; they can prosume through sites such as youtube so they expect more from institutions, impatient
• how have institutions responded to these constant changing consumer/consumption habits?
• Rise in competition due to proliferation of hardware (Twitter, fanzines etc) and how institutions have overcome this?
• Production & distribution; advancements in printing process- has the internet meant a decrease in sale of institutions print products?

Use WIRED and ADOBE as an example
Refer to Alexa's web traffic

Revision TV Drama

Section A:

30 minutes to watch the clip (4 times) and make times
Viewing 1: no notes
Viewing 2, 3, 4:  make notes
40-45 minutes to write response

Talk about the four micro-elements:

• Mise-en-scene,
• Sound,
• Editing,
• Camera angles, movement and composition.

Possible Approaches:

- Can talk about the four sections seperately and have  detailed examples.
- Or three or four key points in the clip and structure your detaile analysis around how micro features are used in the section of the drama.
- How micro contribute to macro (the three macro being; narrative, genre and representation).


Note taking idea:

the micro element  |  technique  |  example  |  meaning/impact
mise-en-scene     
camera                   |
sound                  
editing                    |


Todorov Narrative Theory:

Disequilibrium: The period of instability and insecurity in a film's narrative.
Equilibrium: A state of peace and calm, which often exists at the beginning of a film's narrative.

Order in a film: Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, Overcoming Disequilibrium, New Equalibrium.


Other keywords:

Enigma: The question or mystery that is posed within a films narrative.
Iconography: The objects within a film that are used to evoke particular meanings.
Realism:  Do the different techniques used work to make the piece realistic?
Verisimilitude: The construction of a believable world.
Stereotypes: How we expect people and places to be.
Protagonist: Main character (hero, what the narrative revolves around).
Antagonist: Opponent or competitor (something that stops the protagonist - group of people or virus)

I.e. Sentence: The iconography of the set design such as  the space-ships helps to create verisimilitude within the diegesis; this also reflects the genre.


Camera Angle:

Angle: High / Low
Framing:  Inside / Outside
Focus:  Deep / Shallow
Movement: Tilt / Pan / Track
Shot Distance: ECU. CUM. US.

Connotations fit in really well with Mise-en-Scene, props location colours etc.

Audience Targetting for NME

1)      Core buyer of NME; mainly 25 year old men (73%)

2)      Are they targeting niche/small or mass market?  Mass market

3)      How do they target different audiences?

·         NME classified: 26% full time students

·         72% have broadband

·         59% want to keep up with the latest technologies

·         79% want to listen to new bands

·         52% are interested in a musical course/ qualification

·         NME live: 77% have been to at least 1 rock concert in 2007

·         67% will be attending a festival this year

·         70% of gig goers went for the atmosphere as well as the music

·         NME.com: 93% own a computer

·         56% visit NME.com everyday

·         96% can easily access the internet

4)      What do they offer them in terms of the products they offer/produce? Magazines, NME TV, radio station, award ceremony, night club, merchandise, festivals.

5)      What opportunities do the audience have and how might this satisfy mainstreamers/succeeders etc? Can buy merchandise straight from the store, to follow the popular/ in music.

6)      What is the mode of address? (‘The way a media text speaks to the audience to identify with it?’- the manner, tone and attitude of the magazine) and how does this appeal to the target audience? Straight to the point, informal so feels like they are trying to be our friend, informative, plain and simply put.

7)      How is the brand being positioned?  Quite high up and main stream within their genre of magazine. The leaders of music magazines.

8)      What are their brand values? (If it were a person describe its character) mainstream in the crowd, friendly, keeps up with market trends, informative.

ABCDE Statuses

What products / brands would each category buy?

A. Chanel / Dior

B.  Hugo Boss / Waitrose / M&S

C1. French Connection / High Street stores

C2. Benefit / Topshop

D. Topshop / New Look / Asda

E. Primark / Pound Land / Iceland

What magazines do you think they would consume?

A. Vogue / Forbes / Collector’s magazines

B. Grazia / Cosmopolitan / Guardian

C1. Marie Claire / Sun / Sunday Times

C2. Hello / Heat / Sun

D. OK / Closer

E. TV Guides

Example Exam Question

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

Re-wording the Question

• What impact are technological developments having on music magazines - their audiences?
• How are these developments changing the way music magazines are produced/printed/exhibited and how does this change the way audiences consume them?

List of what to include in the Essay

• convergence has lowered the consumer rate of printed magazines - accessability/portability
• convergence only exists because of web 2.0 (apps/tablets etc) multiplatform approaches
• synergy (radio and tv are synergy, put them together on a website and it's convergence)
• audiences are getting younger because new market trends are moving towards online products
• costs have risen for printing so they feel more inclined to move with the times
• new market trends have forced companies to develop to a new technological media
• will sell less hard copies because it'll be old information (new information is accessed faster online)
• some magazines may go corrupt (knitting magazine) because the audience won't be in touch with the new media technology and printing costs will prevent the company from surviving
• UGC (forums, polls and uploading images etc) - connecting the audience - prosumers.
• Awards: NME and Metal Hammer host and win award shows. - another form of synergy
• fans are rebelling against big mags and making their own "fanzines" consumers are the competetition
• inclined to make print mags AND website - financial burden is larger for magazines
• social networking sites (facebook, myspace etc) - synergy and convergence
• twitter is a enemy, we can follow the celeb directly instead of second hand info on websites
• prelifertation of media and websites, so many and so much choice - advertising competativeness
• NME and Metal Hammer have a USP which keeps their audiences gripped
• audience needs to feel beneficial - i.e. comeptitions etc (keeping them gripped)
• refer back to the future and the rupert murdoch quote in the essay

Opening and Closing Paragraph

OPENING

• Begin with a clear argument about the new challenges facing the magazine industry incorporating how much audience consumption has changed due to digital technology/new media technologies/the development of the internet (Web 2.0)
• Must state the industry you have studied - will be embeded into the first paragraph.
• "Technology is shifting power away from editor's, the publishers, the establishment, the media elite, now it's the people who are taking control." (Murdoch, 2006) - use this quote.

Own opening paragraph:

Media has changed dramatically over the last decade, convergence is becoming more frequent as market changes demand more from the producer. NME, for example, have a 'one stop' website where their customers can access them more frequently and have advantages of buying tickets and chatting about the latest magazine; giving their producer feedback on the product. The media world is taking a rapid step forward into more of a technological stage "Technology is shifting power away from editor's, the publishers, the establishment, the media elite, now it's the people who are taking control." (Murdoch, 2006) Media is no longer one way giver of information, consumers are now able to feed back and help industries move forward with the latest demands.

CLOSING

• Draw all of the essay together in one sentence, refer back to opening paragraph.
• What is the future of the magazine industry?

Own closing paragarph:

The big question is, will magazines survive? "Cars didn't replace horses. Horse riding evolved from transportation into recreation." (Jason Dojc) Due to convergence, the magazine itself might be wiped clean, but I believe that some form of media will stay. An example is Wired magazine, they have placed a 3D version of their produc onto a tablet, so you can view their magazinr to the fullest instead of just looking at an unmovable piece of paper. The potential of Web 2.0 is unknown and could be used as the next step for magazine industries to place their product; it's a large step in the media world, but new market demands are forcing instutions to adapt to new media trends.


Example Question: Discuss the issues raised by an institution's need to target specific audiences within a media industry which you have studied?

Re-word: What issues are raised in the magazine industry when trying to target a specific audience?

Make a list of issues you are able to bring up:

• New market trends
• Stereotypes and age
• How someone would access the product
• New media technologies
• Being niche (Metal Hammer) or mainstream (NME) - NME can appeal to a wider audience; means more synergies - Reading Festival. Helps create awareness. Whereas Metal Hammer wouldn't fit in at Reading Festival.
• Loyal consumers (Metal Hammer) have to concerntrate on mode of address. Meet their needs - be current with the latest trends (NME and Metal Hammer are both front runners with their music).
• Probably more loyal consumer to an online site because you'll be constantly up to date whereas in a paper magazine, a massive event could happen a day afer you ship out so you can't update it in your magazine.
• Need to offer UGC (user generated content) to keep customers loyal (polls, forums, etc).
• Advertising is 1/3 of their profit.
• Mode of address, design and layout; how to move around their website. 
• Synergy and Convergence.

A little NME Information

NME reports an ABC of 29,020 and continues to be an exemplar of a modern multiplatform media brand, serving its core audience of 16-24 year-olds online, via social media, on TV, radio, mobile, through live events and in print and reaches over one million consumers each week (ABC, JUNE 2011)

Krissi Murison, editor of NME, says: “NME has always been committed to championing new music. By opening the doors to our studio, we're also now able to offer artists the opportunity to create all the content they need to go out and make a big impact on music fans everywhere.”

NME Productions follows the recent launch of NME Breakthrough, an innovative community platform on NME.COM championing new music, enabling bands, artists and individual users to upload their own content including music and video, create customisable profiles for themselves or their acts, and grow their own fan bases through community engagement.

Today also sees the launch of the new NME Radar CD featuring some of the hottest acts to appear in Radar – NME's multiplatform franchise dedicated to taking the best new music to music fans each week.