Action Adventure Task

Edge of Tomorrow Representation Task

Preferred, Oppositional and Negotiated Readings

When analysing representation it is important to consider not only HOW a character is represented but also HOW the audience react.

In media we refer to films, TV, music, computer games etc as TEXTS. Just like in English, we 'read' these texts and we decide what we think. The creators of TEXTS set out to create a 'preferred' reading; a preferred reading is the one the director wants us to take. However audiences may take an 'oppositional' reading; an oppositional reading is - as you would think - when the audience take the opposite view, we reject the ideas of the director. Finally, and perhaps most commonly, audiences can make a negotiated' reading; a negotiated reading is one where the audience knows what the director wants us to think, knows why that might be an untruthful representation, but forms an opinion which is a combination of both.

I still don't get it!

Think of McDonalds. Think of a Big Mac.

The preferred reading McDonalds would like you to make is that Big Macs are delicious and that you'd like to eat one right now because they have fresh lettuce, gherkins, sauce, cheese, two beef patties etc.

The oppositional reading is that Big Macs are unhealthy, they will make you fat, lead to health issues in later life and never look like the advert.

The negotiated  reading allows us to know that Big Macs may be unhealthy, that they might not always be as attractive as the image BUT that if we eat them in moderation then we wont get fat and we can enjoy them.

When analysing representation in any TEXT, try and consider alternative readings, this will help you access the higher bands when discussing HOW characters are re-presented to an audience.

GCSE Media Course Outline

Coursework Unit (30% of GCSE) B321

• 15% Essay (Representation of teenagers) 60 marks
• 10% Posters 40 marks
•  5% Planning & Evaluation 20 marks

Coursework Unit (30% of GCSE) B324

• 7.5% Research & Planning (Magazine) 30 marks
•  15% Magazine construction (cover, contents, double page) 60 marks
• 7.5% Evaluation (Magazine) 30 marks

Exam (40% of GCSE) B322

• Section A  Action Adventure Films (Textual Analysis and Representation) 50 Marks
• Section B TV Comedy (Audience and Institution) 30 Marks

Year 10YMS1 Schedule (23rd February-7th March)

Over the next five lessons you need to complete the following:

• Create hand drawn mock ups of the teaser and full posters
• Create A3 Photoshop documents
• Create layouts
• Add a suitable background image
• Add all text including credits
• Decide on the images that you want to use on your posters
• Make sure you use the mock up to help with your layout.
• Use the posters you researched to help with further ideas.

TV Comedy Exam Questions

Answer both the questions below. You have the whole lesson.

4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels.

State the day, time and channel of each programme.
Who commissioned the programmes?
Who produced them?
What audience are they aimed at? Why?
Why are they on at that time and on that channel? Link to 'type' of comedy and target audience.
Are they on after the watershed? Why?
Know the audience demographic
You must know:
day
time
channel
for both programmes (Friday Night Dinner and Bad Education).

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:
narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution,
character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
pleasures of difference-within-repetition
performance unpredictability and spontaneity
transgressive pleasures
specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.
Remember to include clear examples from the TV comedy you decide to write about.

Audience Demographic Categories

Writing an examination answer

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the
programme. [15]
This 4b question is about Audience Pleasures and what inspires audiences to watch TV Comedy. You need to focus on Bad Education. Remember this is also about textual analysis, so you must include examples. The examiners say this question is often rushed so make sure you have left enough time to answer it fully.


Here is an example answer from the exam board.

Extract from Candidate Script 1: Marks awarded and rationale: 10 marks
‘Benidorm’ is a sitcom which is a comedy which is set in the same location with the same characters. This allows the audience to build a relationship with each of the characters as they get to know them, plus the audience is also included in the storyline as they they get to see each episode unfold.
‘Benidorm’ offers us audience gratification because of the various stereotypes presented in the programme. One stereotype presented is the ‘chav’ stereotype, in which we see this in the Garvey family. This can be seen as they are a white British family on holiday in Spain with their own set of normal and values. We can also see the ‘chav’ stereotype come through in them due to the fact that their teenage daughter is pregnant, which is also another stereotype shown in the programme which is teenage pregnancies. This can be pleasurable to the audience as it enables the audience to
feel superior towards to the family allowing the audience to look down upon the characters.
Another stereotype presented is the “snob” stereotype in which we see two of the characters. We see this by the way they both look down upon the other characters, and how they make crude remarks about the IQ of the Garvey family. This can be seen in one episode in which Mrs Garvey was speaking to one of the snobby characters and the snobby character spoke to Mrs Garvey in a very patronising way, making Mrs Garvey look rather stupid. This offers the audience
gratification because of humorous it is to see certain characters being ridiculed. Plus, in some sense it establishes a relationship the snobby characters and the audience due to the audience being able to relate with the characters with them agreeing with.

COMMENTARY

This is a good example of an answer that fails to earn the textual analysis marks for the question as it fails to give detailed exemplification.

This answer shows understanding of audience pleasures by citing various pleasures, such as ‘building a relationship with the characters’, feeling superior to stereotyped characters, and humour. However, the answer suffers from the common fault of lacking detailed examples. This limits its mark to level 3 at best.

There is a reference to the nature of the family, but the section on stereotypes solely refers to characters and does not give examples of narrative events that express their characterisation. This reliance on characters is very typical of answers in this band. There is one more promising reference to one episode that featured a snobby incident, but this is too vague to count as detailed.

Institution: Television Broadcasters

Key terms to support your answer to the 4a scheduling question.

Watershed 9pm is the normal watershed time when television content is not suitable for younger viewers. Programmes shown post watershed may contain inappropriate language or sexual references.

Public Service Broadcasting

Audience Pleasures

Watch the episode and then do the following:

• Make brief notes on all the audience pleasures.
• Answer the question.

Swap with a partner and peer mark. have you included 3 points? have you included 3 examples from the episode? Have you explained how the audience derive pleasure (have you linked the two earlier points?)

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:

• narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
• character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
• pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
• pleasures of difference-within-repetition
• performance unpredictability and spontaneity
• transgressive pleasures
• specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.

Audience Pleasures

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme (Bad Education) offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:

• narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
• character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
• pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
• pleasures of difference-within-repetition
• performance unpredictability and spontaneity
• transgressive pleasures
• specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities

Remember to include clear examples from episode one.

What do these terms mean?

Narrative pleasures refer to the audience enjoying how the storyline is constructed. In situation comedy, the plot starts and ends in exactly the same place (narrative resolution). What happens in between is usually a snowballing narrative of one problem added onto another problem, This is usually caused by the stupid decisions of the character and the audience laugh as they make each poor choice.

Character identification is how the audience knows the characters well and can predict how they will behave. Audiences feel they can relate the the characters and they become well loved because of these predictable character traits. How does Mr Wickers appeal to the target audience? He is seen as the worse teacher ever but he is surrounded by some of the weirdest teachers who by comparison make him seem far better than any alternative. His intentions are good and the audience identify with him, even though he is immature and makes such cringe-worthy decisions.

Pleasure of recognition means audiences enjoy the anticipation of what a character will say next. Certain characters have catchphrases or typical behaviours that the audience expect to see. This makes them predictable and adds to them being well-loved by audiences who feel like they know the character well. The action happens in the same setting, which the audience are familiar with.

Pleasures of difference-within-repetition means that the audience can easily recognise this as a situation comedy but the show plays with the repetition of the same narrative structure. Each episode sees the characters facing alternative plots and comedy through the script but the same sort of events happen.


Transgressive pleasures are the comedy elements which go beyond the boundaries and into offensive or rude topics. They are based on taboo and are designed to offend the audience into laughing because they feel uncomfortable.

Performers or personalities appeal to certain target audiences. Jack Whitehall is well known as a comedian and actor. He has an established fan base who would have watched Bad Education on the back of his previous success with Fresh Meat. Simon Bird is well-known for his role as Will McKenzie in the Inbetweeners and would attract a similar audience to Friday Night Dinner. 

Research for Scheduling Question (4a)

4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels.


State the day, time and channel of each programme.

• Who commissioned the programmes?
• Who produced them?
• What audience are they aimed at? Why?
• Why are they on at that time and on that channel? Link to 'type' of comedy and target audience. 
• Are they on after the watershed? Why?
• Know the audience demographic

You must know:

1. day 
2. time
3. channel
4. for both programmes (Friday Night Dinner and Bad Education).

Use the links below to support you to complete the tasks. Post your work onto your own blog by the end of the lesson today.

Friday Night Dinner

Bad Education

Extension work:
Research original scheduling (time of broadcast) for both programmes and any subsequent scheduling that may be different.
Account for the reasons why the programmes were broadcast on their particular days. If this changed from series to series comment on this too.

Year 10 Poster Task

Task:
Select a poster of your choice from the action genre and answer all the questions below.

Posters occupy a space between art and advertising. They have a clear commercial purpose - to promote an event or product - but they also have artistic value. People buy them and hang them on their walls. Museums have whole galleries devoted to poster art. When analysing a poster it is important that you evaluate both how well it fulfills its purpose (i.e. promotion) as well as its aesthetic value.

When analysing a poster, you should consider the following broad questions before you start to focus on the details:
•What are the main colours used in the poster? What do they connote?
•What symbols are used in the poster? Do you need audience foreknowledge to decode the symbols?
•What are the main figures/objects/background of the poster? Are they represented photographically, graphically, or illustratively?
•Are the messages in the poster primarily visual, verbal, or both?
•Who do you think is the intended audience for the poster?

Given that all movie posters have the same purpose - to get audiences to go see a movie -


•What persuasive techniques are used by the poster?
•Which genre conventions are referred to?
•Is a star used as a USP (Unique Selling Point)?
•Are "expert witnesses" (i.e. critics) quoted?
•What pleasures (gratifications) are promised by the poster?
•How is attention gained (humour, shock, surprise familiar face of a star)?
•How does the tagline work? (humour, pun, alliteration etc?)
•Who are the institutions involved in production?
The poster can also give you important information about the production context of the movie:
•How much does the poster tell you about the institutional context of the movie's production?
•How important is this information on the poster (think about information hierarchies)?
•How important a part of the whole marketing campaign is the poster? Where is the poster placed?
•How expensive was this poster to produce?

Critical Evaluation

Finally, you have to pass judgement on the poster:
•Is it a good poster?
•Does it communicate effectively with the audience?
•Are there any alternative readings which might harm the message of the marketing campaign?
•Is the poster offensive in any way? e.g. representation of people or places