Exam topic: TV News

Research 

1) I researched on Newsround and BBC One News Breakfast

2) Watch your two different TV News programmes on three different nights. Watch the whole bulletin each time and make notes on the following:

• Title, date and time of bulletin: 6:00am (BBC News Breakfast) & 8:15am, 3/3/14 (Newsround)
• Presenters: Ayshah Tull (Newsround) Sonya Jessop and Kate Kinsella (BBC Breakfast)
• News stories covered: Problems in the Ukraine, Oscars, Cricket Match, Pool Championships and Climate's affect on penguins (Newsround) Heathrow Terminal 2 Grand Opening, Car crash in Clapton, Weather and Strikes (BBC Breakfast News) 
• Use of graphics, animation, video packages, interviews and live links (key conventions of TV News) Live links, video packages, interviews, graphics to introduce the interviewee and show the map (Newsround) Video packages
• Use of modern or digital technology (cameraphone footage, audience tweets, hashtags, website links etc.) Website promotion (Newsround) Green screen (BBC Breakfast) 
• Anything that encourages the audience to keep watching (dramatic video, animated graphics, previews of news or features later in the programme etc.) Viewer interactions (Newsround) 

3) Research the institutions behind your two TV News programmes. Find out the following for each:

• Who owns or controls the institution: BBC (Newsround) BBC (BBC Breakfast) 
• How the institution is funded or makes money:  They get money from a TV License but they're a non profit company.
• Any controversial issues or complaints that the institution has had to deal with in recent years: Paedophile scandal regarding Jimmy Savile. 

4) Find out the target audience for your two TV News programmes. You should be able to find a detailed breakdown online if you search intelligently. If you cannot find anything, write what you think the target audience for the programme would be and why.


Planning

1) Brainstorm ideas for a new TV News programme aimed at young people. Plan out the following:

• Title: Newsflash
• Channel, day and time broadcast: E4, Mon-Fri, 8pm
• The length and structure of the programme: 15 minutes, 3-5 minutes for each segment. 
• The presenter or presenters: Ina Geraldine, Ashley Blake. 
• The types of news the programme will cover: Celeb, Sport, School/Uni/College, TV (e.g X Factor) and Music Charts.
• The brand identity for the show - logo, slogan, colour scheme etc: 'All the latest news in a flash' (Slogan), Red&Silver (Colour Scheme), NEWSFLASH! (Logo)
• How you will package the news - video, images, graphics, live links, interviews etc: It will be in a random order but every news segment will contain Videos and Images to introduce the story and graphs to introduce what's the story about. 

2) Plan how you will make your TV News programme interactive with opportunities for the audience to submit photos and video and comment on the issues covered.

3) Prepare for the creative task in the exam. Plan, sketch and draw the following:

• Logo and graphic identity for your TV News programme
• Website homepage for your TV News programme
• Storyboard for the opening 30 seconds of your TV News programme
• A storyboard for a TV advert for your TV News programme

Film Pitch.

Invaded:

A sleepover in soon invaded by a masked murderer after a prank gone wrong, leaving the six girls doing every attempt to leave the house alive.

This film is horror which is a cross between My Super Psycho Sweet 16 and Paranormal Activity.

The age rating of the film is 15+ as it does include blood but it isn't too gory for the viewers.

This story is based around 6 girls who you wouldn't believe are best friends due to their personalities: There is a really vain popular girl called Sammii, a nerdy girl who’s really friendly but shy on most topics called Casey, a bullied girl who’s likes to be around her friends more than her family called Ivy, a wild girl who’s not afraid to be loud called Madison, an ordinary girl who just likes to have fun called Jenny and a slightly dim-witted girl who’s quite slow on most topics called Zoey. 

Six of the girls have a sleepover at Sammii’s house where they do all sorts of things, including pranking Casey’s ex-boyfriend by posting his address posing as a 13 year old girl on Craigslist. A facebook post from her ex-boyfriend containing an image of his bloody corpse was posted minutes after, frightening the girls. Soon a knock on the door scares the girls and they cautiously walk to open the front door. A Chinese food delivery man appears to give them their order but soon gets off his sentence by getting shot by the murderer just meters away. Ivy isn’t hesitant to close and lock the door where the girls have a brief convocation, where Casey tries to give the girls an inspiring speech, to where she gets killed first. Ivy and Jenny run away to a room, where a distraction and eventually murder of Madison allows them to escape. The murder soon catches up with them though and slaughters them both, where Sammii and Zoey view it. They run to the bathroom where Sammii has hidden her emergency rifle but can’t find it. Zoey asks where it is and quickly gets shot by the murderer. After a couple seconds of chasing, the murder catches up to Sammii where they reveals that the murderer is Casey and that none of the girls nor her ex-boyfriend never died. Sammii is confused and they tell her that they did this in order to change how she treats others and how badly it can affect them and the ones that they love. Sammii refuses to change her ways and the last scene shows them chasing her with the weapons. 

Film Institution Case Study.

Your chosen movie
1) I have chosen Precious.

2) Because it's an upsetting film which explains the hardships of which some teenagers currently go through; a broken home, an abusive parent, school and raising a family. 


Institutional background
Use IMDB to find out the institutions behind your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then look for the production company and UK distributor.

1) The film studio behind 'Precious' was Lionsgate

2) The distributor for 'Precious' in the UK was Icon Film Distribution. 



No brand loyalty
1) The genre that my chosen film fits into is an Urban Drama.

2) This fits into drama because the trailer is fitted with RnB music in the background while the film is mainly circulated around a black cast, which isn't often used in successful Hollywood movies. Another thing that isn't normally used in Hollywood films is an overweight star as they tend to use slim actresses. They use the actresses's flaws in the film and let characters torment that (e.g her features and weight). I can also tell this is a drama because it transmit scenes of physical and verbal abuse, followed by the protagonist crying in result of this. 

3) This film is not a sequel. 

3a) In the theatrical poster, at the on top of the credits, it shows that the film was based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire. In the trailer, Push is also credited but neither the director or the actor's previous work was mentioned. 



It’s all a matter of timing
1) The UK release of the film was 29th January 2010

2) The first trailer for Precious on Youtube was uploaded on 13th May 2009

3) I can find theatrical posters, film trailers, movie snippets on Youtube and film ratings online. 



It’s a social thing
1) I have searched up imdb's user reviews and the majority of them are postive. The amount of stars the film has gained are 7.4 out of 10 stars.  

2) 

1. "Powerfully emotive story filled with hope and optimism." 
2. "A work of art."
3. "Fresh, honest and emotionally punchy."

Risky business
Use IMDB to find out the box office records for your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then Box Office/Business.

1) The original budget for my chosen film was $10,000,000 (estimated) 

2) The money it made in the UK on it's opening weekend was £260,921 

3) The amount of money that Precious made in total was $47,536,959.



Stars in their eyes
Research the stars and director for your chosen film.

1) The Director (Lee Daniels) has only directed one film since Precious. Shadowboxer and it is similar to Precious because

2) The main star is Gabourey Sidibe

3) This was her first appearance in a Hollywood Film.

4) The creators of the film are only mentioned in the film.

Genre and NCIS Analysis.

Oculus (2013)

Genre
Horror

Narrative
The storyline is about a woman tries to convince people her brother, who was convicted of murder, was innocent by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon. 

Character
The main protagonists are brothers and sisters but in a twist, the sister is portrayed as the brave yet curious one out of the two. Through scenes where it shows them as both young and older, the brother always seems feeble and frightened. 

Iconography
In every horror film, there is an object or a person which the viewer can immediately tell that it's sinister; Oculus has a mirror. 

Setting
Although the trailer is only two minutes long, it has a home where it's mainly based in. Although, in the first few scenes, it does show the female protagonist unravelling the mirror and speaking to a camera about murders linking to the mirror, supposedly from a different location. Another scene where it isn't based in the house shows the female, collecting her brother from the police station before reminding him to 'keep his promise'; this is effective to a horror movie because the trailer doesn't reveal to the audience to what the 'promise' is. 



Let's Be Cops (2014) 

Genre
Comedy

Narrative
The storyline is about two struggling pals who dress up as police officers for a costume party and become neighbourhood sensations. But when these newly-declared 'heroes' get tangled in real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.

Character
The characters are typical of a Hollywood comedy. Two close friends who are not particularly smart when it comes to thinking rationally and therefore have to learn their actions the hard way. 

Iconography
There is plenty of iconography typical of the comedy genre: Two friends who are as faking police officers and somehow finding ingenious ideas to get their equipment (e.g a police car, handcuffs, fake guns)  

Setting
The setting is based in a typical american city which becomes more upbeat during the evening

Magazine Cover.

Assignment 1 Feedback Learner Response.

Feedback: 

1. Great photo
2. Finish planning document - need one more sketch
3. Need to choose bolder font for title
4. Lose bar code
5. Need more cover lines

Learner Response:

I have completed my planning document and edited my font so that it looks more defined and professional. I've lost my bar code and changed the price of my magazine and also added one more cover line. 

Heat Analysis (Click to zoom in)

'Minority Report' Shot By Shot Analysis.

This is a medium close up (MCU) which shows several police officers. It helps us see the concern on their faces as they watch their former partner. The amount of people than you can see in this screenshot not only makes the viewer assume that the main protagonist is too powerful for one police officer alone but raises the tension by showing how many people are about to attempt to catch the main protagonist. 

This is a wide shot (WS) which shows us a scene with a crash involving a car. You can also see a human figure in the background which seems like they're running away from the impact but you can also see another human figure on top of the car roof with sparks flying, making the viewer assume that the person is the cause of the damage.  

This is a close up (CU) which shows the main protagonist, slightly looking bewildered at the police officers, due to me seeing the clip containing this screenshot, this can prove that the protagonist is making a mental note on how he was going to escape without getting caught. This can also create tension within the clip because of the silent pause he was made while the police officers tried to restrain him from running away. 

Story Board.

Medium Shot from down below to make the protagonist seem powerful.

This is a long shot from above to make the other character seem weaker than the protagonist.

This is a establishing shot which shows the viewer a preview of the setting.

This is a Over The Shoulder Shot which can show a female talking to the protagonist.

Yet again, this is a long shot, letting the scene intense by viewing us a basketball match.

This is an extreme close up of the main protagonist's eyes as he converses to the female after the basketball match.

Fruit Bowl Colour Task.

Today, our class was assigned to use Photoshop to fill in a blank picture of a fruit bowl. To help us decide what we were going to pick, Mr Halsey gave us some topics which could help us decide what colours that we were going to fill our fruit bowl with, I chose autumn and my finished result is this:

Advertisement Analysis

 Language: The key convention that tells the audience that this is a Childrens4Justice poster advert by adding their slogan within their Organization name in the bottom right hand corner. The slogan at the bottom of the advert 'We Are Childrens4Justice' - tells the audience directly who the organization is but also tells the viewer what their organization is all about; Children who want equal rights. The key images on the advert is the children with the duct tape over their mouths which symbolises their silence against their older counterparts.                                                                                                    
Institution: The main institution behind this advert is Fathers4Justice, a national organisation which is based on connecting fathers with their children, instead of being cast out from them in the hands of their mothers.                                                                                    
Audience: The target audience for this advert is primarily Fathers, excluding the elderly ages since broken homes often occur in middle aged couples. By making adverts they encourage the support of many fathers and challenge mothers both at the same time.

Representation: The representation on this advert is exclusively white and young people - which perhaps gives us a clue regarding the target audience. This is slightly surprising because some broken homes are caused by couples with a different ethnic background, which would expect you to see children with all kinds of ethnic backgrounds other than white males/females. This might not gain support from fathers who are from a different ethnicity but nevertheless, the harsh and gritty reality that is within this poster is bound to gain some support.

TV Research

1) The key information about the programme: 

• The channel it is broadcast on - The channel that its broadcasted on is 501 on sky.
• The day(s) and time of broadcast - Published on Jul 27, 2014, 8:16
• The presenter or presenters - Barnaby Raine
• Average viewing figures - 20k, around that.
• Any awards the programme has won - Baftas, Emmys, Broadcast Digital Channel Awards, '2011 News Channel of the Year'
• The logo/brand identity of the programme 

• A video clip from YouTube of the show - 

2) The institution behind the programme – this is usually the TV channel it is broadcast on. Find out:

• What year the channel was launched - 5 February 1989
• Who owns or runs the channel -  BSkyB
• What the channel is famous for or associated with - News
• The channel logo -

• A YouTube trailer advertising a show on the channel

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqmfHfqICYU

3) The target audience 
If you can’t find the official target audience for the programme, make an educated guess based on the rest of your research. Remember: % gender, age range, social class, level of education, job/earnings etc.

Gender- Both male and female
Age range- 30-70
Social Class- Lower Middle class
Level of education- Educated
Job/Earnings- Unemployed/Minimum Wage-Benefits/Retired


4) The running order for three separate editions of the programme. Watch at least 20 minutes of the programme on THREE separate days and write down the following:

• The news stories that appeared
• The order in which the stories were broadcast
• Why you think the editors of the news programme chose those stories and put them in that order.

1. Ed Milliband and Nick Clegg make last minute plans to campaign in Scotland.
2. MH17 Crash Report

I think they chose the Scotland story because it affects the whole nation and to gain support to keep the UK as the UK from all the world leaders is news worthy. It leaves the Nation wondering if Scotland is going to become independent from England and Wales or not.

I think they also decided to report the MH17 crash report because it could offer closure to those affected by the crash but yet could gain world support to the families of the victims of the crash.

TV News Bulletin Review.

1) What were the five stories your group chose to broadcast?
Greenford news story: Year 10's And 11's Leaving
National news story: Doctor Beaten Up At Manchester
London news story: Man Dies From Punch4Punch Game
Sports news story: American Booted From World Cup
Funny news story: Woman Gives Birth Outside Of Primark
2) For each story above, explain WHY you chose that particular story and not something else. Why would it interest a Greenford audience? 
Greenford news story: We chose this story because this leaves the Year 9's as the only GSCE year group left, thus all the responsibility and pressure from the Year 10's and 11's handed over to them.
National news story: We chose this story because this proves to the younger years how it's not safe to speak to strangers at night, because you notice the violent streak in them when they lash out. 
London news story: We chose this story because this also shows to the younger years that violent and idiotic games like this can threaten lives. 
Sports news story: We chose this story because the whole globe is linked by the World Cup, also the World Cup has dominated the media world. 
Funny news story: We chose this story because this is an unusual place to give birth but it's also heart warming to find out that mother and baby are doing fine. 

3) What order did you broadcast the stories in? Why did you place the stories in that order? 

1. National News Story
2. Greenford News Story
3. Sports News Story
4. London News Story
5. Funny News Story

Now think about your writing, editing, broadcasting and group work.

4) How did you make sure the script was the right length? I used the stopwatch app on my phone to test how many seconds I took to read out the script.

5) How did you make sure each story was clear and easy to understand? I just spoke with a loud, clear voice.

6) How did you make sure the broadcast was professional? I kept eye contact with the camera (when I wasn't reading from my script) and I introduced myself and the school in the first few seconds of the video. 

7) What was your specific role in the group? I was the Presenter. 

8) Rate your group’s ability to work collaboratively out of 5 (1=poor, 5=excellent) I would say either 4/5 

9) How could your group have worked more effectively as a team? I say everyone was a good tribute to the team and we worked effectively. 

10) Finally, what would you have done differently if you were given the opportunity to do this again? I would re-record myself again because I kept stumbling with my words, especially in the beginning. Plus in the first few seconds, I looked up instead of the camera lens because I didn't know where to look at those few seconds. 

Video Analysis.

Genre
The genre for this media text is television advert. The sub-genre would be a dramatization of a true story.

Audience 
The target audience for this Television advert would aim for anybody from 16-24 years old since the average age of the viewers of BBC Three varies between these ages, although the average age of domestic violence is 20-24. This would appeal mainly to survivors of domestic abuse due to the storyline, which has taken place in real life. The girl dancing in the party at the start give us an idea about the main target audience - late teenagers. However, there are many aspects to the advert that would appeal to a wider audience of both teenagers and young adults, as well as older people (for example, middle aged people because they could've had domestic abuse happen to them or a loved one). The recurring clip which shows the female's eyes staring blankly into the screen shows how emotionless the relationship has made her and how domestic abuse has taken a toll on her, while she also hasn't shown any bother to the feathers falling onto her face.

Platform
Although this is primarily a TV advert, the full program can be mainly watched on TV but also online on BBC IPlayer (when it's released). But the trailer can only be watched on TV, as the full program can be viewed on BBC IPlayer. Although, they both can be viewed on Youtube. With a younger target audience in mind, tablets and phones would perhaps be the main devices used to access the advert but TV and BBC IPlayer can be used to access the full program.

Genre
The genre for this media text is a music video. The sub-genre would be a pop song, featuring electronica and reggae influences.

Audience 
The target audience for this music video would aim for anybody from a young age to middle aged adults, since the dancing can influence people to take up the art of dancing, although the lyrics can relate to most people from 18+ since that is the legal drinking age. The first seconds of the music video shows all the different rooms of the setting, while a faint buzzing can be heard in the background. Then it shows an eleven year old girl stood between the doorframe before jumping off, freestyle dancing from room to room as the music progresses. In the breakdown of the video, which is in the last few seconds, the camera zooms out as the little girl flashes a disturbing smile to the camera, bowing several times before the music is soon replaced with the faint buzzing again and the camera blurred before the screen going black.

Platform
The music video can mainly be accessed on Youtube, which allows modern electronic devices like Tablets, Computers, Laptops and some Game Consoles. Although this targets the late teenagers/early adults, this can be listened to on a Car Radio and on TV.

Genre
The genre for this media text is a Movie. The sub-genre would be a horror film about a sheltered high school girl unleashes her newly developed telekinetic powers after she is pushed too far by her peers.

Audience 
The target audience for this movie would aim for anybody over the age of 15+ because that is the movie rating, although people from 12+ could also watch the film through illegal downloads or websites like Netflix and LoveFilm. The first seconds of the movie shows the home of the main protagonist's, followed by cutaways, which show texts faintly describes the film . Then a painful scream can be also heard, clashing in with the melodic singing. Later, scenes show the protagonist to be a shy, innocent teenager who's regularly mocked and ridiculed daily. Using her despair and suffering, she uses her newly found power to either move objects or destroy them. In the last few seconds of the trailer, they quickly change to different scenes using cutaways again, either showing scenes from the actual film or text to loosely describe the movie's plot.

Platform
The movie can mainly be accessed in Cinemas but it can also be acsessed through illegal downloads, or websites like Netflix or Lovefilm. It can also be watched through YouTube, but sometimes films from YouTube are not in High Definition. 

First Blog Task.

1. Why did you choose GCSE Media Studies? Because I wanted to choose the topics but it was the recommendations that definitely made me choose the subject. 
2. Which part of the course are you looking forward to most? The Music videos 
3. What knowledge and skills do you hope to learn in Media? The art of Photoshop
4. What grade are you realistically hoping to achieve in Media? A 'B' but I'm hoping to push myself towards an 'A'
5. What was the last TV programme or film you watched? 'Murdered By My Boyfriend' 
6. Why do you think that TV programme or film appealed to an audience? Because it appeals to teenagers and adults the most, which is the average age who views BBC Three and the average age of who are victims of domestic abuse. 
7. What technology have you used to access the media in the last 24 hours? (Radio, TV, phone etc.) My phone and computer
8. What device do you use most to access the media? My phone
9. What is the main news story on the BBC News website currently? Why do you think it is the main story? Iraq PM rejects unity government. I think this is the main story because their country has seen an increase of Sunni rebels.
10. What is the main news story on the Guardian website (guardian.co.uk) currently? Why do you think it is the main story? Fifa opens disciplinary proceedings over Luis Suárez 'bite'. I think that this is the main story because The World Cup has been over commentated by the media lately because it unites all of the countries together.