Year 12 Assessment questions

Paper One Section A 

1) Analyse the close study product score hair cream advert using narrative theory including Todorov 

(9 marks)

- The close study "score hair cream" uses the Todorov's narrative theory as a way to describe what is being shown to the audience. 

The score hair cream (made in 1967) advert adheres to Todorov's narrative theory (equilibrium) as it creates this new question for their male audience as to how to be "chased" by women and their goals is fulfilled of becoming a magnet for women is answered if you buy this hair cream. This means that the 'disruption' is caused by their male audience not wearing score's hair cream which is making them less attractive and if they want to check the standards for men (the protagonist on the printed advert) then in order to restore the 'new equilibrium' then they must buy this product. 

Score hair cream also fits another narrative theory which is Propp's character type, this means that narrative built for this printed advert would suggest the male protagonist is to be the 'hero' that has just overcome his quest. This is symbolised through the mise-en-scene of jungle attire and the protagonist wearing a hunter's outfit, and being held up by women on a rack, holding a gun which suggests some sort of fight. This could relate to the fight that her had of not being able to date women or have women chase him but his has overcome this fight and the prise or princess archetype can be seen as the score hair cream being the reward for this quest. Using this narrative builds their male audience this sense of superiority and they're also on their quest and the 'donor, is the score hair cream which they will evidently buy and this will be the end of their quest making their dream of getting women to date them come true. 

2) postmodernity is said to be a culture of fragmentary sensations, electric nostalgia, disposable simulacra and promiscuous superficiality - Jean Baudrillard 

To what extent can you music video close study product can be described as postmodern 

(20 marks) 

In these 2/3 paragraphs I will be discussing how both Letter to the free and GhostTown have elements of postmodernism in them. this means that I will be including Strinati, Baudrillard and Jameson in my argument to explain why both of theses CSP heavily involve postmodernity. 

GhostTown by The Specials held Baudrillard's quotes about postmodernism being "electric nostalgia, disposable simulacra and promiscuous superficiality" this is because in the music video the first scene is the band inside a black car and is shown in other aspects of the music video however we don't actually see an ending or a destination which could symbolise the everlasting journey of oneself. GhostTown was directed by Barney bubbles who was a graphic designer with this he refers to the ideas of Strinati that were about structuralism and semiology which is shown in this music video through intertextual references to social-realism and Hammer + Horror. In GhostTown the media portrayed is with a mix of bricolage as the mixture of pop culture and art could be sensed from their lyrics too. Jean Baudrillard's idea of 'Hyperreality' being something that created unified signification can be referred to GhostTown as the music video featured a sombre and inauthentic energy which could contextually link to the 1981 recession England had faced and the rising tensions between young people of different races. As a result, this relates to the manufactured emotions we bring up to mix or to cope with these situations. In these terms GhostTown is a postmodern piece because it uses pastiche within their form of music used in the music video and the video itself, this means the new from of reggae, ska and the new wave interwoven creates a new aspect to what conventional music media would of thought and this is the reason why it was number 1 on the charts of many weeks on end. 

We can also refence Gilroy's 'liquidity of culture' to GhostTown too as the constantly moving of black music and culture which was infused into this music video from the clothing they wore and the producers of the track using mixes of reggae, Ska and punk. Neale's genre theory can be applied to GhostTown as the music video type was a from of new media which meant that it meets conventions of a film back in the 80s from the lighting and fish-lens shot. The Specials created this song as it represented a 'Protest song' and the increased tensions contextually meant that the mixing of the media forms had given a platform which expressed the current situation a form of music which wasn't done before especially with mainstream engagement. This means that this was the start to the mediatisation of history which Letter to the Free also reflect but in a different way. 

 

Letter to the free was a music video which fitted the genre of social and political music ad fits the pastiche of historical deafness and modern media. This is because it links to the documentary on Netflix called the 13Th, it talks about the disproportionate incarnated black and brown people in America's prison system and is stating their incarnation for minor crimes is a the modern-day slavery. The postmodern aspect that Letter to the Free holds would be the bricolage of current + social events influencing modern media such as music, this suggest that everyone watching is witnessing medialised form of history which ties with Baudrillard's postmodernity as 'the media makes everyone a consumer' and this form is through education and culture that isn't mainstream.

In conclusion, postmodernism can be synergised into many aspects of moderns media especially music videos as they much have much more power and intertextuality is more common to reach a wider audience. 

Paper One section B

1) Identify three strategies used to promote chicken to an audience. Explain a reason for each strategy, and reasons must be different. 

(6 marks)

•  The first strategy to promote 'Chicken' to an audience would be social media. This means that they had made a fakebook page, Twitter page and YouTube channel for this movie. This is a good strategy as it is cheap or inexpensive for the producers to market this film. 
• The second strategy to 'chicken' to an audience would be film festival circuit. This means that it creates a wider audience and the known visibility of the film as it got the attention criticists and distributors also by winning awards this help too. 
• The third strategy to promote 'Chicken' would be their IMDB listing which has gotten them a rating 6.8/10 with 458 votes, this creates a targeting of those audiences looking for a unconventional movie. 
  

2) How do regulatory contexts shape the output of media industries. Should you refer to your film close study product, Chicken 

(9 marks)

The regulation of film and tv shows help influence the media industries because when a certain film sets out a certain target audience it has to be approved by the BBFC (in terms of the UK regulation output) and this means depending on the producers and budget of the film the BBFC feels as though the content for the desired audience isn't appropriate than this will evidently affect the downfall and audience engagement towards the film. Hesmondhalgh states "the cultural industries constitute a particularly risky business", this means predicating an audiences response to a movie is relatively impossible and especially a movie with high production value, high estimated gross profit ad marketing output suggests this can be either a hit or miss situation. As a result, film production companies face this "winner takes all" mentality (as Hesmondhalgh states) which would affect their strategies and overall look on who and how to market a new film. An example of a high production valued, high estimated gross and marketing film that had failed and was "mocked" by critic was the film 'Cat' even made with new CGI effects by "digital fur technology", and many mainstream artists and actors with a loyal and committed fanbase still failed miserably which relates to Hesmondhalgh "risky business" as the active audience and many critics wasn't a found of the film and created a downfall on the production company. 

Referring to 'Chicken' the BBFC had rated and given the film a certificate of 15 meaning that it had content was suitable for the ages 15 and above. The contents and guidance which came before the release had stated the film contained elements of violence & gore, sex and nudity, alcohol, drugs and smoking, fighting and intense scene. This film was made for a niche audience and the director Joe Stephenson knew had a capitated his audience and film critics when he won two awards. The production value for this film was miscue as it was funded by private donor and general people investing in their money into the film as it was his first arthouse based film. The production company for 'Chicken' was by B Good Picture (and distribution) and Bold Turtle Production.   

3) How useful are media effects theories in evaluating the success of media products. Refer to your radio close study product, Life Hacks and War of the world.

(20 marks)

Introduction; 

Media effects theories are useful evaluating the success of media products to an extent as it shows what each media industry is doing well and what they change, this links to Life Hacks and War of  the world. 

The war of the worlds was a radio segment which was broadcasted by H.G Welles in 1898. The popular myth behind their audience was that they were new Yorkers fleeing their homes from a Martian attack. This would link to the hypodermic needle theory which suggests that audiences believe anything with the media they consume. this is evident as this broadcast created a uproar as it was widely accepted by listeners around the world. This is because the radio informed listeners that Martians were invading earth and had targeted new York which them new Yorkers were fleeing their homes, this fictional radio broadcast had made it clear that they success of that one broadcast created such panic further reflecting the hypodermic needle theory. This means that audiences are passive to their response with media outlets they consume. 

Another media theory would be Hall's reception theory which would relate to war of the world as the three reading would be the preferred reading of the audiences are passive when they had heard about the story which means that the success of capturing the audiences would've been there. Whereas, the oppositional reading would be that the audiences knew it was fake but their reaction was a form of escapism therefore their reaction was a ploy to make it seem as if the audiences were passive when in fact they were active in their response. The negotiated reading would've been that the radio station knew what the audiences response would've been and so did the audience so this was a hoax that was widely exaggerated.   

Another media product which can be evaluated through some media effects theory would be Life Hacks. This is a podcast that provides content for their demographics of younger people from the ages of 14 to 18 about current affairs, politics, music, art and culture. The media theory which can be applied to life hacks would be 'Blumer and Katz' Gratifications and and uses, this is because this podcast uses surveillance as they inform their audience about issues that affect their demographics and what's going on around the world.  They also use personal identify as they upload content that audiences can relate too, they also use personal relationship as their listeners can build a sense of relationship with the presenters as they understand their young audiences needs and cater to them. 

In conclusion, media theories help in aspects to improve the media industries by evaluating their success depending on their demographics.