UNIT B321: THE INDIVIDUAL MEDIA STUDIES PORTFOLIO 30% OF THE TOTAL GCSE MARK! INTRODUCTION TO UNIT

CONTENTS OF ASSIGNMENT The work in this unit is to be carried out by the student individually. Group work is not allowed within this unit. The student’s individual media portfolio for this unit consists of three elements based on a specific subject: Your subject for study in this unit is FILM GENRE. The film genre we are studying is TEEN COMEDY An analytical assignment – worth 60 marks A practical production exercise – worth 40 marks A commentary on the production exercise (research & planning + evaluation) – worth 20 marks.

PART ONE: ANALYTICAL ASSIGNMENT (60 MARKS) Part One of your coursework consists of a comparative analysis of two texts ( words in an essay, PowerPoint slides or a 5 min Podcast) The films you will view to complete this task are Scott Pilgrim vs the World and Mean Girls. The essay title for part one is: “Compare how male and/or female characters are represented in the teen comedy genre by analysing three key sequences in each of your chosen films.”

PART TWO: THE PRODUCTION EXERCISE (40 MARKS) This exercise will be used to assess your understanding of Media Language and Representation through your use of codes and conventions of the medium. The task you have is: “Design two posters for a new teen comedy with a prominent female and/or male star”.

PART THREE: EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY (20 MARKS) Your evaluative commentary, reflects on creative decisions made creating your posters and explains how codes and conventions and media language have been employed to convey messages about representation in the design of your posters. This may be written as an essay, submitted as a podcast or a slide presentation such as PowerPoint. As guidance, the commentary should be around 350–750 words in length; or 5–10 slides if using a PowerPoint style presentation; or around three minutes for a podcast.

PART THREE: EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY (20 MARKS) In the commentary, the following areas must be covered in whatever form the candidate has chosen: 1. An account of the research and planning carried out 2. How the production is targeted at a particular target audience 3. An explanation of the ways in which media language has been used in the production exercise to communicate representation 4. An explanation of the ways in which codes and conventions have been used in the production exercise to communicate representation 5. An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses within the finished production.

PREPARATION SCREENINGS

SCREENING 1: SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD 1.Before you watch, on a double page in your book, create two headings – on one page write MALE CHARACTERS and on the other write FEMALE CHARACTERS. 2.During the screening, write down the names of key characters and write down how they have been presented using these spider diagram headings: Costume:Personality: Language: Actions: 3. Write down your favourite two scenes in the film.

HOMEWORK: Write a review of the film you have just seen: 1.What did you like about this film? Why? 2.What didn’t you like about this film? Why? 3.What was most memorable about it and why? 4.If you had made this film, what might you have done differently? 5.Have you seen any other films like this one? How is this the same? How is it different?

SCREENING 2: MEAN GIRLS 1.Before you watch, on a double page in your book, create two headings – on one page write MALE CHARACTERS and on the other write FEMALE CHARACTERS. 2.During the screening, write down the names of key characters and write down how they have been presented using these spider diagram headings: Costume:Personality: Language: Actions: 3. Write down your favourite two scenes in the film.

CLASSWORK/HOMEWORK: Write a review of the film you have just seen: 1.What did you like about this film? Why? 2.What didn’t you like about this film? Why? 3.What was most memorable about it and why? 4.If you had made this film, what might you have done differently? 5.Have you seen any other films like this one? How is this the same? How is it different?

WEEK ONE WB: 18 TH JANUARY COMPARATIVE ESSAY QUESTION DEADLINE 22ND FEBRUARY

SECTION ONE: COMPARATIVE ESSAY “Compare how male and/or female characters are represented in the teen comedy genre by analysing three key sequences in each of your chosen films.”

PART ONE: PLANNING 1.Create a folder on your Desktop where all your documents will be stored. 2.Describe your three favourite scenes that you are going to analyse from SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD 3.2. Describe your three favourite scenes that you are going to analyse from MEAN GIRLS Have one page per scene and in each description write down: 1.what happens in the scene 2.which characters are present in the scene. If you can find the scene on youtube, paste the link into your document and use screen grabs on each page.

EXAMPLE:

WEEK TWO WB: 25 TH JANUARY COMPARATIVE ESSAY QUESTION DEADLINE 22ND FEBRUARY

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Write down the title of the essay on your Word Doc or PP. “Compare how male and/or female characters are represented in the teen comedy genre by analysing three key sequences in each of your chosen films.” 2. “For this assignment we watched…” Introduce the names of the films you have viewed for this coursework. When were they made, who directed them, who stars in them and what genre are they? 3. Write down what you aim to do in this essay (see the title) and describe how you are going to do it (analysis of scenes in film, focussing on areas such as mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and music. Your analysis will show how these areas help create the identities of the characters).

WEEK THREE WB: 1 ST FEBRUARY COMPARATIVE ESSAY QUESTION DEADLINE 22ND FEBRUARY

MAIN ANALYSIS Describe Scene 1 (briefly) and discuss how key characters have been represented in the scene. Explain how the director created and enhanced an identity for these characters through: 1.Mise-en-scene (Remember, C.L.A.M.P.S) 2.Camera shots and Camera angles and Camera Movement. 3.Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound including dialogue REPEAT FOR OTHER SCENES

PERSONALITY TEST DESCRIBE THEIR PERSONALITY. HOW IS THIS IDENTITY PORTRAYED?

PERSONALITY TEST 2 DESCRIBE THEIR PERSONALITY. HOW IS THIS IDENTITY PORTRAYED?

WEEK FOUR WB: 8 TH FEBRUARY COMPARATIVE ESSAY QUESTION DEADLINE 22ND FEBRUARY

CONCLUSION Compare the differences and similarities between the representation of identities that exist in the two films you have studied. Consider if stereotypes and these representations are negative or necessary for the success of these kinds of stories.

WEEK FIVE WB: 22 ND FEBRUARY POSTER DEADLINE 1 ST APRIL

PREDESIGN INITIAL STEPS First up, take the film and subject matter into consideration. Since this is a mock film, you’ll be making everything up. TASK ONE Come up with a title that fits the Teen Comedy genre TASK TWO Next up, design some mood boards containing elements of inspiration for your poster design. It can include everything from photos, illustrations, colors, other film posters, film screen shots, logos and graphics, etc… Below is my mood board for this design.

PREDESIGN INITIAL STEPS, PART 2 Okay, so you know this film needs the right “teen comedy” look. You know the name but what could the film be about? You’ve seen enough teen comedies that some ideas will spring to mind right away. TASK THREE Make some thumbnail sketches (at least two, preferably 3) that explore some general ideas for your poster.

WEEK SIX WB: 29 TH FEBRUARY POSTER DEADLINE 1 ST APRIL

GATHER MATERIALS You will get extra credit if you use your own images. If you want to take your own pictures, plan your shoot and then speak to me to book the camera. Alternatively, you can use suitable online images that do not break any copyright laws. is a great place to look for quality photographs. is another site with free images suitable for use in this project.

INITIAL LAYOUT Let’s create a new document in Photoshop. Use the following settings for your document. 11x17 at 300dpi If you don’t feel comfortable using Photoshop you can use Microsoft Publisher, Illustrator or any other application that you are comfortable with. Depending on the design ideas that you have, you will now manipulate your image(s) to create a final layout that you are happy with. Use your rough drawings to guide your design.

WEEK SEVEN WB: 7 TH MARCH POSTER DEADLINE 1 ST APRIL

TITLE TREATMENT For the title, consider the genre once again. There’s lots of great fonts out there if you can’t find anything suitable on the computer already. You can download free fonts here:

ADDING TYPE One thing most film posters have in common is text, and sometimes there’s lots of it. It usually consists of the main title, actors names and film maker credits at a minimum, but it can also include tag lines, reviewer quotes, awards and more. The trick is to add in the type without distracting from the main title and subject. It’s a fine line, but if you consider how the eye reads from left to right and top to bottom, a balance can be easily achieved.

WEEK EIGHT WB: 14 TH MARCH POSTER DEADLINE 1 ST APRIL

ADDING MORE TYPE Let’s add some type to the bottom of the poster. The bottom usually consists of film maker credits and studio logos in a small ultra condensed font. The reason for that is because it’s typically a lot of text to fit into a tight space, and you don’t want the credits to distract the eye. A great font to use for credits is SF Movie Poster, which can be downloaded here: movie-poster.fonthttp:// movie-poster.font One tip for movie credits is the use of bold and regular weights. Typically the person’s name is bold and the attribute is regular weight, or thin.

WEEK NINE WB: 21 ST MARCH POSTER DEADLINE 1 ST APRIL

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK Design a brief questionnaire that you can use to gather audience feedback about your designs. Ensure you ask questions that allow you to find out about the strengths and weaknesses of your designs along with its suitability for the genre. When completed, ask your peers to complete the questionnaire. What have you learned? Summarise your findings.

WEEK TEN WB 28 TH MARCH POSTER DEADLINE 1 ST APRIL

AMENDMENTS Based on your feedback do you need to make any changes to your design? For example, you may want to add effects to the images to give the poster a more specific look.

WEEK ELEVEN EVALUATION PLANNING

Your evaluation should reflect on decisions you made and explain how codes and conventions and media language have been employed to convey messages about representation in your poster. In the evaluation the following areas must be covered in whatever form the candidate has chosen: an account of the research and planning carried out how the production is targeted at a particular target audience an explanation of the ways in which media language has been used in the production exercise to communicate representation an explanation of the ways in which codes and conventions have been used in the production exercise to communicate representation an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses within the finished production.

WEEK TWELVE EVALUATION

Refer to the planning questions and write your evaluation either as an essay, a PowerPoint (preferable if you want to include images) or a podcast. As guidance, the commentary should be around 350–750 words in length; or 5–10 slides if using a PowerPoint style presentation; or around three minutes for a podcast. Start with a description of what your design exercise consisted of and then write down your responses for each section on the planning page.