AS Media Studies Shape Up and Initial Assessment Session 3

Who am I? – Film Stars  Choose a film star and write their name on the post- it WITHOUT LETTING ANYONE ELSE SEE IT.  Stick the post-it on your partner’s forehead.  You need to guess who is on your head by asking questions that narrow down the possibilities. E.g. am I male? Am I an action film star? Am I an American film actor?  Your partner can only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to your questions.  You have 10 minutes to see if you can both guess who you are!  If you have time – have another go!

Homework Check  Organise folder – get your folders out whilst I check they are organised!  Follow us on Twitter – did you?  Write up your genre analysis notes – get these out and put them on the desk.

Objectives  To identify aspects of how narratives work in media products.  To analyse and make notes on the narrative of an audio-visual media text.

What is narrative and how does it work in media products?  Narrative is the technical name for “story” and narrative theory looks at how we, as a culture, tell certain stories in a particular way.  There are a variety of approaches to analysing narrative and a variety of theories that can be applied.

Group Tasks – Sharing Narrative Information  Read the information you have been given about narrative theory and conventions.  Discuss them in your groups and come up with at least 1 example that is different to the examples given. Become experts.  Use the handout to make notes on the information and be prepared to explain it to other groups.  Use the handout to make notes on the areas that others explain to you.

Analysing the opening sequence of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Individual Task  Using the grid and guideline questions on the back of your narrative handout, make notes on the narrative structure and development of the opening sequence of the film.

Plenary – 8 Squares  Fold your paper up into 8 squares  Write down 1 point that you have made about narrative.  Complete the 8 squares with points from other people in the room.  Try to get points from 7 different people.  Make a note of any points that you haven’t got on your handout.

French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard “A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” What type of narrative structure?

Homework  Complete your notes analysing the narrative of the opening sequence.  Write up your analysis notes so that you have words for your initial assessment.  Complete other homework if not yet complete – following the Twitter page, accessing Moodle resources, organising folder…