My main blogs are listed at igsmediablogs.blogspot.co.uk ... As well as summaries of general classwork, and links to key resources used, I'll try to suggest some further readings as we go. Any comments or suggestions are welcomed, whether useful resources you've discovered or thoughts leading off from class work. Each and every one of you have a range of cultural reference points that I won't have - so please share them!
You may have seen his (quite poor) Big Brother/zombie comedy on C4, or read his weekly column in ... The Guardian, and now he's back on TV highlighting the ludicrous patterns weaved by our news providers.
Very, very funny show (it is post-watershed, so expect some challenging material), and exceptionally useful for any Media student, covering ground we don't often get time to look at, and currently available to view on the iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qbyth/Newswipe_Series_2_Episode_2/
In order to help my students with an audience feedback task that I have set them this term, I'd be grateful if any members of this board community would encourage their students to have a look at the latest projects uploaded to our department YouTube site and to leave some constructive feedback on the music videos:
We are particularly interested in any feedback to the latest 15 music videos posted and happy to reciprocate by arranging for our students to comment on other centres' work if you would like to send me the details.
I'll take a list on Monday of anyone wishing to resubmit their A2 coursework, and/or resit any AS unit.
If you are resubmitting, you've got until the end of February to submit it; I won't accept anything beyond that date, no exceptions - so get cracking!
I've got detailed notes on all your coursework components which I'll pass on once typed up, but make sure you see me asap to work out where you can pick up marks through improvements
With the funds raised by selling 8 copies (so far) of the AS 2008-9 coursework DVD, I've ordered some additional DVDs for the library, primarily with the A2 exam topic of representation of Britishness in mind, but also for AS/A2 coursework ideas and the AS British Cinema exam question.
The latest additions (just ordered, so at least a week before they appear in the Lib) are:
Withnail & I
Danny Boyle Collection 3DVD: Sunshine/Beach/28 Days Later
Hammer Collection: 5dvd The Devil Rides Out, Dracula: Prince Of Darkness, Quatermass And The Pit, The Nanny, + Frankenstein
Powell and Pressburger Box Set: A Matter Of Life And Death / The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp / I Know Where I'm Going
This adds to the existing stock: a range of short film and music video compilations plus primarily Working Title and Warp Films/X movies (I need to double-check this list, especially the titles in upper case):
WORKING TITLE DVDs STOCKED
About a Boy Ali G Indahouse The Movie Atonement Bridget Jones's Diary Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN Coen Brothers’ Collection 4DVD – Big Lebowski, Blood Simple, Hudsucker Proxy, Barton Fink (see this blog for an overview) Definitely Maybe
ELIZABETH ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE Four Weddings and a Funeral The Guru Hot Fuzz SE 2DVD Love Actually The Matchmaker Mickybo and Me My Beautiful Laundrette My Little Eye SE 2DVD Notting Hill Pride And Prejudice Sense And Sensibility Shaun of the Dead Wish You Were Here
WARP FILMS/X DVDs STOCKED
A Room for Romeo Brass
Dead Man’s Shoes
Donkey Punch [kept in F6]
Twenty Four Seven
This Is England 2DVD
SOME ADDITIONAL DVDs STOCKED (bold = set in/about N.Ireland)
An American Werewolf in London Angel BBFC 2DVD The Boxer
Breakfast on Pluto
Bullet Boy The Crying Game SE
The Frighteners Hidden Agenda
In the Name of the Father
Resurrection Man [in F6]
Shakespeare In Love [UNIVERSAL/MIRAMAX, not WT]
Several of these are directed by Neil Jordan, an Irish director who has frequently worked with the actor Stephen Rea, but who has also directed the likes of Tom Cruise in mainstream Hollywood flicks. Hidden Agenda is by Ken Loach, and these two much-respected director's varying representations of this corner of Britain make for an interesting contrast, and an especially useful bit of viewing for A2 students!
We still have some of the AS coursework DVDs for sale - your folks may be interested, you might even enjoy one yourselves! Any money raised from these will go directly to adding to the Library stock you are able to borrow for the grand Yorkshire fee of nowt!
If the school is closed on Wednesday, there are slightly different arrangements for the AS Media exam: this will not be held in the sports hall. Instead the exam will take place in B Hall if the school is closed (otherwise there is no change to the original exam timetable).
Do make full use of the British Cinema book (copies in library but also one in F6, alongside books such as that on Social Realism) and the Media/Film Guardian sites.
Don't just use the company/movement name as a search term; try adding words such as britishness or representation or business/economics...
Work on this is to be completed for Monday 11th and emailed to me in advance of the class.
I'll add a worksheet on this later, but the basis of this task is:
(1) individually or in pairs, pick one of several key British production companies or film movements:
(2) thoroughly research this co/movement, focussing on one particular film which you feel sums this up - you can always buy a DVD, though you will find plentiful clips for each of these on YouTube (and some of the Media DVDs in the Library were chosen for this)
(3) prepare a summative handout - a report in essence, with some attention to visual appeal but not massive pictures and/or copy/pasted text. Some quotes are fine, if sourced, but try always to use your own words.
(4) using a clip or clips totalling no more than 5 mins, be ready to do a presentation on your findings starting from Monday 11th.
This is the start of our work on unit G325. This section is summarised as follows:
Media and Collective Identity
How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic / social / collective groups of people in different ways?
How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?
What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?
To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’?
Candidates might explore combinations of any media representation across two media, or two different representations across two media.
With the funds raised by selling 8 copies (so far) of the AS 2008-9 coursework DVD, I've ordered some additional DVDs for the library, primarily with the A2 exam topic of representation of Britishness in mind, but also for AS/A2 coursework ideas and the AS British Cinema exam question.My Beautiful Laundrette
BBFC 2DVD
Several of these are directed by Neil Jordan, an Irish director who has frequently worked with the actor Stephen Rea, but who has also directed the likes of Tom Cruise in mainstream Hollywood flicks. Hidden Agenda is by Ken Loach, and these two much-respected director's varying representations of this corner of Britain make for an interesting contrast, and an especially useful bit of viewing for A2 students!
