Videogames case study 2: Kim Kardashian Hollywood

Our second Videogames Close-Study Product is another phone/tablet game: Kim Kardashian Hollywood.

Again, this is an in-depth topic so we need to make sure we have studied this product across media language, audience, industry and representation. 

Kim Kardashian Hollywood: notes

Language

Gameplay

The gameplay for Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is explained in detail in the app store or Google Play store:

Join KIM KARDASHIAN on a red carpet adventure in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood! Create your own aspiring celebrity and rise to fame and fortune! 

CREATE YOUR OWN STAR and customize your look with hundreds of style options, including Kim Kardashian’s personal picks!

⋆ STAR in a huge interactive adventure as you encounter other celebs, dedicated fans, persistent paparazzi… and even hang out with Kim herself!

⋆ RULE THE RED CARPET as an A-list movie actor, cover model, fashion designer and more – what you do is up to you!

⋆ TAKE OVER L.A. in a virtual world complete with exclusive clubs, upscale boutiques, and luxury homes! Travel to New York City and Miami!

⋆ DATE AND DUMP CELEBS at the best parties and hottest clubs! Flirt and become the next huge celebrity power-couple!

⋆ BRING YOUR FRIENDS ALONG FOR THE RIDE using Game Center and Facebook – help each other rise to fame, compare styles, send gifts, and see who can be the biggest star!

Game trailer:



Gameplay example:



Kim Kardashian: Hollywood - Narrative and objectives

The aim of Kim Kardashian Hollywood is to work your way  up the celebrity scale from Z-List to A-List.  As you play you will interact with a range of real and fictional characters in the United States and around many of the world’s most glamourous and famous locations.  As you progress, there are collectibles and missions that will allow you to develop the status of your customisable character. Your ranking is determined by your position on the Top Stars list in Hollywood. They are sorted into six different lists, Unlisted being the lowest rank to the A-list being the highest rank. You rise up in ranks by gaining fans. The goal of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is to gain as many fans as possible by doing well on projects, getting attention from Starnews, and dating to get to the A-list.

Characters

Characters are NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) that appear in goals or locations and the storyline as you progress in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. These exclude NPCs you meet in the game that you can date or network with. These types of contacts are randomly generated according to each individual game.

The characters in Kim Kardashian Hollywood are a mixture of real VIP characters and fictional characters. There are 100s – you can see a few opposite.

In your pursuit of celebrity some of the fictional characters work with you and some actively try to ruin your journey by beating you to A-List.

Settings

There are a range of locations in the game that try to mirror the stereotype of the celebrity lifestyle of an A-lister:

Narrative: special events

Special Events are temporary goal arcs that are available only during Weekend Events in the game. By completing them, players can not only earn Cash Cash, XP XP, Energy Energy and Star Stars, but also Special Event stars.  These regularly happen and keep the game fresh.  It also means established players keep coming back to the game to see what the latest updated events are.

By collecting Special Event stars, players can unlock exclusive rewards and Kustomize items. The Kustomize screen, also known as your wardrobe, is the screen where you can customize your character to your liking. You can purchase tops, dresses, pants, skirts, shoes, hairstyles, facial features, nail colours and fashion accessories like bags, jewellery, and tattoos.

You can change your look whenever you like. The game encourages players to "keep on top of current fashion to maximise your fans!"

Audience

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is incredibly popular. It has been  downloaded over 50 million times and generated $200 million plus.

Why do audiences like it?

One way of understanding why audiences choose certain media texts is Blumler & Katz's Uses and Gratification Theory.

Uses and Gratification Theory states that audiences consume media products/texts for at least one of the following reasons:

1. Diversion, escapism or entertainment – escaping from normal life.
2. Personal relationships – fulfils their need for companionship. This is particularly true of social media products, online gaming and online communities. It can also apply to audiences developing an affection for certain stars or characters.  
3. Personal identity - seeing your own lifestyle, interests or ambitions reflected in a media product; reinforcing your own identity.
4. Surveillance – using media to find out about the world around them.

Which of these apply to Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

Watch this video of Buzzfeed staff trying to play the game:

Representation

There are some key questions we need to consider regarding representation in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood:

• How are women represented?
• How is celebrity represented?
• How is race/ethnicity represented?

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood contains quite controversial representations of women, celebrity and race/ethnicity.

It has been criticised for offering a representation of women focusing on appearance, modelling and dating as a way to be successful. Similarly, celebrity is represented as something to aspire to even without an obvious talent or ability.

On a more positive note, the game has been praised for its representation of race, ethnicity and sexuality – with the game offering a diverse range of characters.

Industries

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood was developed by Glu Mobile, a highly successful mobile game developer and publisher. It was released in June 2014 and was marketed heavily using the Kim Kardashian brand.

With social media promotion, the game quickly shot to the top of download lists and iTunes app store charts.

Media convergence

The game design means that there is a great deal of media convergence.  Media convergence is the merging of different media texts. How does Kim Kardashian Hollywood involve media convergence?

The game: TV Show and social media channels are referenced in game.  Player encouraged to engage online and gain bonus items for sharing on Facebook etc.

Social media: Game appears on Kim’s actual social media platforms. Also, need to tweet in game.

TV Show: Game appears on Keeping Up with the Kardashians episodes.  TV Show is also referenced in game.

Marketing and promotion

Watch this TV advert for the game:



Glu: monetising Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

The game is free to download but makes huge amounts of money from in-app purchases and subscriptions. Players need to buy energy to complete tasks (or wait 30 minutes for energy to replenish). They can also buy subscriptions:

• Gold: 49.99 USD / month (or local equivalent)
• Silver: 19.99 USD / month (or local equivalent)
• Bronze: 4.99 USD / month (or local equivalent)

Small print

Due to the addictive nature of the game and the potential to spend huge amounts of money on in-app purchases, the developers place warnings in the app store before purchase:

PLEASE NOTE: - This game is free to play, but you can choose to pay real money for some extra items, which will charge your iTunes account. You can disable in-app purchasing by adjusting your device settings. - This game is not intended for children. - Please buy carefully. - Advertising appears in this game. - This game may permit users to interact with one another (e.g., chat rooms, player to player chat, messaging) depending on the availability of these features. Linking to social networking sites are not intended for persons in violation of the applicable rules of such social networking sites.

Videogames case study 2 - Kim Kardashian: Hollywood blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Kim Kardashian Hollywood CSP case study' and complete all the following questions under the subheadings Language, Representation, Industries and Audience.

Language

1) What is the objective when playing the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game?

2) What is an A-list celebrity? Why is it important in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

3) How do you download the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game?

4) What is the narrative or storyline of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood? Where is it set?

5) What characters can you play as? What characters appear in the game?

Audience

1) Who is the intended audience for the Kim Kardashian Hollywood game? Why do you think this?

2) What audience pleasures are provided by the game? Use Blumler & Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory.

3) Why is the game so addictive for audiences?

Read this article from Forbes on why the Kim Kardashian game is so successful. If the website is blocked in school, you can access the text of the article here.

4) Why does James Liu think Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is so successful?

5) What does James Liu suggest is the reason players keep coming back to the game?


Representations

1) What representations of women can be found in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

2) What representations of race, ethnicity or sexuality can be found in the game?

3) How does the game both reinforce and subvert stereotypes in the media?

4) What does the game suggest regarding modern perceptions of celebrity and how to get famous?

5) How might someone criticise the representation of celebrity in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

Industries

1) How much does Kim Kardashian: Hollywood cost?

2) How does the game make money?

3) What subscriptions are available to Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

4) How was Kim Kardashian: Hollywood marketed and promoted?

5) How does Kim Kardashian: Hollywood use media convergence to cross-promote the game and the Kardashian brand?


Grade 8/9 extension tasks: reading and response

Read this Independent article on the Kardashians and celebrity culture. Why does the academic Dr Meredith Jones think the Kardashians are important to study?

Read this Stylecaster article on 5 things we learned playing Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. How does the game encourage players so spend real money on in-app purchases?

Read this article on Glu Mobile, the game developer behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. What does the article say about targeting female gamers and using celebrity to sell the game?

Read this Guardian article on a Kardashian controversy regarding promoting products on Instagram. Why do some people regard Kardashian as a "toxic influence"? 

Complete for homework: due date on Google Classroom.

Videogames case study 1: Lara Croft Go

Our first videogames Close-Study Product is phone/tablet game Lara Croft Go.

This is an in-depth topic so we need to make sure we have studied this product across media language, audience, industry and representation.

Lara Croft Go: notes

Lara Croft: history

Lara Croft first appeared in 1996 Eidos Playstation game Tomb Raider and was the first computer game to feature a female character as the protagonist rather than a supporting role or a secondary character.

The narrative of Tomb Raider was influenced by Indiana Jones and featured the daughter of a Lord (later a famous archaeologist), called Lara Croft on various missions through settings such as jungles, tombs and jungles. The genre is action-adventure and involves many conventions of this genre such as fighting villains using weaponry.

Evolution of Tomb Raider:




Lara Croft: beyond a videogame character

Lara Croft has featured in films (the first starring Angelina Jolie; 2018 version rebooted the character). She has appeared on magazine covers more times than any supermodel.

There have been advertising tie-ins, merchandise, comic books and  spin-offs featuring the character. The franchise has had numerous incarnations before Lara Croft Go in 2015. 

Lara Croft has been credited with bringing success on the Play Station for the games’ creators (selling 7 million copies world wide) and launching the female protagonist in games. She has also been widely thought of as a sex symbol. 

Lara Croft Go 

Lara Croft Go explores the ruins of an ancient civilization in the Amazon Jungle while fighting menacing enemies, overcome dangerous obstacles and traps, and ultimately, uncover the myth of the Queen of Venom.  There is no specific timescale – but is modern-day in Lara’s weaponry.

This concept of action adventure exploring and uncovering relics from ancient civilisations is not new and there is some intertextuality here with the Indiana Jones movies, original Tomb Raider games, Tomb Raider films and more.

Watch this online review of Lara Croft Go:



What are the features of the Lara Croft Go game?

In many ways, there are traditional Action Adventure elements to this game (she moves, she shoots, she avoids hazards).  However, this game is a ‘turn-based puzzle’ which involves by-passing enemies and unlocking paths in a sequential manner which suits the ‘short timespan’ that people can sometimes commit to mobile gaming. It faithfully preserves element of original Tomb Raider game and brings the original adventure up to date. 

The game also involves collecting items that unlock special powers and tools that help your progress through the game.  On the image to the left you can see many of the opponents that Lara comes across (Lizards, Snakes, Spiders) and some of the collectables. There are not many different enemies as memory is key.  

The three-act narrative structure proceeds from an orientation stage through various complications and blockages to a simple resolution.

Evolution of the character of Lara Croft

• Lara is depicted as athletic with brown eyes and hair, frequently tied back in a plait or ponytail.
• Her costume is usually a blue tank top, light brown shorts, calf high boots and long socks. 
• Accessories / Props include gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters and two pistols. 
• Her original back story was that she was the daughter of an aristocrat who had a plane crash in the Himalayas, causing her to re-evaluate her life and seek adventure, leading her to become a thief and mercenary, living outside the law. The second era changed the narrative to her father being an archaeologist and her wanting to discover the reason for her mother’s disappearance. A third era focused more on both her parents being archaeologists and her mother disappearing and her father dying.
• All three narratives feature her transition from a vulnerable girl to an independent, fierce adventurer (hero).
• Most stories feature her being stranded on a mysterious, far away island although the location of this changes. 

Representation

Does Lara Croft reinforce female stereotypes in the media?

Yes (reinforces traditional stereotype):

• Object of sexual desire. Her body features were particularly exaggerated in early versions of games.
• Scantily-clad designed for male audience. Would a male character be designed like this?  
• Is Lara Croft is designed to be attractive to the male audience as she basically acquires all the features that some men would describe as perfect.

 No (subverts female stereotype):

• She is an action hero – traditionally a male stereotype in gaming.
• She is empowered female heroine – rare in gaming industry at the time.  “The heroine, Lara Croft, is an intelligent, butt-kicking, gun-wielding, sexpot, ready to take on whatever comes her way.” Katherine Walker, Portrayal of Women in Media (Video Games)

Industry

We need to learn about two distinct areas for the industries key concept:

• Videogame regulation
• The companies/franchises behind the game

Regulation: PEGI

PEGI stands for Pan European Game Information and is a European video game rating system established to help consumers make informed decisions when buying video games or apps through the use of age recommendations and content descriptors.


PEGI was set up by the ISFE* – an independent group that represents European software companies. Important: this is an example of self-regulation, not government.

Lara Croft Go: companies and franchises

Lara Croft Go is the combination of two successful franchises – Lara Croft Tomb Raider and the Hitman Go mobile game.

Tomb Raider is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, it is now controlled by Square Enix after their acquisition of Eidos in 2009. 

Square Enix developed Hitman Go in 2014 based on the successful Hitman game franchise.

Audience

We need to think about the following for the audience key concept:

• Audience pleasures
• Target audience for Lara Croft Go – and whether videogame audiences are changing

What is the appeal of Lara Croft Go?

“Acrobatics and platforming are key features of a Tomb Raider adventure, and we quickly realized that Lara had to be fully animated. Our animator did an amazing job of quickly producing a first batch of short animations for Lara, and immediately everything felt better. Again, we looked back at Lara’s classic animations from the first Tomb Raider and they fit right in with our turn-based game.”

– Square Enix

Audience pleasures: Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications Theory

Remember that audiences consume media products for a variety of reasons (from Blumler and Katz: Uses and Gratification Theory)

1. The need to be INFORMED and EDUCATED about the world in which we live (Surveillance) 
2. The need to IDENTIFY personally with characters and situations in order to learn more about themselves (Personal Identity)
3. The need to be ENTERTAINED (Diversion) and escape daily life. 
4. The need for SOCIAL INTERACTION (Personal Relationships)

Which of these apply to Lara Croft Go?

Target audience

Who is the target audience for Tomb Raider / Lara Croft games?  They fall into various groups and may be a mixture of all three:

1. Those interested in the quality of the innovative gameplay.
2. Those with brand loyalty to the Hitman Go series.
3. Those with brand loyalty based on the feminine empowerment displayed.
4. Those with brand loyalty based on nostalgia or even the sexualisation of Lara Croft (especially if they played older Croft games when at a formative age)

Videogames case study 1: Lara Croft Go blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Lara Croft Go CSP case study' and complete all the following questions under the subheadings Language, Representation, Industries and Audience. 

Language

1) Who is Lara Croft and when did she first appear in a videogame?

2) What classic films influenced the creation of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider games?

3) How has Lara Croft and Tomb Raider moved beyond just being a videogame?

4) What devices can you play Lara Croft Go on?

5) What type of game is Lara Croft Go?

6) How does Lara Croft Go use narrative (storyline) to make the game enjoyable for the audience?

7) What iconography can be found in Lara Croft Go? How does this help communicate the genre of the game?

8) What other characters or enemies feature in the game?

9) What is the setting for Lara Croft Go? How does this compare to previous Lara Croft or Tomb Raider games?

10) Read this BBC article on the history of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. How has the character of Lara Croft evolved over the last 20 years?  


Representation

1) How are women usually represented in videogames?

2) How does the character of Lara Croft reinforce female stereotypes in the media?

3) How does the character of Lara Croft subvert female stereotypes in the media?

4) Why do some people believe the videogames industry is sexist and needs to change?

5) Do you think Lara Croft is an empowering feminist icon or just another objectified woman designed to appeal to male gamers?



Industries

1) What does PEGI stand for?

2) What is PEGI's job?

3) Which company created Lara Croft Go?

4) What two popular videogame franchises were combined to create Lara Croft Go?

5) What else is part of the Lara Croft/Tomb Raider franchise?


Audience

1) Why might an audience enjoy playing Lara Croft Go?

2) Where and when might an audience play a game like Lara Croft Go? Think about the device it is played on and the times of the day someone might want to play the game.

3) How did Square Enix design Lara Croft to make it appealing to an audience?

4) Which of Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory might apply to Lara Croft Go?

5) Who is the target audience for Lara Croft Go? How does brand loyalty contribute to this target audience?


Exam practice optional extension task:

“Videogames are increasingly played and enjoyed by a wider and more diverse audience." 

Does your study of Lara Croft Go support this view?

Write a detailed three-paragraph answer to this question using the information you have learned in this case study.

Grade 8/9 extension tasks


Language
1) Watch some Lara Croft Go gameplay online or, even better, play the game yourself. How is the game constructed to attract and maintain the engagement of an audience?

2) How is narrative, character, iconography and setting used to create intertextuality? (Links to other genres and media texts)

Representation
1) Read this NME feature on the history of the Lara Croft character. Do you agree that she is now a 'feminist icon' rather than a 'trapezoid-boobed pinup'? What do these terms mean?

2) Have later versions of the Tomb Raider/Lara Croft franchise featured a less-sexualised version of the character? Does this suggest society is changing in its attitude towards women?

Industries
1) Why do videogame producers prefer the self-regulation of PEGI to government regulation? Why is videogame regulation increasingly important in the 21st century?

2) Watch the full lecture embedded above: Distilling a franchise - the making of Lara Croft Go. How did the designers make conscious decisions based on previous franchises to create a successful game?

Audience
1) How has the marketing of Lara Croft/Tomb Raider franchise changed over the last 20 years and how might an audience respond to this? Think about reception theory - preferred and oppositional readings. 

2) Does Lara Croft Go target a female audience? Why do you think female gamers dominate the phone/tablet market?

There is a lot of work here - you will need to spend 2-3 hours on this between lesson time and homework. Due date on Google Classroom.

OSP & Videogames: An introduction

Our new media topic is called Online, Social, Participatory media and Videogames - an in-depth area of study on new and digital media with two Close-Study Products.

Over the next few weeks, we need to study the following CSPs:

Lara Croft GO
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

We need to study these products using all four key concepts: Language, Industry, Audience and Representation. Both Lara Croft GO and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood are good examples of the changing nature of the videogames industry.

A brief history of videogames: blog task

Watch the YouTube video outlining the history of the videogames industry from the 1970s to the 2010s. Now answer the following questions:

1) What were the first videogames like?

2) How have videogames changed over time?

3) What do the most successful games have in common? Answer this in as much detail as you can. Think about audience pleasures - what do people like about playing videogames?

4) What criticisms have been made towards videogames?

Read this Guardian feature from when Fortnite first became sensationally popular and watch the original trailer below.



Now answer the following questions:

1) At the time of the article, how many Fortnite players were there worldwide? (Bonus question - how many are there now? Try Googling it.)

2) Why is it so popular? What are the audience pleasures of the game?

3) Why might some people criticise Fortnite?

4) Copy and paste two comments from 'below the line' of the Guardian article - these are comments written by Guardian readers in response to the feature. Select one comment you agree with and one you disagree with and explain why.

Extension task: read this news story reporting that Prince Harry has called for Fortnite to be banned. Why does the Prince think Fortnite producer Epic Games is irresponsible?

You will have lesson time to work on this but will need to complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Statement of Intent: Feedback and learner response

You will be receiving feedback from your teacher for your Statement of Intent this week.

This is a very important opportunity to reflect on your coursework project so far and make any critical changes to your plans. AQA recommend revising your Statement of Intent at this stage before final filming and editing so make the most of this opportunity!

Whenever you receive blog feedback (on paper or via email) you must do the following:

Create a NEW blogpost in your Media blog called 'Statement of Intent feedback and Learner Response'. Then, work through the following tasks.

1) Read your feedback carefully and then write a summary of it in your own words using WWW / EBI.

2) Do you need to make any changes to your narrative? Why?

3) How can you improve the use of media terminology in your Statement of Intent?

4) Representation and stereotyping was a weakness in some drafts. How will you address the key concept of representation in your next draft?

5) Finally, think about audience. Why would the target audience (teenagers and young adults) enjoy your TV drama concept?

Once you have posted this on your blog, you can start re-drafting your Statement of Intent on Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Good luck!

Coursework: Pre-production

Pre-production tasks are vital - this is where you plan all the key details that make your video coursework successful.

Over the next two weeks we will be finalising our pre-production and starting our filming. Here's a great video on low-budget filmmaking from our friend D4Darius on YouTube:

The four aspects of pre-production are as follows:

Script
As we began last week, you need a good script for your TV drama extract. You'll find guidance for writing your script in this blogpost.

Shot list
Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for your TV drama AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here for a student film shot list. It makes sense to write your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the extract in chronological order. 

Mise-en-scene
What iconography or mise-en-scene are you including to ensure your audience understands your drama as science fiction / fantasy? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. Remember the mise-en-scene mnemonic: CLAMPS.

Shooting schedule 
Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the next two weeks. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it!

Coursework: Scriptwriting

A good script is an absolutely vital element of your TV drama coursework.

We now need to turn everything we've learned from our preliminary exercises and statements of intent into an outstanding, professionally-written TV script. There are some great resources below to help you.

Writing drama
Film vlogger Darius has a good video on writing a short film:



BBC Writers' Room
You'll find fantastic guidance for writing a script in the BBC Writers' Room. 

Click on the Script Library to read real examples of professional BBC scripts.


Task: Write your script

Write the script for your Science Fiction / Fantasy TV drama extract. Remember to make sure it meets the brief - our coursework brief for 2022 can be found here. We are working on Brief 5 - TV drama.

Use Microsoft Word or Google Docs and make sure you lay out the page to make it look like a professional TV script. Use this real Doctor Who script as a guide if you're not sure what a real TV script should look like. 

Once you're happy with your script, copy and paste it into a new blogpost called 'TV Drama script' on your Media blog. 

Due date on Google Classroom

Coursework: Statement of Intent

The first 10 marks of our coursework are for a written Statement of Intent.

This is simply a Word or Google Document in which we write what we are planning to make for our coursework. Your completed summer project will give you most of the information you need for this - particularly the TV drama pitch document - but you may have changed or developed your idea since the summer. 

Our coursework brief for 2022 can be found here - we are working on Brief 5 - TV drama.

The Statement of Intent word count is 300 words - you can go slightly above this if you want to but you need to keep it pretty close to 300.

This Statement of Intent guidance will help you if you're not sure what to write - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access it. The most important thing is that you cover media language, representations and the target audience in your Statement of Intent.

Another tip is that you can use subheadings and bullet points in your Statement of Intent - it doesn't need to all be in paragraphs. In fact, bullet points are very useful for keeping the word count down. 

Here's the Statement of Intent mark scheme: 

Statement of Intent: task

1) Write your Statement of Intent on a Word or Google Doc - word count 300 words. Use this Statement of Intent guidance document to help you.

Submit your Statement of Intent to your teacher by emailing them the Word or Google Document. 

Due date: on Google Classroom

Assessment: revision and preparation

You will have an assessment on Thursday 30 September in your lesson.

This will be a mini version of Paper 1 in the same way that you completed a mini version of Paper 2 in your assessment before the summer holiday.

You need to revise the following before your assessment:

• Media language (the first question will be an unseen media analysis)
• Magazines
• Advertising and Marketing

We recommend looking over this video lesson breaking down a magazine assessment to help your preparation. You should also look over your blog learner responses for your assessments last year.

Make sure you revise the key terminology and important information for the CSPs.

Good luck!

Coursework: Preliminary exercise 2021

The first aspect of your GCSE Media Studies coursework is a preliminary exercise that introduces the basics of narrative filmmaking.

This is a brilliant opportunity to get to know the basics of planning, filming and editing. You may even film a scene that you can end up using in your actual coursework production!

Preliminary exercise: The Big Reveal - Phone conversation

Your preliminary exercise involves filming and editing a phone conversation between two characters in two different locations which reveals a dramatic narrative resolution. The narrative and conversation needs to be appropriate to the science fiction or fantasy genre. 

The scene must include cross-cutting between the two characters, match-on-action editing and at least three different shot types (e.g. establishing shot, close-up, over-the-shoulder shot) and two types of camera movement (e.g. pan, handheld camera, zoom). 

Here's an example of a classic phone call scene from Hollywood history - 1994 action movie Speed:

Deadline: two weeks

Key skills

Watch this great introduction to filmmaking - it covers the basics of the creative process:



Match-on-action

Match on action (or cutting on action) is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot showing the same action of the subject in the first shot.

This creates the impression of continuity - the action creates a 'visual bridge' which is easy for the audience to follow.

Look at this YouTube clip for match on action - the cuts you want to look at in particular are at 2 seconds, then again at 18 seconds:




Preliminary exercise: The Big Reveal - Phone conversation

Task: Create a phone conversation between two characters in two different locations which reveals a dramatic narrative resolution. The narrative and conversation needs to be appropriate to the science fiction or fantasy genre and an audience of teenagers and young adults. 

Length: approximately 30 seconds.

Equipment: Smart phone or a school Canon Legria (limited numbers available). Note: you may need to bring in the cable to capture the videos from your phone or use data to upload to Google Drive.

Groups: None. You MUST work individually. However, other people can act in your scene or operate equipment (e.g. camera, sound) as long as they are directed by the candidate submitting the work. You may want to get into groups of two or three to help each other complete this task.

What your TV drama scene needs to include

Content: Your scene must include match-on-action editing and cross cutting between the two characters having the conversation. It must also include a narrative resolution - something that reveals key information for the audience.

Camerawork: You must include at least one long shot, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up, over-the-shoulder shot and either a high or low angle shot. You also must include both fixed camera shots and camera movement (e.g. handheld, tracking, pan etc.)

Editing: You must include match-on-action continuity editing and cross-cutting between your two locations.

Sound: You must include diegetic sound (from within the world of the TV show) which will be dialogue and any background sound. You can also include non-diegetic sound (e.g. music) to help establish the atmosphere and genre if you wish. 

Deadlines

Planning and filming: This week's lessons 

Editing and final deadline: Next week Thursday


Initial tasks: planning

Before creating anything in Media you need to plan out exactly what you are going to do. You need to complete the following planning tasks on your blog before you can film anything:

Statement of intent: 100 words explaining what you plan to make.

Example statement of intent [exactly 100 words]: 

I plan to make a 30-second TV drama scene for a show called Pupil. This is a science fiction show about a student who is from another world. This scene will be the moment the pupil reveals this information to their best friend in a phone conversation. 

Both characters will be dressed casually and in their homes. I will film the whole conversation several times in each location and use a variety of camera shots (including many close-ups). I will then cross cut this conversation together in Premiere Pro. There will be a low, tense non-diegetic soundtrack playing behind the conversation to add atmosphere to the scene. [107 words]

Script: Stage directions AND dialogue. To see how a TV drama script is presented, and to look at professional examples, check out the BBC Writers' Room and click on Script Library.

Casting: Who will be in your TV drama scene.

Location: Where you will film (you can film off-site if you wish to do this for homework). Important note: You CANNOT take any students out of any other lessons OR disturb any other lessons in the school. You MUST stay around DF07 and the nearest stairwell. 

Shot list: Every shot you plan to film. This needs to be far MORE shots than you will actually use in the final version - plan extra close-ups, long shots, unusual angles and more. You can find an example shot list here. 

Extension - Storyboard: Draw a 5-frame storyboard mapping out your key shots. Storyboard sheets are available in DF07.

Your planning needs to be completed by Thursday. Good luck!

Welcome to GCSE Media Year 2!

This is your new blog home for Year 2 of GCSE Media Studies - welcome!

This is where you'll find everything you need for coursework and exam preparation for this crucial second year of the GCSE Media course.

Good luck and let's earn those top grades!

Media project: Music magazine

For our last half-term of Media, we will have the opportunity to do some of the more creative, practical work that we missed out on due to the covid lockdowns.

Our work will be based on the 2021 Year 13 A Level Media coursework brief which was to create a music magazine and music video cross media production.

Print brief: music magazine

You should create the front page for a music magazine – specifically:

• a front cover featuring your new artist/band promoting a tour and music video
• a selection of cover lines appropriate for the magazine and audience

The magazine targets a mainstream music audience.

You can either create a new, original music magazine or create your own front cover for an existing music magazine.

Research and planning blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Music magazine research and planning' and complete the following tasks to plan and prepare your print work:

1) Research music magazine cover key conventions. Look over the magazine cover key conventions notes sheet and write which of these you will use for your magazine cover. (This is a film magazine example but the conventions still apply).

2) Find at least five music magazine front covers (either current or former magazines as many have stopped their print editions) aimed at a similar target audience to your project (mainstream music audience). For each one, pick out one design idea or convention that you could use in your own print work. A few examples to start you off:

Planning, sketching and writing

Complete the tasks below in the same blogpost you have already created for research and planning:

1) Plan a title and slogan (sell line) for your new, original music magazine. Sketch out possible designs for the masthead - font, style, colour etc. If you are creating a front cover for an existing music magazine, make sure you recreate the magazine's style and branding accurately - what font do they use? What colours? What is their slogan?

2) Plan the content for your magazine front cover. What will be your main image? What cover lines will you include on the cover?

3) Produce an A4 sketch of your front cover including the key conventions and design tricks you have studied in existing magazines and then planned in the planning tasks above.

Photoshoot planning

1) Who will you photograph as your artist/band to appear on the front cover of your magazine? This is vital for planning your photoshoot (note: if it is you or someone in the class it will make things a lot easier in terms of running the photoshoot but you can do this at home if you prefer).

2) Write a shot list for your photoshoot. Make sure you plan the right camera shots for a magazine front cover - medium shots, medium close-ups etc.

3) What costume, props or make-up will you require for your photoshoot?

Photoshoot: Tuesday 15 June

Photoshop design

If you have completed all of the research and planning tasks above then open up Adobe Photoshop CS6 and create a new A4 document (portrait). You can start to create your title, cover lines and any other branding or colour on your cover and then add your photo when you have completed your photoshoot. The following videos will help with this:

Photoshop CS6 magazine tutorial:

Get started with Photoshop CS6 tutorial:

Research and planning deadline: Tuesday 15 June