Genre Questions

As per discussion here are the Genre questions you came up with. As a form of revision / practice I suggest that you have a go at all of them between now and the end of the course.
Post your attempts as comments with your name on them and write the essay question you are doing at the top of the comment. Mr Meade and I will look through as many as possible so check the blog for feedback.

1) To what extent do genres restrict filmmakers and institutions?
2) Explain why certain genres are just as popular today as they were 50 years ago.
3) How has the development of technology changed genre over time?
4) What are the benefits and limitations of genre to audiences and institutions?
5) What role do generic conventions play in audience appeal?
6) How do generic conventions help or hinder the film industry?
7) "Films should not be categorised by genre, but by their directorial style" Discuss in relation to the concept of film genre.
8) "The defining lines of genre are becoming increasingly blurred causing audience expectations to become confused" Discuss this statement with specific reference to the development of genre over time.
9) How do institutions adapt film gneres to target change in their audiences?
10) What are the limitations and benefits of hybrid genres?

Genre Questions

How far has the development of new technologies impacted on genre?

Remember to build your answer around the key concepts you have studied at Y12 and Y13. If you don't know what they are SHAME ON YOU!

News from Iraq. Is it a Fraud?

Rageh Omaar, a former BBC correspondent in Iraq, details how difficult it is to report the full truth of what is happening in Iraq due to the increasing insecurity in the country. He makes that point that the British public are not getting the full story about what is happening in the country because of the dangers facing Western journalists in the country. Whereas five years ago, at the start of the war, all sorts of journalists, from big Western news outlets like CNN and the BBC to local and independent one, could go report with relative freedom now only those who can afford the massive insurance costs can do so - i.e. big news organisations like the BBC, Sky and CNN. Even so, they report under real constraints, having to be accompanied by large security forces and from within heavily guarded compounds.

Action Adventure Glossary

Let's hear it for the good people at Long Road Media in Cambridge again. They've got a brilliant glossary of terms for Action Adventure movies on their Action Adventure blog (and you thought we were slightly strange for having one blog for the whole cluster). It covers lots of special effect terms which will help you spot different effects when we get back to doing a bit of textual analysis.

Foundation Production - Development of Ideas

Haven't seen you all for a while but I hope you've been busy over half-term, if not filming then at least refining your ideas and plans. I was at an exam board meeting today and saw lots of great student work that I hope you'll all match and surpass. What really excited me - and Mr. Gibbs worries about such excitement - was seeing how easily you could all be keeping track of your ideas and planning by using a blog. This is actually going to be a requirement in future years but for now you can have a look at what the students at Long Road College in Cambridge are doing right now. You can also look at some of their thrillers, or at least rough cuts, by looking through the different pages. I strongly recommend you take a look at this in your down time. We won't have time to go through it in class given your hectic production schedules.

Foundation Production - Audience Research

Right. A few of you have been muscling in on my Year 8 lessons wondering about what to do with the questionnaire for your audience research. So here's the deal.

Ultimate aim: find out information about your audience so that you can be sure your film will appeal to them.




Types of Info:
Demographic (age, gender, ethnicity, social class etc.)

Psychographic (attitudes, beliefs, self-image etc.)

Lifestyle and Media Consumption (hobbies, magazines, films, TV etc that they consume and why)

Opening of Films - specifically ask them about what engages them at the start of a film, stops them from switching it off etc.

Length

General rule of thumb is that it should have enough questions to gather the info that you need but not so many that your respondants would be reluctant to complete it. You may find that between 10 and 20 questions will suffice. We've asked you to have a draft ready for Wedneday, 16th January so that we can have a look at them and help you to refine your questions to the point where you can eke out as much information from as few questions as possible.

If you are reading this let as many others as possible from Year 12 media know about it.

Home Made Advertising

Another example of how digital technology is blurring the boundaries between audience and producer and how it's helping to lower the costs for traditional media institutions. Pringles will be using an ad made for just £300 by a member of the public. The ad will be first shown on terrestrial TV in Christmas day on ITV. The cost to Prigles of running the ad once on ITV is £60,000 but you could add that again to the cost if an ad agency had produced the ad for them. By running the competition for a new ad, Pringles have saved a huge amount of money and the winner of the competition has earned a reputation for himself within advertising circles - as well as the £2,000 prize. Of course Pringles can also benefit from the low cost viral marketing this will inevitably lead to.