Media Studies OCR Exam Blog - Kate Ovington

EXPLAIN WHY POPULAR MUSIC RADIO PROGRAMMES STRUGGLE TO GAIN RECOGNITION AS A PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER. [15] 10/15

EXPLAIN HOW THE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MAJOR HOLLYWOOD FILMS HAS CHANGED SINCE THE 1960S. 10/15 Good. Clear argument and good knowledge of the industry and product. Just not yet comprehensive, precise or detailed.

R1BS OVERVIEW: // Runs every weekday from 6:30am until 10:00am // It has been running since 1967 // It is currently hosted by Greg James who took over from Nick Grimshaw // He is the 16th presenter and took over in 2018. BBC, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION: // It is not controlled by the government  // It is paid for by us via a TV licence fee each year, £154.40 // If you want to watch TV or listen to radio, then you must pay a licence fee each year - numerous payment options are available to make it accessible and affordable to all. // A black and white TV licence is less expensive at £52/year // If you are found to not have a TV licence, you could face prosecution. Radio 1 is a key supporter of BBC Introducing, and of new music in general, through initiatives such as Brit List and BBC Sound Of. In 2019/20, Radio 1 will maintain its support of new and home-grown music with 50% of music played during daytime hours being new, and 45% of daytime music played from the U...

SOURCES A AND B ARE FRONT COVERS OF TWO GENRES OF NEWSPAPERS COVERING THE SAME STORY. HOW FAR HAS GENRE INFLUENCED THE MEDIA LANGUAGE USED? 11/15

SOUND ANALYSIS: There is a use of an 80s music sound bridge as a non-diegetic sound device. This acts as a transitional indicator of a changing setting in order to move the plot along. In the scene it helps to establish a safety in the Wheeler's home, contrasting later sound in the Byer's home, along with a safety when Will is with his friends whilst conforming to the historical 80s setting of the show. CAMERA ANGLE ANALYSIS: The use of a low-level POV shot from Mike's perspective helps to place Mrs Wheeler as a dominant figure over Mike in the scene. This establishes the coming of age genre in the plot and embeds the idea of a child vs parent ideology, placing the audience as mike. This further extends the TA to both people who grew up in the 80s and kids today, putting older viewers back into a child's perspective in order to view the show through the protagonist's (mike) eyes and put him in a relatable position. MISE-EN-SCENE ANALYSIS: The intertextual...

WHAT WAS THE ATMOSPHERE LIKE IN THE 80S: 1// The cold war ended, concern shifted to China 2// Pollution Persists 3// Electronic Innovations 4// 1981 tax cut + Reagonomics 5// Tense relations with Iran 6// War on drugs 7// Developments in the space program + shuttles 8// Spread of HIV/AIDS 9// Cable TV goes mainstream - MTV, ESPN 10// Rise of Yuppie culture E.T. was the highest grossing film of the decade, made by Stephen Spielberg. The bestselling book of the 80s was Stephen King's IT. They made it into a film in 1990 and remade it in 2017, starring one of the cast of Stranger Things, Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike. GENRE IN STRANGER THINGS: Sci-Fi, Coming of Age, Thriller, Crime, Love, Buddy It is important for Stranger Things to expand it's TA because people pay for Netflix, a very genre-reliant platform. If they don't appeal to multiple genres, not many people will watch it. It is a multi-genre show, about exploring genre rather than belonging to a genr...

WHAT IS THE MODULE ABOUT? // It is a synoptic module, so it tests every area of the course. // It is a comparison of how a big-budget American TV drama compares to a foreign-language drama. // we study the first episodes of the first series of each show. HOW IS IT ASSESSED? This is a big section of the exam, worth 40 marks, with 2 questions. The first question is out of thirty and asks you to compare the two shows and the second is out of ten and asks you how well a certain theorist's ideas applies to the shows. WHAT DO I NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL? // Good knowledge of  both episodes, learning details of every aspect from production to consumption and beyond. // Need to draw out the differences between the shows and come up with opinions to answer questions. TYPES OF DRAMA: // One-off drama // Short-form dramas, around 3 episodes // long-form dramas, lots of episodes, often multiple series // Soaps, continual, lower quality STRANGER THINGS: 8 episode series on Netflix...