The media student's book

Description

This introductory textbook provides a comprehensive guide for students of media studies on A-Level, BTEC, City and Guilds, GNVQ and undergraduate courses. It covers all the key topics they will encounter, with notes on key terms and references. Content: List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction Section 1: Key concepts 1 Approaching media texts Introduction Semiotic approaches Structuralism, difference(s), and oppositions Denotation and connotation The social nature of signs Debates Content analysis Conclusion Case study: Visual and aural signs Analysing a poster, and notes on two photos Voices and sound signifiers Audio-visual moving images Content analysis 2 Narratives General theories of narrative Narration, story and plot Narratives in different media Long running and 'single' narratives 'New media' and narrative debates Conclusion References and further reading Case study: CSI: Miami and Crime fiction The classification 'crime fiction' Plot/story Applying Todorov Applying Propp Applying Barthes Applying Levi-Strauss Narratives, institutions, ideologies References and further reading 3 Genres and classification Classifying films: Thelma and Louise (US 1991) Repetition and difference Repertoires of elements Case study: Formats and genres Status and genres 1: 'escapism' and verisimilitude Status and genres 2: the cultural context Conclusion References and further reading Case study: Horror as popular art The Orphanage and Let the Right One In The child in the horror film Global and local audiences Style and the Gothic: different repertoires Authorship and promotion Distribution patterns 4 Representations 'Representation' now Stereotyping and 'scripts' Case study 1: US plantation stereotyping Scripts and performances Case study 2: Representations and gender Stages of change, and 'positive/negative' debates Realisms and representations Comedy and questions of representation Historical and institutional processes Conclusion Reference and further reading Case study: Images of migration Introduction Discourses and stereotypes of 'migration' and other kinds of travel News media The 'grain of truth' in stereotypes? Varieties of media representations References 5 Globalisation Your experiences of globalisation Global histories Approaches to globalised media Global-local flows Global futures? Conclusion References and further reading Case study: Slumdog Millionaire: global film? The background to a global hit The production of the film Distribution The Bollywood connection Controversies in reception After the Oscar ceremonies ... 6 Ideologies and discourses Introduction 'Ideology' and its histories: Marxist approaches The persistence of class and its (in)visibility Post-Marxism and critical pluralism Discoures Lived cultures Conclusion? References and further reading Case study: The Age of Stupid (UK 2009) and Climate Change Politics Introduction Context: images and discourses The term 'propaganda' Textual approaches to the film 'Cinema' and its 'everyday practices' Conclusion 7 Media as Business Studying business organisations Ownership and control The experience of conglomerates New players in India and China Public or private funding? Public or private in filmed entertainment The new digital environment Business models Different perspectives Conclusion References and further reading Case study: Music and movies - digital and available The challenge of copying Piracy Changing models in the film industry Section 2 : Debates 8 'New media' in a 'new world'? Introduction 'Newness' and histories Academic approaches Openness, collaboration and 'users' 'The long tail' Digital copies and the 'enclosure' of information New media, old metaphors 'New media', vanishing resources Conclusion References and further reading 9 The future of television Introduction Ownership and control in the television industry Paying for television Business models for television broadcasting Public service broadcasting Network television Subscription 10 Regulation now Introduction Politics and media economics Regulation and 'freedom' Historical background Changes in the orthodoxy of economic policies and new models Deregulation, liberalisation and media institutions The contemporary regulatory environment A 'free market' for classification, censorship and sex and violence? The public gets the media it deserves? 'Free choices' and free speech? Conclusion References and further reading 11 Debating advertising, branding and celebrity Introduction Advertising, marketing and branding Debates Histories Hollywood and branding Hollywood: the brand(s) Case study: 'Brangelina' Citizenship and consumption References and further reading 12 News and its futures Introduction The importance of news, and views of 'the public' The construction of 'news' 'Impartiality' and accuracy 'News values' Debates on the influence of news Futures: 'new' news? Conclusion References and further reading 13 Documentary and 'reality' debates Recent issues in documentary Documentary and assumptions about 'realism' and truth 'Direct Cinema' Performance and documentary Ethics and documentary Recent hybrids 1: 'pranksters' Recent hybrids 2: 'reality TV' Recent hybrids 3: forms of 'drama documentary' Conclusion References and further reading 14 From 'audience' to 'users' Introduction Academic representations of audiences The effects model The uses and gratifications model From 'effects' to 'influence': factual forms 'Cultural' approaches Re-mediating audiences Conclusion References and further reading Section 3 : Research methods and reference 15 Research: skills and methods Introduction Basics Using the internet, and print forms Fear of 'theory' Methods Qualitative and quantitative Textual approaches Samples Focus groups 'Ethnographic' methods Footnote : Wikipedia References and further reading Glossary Index Abstract: Suitable for students of media studies, this title covers important issues facing media studies, including: approaching media texts; narrative; genres and other classifications; representations; globalisation; ideologies and discourses; the business of media; debating advertising, branding and celebrity; and, research - skills and methods. 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