YEAR 12 LESSON ONE [13th Sept 11]: Homework.

Welcome to my media world Year 12. Lovely to meet you all. Today's two hours of mirth and merry media was a very gentle introduction to your GCE AS Level experience. Welcome aboard.

The session began with an overview of the course. The main point to remember is that the course is 50% exam 50% coursework. The main aim of my introduction was to make it very clear that the coursework is of VAST importance. The class were shown examples of last year's coursework broadcast media. Further examples of student coursework are available on the fishymedia vimeo site. This site is filled with examples of student broadcast media and a BBC report of last year's Beverley Joint Sixth demonstration. STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PERUSE THE WORK POSTED TO THIS SITE. All the work I shared with you today is available on the vimeo site. The link below will take you to the site via a documentary that I recently posted to vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/28397234

The second half of the session involved students being offered the shower scene from Alf Hitchcock's 'Psycho', the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws', and the trailer to the first series of Channel Four's 'Skins'. The aim of this section of the lesson was make students aware of the craft of film-making. For example, the importance of sound and editing and how content is shaped by the marriage of sound and image.

Click on link to access the famous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' [1960]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4

Click on link to access trailer for first series of Skins. This trailer was first broadcast in December 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm0onseM1Mw

Homework: Students should read all the material that I offered you in this session. Students will be expected to use the language of media in the next session so familiarise yourself with terms such as polysemic, diegetic sound, anchorage, connotation etc. Read my Spielberg essay. You will be expected to produce written work in a similar style.

Watch student broadcast media via the fishymedia vimeo site and peruse the fishymedia archive to gain an overview of the world of media and gain a sense of the course and its content.

Watch this film. It will make you smile. Click on link:

http://vimeo.com/15328356

See you next week.

WIKILEAKS DOCUMENTARY.

WIKILEAKS is a massive media issue. Click on link to access a very comprehensive documentary that explains the aims and ethos of this organisation. Again, this relates to media and democracy and links to our class discussion and the consideration of the question: Has the internet helped or hindered democratic freedom?

Click on link to access the full documentary that has been uploaded to You Tube. This is a seriously good resource. The 'keener' students might want to make some notes as there is a mass of useful information in this film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvmfOaZ34Pk

Wikileaks is a very important topic and i expect ALL students to be aware of the implications that link to this media institution. ALL students need to be aware of the existence of JULIAN ASSANGE.

THE INTERNET IS NOT SAFE: Hacking is big business.

Is there really such a beast as a secure website? Or Cyberwar? The following resources may be useful for Year 13 when considering issues relating to media and democracy and the impact of new digital media. Hacking and identity theft are HUGE digital issues. Click on links to access some BBC news stories:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14802673

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12847072

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12633240

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12473809

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12416580

This is a massive issue. Feel free to peruse other resources posted to fishymedia. I will expect all Year 13 students to be able to answer the question:

WHAT WAS THE STUXNET WORM?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11795076

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11388018

Controversial 9/11 Photograph.

Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and students should be aware of the images being used in today's newspapers that represent the horror of that brutal day. As REPRESENTATION is one of the key topics at A2, Year 13 might want to collect material related to 9/11 and use this material for media work later in the course.

One of the most controversial images from this day was a photograph captured by THOMAS HOEPKER. This image was published in 2006 as Hoepker and his employers MAGNUM [the legendary photography agency] believed it too controversial to be published in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Below is a link to an article from the online Guardian that discusses the implications of this image:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/02/911-photo-thomas-hoepker-meaning?INTCMP=SRCH

Thomas Hoepker discusses his photograph in Slate magazine:

http://www.slate.com/id/2149675/

Below is a link to a series of still images captured by photographers on Sept 11th 2001:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/sep/08/9-11-attacks-photographs-interactive

Students/media doctors/media anthropologists/ might want to consider why Magnum refused to publish Hoepker's photograph?

YEAR 13 LESSON ONE [9th Sept 11]: Homework.

Great to see you lot again. Congratulations on your impressive AS results...but now we really dig our fingers into the murky world of media studies.

The first session began with an overview of the course. A2 remains 50% exam [MEST 3] and 50% coursework [MEST 4]. Students have the full creative freedom to explore any contemporary area of media interest for their coursework therefore students must be constantly aware of media related news and contemporary technological developments. The exam will demand that students are aware of the media issues and debates that relate to Representation and The Impact of Digital Media. I will be exploring issues relating to The Impact of Digital Media.

The first class discussion was a response to the question: HAS THE INTERNET HELPED OR HINDERED DEMOCRATIC FREEDOM?

The following resources may be useful when considering this question:

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2010/10/beginners-guide-to-internet-censorship.html

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-has-technology-affected-riots-in.html

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2011/05/apple-accused-of-exploiting-chinese.html

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2011/04/tim-berners-lee-and-net-neutrality-bbc.html

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2011/02/government-and-web-freedom-article.html

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-egypts-digital-uprising-is.html

The class were offered the June 2010 MEST 3 exam paper to peruse with the aim of providing students with a clear perception of the intellectual expectation at A2 and comprehension of the question structure that they will experience in May 2012.

It is important that ALL students are aware of how the BBC has adapted to digital technology as the BBC are an example of an institution that has thrived when confronting and adapting to the challenge offered by new digital media. An understanding of how the BBC uses digital media is a central feature of student understanding when preparing for Section B of MEST 3. Below are a series of links to allow students to investigate how the BBC uses digital media:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/

Students must be able to answer the question: TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE BBC EMBRACED THE DIGITAL AGE? You must be able to support your view with clear and specific references to the BBC's use of digital technology. Students must also consider how the relationship between Audience and Producer is shaped by the BBC's use of digital media.

Many media institutions have not adapted to the challenge of digital media. For example reference was made to EMI and how they have struggled to create a business model that is relevant in a post-Napster world. The traditional music industry has been destroyed by digital culture. Students might like to consider how and why MP3 download culture has butchered the traditional music industry. To what extent has the Audience/Producer relationship been changed by Shawn Fanning's Napster site? Reference was also made to the demise of MySpace and Murdoch's use of PAYWALL. Students need to peruse fishymedia to research these issues. We will be discussing all these issues in future lessons.

Finally, students were asked to consider the question: HAS THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL MEDIA REDUCED THE POWER OF MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA TO PRESENT DOMINANT REPRESENTATIONS? Reference was made to You Tube, Russia Today and Al Jazeera.

Homework: Consider the three key questions that I pelted at you in this session. Reflect upon how you would answer these questions as one of them will be your first essay title.

Students need to digest the whole of the first episode of the BBC's FANTASTIC documentary series 'The Virtual Revolution'. I made it perfectly clear how valuable this resource is and I expect all students to have watched this 60 minute episode before our next session. If you can't be arsed to watch this, you should drop the course. Seriously...drop the course. There is so much detail and information in this first episode that it is a perfect resource. Click on link below to access the first You Tube segment then navigate through the other five segments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPD4Ep_J81k

Furthermore, the website to this wonderful resource is media research heaven. Click on link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/interviews.shtml

Students also need to navigate through these links that explore the very different views of Andrew Keen and Clay Shirky. They express very different views relating to the power of the Web. Click on these fishymedia links:

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2010/07/andrew-keen-internet-critic-any-media.html

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2010/07/clay-shirky-interviewed-by-decca.html

http://fishymediaresources.blogspot.com/2010/11/andrew-keenclay-shirky-interviews.html

Students also need to research the history of the BBC and be aware of its aims and ethos.

PHEW...see you on Friday.

HOW FACEBOOK CHANGED THE WORLD: BBC DOCUMENTARY.

Students should be aware of this two-part series currently being broadcast by the BBC. Year 13 students need to be aware of the link between media technology and democratic freedom and this resource provides a fine overview of how social media was used to inspire the 'Arab Spring'.

Below is a link to the BBC i-player:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b014grsr/How_Facebook_Changed_the_World_The_Arab_Spring_Episode_1/

CHRIS GOODWIN DOCUMENTARY.

Click on link below to access a documentary that I have recently completed that attempts to capture the thoughts of the Headteacher as he approached his final weeks in the school. Chris Goodwin worked at BGS for 36 years and this film is an attempt to document his educational philosophies and teaching experiences.

http://vimeo.com/28397234