A2 MEDIA, G325 Section B

1. Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of
Production
Section B: Contemporary Media Issues
G325: Critical
Perspectives in Media
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2. G325: Critical Perspectives in Media
• The purpose of this unit is to assess candidates' knowledge and
understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates,
through their understanding of one contemporary media issue
and their ability to evaluate their own practical work in reflective
and theoretical ways.
• The examination is two hours. Candidates are required to
answer two compulsory questions, on their own production
work, and one question from a choice of six topic areas. The unit
is marked out of a total of 100, with the two questions on
production work marked out of 25 each, and the media theory
question marked out of 50.
Critical Perspectives in Media
There are two sections to this paper:
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production (50 marks)
Section B: Contemporary Media Issues (50 marks)
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3. Section B: Contemporary Media
Issues
• One question to be answered from a choice of six topic areas
offered by OCR. There will be two questions from each topic
area.
• The topic areas require understanding of contemporary media
texts, industries, audiences and debates.
• Candidates must choose one of the following topic areas, in
advance of the examination and, through specific case
studies, texts, debates and research of the candidates' choice,
prepare to demonstrate understanding of the contemporary
issue. This understanding must combine knowledge of at least
two media and a range of texts, industries, audiences and
debates, but these are to be selected by the centre /
candidate
Section B: Contemporary Media
Issues
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4. Section B: Contemporary Media
Issues
• Contemporary Media Regulation
• Global Media
• Media and Collective Identity
• Media in the Online Age
• Post-mordern Media
• ‘We Media’ and Democracy
Section B: Contemporary Media
Issues
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5. Section B: Contemporary Media
Issues
• Each topic is accompanied by four prompt
questions, and candidates must be prepared
to answer an exam question that relates to
one or more of these four prompts. There
should be emphasis on the historical, the
contemporary and the future in relation to the
chosen topic, with most attention on the
present
Section B: Contemporary Media
Issues
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6. Media and Collective Identity
• How do the contemporary media
represent nations, regions and
ethnic / social / collective groups of
people in different ways?
• How does contemporary
representation compare to
previous time periods?
• What are the social implications of
different media representations of
groups of people?
• To what extent is human identity
increasingly ‘mediated’?
BLACK BRITISH COLLECTIVE IDENTITYKEY QUESTIONS
WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR
THE EXAM?
• social group as a case study
• at least two different media
• understanding of and
reference to theory/cultural
critics
• your own voice!
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7. Consider at a ‘macro’ level how ‘the media’ represent people and ideas
But more importantly discuss on a ‘micro’ level how people give meaning
to particular kinds of media in relation to their identity
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8. Representations of Black Britain
• In order to be fully prepared for the specific requirements of
the question, the material studied by candidates must cover
these three elements:
Representations of Black Britain
Future - candidates must demonstrate personal
engagement with debates about the future of
the media forms / issues that the topic relates to.
Contemporary - current issues within the topic area.
Historical - dependent on the requirements of the topic,
candidates must summarise the development of the media
forms in question in theoretical contexts.
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9. Representations of Black Britain
• We will be focusing on film and music – the texts that we may
look at are:
• Sapphire, Basil Dearden (1959)
• Flame in the Streets, Roy Ward Baker (1962)
• Pressure, Horace Ove (1976)
• Kidulthood, Menhaj Huda (2006)
• Freestyle, Kolton Lee (2010)
• Attack The Block (Joe Cornish, 2011)
• Gone To Far (Destiny Ekaragha, 2013)
• It's a Lot (Darwood Grace, Femi Oyeniran, 2013)
Representations of Black Britain
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10. Film
HISTORICAL CONTEMPORARY
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11. • We will be focusing on film and music – the texts that we will
be looking at are:
• 2 Tone and The Specials
• Reggae and Smiley Culture
• Grime & UK Hip Hop – Wiley, Kano, Dizzie Rascal, Bashy, N-
Dubz, Professor Green
• We will be considering the use of the term ‘Urban’
• And music as a subculture – representative of something
much bigger
Representations of Black BritainRepresentations of Black Britain
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12. MUSIC
HISTORICAL CONTEMPORARY
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13. Theory & Cultural critics
Paul Gilroy
Antonio Gramsci
Dick Hebdige
David Gauntlett
Stuart Hall
David
Buckingham
Theory & Cultural critics
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14. Let’s review
• What do you need for the exam?
• social group as a case study- examples
• at least two different media
• understanding of and reference to
theory/cultural critics
• your own voice!
Let’s review
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15. What is Identity?
Brainstorm what
makes you you? If
we were to pick
you apart what
would you say are
the building blocks
of you?
Who
am I?
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16. What is Identity?
David Buckingham (2008).
He argues that identity is
complicated and complex.
On the one hand, identity is
something unique to each of us
that we assume is more or less
consistent (and hence the same)
overtime.. our identity is
something we uniquely possess: it
is what distinguishes us from
other people.
Yet on the other hand, identity also implies a relationship
with a broader collective or social group of some kind.
When we talk about national identity, cultural identity, or
gender identity, for example, we imply that our identity is
partly a matter of what we share with other people. Here,
identity is about identification with others whom we
assume are similar to us (if not exactly the same), at least in
some significant ways.
Who
am I?
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17. “Identity emerges as a kind of
unsettled space, or an unresolved
question in that space,
between a number of intersecting
discourses. ... [Until recently, we
have incorrectly thought that
identity is] a kind of fixed point of
thought and being, a ground of
action ... the logic of something
like a `true self.' ... [But] Identity is
a process, identity is split. Identity
is not a fixed point but an
ambivalent point. Identity is also
the relationship of the Other to
oneself" (Hall 1989)
What is Identity? Let’s talk…
“people's concepts of who
they are, of what sort of
people they are, and how
they relate to others" (Hogg
and Abrams 1988, 2).
“the way individuals and groups
define themselves and are
defined by others on the basis
of race, ethnicity, religion,
language, and culture" (Deng
1995, 1).
“refers to the ways in which
individuals and collectivities are
distinguished in
their social relations with other
individuals and collectivities"
(Jenkins 1996, 4).
“The term [identity] (by
convention) references mutually
constructed and evolving images
of self and other" (Katzenstein
1996, 59).
http://www.stanford.edu/~jfearon/papers/iden1v2.pdf
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18. What is Collective Identity?
It is a perception of a shared status or relation,
which may be imagined rather than experienced
directly, and it is distinct from personal identities,
although it may form part of a personal identity.
A collective identity may have been first
constructed by outsiders, who may still
enforce it Collective identities are
expressed in cultural materials
-names, narratives, symbols,
verbal styles, rituals, clothing,
and so on“Garms”
“Wha gwan”
“You get me?” 18
COLLECTIVE IDENTITY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS.
Annual Review of Sociology, January 01, 2001, Polletta, Francesca; Jasper, James M

19. What’s this got to do with media?
Think about how we form our identities and where the
information comes from. The influence of mass media
shapes our concepts of who we are, what is important
to us and how we live our lives. Everything concerning
our lives is seen to be ‘media saturated’.
Identity is something that is constructed over a period
of time and can be updated or changed completely.
In today’s world the choosing of one’s identity is a multi
layered experience, consciously and unconsciously
influenced by countless factors
How does the media
aid identity formation?
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IDENTITY ISN’T SIMPLE?

21. Contextualising Sapphire
• In order to fully understand the
representations and the construction of
representations presented in Sapphire it’s
necessary to contextualise the film.
• Researching the socio-political context of the
production will allow for better understanding
when discussing issues of collective identity
among Black Britons

22. Some terms you may come across
• Racialisation
• Emigration
• Migration
• Immigrant
• Videos to help with research
“Most of our people
have never had it so
good.”
1957 prime minister
Harold Macmillan

23. Research
• Investigate what was happening in Britain between
1948 – 1962
• How was the social landscape changing?
• How did the changing social landscape lead to a
‘racialisation’ of British politics?
• Representation works through construction – how
were black people represented in the film?
• Considering your research and film analysis - How
does the film put across a sense of collective identity
of Black British people?