This document provides instructions for a personal study project on horror-slasher movies. It outlines requirements for a research document including collecting quotes and summarized information from a variety of sources on the chosen topic. It also provides deadlines for completing tasks like researching theories, a specific product/person/studio, analyzing a product/scene, and uploading the final project. Theories that must be referenced include the Auteur Theory, Reception Theory, Hypodermic Needle Model, and the Male Gaze. The document gives guidance on writing a minimum 1500 word essay exploring the topic and linking findings to the student's own creative media work.

1. Personal Study
Project
Unit 12 Specialist study in creative media production

2. Personal Study Project
• You will need to produce
1. A research document
• Collection of quotes and summarised information
based around your topic
• This should include research from a wide variety of
sources (not just websites- this is critical to achieving
beyond a Pass)
• An alphabetised bibliography on the final slide
DEADLINE 03/11/22 in Personal Study Section of website

3. Deadlines
Date w/c Task[s]
Summer Choose your focus topic and basic research of theories
12/09 Research all 4 theories (4 sources minimum)
19/09 Research theory (2 sources minimum)
26/09 Research product/person/studio (secondary research) (3 sources minimum)
03/10 Research product/person/studio (secondary research) (3 sources minimum)
10/10 Analyse a product/scene/specific pages/photographs/levels etc.
17/10 Final additions and upload to PERSONAL STUDY area of website. Start essay.
Half term

4. CHOSEN TOPIC
Horror-Slasher Movies

5. Theories

6. Auteur Theory
Author Gil Bettman
Website Title What is Auteur Theory? Definition
Page Reference(s) What is Auteur Theory? - Definition and
Examples | Indie Film Hustle®
Summary of Theory
• The Auteur Theory is when a reflects a
director’s artistic vision. The movies
they make will have certain recurring
themes and visual queues that show
who the director is.
Quotes
• “Auteur Theory is a way of looking at films that
state that the director is the ‘author’ of a film.”
• “The Auteur theory argues that a film is a
reflection of the director’s artistic vision; so, a
movie directed by a given filmmaker will have
recognizable, recurring themes and visual queues
that inform the audience who the director is
(think a Hitchcock or Tarantino film) and shows a
consistent artistic identity.”
• “The term ‘Auteur theory’ is credited to the
critics of the French film journal Cahiers du
cinema, many of which became the directors of
the French New Wave. However, according to
New York University professor Julian Cornell, the
concept had been around for a while prior. The
Cahiers critics simply refined the theory.”

7. Reception Theory
Author Debra Barnhart
Website Title Musical Expert.org
Page Reference(s) What Is a Reception Theory? (with
pictures) (musicalexpert.org)
Summary of Theory
• The Reception Theory is when the
audience is an important part to the
understanding of a book.
Quotes
• “A reception theory is a philosophy, usually
applied to literature, that recognizes the
audience as an essential element to
understanding the work's larger meaning.”
• “Some of the most profound pieces of
literature to come out of that period were
written with the assumption that audience
interpretation would shape their meaning,
which gave rise to a unique and identifiable
literary genre of works.”
• “In broad terms, the theory assumes that the
reservoir of life experiences a reader brings to
the reading process is crucial to how he or she
interprets an author’s creation.”

8. Hypodermic Needle Model
Author Brett Lamb
Website Title Lesson Bucket
Page Reference(s) The Hypodermic Needle Theory | VCE
Media, Victorian Curriculum, Media Arts,
Summary of Theory
• The Hypodermic Needle Model is
when media messages are fully taken
in by the viewer.
Quotes
• “The Hypodermic Needle Theory is a linear
communication theory which suggests that
media messages are injected directly into the
brains of a passive audience.”
• “Writing about the influence of movies, the
project chairman WW Charters wrote that they
have the potential to profoundly affect the way
children behave.”
• “The Hypodermic Needle Theory continues to
influence the way we talk about the media.
People believe that the mass media has a
powerful effect. Parents worry about the
influence of television and violent video games.
News outlets run headlines like ‘Is Google
making us stupid’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto led teen
to kill’.

9. The Male Gaze
Author Sarah VanBuskirk
Website Title Very well Mind
Page Reference(s) What Is the Male Gaze?
(verywellmind.com)
Summary of Theory
• There’s no easy way to put this, but
the Male Gaze is female sexualisation
in media where women are depicted
as sexual objects for male desire.
Quotes
• “The male gaze describes a way of
portraying and looking at women that
empowers men while sexualizing and
diminishing women.”
• “The term ‘male gaze’ was first
popularized in relation to the
depiction of female characters in film
as inactive, often overtly sexualized
objects of male desire.”
• “The male gaze twists this natural
urge, turning the women into passive
items to possess and use as props.”

10. CHOSEN THEORY
The Male Gaze

11. TOPIC

12. Topic Research 1
Author
Source
Page Reference(s)
Details about topic/Quotes

13. Topic Research 2
Author
Source
Page Reference(s)
Details about topic/Quotes

14. Topic Research 3
Author
Source
Page Reference(s)
Details about topic/Quotes

15. Micro Analysis
Source
Analysis
Picture/Screenshots

16. Personal Research Project
• You need to produce an exploration of an element of media that you are
passionate about and is directly linked to the style of media you will make
in your FMP.
• This could be centred around a specific director, product, specific genre or
a social/historical/cultural context.
• You will need to write a minimum of a 1500 word essay exploring the
topic.
• You will also need to complete a bibliography of sources directly used in
your essay.
• The final section of your essay will focus on how your findings link to your
own work and your intended outcomes on your FMP this year

17. Essay Title
• Person or Studio Focus
How is [THEORY] relevant when analysing
the work of [PERSON/STUDIO]?
• Specific Product Focus
How is [THEORY] relevant when analysing
[PRODUCT]?
• Choose your person, studio or product that you will
focus on related to what you will make as your FMP
• Choose one of the theories from the

18. Essay Plan
• Your study should be structured using the following
– Select a director/designer/producer/studio/etc
[dependent on your area of interest] that you consider a
strong influence on your work and that you can do the
necessary analysis and investigations into, both from a
technical focus and academic focus
– Undertake macro analysis, this would be looking at the
wider context of their work [this could be historical
backgrounds, the world they operate in, influences, where
their work is seen, etc]
– Undertake micro analysis, this would focusing on specific
films/scene/levels of a game/photos/graphic designs etc
– Link this investigation to your own work and your intended
outcomes on your FMP

19. Essay Plan
1. Introduction to your topic (~100 words)
– Who/What did you research? What do you plan to discover through your discussion? How will you go about
doing this (macro, micro and application of theory)?
2. Introduction to your theory (~100 words)
– Explain what your theory is and its origins. What are the main beliefs of the theory? What are the criticisms of
the theory?
3. Macro analysis (400+ words)
– Context of a person: Reference their history with media. What products have they made in the past? What is
their production signature? How are they critically regarded? Any criticisms of their work?
– Context of a product: Reference the production process. Discuss the studio/company that made it and their
history. How is the work critically regarded? Any criticisms of the product?
4. Micro analysis (400+ words)
– Analyse the product/scene/specific pages/photographs/levels etc.
– Discuss the technical construction of what you are analysing (colour, composition, content etc etc) and reference
what impact each aspect discussed on the audience .
5. Application of Theory (400+ words)
– Apply your chosen theory to your chosen product/person/studio with frequent examples.
6. Your own work [~200 words]
– Talk about specific elements of the study that you will incorporate into your FMP this year;
– Link specific research outcomes to elements of your planned FMP, whether it be technical aspects, conceptual
elements or creative inspirations
– Be specific and aim to talk about 3-5 areas that you can link forward into the FMP
7. Conclusion (100 words)
– Reference general theory and your focus statement when making your concluding points
– What have you discovered from your study?
– Answer the question from your title

20. Academic Media Theories
• You should make specific reference to at least
one of the following media theories:
1. Auteur Theory
2. Reception Theory
3. The Hypodermic Needle Model
4. The Male Gaze
• You may find other relevant theories in your
investigations for your research document

21. Learning Criteria
Task 2
Essay
Task 1
Research
Document
Task 2
Essay

22. SUPPORT & GUIDANCE SLIDES

23. Micro Analysis Checklist
• Mise en scene
• Colour, costume and props discussing their subtext/connotations
• Binary opposition where appropriate
• Camera
• Shot type (Extreme long shot, long shot, medium long shot etc)
• Angle (High angle, low angle, eye level etc)
• Movement (or lack of movement with a locked off shot)
• Focus (shallow or deep focus)
• Composition (who is higher in the frame, closer to the camera).
• Editing
• Compare a minimum of two shots and discuss their relationship (are the shots the same or different? Why?
• Pace (fast or slow paced shots edited together)
• Any specific editing techniques (match on action, jump cut, montage etc.).
• Sound
• Diegesis (Diegetic, Non-Diegetic)
• Location of sound (internal, external, simple, displaced)
• Visibility of the sound (synchronous, asynchronous)
• Music suitability (parallel, contrapuntal).
• Lighting
• Key (high key, low key)
• Colour/temperature (warm, cold)
• Harshness (soft light, hard light).
• Text/Font
• Serif/San Serif
• Colour
• Font style
• Hierarchy
• Text/Dialogue
• What is being said/written

24. Quotes/Sources
• Reference and foreground your focus
statement regularly.
• Include your sources regularly and throughout
– Quotes, statistics, analysis, film dialogue etc
• Include a referenced source directly in your
discussion every 250 words (as a minimum).
• Update your research document as you
include additional sources (if necessary).

25. Types of sources
• Chosen products (films, art, magazines, TV shows, games etc)
• Books (written by or about your director/theme) [Google Books]
• Academic articles (Google scholar)
• Interviews
• Documentaries
• DVD extras
• DVD commentaries
• Reviews/Popular Articles
• Journals
• Questionnaires (survey monkey/MS Forms)
• Focus groups

26. Bibliography STYLES FOR DIFFERENT SOURCES
1. Film Title (YEAR) Directed by DIRECTOR [film] Location of Distributor:
Distributor.
2. “Episode Title” (YEAR) SHOW NAME. Series and Episode numbers.
Channel. Day or broadcast.
3. Game Title (YEAR) Console [game] Studio. Studio Location.
4. Artist surname, artist first initial. (YEAR) Title [details of its materials]
Location where it is. City where it is
5. Artist surname, artist first initial. (YEAR) Title
6. Author surname, author first initial. (YEAR). Title. Publisher Location:
Publisher.
7. Author surname, author first initial. (YEAR). Title. Available:
WEBLINK. Last accessed DATE YOU LAST VISITED SITE.
8. Author surname, author first initial.(YEAR) “Article title”, Magazine
(Issue Number), PAGE REFERENCE
9. In writing
“QUOTE” (INTERVIEWEE cited in AUTHOR, YEAR, PAGE REFERENCE)
In Bibliography
Author. (YEAR) “Article title”, Magazine (Issue Number), PAGE
REFERENCE
10. Anon (n.d.) Title Available: WEBLINK. Last accessed DATE YOU LAST
VISITED SITE.
1. Film
2. TV show
3. Game
4. Art
5. Photography
6. Book
7. Website
8. Magazine article
9. Citation
10.Unknown
author/date

27. Bibliography STYLE EXAMPLES
1. Jaws (1975) Directed by Francois Truffaut [film] Universal City,
California: Universal Pictures
2. “Gone” (2001) Spaced. Series 2 Episode 5. Channel 4. 30th March
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) Nintendo Switch
[game] Nintendo. Kyoto.
4. Goya, F. (1819) Saturn Devouring His Son [mixed media mural
transferred to canvas] Museo del Prado. Madrid
5. McCurry, S. (1984) Afghan Girl
6. Greene, N (2007). The French New Wave - A New Look . London:
Wallflower Press.
7. Hitchman, S. (2008). A History of French New Wave Cinema .
Available: http://www.newwavefilm.com/about/history-of-french-
new-wave.shtml. Last accessed 11th Mar 2022.
8. Smith, J. (2014) “French New Wave Cinema”, Total Film (Issue 332),
p34-35
9. In writing
“QUOTE” (Truffaut cited in Smith, 1994, p25)
In Bibliography
Smith, J (1994) “Interview with Truffaut”, Sight and Sound (issue 67),
p24-25
10. Anon (n.d.) The French New Wave Available: www.realwebsite.com
Last accessed 11th Mar 2022.
1. Film
2. TV show
3. Game
4. Art
5. Photography
6. Book
7. Website
8. Magazine article
9. Citation
10.Unknown
author/date

28. • When
writing your
bibliography
you need to
alphabetise
the sources
• Ensure you
prioritise
books and
articles over
websites.
Bibliography

29. Z Library
• https://z-lib.org/ is a really useful website to get
online PDFs of almost any book in existence.
• You can look up keywords and find quotes really
easily

30. York College Library
Access to
ebooks online
following links
on the Opac
Use the CLASS code to
find the physical book
in the library
https://elibrary.yorkcollege.
ac.uk/opac/opacreq.dll/ne
w

31. Google Books
https://books.google.co.uk
/
Look for ones that
have a preview

32. Amazon
Can’t find the publisher information? Use Amazon as they list
everything you need for a bibliography beneath the listing.

33. Google Scholar
https://scholar.google.com/
Similar to google
books but includes
journals, academic
papers and articles

34. Zlibrary
Some will let you
access online, some
you may need to
download as a PDF
(you can get zlibrary to
send a copy to your
Kindle or ebook
reader)
Some features only
unlock if you have an
account. But its free.
https://cc1lib.club/
You can access both
books and journals.

35. YouTube TRANSCRIPTS
Access
transcripts by
clicking here
You can copy and
paste the transcript
into a word doc for
ease.
This will need
proof reading as
occasionally it gets
things wrong.

36. MyBib
https://www.mybib.com
/
Stores your
bibliography online
for you to copy and
paste off when your
ready.
Generates a
bibliography from a
URL- no effort
required
You will probably
need to refine this a
bit as author names
don’t always seem to
come across.

37. Neil’s Toolbox
http://www.neilstoolbox.com/
bibliography-
creator/reference-book.htm
Fill in the required
boxes and it will
generate the source
for you.
Different tabs for
different types of
sources
If you don’t want to
include page
numbers- just put a .
and delete once
generated.

38. Cite them right
You can find additional support on referencing on
https://www.citethemrightonline.com/

39. In text references
• Comes in 3 Flavours;
1. Regular
• Include a quote and then out the author’s surname and year of release
– Films such as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), which employs the post-modern narrative focus
of an oppressed minority and applies modernistic Silver Age comics visual style through “Ben-Day Dots,
hard facial lines, and misaligned color palettes” (Cardenas, 2021),
2. Front-load it
• Mention the author, title of the book/article and year of publication before jumping into the quote
– Luke Turner authored the Metamodernist Manifesto in 2011, formalising his beliefs of the core
principals of the movement. Turner states metamodernity is “an oscillation between positions, with
diametrically opposed ideas operating like the pulsating polarities of a colossal electric machine,
propelling the world into action”.
3. Citation
• If someone was quoted in something else (like someone being interviewed in an article) you “cite”
them
– For it to have been universal across all homo sapien societies (as it is suggested) then “it must have a
social purpose” (de Waal cited in Ambrosino, 2019).

40. Including sources
• When including a source in your script include brief information from your
bibliography with a page reference where relevant.
Example
Truffaut uses long shot durations throughout the 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959).
Truffaut references this stating “It was an accident” (Truffaut in Smith, 1994,
p34).
12. Truffaut, F (1959) The 400 Blows
13. Truffaut, F cited in Smith J (1994) Interview with Truffaut (Sight and
Sound, issue 67)

41. Examples for including sources

42. Bibliography
1. Bettman, G. (2022). Indie Film Hustle. Available: What is Auteur Theory? - Definition
and Examples | Indie Film Hustle®. Last Accessed: 23.9.22
2. Barnhart, D. (2022). Musical Expert. Org. Available: What Is a Reception Theory?
(with pictures) (musicalexpert.org). Last Accessed: 23.9.22
3. Lamb, B. (2013). Lesson Bucket. Available: The Hypodermic Needle Theory | VCE
Media, Victorian Curriculum, Media Arts, digital literacy, media education,
filmmaking (lessonbucket.com). Last Accessed: 23.9.22
4. VanBuskirk, S. (2021). Very well Mind. Available: What Is the Male Gaze?
(verywellmind.com). Last Accessed: 23.9.22