AS Coursework: Film Openings: November 2014

Monday, 10 November 2014

The Rom-Com Audience

HOW TO RESEARCH GENRE AUDIENCE?
To go about investigating the rom-com audience I would consider:

online searches, variations of 'rom-com box office' with other keywords such as 'uk' 'world' 'all-time' etc
blogs and columns dedicated to box office analysis, not least the Film Guardian series on UK, US or global box office
check the Wiki entry to see if there is a box office list/discussion

Images + video/audio clips were included in this audience research vid
look up book indexes and have a flick through magazines/journals such as Sight and Sound or the Media Magazine
have a look at the archive (and links lists) on my BritishCinema, AS Coursework and Rom-Com blogs

As well as such secondary research, you could conduct your own unique primary research by investigating whether, for example, there is recognition of a range of rom-com films/characters/soundtracks, by designing an interactive questionnaire using some audio-visual stimulus. The example pictured (on Amber's 2015 A2 blog) is for a music video production, but the principles remain the same - you can use the audience links/posts on my blogs, and past student blogs (including the TWO AS Evaluation questions on audience) to help with researching audience as well!

WHY RESEARCH GENRE AUDIENCE?
I've had a quick look at some of these, and have picked out just a few points below. Be clear on why you are researching the nature of any genre's audience (or market):

How the AS exam works in with coursework

The skills and knowledge of the 2 parts of the course are closely linked! As we explore the Evaluation in particular you'll note frequent references to the exam material. In the exam you use semiotics to analyse the media language and (one area of) representation within a 4-5min clip of a US TV drama. You also write an essay on Cinema industry/audience. The following is a list of the elements you're asked to analyse across the 2 parts of your exam (provided on your AS Course Guide):

(UK only, but useful to consider) 7 AREAS OF REPRESENTATION:
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Sexuality
Class and status
Physical ability/disability
Regional identity

4 Technical Areas of Media Language
Camera Shots, angles, movement and composition
Editing
Sound
Mise-en-scene

Aspects of Cinema
the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences by international or global institutions;
the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

'MULTIMEDIA'?

The term multimedia is used frequently in discussing how/what to blog to get into the high marks band. You're partially marked on the 'level of care in the presentation' and 'use of ICT' within your blogs. What does this mean? Multimedia = a combination of images, hyperlinks, podcasts, videos, vodcasts, links lists and other blog tools, use of Facebook/YouTube et al for audience feedback/research/marketing etc. Level of care means taking time to appropriately illustrate posts, find useful hyperlinks to include [generally make a phrase into a hyperlink; don't just type 'here is a link:'!], and checking your links work, images have been properly embedded (always: save and upload, never copy/paste or drag in), posts don't have massive gaps/white space (if you place a lot of images in a post it can take some tweaking!). I try to apply these principles. Make your blogs at least as good as this one!

Key Posts

Monday, 10 November 2014

The Rom-Com Audience