AC's media blog-coursework

  1) Music Video: Introduction - factsheet questions 2) Music Video: Old Town Road CSP 3) Music Video: Postcolonial theory 4) Music Video: Ghost Town CSP 5) Music Video: Postmodernism and music video

Background and historical contexts Read  this excellent analysis from The Conversation website of the impact Ghost Town had both musically and visually . Answer the following questions 1)  Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition? "It’s an odd, eerie song, nodding to pop convention and sitting wilfully outside of it. It’s included, in passing, in Dorian Lynskey’s beautifully written book on protest songs, “33 Revolutions Per Minute”, but unlike the band’s “Free Nelson Mandela” does not merit its own chapter."  2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s? "2 Tone had emerged stylistically from the  Mod and Punk subcultures  and its musical roots and the people in it, audiences and bands, were both black and white. Ska and the related Jamaican  Rocksteady  were its musical foundations." 3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981? "England was hit by...

Newsbeat analysis Use  BBC Sounds to listen to Radio 1 . Select a Newsbeat bulletin (8am or 12.45pm are good options)  and then answer the following questions:  1) What news stories were featured in the bulletin you listened to? The Kings Speech Rickie, Melvin and Charlie 2) How does Newsbeat appeal to a youth audience? Each story is covered in a more personal and captivating style with fast-paced songs and background music. 3) How might Newsbeat help  fulfil the BBC's responsibilities as a public service broadcaster?  Newsbeat its role to inform, educate, and amuse the public by providing its youthful target audience with entertainment together with up-to-date news articles. Media Factsheet #246: BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat Read  Factsheet #246 BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat . You'll need your Greenford google login to access it. Answer the following questions: 1) How is the history and launch of Radio 1 summarised in the factsheet? If you studied this as part of GCSE...

BBC Sounds Read  this Guardian feature on the launch of BBC Sounds  and answer the following questions: 1) Why does the article suggest that ‘on the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health’? It has half the national market, with dozens of stations reaching more than 34 million people a week. Radio 2 alone reaches 15 million listeners a week and for all the criticism of the Today programme, one in nine Britons still tune in to hear John Humphrys and his co-presenters harangue politicians every week. 2) According to the article, what percentage of under-35s used the BBC iPlayer catch-up radio app? 3% of under-35s use the iPlayer catch-up radio app, which will soon be axed. 3) What is BBC Sounds? A new app and website. It will bring r adio livestreams, catchup services, music mixes and podcasts  together under one roof. 4) How do audiences listen to radio content in the digital age? People listen to radio through Spotify  5) What does Jason Phipps suggest is important f...

Wider reading on race and Old Town Road Read  this W Magazine deep dive on the Yeehaw agenda  and answer the following questions:  1) What are the visual cues the article lists as linked to the western genre?  Cowboy hats, cow prints, rhinestones, and fringed suede jackets. 2) How did the Yeehaw agenda come about?  In September 2018, the trend of black pop-culture figures wearing cowboy garb was dubbed the “Yeehaw Agenda” by Bri Malandro, a Texas-based pop-culture archivist. 3) Why has it been suggested that the black cowboy has been 'erased from American culture'? The imagery associated with Americana has been overwhelmingly white.  4) How has the black cowboy aesthetic been reflected by the fashion industry? "An organisation of black community leader in California called Compton Cowboys has blazed a trail by preserving the history and legacy of the black cowboy. Their Instagram account has garnered more that 20,000 followers....

Background and cultural contexts Read  this Vox feature and podcast transcript on Lil Nas X and Old Town Road . Make sure you read the whole thing - including the podcast transcript - then answer the following questions:  1) What is the big debate regarding Old Town Road and genre? The big debate is is it a rap song or a country song. 2) What do you learn about the background of Lil Nas X and Old Town Road from the podcast transcript? He had found fans through his popular  meme-filled Twitter presence  and a fast-growing TikTok meme dubbed the “ Yee Haw Challenge ” that centered on the song. 3) What is the Yeehaw agenda? It talks about how many black cowboys there were and how they aren't typically presented in the media. 4) How did the story become a debate about race in America? The debate arose form the fact that country music is mostly a white genre and Lil Nas X is a black teenager. The reclassification happened because he was a black man making white music some...

Media Magazine Theory Drop - Postmodernism Create a new blog post called 'Postmodernism in music video: blog tasks'. Read ‘The Theory Drop: Postmodernism’ in MM66  (p26). You'll  find our Media Magazine archive here  - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Answer the following questions: 1) How does the article define postmodernism in the first page of the article? Questioning traditional structures, representations and expectations and pushes things a step further. 2) What did media theorist and Semiotician Roland Barthes suggest in his essay ' The Death of the Author '? Roland Barthes  challenged tradition when he said that a writer’s opinions, intentions or interpretation of their own work are no more valid than anyone else’s. 3) What is metatextuality? Metatextuality is where a text draws attention to the fact that it is a text. It points to the process of its own creation. 4) What is the repeated phrase on the carto...