Examiner's Report June 2011 Exam.  Read this through and look at it when reflecting on your mock exam.

Section A: Texts, Concepts and ContextsThe vast majority of centres and their candidates have now clearly acclimatised themselves
to the demands of Section A. Most responses were appropriately succinct and focused.
Many were able to achieve a high hit-rate of ideas and close reference to the unseen textthus ensuring a level three or above. Stamina remains an issue for some candidates
although there was far less evidence of responses collapsing completely by question four.
Far fewer responses were theory-lead and if/when media theories were used they were often
applied well to the question at hand. One key concern though for many candidates was to
ensure that they took note of the key concept heading of each question and that their answer
was actually relevant to this area. Many either repeated ideas from other question/concept
areas or produced irrelevant responses because of an inappropriate concept being explored.A valuable lesson to be learnt for many is to make certain that during the note-taking stage of
the exam, ideas are generated for each question in relation to the specific key concept
heading.Question 1: Media FormsThis was once again the best answered question, with well over a third of candidates
achieving a level three or above. Many responses showed sound understanding of media
techniques such as lighting, transitions, camerawork, sound and mise-en-scene. Slightly less
secure, however, was use of media terminology. Candidates on the whole seem comfortable
with the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound but less assured when
describing shot types and editing.
Unfortunately less successful candidates, although showing sound understanding of media
language were unable to focus on how techniques were used to compress time. Narrative
theory was a useful aid here, with some applying theories such as Todorov to consider the
narrative closure of the advertisement.
Many candidates unfortunately decided not to focus on media forms at all, instead using a
range of other concepts (often representation or audience) to analyse the text in a general
way rather than answering the question at hand. The best example of this was the everpopular
reference to the colour red (as worn by the lead character throughout). Rather than
relating this to how it aided the audience’s understanding of the compression of time, many
just linked it to representation through its connotations of passion and love. An interesting
observation but largely irrelevant in this case.
Question 2: Media InstitutionsThis question was also fairly well-answered by candidates with just under a third achieving
level three or above. The majority of responses were secure in their knowledge of what
brand image stood for (most commenting on family values) but many had difficulties with
commenting on how these values were communicated through the textual construction of the
advertisement (in order to achieve a level three). Less successful answers tended to focus
purely on the appearance of the products sold by John Lewis rather than the values
promoted.
Report on the Examination – General Certificate of Education (A-level) Media Studies – MEST1 –
June 2011
4
Question 3: Media RepresentationsAgain this was a fairly well-answered question with over a third of responses achieving a
level three or above. Successful responses were able to show how the representation of
femininity was constructed in the advertisement. Weaker responses though, tended to just
describe the life of the actual woman in the advertisement rather than showing a wider
understanding of how media texts construct gender representations.
There was less evidence of textual detail in many responses (as perhaps candidates who
had not made detailed notes during the viewings had by now forgotten key moments). Such
responses in turn tended to latch desperately onto the examination paper’s introduction
merely repeating ideas and sometimes actual quotations from BlogSpot and Mumsnet.
However, many level four responses used the information provided well. They were able to
successfully navigate between the conflicting interpretations of the advertisement and the
contradictory representations on offer. Stereotyping was in turn alluded to (particularly the
1950s housewife) and wider discussions of feminism developed. Analyses of how female
representation was strongly linked to age and class within the advertisement were also
effectively produced.
Question 4: Media AudiencesThis was unfortunately the least well-answered question with only just over a quarter of
candidates achieving a level three or above. The defining characteristic of successful
responses was their ability to consider the pleasures provided by the advertisement itself
rather than the brand. Many candidates developed ideas more in keeping with question two,
identifying John Lewis’ values (most often related to family) and linking this to audience
response. Another common approach was to merely focus on the loyalty that John Lewis
provided the consumer, apparently shown through the range of products (particularly
clothing) featured in the text.
More successful responses were able to isolate pleasures that the advertisement provided
such as nostalgia, aspiration, high emotion and narrative compression. Theories were also
applied well, most notably Uses and Gratifications, Altman’s Genre Pleasures and Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs. Less useful were the Hypodermic Needle Effect and JICNARS scale
which tended to take responses away from the focus of the actual question.

Hi all,

Hope you've had a good half term.  Interestingly I notice that not one of you has been on your blogs over half term.  This tells me that you are not taking it seriously enough!  You MUST update your blogs with interesting things you see, but especially things to do with your case study.

I had a quick think about a film that represented class; a film called The Angel's Share.  Below are my findings from 12 minutes of work.  Yes I may be a Media Studies and English teacher, but you don't need to do much to find info on films!  You must get this sorted ASAP as I am expecting to see all of your films posted online in the next week, with resources and information about them and some analysis of the resources that you have chosen.

 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NcQIvmR21VU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here is a review from The Observer website.  Because the observer has a higher class of readership, and is aimed at middle and upper class people, the review is very much targeted at them.  It contains a mixture of information about the director, which suggests that the audience might already know who he is, and it also contains information about the film itself.  It promotes the film in a favourable way with sentence such as 'warm hearted' and 'deft' suggesting that the Observer enjoyed the film.

The Angels' Share – review

Ken Loach expertly combines comedy with politics – and a drop of the hard stuff – in a warm, deftly-plotted heist movie

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• • Philip French
  • The Observer, Sunday 3 June 2012

'We fervently wish for their caper to succeed': the heist crew in Ken Loach's The Angels' Share.

Though not generally considered a comedy director, Ken Loach has made films that have contained some of the funniest moments and sequences of the past 50 years, and he has regularly employed club comedians in serious roles (Crissy Rock in Ladybird Ladybird, John Bishop in Route Irish) and developed the talents of people such as Ricky Tomlinson not previously considered comics. It's just that Loach is a master of sudden, disturbing shifts of mood, and the comedy is embedded in works that are often deeply sad or tragic. The football game, for instance, that Brian Glover referees in Kes is at once hilariously funny and a brilliant study of bullying, bad education and humiliation that illuminates the film's larger context.

The background of The Angels' Share, his latest collaboration with the leftwing Scottish lawyer turned screenwriter Paul Laverty, is the widespread, seemingly permanent youth unemployment and the despair and communal erosion it engenders. But the realistic and humanistic tone is bracingly optimistic, and it's one of the 75-year-old Loach's sprightliest films, made at an age when most directors have hung up their viewfinders, entered a period of terminal decline or settled for repeating themselves.

The movie begins with a group of criminals brought together by chance in the manner of The Usual Suspects and gradually modulates into a heist comedy that combines two classic Scottish films, both directorial debuts from different eras, Alexander Mackendrick's Whisky Galore!(1949) and Bill Forsyth's That Sinking Feeling (1980).

The young offenders, played by non-professional actors who perform brilliantly under Loach's sympathetic direction, are introduced at Glasgow's City Court when pleading guilty to a variety of crimes. Their demeanour is playfully contrasted with the solemnity of the bewigged judge, and most of the offences are quite minor – petty theft, defacing public statues, drunkenness in a public place. However, one of the defendants, Robbie (Paul Brannigan), is up for grievous bodily harm, and he's only saved from another custodial sentence because his girlfriend is eight months pregnant.

All of them are given community service and are fortunate to come under the supervision of Harry (John Henshaw, a familiar face from TV drama and the occasional movie), a middle-aged, working-class Mancunian who forges a bond with Robbie. He's as sympathetic a figure as Colin Welland's teacher in Kes and Peter Mullan's soccer coach in My Name is Joe and brings a wealth of unpatronising understanding to his charges' lives and problems. The unemployed Robbie, determined to go straight and be a good father, appears to have everything against him – a history of violence (there's a revealing razor scar on his left cheek) and his girlfriend's brutal father, who's determined to get him out of Glasgow and away on his own, whether by force or bribery. Harry could be his salvation.

At this point a major dramatic and thematic device appears to link the action, the humour and the ironic morality, and it's whisky. Harry is a connoisseur of fine single malt. He pours a dram to celebrate Robbie's fatherhood. He takes the group of offenders, who are doing public service, painting old community centres and cleaning cemeteries, on a tour of a distillery and then to a whisky tasting in Edinburgh. These occasions constitute a delightful documentary on scotch, its history, production and consumer appreciation. By revealing that Robbie has a natural nose for the hard stuff, it also leads to his discovery of a vocation, his return to crime and his ultimate redemption.

In Whisky Galore! some Scottish villagers help themselves when a whisky-laden merchant ship is wrecked on their shores. In That Sinking Feeling some unemployed teenagers in a desolate late 1970s Glasgow plan the robbery of a warehouse containing stainless steel sinks. Crime is not new in Loach's work, and characters in past films, though not explicitly here, clearly believe in the dictum of the French anarchist and social reformer Pierre-Joseph Proudhon that property is theft. They rustle sheep, rob a sporting goods van to equip their football team with strips, make away with the grass from the bowling green of (naturally) a Conservative club.

In The Angels' Share, Robbie and the companions hear of an extremely valuable old whisky being auctioned at a Highland distillery and plan an ultra lo-tech heist to give them the nest-egg they need. You might infer here that the thieves believe whisky is part of the Scottish legacy that the boys' ancestors were robbed of when the Highland clearances took place. The unwitting participants in their plot are Harry, who has encouraged Robbie's newfound passion, and a sophisticated broker who deals in rare whisky (the excellent Roger Allam who, coincidentally, has a strong resemblance to Alexander Mackendrick).

So there is politics underlying every aspect of this funny, warm-hearted, deftly plotted film, and we fervently wish for the caper planned by this endearing quartet to succeed. We care for them in a way we don't for the cool, cynical confidently smirking George Clooney in his slickOcean's Eleven heist movies. The film's title, The Angels' Share, is apparently the term used to refer to the 2% of whisky that evaporates in the cask each year. An interesting item of distilling lore, it's initially a joke about capitalist exploitation that turns at the end of the film into a metaphor for generosity and gratitude.

The stills from the film suggest a defiance against authority, and represent the characters as willing to stand up against the law, and as quite rebellious.  Additionally, the trailer represents Scottish people as fond of a drink, and as people who get into trouble with the law.  This could be seen to be a little stereotypical by some audiences (would link with reception theory here).

Audiences would feel an affinity to this film because it is, like the Observer reviewer noted, 'warm hearted' and the feeling within the trailer is similar to that of the trailer to the Full Monty.  The Full Monty ....(go on to detail some of the info about this).....similarly The Angel's Share (info about what it took at the box office)....

Because the institution that made this film made it with a fairly low budget (info about the budget), the film's setting is fairly local and obviously didn't cost a lot of money.  

Course work timetable for JHH and GLM

Date	Essay	Theories Research tools	Linked production
Wed 7th Nov	Analysis of Primary text Use these headings in your analysis and write in full sentences ·         Audience ·         Codes and conventions ·         Media language ·         Genre/narrative ·         Representation	Chapter 3 of text book ·         audience theory ·         Dyer’s theory p144 ·         semiotics ·         post structural analysis ·         Barthes ·         feminist theory	Research audience Codes and conventions of your chosen product
Wed 14th Nov	Analysis of Primary text Ideology/values Institution	·         Marxist theory ·         Gramsci ·         Liberal pluralism	Research branding and create your own
Wed 21st Nov	Start to really answer your question Analysis of secondary sources How do they contextually link to your issues/ wider media debates? Analyse for appropriate key concepts and theories	Use chapter 1 of text book	Photograph portfolio week Start to create product
Wed 28th Nov	Start to really answer your question Analysis of secondary sources Add in your linked production piece – how does it add to your investigation?		Formal presentation of your research Include key concepts, theories, media language and your clear intentions for your product linking it to your critical investigation
Wed 5th Dec	Now look for expert opinion Research recent studies	Use web links that I will give you	Create your products
Wed 12th Dec	Start to put together as rough draft. Pull out 6 key points that you		Completed one draft of your product

Year 12 Homework

Research and prepare for a presentation on your case study.  Should include minimum of 2 films, and should detail, amongst other things:

• information about the release
• detailed info about the martketing of the film.
• Information about the audience.
• Details of youtube hits for the trailer, and of any other content on youtube about the film.
• Images and still from the films.
• Information about the online presence of the film, specifically on digital media and it's presence on social networks.

Enjoy your half term and keep your eye out for any articles in papers that are Media related!

Year 13 Homework

Is pretty much the same as year 12!  However, please can you add an additional strand to your homework which is
'How has new and digital media impacted on the film industry?'

I will want to see presentations of ideas from all of you, but more importantly I want you to be able to be quizzed on your films and your representations and be
able to tell me EVERYTHING.  It's a small ask I know....

You will be doing a practice question first lesson back with me, so make sure you have fully prepared your case study over half term.  I am expecting to see evidence of at least 6 hours of work from all of you.

Year 12 coursework overview

Dates	Course work portfolio	Breakdown
Starting Date 15th Oct	Label a folder in your documents Research ·         Audience ·         Genre ·         Form ·         insitution	·         Read brief and choose carefully – do look at tasks as well and have broad idea which you will do ·         Underline the key pieces of information supplied in the brief
29th Oct	Research ·         Use your research to design your own brand of TV/Music artist ·         Decide on the codes and conventions of the publications you are replicating/creating	·         Research audience , genre, codes and conventions of existing products – minimum 3 ·         E.g. look at One Direction website and analyse for audience, genre, form, institution ·         Existing TV programmes for the same audience e.g. Skins trailer ·         Every decision you make on your final product has to be linked to your research so at the end of each of your piece of research – add a box called ‘ideas for my products’
Research completed by 12th Nov	Pre- production Power point presentation	Produce a PowerPoint presentation that shows all your research and how you came to the decisions that you did for Branding/ codes and conventions/ genre/ media language
13th Nov	Pre -production	Produce a clear plan of action week by week – include time to produce photo portfolio
First task completed by Monday 14th January	Production	Use Serif to produce print/e media or broadcast
Second task completed by Monday 11th Feb	Production	Use Serif to produce print/e media or broadcast
Evaluation complete by 11th March	Evaluation	1000 word evaluation of strengths and weakness of your product using media theory and language and considering what you would have included in your 3rd platform
All complete by week before Easter.

We are now up and running with Mediaedu.  Don't forget your usernames and the password is jmmediastudies.

You should use this site as there are tons of useful things for you guys to look at for both revision and for case studies and coursework.

Homework October 10th

Year 12

1. Comment on someone else's blog and what they have written.
2. Find and post information about the film industry and how it is run.
3. Go on UKtribes.com   - password 'iblametheparents' and post images and comments about what tribe you are.

Year 13

1. Comment on someone else's blog.
2. Prepare presentations for next week!
3. Go on UKtribes.com   - password 'iblametheparents' and post images and comments about what tribe you are.

Sample case study response from media edu

Gavin and Stacey Case Study

Rob Miller | Monday September 17, 2012

Categories: Courses, GCSE, OCR GCSE, Key Concepts, Audience, Media Language, Narrative, Representation & Stereotyping, Television, Situation Comedy, Television Comedy, Television Situation Comedy, Hot Entries

Gavin and Stacey is a British Situation Comedy made by Independent Production Company, Baby Cow Productions for BBC Wales between 2007 and 2010. Only 20 episodes were written and as such, and similar to Fawlty Towers in the 1970s (12 episodes) the Sitcom is already developing iconic status and is subject to many repeats and re-runs on channels including BBC3 (the original broadcast channel) and Gold. Calls for its return to the screen are apparent from a host of loyal fans via internet campaigns.

Filmed primarily in Cardiff and Barry it traces the long distance relationship between Gavin (who lives in Billericay, Essex) and his girlfriend Stacey who lives in the Vale of Glamorgan. Although Gavin and Stacey is set in, and frequently intercuts between Billericay and the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff acts as the on location and studio base (BBC Wales) for the programme. Some scenes are filmed on location in Barry while even the Billericay scenes are entirely filmed in Cardiff. As such it is exclusively a BBC Wales production. Common to all Situation Comedies Gavin and Stacey themselves are the main characters while supporting characters are friends and family to both protagonists who often meet on specific occasions e.g. the Christmas Special and at Gavin and Stacey’s wedding. The two central supporting characters are Nessa (Ruth Jones) who is Stacey’s best friend and Smithy (James Corden) who is the best pal and confidant to Gavin. Jones and Corden created and wrote Gavin and Stacey and while it was reported in 2012 that a 4th series was going to be written, time conflicts between Jones and Corden currently has prevented this from taking place.

Typical narratives represent difficult interpersonal relationships and embarrassing situations – in the first episode Stacey travels up from the Vale of Glamorgan with her best friend Nessa to meet Gavin for the first time in London’s west end (they have been communicating online and by telephone for some time). Gavin has Smithy with him and they arrange a double date. Gavin and Stacey are pleased with each other’s physical representation on first meeting while Smithy awkwardly baulks when he sees the overweight, underdressed, aggressive, smoking, swearing Nessa (Smithy is himself larger than life) and makes no secret of this. The evening progresses as they get drunk in a bar with both couples booking into one hotel room where they have sex. The representations are deliberately grotesque (but not sexually graphic) which is one of the key appeals of the programme. Throughout the series Gavin and Stacey’s relationship develops and while they become a stable couple everyone around them seems to have problems and issues e.g. Nessa becomes pregnant with Smithy’s baby but they are not together and she starts seeing another man – a coach driver. Audiences are introduced to a range of characters, many of whom are played by well known television actors and comedians.

This star marketing includes critically acclaimed comedian Rob Brydon who play Stacey’s morally upstanding protective Uncle Bryn West whose homosexual past experiences are occasionally referenced as a point of humour in binary opposition to his straight laced image. Larry Lamb (Eastenders plus a raft of successful villainous roles in crime drama) plays Mick Shipman; Gavin’s chirpy, happy go lucky father while the iconic Alison Steadman (glittering stage, screen and film career including the cult production Abigail’s Party) plays his fussy, blustering, over protective mother. The show resisted the American tradition of cameo guest appearances of transitory characters (see Bruce Will in Friends) but allowed for a brief appearance of ex deputy Labour Party leader John Prescott in the final programme. Other well known names have bought controversy to the show and potentially added to the initial decision to broadcast in the first instance on BBC3 – three characters deliberately have the surnames of well known British serial killers Fred and Rosemary West (Stacey West), Harold Shipman (Gavin Shipman) and the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ Peter Sutcliffe (Dawn Sutcliffe is a close friend of Mick and Pam, Gavin’s parents whose role in the series seems to be to constantly row openly with her husband in front of them). Many of these characters are seen as dysfunctional and the role of Gavin and Stacey as a couple is often to bring a sense of normality to situations that have the potential to erupt – Gavin is level headed and sensible but they are not in the series without their own problems including splitting up and getting back together again and experiencing problems conceiving which is eventually resolved.

Gavin and Stacey achieved significant critical success including winning the Best British Comedy Award in 2008 which saw the programme moved from digital only niche channel BBC3 to BBC2 – the BBC saw Gavin and Stacey initially as experimental and were unsure of its success which is common for programmes that challenge mainstream conventions and explore risqué subject matter. Themes of infidelity are common and swearing and graphic sexual references are regular features in each episode making the Sitcom more ‘adult’ entertainment. It did, however develop a loyal target audience turning Gavin and Stacey from a programme with a cult following to a programme with a regular target audience of between 2 and 4.6 million (Source: BARB). As such it was moved to BBC2 and repeated which gave it a secure footing on a channel that has a reputation for broadcasting unusual but quality comedy and then ultimately it was moved to BBC1.

BBC1 broadcasts more mainstream comedy and as such, being moved to this channel was a signifier of its critical and commercial success for the broadcaster. BBC3 broadcast Series 1 and 2 at 9.30pm and 10pm while the Christmas Special and Series 3 was scheduled at 9pm on BBC1. Although moved to a more family orientated, mainstream channel, post watershed 9pm scheduling suggested the BBC were still cautious in terms of the narrative content and played safe in this regard. Outnumbered (MediaEdu case study)  took the same approach with the Sitcom broadcast as 10pm and even 11pm as a result of the ‘alternative’ family structure presented in the programme. Both Gavin and Stacey and Outnumbered however represent secure family units but perhaps not as secure and as mainstream as long running BBC1 Sitcom successes such as My Family. Ex American President George Bush (1989 – 1993) once stated that he would like all Americans to be more like the clean cut representations in the family drama The Waltons (1972- 1981) rather than in The Simpsons – the fact of the matter was however that like Gavin and Stacey, although dysfunctional families are represented The Simpsons are still a loving family unit that importantly are still together.

Gavin and Stacey retains an independent feel – although following standard Sitcom genre conventions and in familiar 30 minute standard, scheduled format it explores taboo subjects through hyper real character representation. The role of Baby Cow Productions anchors the more niche independent status of the programme; formed in 1999 by ‘off the wall’ comedian Steve Coogan, Baby Cow’s portfolio of programmes challenge mainstream conventions including Noel Fielding’s The Mighty Boosh and Saxondale. Unusually however and subject to scrutiny at the time BBC Worldwide bought a 25% stake in Baby Cow Productions in 2008 while Gavin and Stacey was also commissioned by the giant American broadcaster NBC (part of the conglomerate NBC Universal) for an American version to be made – a script was optioned by withdrawn but now ABC, another American broadcasting network have suggested an interest in developing a pilot episode for a new American version. This conflict of independent and mainstream, critically and commercial success is not unusual however for cutting edge, challenging comedy – an American version of The Office was made and Trollied (MediaEdu case study) is unusual in that it is a Sitcom that is avant garde in format but scheduled on Sky One, a mainstream channel that is not known for its scheduling of this type of genre programming.

Other identifiable genre conventions employed by Gavin and Stacey include familiar locations, regular characters (main, supporting) each with their own storyline. To ensure audience identification and retain entertainment values each character is a cultural stereotype, often hyper real like the fussy Pam Shipman, the bossy and vulgar Nessa and the odd, unusual and morally correct Bryn.

Audiences need these stereotypes to maintain interest and appeal to their expectations of situation comedy. Sitcoms tend to have lower production values which is only the case with Gavin and Stacey in reference to the visual representations and mise-en-scene – significant cost implications would be apparent in the programme as a result of star marketing. Filmed in Wales some audience cultural capital would be required to understand some local references (perhaps yet another reason why it was initially scheduled on BBC3) but effectively, and like every Sitcom both UK and US the humour is generic and often found in familiar domestic situations. A non fan and non Welsh person would very quickly pick up on the narrative as links are clear and apparent and although multi stranded are easy to follow.

The ‘look’ of Gavin and Stacey resists use of hand held camera and surprisingly suggests medium production values with evening interior shots carefully lit to replicate the environment of a domestic lounge while many exterior shots use high key lighting to focus on character. Characters are often framed centrally in long shot and medium shot with additional use of close up to identify emotion but this is not as excessive as in some situation comedies. Frequent use of the two shot and shot reverse shot allow audiences to understand relationships with character while static cameras film characters in interior locations and tracking shots are used in many exterior, on location shoots. Although the mise-en-scene is carefully arranged to replicate urban and domestic environments there is no verite camera work as identified earlier via hand held with more traditional methods of filming employed. Sound however is mainly diegetic and Gavin and Stacey does not use ‘canned laughter’ to punctuate the comedy which is common with many mainstream British and American situation comedies.

In a domestic comedy audiences can escape, relate or identify with the representations – there is an emphasis in Gavin and Stacey on character relationships (Mick and Pam’s marriage is often explored through key scenes) and also emphasis on moral dilemmas. Audience appeals also include star marketing but also the unusual, difficult nature of the black comedy. Awkward situations are commonplace as in The Office and the role of the audience, like a car crash is to watch and not watch; voyeurism plays a key role as we see situations we are familiar with, or know people who have been experiencing similar predicaments. On this level it could be argued that catharsis could be an additional appeal of Gavin and Stacey with audiences able to work through their own problems by watching characters in similar situations. Multiple characters allows for personal identity to develop (female audiences may relate to Stacey while male audiences may relate to Gavin) while older viewers also have the opportunity of relating to older characters like Mick and Pam. Unusual characters like Bryn and Smithy’s mother (played by Pam Ferris) arouse audience interest as she has narcolepsy.

The audience itself of Gavin and Stacey is not the stereotypical Sitcom audience – while there is an element of ‘middle class, middle England’ the programme suggests an educated audience of 25-45 (there are many subtle references), male skew living in urban areas. In terms of socio economic and psycho graphic categorization Gavin and Stacey appeal to a B, C1, aspirer and individualist demographic who are not necessarily pre existing fans of the Sitcom format; they may have heard about the programme (like Trollied) as interesting and unusual and as a result may respond with viewing figures. Undoubtedly Gavin and Stacey does attract a mainstream audience that are familiar with the domestic Sitcom format but arguably the primary target audience tire of this conveyer belt approach to this genre that has brought to the screens mainstream texts such as Keeping Up Appearances and more recently Roger and Val. Gavin and Stacey, in terms of genre marketing works on the concept of similarity and difference with familiar narratives containing narrative arcs that can be picked up on and identified by the audience but with unusual narrative content and challenging characters.

Gavin and Stacey does have a linear narrative and follows a traditional 3 act structure – although sometimes there may not appear to have obvious resolution the Sitcom follows a classic 3 act structure with ‘the problem’ explored at the beginning of the programme and then followed throughout the 30 minute format.

Narrative themes common to Sitcom as identified before include interpersonal relationships, infidelity, sexuality, loyalty, friendship and social class (the Shipmans are aspirational working class with middle class pretentions) but themes are only explored for the purposes of entertainment values.

Gavin and Stacey departs to a lesser extent from the tradition of British Sitcom of focusing on social class (see Keeping Up Appearances) by frequently referencing the background of the protagonists but not making this the focus of the narrative. The representation of characters in Gavin and Stacey is exaggerated but it is not their social class that is foregrounded – instead it represents both functional and dysfunctional hyper real characters in familiar environments.

Mini Glossary of Terms

·         Genre Conventions: Typical features that allow audiences to identify genre.

·         Mainstream Conventions: Traditional and popular, normally consumed by mass audiences.

·         Star Marketing: The use of stars to promote a programme.

·         Production Values: How much money is spent on a television programme for example and how this can be identified.

·         Demographic: A detailed breakdown of the target audience.

·         Three Act Structure: Most Sitcoms are commonly broken into three parts – at the beginning the characters, setting and problem are introduced, the second part (and longest part of the programme) involves the narrative chain of cause and effect while the final part (Act 3) involves some sort of resolution or ‘end’.

·         Protagonists: Central characters.

·         Binary Opposition: Where two very different things/characters are deliberately placed against each other so audiences construct meaning.

·         Linear: This is where a storyline is in chronological sequence.

·         Diegetic: Sound that is coming from the scene.

·         Mise-En-Scene: Everything in the shot – lighting, colour, setting / location, costume, body language, movement, eye contact, object and props.

·         Anchors: Confirms meaning.

·         Hyper Real: Exaggerated representations.

·         Cultural Stereotype: Commonly found representations that are deliberately encoded for entertainment values.

·         Sitcom: Situation Comedy

·         Independent Production Company: An organisation that makes programmes that are commissioned (bought) by broadcasters.

·         Iconic: Something, or somebody that has elevated status.

·         Intercuts: Where the camera switches between two scenes.

·         Critically Acclaimed: Has received awards and nominations and is well received by audiences.

·         Transitory Characters: Characters that make a one off appearance in the show.

·         Dysfunctional: An environment where things just don’t work properly or how they should.

·         Critical Success:  See critically acclaimed.

·         Niche Channel: A channel with a small audience share.

·         Risque:  Something that may cause controversy.

·         Cult Following: Where a programme has small but loyal audience deeply committed to the programme.

·         Post Watershed: Broadcast after 9pm.

·         Scheduling: Techniques used to decide the time to broadcast a programme inlcuding what it comes before and after.

·         Independent: Free from the control of large corporations or organisations.

·         Pilot Episode: A trial, one off episode to test audience reaction.

·         Avant Garde: Something that is experimental and innovative.

·         Cultural Capital: The knowledge, skills and experience that effect an audiences’ consumption of a text.

·         Multi Stranded: Where the narrative is based around a number of characters each with their own storyline.

·         Hand Held Camera: Portable cameras that provide a more ‘jerky’, realistic representation

·         High Key Lighting: Lighting that completely illuminates a scene.

·         Two Shot: Two characters either side of the frame – helps audiences understand character relationships.

·         Shot Reverse Shot: One character (character a) is in the frame and the camera is placed behind the shoulder of another character he/she is communicating with. When conversation is exchanged the camera is placed behind character a. and the camera cuts between them – another way of establishing character relationships and also conflict.

·         Tracking Shot: A smooth take of objects or characters moving through space (has the reverse effect of hand held) helping with narrative continuity.

·         Verite Camera Work: Realistic camera work (normally hand held) seeking to make the scene/shot as authentic as possible to help with audience identification.

·         Black Comedy: Difficult comedy that audiences find it awkward to laugh about because it borders being offensive and can contain morally abhorrent representations.

·         Voyeurism: The pleasure of looking at other people.

·         Catharsis: Where audiences can use the drama they see unfolding on the screen as a way of working through their own problems.

·         Narcolepsy: A disorder that commonly involves the sufferer suddenly falling asleep in any given situation/environment without warning.

·         Genre Marketing: Where audiences are marketed to via their enjoyment of a specific genre.

·         Socio Economic Categorisation:  A way of categorising audiences based on their occupation and class e.g. A (landed gentry), B (doctors/lawyers), C1 (teachers, middle managers), C2 I(skilled manual workers), D (unskilled manual; workers), E (students/pensioners/prisoners/unemployed).

·         Psycho Graphic Categorisation: A way of segmenting audiences via their personality type (Aspirers, Mainstreamers, Individualists, Carers, Succeeders).

·         Narrative Arcs: Storylines or themes that repeat through a series.

·         Narrative Themes: Social issues that are explored in a text.