What Are Media Institutions?

We discussed media institutions in class.

Key Learning Points

You need to understand the meaning of the following key vocabulary. It is likely that you will have to use this in the exam:

• production
• distribution
• major film production company
• independent film production company
• media conglomorate
• horizontal integration
• vertical integration
• synergy

Here are the slides that I used.

Key Words : The Basics

We discussed the following key terms from the syllabus in class.

You need to understand what each of these means.

Introduction To Section B

The slides below were used to introduce Section B to you:

Additional Points Not Covered In Class

The following bullet points reflect how your understanding of the film industry needs to develop in preparation for the exam.

Through work undertaken in class and your own independent study you need to understand:

• the issues raised by media ownership in the film industry

• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing in the film industry

• the technologies that have been introduced in the film industry in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange

• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences relating to the film industry

• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences relating to the film industry

• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions relating to the film industry

• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of consuming films illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

SECTION B Starts Here

Representation Of Class and Status : Downton Abbey

Class and Status

Social Class

A status hierarchy in which individuals and groups are classified on the basis of esteem and prestige acquired mainly through economic success and accumulation of wealth. Social class may also refer to any particular level in such a hierarchy.

Four common social classes informally recognized in many societies are: 

(1) Upper class, 
(2) Middle class, 
(3) Working class, and 
(4) Lower class.

Social Status

Status is different to class. Social Status is a person's standing or importance in relation to other people within a society.

If you get “class and status” as an issue in the exam, you should be thinking about the following things when watching the clip:

• Can I identify what class/status characters are?
• Are people from different classes or of different statuses shown as having different interests, personalities, attitudes, behaviours?  If so, how?
• Is their class/status represented as being important in their life?
• Are people from particular classes/statuses represented as being better, more powerful, than others?
• Are people from particular classes/ statuses represented as being abnormal /weaker/ more pathetic than others?  
• How do other characters in the clip treat the characters from different classes or of different statuses?
• What is the message the clip is trying to portray about class/status?

Representation Toolkit

You can access a useful document relating to stereotypes and countertypes by CLICKING HERE

Exam Responses A and B : Examiner's Marks and Comments

Candidate A : 35/50

Explanation, Analysis and Argument  = 14

Use of Examples = 14

Use of terminology = 7

Candidate B : 31/50

Explanation, Analysis and Argument  = 12

Use of Examples = 12

Use of terminology = 7