Need Some Material for A2 Coursework Theoretical Research?

University of Aberystwyth site which contains links to some fantastic articles you could use as material for your Critical  Investigation research.


Theoretical Articles for A2

KEY TERMS

Amazing web based glossary of key terms from the University of  Chicago's Media programme. A fantastic resource for AS and A2 Theory.


University of Chicago Key Terms

Why do television producers have responsibility to public participants?

              

Illustration Courtesy of Cambridge Tab

Susan Boyle, Gamu Nhengu, Ceri Rees and endless children on Britain's Got Talent - humiliated, rejected, laughed at and jeered. Who says that television producers should protect those public participants? They willingly sign up for it right? In any other genre of television, we would see the disclaimer that 'no animals were harmed in the making of this programme'. For X Factor and the like, that should read 'No man, woman or child has been harmed...' There has been fresh public outcry over the treatment of Ceri Rees in this year's X Factor. Ms Rees is a lady with reported mental health issues and has been shown in the televised auditions stage for 4 years running. It is a public contest, Ms Rees has a right to audition and the judges have always said 'No'. However, to be shown on television each year, when you take into consideration the very high volume of auditionees, shows a high degree of deliberate manipulation. And it is this 'mediation' that raises a number of important questions. 

Curiouser and Curiouser?

Media Guardian: Has Dr Who got too complicated?


In the panic of dumbed down, low-brow, mass-culture media,  an interesting phenomenon in recent times is that of dense, convoluted plotlines. Think Torchwood. Think Heroes, 24, Flash Forward and Lost. Why?
A simple answer could be that these kind of shows reward loyal audiences. The prize you get for turning up every week is a sense of self-satisfaction, that you are 'in' on the story and that you 'get it'. Loyal fans are good business for advertisers too - although this isn't the case for BBC broadcasts. Or is this part of a bigger cultural shift? That we have become adept at processing bite-sized chunks of multiple narratives, that we no longer want the over-arching 'grand narrative' as Lyotard states -  the simple love story, the simple 'hero saves the day.'
Either way, complex stories seem to do the programme producers no harm. Doctor Who is currently the 6th most watched programme on BBC, beaten only by Eastenders and Strictly, and Torchwood claimed nearly 20% of the 9pm viewers. (Metro article) 

TYPOGRAPHY: New Media Art and Online Tools

Tagxedo and Wordle are both examples of online Word Cloud generators. Tagxedo allows you to upload a picture from the web and input words which will be arranged in the image. Or use a pre-existing shape, like the heart above and enter a web address. The software takes words from that site and arranges them, like above taken from media-radar.
There is also a link to the best online tools for Fonts and Typography including a Font matcher, which allows you to upload a picture with a font on it and it will be matched to an exact or very close font type!