CONTENT AND TIMETABLE

CONTENT AND TIMETABLE

Weeks 1 - 3 introduce students to key concepts and approaches (Representation, Realism, Narrative, Semiological Analysis and Genre): they provide us with the foundation for the module as a whole. Weeks 4 - 7 are concerned with the application of these concepts, particularly the concept of Genre, where we will consider a number of types of film and programme. Weeks 8 - 11 are concerned with general issues of Media Representation, using the examples of Gender, News, and Images of the Police. The final three weeks of the course consider the example of film and television in the 1950s, as a means of exploring the relationship between the media, society and history. Issues connected with the production, distribution and viewing of media forms will be addressed throughout the course. This Helpfile has some general material on approaches to The Media in Culture and Society and on the 1950s which is relevant to these final weeks.

Week Session

1.	Realism and Representation: through discussion and analysis of examples you wille be encouraged to explore the ways in which media texts present/construct 'reality' on their own terms, and to consider the determining factors which mediate this process: production factors, marketing, institutional control, and the nature of the respective media forms themselves.
2.	Narrative and Media Semiology: an exploration of the ways in which media texts present 'reality' through the codes and conventions of narrative (Narrative structures of order/disorder; point of view; narratee; etc.). Issues of Connotation/ Denotation will be addressed, and you ill also be introduced to general examples of semiological analysis.
3	Genre: you will be introduced to the concept of genre, defined as 'a set of patterns/styles/structures which supervise the production and recognition of individual texts.' In particular you will consider questions of setting, characterisation, form, themes, and pleasures and expectations. These ideas are developed in Weeks 4 - 7.
4.	Soap Opera: discussion and analysis of examples such as Coronation Street and EastEnders. Particular emphasis will be placed on the treatment of practical morality, gender representation, and themes such as the relationship between the individual and the community.
5.	Situation Comedy: discussion and analysis of examples such as Dad's Army and Steptoe, including comparison with 'Soap Opera' and 'Melodrama'.
6.	The Thriller: discussion of The Day of the Jackal and Patriot Games with emphasis on issues of social order, morality and viewing pleasures.
7.	The Romance: discussion of Pretty Woman, with emphasis on issues of sexuality, desire, class and viewing pleasures.
8.	The News: discussion and analysis of 'News' programmes, including questions of bias and selectivity, priority, narrative structure and characterisation.
9	Representing Gender: discussions of representation of 'masculinity' and 'femininity', work, home, sexuality and desire. Some work on 'decoding advertisements' will also be dealt with here.
10.	Representing the Police: discussion and analysis of examples such as The Bill, Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars and Morse, and documentary presentations, with particular emphasis on issues of Law, Social Order, crime and transgression
11.	Children and the Media: Consideration of film and television for children, including discussion of examples such as Home Alone, Big, Sleeping Beauty and The Snowman
12-14.	Film and Television in Society and History. In these three weeks we will consider the case study of film and television in the 1950s, exploring, for example, the presentation of 'Englishness' in the Ealing Comedies of the early 1950s, (in films such as The Titfield Thunderbolt), the emergence of new forms of documentary 'realism' (the 'northern 'realism' of films such as Room at the Top and Saturday Nnight, Sunday Morning), the development of mass television, and the impact of Hollywood film on British society in the 1950s.

Return to Course Outline and Schedule

Further Information

REALISM AND THE CONTEXTS OF THE MEDIA	NARRATIVE IN THE MEDIA	GENRE
SITUATION COMEDY	THE SOAP OPERA	THE THRILLER: 'THE DAY OF THE JACKAL'
THE FEMININE ROMANCE	THE NEWS	Representing Gender
REPRESENTING THE POLICE	CHILDREN AND THE MEDIA	THE 1950's