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Assignment brief

Qualification BTEC First Level 2 in Creative Media Production

Unit number and title Unit 4: Media Audiences and Products

Start date

Deadline

Assessor name

Assignment title CM2012 Assignment Unit 4

The purpose of this assignment is to: This unit focuses on the ways in which media industries gather information about their audiences and categorise them, how the texts that industries produce are constructed and addressed to particular audiences, and how those audiences make sense of the products offered to them. On completion of this unit a learner should:

1. Know how a media industry identifies audiences for its products 2. Understand how media products are constructed for specific audiences 3. Understand how audiences can respond to media products.

Tasks Grading Criteria Mapping

Task 1 - Know how a media industry identifies audiences for its products Choose one medium: Magazines or TV and produce a report explaining how advertisers in that medium do the following:

Classify audiences (Standard Occupational Classification (ABC1 etc), lifestyle or psychographics; postcode or geo-demographics; age; gender; sexual orientation)

Audience Measurement (focus groups, questionnaires, ratings (BARB), audience measurement panels, face to face interviews)

P1, M1, D1

Task 2 - Understand how media products are constructed for specific audience Looking at “reality TV” specifically, write a report to analyse:

a) The genre b) Methods of construction - selection; composition; combination c) Style or mode of address – e.g. through content, through language, through genre,

through narrative, through visual imagery, through graphic style d) Constraints on the product - Describe the difference between a code of practice, eg

BBC guidelines and legal restrictions placed on creators of TV programmes. Use OFCOM as an example of a regulatory body for TV and explain the legislative background surrounding OFCOM. Include detailed illustrated examples of how OFCOM affects the content of TV programmes being produced, specifically referencing reality TV.

P2, M2, D2

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Task 3 - Understand how audiences can respond to media products Range to cover Reasons for preference: e.g. age, gender, ethnic background, sexual orientation Language codes: e.g. verbal, visual, aural Generic codes: e.g. language, content, narrative, characters, style, camera work, soundtrack, music, mise-en-scène, iconography, graphics There are many ways in which a media product can be understood or decoded by an audience. Select a news broadcast from the TV and write a report which describes and illustrates with examples, ways in which the relevant codes from the range to cover above are used to help their audiences understand the product. Add screenshots of programmes to illustrate (YouTube, BBC news online) to illustrate the codes and conventions you are discussing

P3, M3, D3

Sources of information: Briefings by tutors, research using the internet, intranet and library, BBC, OFCOM.

Grading Criteria This unit is internally assessed Unit 4

P1 outline ways in which a media industry identifies audiences for its products

M1 describe ways in which a media industry identifies audiences for its products with some detail and with reference to appropriate illustrative examples

D1 explain ways in which a media industry identifies audiences for its products with reference to precise and detailed illustrative examples

P2 outline ways in which a media product is constructed for a specific audience

M2 describe ways in which a media product is constructed for a specific audience with some detail and with reference to appropriate illustrative examples

D2 explain ways in which a media product is constructed for a specific audience with reference to precise and detailed illustrative examples

P3 outline ways in which a media product might be understood by an audience.

M3 describe ways in which a media product might be understood by an audience with some detail and with reference to appropriate illustrative examples.

D3 explain ways in which a media product might be understood by audiences with reference to precise and detailed illustrative examples.