"About A Boy" is about a man - a handsome, rich, shallow, self absorbed, irresistible man - and the unexpected relationship he develops with a boy.

"About A Boy" is about a man - a handsome, rich, shallow, self absorbed, irresistible man - and the unexpected relationship he develops with a boy he meets while trying to pick up another boys mother. Terminally single and ecstatically childless - "With fingers crossed I would end up single and alone". Will (Hugh Grant) a trendy 38 year old Londoner, spends his days buying new CDs, shopping for designer clothes and worrying about his Audi Coupe and his up-to-the-second hairstyle. The film is so predictable; it's very American-like. It is distributed by Universal Pictures along side Notting Hill, but this does not make it anymore of an American film. It's full of appealing distinguishing features that make it ever so British, ranging from the characters to the storyline itself. This film features a selection of individual British characters. Hugh Grant repeats his loveable, stereotypically "nice" Englishman that he introduced in "Four Weddings and a Funeral". Most recently he appeared along side Renee Zellweger in "Bridget Jones' Diary", a massive hit in the UK - where the film had the most successful opening ever of a British film at the box office. In 1999 he starred opposite Julia Roberts in the highly acclaimed Notting Hill written by the creators of "Four Weddings and a Funeral". Rachel Weisz has starred in many a Hollywood blockbusters including that of "The Mummy

  • Word count: 1032
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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"Analyse the techniques used to create tension and viewerenjoyment in 'who wants to be a millionaire?'".

Chanelle Gray Media Timed Piece "Analyse the techniques used to create tension and viewer enjoyment in 'who wants to be a millionaire?'" One day, back in 1934, listeners to the wireless heard a strange new programme. It consisted simply of a man putting questions to the listeners - and encouraging them to write down the answers. This started off the history of the quizzes. The word quiz is Latin, which simply means, "who are you?" in Latin that is "Qui es?" After radio quizzes the BBC and ITV was formed. A large amount of quiz shows became popular to make, as they were cheap to run. From the 1970s/1980s, there were limits on prize money and it was economical for TV companies as greed wasn't popular and was seen as socially undesirable. The first quiz show was on a pirate radio station called Radio Luxemburg and it was called the Symingtons soup programme because strangely enough, the winner won a voucher for powdered soup! It wasn't the prize that made the quiz show popular; it was the fact that people could win something by answering questions. As the years went on the quiz show evolved. In the 1990s, the birth of the quiz shows with large prizes appeared eg "The weakest Link" and "Who wants to be a millionaire?" But why do a lot of people criticise these shows? Because they encourage naked greed. For example, in the early part of 2003 a couple got prosecuted for

  • Word count: 2757
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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"Dragnet 1967" Starsky and hutch Dixon of Dock Green

"Dragnet 1967" The late 60s Dragnet, where the year was part of the tile (Dragnet '68, Dragnet '69) The episode where some crazy kid, doped up like a race horse, gets a lecture from Jack Webb on the evils of pot/acid/whatever. Dragnet just sorta got left behind. It didn't really jump. It never really changed but the world gradually changed around it. By the late 60s, it just wasn't the same anymore. Some of the color episodes are okay so it wasn't that. Perhaps it was when they tried to approach provocative issues that the characters reacted unrealistically to. Maybe. I think by then it was too late. Dragnet was a mainstay for almost two decades. That's pretty good. I would almost say it never jumped, but in this context "never jumped" indicates the show was always great even towards the end. Dragnet was dependable entertainment. American culture just sorta grew out of Dragnet. Those who say this show jumped in the late 60s are missing the point -- those episodes are a scream! Jack Webb's stiff-as-a-board Joe Friday made every show an edge-of-your-seat experience, waiting to see him give The Lecture to some a) wreckless teenager, b) callous businessman, or c) spaced-out hippie. Another point of suspense: just which role would Virginia Gregg play in this week's episode? I would give my eyeteeth to get a QuickTime clip of Joe Friday saying "You're pretty wild and far-out,

  • Word count: 1390
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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I will be looking at Globalization, politics and cultural theory, using these various theories it will hopefully lead me to discover how American shows are successful in the United Kingdom.

Chapter One In this chapter I will be looking at Globalization, politics and cultural theory, using these various theories it will hopefully lead me to discover how American shows are successful in the United Kingdom. American sitcoms have been a constant success in this country with such successful imports such as Friends, Seinfeld and Frasier, but what is the reason for there success in this country, looking at globalization, culture and politics I hope to discover why this is. First I will be looking at what globalization is and how this affects the way different programs from around the world are received, I will look at the differences in culture between not just the UK and America but various other countries that there shows are exported to. What is globalization in television? Since the 1980s there has been a steady rise in the transnational television in terms of that more than ever people own television sets and the fact that new technology has such as satellite and cable has allowed access to a completely new market. This has then lead to questions being raised about culture and cultural identities due to the fact that programs are now being beamed from all around the world. To understand how global television works you must first understand 'society' since global television has an impact on society because when shows are being shown to different societies that

  • Word count: 742
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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My objective in this media assignment is to compare/contrast a British and Australian soap episode. The British soap episode that was chosen is Brookside and the Australian soap episode is Home and Away.

Media Assignment Objective: My objective in this media assignment is to compare/contrast a British and Australian soap episode. The British soap episode that was chosen is Brookside and the Australian soap episode is Home and Away. Brookside: Brookside is a British soap that is set around a housing estate in Liverpool. In this episode of 'Brookside' they focus only three houses and in each house there is tension and drama. The first house is based on two girls (and one of the girls brother) who are having a small party. The second house shows Tim, Emmily, Jimmy, Nikki and Jahrome who are all have a Halloween party and the last house shows a family who's children real mother has come back. The episode end with police chasing thugs in a car chase which ends up with the thugs breaking into all three houses and the take them as hostages. Home and Away: The fictional town of Summer Bay on Australia's eastern coast is the setting for much loved soap opera Home and Away. Like Brookside this episode of Home and Away also has a lot of drama going on for example Gypse and Leah are both pregnant but Leah goes into labour towards the end of the episode. When Leah goes into labour Vinnie feel that Leah's mum shouldn't be there because he feel that he is capable looking after Leah him self. Also in this episode Brodye is blaming her ex-boyfriend for her present boyfriends

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Analysis of the Army's Media Campaign

Media Assignment In Today's society many different mediums exist; television, radio, internet and newspapers. To stand out in such a competitive and difficult environment an advert must be eye-cathing, engaging and memorable. It must reach the people you want it to and inform them (often in a biased way leaning their opinions towards yours.) By doing so companies and organisations hope to increase sales of a product or use of a service, or in the case that we are examining, encouraging people to join The Army. In the television advertisement the promotion is presented in a formal news programme by Lisa Aziz, a recognisable news presenter. Also "on location" in Bosnia and at an Army Barracks are Kate Adie and Chris Seurle, Kate Adie is a very well known BBC news reporter adding to the feeling of the promotional video being reputable. At the very beginning of the video the director has used a sequence of very interesting action shots showing what you could be doing if you joined The Army and keeps a theme that The Army is different now but will be keep changing. The Video then goes on to display the good deeds that The Army does and also interviews some recruits who have experienced The Army and say only good things about it The Promotional Video is aimed at parents of recruits who might be worried about their son or daughter joining The Army. In

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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The Truman Show Beth Parry

English Coursework- The Truman Show Beth Parry 'The Truman Show' is the story of a baby who is bought by a television company at birth. He becomes the star of the television programme, but he has no idea that his life is being filmed. All the people in his life, such as his wife, best friend, and colleagues are actors. There are no set scripts. There are three different worlds shown in the film: Truman's world, the producer's world, and the real world when we see the viewers watching the programme in the homes. The film starts when Truman is twenty-nine. We see him begin to become suspicious, by odd occurrences, such as a light falling from the sky, the way his friends and family advertise things, and people that accidentally get on the show and tell him things. Truman has always wanted to travel, but obviously he can't because the set of 'The Truman Show' is only one town. He saw his father 'die' whilst they were sailing together, and the fictional director of 'The Truman Show' did this so Truman would be thalassophobic, and wouldn't want to travel that way. Eventually he wants to get out of the town because of all these suspicions, and he gets delayed for ages trying to go by car. He plucks up the courage to go by boat and after sailing for a while he hits a backdrop with clouds painted on it. Christof's voice

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Eastenders

Emma Jackson Media Coursework For my GCSE media coursework I have been asked to write about a television soap or series. I have chosen to write about the popular soap, Eastenders. Eastenders is a fictional drama soap about a small community living in East London. First I shall explain what a soap is. A soap is a television program that is all about peoples daily lives and the events that happen. Soaps are ongoing, contemporary dramas. Contemporary means that the plots and storylines are all based on on real - life events that can and do happen to real people. Ongoing means the plot of the soap is held out over the episodes. Soaps can be split into different categories such as, countryside soaps, city soaps, or police soaps. Emmerdale is an example of countryside soap, Coronation Street, Eastenders, as city soaps, and The Bill as a police soap. The reason television soaps are called soaps is because the soap used to be advertised on the side of soap packets. Soaps always end with a cliffhanger. When I say cliffhanger, I mean that at the end of the episode the main plot finishes half way through. This leaves the viewers wondering what will happen next, so they watch the next episode. On the other hand, series have a different way of keeping the viewers interested. At the end of the episode they show you a sneak preview of what will be happening in the next episode. I don't

  • Word count: 2001
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Crime Genre Report for Media.

Crime Genre Report I have planned and pre-produced my own script based on the crime genre. I have carried out various types of research in order to find out who my competition are, what my audience like and what elements to include in order to appeal to the readymade market. I did research before I made my pre-production artiface. I watched and analysed television crime dramas and films. I did this to find out the codes and conventions of the crime genre, to see similarities and differences and to explore the repertoire of elements in the crime genre. I watched crime dramas and films such as Bullet Boy, Layer Cake, Silent Witness, CSI, Taggart and The Sopranos. Watching these showed me many similarities to be found in the crime genre, they all seemed to follow the same theme. I know that the crime genre is one of the most popular shown on television and cinema. The audience expects to see the bad guy get caught at the end. Also unlike other film genres, crime dramas usually revolve around one character. The key stylistic element of the crime genre is melodrama. The identity if the show is determined by the personality of the law enforcer. Difficult material is being addressed much more such as police corruption, psychotic criminals, drug related crimes, serial killers, human trafficking and racial crime. I discovered the crime genre can be divided into four parts. First

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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The key developments that have occurred in television since 1970.

History of the Mass Media. The key developments that have occurred in television since 1970. Introduction In this research project, I will set out to evaluate and reflect on the key developments that have occurred in television since 1970. Firstly, I will define the understanding of television, broadcasting and the term "mass media". Then I will review how it has been deployed, reflecting on the key developments that have occurred since 1970. Television Television is a telecommunication tool for broadcasting and receiving sound and moving images over a distance. (Smart 1995). Programming is broadcast on television stations/channels. According to ITV's website, television is the most powerful medium providing advertisers with a unique delivery of fame that no other medium can offer, because television is the UK's No.1 leisure activity, the most enjoyed activity exceeding any other media. The reason being is television provides a rich visual impact that no other medium can deliver with the ability to actively engage millions of viewers at the same time. Therefore, if you are an advertiser wishing to build brand awareness and communicate creatively with your target market, then television is where to advertise as no other medium comes close to the impact of television. (http://www.itv.com/about/). The 'Mass media'. The term 'mass media' refers to forms of communication,

  • Word count: 2765
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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