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Lesson Handouts

Key Concepts

Media Texts

Media Audiences

Media Production

Key Concepts

Deconstruction Overhead	Revised Media Triangle
Perception = Reality (concept poster) Optical Illusions Lab Activity Activity 2: Principles of Perception Perception Links	The Matrix: Intense Moment Assignment The Matrix Revisited The Matrix: Intense Moment Rubric

Media Texts

What is a Media Text?

A text is any media product we wish to examine, whether it is a television program, a book, a poster, a popular song, the latest fashion, etc. When we discuss a text with students, we can discuss the type of text it is (e.g. cartoon, rock video, fairy tale, police drama) and how it differs from other types of text. We can identify its denotative meaning and discuss such features as narrative structure, how meanings are communicated, values implicit in the text, and connections with other texts.

--An excerpt from "Elementary Media Education: The Perfect Curriculum,"
by Rick Shepherd, in English Quarterly.

Read more about Teaching Media Literacy ==>

Questions to ask about a Media Text	Miss Congeniality's Heroic Quest: A Unit for ENG 2P (grade 10 Applied)	A rationale for studying the slasher movie genre
Understanding Technical and Symbolic Codes Handout some suggested answers	Thinking about the News: Using CBC News.Real to develop critical thinking with Grade 10 Applied (2P)Students	Foregrounding the construction of a text: Continuity Errors in Scream
Bowfinger Viewing Assignment	Discussion Skills Rubric	Scream Discussion Questions: (Open)
Interactive Storyboard Exercise: Understanding the importance of image sequencing (external website)		Scream Viewer Response
The 'Grammar' of Television and Film (external website)		Scream Radio Show
Terms, Concepts, and Advice for a Video Project (external website, K-12 intended audience)		Horror Movie Project

Media Audiences

Identifying the Target Audience	Television Viewing Log
Filters the factors that cause different people to read media texts differently	Perception Activity Perception Lesson Perception Links
Theory.org article "Ten Things Wrong with the Effects Model" (external website)

Media Production

Questions to ask about Production focus questions for factors of Production listed on the Media Triangle	Using media to resist dominant culture: Walmart Watch Harry Potter Parody (external website)
Raisin' Kane Breaking into the Canadian Music Industry Video Viewing and Discussion Guide	Using Media to Resist Dominant Culture: Sarah McLachlan's World on Fire Video (external website)
Mike Bassett's "Understanding Product Placement" (external website)	Write and Market a Movie Project: Story treatment, script, poster, CD-cover and cross-marketing ad
a commentary on letterbox vs pan'n'scan video formats illustrated with examples from recent movies (external website)	Indie Film Resources Production Checklist Divided into four sections: Pre Greenlight, Pre Production, Shoot, Post-Production. Useful as an intro to the Production side of the Media Triangle, including Legal, Financing, etc. (external website)

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