ASSIGNMENT TO BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED TO THE
ACADEMY ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2013
Several assignments from your school will be selected for publication in a special
magazine format publication by the Academy.
PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO PROJECTS.
1) DOCUMENT THE USE OF SPECIFIC TYPES OF REPRESENTATION IN
THE MEDIA. Select one of the following groups:
 Males or Females
 Kids, Teenagers or Older People
 A specific ethnic, religious or racial group in America.
Find five examples in the media that represent members of the group of people you have
selected to study. Your examples can be from TV programs, movies, from news reports
about a specific topic, newspapers, magazines, or from advertising.
FORMAT: Write a short essay about your five choices. If you want, your project can be
accompanied by a drawing or collage illustrating some of the images that you saw and
heard.
PROJECT DETAILS:
Describe each of your five examples:
 Who is depicted?
 In what form of media did you find this example?
Then, answer the following questions:

What are the “types” you found in your five examples?

How many of your examples fit the definition of a stereotype vs. a representation?
What are the stereotypes?

Divide your examples into “reinforced” or “contradicted” stereotypes. Did you find a
particular form of media or media outlet that tended to reinforce, or contradict,
stereotypes more readily?

What do your examples make you think about the people you see in them? How do
they make you feel?
 Did you choose a group of people to whom you belong? Why, or why not?
2) WRITE A REVIEW FOR A FILM, AND DISCUSS WHAT TOPIC OR ISSUE
IS COVERED BY THE FILMMAKER. YOU MAY ALSO DRAW A POSTER
FOR A FILM.
Please present your personal opinions about any film that you’ve seen in one of the
following formats:
1) Write a film review (you can use reviews from The Los Angeles Times as a
model) for any film you’ve seen. Write about what the issue is that’s being
covered in the film? For example, Silver Lining Playbook is a love story that
looks at the topic of mental illness and how it affects family and friends while
the film Lincoln looks at the 16th president’s final months and his struggle
with the House of Representatives to pass the 13th Amendment. Please don’t
write a review that just says “this movie was good or this movie was not
good.” Discuss the time period, characters, plot, cinematography, lighting,
and music/sound elements. Make sure you also discuss why you feel the way
you do about the film and why you feel it was successful or in which way it
was unsuccessful. If you want, your project can be accompanied by a
drawing.
Some helpful hints:
If possible, view the film again, this time with a more critical eye, writing down
explanatory notes to help you remember basic plot events, details about characters,
setting, time period, etc. Evaluate the film’s message (implicit or explicit) and look for
patterns of meaning, stereotypes (positive or negative), recurring ideas, images that seem
to enhance the film’s message. Pay attention to how film techniques (cinematography,
music/sound, editing, costumes, set design etc.) that might also reinforce the film’s
theme(s).
Some of the questions you might want to consider as you prepare this project are:
1) Who made this film? What do I need to know about the filmmaker(s) to analyze
this film?
2) Who is the target audience?
3) What is the genre? i.e. Drama, Romance, Comedy, Adventure, Action, Horror,
Musical, Sci-Fi
4) What central questions is the film trying to answer?
5) Who might benefit from the messages in this film? Were there any stereotypes?
Who might be harmed or disadvantaged by them?
6) What have I learned from this film?
7) Why might the film's message(s) matter to me?
8) What ideas, values and information are overt? Implied?
9) What does the filmmaker want people to know or remember?
10) What sources does the film rely on for its information, ideas or assertions? Are
those sources credible? How do you know?