Media Literacy Education

Fedorov, Alexander. Media Literacy Education. Moscow: ICO
“Information for all”, 2015.

of socio-cultural screen technologies. The matter concerns theoretical fundamentals of the development
of media creation of students taking into consideration the integration of ecological, socio-cultural and
personal factors (Khilko, 2007).

In his generalizing research N. Khilko made an important step in theoretical and methodical
comprehension of the phenomenon of audiovisual media culture, in the development of creative abilities
on the material of screen technologies, media education of growing up generation with the emphasis on
the synthesis of socio-cultural, cultural studies and practical conceptions of media education.

Another remarkable work of the period of 2000-2010 is the doctoral thesis by A. Zhurin (2004).
His work is written in vivid language. It is dedicated to the integration of media education into the course
of Chemistry at general schools. I are familiar with many scientific works of A. Zhurin so I can conclude
that theoretical importance of the research (the development of terminology of integrated media
education, which consists in substantiation of key concepts and specification of the meanings of the
terms; the development of conceptual fundamentals of media education of schoolchildren within the
course of Chemistry at general schools; further development of the theory of creation and use of training
aids: formulation of regularities of the inclusion of media into the system of traditional means of
education) and practical value of the research (working out of the system of bifunctional training aids:
workbooks, collections of tasks and exercises, demonstrational tables, educational compact discs,
methodical recommendations for teachers, aimed at the solution of the tasks of teaching of Chemistry and
media education which are didactic images/models of knowledge of Chemistry and mass media) (Zhurin,
2004, p.8), the result of his long-term research activity in the field of theory and methods of teaching of
Chemistry as well as in the field of media education.

One of the advantages of A. Zhurin’s theses is the boldness of confession that one of his
hypotheses was groundless (Zhurin, 2004, p.31), which can rarely be found in pedagogical researches. He
notes that it was planned that pedagogues involved in the forming experiment after familiarization with the
principles of construction of training aids of teaching of Chemistry and integrated media education would
actively develop their own means of education and try to use them at the lessons, however the achieved
result was unequal to the expended time and energies. A. Zhurin thought that the cause of failure consist in
the fact that the teachers were involved into the activity unusual for them, as a result they found
themselves the state of constant informational stress.

For reasons given A. Zhurin concluded that it is necessary to intensify the work on the creation of
individual kinds of training aids means of integrated media education in accordance with the above
worded theoretical theses (Zhurin, 2004, p.31).

I consider the principles of integration of media education developed by A. Zhurin (the principle
of priorities: the submission of aims and tasks of media education to the aims and tasks of the school
subject; the principle of addition and development – to select from all aims and tasks of media education
only those which supplement and develop the aims and tasks of teaching of the specific subject; the principle
of embedding into different methodical systems: aims and tasks of integrated media education can be
accomplished within the bounds of and pedagogical technology) to be logical and applicable not only to
teaching of Chemistry, but also of other subjects (Zhurin, 2004, p.17).

In our opinion the disadvantage is that the terms are not always formulated correctly. For
example, in the beginning A. Zhurin proposed the following definition: “Media text is the text that’s
translated by means of mass communication and mass media”. At first glance this seems to be quite
convincing, however mass communication (broad concept) includes mass media (narrower concept).
Then this definition in A. Zhurin’s thesis acquired more laconic and adequate wording: “Media text is the
information translated by means of mass media” (Zhurin, 2004, p.41).

I don’t consider the paragraph concerning the conception of Western media education to be well
turned as well. Unfortunately it lacks the analysis of key/fundamental monographs, textbooks, school-
books on media education of well-known foreign scientists and experts in media education (C.Bazalgette,
C.Worsnop, B.Duncan, D.Considine, L.Masterman, J.Pungente, J.Potter, A.Silverblatt and others). Even
when the author refers to the truly leading western media pedagogues – D.Buckingham and K.Tyner, he

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analyzes not their main works (monographs, school-books in media education), but small articles from
the Internet…

Because of the narrowed spectrum of the analysis of western media educational experience A.
Zhurin categorically concluded that in these media educational conceptions miss “the most important
element of educational system, the means of education” (Zhurin, 2004, p.36).

I can’t agree with this statement, because in Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany and France
great importance is attached to the means of education in the system of media education (for the past 10-
15 years many textbooks, school-books, compact discs, video cassettes for media education, etc. were
published there). For example in the USA in 1990s and in the beginning of XXI century the development
and production of the means of media education (printed, computer and audiovisual) increased as a snow-
ball. Their authors (D.Considine, A.Silverblatt, J.Potter, K.Tyner) worked out media educational
conceptions and systems as well.

A. Zhurin also claimed that “scientific researches in the field of media education in Russia are
limited by the three institutions: State Scientific Institution “Institute of Contents and Methods of
Education of Russian Academy of Science” (the laboratory of technical means of education and media
education), Scientific Research Institute of Artistic Education of Russian Academy of Education (the
laboratory of screen arts) and Taganrog State Pedagogical Institute”. But he forgot about the researches
on media education in Voronezh State University conducted by S. Penzin, as well as monographs and
school-books by N. Khilko from Omsk branch of State Institute of Cultural Studies, the works of
professor O. Baranov form Tver State University, of S. Odintsova, N. Legotina and others from Kurgan
State University, of professors G. Polichko (State Institute of Management), N.Kirillova (Ural State
University), V. Monastyrsky (Tambov State University), A. Korochensky (Belgorod State University)
and other Russian media pedagogues…

However in spite of the drawbacks the thesis by A. Zhurin (2004) is a bright example of
contemporary research based on practical media activities conception of media education which is
traditional for Russian pedagogical science.

On the contrary, A. Korochensky in his doctoral thesis (2003) works out the brand new branch of
media education connected with media critics.

In our opinion the research of A. Korochensky is a very structured work in which the most
important phenomenon in the life of modern “informational society” is deeply analyzed for the first time
in Russia – media criticism. This term which has become quite ordinary in the West is unusual for
Russian readers. So realizing it A. Korochensky proves this term thoroughly. In the Western literature the
term “media criticism” is used for scientific analysis of the activity of mass media in the academic works
as well as for the “operative analysis” of actual problems of mass media, so the author concentrates on
the second variant (Korochensky, 2003, pp.2-3).

Unfortunately great influence of mass media on social life paradoxically combines with the
relative lack of development of Russian media criticism, whereas it is aimed at the analysis of relevant
creative, professionally-ethical, legal, economical and technological aspects of media. A. Korochensky
wrote: “Taking into consideration the unprecedented increase of social role of print and electronic press,
the specifics of its functioning in contemporary conditions, media criticism must constantly keep various
relations of mass media with the society and its institutions in the field of vision”. In these relations print
and electronic press can appear not only in the role of the supplier of actual social information,
knowledge on the constantly developing environment, but also as the instrument of mental control over
society, the means of ensuring feedback between citizens and the government. All this allows to
determine the subject of media criticism as actual multifold social functioning of mass media”
(Korochensky, 2003, p.15).

Reasoning from this definition A. Korochensky clearly formulates the main tasks of media
criticism: cognition of informational production; studies and changes in social perception of media
contents and notions about outer world which are formed in the minds of media audience; influence on
the public’s attitude to media, forming of a definite social culture of studies and evaluation of mass

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media, the development of the spiritual world of man; assistance to the development and perfection of
creative and professional culture of the creators of media texts; social environments of functioning of
mass media, etc. The latter acquires special importance owing to the fact that Russian audience treat
mass media with lesser and lesser confidence. In the middle of 1990s 70% of Russians trusted mass
media, but nowadays it is twice lesser (Vartanova, 2002. p. 23).

The author also clearly singled out basic functions of media criticism (informational-
communicative, cognitive, correction, social-organizational, enlightening, commercial) (Korochensky,
2003, pp.19-25). The author’s viewpoint regarding the analysis of manipulative possibilities of media is
also convincing. On the basis of the analysis of numerous sources A.Korochensky systematizes the most
widespread manipulative elements of modern mass media: sketchiness, simplificationе; identity of logical
and illogical; deformity of reflection; absence of neatly expressed criteria of distinguishing of superficial
and deep-laid intercommunications; references to traditions, authority, precedent, normativity, divine
will; syncretism of aesthetic-imaginative, ethic-regulative and cognitive elements of myths; claims to the
solely correct out-of-historical explanation of the phenomena of reality and absolute correctness of
practical actions, implied by this explanation; evaluating and orienting character of media texts;
premeditation of creation, etc.

At that theoretical reasoning are always fortified by convincing examples which help to penetrate
into the essence of this or that function of media criticism. For example, speaking about the role of media
criticism in revelation of failure to mention in media texts, A. Korochensky marks the “white spots”
which appear in print and electronic press regarding violations of professional ethics of journalists over
and over again (publication of ordered materials, the turning of journalists into mouthpieces of politicians
or businessmen, the use of “secret agents” which report “confidential information”, etc.).

I agree with the author’s aspiration to emphasize maintenance of healthy psychological and moral
climate in the society, especially in terms of demonstration of blood and violence on the screens. In spite
of all the good intentions and promises Russian television still hasn’t dared to exclude the endless
documentary scenes of disfigured corpses, the films and serials with the scenes of brutal murders,
tortures, fights, etc. from prime-times. Everything that is broadcasted after 10-11 pm in the Western
countries is translated at daytime in Russia and is available for children. After all, their psyche hasn’t
developed yet, on the contrary, their emotional receptivity and aspiration for non-critical imitation, etc.,
are still high. It was said many times that broadcast of any film must be accompanied by the special
rating sign that tells about the age to which age group the media texts is meant. In France or for example
Canada such ratings are ordinary and normal, but in Russia the films rated “R” in the West (for adults
only) are still broadcasted at any time without any warnings…

A. Korochensky is also right that thorough psychological, cultural studies and sociological
analyses of media texts belonging to entertaining mass culture are needed (for example, TV shows like
“Behind the Glass”, “The Last Hero”, “The Weak Unit”, etc.) to reveal any built-in socially declining
ideas, cultural and behavioral stereotypes. These shows consolidate in mass consciousness the ideas about
fundamental impossibility of perfection of supposedly mean human nature, about the reducing of the
motivation of all human actions to mere satisfaction of primary instincts, about social permissibility of
the use of immoral methods (calumny, baiting, backstage scheming) for suppression and removal of those
people who are on the way to success (Korochensky, 2003). By the way, 5 years later another thesis was
defended in Russia in which for the first time such media texts (TV reality shows) were used as media
educational material (Grigorova, 2008).

I am media pedagogue with 30 years of seniority, and I think that the chapter in A. Korochensky’s
thesis, in which the connection between media education and media criticism is highlighted, is very
important. Indeed, though UNESCO proclaimed media education to be the priority branch of educational
process of the XXI century, as a rule Russian journalists don’t hurry to establish contacts between their
corporative community and media education (though there’s some progress, for example see the thesis by
I. Zhilavskaya (2008).

In accordance with the recommendations of UNESCO A. Korochensky proposes to broaden the

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concept of media education as long-term social and enlightening activity aimed at not only schoolchildren
and students, but also at the grown-up audience, i.e. to talk about the constant development of the culture
of adequate perception of media messages (articles, radio/TV programs, films, websites, etc.) in society
and about self-dependent evaluation of the work of mass media taking into consideration democratic and
humane ideals and values.

Basically it is clear why the development of media criticism and media education didn’t receive
official support in the Soviet period. The government wanted mass audience (both adult and student) not
to think about the aims and tasks of the creation of this of that (especially “state-significant”) media text.
The absence of media literate audience has always opened the broad space for manipulations in the press,
on the TV/radio in the direction favorable for the government. Much water has flowed under the bridge
since then, but the situation is almost the same… And here A. Korochensky reasonably notes that the
participation of journalists in the propaganda of the ideas of media education in Russia is not sufficient
nowadays though media criticism has great potential in terms of support of the efforts of educational and
enlightening institutions in the development of media culture of the audience.

Again A. Korochensky is right: the’re is point in broadening of participation of academic circles,
scientists, different specialists (sociologists, psychologists, pedagogues and others), institutions of culture
and education, public organizations and foundations with the object of the development of media literacy
of citizenry, in the creation of organizational structures capable of accomplishing of the whole spectrum
of tasks of media education in cooperation with media critics.

Indeed, media criticism and media education have much in common. After all one of the main
tasks of media education is just to teach the audience not only to critically evaluate media texts of any
kinds and genres, but also to understand the mechanisms of their creation and functioning in society.
Moreover, British media pedagogues (C.Bazalgette, A.Hart and others) among the six key concepts of
media education emphasize just “agencies” (meaning overall studies and the analysis of the way the
structure which creates media messages works as well as the aims with which this or that media text is
created, etc.), “language of media” (studies of the peculiarities of the language of media texts),
“representation” (understanding how this of that “agency” represents reality in a media text) and “media
audience” (the analysis of the typology of perception of the audience, its susceptibility to the influence on
the part of the “agencies” etc.). In fact the same key concepts of media are studied by media criticism as
well, at that it turns to both professional and vast audience. That’s why it is important to establish firm
ties between media criticism and media education.

In Russia there’re many talented experts in media critics, however not all of them are able to make
serious theoretical generalizations. Being familiar with the works of prominent foreign scientists in the
field of media (M.McLuhan, D.McQuail, L.Masterman, A.Hart, K.Tyner, C.Worsnop and others), I can
claim that the doctoral thesis of A. Korochensky is highly competitive with the best world’s analogues.
A. Korochensky integrates media education with journalism and not in the least worse than western
masters analyzes the phenomenon of media criticism both on the level of theoretical generalizations and
on the level of concrete materials.

Doctoral thesis of V. Vozchikov (2007) is also original in its approach. As a matter of fact for the
first time the philosophical basis of media education was substantiated on such solid level. The author
researches ontological meanings and aims of media education as the means of comprehension of media
through overall understanding of media activity as the special type of cultural, educational and creative
environment (Vozchikov, 2007, p.9).

V. Vozchikov wrote that “media culture is the dominating culture of informational society,
existing in the activity of traditional and electronic mass media which recreate socio-cultural picture of
the world with the help of verbal, audio and visual images; the culture-universe which includes functional
variety of mass, public, elitist cultures and their modification, ontologically accelerated in human vital
activity; the culture - meta-message about world outlook of mankind at a certain stage of its existence”
(Vozchikov, 2007, p.17). He gives the detailed and thorough description to this phenomenon, in many
respects expanding and deepening the previously proposed definitions of other researchers.

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Doctoral thesis of N. Kirillova (2005) is written in a similar key with the orientation on cultural
studies theory of media education. In this work she speaks about the role of “media culture as the
intermediary between government and society, between society and personality, as the integrator of the
new media environment” (Kirillova, 2005, p.5). At that she gives the detailed analysis of functions and
models of media culture (Kirillova, 2005, pp.12-15), legal bases of media managementа (Kirillova, 2005,
p.28-30) and the problems of media education as the factor of socialization of personality (Kirillova,
2005, p.39-43).

As a result N. Kirillova comes to the well-grounded conclusion that “one of the important
branches of media education as the basis of the formation of informational society can become the
introduction in the leading state universities, teacher-training institutions, institutes of culture, of the new
specialization “Medialogy” which will allow to unite such subjects as “History and theory of media
culture”, “Theory and practice of journalism”, “Intercultural communications”, “Media education”,
“Fundamentals of media criticism”, “Media management” and others. Such complex training will let the
graduates to enter the info sphere as full-fledged specialist of the XXI century: theorists and pedagogues,
managers and sociologists, methodologist of cultural and leisure centers and experts-analysts on the
problems of mass media” (Kirillova, 2005, p.43).

I mentioned above that the significant part of theses, successfully defended in the first decade of
the XXI century, was dedicated to media education of university students (Zmanovskaya, 2004; Ivanova,
2004; Konovalova, 2004; Legotina, 2004, Ryzhikh, 2006, Stobnikova, 2005; Chicherina, 2008 and
others). Thus in their theses N. Zmanovskaya and N.Legotina worked out and approved the indexes and
the levels of the development of media education / media literacy and the readiness the future teacher to
realize the process of media education (Zmanovskaya, 2004; Legotina, 2004), the models of organization
of the process of media education of humanitarian institutions of higher education (Znamovskaya, 2004;
Legotina, 2004). Similar indexes and models of education concerning the audience of the future librarians
were worked out by O. Kutkina (Kutkina, 2006).

Of course the researchers of media education couldn’t pass the accumulated problems by. In
particular, E. Khudoleeva (2006) worked out rather detailed classification of typical problems (social and
political, administrative, organizational, didactical, corporative, professional, social, personal), which
encounter the development of media education in Russia.

Pedagogical problems of media education in Russia (Khudoleeva, 2006, p.19).

Subject of Problems
media
education  inner psychological problems, fear of new equipment and technologies;
 unwillingness to make efforts and study the possibilities of the use of new
Pedagogue  equipment in one’s professional activity;
ProfessionalSocial Personal
 insufficiently high level of informational development of society;
 inaccessibility of electronic informational means for many orders;
 technical impossibility for everybody to get remote education;

 lack of media competence of teachers;
 unwillingness and impossibility for experienced teachers to do professional studies;

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Social and Didactical and
 the problem of the development of electronic and educational space ofpolitical organizational
educational institutions;
Society Managerial
 insufficient use of remote forms in education;
 lack of exchange of experience in terms of the development of new technologies

through the system of raising the level of one's skill, and seminars;
 absence of modern computer equipment in most educational institutions;
 absence of free access to computer equipment for teachers and students;
 absence of qualified media pedagogues;
 small number of didactical materials and recommendations for lessons with the use of

media;
 absence of motivation of teachers and students;
 the concept “media education” is unknown for vast pedagogical community;
 absence of public opinion concerning the importance of media education as the

component of education;
 absence of the official state inquiries for preparation of media pedagogues;
 media education is not a compulsory subject;
 absence of the specialization “Media education”;
 absence of purposeful and systematic state coordination ofthe development of

theory and methods of media education;
 the “super-task” of media education is not defined yet.
I think that on the whole this Table rightly reflects the main problems which media education in
Russia faces in the beginning of the XXI century, though individual wordings (they are marked with
asterisks), in my opinion, could have been formulated in less categorical way. For instance, instead of the
word “absence” (of media pedagogues, motivation, etc.) such words as “lack of” could have been used…
Besides, most problems mentioned by E.I. Khudoleeva are peculiar to the contemporary educational
process in Russia in general.

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Media educational practices in teacher training

Media education methods (aimed at the audience’s studying of mass media – the press, TV, radio,
film, video, the Internet, etc.; preparing the new generation for living in the digital age) of teaching
school (as well as university) students are based as a rule on using various creative assignments. A
theoretical analysis of their components, their development and practical application enables us to draw
the following basic functions: educational, adaptational, developmental, and guiding functions. The
educational function ensures knowledge acquisition about theories and laws, perception and analysis of
media texts, ability to use the obtained knowledge in different situations, and to ratiocinate. The
adaptational function is realized at the initial conceptual stage of communication with media culture. The
developmental function is connected with developing motivational (compensatory, therapeutic,
recreational and others), volitional and other personality traits, media creation experience. The guiding
function is aimed at arranging the best conditions for media text analysis.

Various teaching methods are used in Russian media education (Bagenova, 2004; Baranov, 2002;
Baranov & Pensin, 2005; Bondarenko, 2000; Spichkin, 1999; Usov, 1989; Zaznobina, 1999 and
others): descriptive (retelling the plot, enumeration of the events presented in a media text), classificatory
(media text ranging in historical and socio-cultural contexts), analytical (analysis of the media text
structure, its language, the author’s conceptions, et al), personality-oriented (description of the attitudes,
feelings, reminiscences, associations excited by a media text), explanatory/interpretative and evaluative
(forming judgments about a media text, its values if applying aesthetic, moral or other criteria).

As regards creative types of assignments, they can be classified depending on the content
character of the educational activities (the audience is to systematize facts and phenomena into theoretical
and practical, etc.), the nature of requirements (one should define the type of the requirement implied in
the task – perception, artistic analysis, etc.); the relation between data and goals of the educational
activity, its organization and realization (individual, team-based, group work, etc.). It is essential to
introduce and repeat the teaching methods which serve to upgrade the audience’s skills, to gradually
complicate tasks (including independence growth), and to develop creativity.

The creative assignments given below have been practically approved (by instructors: N. Ryzhich,
I. Chelysheva, A. Levitskaya and others) at the Faculty of Social Pedagogy of Taganrog State
Pedagogical Institute within the framework of the new university specialization “Media Education” (state
specialization number 03.13.30., official registration of the Russian Ministry for Education dated June 18,
2002) designed for purposeful teacher training in media education.

I. Literary and imitating, dramatizing and situational, graphic and imitating creative studies
for the audience to obtain creative skills on media material via heuristic activities, games
and ICT.

Media education offers various creative means for students to learn such concepts as plot, story,
theme, conflict, composition, frame, shot, etc. In the most general way they can be divided into: 1)
literary and imitating (writing a synopsis, composing a short script, media text, etc.); 2) dramatizing and
situational (dramatization of a certain media text sequence, simulation of media production, etc.); 3)
graphic and imitating (composing posters, photo collages, pictures on media culture production).

1. Literary and imitating creative studies.
The teaching methods used at such lessons are most effectively realized in play activities. The
audience is offered to imagine that they are scriptwriters, and asked to compose:

- a synopsis for an original script of a media text of any type and genre;
- a sequence script – a screen version of an episode from a famous literary work;
- a sequence script from their own synopsis for an original script;
- an original mini-script of a media text (e.g. a 3-5 minutes long film, video that can be shot in school);
- starting from a literary mini-script (or an sequence script) to prepare a shooting script (production book) of a media text
(film, radio/TV program, computer animation, etc.) outlining the system of shots, angles, camera movements, montage
principles;
- an original text (of an article, reportage, interview, etc.) for a newspaper, journal/magazine, Internet site.

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By doing such creative tasks the audience studies in practice such essential concepts as idea,
topic/theme, synopsis, plot, story outline, conflict, composition, script, screen version, etc. Students
master media terms fully, inseparably, together with the so called expressive means.

It goes without saying that every such lesson begins with the teacher’s introductory speech (about
the aims, objectives, and the strategy of doing tasks). During the lesson the teacher takes the position of a
consultant. And the audience takes all the above mentioned assignments not as something abstract but as
potentially practicable tasks. That undoubtedly ensures the audience’s interest and better involvement in
media education. The story outlines, mini-scripts, sequence scripts, draft journals and newspapers,
radio/television programs, Internet sites created by the audience are discussed in the group, and the best
variants are selected for further work.

Obviously, working on the task the students should realize, for instance, that video enables us to
present stories/plots which are not overloaded with bulky accessories, elaborate settings, costumes,
makeup, etc. However, the audience’s script fantasy is in no way restricted: on paper (as well as with the
help of modern computers, Internet sites) one can create any possible and even fantastic plots and topics.
But at the same time, for practical reasons, the preference is given to the scripts that could be easily
realized within the school background or on the nearest location.

So, gradually the audience begins to apprehend the important role of the author/scriptwriter in
media production and the basics of media text structure. Creative practical activity promotes the
audience’s acquisition of the ABCs of media text composition; develops their creativity, imagination and
fantasy.

The major criterion that proves the audience has coped with literary and imitating creative
assignments is when students are able to briefly formulate their own ideas about the script which verbally
reveal the audio-visual, space-and-time image of a conjectural media text. As a result, the audience
develops individual, creative thinking corresponding to the conceptual and creative indicators of
personality artistic development in media culture.

2. Dramatizing and situational creative studies.
The purpose of this stage is creation and further realization of media texts by students (short films,
radio/television programs, Internet newspapers and journals, web-sites, computer animation, etc.) in
accordance with the pre-written plans and mini-scripts. The teaching methods used at dramatizing and
situational creative lessons are based on role (business) play: the participants act as directors,
cameramen, designers, actors from the mini-scripts and episodes, or as presenters/hosts, etc. After the
rehearsal period the team proceeds with creating a media text (they shoot a short film or a television
program, design an Internet-site, a newspaper, etc.). Several teams of students can work on one and the
same mini-script or a breadboard of an Internet newspaper for the reason of creative competition.
Different versions are compared and discussed.
The teacher’s responsibility is to demonstrate to the audience the basics of using ICT (video
filming, video recording and video projection, computing), to tactfully correct the work being done, and
participate in the discussion of the results. In other words, the audience is given much freedom for
developing fantasy, imagination, formal search, self-expression of their individual thinking and creativity.
The audience faces the following specific targets:
- journalistic (hosting a TV show, conducting an interview, live-program/on-the-spot reportage;
practical newspaper/journal makeup, text inclusion into a site);
- film directing (general management of video filming according to the created mini-script,
actors/anchormen casting; decision-making about casting, camera work, decorative design, sound and
music, light and color; consideration of the media text genre and style, etc.);
- camera work (practical videotape realization of the director’s system of frames, angles, mise-en-
scène, camera movement, shot depth, etc.);
- lighting (use of diffuse, directional, artificial and natural light, use of shadow and silhouette
picture, etc.)
- sound and music operating (use of noises, music, score, etc.)

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- decorative and artistic (use of natural setting, costumes; design of Internet sites, computer
animation, etc.)

- acting (acting in an educational film, TV program);
- editing/montage (montage/rerecording enabling to significantly alter the form of a media text
shot on air, computer-created, etc.);
- electronic special effects (use of modern video and computer technologies in media creation).
In the process of video filming and computing in the classroom one can simultaneously look
through images on the monitor, edit, eliminate errors, etc. It really helps to cast actors. Any volunteer can
act before the camera, soliloquy, and the film directors can compare the results and select the required
variants. Besides, having shot different versions of one and the same script sequence it is possible to
discuss the received result together in class.
It should be noted that alongside with role play there is a possibility to realize students’ ideas in
documentary, animation media texts, etc. Documentary plots can be connected with landscape
sketches/scenes which do not require long preparatory and production periods. For similar reasons it is
more preferable to create animation films either using a three-dimensional (plasticine, etc.) animation
technique, or a personal computer.
Assuredly, such lessons merely serve educational purposes and do not pursue the purpose to
create an accomplished media text and do not claim to be professional. The result of media production is
not important (unlike the case when a film is created for a film festival), such lessons zero in on the
audience’s understanding of audio-visual language, and their creativity development.
During the dubbing-in period the audience gets absorbed in the laboratory of sound-on-film and
dubbing; and faces the following specific targets:
- practical comparison of different variants of post dubbing of a video sequence (forcing and
mixing of noises, speech volume, music; change of speech intonations, timbre, etc.);
- realization of different dubbing versions of a video sequence unknown to the audience (without a
soundtrack), or of an episode from a foreign film or TV program;
- practice of various sound, noise special effects (sound imitation, sound overlay, etc.).
Such practical classes enable most active students to independently organize amateur games and
quiz shows where teams compete acting as juries of a news program, on-the-spot reportages, etc.
As a result, such tasks help to develop the following qualities corresponding to particular
indicators of personality development in media culture: knowledge of the main stages in media
production, author’s functions, specific character of their work as it concerns expression of ideas,
thoughts, sensations of sound and visual, space and time images in different types and genres (conceptual
indicator); emotional, artistic motives of one’s contact with media (motivational indicator); creative,
artistic abilities in media creation (creative indicator). Play education does not restrict the students’
fantasy, imagination; on the contrary, it helps reveal each student’s individual creative thinking.
The major criterion that proves the audience has coped with dramatizing and situational creative
assignments is the students’ ability to practically participate in simulative media production.
3. Graphic/image-bearing and imitating creative studies.
The teaching methods used at such lessons are also connected with role play and simulation
educational possibilities. Logically, after working with mini-scripts and passing through the pre-
production period the audience reaches the phase when accomplished media texts ought to be advertised,
marketed, distributed, etc. The realization of these objectives depends on doing special creative
assignments which develop imagination, fantasy, associative thinking, non-verbal audience perception:
- creation of bills/posters to advertise one’s own media text (e.g. posters advertising professional
media texts) using a photo collage with drawings or one’s own original pictures;
- picture and collage creation on the topic of Russian and foreign media production;
- creation of drawn comic strips after some media texts targeted at a certain audience age-group.
After doing the above mentioned creative tasks the teacher announces the contest of posters,
collages, pictures, and comic strips. The students discuss their advantages and disadvantages; the authors

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of the creative products have a possibility to defend their works, answer the teacher’s and students’
questions, etc.

The major criterion proving that the audience has coped with the task is the students’ ability to
share their impressions of watching a media text in a non-verbal form.

The knowledge and creative skills acquired by the audience at the introductory practical stage
prepared them for the lessons aimed to develop their perception of professional media texts and
optimized the educational process, particularly in media education. We can state this with a certain
degree of confidence as the experiment was based on two variants of developing media perception: 1) by
discussing media texts created be professionals; 2) the same, with preliminary practical creative
assignments involving the audience in the media production lab.

The second variant proved to be more productive. After doing creative assignments the audience
easily used specific media terminology and gave a prompt and detailed oral description of the offered
media image.

The knowledge and skills referring to ins and outs of media creation helped the students more
accurately express their sensations, feelings of the seen and heard media texts, indirectly developed their
capabilities for media perception, and, to a certain degree, prepared them for further media analysis (since
without the ability to describe one’s own impressions it is difficult to get down to a productive media text
analysis).

II. Creative studies aimed at developing the audience’s adequate perception of media texts.
1. Creative studies devoted to recollection of the dynamics of space-and-time, audio-visual images
of culmination episodes from a media text in group discussion.
So, after the opening creative part there follows the principal stage/phase of developing the
audience’s adequate perception of audio-visual, space-and-time structure of media texts through watching
and collective discussion of media texts.
Here we are guided by the thesis proposed by Y. Usov (1936-2000) that “perception of the sound
and visual image is a visual experience of the tempo, rhythm, implication of the plastic form of film
narration; this experience results in sensory and intellectual associations excited in process of perception
of sound and visual images, plastic composition of their components, and are synthesized in figurative
generalization comprising the author’s conception, a multidimensional artistic idea” (Usov, 1989, p.
235).
Beside this important indicator of the audience’s adequate perception of a media text, one should
not ignore the audience’s awareness of the frame composition, its space, light and color, sound, and angle
solutions which taken together contribute to the sense of a media text. Also the audience ought to develop
the so called editing / montage thinking – the emotional and semantic condition of the narrative
components, their rhythmical, plastic combination in a frame, sequence, scene, so that the media text
perception should be based on the interrelation of several processes:
- perception of dynamically developing visual images;
- memory retention of previous audio-visual, space-and-time elements of a media image;
- prediction, anticipation of a probable event in a media text.
To meet this challenge in relation to audio-visual media, the audience is offered to describe the
dynamics of the media image development in a rhythmically organized plastic form of narration. The
process can be based on discussing the montage (including rhythm, tempo, etc.) combination of frames
(taking into account their composition: frontal, underlying, angle, light-and-color, etc.) and sequences,
since the development dynamics of an audio-visual image reveals namely in the interrelation of frames
and montage.
The goal of these assignments is for the students to develop their emotional, creative activity, non-
verbal thinking, sound-and-visual memory in communication with media that in total facilitates the
analysis and synthesis of the sound-and-visual, space-and-time image of a media text.

2. Literary and imitation creative studies.

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The teaching methods used at such lessons are connected with role play, problem-solving and
game elements. For the audience to assimilate such essential concepts for the topic understanding as
media perception set, media perception process, media perception condition, empathy, co-creation,
media perception levels, media perception typology, system of emotional ups and downs, the phenomenon
of unanimous success, media culture functions, etc., they are offered to:

- describe the general characteristics of the best/worst task set for media text perception;
- describe the best/worst objective (demonstration environment, etc.) and subjunctive (mood, an
individual psycho-physiological potential, etc.) conditions of media text perception;
- retell the story on behalf of the major or minor character of a media text observing his/her
character traits, speech habits, etc. (identification, empathy, co-creation);
- put a media text character into an altered situation (with a changed name, genre, time, setting of
a media text, its composition: plot, culmination, dénouement, epilogue, etc.; the age, sex, nationality of
the personage, etc.);
- retell the story on behalf of an inanimate being taken from a media text that will make the
narration sound paradoxical and eccentric;
- remember prosaic, poetic, theatrical, pictorial, musical works which bring up an association with
a certain media text, and to justify their choice;
- make up monologues (letters to newspaper/journal offices, television, Department for Culture,
etc.) belonging to media audiences of different ages, social, professional, educational or other
backgrounds, having different levels of media perception (initial identification, secondary identification,
complex identification, consideration of the audience’s orientation on the entertaining, recreative,
compensatory and other functions of media culture, etc.);
- disclose the point of the emotional pendulum (rotation of sequences exciting positive (pleasant,
joyful) and negative (shocking, sad) emotions with the audience, i.e. reliance on psychophysical aspect of
media perception) using a certain media text;
- study the list of the most popular media texts (Russian and foreign) and explain the reasons for
their success (reliance on myths, folklore, spectacular genre, the system of emotional ups and downs; use
of entertaining, recreative, compensatory and other functions; a happy ending, the author’s intuition, etc.)
- study advertising announcements (trailers) and predict the success of the media text with the
viewers.
Among the least desirable pre-viewing activities the audience can mention lack of preliminary
information or a too detailed opening speech of the teacher (art critic, journalist, culture expert) imposing
their conclusions, spoon-feeding the audience with the conception of the unknown media text, etc.
Among the most preferable pre-viewing activities the audience can name tactful brief information
(less than 10 minutes long) about the author’s creative development, the genre of the offered media text,
the time of its creation, without giving a preliminary analysis of its merits and demerits.
Speaking of the media perception conditions the students can refer to their own viewing
experience, e.g. media perception can be interfered by unethical behavior of some viewers in the cinema,
Internet-club (loud talks, noise, disorderly conduct, etc.), or when the viewer is in a bad mood, etc.
The creative lesson when students compose stories as if retold by one of the characters is
conducted in the form of a contest. Initially, the audience is shown media texts, then they write stories on
behalf of the major or minor characters of the media text, and finally they are discussed in class; the
stories chosen as the best should be close to the original media text. In this way the educational aim is
attained: the audience enters the laboratory of media text authors.
Creative assignments aimed at altering different media text components play a very important role
in the development of the audience’s media text perception and analytical skills. Students devise different
titles of media texts and receive evidence that the perception of one and the same story greatly varies
depending on the chosen genre. By altering the time, setting, genre, composition of a media text students
take advantage of the opportunity to use their creativity and imagination.

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The view angle at a media text can take a paradoxical, fantastic form if the story is told on behalf
of an inanimate being, animal that appeared in this media text. E.g. a banknote changing hands; the
mirror in the characters’ room; the car in which the character pursues the criminals, etc. Sometimes it is
possible to use analogies from other arts.

Creative assignments connected with various kinds of artistic associations cause difficulties with
the audience as a rule, as they require sound knowledge of different arts. That is why students who
achieved good and excellent results in literature, visual arts, music, and world art culture are at an
advantage here.

The major criterion showing that the audience has coped with the creative tasks requiring to retell
the story on behalf of the media text character is the students’ ability to identify themselves with a
personage, understand and verbally reconstruct his/her personality, vocabulary, explain the motives for
their behavior (including imaginary actions).

The efficiency criterion of the creative tasks revealing the relations between different works of art
is the student’s maturity of associative thinking, understanding of the interrelation of sound, visual, space,
time, sound-and-visual, space-and-time arts of different kinds and genres.

In the long term, the whole group of creative tasks complements the knowledge and skills
obtained by the audience at the previous lessons: students develop cognitive interests, fantasy,
imagination; associative, creative, critical, individual thinking, audio-visual literacy. The acquired
knowledge and skills mix with the concepts from literature lessons (topic, idea, plot, etc.), world art
culture (color, light, composition, angle, etc.), music (tempo, rhythm, etc.). The audience better
understands such concepts as perception set, empathy towards a character, identification, etc.

Practical acquisition of media perception typology is facilitated by creative tasks offering the
audience to simulate writing letters to different institutions from people of different ages, education
levels, artistic perception and tastes, etc.

The knowledge acquisition indicator is the audience’s capacity to identify themselves with an
imaginary recipient possessing this or that media perception level.

In the following creative lesson the audience attempts to explain the essence of the so-called
emotional pendulum mechanism (alteration of sequences exciting positive and negative emotions with
viewers) using a certain media text as an example.

The purpose of this lesson is to show the students that the emotional impact is a natural
phenomenon with media texts as well as with arts using the psycho-physiological effect on the audience
appealing to human feelings. Any art affects the reader, viewer, and listener not only intellectually but
also emotionally. It is very important for students to understand that the so called strong impression
produced on the audience by mass (popular) culture is not always connected with high artistic quality,
and sometimes depends on skillful influence on human sense perception.

It is known that even a most thrilling film cannot keep the viewers either in a state of shock or in
the emotional comfort. In either case there comes an inevitable obtrusion of feelings, emotions, fatigue,
and loss of interest in what is going on. Stimulation intensity cannot increase endlessly. Hence, a lot of
authors of mass culture resort to an accurate calculation of situations, a sequence alteration evoking
positive and negative emotions, but with an invariable happy end so that the viewers should not consider
the media text heavy (that will undoubtedly repulse a significant part of the audience).

Assuredly, this psychological law is well known to artists who create complex, ambiguous works
from the philosophic point of view, but namely mass culture production based on spectacular genres
(comedies, melodramas, detectives, thrillers, etc.) very often sticks to the similar principle in the most
simplified and schematic form, that enables the audience to easily cope with the above given assignment.

The lesson is divided into the following phases:
- collective viewing of a mass culture text;
- extraction of the episodes evoking positive and negative emotions with the audience in order to
determine the degree of the emotional effect produced on the audience;

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- media text division into major parts of the plot with giving them the corresponding signs: “-“
(the episode excites negative emotions of fear, horror, etc.); “+” (the episode excites positive emotions,
joyful, comforting feelings) and “=” (the episode is emotionally neutral); the aim is to show how the
system of the emotional pendulum is built using a certain media text, to make the audience understand
that its impact is frequently based not on the deep penetration into characters, problem heart, etc., but on a
kind of a sign system of sequence alterations of different emotional polarities.

So, the objectives of the lesson are achieved: the audience comes to the conclusion that mass
culture media texts can be easily divided into blocks (which sometimes can interchange each other
without changing the plot or meaning of a media text) connected by an elaborated mechanism of the
emotional pendulum.

It should be noted that a lot of media texts are constructed according to this emotional formula for
success (including compensation for lack of feelings, a happy end, use of spectacular genres, etc.). Beside
mentioning the entertaining and recreational functions, let us include here the use of myths, folklore, the
author’s intuition, sequence, in other words, the orientation on many perception levels.

The creative task of predicting the media text success is closely linked to the previous
assignments and requires not only a good knowledge of the antecedent material but also associative
thinking and intuition from the audience. Relying on the genre, topical or other parameters of unknown
media texts the students endeavor to form a judgment as to the media text future in the media market.

3. Dramatizing and situational creative studies.
The teaching methods of these lessons are based on dramatized sketches touching upon the
concepts and problems similar to the ones of the literary and imitation lessons. These two stages
supplement each other; develop different aspects of the audience’s creative skills.
By analogy with the sequence of literary and imitation lessons the audience is offered to:
- act out different variants of pre-viewing perception activities (for example, an opening speech of
the video/film club moderator);
- act out dramatized sketches on the topic of objective and subjective media perception conditions,
etc.
Acting out such sketches one can imitate the viewers’ noisy behavior, stressful situations
experienced by the audience after the contact with a media text (jackpots, expulsion from school, etc.),
dialogues, and arguments between representatives of different media perception types. In short, the
audience better understands the peculiarities of media perception in an amusing and semi-parody form.
On the whole, the set of lessons aimed at developing media perception prepares the audience for
the next stage – media text analysis.
III. Creative studies aimed at developing the audience’s ability of media text analysis.
The basic stages of this set of lessons are the following:
- study and content examination of media texts episodes which express the characteristic features
of the whole media text to the utmost;
- analysis of the media text authors’ logic of thinking: in the development of conflicts, characters,
ideas, audio-visual, space-and-time sequence, montage, etc.;
- understanding of the author’s conception and explanation of one’s personal attitude to this or
that position of the media text authors.
The teaching methods used at these stages are based on the set of practical classes devoted to the
analysis of particular media texts.
Practice shows that, on the one hand, it is necessary to go from the simple to the complex: to
choose in the beginning clear media texts in point of its plot, author’s thoughts, stylistics. On the other
hand, it is essential to take into consideration the genre, topical preferences of the audience.
It goes without saying, here again creative, simulation, heuristic and problem-solving tasks are
used, which significantly enhance the audience’s activity and motivation.
The heuristic form of conducting a lesson supposes that the audience is offered several false and
true statements; that substantially facilitates the analytical tasks facing the audience and serves the first

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preparatory stage for the following role play and problem-solving forms of media texts discussion. The
heuristic teaching methods include:

- true and false interpretations of the author’s logic of thinking on the material of a certain episode
of a media text;

- true and false versions of the author’s conception opening in a particular media text.
This heuristic form of giving a lesson appears to be especially effective with the audience having
a low level of basic training, showing lack of personal initiative and independent thinking. Such an
audience certainly needs supporting statements helping the students to form their own analytical
judgments (including their own additions, etc.)
The simulation forms logically carry on the previous tasks. The audience is offered the following
variants of simulation assignments:

1) literary and imitating creative studies:
- the audience writes synopses, scripts of advertising/commercial media texts (or anti-advertisements
aimed at criticizing the shortcomings of a media text);
- the audience writes their own improved variants of some famous media texts: the alterations that can be
introduced into the design and lay-out of the Internet site, journal, newspaper; the cast of
actor/anchormen to play the leading parts in a film or TV program; the alterations in the plot of a
particular media text (deletions, additions, etc.).

These play activities prepare the audience for a more serious problem-solving analysis of media
texts. Naturally, all the above-mentioned works/projects are collectively discussed and compared. A
greater part of tasks is done by the audience on a competitive basis, the best work is chosen, etc.

The task performance indicator: an ability to tell in a play form about the most attractive,
spectacular aspects of media texts (advertising), to present logically and artistically a convincing variant
of partial substitution of the media text components.

2) dramatizing and situational creative studies:
- a dramatized sketch on the topic – a press-conference with the media text author (a television
anchorman, script writer, film director, actor, cameraman, composer, artist, sound man, producer,
designer, etc.); the journalists ask ‘cut and dried’ questions, sometimes ‘posers’ to the authors, who in
their turn are prepared in advance to defend their hypothetical (or really created) project – a particular
media text, etc.;
- a dramatized sketch on the topic – an interview with foreign media culture experts (with a similar
distribution of functions);
- a dramatized sketch on the topic – international gatherings of media critics/experts, who disapprove of
different media aspects, analyze particular media texts, etc.;
- a juridical role play including an investigation of the major malefactor of a media text; a trial on the
media text authors;
- a dramatized sketch on the topic – an advertising campaign: a contest media commercial (as a variant –
anti-advertisement).

As a matter of fact, dramatizing and situational creative lessons supplement and enrich the skills
acquired by the audience in literary and imitating practical play activities. Beside the skills of oral
collective discussion, they stimulate the audience’s relaxed behavior and communicability, make the
students’ speech more spontaneous, and activate their improvisatory skills.

Probably, the weak point of some dramatizing and situational lessons is a rather long pre-training
period of the audience that is necessary for the students to get into the roles of actors, journalists, etc.

The next set of lessons is dedicated to problem-solving collective discussions and media text
reviewing. Here one can use the following types of problem-solving creative tasks:
- comparison and discussion of reviews (of articles, books) created by professional media experts,
journalists;
- preparation of essays/abstracts about theoretical problems of media culture;
- oral collective discussions of media texts (with the help of the teacher’s problem questions);

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- students’ written reviews of particular media texts of different kinds and genres.
The logic of the creative tasks succession proceeds from the principle that the media text critical

analysis begins with the students’ acquaintance with works of professional media experts/critics (reviews,
critiques, and monographs dedicated to media culture and particular media texts), which enable the
students to judge about different approaches to such type of work.

The audience tries to answer the following problem questions: Wherein do the reviewers see the
merits and demerits of this media text? How deep do the reviewers penetrate into the author’s message?
Do you agree or disagree with the reviewers’ judgments? Why? Do the reviewers possess their own
style? If yes, what does it itself manifest (through stylistics, vocabulary, intelligibility, irony, humor,
etc.)? What information is out-dated and what data is still actual in the book? What media text topics,
genres does this reviewer support? Why? Why did the author express the conception of his/her book in
this way?

Then follows the students’ work on abstracts/synopses. And only after that begins their
independent discussion of media texts.

The lessons developing the audience’s skills of media text analysis and synthesis are aimed at
training their sound-and-visual memory, stimulation of personality creativity, improvisation,
independence, culture of thinking, an ability to use the obtained knowledge in new educational situations;
at psychological, ethical work, reflections on moral and artistic values, etc.

The general scheme of media text discussion usually consists of:
- the moderator’s opening speech (his aim is to preview the media text, tell about its creators, remind of
their previous works for the audience to go beyond the bounds of a particular media text and refer to the
other creations of these authors; if necessary, to touch upon the historical or political contexts of the
events, abstaining from giving artistic, moral, or other appraisal judgments of the author’s conception,
and without relating the plot of the media text), i.e. pre-viewing perception set;
- collective reading of the media text (communication);
- discussion of the media text; drawing conclusions at the end of the lesson.

The discussion of a media text (according to Y. Usov’s recommendations) starts with a
comparatively easy media text of mass (popular) culture and includes the following stages:
- choice of the episodes expressing the characteristic construction features of the whole film to the
utmost;
- the analysis of these episodes (an attempt to understand the author’s way of thinking, the complex and
interconnected development of the conflict, characters, ideas, sound-and-visual sequence, etc.);
- the audience defines the author’s conception and estimates it.

The discussion ends with a problem-testing question which shows the audience’s skills quality of
media text analysis (e.g. What media texts can this work be compared with? Why? What do they have in
common?)

Similar teaching methods of discussing particular media texts with youth, students’, pupils’
audiences are discussed in more detail in my previously published works (Fedorov, 2001; 2007).

The criterion showing the audience’s skills to analyze the audio-visual, space-and-time media text
structure is the ability to comprehend a multilayer image-bearing world, both of separate components and
a whole media product: the logic of the sound-and-visual, plastic development of the author’s train of
thoughts in the complex, integral unity of various means of image and sound organization.

It is well known that one of the media education main priorities in modern conditions (Bagenova,
2004; Baranov, 2002; Fedorov, 2007) is formation and development of the audience’s critical thinking in
relation to particular media texts distributed through mass media.

But the development of the audience’s critical thinking is impossible without their preliminary
acquaintance with typical aims, methods and techniques of manipulating media influence, its social and
psychological mechanisms, and without information problem analysis. Being aware of such techniques
students will be able to more critically perceive any information spread via mass media (the press, TV,
films, radio, the Internet, etc.).

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Unquestionably, the manipulating influence of mass media on the audience is realized at different
levels. Let us describe some of them:
- the psycho-physiological level of influence on primitive emotions, when together with a personage’s
action the viewers subconsciously accept the world in which, for example, the ends justify the means, and
cruelty and violence are looked at as something normal;
- the social and psychological level based to a large extent on the compensation effect when the reader,
listener, viewer are supplied with an illusion of achieving their most cherished dreams by self-
identification with a media text personage;
- the informational level consisting in the reflection of useful utilitarian, living data for the audience: how
to get on in love, to avoid danger, to stand up for themselves in a critical situation, etc.
- the aesthetic level meant for a smart audience, for whom the formal workmanship can serve an
argument for justification, for example, of the naturalistic representation of violence and aggression if
they are depicted in the aestheticized, ambiguous, ambivalent form.

The manipulating media influence is also based on such far-famed factors as standardization,
mosaic, serial presentation, folklore motives (the magic power of personages, consistency of metaphors,
symbols, a happy end, etc.). Herein two mechanisms of the human mind are used – identification (self-
identification, imitation) and compensation (projection).

Comparing the general media manipulation techniques one can use the following typology:
- orchestration – psychological pressure in the form of constant repetition of particular facts irrespective
of the truth;
- selection (juggling) – choice of definite trends, for example, exclusively positive or negative trends,
misrepresentation (spin), exaggeration (underestimation) of these tendencies;
- embroidery (embellishment or exaggeration in the description or reporting of an event);
- tagging (for example, condemnatory, offensive, etc.);
- transfer (projection) – a shift of some qualities (positive, negative) onto another phenomenon (or man);
- evidence - reference to authorities (not always correct) in order to justify a certain action, slogan;
- a folksy manner, including, for instance, an extremely simplified form of information presentation.

The ideal audience for media manipulation is the people devoid of critical thinking towards media
texts, who do not understand the difference between advertisement and entertainment. That is why a
media text action is often arranged in the form of a kaleidoscope, mosaic of dynamic change of
rhythmically organized episodes. Each of them cannot last long (for the texture should not bore the
viewers); carries some information, actively relies on the compensation effect, and affects the emotional
and instinctive spheres of the human mind.

Hence, we developed a technology of developing the audience’s anti-manipulative critical
thinking on media material:
- students’ acquaintance with basic aims of media manipulation;
- demonstration of social and psychological mechanisms/tactics used by media text authors to achieve
manipulation effects;
- demonstration and analysis of methods and tactics used by media text creators trying to reach the
desired effect;
- attempting to understand the author’s logic of thinking and conception, the audience’s evaluation of this
conception.

It goes without saying that this approach is effective under certain conditions. Firstly, it must
be based on the audience’s theoretical knowledge. Such theoretical training, beyond question, can be
integrated with the practice of problem analysis, but, in our opinion, the preliminary general theoretic
familiarization of the audience with typical goals and tactics of media manipulation greatly facilitates
further media education.

While analyzing media texts students use different methods:

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- information sifting (well-reasoned high-lighting of true and false information in the press, TV, radio
content; information filtering that removes any embroidery and tags by comparison with absolute facts,
etc.);
- taking off the halo of typicality, folksiness, authoritativeness from the information;
- critical analysis of the aims, interests of the media agency, or the source of information.

In case an art media text is taken for critical analysis instead of a news TV program, the
peculiarities of its artistic structure are also taken into consideration. Otherwise, one will not feel the
difference, say, between a certain political action in real life and a more multiform influence of a work of
art.

One of the most acute issues regarding the problem of media manipulation is violence on the
screen. Indisputably, not many people try to copy cruel blockbuster heroes in real life. But many others
get used to violence shown by mass media, and their thoughtless consumption of episodes with numerous
scenes of murders, tortures, etc. leads to indifference, callousness, and inability to empathize with other
people’s sufferings. That explains the purpose of studying this aspect. For instance, it is possible to
disclose the real essence of a superman character killing dozens of people; to show the harm caused by
violence presented in the form of a game, joke, etc.

To vary a lesson one can use a very effective learning game called investigation: the audience is
offered to investigate the crimes committed by characters from different media texts containing violent
scenes. The task is to find unseemly, illegal, cruel, anti-humane actions of the characters which, in
addition, can be presented by the authors’ in a merry and humorous form. So, having gathered the
evidence the audience states the charge against the authors (agencies) of the media texts manipulating
with scenes of violence. There is no doubt, that the analytical skills can provide good educational
results cultivating a certain immunity to omissions and falsehood.

One cannot but admit that a man unprepared for media perception is unable to fully understand
and analyze the information, unable to resist media manipulation, and to independently express his/her
thoughts and attitudes. But for artistic analysis of any media text defense against manipulation is, of
course, not sufficient.

Ultimately, the whole set of the above-described lessons is meant to contribute to personality
development (including the audience’s individual, creative thinking corresponding to conceptual
(knowledge of media culture theory), sensory (intentional communication with mass media, orientational
experience in genre and topical repertory flow), motivational (emotional, cognitive, moral, aesthetic
motives of contact with mass media), evaluative (faculty for audio-visual thinking, analysis, synthesis of
space-and-time form of media narrative, for self-identification with its character and author, for
understanding and evaluation of the author’s conception in the context of sound-and-visual media text
structure); creative (creative self-expression in various activities) indicators.

As a result of such set of studies a considerable part of the audience proceeds from the initial and
secondary levels of media text perception to a higher level of complex identification, showing the
students’ ability to identify with the author’s position.

In addition, the audience (see, for example, Y. Usov’s works) develops the following
development indicators in media culture:
- emotional inclusion (from a non-conscious, spontaneous characteristics of a media text the audience
proceeds to a holistic media text characteristics);
- emotional activity of judgments (from formal judgments drawn with the teacher’s help students proceed
to a more vivid, image-bearing, individual expression of their media impressions);
- maturity of image thinking (from spontaneous, intuitive – to conscious usage of perception images and
artistic notions);
- skills of media text partial analysis (from fragmentary use of critical evaluation components – to
adequate, holistic analysis of sound-and-visual, space-and-time structure of dynamic media art images).

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Russian and French media education in XXI century *

* written with the support of Foundation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Grant (FMSH, Paris, France,
2009).

The audience's involvement in media education

France. In the first decade of the 21st century media education in France has been developing
quite intensively. The National Media Education Center (with many branches in different cities of
France) – Centre de liaison de l’enseignement et des medias d’information (CLEMI) – undoubtedly, has
assumed the country’s leadership. In 2007– 2008, for example, 30000 people were involved in media
education (in the light of all CLEMI’s national departments). Among them – 24.5% were school
students, 8% – university students, 13.7% – teachers, 9.5% – members of various associations and 4.5% –
researchers. Plus journalists, librarians, archivists, etc. (CLEMI, 2009, p.10). The 19th National Press and
Media Week (2008) in schools involved 4.7 million students and 415 thousand teachers from 40000
schools throughout France (CLEMI, 2009, p.12). As usual professional journalists from 1750 media
agencies (press, radio, television, and the Internet) attended the Week of Press and Media.

Unfortunately, France has not created a national media education association yet, like the
associations existing, for example, in Canada, the United States and Russia.

Russia. At the beginning of the 21st century a team of media educators from Taganrog State
Pedagogical Institute developed a package of documents for opening a new university media education
specialization. In 2002, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation approved and
registered a new specialization for universities № 03.13.30. – Media Education. Since September 2002
Taganrog State Pedagogical Institute (http://www.tgpi.ru) has been training teachers in this specialization.

The problems of media education development and information literacy promotion have recently
interested the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. In 2006-2008, the issues concerning media
education were discussed at the Public Chamber’s working sessions. In May 2009, the Moscow City
Parliament adopted recommendations to introduce optional and integrated media education in Moscow
schools. In 2006–2008, there appeared new organizations to maintain and promote the media education
movement in Russia: the Siberian Association for Media Education, the Ural Scientific Methodological
Center for Media and Media Education (http://www.urfomediacenter.ru) and the Regional Center for
Media Education in Yekaterinburg (http://www.omo-ps.ru), that initiated the issue of a new Russian
media edition journal – ”Education. Media. Society: Space for Collaboration” (issued since 2007). The
Dean of the Journalism School of Belgorod State University, Prof. Alexander Korochensky developed a
synthetic approach to media education and media criticism (Korochensky, 2003).

All these new organizations and associations arranged successful international and local
conferences on media education – in Tomsk (2006, 2007, and 2008), Belgorod (2006-2010) and
Yekaterinburg (2007).

There are many Russian institutions that actively promote the ideas of media education – in
theory and practice. Apart from the traditionally well-known media universities and faculties (VGIK,
Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, etc.), there are training courses on media education
and the media in Taganrog State Pedagogical Institute, Tver State University, Voronezh State University,
State University of Management, Moscow Institute of Open Education, Yekaterinburg State University,
Tomsk Institute of Information Technology, Chelyabinsk State University, Southern Ural State
University, Tambov State University, Biysk State Pedagogical University, Irkutsk State Pedagogical
Institute of Foreign Languages, Kurgan State University, Omsk State University, Southern Federal
University, Rostov State Economic University, Altai State Academy of Culture and Arts, Pomorsk State
University, Krasnodar University of Culture and Arts, etc.

According to Alexander Sharikov (Sharikov at all, 2006, p. 40), media education nowadays

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covers 14% of Russian schools in cities with a population of 500 thousand people or more. Only in
Moscow dozens of schools – from elementary schools to gymnasiums are involved in media education.

Media education based on the press

France. Media education based on the press has traditionally been the strongest part of the
French media education model. In this direction the lion’s share of CLEMI’s activities is carried out, and
most of annual conferences and seminars are held. The centers for media education on the material of the
press function in nearly all French schools. At the beginning of the 21st century the second national
contest of schools & lyceums’ magazines was successfully conducted (about 982 magazines created by
students were submitted) (CLEMI, 2009, p.19).

Unfortunately, the practice shows that this kind of mass media education does not always
guarantee the achievement of its primary objective, which, according to the CLEMI media education
model, is to develop the audience’s critical thinking and democratic identity. For instance, while reading
some articles on international topics published in French schools’ and lyceums’ newspapers, you can
come across examples of uncritical students’ perception of stereotypes characteristic of professional
western media. Thus, evaluating contemporary events in Russia, French students simply repeated
traditional clichés from “big” French press (‘the dictatorship of Putin’, ‘Russian gas weapons’, etc.),
considering only the negative aspects of Russian life without endeavoring to somehow analyze any
different viewpoints on the events (Cit.: De l'actualite', 2008, p. 9).

Russia. The press-based segment of media education has traditionally developed in Russia. For
example, the Agency ‘YNPRESS’ (http://www.ynpress.com) founded “Media School” for school
students (http://www.mediashkola.ru). Conferences, meetings of young journalists, master classes,
competitions – these are just some activities of this organization.

Audiovisual media education

France. In the first decade of the 21st century audiovisual media education has been developing
both at the level of future media professionals training in universities, and at the mass level, first of all
involving the school audience. CLEMI’s progress in this area is not so impressive in comparison with the
media education based on the press, but from 2000 to 2009, CLEMI organized a series of seminars and
trainings devoted to the issues of television, radio and web radio.

Russia. Mass audiovisual media education is a traditional domain of Russian Association for Film
and Media Education (http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/load/media_education_literacy_in_russia/8). In
addition to teaching audiovisual education courses in Russian universities and schools, educational film
festivals, seminars and conferences have also been conducted.

Media education through Internet

France. Given the rapid growth under the influence of Internet sites for the new generation,
CLEMI has intensified its activities in this direction. This refers not only to the enhancement and support
of the main functions of the web site www.clemi.org, containing text and audio media files, but also to
seminars and round tables on Internet education. As a result, this led to eightfold increase in the number
of visits to pages on CLEMI’s web site (2008), as compared with similar data at the beginning of the 21st
century (CLEMI, 2009, pp. 20-21). In France there are also other media educational sites or teacher
training media sections of educational portals (www.educaresources.education.fr, www.curiospere.tv,
etc.).

Russia. Since 2005 we have been creating (in addition to print version) a complete electronic
version of the Russian journal “Media Education” (http://edu.of.ru/medialibrary). In 2000s, a number of
Russian media education sites were created: Russian Association for Film and Media Education

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(http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/load/media_education_literacy_in_russia/8), the Russian Federation of
Internet Education (http://www.fio.ru), Agency YNPRESS (http://www.ynpress.com), Laboratory of
Screen Arts of Institute Arts’ Education (Russian Academy of Education) (http://www.art-
education.ru/otd-dop-ekran.htm), Media Education Laboratory of Institute for General Secondary
Education of Russian Academy of Education (http://www.mediaeducation.ru), Scientific and Research
Laboratory “School Mediatheque” of Russian Academy of Education (http://www.ioso.ru/scmedia),
Regional Center for Media Education in Ekaterinburg (http://www.omo-ps.ru), Ural Scientific
Methodological Center for Media and Media Education (http://www.urfomediacenter.ru).

In 2008, some Russian interregional organizations with the support from Inter-regional
organization “Information for All” (http://www.ifap.ru) and Russian Film and Media Education
Association (requested and sponsored by the Information Resources Administration Committee of the
Governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Ugra), headed by Alexey Demidov, created the portal
“Information Literacy and Media Education” (http://www.mediagram.ru). In the same year under the
supervision of Alexander Fedorov another media education web-site was created – “Open Public Media
Education Library” (http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/load/media_education_literacy_in_russia/8). Both
webs contain free full-text books, manuals and programs, dissertation abstracts, and articles on media
education and information literacy. All of them are freely available and can be used in the learning
process and in the process of a person’s self media education.

Elena Yastrebtseva and her colleagues from Russian Academy of Education have recently created
several challenging network media educational projects carried out by pupils on teaching aids. Similar
Internet projects have been created in Togliatti Media Education Center.

Publications on media education issues

France. Over forty books (monographs, textbooks, collections of articles) on media education
were published in France from 2000 to 2010. One third of those publications created with the
participation of CLEMI.

Among them is a monograph by Serge Tisseron – “Who is Afraid of Video Games?”, in which he
not only systematizes styles and themes on video and computer games, and not only warns of the dangers
of ”games’ mania” and games’ violence, but also provides methodological advice for parents (Tisseron,
2008, pp.145-153).

A wider circle of media education issues is covered in Fabrice Barthelemy’s book “The School
and the Media”, in which the author gives a brief description of media types and genres, the key concepts
of media education. In particular, he, like many other experts in the field of media education (see, for
example, the results of the survey of international experts: Fedorov, 2007), drew attention to the
terminological variations in this area (Barthelemy, 2004, p. 82) and highlighted semiotic and critical
thinking as the leading approaches in modern media education in France (Barthelemy, 2004, pp. 95-98).

In 2005, CLEMI published a book entitled “Media Education from Schools to Lyceums” with a
detailed account of educational approaches used in school teaching (based on the press, radio,
photography, advertising, and the Internet). The authors emphasize the idea that media education is
always linked to the project-based collaborative learning (including the establishment of the school press)
(Savino & Marmiesse, 2005, p.13). This publication has something in common with the book “Visual
Education School” by Michel Thiebaut (Thiebaut, 2002), published three years earlier, but it presents a
more broad-based approach to different types of media.

The book “The Pedagogical and Scientific Film” (Pastre-Robrt, Dubost et Massit-Follea, 2004)
provides a thorough analysis of a collection of French teaching films of 1910-1955 (2700 films), and the
use of films in school teaching. The book “Movies - School - There and Back” (Nourrison et Jeunet,
2001) explores the history of film education in French schools from 1909 to 1935 and in the pre-war
period of 1936-1940 till 1970.

Some of the books published in France in the 21st century are very original in conception. So,

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Dominique Chansel in his book “Europe on Screen: Cinema and History of Education” provides a
detailed analysis (in the context of media education) of key European films reflecting such important
topics for social policy as nationalism, militarism, feminism, immigration, human rights, etc. (Chansel,
2001, pp. 9-10). Interestingly, two of the 50 films selected by the author were created in Russia (‘Cranes
Are Flying’ by M.Kalatozov and ‘Little Vera’ by V. Pichul). The author reasonably believes that the
proposed analysis can be used in teaching in modern educational institutions, in particular, at lessons on
history, social studies, literature and other arts. The analysis of each film is supplemented with essential
questions to promote understanding of its socio-cultural, political and artistic context and values (e.g. the
analysis and questions relating to films by M. Kalatozov and V. Pichul on p. 54-55 and p. 118-119).

A. Bergala’s “Cinema Hypotheses” examines the status of the film and film analysis in the school
classroom. “I am convinced, - the author writes - that we must have the priority approach to the film and
as an art and as an ideological vector, which does not negate the importance of study and critical analysis
of the film language” (Bergala, 2006, pp. 33-34). Basing on her own teaching practice, A. Bergala insists
on prioritizing the use of DVD’s classroom opportunities for media education (Bergala, 2006, pp. 118-
124).

The book of Dominique Chansel is written on the cinema content. And the work “School and
Television: Cultural Shock” (Harle, 2004) gives a description of complex relationships between
audiences and television texts. The work “Youth & Media. Reasons for Success” (Corroy, 2008) reveals a
more consistent approach. For example, it examines the audience’s perception of the book and the serial
film about Harry Potter, and presents the results of a study on the topic: “Youth and blogs, Internet
forums, SMS”.

Russia. In 2000s the number of publications on media education has rapidly increased in Russia.
Over 60 monographs and textbooks, dozens of scientific journals and hundreds of articles on media
education were issued from 2001 to 2009.

Since 2005 the Russian journal “Media Education” has been published (4 issues per year) with the
support of ICOS “Information for All” and UNESCO Moscow Office in Russia.

Development of training programs, manuals and guidance documents on media education

France. CLEMI created programs and guidances on media education for elementary and
secondary schools – both for school audiences and for teachers (Savino-Blind, Bevort, Fremont, Menu,
2008, pp. 8-34). In particular, it is anticipated that students should compare the viewpoints of authors
working with different types and genres of media texts’, they should find contradictions, identify
information sources, analyze the plot design, audiovisual series, and economic mechanisms of
advertising, reasonably justify their points of view, be able to create their own media texts, etc. As a
result, the audience is supposed to develop their critical thinking in relation to the media and media texts
relying on democratic values.

A more detailed methodology of media education on the press content is developed in the book by
Chenevez Famery, which includes the following stages of working with the press: justification of the title
and style of the school newspaper, creation of a team, taking into account the ‘diversity of talents’,
selection of headings, genres and topics for articles, training in such basic elements of journalism as the
composition of a newspaper page, a specific article, the selection of illustrations, the technique of
composing questions for interviews, etc. Moreover, the problems of freedom of speech and morality,
legal issues of journalism must also be taken into consideration (Chenevez & Famery, 2005, pp. 5-6).

The book written by J.-M. Girarardot is based on the radio, besides the author analyzes the
specificity of Internet radio (Girarardot, 2004).

Audiovisual media education is provided in the scope of methodological recommendations
‘Television: the Way to Use’ from P. Berthelot, E. Bevort and others. It fosters understanding of
television genres and specific aspects of television language; it explains how to create television
programs and how they are perceived by various social, age and other audience groups (Berthelot, Bevort

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et les autres, 2003, pp. 8-47).
More details on the methodology of media/TV education with a clear focus on the development of

critical and democratic thinking are given in the training manual developed by CLEMI’s staff offices in
Bordeaux (CLEMI de l'academie de Bordeaux, 2003, pp. 78-83). Employees of the regional office in
Bordeaux-CLEMI also developed some methodological recommendations for the use of integrated media
education at French lessons and lessons in foreign languages, literature, history, geography, art education,
ecology, mathematics, technology, etc. (CLEMI de l'academie de Bordeaux, 2003)

In 2005, the second edition of the dictionary of key media education terms was released (Breda,
2005). It should be noted, that similar dictionaries with a more substantial subject matter were created in
other countries (i.e. U.S., Canada and Russia).

In 2006 and 2010 two more training manuals were issued with the support of UNESCO (both in
English and French) under the editorship of Prof. Divina Frau-Meiges (University of the New Sorbonne)
and Jordi Torrent, the manager of the program “Media Education Literacy” (Alliance of Civilizations,
UN) (Frau-Meiges, 2006; Frau-Meiges & Torrent, 2009). They are available for school teachers, and
explain in simple language modern media education approaches, provide a methodology, learning and
teaching techniques for integrated and autonomous media education. For instance, the following training
modules are usually included in the course: media in the social context, media production, media
languages, media representations, audiences and their perception of media texts; media pedagogy (Frau-
Meiges, 2006, pp. 8-19).

Russia. From 2000 to 2010 Russian media educators developed over 40 educational course
programs for schools and universities and published more than 20 training manuals for educational
institutions of different levels. The full texts of these training manuals and programs can be read and
downloaded from http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/load/media_education_literacy_in_russia/8

Research on media education

France. The development of the democratic and critical thinking of students remains a priority
objective of the majority of French media educators. This tendency is also reflected in CLEMI’s official
documents (CLEMI, 2008, p. 95; 2009, p. 39). A comparative research, for example, was undertaken on
the topic of media education development in the United States and similar processes in France (Corroy,
2008). In 2008, the book “Young People and Media in Europe” (Jacquinot-Delaunay, 2008) was
published, which analyzes the contemporary areas of research in various European countries
(unfortunately, excluding Russia).

During the 21st century several media education dissertations were defended in France (Boutin,
2001; Loicq, 2004; Orban de Xivry, 2004; Poidevin, 2004, etc.).

Jacques Gonnet (back in time when he headed CLEMI) wrote a research book “Media Education:
Fruitful Controversy” (Gonnet 2001), in which he attempted to explore in a polemical form the
difficulties and contradictions (both in theory and in practice) that restrained the development of media
education. Five years later, his colleague Louis Porcher published the book “Media Between Education
and Communication” (2006), - a further theoretical study of the problems - both at the level of critical
thinking development, and at the level of scene phenomenology and dialogue, and the audiences’
perceptions of media languages (Porcher, 2006, p. 118-129).

In 2004, a group of French authors published the book “Film and Audiovisual Education: Current
Situation and Prospects”, which included an article by Eric Schmulevitch “The Structure of Film and
Audiovisual Education in Post-Soviet Russia” (Schmulevitch, 2004, pp. 229-234). Having studied a wide
scope of media education literature in Paris libraries, I can say: this is practically the only work on
Russian film/media education published by a French author in the 21st century.

I regret to say, but Eric Schmulevitch's article did not come up to my expectations. As it turned
out, the subject claimed in the headline of the article was not sufficiently developed. The author made
only a brief (within a single page) excursion into the history of film education in the USSR. He gave a

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general overview of the faculties and specialties of modern Russian Institute of Cinematography (VGIK),
taken, perhaps, from the official website of this leading audiovisual education university of Russia. And
this is not surprising, for he failed to mention a single Russian book in the list of references published in
the 90s of the XXth century or at the beginning of the XXIst century. Thus, French readers have not got a
chance to find out that the film/media education of Post-Soviet Russia is different from one of the Soviet
period, and whether there were any other media education institutions in Russia except for VGIK. This
article does not contain any information about the development of film/media education in relation to
contemporary Russian mass audiences either. Regrettably, the author of the article does not seem to have
read at least one of the hundreds of Russian books and articles on film/media education published since
1991...

Russia. From 2000 to 2010 research projects by Russian scientists on media education received a
significant grant support from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the
Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Program of the
Russian President “The Support of Leading Scientific Schools of Russia”, UNESCO, a number of foreign
funds (Open Society Institute, MION-Ino-Center, Fulbright, IREX, DAAD, Foundation Maison des
Sciences de l'Homme, etc.). There are over 40 research grants received by Russian scholars in total.

The number of Russian dissertations on media education from 2000 to 2010 included over 40
Ph.D. theses. In my previous works (Fedorov, 2001, Fedorov 2007, Fedorov, et al 2008) I gave a detailed
research analysis in the field of Russian media education. The full text of Russian monographs and
abstracts of theses can be read and downloaded from
http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/load/media_education_literacy_in_russia/8

Media activity at the international level

France. CLEMI continues to actively participate in all media educational campaigns launched by
UN, UNESCO, the European Union and Council of Europe, in international conferences on the media
and media education in different countries around the world. CLEMI’s staff regularly travels abroad to
conduct specialized seminars and lectures. Since 2008, French media educators have participated in the
UN “Alliance of Civilizations” and “Media Literacy Education” project (www.aocmedialiteracy.org)
(Frau-Meiges, Torrent, 2009, pp. 15-21).

The European Parliament Resolution (European Parliament Resolution, 2008) establishing the
mandatory introduction of media education in all schools of Member States (from 1 to 12 classes),
undoubtedly, is of great importance for French teachers.

Russia. Having received research grants in 2000-2010, Russian scientists got an opportunity to
work in leading research centers in Washington, New York, London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Budapest,
Toronto and other cities in the world, to participate in major international scientific conferences on media
education (in the United States, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Brazil,
Poland, the Czech Republic and others). Some Russian media educators (Alexander Fedorov, Alexander
Sharikov, and Anastasia Novikova) published their articles in Western scientific journals.

In 2008, Taganrog State Pedagogical Institute and the Russian Association for Film and Media
Education became official partners of the UN in a new project: the relevant contract was signed under
the leadership of the UN “Alliance of Civilizations” (UN “Alliance of Civilizations” - AoC) for the
establishment of the Russian-speaking segment of the world portal of Media Literacy Education
Clearinghouse (Media Education and Media Literacy Chamber - http://www.aocmedialiteracy.org).

Conclusions

Russia. In February 2008, a round table on media education held in Moscow State University
resulted in adopting a resolution, which recognized the achievements of Taganrog State Pedagogical
Institute School of “Media Education and Media Competence”. The resolution states that the school “has

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accumulated the valuable experience in the field of media education gained in Moscow, Voronezh, Tver,
St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Perm, Kurgan, Rostov, Taganrog, Tambov, Krasnodar, Chelyabinsk. The
Russian Association for Film and Media (under the leadership of Alexander Fedorov) and the Siberian
Media Education Association (under the leadership of Irina Jilavskaya) are actively working to promote
the ideas of media education” (http://www.edu.of.ru/mediaeducation/news.asp?ob_no = 32087).

However, the above-mentioned resolution rightly observed on some negative trends in the
development of media education in Russia: “the experience and research results are insufficiently known,
and are not used to the full extent, for media education has not progressed from the experiment stage to
the stage of a wide practical application yet. It should also be noted that the development of media
education still has not achieved prominence at schools of journalism and media faculties in general. It is
partially used in further training at schools of journalism. There is lack of interaction with the already
existing centers and multiple experimental sites in the area of media education, the potential of teachers
and researchers of leading departments is not fully used”.

The conclusions of the resolution run that the promotion of media education is an extremely
important and urgent task which consists in creating the media audience prepared to live and work in the
information society, which must become “the conceptual object of teacher training media courses and
departments of journalism, training courses for practicing journalists and further teacher training in media
education; it is also necessary to come up with a proposal for the Russian Ministry of Education and
Science to consider the relevancy and appropriateness of media components in the secondary education
curriculum”.

In my opinion, major challenges to the introduction of media education into the broad educational
process of Russian universities and schools are primarily caused by:
- the apparent media educators’ lack of consistency;
- a certain inertia of the administrations of a number of pedagogical universities (as is known, the regional
component of university disciplines and optional training courses provide opportunities to introduce new
subjects, but at present universities’ academic councils very timidly provide hours for media education
disciplines which are vital for intending teachers);
- the traditional approach of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science focused on supporting
computer and information technology training courses, leaving the urgent problems of media education
unattended.

Meanwhile, I certainly do not mean that Russian universities and faculties training professional
media practitioners (journalists, directors, producers, managers, etc.), where it is, read the whole spectrum
of academic disciplines related to media. Here, the situation is quite in line with European standards. I am
much more concerned about the media education of will-be teachers, going to work in schools after their
graduation. And, of course, about the media education of pupils, who spend a great amount of their time
with the media, in the digital world.

France. Media education in France is not mandatory yet (except for specialized universities and
faculties training media professionals). However, the European Parliament Resolution (2008) strongly
recommends the introduction of compulsory school media education (as it is already done in Canada and
Australia).

Media education in French schools is developing quite intensively: it is integrated in the basic
subjects or taught autonomously as an optional subject. Media education in teacher training has always
been provided mainly within special courses.

In order to give new impetus to the promotion of media education it is necessary to consolidate
all educational and media educational organizations, the media community, and implement the
recommendations of the European Parliament.

In general, the comparative analysis of contemporary media education policies in France and
Russia in the XXIst century has shown that irrespective of some differences they have a common general
vector (extremely necessary in this age of sophisticated media manipulations) – the development of
young people’s critical and democratic thinking, and their creative media skills at all levels of education.

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Russian scientific researches on media education:
perspective tendencies for the future

I try to define the most perspective tendencies (incl. theoretical models, conceptions) in Russian
researches on media education, to reveal the directions of further development of such researches in the
context of correlation with foreign analogues.

Our analysis allows us to assume that in foreseeable future socio-cultural and cultural studies models
and corresponding aims and tasks will prevail in Russian media education. With the predominance of the
orientation to the synthesis of media material in conditions of schools and institutes of higher education I
can expect the broadening of such research bases as pre-school institutions, institutions of specialized
secondary education, libraries and media libraries. One may also forecast the appearance of such theses
on media education (incl. the remote one) of the adult audience. There’s no doubt that the tendency of
drawing together of the topics of the researches on media education literacy, media criticism and
journalism will continue to increase.

Due to expanding access to electronic media and archives, intensification of scientific exchanges
with foreign countries, the spectrum of philosophical basis, methods of media education will most likely
broaden. At the same time it is likely that the changes of the balance in the spectrum of specializations on
which the researches are conducted will occur due to the appearance of works on media educational
methods.

On the whole our forecast concerning the intensity of the development of researches on media
education in Russia is quite favorable: there’re good reasons to assume that the number of researches
connected with the problems of media education, media competence, media literacy will continue to
increase in number mainly owing to regional scientific collectives.

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Bukharkina M. (1994). Computer telecommunications in teaching foreign languages. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Chansel, D. (2001). L'Europe `a l'ecran: le cinema et l'enseignement de l'histoire. Strasbourg: Council de l'Europe, 219 p.
Chenevez, O. & Famery, P. (2005). Faire son journal au lice'e et college. Paris: Victoires Editions, 150 p.
CLEMI (2008). Bilan de la formation 2007-2008. Paris: CLEMI, 96 p,
CLEMI (2009). Rapport d'activite' – 2008. Paris: CLEMI, 96 p,
CLEMI de l'academie de Bordeaux (2003). Parcours medias au college. Approaches disciplinaires et transdisciplinaires.
Bordeux: CRDP, 168 p.
Corroy, L. (Ed.) (2008). Les jeunes et le medias. Les raisons du succes. Paris: CLEMI-Vuibert-INA, 268 p.
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p.
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Fedorov, A. (2003). Media Education and Media Literacy: Experts’ Opinions. In: MENTOR. A Media Education Curriculum
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Fedorov A. (2005a). Media Education and Media Literacy in the Societies of Knowledge. In: UNESCO Between the Stages of
International Summit on Informational Society. Moscow: Institute of Development of Informational Society, p. 329-339.
Fedorov A. (2005b). Teachers’ Attitude to the Problem of Students’ Media Education. In: Bykhovskaya, M. (Ed.). Education
in the Space of Culture. No. 2. Moscow: Russian Institute of Culturology, p. 259-277.
Fedorov, A. (2007). Development of Media Competence and Critical Thinking of University Students. Moscow: ICOS
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Fedorov, A. (2008). On Media Education. Moscow: ICOS UNESCO «Information for All», 2008.
Fedorov, A., Chelysheva I. (2002). Media Education in Russia: Brief History of the Development. Taganrog: Cognition, 266 p.
Fominova M. (2001). Media education in the context of teaching world artistic culture in secondary schools. Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Frau-Meiges, D. & Torrent, J. (Eds.) (2009). Mapping Media Education Policies in the World. Paris: UNESCO, p.15-21.
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(2009). Mapping Media Education Policies in the World. Paris: UNESCO, p.15-21.
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Fremont, P. (Ed.) (2002). Un partenaire exemplaire: l'ecole et les medias. Paris: CLEMI.
Fremont, P. & Bevort, E. (Eds.) (2001). Medias, violence et e'education. Paris: CNDP, 184 p.
Girarardot, J.-M. (2004). La radio en milieu scolaire. Bensancon: CRDP, 190 p.
Gonnet, J. (2001). L'education aux medias, les controverses fecondes. Paris: Hachette – CNDP.
Gura V. (1994). Cultural studies approach as theoretical and methodical basis for humanization of informational technologies
of education. Ph.D. thesis. Rostov-on-Don.
Harle', M. (2004). Ecole et television: le choc des cultures. Paris: L'Harmattan, 194 p.
Ivanova L. (1999). Forming of media communicative literacy of teenage schoolchildren by means of video (on the material of
the lessons of French). Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Ivanova S. (1978). The development of full-fledged perception of cinematography by junior teenagers. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Jacquinot-Delaunay, G. & Kourti, E. (Eds.) (2008). Des jeunes et des medias en Europe. Nouvelees tendances de la recherche.
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Joffrin, L. (2009). Media-paranoia. Paris: Seuil, 136 p.
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Kirillova N. (2005). Media culture as the integrator of the environment of social modernization. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
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Korochensky, A. (2003). The Fifth Power? Media Criticism in Theory and Practice of Journalism. Rostov: Rostov. State.
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Kutkina O. (2006). Pedagogical conditions of forming of media competence of future librarians and specialists in information.
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Zhurin A. (2004). Integration of media education into the course of chemistry in secondary schools. Ed.D. thesis. Мoscow.

Appendix 1

The list of theses on media education of Russian authors

The theses of 1950-1959:

Chirkova K.V. (1955). Screen aids as one of the visual aids at the lessons of history in V-VIII forms in secondary schools.
Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Gromov A.P. (1958). The use of films and slides at the lessons of mathematics in secondary schools. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Kaschenko B.P. (1951). Educational films in contemporary 7-year schools. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Koldunov Y.I. (1955). School newspapers as means of development of pupils in secondary schools. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Menshikh E.A. (1952). The use of cinema in teaching physics. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Sycheva E.M. (1955). Educational films as means of education in secondary schools. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.

The theses of 1960-1969:

Alekseeva M.I. (1968). Magazines for children in soviet Russia in 1920s as the type of edition. Ph.D. theses. Moscow.
Archangelsky S.I. (1963). Elements of theory, technology and methods of application of educational films in secondary and
the higher school. Ed.D. thesis. Moscow.
Baranov O.A. (1968). School film clubs and their role in film education of senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Cherepinsky S.I. (1968). Didactical problems of the use of cinema in educational process in secondary schools (1917-1967).
Ph.D. thesis. Voronezh.
Karasik A.S. (1966). Artistic and pedagogical analysis of films with pupils of 5-6 forms. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Kolesova L.N. (1966). Pioneer magazines in history of soviet literature for children in 1920s. Ph.D. thesis. Petrozavodsk.
Kraav V.H. (1969). Educational film as the source of cognition. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Penzin S.N. (1967). Some problems of theory and practice of film art television propaganda. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Porotskaya T.I. (1968). Peculiarities of the use of educational film in the process of students’ education of auxiliary schools.
Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Pressman L.P. (1963). The use of cinema and television as means of development of pupils’ speech at the lessons of literature
and Russian language. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Rabinovich R.G. (1966). Cinematography in artistic education of senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Rabinovich Y.M. (1966). Interaction of literature and cinema in aesthetic education of senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Sapyorov V.I. (1969). The use of radio broadcasting in development of students. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Shakhmaev N.M. (1967). Didactical problems of the use technical means in educational process in secondary schools: Ed.D.
thesis. Moscow.

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Vakhemetsa A. (1966). On aesthetic and educational impact of film arts. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.

The theses of 1970-1979:

Bogatiryova Y.N. (1972). From the history of the creation of pioneer’s newspapers (1922-1928). Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Feyginov S.R. (1977). Pedagogical fundamentals of interaction of television and school in development of teenagers. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Goncharova N.V. (1970). Forming of evaluative attitude to feature films of pupils of 5-6 forms. Ph.D. thesis. Irkutsk.
Goryunova N.L. (1978). Educational films: the functions, the contents and the form. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Ivanova S.M. (1978). The development of full-fledged perception of cinematography by junior teenagers: Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Ivanova-Tsiganova V.I. (1971). Peculiarities of educational films at the lessons of foreign languages as the sources of
information and their use in teaching of spoken language in language institutes of higher education: Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Ksenofontov V.V. (1976). Television as the means of development of schoolchildren. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Labkovskaya G.S. (1976). Forming of moral ideals of senior pupils by means of cinematography. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Levshina I.S. (1975). Development of schoolchildren by means of feature films. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Malobitskaya Z.S. (1979). Cinematography as the means of moral and aesthetic development of senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis.
Irkutsk.
Medvedev N.I.. (1978). The use of screen technical instruments in educational process at schools for deaf children: Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Monastirsky V.A. (1979). Artistic education of senior pupils by means of television in out-of-school activities: Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Omarov M.I. (1972). Didactical fundamentals of the use of educational films at the initial stage of teaching of a foreign
language. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Paramonova K.K. (1973). The problems of children’s films. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Polevoi V.L. (1975). Research of the effectiveness of the use of educational films to stir up cognitive activity. Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Shavtsov M.V. (1971). Polytechnical orientation of educational films and methods of its realization when studying natural
sciences. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Sokolova S.V. (1971). The development of the elements of aesthetic perception (on the material of cinematography). Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Stepanov A.A. (1973). Psychological fundamentals of the use of television in education. Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Tikhomirova K.M. (1970). The conditions of the effective use of slide films in educational process in secondary schools (by
the example of the humanities). Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Troitskaya L.D. (1979). Aesthetic development of senior pupils in country schools (on the material of complex use of
literature and television). Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Usov Y.N. (1974). The analysis of films in aesthetic education of senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Zvolinskaya N.N. (1970). The conditions of effective use and radio and sound recording at the lessons of literature. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.

The theses of 1980-1989:

Andreeva I.V. (1982). Cinematography as the means of increasing the pedagogical effectiveness of educational films. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Barmasheva T.M. (1981). Pedagogical interpretation of mass information as the condition of perfection of professional
activity of young teachers. Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Bozhkov Y.I. (1983). Amateur film art activities as a pedagogical problem. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Bulavko V.I. (1982). Screen means of education at the lessons of fine arts in secondary schools. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Cherkashin E.A. (1989). Popular science films about art as means of the development of artistic interests of senior pupils.
Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Fedorov A.V. (1986). Critical analysis of foreign films in the work with senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Genkin P.D. (1985). The development of the interest in amateur film art in the process of educational activities of amateur
film studios. Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Gutova N.V. (1987). The use of cinema as the complex means of development of junior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Iordanova L.V. (1980). Methods of application of educational films at chemistry lessons. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Kholmov M.I. (1985). Formation of soviet journalism for children. Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Kirillova N.B. (1983). Social and aesthetic effectiveness of cinematography as a factor of development of the youth. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Kozlov F.M. (1987). Realization of educational potential of cinema by means of cultural and educational work with students.
Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.

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Kudina I.Y. (1989). Slide films as the means of the development of communicative skills at literature lessons in the upper
school. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Kuznetsov V.M. (1982). Didactical fundamentals of educational television in institutes of higher education: Ed.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Labunskaya N.A. (1982). Screen education in the system of problematic studies: Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Odintsova S.M. (1981). Film analysis as one of the factors of perfection of vocational training of students-philologists in
pedagogical institutes. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Ogorodnikov Y.A. (1981). Nature and functions of the aesthetic component in educational films. Ph.Dr. thesis. Moscow.
Polichko G.A. (1987). Inter-subject connections between the course of literature and the elective film course as the means of
aesthetical development of senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow, 1987.
Poltorak L.D. (1980). Study of literary works taking into consideration film experience of senior students: Ph.D. thesis.
Leningrad.
Pressman L.P. (1981). Pedagogical basis of the creation and use of screen and audio means of education in secondary
schools. Ed.D. thesis. Moscow.
Privalova N.K. (1981). Research of the influence of compositional peculiarities of an educational film on its pedagogical
effectiveness (by the example of the films on the humanities for 5-10 forms in secondary schools). Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Rudenko I.A. (1986). Radio broadcasting for children and youth (making of, development, problems of functioning). Ph.D.
thesis. Мoscow.
Saidashev A.Z. (1985). Activation of cognitive activity of students at problem studies by means of cinema and
demonstrational experiment: Ph.D. thesis. Kazan.
Serezhenkova L.N. (1982). Teaching foreign students speech intercourse by means of feature films (advanced level of
education). Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Shakheeva Ch.A. (1983). Social and psychological aspects of the influence of modern cinema on values of the youth. Ph.D.
thesis. Leningrad.
Sharikov A.V. (1989). Age-specific peculiarities of television orientations of schoolchildren. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Shein S.A. (1982). Psychological peculiarities of senior students’ attitude to film characters. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Trofimova L.N. (1985). The use of videotape recording in out-of-school pedagogical work (in school technical center). Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Tumalyova E.A. (1982). Popular science films and TV programs as means of complex accomplishing of the tasks of teaching
physics. Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad.
Usov Y.N. (1989). Film education as means of aesthetic and artistic development of schoolchildren: Ed.D. thesis.. Moscow.
Usova G.A. (1981). Radio broadcasting and television as factors of the development of values of teenagers. Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Vlaskina G.Y. (1985). Aesthetic development of senior pupils by means of television and radio. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Yakovleva N.N. (1989). Forming of aesthetic evaluations of teenagers by means of cinematography. Ph.D. thesis. Minsk.
Yanelyauskas E.A. (1983). The development of social and artistic activity of personality in the process of amateur film art
activities: Ph.D. thesis. Leningrad, 1983.

The theses of 1990-1999:

Bondarenko E.A. (1997). The system of audiovisual education in forms 5-9 of secondary schools: Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Breytman A.S. (1997). Fundamentals of cinematography in the course of world artistic culture. Ph.D. thesis. St. Petersburg.
Bukharkina M.Y. (1994). Computer telecommunications in teaching foreign languages. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Evtushenko G.M. (1991). Film education in schools in contemporary conditions as the problem of film studies. Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Fedorov A.V. (1993). The system of preparation of students of pedagogical universities for aesthetic development of
schoolchildren on the material of screen arts (cinema, television, video). Ed.D. thesis. Moscow.
Gavrichenkov A.N. (1997). Creation and the use of educational video recording for raising the level of teachers’ skill. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Gura V.V. (1994). Cultural studies approach as theoretical and methodical basis for humanization of informational
technologies of education. Ph.D. thesis. Rostov-on-Don.
Ivanova L.A. (1999). Forming of media communicative literacy of teenage schoolchildren by means of video (on the material
of the lessons of French). Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Karpova N.K. (1996). Theoretical fundamentals of the synthesis of arts as the means of cognition and modeling of personality
in conditions of informational technologies. Ed.D. thesis. Rostov-on-Don.
Khilko N.F. (1999). The development of the abilities of photo creation of teenagers and the youth in the process of amateur art
activities. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Klemeshova N.V. (1999). Multimedia as didactical means in the university. Ph.D. thesis. Kaliningrad.
Kulikova E.A. (1999). The development of schoolchildren’s abilities by means of interactive technologies (computer games).
Ph.D. thesis. St. Petersburg.

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Lepskaya N.A. (1999). Computer technologies in the development of artistic abilities of pupils of secondary schools. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Moiseeva M.V. (1997). Computer telecommunications in the system of raising the level of teachers’ skills: Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Monastyrsky D.V. (1999). Cooperation of institutions culture and film distribution at the organization of leisure for the youth.
Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Ozerov K.G. (1996). Informational and educational activity of library media centers in USA schools. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Petrova N.P. (1995). Elaboration of educational technology “Computer animation as means of media education”. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Platunova L.K. (1995). The development of teachers’ film culture in the process of raising the level of their skills. Ph.D.
thesis. St. Petersburg.
Pustosmekhova L.N. (1999). Peculiarities of role-play organization on the basis of TV programs when teaching foreign
languages at various grade levels. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Samartsev O.P. (1995). Television in the system of education. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Samoylov V.A. (1999). Computer graphics and making of animated cartoons as means of the development artistic abilities of
junior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. St. Petersburg.
Shiyan L.K. (1995). Acmeological fundamentals of mastering the pedagogical technologies of aesthetic development of the
youth by means of television and video programs by the organizers of film and video propaganda. Ed.D. thesis. Moscow.
Shiyan L.K. (1992). Aesthetic development of the youth in club-institutions by means of television and video programs. Ph.D.
thesis. Moscow.
Shkolnik A.Y. (1999). Amateur press as the factor of social development of teenagers: Ph.D. thesis. Kostroma.
Sikoruk L.L. (1998). Children’s films as the means of the development of their artistic skills. Ph.D. thesis. Novosibirsk.
Svenitskaya V.A. (1995). Social and psychological aspects of the influence of cinematography on young audience. Ph.D.
thesis. St. Petersburg.
Svistelnikova T.Y. (1990). Development of musical interests of students by means of television. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Vozchikov V.A. (1999). The development of communicative skills of students by means of journalism. Ph.D. thesis. Biysk.
Zatuchniy M.S. (1993). Amateur film and video creation in aesthetic development. Ph.D. thesis. Yekaterinburg.
Zaznobina L.S. (1990). Scientific and pedagogical fundamentals of creation and use of audiovisual means of teaching natural
sciences for polytechnic education of schoolchildren. Ed.D. thesis. Moscow.

The theses of 2000-2010:

Archangelskaya I.B. (2009). M.McLuhan: from the researches of literature to theory of media. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Averkin Y.A. (2010). The development of visual literacy of students art designers at photography lessons. Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Bondarenko N.I. (2010). Traditions of Russian pedagogical journalism and their role in the development of Russian
education. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Burnashev A.E. (2007). Pedagogical conditions of forming of informational literacy of students studying the humanities by
audiovisual means. Ph.D. thesis. Yakutsk.
Chelysheva I.V. (2002). The main stages of the development of media education in Russia. Ph.D. thesis. Voronezh.
Chernyanovskaya T.V. (2003). Psychological peculiarities of the interest of the youth in horror and mystical films. Ph.D.
thesis. Tambov.
Chicherina N.V. (2008). The conception of forming of media literacy of students of linguistic faculties on the basis of media
texts in foreign languages. Ed.D. thesis. St. Petersburg.
Chikiris A.G. (2007). Television: forming of audience’s perception. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Deikina A.Y. (2000). The development of cognitive interests of pre-school children in the process of media education. Ph.D.
thesis. Barnaul.
Dorofeeva M.G. (2000). The influence cinematography on literary development of schoolchildren. Ph.D. thesis. St.
Petersburg.
Dorzhieva L.B. (2006). Forming of civic responsibility of schoolchildren by means of creation of amateur press. Ph.D. thesis.
Ulan-Ude.
Fateeva I.A. (2008). Journalistic education in Russia: theory, history, contemporary practice. Ph.D. thesis. Ekaterinburg.
Fedorova S.V. (2008). Forming of ethical values of schoolchildren by means of informational and communicative
technologies in institutions of accessory education (on the material of the English language). Ph.D. thesis. Yakutsk.
Fedortsova S.S. (2007). Pedagogical heritage of Y.N. Usov in the context of the development of media education in Russia.
Ph.D. thesis. Rostov-on-Don.
Fominova M.N. (2001). Media education in the context of teaching world artistic culture in secondary schools: Ph.D. thesis.
Moscow.
Fraifeld E.B. (2006). Feature films as means of professional and personal development of university students in the foreign
languages studies. Ph.D. thesis. N.Novgorod.

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Fortunatov A.N. (2009). Interaction between subjects of social communication in media reality. Ph.D. thesis. N.Novgorod.
Goncharuk A.Y. (2000). Pedagogical conditions of the development of aesthetical attitude to reality of schoolchildren’s by
means of spectacular arts. Ed.D. thesis. Мoscow.
Grigorova D.E. (2008). Peculiarities of the influence of media texts of youth television programs on the development of
critical thinking of senior pupils. Ph.D. thesis. Rostov-on-Don.
Guk A.A. (2010). Aesthetic peculiarities of video as creative and communicative activity. Ph.D. thesis. Moscow.
Gura V.V. (2007). Theoretical fundamentals of pedagogical projects of personal oriented electronic educational resources and
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Appendix 2. Media education in Russia and in France: a comparative analysis of the current stage of
development (2000-2010)

N Media France Russia

Education

Situation

1 The Main Media National State Center for Media Russian Association for Film and Media

Education Education (with many offices in French Education

Organizations regions) - CLEMI - Centre de liaison de

l'enseignement et des medias d'information. Russian Internet Federation Education

http://www.clemi.org http://www.fio.ru

Media Research Group YNPRESS Agency http://www.ynpress.com
GRREM: Group de recherche sur la
relation Enfants/Medias). YNPRESS Media School:
http://www.grrem.org http://www.mediashkola.ru

Regional Association of Youth Portal School Press http://portal.lgo.ru/

Educational Press /

Screen Arts Laboratory of Russian Academy

Association regional press enseignement of Education

jeuness – ARPEJ: http://www.art-education.ru/otd-dop-ekran.htm

http://www.pressealecole.fr

Le tout Media Education Laboratory of Russian

CEMEA: Screen & Children Academy of Education:

http://www.mediaeducation.ru

http://www.cemea.asso.fr/multimedia/enfants-medias/

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APTE: Screen, Media and We. Laboratory “School Mediateque” of Russian
Academy of Education:
http://www.apte.asso.fr/APTE0809/index.html http://www.ioso.ru/scmedia

Regional Center for Media Education (Ekaterinburg):
http://www.omo-ps.ru/

Ural Center for Media Culture and Media Education:
http://www.urfomediacenter.ru

2 Media education Media education journals are produced Russian Journal “Media Education”
(print and web versions):
journals and mainly through CLEMI (for example,
http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/load/media_education_literacy_in_russia/8
full-text Internet reviews of Lyceum Press), although
http://www.mediagram.ru/mediaed/journal/
media education many French teachers and media http://www.ifap.ru/projects/mediamag.htm

libraries, magazines publish articles on media Journal “Education. Media. Society: the
Space of Collaboration”:
publications education from time to time. http://www.omo-ps.ru/

From 1992 to 2010 French media Journal “Mediatheque and the World”:
educators published dozens of http://www.rsl.ru/index.php?f=494
monographs, textbooks, guidelines
and manuals for media teachers. Open web library “Media Education”:

Some of these materials can be http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/load/media_education_literacy_in_russia/8
found on the free site of
CLEMI: www.clemi.org Web library “Information Literacy and Media Education”:
http://www.mediagram.ru/library/
The list of journal articles on media
education is more impressive.

3 The main targets – development of critical, democratic From 2000 to 2010 over 40 monographs and
of media education thinking on media materials, analytical 20 training manuals for mass media education
skills for reading media texts of were issued in Russia.
different types and genres; The list of university-oriented publications
specializing in journalism, advertising, film
and television is much more extensive.

– development of critical, democratic thinking
on media materials, skills for media texts'
analysis (media text of different types and
genres).

– development of practical skills to deal – development of practical skills to deal with
with media techniques and create own media techniques and create own media texts
media texts (e.g., school and liceum press, (e.g., school and liceum press, Internet sites);
Internet sites).

– development of students' aesthetic perception
of the media;

– protection of children’s audience from media

violence.

4 The main media - theory of critical thinking development; – aesthetical theory;

education theories - practical media use theory; – practical media use theory;

- semiotic theory; – theory of critical thinking development;

- culture studies theory; – culture studies theory;

– social and cultural theory.

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5 The main media edu-cDaetivoenlopment of critical and democratic - Development of critical and democratic

models thinking, creative media skills at all levels thinking, creative media skills - at all levels of

of education. education.

- Practical (to study the use of media in

practice) - at all levels of education. - Practical (to study the use of media in practice)

- at all levels of education.

- Socio-cultural development of the

personality (the development of aesthetic -Ethical models (moral problems in media

perception and taste, interpretation, content).

analysis, etc.) - at all levels of education;

- Socio-cultural personality development (the

- Educational information (the study of development of perception and taste, critical

theory and history of media and language thinking, interpretation, analysis of media texts,

media), mainly at the university level. etc.) - at all levels of education.

It can be a synthesis of theory (topics about the

audience, media theories and media education),

development (media motivation and technology)

, and practice (creative activity, media perception and

analysis) (A. Fedorov). Plus, the diagnostic

components to define the levels of personality

development as a result of media education

(motivational, contact, informational,

perceptual, interpretative / evaluative, practical

and creative levels);

– Information about the media (the study

of theory and history of the media and media

language), mainly at the university level.

6 The main topics of mmedia languages, media audiences, media media languages, media audiences, media

education lessons categories, media technologies, media categories, media technologies, media agencies,

agencies, media representations, media representations,

theory and history of media, media theory and history of the media, media violence

violence issues, etc. problems, etc.

7 Grant support for mGeodviearnment grants and grants of various Grant support from the Ministry of Education

education projects structures of European Union, UNESCO . and Science of the Russian Federation, the

Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation,

The number of French theses on the the Russian Foundation for Basic Research

subject of media in the 21st century is not Program of the Russian President “The Support

more than a dozen. of Leading Scientific Schools of Russia”,

UNESCO, several foreign funds (Open Society

Institute, MION - Ino-Center, Fulbright, IREX,

DAAD, Foundation Maison des Sciences de

l'Homme, etc.). There are over 40 research

grants received in total.

Since the beginning of the 21st century more

than 40 theses on media education were

published in Russia.

8 Positive and Media education is not compulsory There is intensive research on media

negative (except for specialized media universities education with grant support from the many

tendencies in and faculties). However, the European Russian and foreign foundations.

media education Parliament Resolution (2008) strongly Media education is not compulsory (except

recommends the introduction of for the universities and faculties training media

compulsory school media education (as it professionals).

is already done in Canada and Australia). Media education in schools is still poorly

Media education in schools is developed, and is integrated in the basic

developing quite intensively, and is subjects, or taught autonomously (as an

integrated in the basic subjects or taught optional subject).

autonomously (as an optional subject). Media education in initial and further teacher

training covers a limited range of institutions.

Media education in teacher training is However, with the official opening (since 2002)

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provided mainly within special courses. of the new university specialization –
“Media Education”, there are prospects for increasing
In order to give new impetus to the media the range of higher education institutions in
education movement it is necessary to Russia, introducing media education in the
consolidate all educational and media educational process.
educational organizations, the media
community, and implement the r Teacher training institutions, schools of
ecommendations of the European journalism and the media community as a
Parliament. whole do not contribute sufficiently to the promotion
of media education.

Major challenges to the broad introduction of
media education into teaching in Russian
universities and schools appear to be primarily
caused by:
- the apparent media educators’ lack of
consistency;
- a certain inertia of the administrations of a
number of pedagogical universities (as is
known, the regional component of university
disciplines and optional training courses provide
opportunities to introduce new subjects, but at
present universities’ academic councils very
timidly provide hours for media education
disciplines which are vital for intending
teachers);
- the traditional approach of the Russian Ministry of
Education and Science focused on supporting
computer and information technology training
courses, leaving the urgent problems of media
education unattended.

Though it does not mean that Russian
universities and faculties training professional
media practitioners (journalists, directors,
producers, managers, etc.) read the whole
spectrum of academic disciplines related to the
media, the situation here is quite in line with
European standards. But media education of
will-be teachers and school students is a
matter of special concern for Russian media
educators.

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Analysis of Detectives and Thrillers in Students’ Audience

What is the difference between a detective and a thriller? Of course there are many different nuances.
But the main thing is that at the basis of a detective story lies the plot of investigating of a crime whereas
a thriller is based on pursuit (of a criminal or a victim). Furthermore no thriller can be represented in the
form of reminiscence: there’s no point when the narrator covers all the past events, we even don’t know if
he reaches the end of the story alive (Todorov 1977, 47).

However this does not prevent the appearance of synthetic genres which to the lesser or greater extent
combine the elements of the detective story and thriller.

Having analyzed dozens of Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories about Sherlock Holmes, B.V.
Shklovsky described the structural scheme of the classical detective story as follows:

I. Waiting, talking about the previous cases, the analysis.
II. The appearance of the client. The business part of the story.
III. The evidence given in the story. The secondary information is the most important, but it is given so

that the reader doesn’t notice them. The material for false explanation is provided immediately.
IV. Watson misinterprets the evidence.
V. Checking the crime scene, often the crime is not committed yet, thus the effectiveness of the

narration is achieved, as well as the introduction of a novel with the criminals into the novel with
the detective. The evidence at the crime scene.
VI. An official detective gives a false clue. If the detective is not present then the false clue is provided
by the newspaper, the victim or by Sherlock Holmes himself.
VII. The interval is filled with Watson’s thoughts, he is clueless. Sherlock Holmes smokes or practices
music. Sometimes he joins the facts into groups without giving the final conclusion.
VIII. The denouement is mostly unexpected. Very often an attempted crime is used for the
denouement.
IX. Sherlock Holmes makes an analysis of the facts (Shklovsky 1929, 142).
Despite the variety of plot lines, this plot scheme still persists in many detective stories – in literature,
on the stage, on the screen.
Another master of the classical detective, Agatha Christie (1890–1976) has advanced much further
than her predecessor in the sense of plot diversity. Here D.L. Bykov distinguishes not one (as V.B.
Shklovsky did with respect to A. Conan Doyle) but ten key plot schemes (Bykov 2010):
1) the traditional scheme of a “fireplace detective”: the killer is someone form a closed circle of
suspects;
2) “the gardener is the killer”, when there was somebody unaccounted in the circle of suspects;
3) “everybody killed”. An overturn in the genre – usually you have to choose one in a dozen, but here
everybody is guilty;
4) it is unknown whether the murder took place or not. Everybody is searching for the culprit but the
victim is alive;
5) the victim is the killer, i.e. he was alive at the moment but played dead so that nobody would think
that was him;
6) committed suicide and shifted the blame on others;
7) was killed due to circumstances or some natural phenomenon but everybody is searching for the
guilty one;
8) the killer is the one who accuses, gossips and demands the investigation louder than the others;
9) the investigator is the killer;
10) the author is the killer.
However we can easily notice the difference in the structural approaches of V.B. Shklovsky and D.L.
Bykov. The first one reveals the construction of the detective plot with respect to the detective, and the
second one – with respect to the criminal. Naturally if we judge A. Conan Doyle’s detective stories from
the point of view of the typology of crimes, it won’t come to just one plot scheme.

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On the other hand if we try to approach Agatha Christie’s detective novels about Hercule Poirot we
shall get something like this:

1) By invitation or accidentally detective Hercule Poirot appears at the crime scene, the crime is often
not committed yet. In most cases it is a place isolated from random characters (a mansion, an
island, a train, etc.) The clues are at the scene. The most important minor information is given so
that the reader doesn’t notice them. Immediately the material for false explanation is given to the
reader.

2) the false explanation is given by one of those present, or the reader is supposed to give it himself;
3) the interval of action up to its finale is filled with Hercule Poirot’s thoughts (unknown to the reader

for the time being), his questioning of witnesses; often new crimes are committed on the way;
4) the denouement, mainly unexpected, often combined with Poirot’s public analytical conclusions.
At the same time the situations investigated by Hercule Poirot often contain a certain artificiality to
force up the tension to the limit. By the character of Agatha Christie’s narration for example it is
necessary that the mysterious murder took place not just in the train which goes across Europe from
Istanbul to Calais, but necessarily in the very moment when the train stops because of the snow drifts,
cut off from the world, thereby any external interference in the events are excluded. The manor where
the murder described in The Endhouse Mystery must be necessarily located at the outskirts, forming a sort
of a self-contained little world. Other Christie’s detective are like this, including Ten Little Niggers,
where the events are taking place in a luxurious mansion on an island separated from the mainland by a
wide strait, and on top of that a storm breaks out so that the characters were totally isolated (Zverev
1991).
I must also note that the elements of thriller with its usual psychological suspense and sense of pursuit
are often present in A. Conan Doyle’s and A. Christie’s detectives.
Another recognized master of detective and thriller, not in literature but in cinematography, was
Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), who for the most part didn’t need a professional detective like Holmes or
Poirot. One of Hitchcock’s favorite plot schemes is as follows: an ordinary person (sometimes an
American in a foreign country) who is far from the criminal world, by force of circumstance is dragged in
a dangerous affair concerning crimes and/or espionage. Moreover, he himself has to fight the criminals
and/or prove his innocence at his own risk: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935), Saboteur (1942), and North by
Northwest (1959).

Case study 1: Frantic (1987) by Roman Polanski, Taken (2008) by Pierre Morel and Luc Besson, and
Unknown (2011) by Jaume Collet-Serra

The development of skills of critical analysis of media texts is an important task of film / media
studies. Thereupon I wrote more than once that this process shouldn’t be started with difficult art house
works. However media educational practice shows that even when analyzing/discussing entertaining
genres of media texts, at first senior pupils or students can encounter difficulties in understanding and
interpretation of the author’s ideas, plot and genre peculiarities.

Collaboration with Chris M. Worsnop, one of the most well-known Canadian media educators,
brought me the idea of the comparative analysis of typology of perception of detective & thriller films in
Russian and Canadian student audience.

Our joint Russian-Canadian experiment was based on the following methods (Worsnop 2000):
- the collective view of Roman Polanski’s detective/thriller film Frantic by 16-17 year old students;
- subsequent discussion and interview with the students, consisting of three parts (20 minutes each):
1) unstructured, spontaneous interviews with the use of general questions (such as: What can you say
about this film? Who else wants to say something?); 2) interview with leading questions (such as: Which
episode in your opinion was the main, the key one? Why? What did the filmmakers want to tell the
audience?); 3) purposeful interview (for example, with the use of specific questions such as: Can you
describe the relationship between the two main characters? What light effect was uses in a certain

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episode and why? etc.). The interviews in Russia and Canada were filmed and then were thoroughly
analyzed.

Table 1 was used for assessment of media competence of the students:

Table 1. The levels of critical analysis of media texts (as a part of students’ media competence)

The levels Plot The analysis The analysis The synthesis
of analysis of characters of author’s attitude

the analysis
of media
texts

Perception and Comprehensive Identifying, understanding The ability to
analysis of the plot
as a component of understanding of the author’s point of view analyze media texts
the authors’ work
(script writers, psychological on a media text. The ability in the complex of all
director, actors,
cameraman, characteristics to analyze such its constituents.
composer, etc.).
The ability to put a of characters. The ability components of audiovisual The ability to
particular plot in the
High context of other to explain its relation to media text as script, compare the given
level works of these or
other authors, in other components of the composition, editing, media text with
genre and / or
thematic, media text. The ability to lighting, sound design, other media texts
socio-cultural,
political context. compare the character of image, etc. The ability to and the real s

a particular character with compare the author’s ocio-cultural,

the characters from works concept of a particular political context.

with similar plot schemes, media text with the The ability to make

genre and / or thematic concepts of works well-grounded

spectrum. with similar plot schemes, conclusions and

genre and / or thematic generalizations.

spectrum.

Perception and Identification with the Understanding of some of A media text is
analysis of the plot
(the main chain of character of a media text, the components of a media analyzed mainly
Average events in the story)
level and some of its with his psychological text, simplified in terms of actions
components.
feelings, motives of his interpretation of the of the characters

actions. author’s position. within the superficial

The ability to analyze the understanding

behavior of the characters of the plot.

in terms of their compliance

with moral norms.

Perception of the Identification with the Rather trivial understanding oAf media text isn’t
plot of a media text characters of a media text
in the context of its followed by a primitive the components of a media analyzed, although
naïve identification interpretation of their
with reality. Inability actions and characters. text, absence of well-groundesdome primitive
to analyze the plot
Low structure interpretation of the comparisons and
level (replacement of the
analysis with the author’s position. assumptions can
simple retelling of
the plot of a media be made.
text)

Our analysis showed that even regarding detective and thriller genres which are popular with the
young audiences, only a small minority of the students (from 1% to 2% both in Russia and Canada) were
able to make a high level analysis. Most of the students (from 67% to 73%) made a low level analysis of
media texts, and 26% - 31% made an average level analysis.

Moreover, it turned out that the results of students’ analysis of media texts is directly dependent on the
types of questions asked by media educators. If the unstructured questions were asked (like “What can

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you tell about this?”) students tended to show weak analytical results compared with those obtained after
suggestive, targeted questions.

Thus we concluded that our scale of the levels of critical analysis (as a part of media competence) of
students was effective for the tasks of the experiment.

As a result I came to the conclusion that it is necessary to work out a special method of the analysis of
detective genre in media studies in the student audience. The following tasks were the initial ones:

- to introduce the detective and thriller genres to the audience;
- to outline the basic plot schemes of the classical detective story;
- to introduce to the audience the postmodern interpretations and synthesis of the detective and thriller

genres in modern media texts.
I will try to illustrate this with concrete examples ready for use in media studies with students’
audience.
It is interesting to see the further transformations of classical traditions of detectives and thrillers in
cinematography of late XX – early XXI century. Let’s try to do this by the example of three films:
Frantic (1987) by Roman Polanski, Taken (2008) by Pierre Morel and Luc Besson, and Unknown (2011)
by Jaume Collet-Serra.
In the postmodern era many filmmakers began to make more and more films designed for multi-layer
perception. The proofs of this are such works of Roman Polanski as Pirates (1986) and Frantic (1987).
Both are well-designed post-modern films, which hide “underwater reefs” of quotations, parallels,
parodies under the mask of spectacular genres. For some viewers Pirates is an exciting thriller in the
spirit of Treasure Island or The Odyssey of Captain Blood and Thief of Bagdad. For others it is the source
of pleasure from playing with rethought motifs of adventure classics.
For instance the scheme of the construction of the classical detective developed by a well-known
culture theorist T. Todorov which is very controversial in my opinion is absolutely not applicable to the
products of postmodernism. The scheme is as follows:
1. There must be one detective, one criminal and at least one victim (dead body) in a detective.
2. The accused must not be a professional criminal or detective, he must kill for personal reasons.
3. There’s no place for love in the detective.
4. The accused must have a certain status:
а) he must not be a lackey or a maid in life,
б) he must be among the main characters in the book.
5. Everything must be explained rationally, without any fiction.
6. There’s no place for descriptions and psychological analyses.
7. A certain homology of storytelling should be kept: “author: reader = criminal: detective”.
8. Banal situations and solutions should be avoided (Todorov 1977, 49).
Post-modern detectives and thrillers tend to violate nearly all the “rules” of T. Todorov’s scheme.
Frantic (1987) may well be perceived as an ordinary thriller about the disappearance of the wife of an
American scientist (Harrison Ford), who arrived at the international congress in Paris. But it also may be
perceived as a kind of mischievous “digest” of the rich tradition of detective stories, thrillers and gangster
sagas from Hitchcock to the present day. From this, for example, comes the provoking frankness of
justification of English-speaking of all the characters in Frantic, including the French policemen who are
intentionally speaking English so that Harrison Ford’s character hiding nearby and all the English-
speaking viewers did not feel themselves in linguistic vacuum. “Hitchcock’s ingredients - MacGuffin, a
false secret, in this case - a kind of a nuclear device which is meant only to be the cause for the chase;
fear of heights (the motif of Hitchcock’s Vertigo – A.F.) and the associated significance of roofs;
misanthropic humor; formal but necessary romantic line – are arranged by Polanski with his somewhat
ostentatious elegance. But the main thing is not the ingredients, it is the heart of the formula: a sense of
powerlessness which seizes a lone man in the face of total conspiracy” (Brashinsky 2001).
Indeed, “the image of a stranger in a strange environment created by Harrison Ford resembles Cary
Grant’s, James Stewart’s and other actors’ characters from “the old Hitch’s” detectives and thrillers about

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innocent characters who often become secret agents against their will” (Kudryavtsev 1989). However R.
Polanski treats the plot as a kind of allegorical autobiography as well – from this is the scenes with the
policemen and the staff of the American Embassy who in fact are mocking at Harrison Ford’s character.

One might think that the genre and the entangled plot, and Harrison Ford’s name had to guarantee
Frantic’s box-office success. But for the audience (especially the American) Roman Polanski’s film
apparently seemed to be insufficiently exciting: with the budget of $20 million it managed to earn only
$17,6 million, and eventually covered its cost only by European distribution.

In Pierre Morel’s detective/thriller Taken, 2008, which title was inaccurately translated into Russian as
Hostage, the main character that also flew from America to Paris is searching for his kidnapped 17 year
old daughter and releases her from the clutches of Albanian criminals. The plot scheme is very similar to
that of Frantic, the only difference is that the main character is not a humble doctor but a former secret
agent. But here Taken resembles M. Lester’s Commando (1985), where a former American commando
(A. Schwarzenegger) with “fire and sword” releases his daughter kidnapped by a criminal gang.

“Just imagine what kind of a predictable boredom it could have become if it had been filmed by some
big studio with bloated staff and considered marketing on the other of the Atlantic Ocean. Here (thanks to
the French producer and Screenwriter Luc Besson – A.F.) every three minute the screen is adorned with
some inexcusable and virtuosic violence, crunching neck bones, screeching brakes, rumbling gunfire and
joyful lack of political correctness. … Food for thought was not forgotten as well: the character is
searching for the Albanian villains with the use of deduction, clinging at the thread jammed in the broken
mirror like Sherlock Holmes” (Kulikov 2008). At the same time the main character is not a bodybuilder
like Schwarzenegger but again a 50 year old intelligent person similar to Hitchcock’s C. Grant, J. Stewart
or H. Ford from Frantic. This time in an effective performance of sad Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List).

The budget of Taken ($25 million) slightly exceeded the cost of Frantic, however, thanks to a much
greater dynamics of action and lesser “cineaste”, the film of Pierre Morel and Luc Besson managed to get
$145 million bucks in the U.S. And that’s not counting the European box-office!

Considering such an impressive box-office there’s no surprise that the Spaniard J. Collet-Serra invited
Liam Neeson for the lead role in his detective/thriller Unknown (2011).

The beginnings of Unknown and Frantic are as like as two peas: a British biologist and his wife arrive
in Berlin for the congress. Like in Frantic troubles with the suitcase begin. And…

Then the plot makes a sharp turn in the direction of an old film of Julien Duvivier Diabolically Yours
(1967) with an unforgettable Alain Delon and its remake Shattered (1991) by Wolfgang Petersen.

… Having got into a car accident the biologist partially loses his memory and suddenly discovers that
nobody can (or wants to) recognize him, even his wife.

Then we can also see the motifs of classic films of Alfred Hitchcock coupled with Roman Polanski’s
Frantic: desperate to get help of the authorities and the police, the main character tries to prove his case
and find identity on his own (also relying on the former special agent of East Germany). An illegal
female emigrant from Bosnia willy-nilly helps him too.

However, in the finale it turns out that the authors of the film cleverly played on the perception of the
audience familiar with plot schemes of classical and post-modern detectives and thrillers, and prepared an
unexpected ending in the spirit of the famous Angel Heart (1987) by Alan Parker.

Nevertheless it turned out that Unknown managed to touch not only the viewers experienced in
detective genre, but also the mass audience: at the cost price of $30 million the film of J. Collet-Serra
managed to get $43 million in the USA during the first week. And it seems that its worldwide box-office
will be no less than that of Taken…

Thus Unknown proved once again that in the detective and thriller the plot scheme is not as important
as its thorough arrangement based on knowledge of the laws and the classics of the genre.

Thereupon let me express a seditious thought: it is possible that Frantic with its cinematic stylishness
went ahead of its time for about twenty years. If it was released nowadays it could have got its hundred
million bucks…

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Plot and structural analysis of the films of R. Polanski, P. Morel/L. Besson and J. Collet-Sera allows
us to make the following table (Table 2):

Table 2. Comparative analysis of the structure of modern detectives/thrillers

The title Plot Scene of action andTyitpse on Analogies
of the detective/
thriller scheme depiction the main

Frantic, character
1987
1. A doctor and his The country An ordinary man, Films by A. Hitchcock
Taken,
2008 wife arrive to an (France) and the an American, The 39 Steps (1935),

Unknown, nternational conference. city (Paris) alien about 50 years old, Saboteur (1942),
2011
2. Suddenly the wife for the main who is far from North by Northwest

disappears. character. the criminal world, (1959).

3. Desperate to get Entourage – by force of

help of the authorities gloomy night circumstance is

and the police, the nooks and dragged in a

main character tries to underground dangerous affair

find his wife on his garages, shady concerning crimes

own. A young Parisian nightclubs and and/or espionage.

woman willy-nilly gloomy

helps him. atmosphere.

4. Having gone through

a chain of dangerous

adventures

(investigation, pursuit/

chase), the main

character returns his

wife, although at the

cost of the young

French woman’s life.

1. A former secret The country An American, Besides

agent flies across the (France) and the about 50 years old, A.Hitchcock’s films

ocean to find his 17 city (Paris) alien who used to be Commando (1985)

year old daughter who for the main rather close to the by M. Lester and

suddenly disappeared character. world of criminals Frantic (1987) by

in Paris. Entourage – and spies, by force R. Polanski.

3. Desperate to get help gloomy night of circumstance is

of the authorities and streets, dens, dragged in a

the police, the main gloomy dangerous affair

character tries to find atmosphere. concerning crimes

his wife on his own. of mafia.

A young woman

willy-nilly helps him.

4. Having gone through

a chain of dangerous

adventures

(investigation, pursuit/

chase), the main

character returns his

daughter.

1. A biologist and his The country Seemingly an Besides A. Hitchcock’s

young wife arrive to an (Germany) and ordinary man, an Films -

international the city (Berlin) American, about Diabolically Yours (1967)

conference. alien for the 50 years old, who By J. Duvivier,

2. Having got into a main character. is far from the Frantic (1987)

car accident the Entourage – criminal world, by R. Polansky;

biologist partially loses gloomy night by force of Angel Heart (1987)

his memory and streets, poor circumstance is by A. Parker;

suddenly discovers that homes, gloomy dragged in a Shattered (1991)

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nobody can (or wants atmosphere dangerous affair by W. Pertersen.
to) recognize him, even his concerning crimes
wife. and/or espionage.
3. Desperate to get
help of the authorities
and the police, the
main character tries to
prove his case and
find identity on his
own (also relying on t
he former special
agent of East
Germany). An illegal
female emigrant from
Bosnia willy-nilly
helps him too.
4. Having gone through
a chain of dangerous
adventures
(investigation, pursuit/
chase), the main
character “finds
himself".

My experience showed that this kind of plot and structural analysis of the detectives, albeit rather
schematic, allows to significantly improving students’ film / media competence in terms of skills of the
analysis of media texts, by means of co-work and discussions.

Nevertheless in this case remains a wide field for further research: To what degree can the questions
and structural schemes proposed by media educators help students to develop their analytical skills with
respect to media texts? How do the first experiences in analysis of media texts help students in their
future analytical exercises? What do they rely on in the first place: on leading questions of educators or
on the opinions of their coevals which they hear during collective discussions? Do leading students
significantly influence others during collective discussions? Do they suppress opinions of more timid, shy
students? How much do students’ levels of critical analysis of media texts depend on their social
background, their families?

Case study 2: “The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin”: the novel and its adaptation to media education
lessons in the student audience

As we know, the demand for this or that literary material for film adaptations depend on many
political, social and cultural factors. In this regard it is curious to conduct a comparative analysis of
screen interpretations of a popular novel by Alexey N. Tolstoy (1883-1945) The Hyperboloid of Engineer
Garin (1927) in the context of media education. Here we shall use the methodology developed by U. Eco
(Eco 1998, 209), A. Silverblatt (Silverblatt 2001, 80-81), L. Masterman (Masterman 1985), C. Bazalgette
(Bazalgette 1995), based on such key concepts of media education as media agencies, media/media text
categories, media technologies, media languages, media representations and media audiences, because all
these concepts are of direct relevance to value, ideological, market, structural and substantive, audio-
visual, spatial and temporal aspects of the analysis of media products. It should be noted that this
technology fits into the basic range of media educational goals of higher education, especially when
training future culturologists, art historians, sociologists, linguists, psychologists and educators.

Author’s ideology and moral principles in social and cultural context, market conditions that
determined the concept and the process of creation of the media text (the dominant concepts: media
agencies, media/ media text categories, media technologies, media representations, media audience).

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After returning from a short emigration (1918-1923) “Red Count” A.N. Tolstoy apparently posed two
main problems before himself: to earn positive reputation with the communist regime and significantly
improve his financial situation in a fairly short period of time (and the New Economical Policy gave a lot
of possibilities here). The trilogy The Road to Cavalry, started in 1922, was being written for a long
while. And it was necessary to urgently publish some less ambitious though commercially attractive
things. That’s how his fantastic story Aelita appeared (1923), quickly filmed by Y. Protazanov in 1924.
The ideological function was indicated clearly – the communists are able to organize revolution not only
on Earth but also on Mars…

Since the second half of 1925 A. N. Tolstoy began publishing another fiction adventure work in a
magazine – the political adventure detective novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin (Tolstoy 1925-
1927), which was apparently designed for the subsequent screen adaptation as well. The ideological
background was similar to that of Aelita: firstly the exposure of the bourgeois world of “yellow devil”,
and then the revolutionary uprising against the dictatorship of the technocratic maniac Pyotr Petrovich
Garin. In 1927 the ending was remade: in the first version (Tolstoy 1927) after the miners’ revolt under
the leadership of Shelga the beauty Zoya dies and Garin disappears without a trace, whereas in the second
version after the revolutionary uprising Zoya and Garin meet on the yacht “Arizona” and sail towards
new adventures…

Later A.N. Tolstoy repeatedly changed the novel with perseverance worthy of a better use: in 1934 he
partially shortened the text (in the edition of 1925-1927 there were lots of technical terms and blueprints),
in 1936 he released an adaptation for children (with no mention of a brothel on Garin’s island and other
“adult” details). In 1937 the novel was revised again with the radical changes in the ending: the yacht
“Arizona” suffered shipwreck and Garin and Zoya found themselves on an uninhabited island…

It seems that from the ideological point of view A.N. Tolstoy did all he could: now after the uprising
of the “working masses” Garin didn’t sail away with his beloved, but in retaliation had to while away the
rest of his life feeding of seaweed and fish on a small piece of land in the middle of the ocean. But no: in
1939 the final edition of The Hyperboloid… was published (this “canonical” text is preserved in the
edition: Tolstoy, 2007), in which the author forced Garin to steal the idea of the “apparatus” from
engineer Mantsev thus even more increasing the negative image of Garin…

Meanwhile despite all the efforts to adapt the novel to the ideological “agenda”, the Soviet filmmakers
of the 1920-1950s were not interested in it. It would seem that the plot of The Hyperboloid… is cinematic
in Hollywood style: the colorful characters are depicted vividly and brightly, the action takes unfolds
rapidly in a mixture of detective, science fiction and parody genres.

The time for screening The Hyperboloid… came in the 1960-1970es, at the peak of interest of the
national cinema to adventures and science fiction, when not only cosmic stories were screened (Planet of
Storms, Andromeda Nebula, etc.), but also film adaptations of A. Belyaev’s novels (The Amphibian Man,
Air Seller), and the collections of science fiction stories and novels were selling like hot cakes in
bookstores. Science fiction as a genre significantly inhibited by the era of late Stalinism of 1940-es – the
beginning of 1950-es once again became not only legitimate, but also officially approved (naturally
subject to the rules of the ideological game of the time). So the first film adaptation appeared – The
Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin (1965) by A. Gintsburg, and later the second one – Failure of Engineer
Garin (1973) by L. Kvinihidze.

Of course, ideological clichés of Soviet times didn’t spare A. Gintsburg’s film as well: for example,
the Americal billionaire Rolling is represented as an embodiment of the “yellow devil” of imperialism,
while communist Shelga is a crystal-honest romantic of the Soviet country. However, despite this, the
Soviet press of the 1960-s welcomed A. Gintsburg’s film very skeptically. For instance, critic V.A.
Revich specializing in fiction genre wrote that in the novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin A.
Tolstoy perfectly reproduced the era of the 1920-es, the world-view of the writer who took the side of the
young revolutionary country. In The Hyperboloid… not scientific but social aspect is the most powerful:
the mechanics of the bourgeois relations, stockjobbing, capitalist morality and economics. But this social
aspect fell out of the film, with only simplistic detective aspect remaining (Revich 1968, 83). After 16

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years the same author returned to the analysis of this screen adaptation. This time he removed ideological
pathos but once again stressed that “despite the eminent cast the film failed. The people who shot the
screen version made a typical mistake. The desire not to miss the main story events leads to fluency – a
character flashed, an event flew by – and on, and on, faster and faster; there is not enough screen time to
peer into the facers, to understand the essence of the events” (Revich 1984).

However the success with the audience (nearly 21 million people watched it during the first year of
distribution) showed that the problems of “speed” of the media text didn’t worry the audience. Moreover,
perhaps the things that irritated V.A. Revich most in the first adaptation of The Hyperboloid… served as
an additional factor of attraction for the public drawn towards the rapidly developing action, detective
intrigue and science fiction which is not burdened by ideology. Of course, at the same time we should
keep in mind that the Soviet film market of 1960-es - 1970-es largely isolated the audience from
spectacular Western films which gave the domestic entertaining films additional benefits.

Leonid Kvinikhidze’s film Failure of Engineer Garin (1973) was shot in the format of TV mini-series.
Probably they were low on budget so the most expensive episodes (the construction of gold mines on the
island, the destruction of the squadron of ships, etc.) were dropped out of the plot, and the fiction line of
the novel was clearly in the background. Instead the ideological line of the Nazis who wanted to seize
Garin’s “apparatus” which was thought up by the Screenwriter S. Potepalov, was brought to the
foreground.

It is difficult to judge the success of the “Failure…” because in the 1970-es in our country no “TV
ratings” have been recorded. However, due to the fact that the number of TV series was extremely small
at the time, there is no doubt that this film adaptation attracted no less viewers than A. Gintsburg’s film.

Narrative structure in the media text (the main concepts: “media/media text categories”, “media
technologies”, “media languages”, “media representations”)

During the discussion with the students we can conclude that the novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer
Garin as well as its screen adaptations is built in the traditional structure of action (fiction, detective)
media texts. The plot is clearly divided into the entanglement (in Soviet Russia on the 1920s a series of
mysterious events and murders occur, connected with Garin’s machine), the development of action
(Garin transports the apparatus to the West, forces the billionaire Rolling to cooperate and meets his kept
woman Zoya), climax (in various editions and screen adaptations of the novel it is either the destruction
of European chemical plants by the deadly beam, or the construction of the gold mine on the island and
destruction of the enemy squadron by the hyperboloid) and denouement (in various editions/adaptations:
the rise of “revolutionary masses” on the island and the disappearance of Garin; his readiness for new
adventures; the shipwreck of Garin’s yacht near an uninhabited island; and Garin’s death). Psychological
and social motivations (in the novel as well as in its film adaptations) are given as a rule without deep
nuances (exception – the original interpretation on Garin’s role in Failure… by O. Borisov).

Schematically the peculiarities of genre modifications, iconography, character ethics, problems of the
novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin and its film adaptations can be represented as follows:

Historical period, scene of action. In general it is the second half of the 1920-es – Soviet Russia,
Western Europe (mostly Paris), the seas, an island in the ocean.

The setting, household goods. Modest life, interiors and household goods in Soviet Russia, where the
central object is an abandoned cottage near St. Petersburg, where Garin secretly conducts his experiments
with the deadly beam. The rich office of billionaire Rolling. Luxurious setting of Garin’s empire on the
“golden island”, comfortable yacht “Arizona”…

Audio-visual techniques, iconography. The visuals of color film The Failure… (1973) are rather
standard, while the first black and white adaptation The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin is remarkable for
its exquisitely fine color performed in the spirit of film noir (American and French criminal films of
1940-es – 1950-es with its grim motives of doom, fatalism and the elements of expressionism): play with
linear light and shade in night scenes; contrasting variations of black and white in daytime scenes, the use
of wide-angle lens, unusual camera angles, etc. I believe that the director Alexander Gintsburg (1907-
1972), the former cameraman himself, who shot the legendary film Two Soldiers (1943), intentionally set

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this task to the talented cameraman Alexander Rybin. The fast and nervous soundtrack composed by M.
Vaynberg (1919-1996), who was already famous for his music to the films The Cranes are Flying (1957)
and The Last Inch (1958), matches the visual style of the film. I suppose that namely the originality of
audio-visual solution was evaluated by the jury of the International Fantastic Film Festival in Triest
(1966), which awarded the Grand Prize to A. Gintsburg’s film.

The characters, their values, ideas, clothing, constitution, vocabulary, mimics, gestures. V.A.
Revich justly noted that in the novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin we can “clearly trace mockery,
ridicule in relation to most characters. Thus Pyotr Petrovich Garin, a “superman”, a dictator and a villain
is a typical action adventure character, but his ambition, lust for power, resourcefulness and immorality
are served with such excesses that he is perceived as a parody of such character” (Revich 1984). Brilliant
actor Evgeny Evstigneev (1926-1992) why played the role of Garin in the film adaptation in 1965
removed these excesses making the main character a psychologically convincing fanatic of the idea of
conquering the world: intelligent, prudent and persistent, not devoid of irony. His character’s vocabulary,
mimics and gestures are laconic and are subject to the pragmatics of plot circumstances. For the time
being his clothes are purely functional, and only on the “golden island” Garin allows himself to realize
his design fantasies…

Another outstanding master Oleg Borisov (1929-1994) painted his Garin (in the adaptation of 1973)
with different colors, which gave rise to the following ironic passage of the critic: “The engineer rants
about lust for power, but in the film he turns out to be rather a gentle lad. Thought he killed two men, it
was self-defense. He didn’t blow up the plants. Yes, he took away the millionaire’s mistress, but we must
agree that this cannot be compared with delusional and truly fascist plans of Garin portrayed in the novel.
The failure of this Garin and the failure of the small individualist who dreams to become rich with the
help of his invention are, as they say, two big differences. Do you want us to see the novel’s
contemporization in such degradation of the protagonist?” (Revich 1984).

In my opinion, O. Borisov’s work received a clearly distorted assessment here. In The Failure…
Borisov played not a “gentle lad”, but a devilishly clever and shrewd cynic aspiring to conquer the
world at any cost. No wonder his character has the ability to appear and disappear mysteriously,
possesses the persistence of the tempter and the charm of seduction. Indeed the authors of The Failure…
removed the “rough edges” of Tolstoy’s interpretation of Garin from their adaptation. Not Garin, but
Rolling directs the deadly beam at the plants. Garin doesn’t abandon Mantsev to die in a distant
expedition… Also Garin doesn’t create his “golden empire”. Facing the fierce and powerful Nazi
organization, O. Borisov’s character perishes with his apparatus in the ocean…

Playin the role of Garin, O. Borisov demonstrated his rich arsenal of facial expressions and gestures,
his unique plasticity and the ability for transformation. Compared to him Garin played by Evgeny
Evstigneev is more harsh, cruel and predictable…

As for the main female character, Zoya played by Nonna Terentyeva (1942-1996) from The Failure…
(1973) looks more spectacular in all aspects than Natalya Klimova in the film adaptation from 1965.
Moreover, Zoya in The Failure… is presented less schematically than in A. Tolstoy’s novel. In L.
Kvinikhidze’s film the demonic fanatic of world domination Garin finds a decent girlfriend. This female
adventurer puts everything at stake: the men she encounters – Rolling, captain Yanson, and Garin himself
– are only pawns in her own big game. There is kind of a sinister charm in Zoya, which reminds of the
charm of Milady from The Three Musketeers (Revich 1984).

As for the “positive” character, the communist Shelga, it seems to me that both in the novel and in its
film adaptations he remains a pale “walking function” of the plot…

Significant changes in lives of the characters. The lives of the main characters – Garin, Zoya, Shelga
and Rolling – changes from the moment they meet and enter into a (voluntary/forced) alliance. The
culmination of there events in the final version of the novel and in its first film adaptation falls on the
creation of Garin’s “empire” on the “golden island”. In L. Kvinikhidze’s film the culminating events
occur on the yacht “Arizona”, on which a Nazi agent Shefer acts.

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Originated problem. In the main version of A. Tolstoy’s novel and its 1965 adaptation the main
problem for Garin is an uprising of “working masses” on the island. In 1973 adaptation a Nazi plot
became the main danger for Garin’s plans.

Searches for the solution of the problem. Using a small hyperboloid from the yacht “Arizona” Zoya
destroys the big hyperboloid on the “golden island”. Garin arrives to her on a zeppelin (later versions of
the novel and 1965 film adaptation). In Leonid Kvinikhidze’s version it seems that Garin relies only on
luck…

The solution of the problem. In the first versions of the novel A. Tolstoy allows Garin to disappear or
rush to new adventuries… In later versions of the novel and in A. Gintsburg’s film adaptation the
“solution” of the problem is the shipwreck of the yacht “Arizona”, when Garin and Zoya end up on an
uninhabited island. In The Failure… Garin’s landing on the ocean shore ends with his death…

P.S. Despite the radical changes on political, social and cultural situation in Russia, the popularity of
the novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin has not declined. For instance, its “sequel”, the novel The
Second Advent of Engineer Garin was rather successful with the readers (Alko 2001), also we can
remember the unfinished attempt of Alexander Abdulov to make another film adaptation of the story
about the failed ruler of the world (Excommunicate, 2008). And who knows, maybe someday we will see
a Hollywood version of The Hyperboloid…

Questions for the analysis of media texts in the student audience

Media agencies:
What is the main purpose of the given media text? To what extent is this purpose achieved? With what
characters did the authors of the media text wanted to identify you? What ideology do these characters
express?
Media/media text categories:
To what genre and thematic category can we attribute this media text?
Media languages:
Why did the author of the media text construct this or that episode in this way? Why are certain items
(including clothing, characters, etc.) shown in this particular way? What do these items tell us about the
characters, their life, and their relations with each other? In what way are dialogues and the language of
the characters important for the development of action?
From whose point of view are the events shown in this or that episode of the media text? How are
people and things depicted in this or that episode? Are there moments in the media text in which the
proposed point of view helps to create the sense of danger or surprise? What is the role of light, color,
sound, music in the media text?
Media representations:
Think about social, moral and ideological problems raised in this media text. In what way are they
related to the political, social and cultural situation contemporary to this media text?
With whom does the author of the media text sympathize? How does he make the audience understand
it? Why did you come to this conclusion?
What are the key episodes of this media text? Why do you think they are the key ones?
What do you think was selected to make this particular frame?
Do you think it is possible to insert additional episodes into this media text? If so, what episodes? In
what part of the media texts they could have been inserted?
How do the changes in the way the character or situation is shown help the development of action in
the media text? Were some facts about the characters, things or places of action hidden from the audience
at first? Was it done to force tension or to solve mysteries or crimes?
In what scenes are the conflicts revealed in this media text?
Are there scenes of violence in this media text? If so, what is the difference in the depiction of
violence in other media texts known to you?

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Could this plot have ended earlier? What would have changed in our perception of this media text?
What is the importance of the actual finale of this media text?

Media audiences:
For whom is this media text meant? For one or more types of audience?
How do the style and the contents of the media text influence the audience’s understanding?
What is the role or gender social class, age and ethnicity in media perception of the audience?
Do you understand the information put in the advertisement of this media text?
What are the reasons for the success of these media texts with the audience? (genre, theme, the system
of emotional overfalls, reliance on mythology, happy ending, the calculation for the maximum coverage
of the audience’s media preferences, etc.)?
How is the audience’s interest to the narration maintained? Is it possible to trace how our attention
grows from episode to episode?
What are the parameters needed to assess media texts (political, social, moral, philosophical, artistic,
etc.)?
What abilities and skills does a person need to competently analyze media texts?

Case study 3: “The Case of Corporal Kochetkov” (1955) and its Remix “Gardens of the Scorpion”
(1991)

As far as I know Oleg Konovalov was the first Russian film critic who dared to follow the way of the
brilliant line of French critics – Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and Eric Romer. Oleg Kovalov
became well known thanks to his fundamental article on cinematography which was published in the
1980s in the Russian magazine Cinema Art. He also wrote a book about the work of film director Viktor
Tregubovich which I consider to be very interesting. At first O. Kovalov was an actor in V.
Ogorodnikov’s experimental film Paper Eyes of Prishvin. Later he became the script writer and the
director of a montage film Gardens of Scorpion (1991).

In my opinion the debut was very successful. Oleg Kovalov not only managed to use his considerable
cinematographic experience (for example, it can be seen in his explicit and implicit references to the
motives of the Italian and French cinema), but he also showed the purely director’s qualities: subtle
understanding of the structure of audiovisual sequence, original montage thinking where philosophical
generalizations and polysemantic metaphors seamlessly harmonize with the emotionality of the sincere
nostalgia for the 1950s.

This film could have easily been turned into a parody of the old detective and adventure films of the
times of the “thaw”. Rudiments of this king of version can be seen in the prologue of Gardens of the
Scorpion. However in the end O. Kovalov came to a different result. Having taken the long forgotten
Alexander Razumny’s “military patriotic” detective film The Case of Corporal Kochetkov (1955) he
included it into the context of the “era of unfulfilled hopes”, rethought it and...

I’ll try to state everything step by step, though. Alexander Razumny’s film was straightforwardly
didactic and consisted of the usual literary/theatrical/cinematographic plot clichés of that time: a perfect
soldier, “excellent in combat and political training” fell in love with a cute shop assistant who turned out
to be an insidious spy. Of course Kochetkov honestly fulfilled his civic duty and reported to the relevant
authorities...

But I repeat that all this was in the film of 1955. Oleg Kovalov turned this hackneyed story into a half-
mystical parable about a man in a psychiatric hospital who is trying to remember what had happened to
him (here he used the footage from a medical propagandistic video with the same actor V. Grachev). And
there’s no exposure of espionage, there is pure love of a modest and kind guy. Like Orpheus from the
famous Jean Cocteau’s film he once looked in the mirror and crossed the threshold of the ordinary world
where everything was simple and clear, and ended up in Wonderland where he was swept over by the
look of an ox-eyed beauty, inevitable as fate... But the vigilant “services” intervened with their love and
convinced the poor corporal that he got into the vile enemy nest…

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And all around the Moscow Festival of Youth and Students (1957) was shining with festive lights. The
eyes of Yves Montand and Simone Signoret were filled with tears of tender emotion when the soloist of
the exemplary chorus of vocational schools was industriously singing the popular song “When the distant
friend is singing” in French. Charming and mischievous Shirley McLaine was shaking hands with
Khrushchev who was the first Russian leader who risked travelling overseas...

But then vast deserts and fierce dinosaurs appear to the accompaniment of disturbing music. Hungary,
1956. Charred corpses hanging upside down on the streets of Budapest... Bursts of fire...

And once again the festive Moscow. Leonid Utesov’s concert and another parade... and the final of
Le Notti di Cabiria with the magic music of Nino Rota...

Probably this material would have made a film accusing the totalitarian system once again. However
in spite of its stinging and poisonous title, I think that Gardens of the Scorpion is rather the director’s
lyrical attempt to recall his childhood with its myths, mass mysteries and illusions...

Oleg Kovalov was able to do something seemingly impossible — he breathed life into Alexander
Razumny “poster” characters. Suddenly you even begin to sympathize with the main character and his
beloved (in Kovalov’s version she somewhat resembles the “femme fatale” from L.Visconti’s
Obsession). And this is no accident. In fact many of us, Russians, had something of the naïve corporal. It
was us, Russians, who happily marched on May Day demonstrations and sang the ballad about the
“commissars in dust helmets” together with the characters of Marlen Khustiev I Am Twenty (1964). It
was us, Russians, who listened to the radio reports of the unprecedented space flights with bated breath.
Like the industrious Kochetkov who had full confidence in the authorities, many of us, Russians, didn’t
know and understand dissident ideas when we were young. On the contrary, we were convinced that we
grow up in the most free and democratic country in the world and not in the “scorpions’ garden”. We
were convinced that the famous Anton Chekhov’s phrase that drop by drop he “squeezed the slave out of
himself” belongs to the bygone days... To some extent the debut work of Oleg Kovalov is not just a
talented remix of an old tape of the times of “ideological confrontation”, but also a talented lyrical
confession of the generation which childhood was in 1950s.

Filmography

Frantic. USA-France, 1987. Director: Roman Polanski. Screenwriters: Roman Polanski, Gerard Brach. Cast: Harrison
Ford, Emmanuelle Seigner, Betty Buckley and others.

Taken. France-USA-Great Britain, 2008. Director: Pierre Morel. Screenwriters: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen. Cast:
Liam Neeson, Maggi Grace, Famke Janssen and others.

Unknown. Great Britain-Germany-France-Canada-Japan-USA, 2011. Director: Jaume Collet-Serra. Screenwriters:
Oliver Butcher, Stephen Cornwell. Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Bruno Ganz, Frank Langella and others.

The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin. Russia, 1965. Director Alexander Gintsburg. Screenwriters: Alexander Gintsburg,
Joseph Manevich. Cameraman Alexander Rybin. Composer Moysey Vaynberg. Cast: Evgeny Evstigneev, Natalia Klimova,
Vsevolod Safonov, Mikhail Astangov, Yuri Sarantsev and others.

Audience: 20,8 millions viewers. Grand Prize “Golden Seal of the City of Trieste” at the International Fantastic Film
Festival in Trieste (Italy, 1966).

The Failure of Engineer Garin. Russia, 1973. Director Leonid Kvinikhidze. Screenwriter Sergey Potepalov. Cameraman:
Vyacheslav Fastovich. Composer Vladislav Uspensky. Cast: Oleg Borisov, Nonna Terentyeva, Alexander Belyavsky and
others.

Excommunicate / Garin. Russia, 2008. Director Alexander Abdulov. Cast: Sergey Nikonenko, Sergey Stepanchenko,
Elena Proklova, Evgenia Kryukova, Georgy Martirosyan and others.

Film shooting was interrupted by A. Abdulov’s death.
The Case of Corporal Kochetkov. Russia, 1955. Director Alexander Razumny. Screenwriter Iosif Prut. Cameraman:
Vladimir Cherniavsky. Cast: Vadim Grachev, Danuta Stolyarskaya, Valentina Zhuravskaya, Ury Fomichev and others.
Gardens of the Scorpion. Russia, 1991. Director and Screenwriter Oleg Kovalov (on the material of The Case of
Corporal Kochetkov by Alexander Razumny and Iosif Prut). Cameraman: Vladimir Cherniavsky. Cast: Vadim Grachev,
Danuta Stolyarskaya, Valentina Zhuravskaya, Ury Fomichev and others.

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ANALYSIS OF FANTASTIC GENRE IN STUDENTS’ AUDIENCE

Case study N 1. Analysis of the Soviet Space Fantasy Genre of the 1950s – 1960s and Its American
Screen Transformation

The hermeneutic analysis of cultural context stands for study of the media text interpretation process,
of cultural and historical factors that may have an impact both on the media texts authors/agencies and
the audience’s viewpoint. The hermeneutic analysis is connected with the comprehension of a media text
by matching with the cultural tradition and reality; penetration into the logic of a media text; media text
analysis based on artistic images comparison in the historical and cultural contexts. The objectives of the
audience’s film / media education in this case are the following: development of the audience’s media
culture; their apprehension, analysis and interpretation skills applied to media texts; critical thinking.

Since nearly all modern universities are equipped with networked multi-media one can make the best
use of e-libraries and web-archives in film / media studies. Among them we can name the American non-
profit Internet archive founded in San Francisco in 1996 (www.archive.org). Its aim is to provide anytime
access for researchers and the public at large to various digital historic artifacts (print, visual and
audiovisual texts). As the great bulk of media texts presented in the Internet Archive is open and free, it is
very convenient for educational aims.

We offer a study guide for using fantasy genre media texts in teaching the media. The teaching
methods used at such a lesson are based on the combination of the hermeneutic analysis with the
structural, narrative, ethical, ideological, iconographic/visual analyses, the analysis of media stereotypes
and media texts characters. We thought it interesting to pursue the transformation of such a typical (and
archival) fantastic media text as Planet of Storm produced by P. Klushantsev (1961) in the American
films – Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) by C. Harrington and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric
Women (1968) by P. Bogdanovich.

The comparative analysis of these media texts will enable us to touch upon not only the socio-cultural,
historical, and ideological contexts but also the urgent problem of copyright infringement and counterfeit
media products.

A. Silverblatt (Silverblatt 2001, 80-81), developed the following set of questions for media text
hermeneutic analysis in the historical, cultural and structural contexts. In accordance with this scheme we
have developed a method of constructing a lesson in media studies for university students.

A. Historical context (Silverblatt 2001, 80-81).
1. What does the media text tell about the time of its creation?
a) When did the premier of this media text take place?
b) How did the events of that time affect the media text?
c) How does the media text comment on the events of the day?
2. Does the knowledge of the historic events contribute to the media text understanding?
a) media texts created during a certain historic event:
- What events occurred when the media text was being created?
- How does the understanding of these events contribute to our understanding of the media text?
- What are genuine historical allusions?
- Are there any historical references in the media text?
- How does the understanding of these historical references affect our understanding of the media text?

P. Klushantsev’s Planet of Storms was produced in the age when the topic of space was extremely
popular thought the world. Hence arose scores of fantastic novels, stories, strip cartoons, sci-fi films
about faraway planets, intergalactic flights and extraterrestrial civilizations. It was connected not only
with the definite progress in space exploration (in the late 1950s the first Earth satellites were launched,

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some of them with animals on board) but also with a stiff competition between the two antagonistic state
systems – the USSR and the USA – both in the world domination and space leadership.

A year before the shooting of the film Planet of Storms – on May 1st of 1960, a spy plane of the
American pilot F.G. Powers was shot down in the USSR airspace. On April 8, 1961, the then leader of
the USSR N.S. Khrushchev sent a note of protest to the USA President J. Kennedy concerning the anti-
Castro landing of troops in Cuba. On August 13, 1961, the Kremlin ordered to begin the building of the
infamous Berlin Wall. In 1962 (the year of the beginning of successful distribution of Planet of Storms)
the USSR started the deployment of missiles in Cuba, and in response to this the USA declared a
blockade of the island. That led to the politically tense Cuban Missile Crisis which forced the USSR to
withdraw the rackets from Cuba in exchange for the promise of the USA to abandon the occupation of the
‘Liberty Island’. And namely in the year when the film Planet of Storms (1961) was produced – the
Soviet Union triumphantly took the lead over the USA on 12 April – for the first time in the world history
a ship with a man on board (it was Yuri Gagarin) was put into orbit. Americans managed to launch a
spaceship with their astronaut (A. Shepard) only on 5 May of 1961. On 6-7 August of 1961 G. Titov
became the second Soviet cosmonaut to fly in space. In 1962 (the year when the film Planet of Storms
was released) 5 more people flew into the outer space.

It goes without saying that the political developments of that period could not fail to influence the plot
of the media text. As the story unfolds, the crew of the first starship was joint – a Soviet astronaut lands
on the surface of Venus together with an American colleague and his robot. The authors’ of the film
Planet of Storms never intended to depict the American character as a greedy and malicious product of
the capitalist world: Prof. Kern was presented as a pragmatic person who did not believe (at first) in
friendship, but generally as a likable character. That is why we would not insist that the incident with
F.G. Powers or the Cuban events affected Planet of Storms directly. Most likely, the film of P.
Klushantsev and his Screenwriter – A. Kazantsev – the author of numerous sci-fi novels, was a sort of
commentary to the general political and socio-cultural context of the late 1950s – early 1960s in the
framework of the so-called ‘peaceful co-existence’ of the two ideologically irreconcilable systems that
was officially proclaimed by the USSR. On the tide of the USSR’s space advancement Planet of Storms
was bought by dozens of countries including the USA. As regards the re-edited version of Planet of
Storms which was shown in the USA under the title Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) it got to the
transatlantic screens in the different epoch – after the US President J. Kennedy was killed (November
24th, 1963) and before (since August 2nd, 1964) America began the interminable war in Vietnam…

By that time the first woman – V. Tereshkova (1963) and about a dozen of Soviet and American
cosmo/astronauts had already been in the outer space. The relations between the USSR and the USA were
far from optimistic, and numerous American outer-space flights had already smoothed the initial shock
caused by the Soviet priority in astronautics. That is why it does not seem surprising that the authors of
the re-edited version of Planet of Storms – film director Curtis Harrington (mentioned in the credit line
under the pseudonym of John Sebastian) and producer Roger Corman – by simple renaming and dubbing-
in into English transmuted all the characters of the film Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet into people of
the Western world. No Russians: only Americans plus a Frenchman and a German. G. Zhyonov, Y.
Sarantsev, G. Teykh, G.Vernov were mentioned in the credits under Americanized pseudonyms so that
American spectators might not guess that the movie used to be Soviet.

However, they went behind renaming and dubbing-in and removed direct visual hints at the Soviet
origin of the movie by re-editing, though some of such clues nevertheless remained in the film (for
example, the Russian inscription Sirius on the cassette recorder), they also cut some episodes that made
the action slow (such remarks as: ‘We assure the Soviet government, our communist party, all Soviet
people that we shall justify the trust…’). And, contrariwise, the American authors added some new
episodes (the scenes with an orbiting station ‘borrowed’ from another Soviet sci-fi film – The Heavens
Call (1959) and the scenes shot in addition at R. Corman’s studio now with true American actors
involved). It is hard to tell why the American cinematographers disliked K. Ignatova acting as astronaut

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