📚 Case Study Practical Exercise | 案例分析实战演练
Media case studies are at the heart of the SQA Media course. They allow you to apply key concepts—language, representation, audience, institution, and narrative—to real-world media products. In this practical exercise, we will walk through a complete case study of a short film trailer, breaking down each analytical step. By the end, you will feel confident in structuring your own SQA case study responses.
媒体案例分析是 SQA 媒体课程的核心。它让你将关键概念——语言、再现、受众、机构和叙事——应用于真实的媒体产品。在这个实战演练中，我们将完整拆解一部短片预告片的案例，逐步分析每一个环节。你最终将能自信地构建自己的 SQA 案例分析答案。
1. Selecting Your Media Text | 选择你的媒体文本
For SQA, you should choose a media text that is rich in elements to analyse. A short film trailer works well because it is concise yet packed with visual and audio codes. The trailer for ‘The Present’ is an excellent example, as it addresses themes of disability, family, and perspective through a simple narrative.
在 SQA 中，你应选择一个分析元素丰富的媒体文本。短片预告片是理想选择，因为它简洁却又充满了视觉与听觉符码。短片《礼物》的预告片就是一个绝佳例子，它通过简单的叙事探讨了残疾、家庭与视角等主题。
2. Media Language – Visual Codes | 媒体语言——视觉符码
Visual codes include camera shots, angles, movement, lighting, and colour. In the opening of the trailer, a high-angle shot makes the boy appear small and isolated, emphasising his emotional withdrawal. The lighting is high-key in the living room, creating a sense of everyday normalcy that contrasts with the boy’s inner world.
视觉符码包括镜头景别、角度、运动、灯光与色彩。在预告片开头，俯拍镜头使男孩显得渺小且孤立，强调了他的情感退缩。客厅里采用高调照明，营造出日常生活的平常感，与他内在世界形成反差。
3. Media Language – Audio Codes | 媒体语言——听觉符码
Sound is just as important. Diegetic sounds like the dog’s panting and the bouncing ball anchor the scene in a tangible reality. The non-diegetic background music shifts from a sombre piano melody to an uplifting orchestral piece, guiding the audience’s emotional journey from pity to hope.
声音同样重要。剧情声如小狗的喘息和弹跳的球把场景锚定在可触摸的现实里。非剧情背景音乐从忧郁的钢琴旋律转向昂扬的管弦乐曲，引导观众的情绪从同情走向希望。
4. Representation – Character and Identity | 再现——角色与身份
The boy is initially represented through a stereotypical lens of teenage grumpiness and addiction to video games. However, as the narrative progresses, the representation becomes more nuanced. We learn he has a prosthetic leg, which subverts the able-bodied default. The dog, also with a missing leg, challenges negative representations of disability, being energetic and joyful.
男孩最初通过青少年暴躁和电子游戏成瘾的刻板印象被再现出来。但随着叙事推进，再现变得更为细腻。我们得知他装有义肢，这颠覆了以健全身体为默认的惯例。那只同样缺少一条腿的小狗富有活力与快乐，挑战了对残疾的负面再现。
5. Representation – Construction of Reality | 再现——现实的建构
Media does not simply reflect reality; it constructs a version of it. In this trailer, everyday life is presented as mundane and grey, until the boy’s relationship with the dog transforms his perspective. The warm, saturated colours in the final scenes construct a reality where connection overcomes isolation, promoting a positive message about inclusion.
媒体并非简单反映现实，而是建构一种现实版本。预告片中，日常生活被呈现为单调与灰色，直到男孩与小狗的关系转变了他的视角。终场画面中温暖、饱和的色彩建构了一种用连接战胜孤独的现实，传递了关于包容的积极信息。
6. Audience – Target and Positioning | 受众——目标与定位
The primary target audience is families and young teens, likely aged 10-15, as well as parents looking for meaningful content. The trailer positions the audience to initially feel sympathy for the ‘moody’ boy, then to share his joy. The use of a puppy—a universally appealing figure—broadens the audience reach.
主要目标受众是家庭和青少年，年龄大约在10-15岁之间，以及寻找有意义内容的父母们。预告片将受众定位为先对“坏脾气”男孩产生同情，再分享他的快乐。运用小狗这一普遍惹人喜爱的形象，扩大了受众范围。
7. Audience – Uses and Gratifications | 受众——使用与满足
Using the Uses and Gratifications theory, this trailer offers personal identity as viewers may see aspects of themselves in the boy’s struggle. It provides diversion through its heartwarming narrative ending. Surveillance is not key here, but personal relationships are reinforced as families might watch and discuss the film together, gaining shared emotional experience.
运用使用与满足理论，这部预告片提供了个人身份认同，观众或可在男孩的挣扎中看见自己。它通过温暖结局提供娱乐消遣。信息监测并非关键，但人际关系价值得到强化，因为家庭可能共同观看并讨论，获得共享的情感体验。
8. Institution – Production and Distribution | 机构——制作与发行
Institution refers to the organisations behind the text. ‘The Present’ was created by Jacob Frey, a student filmmaker, and was distributed primarily through online platforms like Vimeo and YouTube. This digital distribution allowed it to go viral, bypassing traditional gatekeepers and reaching a global audience. The institutional context as a short film also means lower budget constraints and greater creative freedom compared to a Hollywood studio product.
机构指文本背后的组织。《礼物》由学生电影人雅各布·弗雷创作，主要通过 Vimeo 和 YouTube 等在线平台发行。这种数字发行渠道使其病毒式传播，绕过了传统把关人，触及全球受众。作为短片，其制度背景也意味着相比好莱坞制片厂产品，预算限制更少，创作自由度更高。
9. Narrative – Structure and Codes | 叙事——结构与符码
The trailer follows a classic three-act structure in miniature: equilibrium (boy playing games), disruption (puppy introduced, initial rejection), and new equilibrium (boy accepts and plays with puppy). Binary oppositions, as theorised by Lévi-Strauss, are clear: light/dark, isolation/connection, able-bodied/disability. The action code of the boy picking up the ball creates suspense and drives the narrative forward.
预告片在微缩中遵循了经典三幕剧结构：平衡（男孩打游戏），失衡（小狗出现，最初遭到拒绝），以及新的平衡（男孩接纳玩伴并与小狗一起玩耍）。正如列维-斯特劳斯所理论化的，二元对立非常清晰：光明/黑暗、孤立/连接、健全/残疾。男孩捡起球的行动符码制造悬念，推动叙事前进。
10. Narrative – Character Roles | 叙事——角色功能
Applying Propp’s character types, the boy is both hero and villain at the start, creating his own obstacle. The puppy acts as the helper and donor, providing a magical agent (the ball) and transforming the hero. The mother functions as a dispatcher, setting the narrative in motion by bringing the puppy home. This functional approach reveals archetypal storytelling beneath a modern surface.
应用普罗普的角色类型，男孩起初既是英雄也是恶棍，制造了自身的障碍。小狗扮演帮助者和赠与者角色，提供了神奇物件（球），并使英雄发生蜕变。母亲起到派遣者的作用，将小狗带回家从而启动了叙事。这种功能分析法揭示出现代外表之下的原型叙事。
11. Contextual Factors | 语境因素
Understanding the social and cultural context enriches analysis. The film’s release coincided with broader conversations about representation of disabilities in media, especially in animation. The positive reception reflected a societal appetite for inclusive storytelling that moves beyond stereotypes. Additionally, the short film format aligns with the contemporary cultural shift toward bite-sized, shareable digital content favoured by younger audiences.
理解社会文化语境能丰富分析。影片发布时，正值对媒体中尤其是动画中残疾人再现的更广泛讨论。影片的积极反响反映了社会对超越刻板印象的包容性叙事的渴求。此外，短片形式契合当下文化向短小精悍、便于分享的数字内容转向，这深受年轻受众欢迎。
12. Structuring Your Written Response | 构建你的书面作答
For your SQA assessment, structure your case study clearly: introduce the text and its context. Then move through each key concept—language, representation, audience, institution—applying theories and using specific examples from the trailer. Conclude by summarising how the text creates meaning and affects its audience. Use the PEEL method: Point, Evidence, Explain, Link, for each paragraph.
在 SQA 考试中，要清晰构建你的案例分析：先介绍文本及其语境。然后逐一分析关键概念——语言、再现、受众、机构——运用理论并引用预告片中具体事例。最后总结文本如何创造意义并影响受众。每个段落使用 PEEL 法：观点、证据、解释、链接。
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