a word from the media staff
You are about to embark on a course in which you will spend the next year [possibly 2 years] actively engaged as a student of the mass media.
This is a course that you have chosen, a course that you feel offers you the kind of learning experience that you believe will be suited to your style of learning, your particular interests and that you will be able to be successful in.
The commitment of the staff is to ensure that you are given those opportunities, your commitment as a student is to ensure that you take advantage of them.
There is no secret to being successful in this A level. Like any other, it is founded on 3 things:
- Attendance and punctuality
- Applying yourself to the work [completion; deadlines]
- Wider reading around the basic materials covered in the lesson – an enquiring mind.
In this handbook you will find outlined as clearly as possible the proposals as to how we will meet our commitment to you. There is a synopsis of the qualification for the AS, the objectives that will be assessed and the way in which you will be assessed. There is also an over-view as to how you will be taught and an outline of the year and the content of the lessons. Finally, there is a detailed break-down of the five essential concepts that make up the intellectual domain of the subject.
These are here to assist you in your learning. They will help you plan your work and enable any wider reading that you do to be linked into the work planned for your lessons.
Remember: we can teach the theory, we can teach the technological skills. Your part is to provide the creative spark, the imaginative approach that will forge the knowledge links that will give you the insight and understanding necessary for success.
HOW WE DO IT
- teaching and learning in Media studies -
- teaching and learning in Media studies -
Media Studies is a practical subject based on theoretical studies of the way that audiences use media products and how institutions seek to make products that are popular with audiences [and thus profitable]
To understand the theoretical knowledge of our subject we firmly believe that you must practice the construction of products of your own.
The Blog
You will be expected to create a blog that you will link to the Media Studies department blog.
You will be expected to use your blog to chart the progress of your learning in Media. The blog is an on-going dialogue between you and your teacher. The blog allows the best possible way of feeding back to you on the development of your practical work. Your blog will be used in the lesson as a learning tool for yourself and for others in the group.
Portfolios
At different times in the Autumn term you will be set practical tasks to complete. The tasks will involve RESEARCH which you are expected to show on your blog and then the CONSTRUCTION of a media product – a photo shoot, a campaign, a magazine cover and feature, a short film, a web site design etc.
The work will have strict time scale and deadlines as the completed work will be presented in class by you from your blog to the rest of the group
The Briefs
The assessment of your knowledge and understanding in Media will be by the creation of a 2,000 word independent research essay and a linked product.
You will first complete 3 months research into the essay which must be uploaded to your blog at specific times for feedback. You will have until January to produce a 2,000 word first draft which you will then spend 3 months refining
You will have January to March to actually construct the products. The product must be linked in some way to the area of research undertaken and the essay. The completed work can be film, print or e-media.
All work – research essay, products, – will be sent to the exam board for your final assessment of what is called MEST4 and is worth 50% of your final grade.
The lessons
We need a mix of practical analysis of existing professionally made media products, learning about the theories that underpin our study of such products and making such products of our own. As part of the process of developing your learning and your understanding of the media:
You will be expected to get involved in your own learning
- You will be expected to bring books and folders to the lessons
- You will be expected to lead discussion on your work
- You will be expected to present a tutorial on an aspect of our work
- You will be expected to conduct reading of texts prior to some lessons
You will be expected to complete homework to deadlines
The Key Concepts
What are the denotive and connotative levels of meaning?
The assessment in the final examination is synoptic and so requires an understanding of all of the areas covered in AS, particularly the KEY CONCEPTS
The Key Concepts
The 5 KEY CONCEPTS are:
Media Representations
Media Froms
Media Audiences
Media Institutions
Media Ideologies
Additionally the areas of genre and narrative [which are aspects of the concept of media language] are so important to understanding media texts that they are also considered as essential parts of the conceptual framework.
Media Representations
Who is being represented?
· In what way?
· By whom?
Why is the subject being represented in this way?
· Is the representation fair and accurate?
· What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?
Media Languages and Forms
What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text?
What is the significance of mise-en-scene?
What work is being done by the soundtrack/commentary language of the text?
What are the dominant images and iconography and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning [eg camera positioning; editing; mix of sound/image]?
Media Institutions
What is the institutional source of the text?
In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institutions which produced it?
Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does it make to the text?
Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does it matter?
How has the text been distributed?
Media Values and Ideology
What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?
Media Audiences
To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?
What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?
How do you as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?
Narrative and Genre are aspects of the Key Concept of media language dealt with above but these elements are so important to any understanding of how and why media texts work that they are essential to your work in every module in AS and A2.
Narrative
How is the narrative organised and structured?
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc. within the narrative?
What are the main themes of the narrative? What values/ ideologies does it embody?
Genre
To which genre does the text belong?
What are the major generic conventions within the text?
What are the major iconographic features of the text?
What are the major generic themes?
To what extent are the characters generically determined?
To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?
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