What does the Media Studies A-Level look like?5

Unit 1 – 25%Investigating Media

• Section A (1 hour 15 minutes including 15 minutes reading/viewing time) will consist of four short answer questions, all compulsory, relating to a piece of unseen stimulus material. The unseen material will take the form of one of the following: – moving image, – audio, – e-media – or print.

Unit 1 – 25%Investigating Media

• Questions will require candidates to focus on: – media forms, codes and conventions; – media representations; – media institutions, – media audiences – and values and ideologies,

and candidates will be required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of these media concepts and the contexts in which they appear.

48 marks

Unit 1 – 25%Investigating Media

• Section B (45 minutes) will require a sustained response to one of a choice of two questions which will give the candidates the opportunity to write about their cross-media study. Questions will not be topic-specific but designed to allow candidates to show what they know and understand about media products and processes by applying their knowledge and understanding of media concepts and contexts.

32 marks

Unit 1 – 25%Investigating Media

• Section B (45 minutes) will require a sustained response to one of a choice of two questions which will give the candidates the opportunity to write about their cross-media study. Questions will not be topic-specific but designed to allow candidates to show what they know and understand about media products and processes by applying their knowledge and understanding of media concepts and contexts.

32 marks

Unit 2 – 25%Creating Media

• In this unit candidates will produce two linked media artefacts taken from two of the three media platforms studied in Unit 1: Investigating Media, with a single, accompanying evaluation and pre-production materials for both pieces.

Unit 3 – 25%Critical Perspectives

Section A (40%) 1 hour including 15 minutes reading/viewing time 32 marks

The first section will be based around unseen stimulus materials which may be print, e-media, audio or moving image based. The stimulus materials will be designed to be easily assimilated by candidates in the space of 15 minutes and there will be time for note-taking and essay planning. The materials will be chosen to raise issues about:

– media concepts (form, representation, institutions, audience, values and ideology)

– wider contexts– media issues and debates.

There will be three compulsory questions based around the stimulus materials. The questions will demand short answers to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the media.

Unit 3 – 25%Critical Perspectives

Section B (60%) 1 hour 48 marks

Candidates will have been given two pre-set topic areas for study during the year. They will be expected to answer one question from a choice of questions linked to the pre-set topics. Questions will be open-ended so that candidates can respond to the question utilising the media texts that they have studied throughout this course through the application of their synoptic knowledge

UNIT 4 You’re on your own!

AKA: Media Research and Production

Follow your interests...

While some elements of Unit 3 will be relevant to Unit 4, your critical investigation should not overlap your case studies

Pose a question, or just start an investigation, or…

Start with a production idea and let it suggest an investigation…

• AO1 — demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts, and critical debates (5% — 16 marks)

• AO3 — demonstrate the ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (10% — 32 marks)

• AO4 — demonstrate the ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (10% — 32 marks)

Assessment Objectives

Mark Scheme

Research/investigation top band...

• fluent & analytical investigation … • clear, autonomous and critical,…extensive and

wide- ranging research which has clearly been employed in the investigation and detailed in the bibliography…

• a wide range of academic, media and contextual sources…

• Sophisticated research and engagement with the primary text(s) and a range of secondary texts.

Research/investigation middle band

• proficient … autonomous research and exploration.…

• research has been used and recorded … making use of some academic, media and contextual sources. …

• The work is reasonably well presented with a basic bibliography.

• The work contextualises the study and the linked production piece within the contemporary media landscape.

Linked production top band

• creative & aesthetically successful product … high production values …

• highly competent use of technology. • Significant understanding of relevant

institutional & genre codes and conventions.…• Highly appropriate technically, aesthetically

and institutionally within the contemporary media landscape.

• …possibly approaching professional standards.

linked production middle band realised product

• … appropriate production standards & … sound use of technology.

• Appropriate technically, aesthetically and institutionally within the contemporary media landscape

• … may not be entirely successful. Solid, secure and successfully realised

• … some flaws

No matter how good your production, it’s worth a maximum of 32 marks out of a possible 80.

Choose a primary text...

“Contemporary” means produced within 5 years of the start of your A2 year... So anything since Sept 2005

Identify a number of linked secondary texts across media platforms

Identify appropriate theories, debates, and contexts

investigate research produce

research investigate produce

Examples

idea: the changing role of the other in contemporary American horror films

investigation/research: the development of American horror film, with a focus on the idea of the outsider/other

theoretical toolkit: genre theory; media effects; postmodernism; Lévi-Strauss (binary oppositions); Freud

linked production: an opening sequence of an American-style horror film which emphasises the role of the outsider.

+ 2,000-word written investigation (or director’s commentary)

Example 2

production idea: a few pages of a new sports magazine aimed at women

investigation: the treatment and availability of women’s sport in the print media (and elsewhere)

theoretical toolkit: gender and ethnicity (feminist theories); audience theories; semiotics; institutional sexism

Collaboration?

It is possible for a group of up to 4 students to collaborate on one (bigger) production, and then each investigate different

issues, themes & debates arising from it.

American Horror

Investigation of the other

Freudian approaches to American the horror genre

Horror Influence of world cinema on American horror

Censorship & the media

Length / quantity of work

Moving image productions: 5 minutes maximum (though, e.g. TV ads could be as short as 30 secs)

Print productions: 3 pages per individual student

Investigation: 2,000 words or equivalent spoken commentary

Approval required! DON’T start work until this is confirmed!

More exam board examples...

• Critical Investigation area: Gender representations in soap operas

• Linked Production: The opening sequence for an episode of a new soap opera

• Critical Investigation area: Viral marketing techniques

• Linked Production: A viral advertisement suitable for distribution by mobile phone

• Critical Investigation area: Japanese anime • Linked Production: Trailer for a new anime film

• Critical Investigation area: Contemporary men’s lifestyle magazines

• Linked Production: Mock-up of the first edition of a new men’s lifestyle magazine

• Critical Investigation area: Machinima & commercial game trailers

• Linked Production: Machinima film for a new first-person shooter computer game

• Critical Investigation area: Shock jocks & local commercial radio stations

• Linked Production Opening section of a new late night ‘discussion’ programme for a local radio station

The best research will always start with yourself: an investigation into why you like/dislike a particular thing

What you’re going to produce by the end of Friday’s lesson:

• You initial thoughts on a topic• Choice of Primary Text• List of linked texts (Secondary texts) for

comparison – with notes supporting your ideas

• What theories you may wish to bring in?

Case Studies of initial research:

• How can you transform an initial interest in a text into a workable and rich research area, together with a linked production?

Case Studies of initial research:

• An initial interest in the contradictory messages about the fashion industry and its associated media offered in the US TV series Ugly Betty (Channel 4, January 2007) can be explored further

Case Studies of initial research:

• An investigation into whether the representation of groups of men in the media are always portrayed as negatively as in the programme Ross Kemp on Gangs (Sky One, 2007, Series 3) might be considered.

• You could use these initial points of interest to begin to identify a research angle.

Case Studies of initial research:

• Some of the initial research should involve considering whether other contemporary texts that are linked in some way offer some possibilities for comparison, even if ultimately you still decide to use the text you initially identified as being of interest.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – what is it?

• The Devil Wears Prada, dir. David Frankel, 2006

• A mainstream Hollywood literary adaption following the fortunes of a young woman trying to launch a career in journalism, who ended up as a PA or a high-profile fashion editor.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – points of comparison

• The film text presents the audience with a similar narrative proposition; a supposedly non-conformist and clever but unfashionable young woman lands a high-profile job as an assistant to an editor on a fashion magazine, each hoping it will further their more noble aspirations for a career in journalism. Each of them exposes the values of the industry as shallow and materialistic.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – Notes

• Demonstrates through similarity the popular appeal of such narratives, but may be too similar to be really useful.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – What is it?

• Next clothing advert, Autumn 2007

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – Points of Comparison

• This advert references that opening sequence of The Devil Wears Prada and uses the same soundtrack.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – Notes

• Could be really interesting in conjunction with The Devil Wears Prada.

• Would need to reference the above if using this as a text with Ugly Betty anyway.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – What is it?

• Features from fashion magazines such as Marie Claire or Vogue. Any appropriate current issue.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – Points of Comparison

• Texts that exist to promote the fashion industry would make an interesting comparison with one that on the surface appears not to condone its values but may conversely promote them none the less.

Case Studies of initial research: Ugly Betty – Notes

• Can’t see much of a problem with this – nice to use a text from another platform as well...

Case Studies of initial research: Ross Kemp on Gangs

• Possible text comparisons:• Tribe – BBC documentary fronted by Bruce

Parry, series 3 – 2007• Local Newspaper report on a teen gang crime

spree• Top Gear – current series, 2010

Some previous coursework ideas:

41% of all adults in the UK are over 50 (more than 90 million consumers who control 80% of disposable incomes) and their numbers are increasing annually. How is the increasing dominance of the ‘silver surfer’ generation going to influence the production, distribution and exhibition of media texts?

Linked production: A social networking site for silver surfers

Some previous coursework ideas:

Has Web based advertising has been established long enough to have created its own language of codes and conventions?

Linked production: A web-based set of ads for conventional/unconventional products showing how it is more effective due to niche audience

Some previous coursework ideas:

How has the advancement in animation marked a change in music videos?

Linked production: A music video using the conventions of animation

Some previous coursework ideas:

An analysis of two Music magazines’ distinctive implied audiences

Linked production: Create a music magazine aimed at a specifically female youth audience

Some previous coursework ideas:

Compare and contrast the Disney website with the Cbeebies website

Linked production: Creation of own children’s website/ magazine

Some previous coursework ideas:

To what extent has Apple’s technological revolution changed the way that music is marketed and sold?

Linked production: An I-tunes magazine – using the same codes and conventions used on their websites