Media Studies A-Level

 

Subject: Media

Qualification Level: A Level

Qualification Duration:

Exam Board: Eduqas

Overview:

Grade entry requirements: Level 5 in GCSE English

Subject Outline and Progression

Exam details: Two written exams (70% of assessment), Non-Exam Assessment (30%)

Course structure:

• Component 1 – Investigating the Media (written exam): Advertising (including Film Posters), Music Video, Film Industry, Newspapers, Radio, Video Games
• Component 2 – Media Forms and Products in Depth (written exam): Television, Magazines, Online Media
• Component 3 – Cross-Media Production (non-exam assessment)

Theoretical Framework:

• Media Languages (Visual codes, Technical codes, Audio codes, Language codes, Narrative, Form and Genre)
• Representations (Stereotyping, Power, Feminism, Equality, Patriarchy, Gender, Reality, Race, Ethnicity, Othering, Post-colonialism, the Male Gaze, Intersectionality)
• Media Industries (Ownership, Funding, Production Processes, Technological Convergence, Regulation, Power)
• Audiences (Constructing Audiences, Audience Positioning and Response, Appeal, Interactivity, The “End of Audience”?)
• Contexts (Historical influences, Economic factors, Cultural trends, Social structures)

Skills that will be developed

1. Enhanced knowledge and understanding of the role the media in their lives and their relationship to it;
2. Analytical and critical thinking skills applicable in a multitude of academic and career paths;
3. Creative media skills and experiences offering wider forms of expression;
4. Greater appreciation of the breadth, depth and fast-changing nature of Media industries, leading to a curiosity about future trends and their impacts on modern life;
5. Enriched cultural experience, competence, and media literacy, and a growing lucidity in their own identities, values and relationships and agency as both media users and producers, within ever-evolving media-saturated society.

This is achieved by familiarisation with the theoretical framework of Media Studies – Media Languages, Representation, Audiences and Media Industries – and practising applying it across a vast body of examples across different media forms, including print, broadcast and e-media, and industries, including film, television, magazine, news, advertising, video games and radio. Students are actively encouraged to draw upon a plurality of examples from their own media consumption, placing value on their own media experiences and choices, as well as being guided through exposure to a range of examples of media within the curriculum. They are introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives and encouraged to evaluate the strengths and limitations of these.

Finally, students of Media Studies have opportunities for creativity, pairing their developing knowledge, understanding and critical thinking skills with new creative skills in practical production projects.

Works well with: English, Art, Psychology, Politics, Sociology, History, Geography, Business, Computing

Career and further study:

Journalism, Graphic Design, Editing, Marketing, Advertising, Producing, Research, Digital Marketing, Social Media Management, Copywriting, Photography, Directing, Screenwriting