Welcome to Media Studies

Media Studies
Information Pack for September AS Media Studies

I hope you are realising the importance of Media Studies at this time – where would we be right now without the digital world?

OCR Media Studies H409
What a huge industry this is and right now – our lives revolve completely around it.


https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/316672-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-media-studies-h409.pdf


A breakdown with a little more detail…

Paper 1
·  The News – the biased representations that institutions choose to portray according to their political allegiance and ‘social concerns’ [Curran & Seaton]. This is print based and online study as well.
·  Music Video: the set texts are David Guetta Titanium and Emeli Sande ‘Heaven’ – how representations are created through media language in these two, very different videos, is really great to analyse. [ How there is ‘power in representation’ Stuart Hall]
·  Advertising: set texts are Lucozade and Old Spice.
·  Magazines and charity websites: set texts are The Big Issue and Shelter [ hope you’ve all seen the latest Shelter advert on telly?] These contain ‘diversity in representation’ -Gauntlett.

          Paper 2
·  Gaming: set text Minecraft – how the institution produces and develops this game for mass audiences
·  Radio 1 Breakfast Show –how the BBC as a PSB institution targets audiences through participatory media
·  Film: Set text Disney Jungle Book 1967 compared to the re-release Jungle Book 2016
·  Long Form TV Drama [ forever hereafter referred to as LFTVD] – set texts are Stranger Things series 1 episode 1 and Fordbrydelsen series 1 episode 1 [ yes one has to be from another country… in this case Denmark] The way these two dramas share codes and conventions but also break them creates ‘repetition & difference’ [Steve Neale] thus keeping audiences hooked. 


NEA [ Non examination assessment] -coursework.

There are four briefs to choose from: TV, Radio, Magazine and music video. This requires skill development with technology: photo shoots, filming, editing still images, constructing a website for your project, editing film….
This is the point at which you can be really creative.

NOTE: there are several theorists quoted above… these underpin your analysis of many set texts and are worth some investigation…start researching:
  1. Curran & Seaton
  2. Stuart Hall
  3. Steve Neale
  4. David Gauntlett

Tasks you can do right now:

1] Create a blog – you will need  a gmail account. So, create a gmail account then go on blogger.com and create a blog. Follow the instructions and give it a sensible name eg
RachelWingMediaStudies.blogspot.co.uk  The name on your blog is what OCR will see.



Choose a ‘simple’ design and then you can have a look at changing layout, colours, backgrounds etc.

If you click theme and customize you can do all sorts – you will also need to click

1.     Background – there are many to choose from!
2.     Adjust widths to widen your blog page space
3.     Advanced – to change fonts etc

It’s good fun but don’t forget to click save!


View the blog and decide if you like it, if not change it.

Then when you are happy with the look of you blog click New Post.

Post Title: you must use sensible post titles to complete tasks.


Task 1: Post title- Research of The Daily Mail
In the blog space type in facts about The Daily Mail.

In order to put an image in, you will need to save the image first to your laptop/ PC then click the image icon. Then select and insert. You can change the size and placement of the image by clicking it. Try to find a really emotive front page of The Daily Mail.
When you have found an image and inserted it into your blog post then click post.
Then view your blog and you will see your first post.


Task 2: Post title – Research of The Guardian Newspaper.
Repeat the instructions in task 1 but for The Guardian.

Task 3: Post title: research of shot types
Look online and learn about different shot types. Create a post that shows different shot types and with each image, explain why that type of shot worked well.

Task 4: Post title- Research Stranger Things Series 1 episode 1
Find information about this Long Form TV Drama on Netflix. It is one of your set texts. Upload images from series 1 episode 1 and explain the setting, costume, shot type etc.

Also-find out facts about Netflix and Stranger Things. Start creating your case study.


Task 5: If you have a camera, take a range of photographs in your garden. Upload these to a blog post and label each one with the shot type.  Post title: My first outdoor photo shoot.

Task 6: Watch the two named music videos. Take snippets of any shots you think are important. 

Post : Guetta’ Titanium’ 
  • Explain the narrative of this video
  • Upload the shots, state the shot type and explain what is effective about each one.



Post : Sande ‘Heaven’
  • Explain the way the lyrics work with the visuals – how what you hear is reinforced by what you see. What kind of social comment is she making?
  • Upload the shots, state the shot type and explain what is effective about each one.



If you can email me your blog address, I can mark your work on the blog. You find this by clicking ‘View blog’ then copy the URL and paste it into an email for me.  When I have your address I can follow and comment on your posts. If you’re struggling with the way it looks, I can also help with that.

Our college blog address: https://valeacademyalevelmediastudies.blogspot.com

Please email me and we can start a conversation about the course.  I am delighted you chose Media Studies – in this current climate, it is a vital part of our everyday lives and without it, we would be truly isolated.  
Participatory media is a big aspect of this course and we are all Media producers when we share, like, chat and communicate.

I look forward to hearing from you in the near future and can’t wait to see you all.

Miss King
Head of Media Studies

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