Contact Teacher: Mr G Evans, Team Leader Media Studies
Exam Board: Eduqas
Vision
Our department shares the school’s vision - Life in all its fullness - in the way we prepare students to be fully informed and aware of societal and cultural issues and so that they engage with the media around them with confidence and consideration. This can lead to a full and rich life in which they are mindful of the way messages, lifestyles and ideologies are mediated to audience expectations. We want our students to think for themselves, while being empathetic to the values of others. With us, students’ skills and interests are valued, nurtured and often integral to the modern, relevant products we study and make.
Media Studies Learning Journey
This is a visual representation of how students' knowledge and skills develop through the Media Studies curriculum.
(click on the image below to view a larger version)
Why study Media Studies?
It is impossible not to be impacted by the media in your day-to-day life. It’s where we find out what’s happening in the world; where we download music, films and content. It’s where we see the results of referendums, elections and uprisings and how we learn the impact they’ve had on us all. It’s where we interact with friends and project who we are. From politics and news to entertainment and culture, from advertising and marketing to social media and digital technology, the average person is exposed to 9.8 hours of media content daily.
It is more crucial than ever to have a critical understanding of the media, its effects, its opportunities and the producers and institutions behind the many media products we consume. Now there are a huge number of extra channels and platforms where we receive news, entertainment, information and advertising. These ‘new media’ now include the Internet and mobile devices - along with blogs, YouTube videos, memes and numerous social media sites. This means that the relationships between the producers and consumers of media products are constantly changing. Today, your opinion, your idea, your protest campaign, your video or your creation can be viewed globally in an instant.
This course is a superb primer for further academic study at university as well as excellent preparation for those who are aiming for a career in a particular area of the media. Media Studies graduates also enjoy a high employment rate because of their knowledge of marketing, industry and audiences which are essential when starting your own business or when working for any modern company that aims to have a presence online and in the marketplace.
Course details
Media Studies is a dynamic and challenging subject which welcomes independent and creative learners. You will view, evaluate and analyse a range of media texts which will prompt discussion and debate of a variety of contemporary issues. We will look at a range of set media products from all media platforms such as:
• Advertising and Marketing
• Music Videos (including Beyonce and Vance Joy)
• Newspapers
• Film Marketing (including Straight Outta Compton and I, Daniel Blake)
• Radio
• Video Games (including Assassin’s Creed)
• Television (including Humans, The Returned and The Bridge)
• Documentaries
• Magazines (including Huck and Vogue)
• Online products (including Zoella, , Attitude and Pointless Blog)
The course also introduces you to the practice of production, which gives you the opportunity to create media products in the medium of your choice.
Underpinning all of this will be the study and application of contemporary theory and theorists and dynamic academic approaches such as convergence, fandom, reception and cultivation theory, media literacy and media effects.
How the course is taught and assessed
Examinations (70%)
Two two-hour papers, the first exploring contemporary media issues and debates and relating to a pre-released topic set by the exam board; the second involving the analysis of media products that have been studied throughout the year. Both papers have a variety of question formats catering for all learners.
Non-Examination Assessment (30%)
You will have the opportunity to respond to a technical brief by producing a media product in the specialised medium of your choice (namely television, music video, radio, newspapers, magazines, online/ social media content, or video games). To aid you in this, you will have exclusive and unrestricted access to our Apple Mac suite and SLR cameras during and between lessons.
Entry requirements
You do not need to have taken Media Studies at GCSE level, but if you have you will be expected to have gained at least a grade 6. Otherwise you will need at least a grade 5 in English Language and/or Literature GCSE.
A-Level Specification: http://www.eduqas.co.uk/qualifications/media-studies/as-a-level/eduqas-a-level-media-studies-spec-from-2017-updated.pdf