Media

Year 

Autumn 

Spring 

Summer 

10 

• Introduction to the key media concepts (media language, audience, representations and industry) 

• Fundamental principles of semiotic analysis, including connotation and denotation 

• The various forms of media language used to create and communicate meanings in media products. 

• How choice (selection, combination and exclusion) of elements of media language influences meaning in media products to create narratives, to portray aspects of reality, to construct points of view, and to represent the world in ways that convey messages and values. 

• Theories of narrative, including those derived from Propp (character types). 

• Theoretical perspectives on audiences including, active and passive audiences, audience response, audience interpretation and Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory. 

• Introduction to the Close Study Products 

• Film Industries: Two film case studies from contrasting films. We will focus on film funding, production, marketing, distribution, effects of ownership, rating, regulation, and the global scale of the film industry as well as other industry issues. We will study how movies are produced, distributed, and exhibited in the digital age (including the importance of online services) as well as considering issues of diversity in the film industry. 

• Advertising and Marketing: We will study 3 adverts from different media formats. We will explore how codes and conventions are used to communicate meaning and how useful narrative theories are when analysing adverts. We will also explore examples of intertextuality and hybridity used in advertising. We will explore media Representations of place, celebrity persona, the product, historical periods, nostalgia, masculinity and femininity, class and age and explore how a version of reality is constructed. We will discuss how advertisements reflect the social, historical and cultural contexts in which they are produced. 

• Magazines: Two magazines from contrasting genres will be studied. We will compare the front covers from two contrasting magazines and explore how magazine brands compete within a highly competitive market. We will explore how media language used in these products communicate meaning. 

• Music Videos: We will study two contrasting music videos. The two case studies provide a range of opportunities to study convergence between media industries, the role of music video in reaching audiences and the relationship between producers, audiences and platforms. They also offer the opportunity to consider the global nature of media audiences and industries. We will explore how the official music video is designed to target a range of audiences as well as examining how it was distributed. We will also consider issues around globalisation, cultural imperialism, and the changing nature of music videos as a media form. 

11 

• Television: Two television products will be studied. One of the texts will be a contemporary product that illustrates some of the current issues surrounding the BBC and emerging trends in television production and broadcasting and provides opportunities to study all areas of the theoretical framework. One text will be a historical product that has historical, cultural and social significance which will allow us to compare the changing representations of social groups with the contemporary television product. 

• Non-Exam Assessment: You will independently create a media product in response to a brief set by the exam board. You will be able to choose from five briefs. The briefs will specify the media form and the intended audience for your product. 

• Online, social and participatory media:  The products studied will include video games; websites and social media sites. All four elements of the Theoretical Framework (Language, Representation, Industries, Audience) and all relevant contexts will be studied. 

• Newspapers: The front covers and articles from within a tabloid and quality newspaper will be studied. We will need to compare the two newspapers in terms of their different audiences, different styles of presentation and different political and ideological viewpoints. We will also explore issues of ownership, production, funding, technologies and regulation alongside audience theories.  

• Radio: The launch of Radio 1 was an event of historical and social significance and an important turning point in the history of radio. We will explore this text as it provides a useful point of contrast with contemporary developments in youth-oriented radio. Modern day radio stations and how they illustrate cross-media ownership, the concentration of ownership and convergence will be explored.