AS Media

AS MEDIA

The 4 key areas you will study this year:
•Representation
•Genre
•Audience
•Textual Analysis

You will be assessed:
•MS1 - Examination - 2 ½ hours (50%)
•MS2 - Coursework – one Pre-Production task and a linked Production and a written reflective report (50%)

MS1: THE EXAM

QUESTION 1: Analysis (you will have 20 mins for analysis and 45 mins for writing your essay)

You will be asked to analyse an unseen media text (print or moving image)

The different formats you can get include…
•Advertisements (TV, Radio or Print)
•DVD Covers
•CD Covers
•Newspaper front pages
•Magazines (including comics)
•Radio sequences
•Film Extracts
•TV extracts
•Music Videos
•Websites (print outs)
•Computer games extracts

You will be asked to make a general analysis by commenting on 3 of the following aspects:

1)Genre conventions – what you expect them to include and whether they do what you expect
2)Narrative construction – how it tells a story (narrative theories applied)
3)Visual, Auditory and Technical Codes (how used and why used - effect)
4)Language used and modes of address

QUESTION 2: (35 minutes per question)

These questions will either focus on: 

AUDIENCE:•Discuss the target and secondary audiences
•Analyse the media text – showing how it appeals to the audience/s
•Write on issues linked to audience – using audience theories and your own 2/3 case studies

OR

REPRESENTATION:
•Recognise and analyse different representations in the media text
•Analyse one representation in the media text in detail (visual, technical and auditory codes)
•Discuss how the group have been represented in the media

The representation can focus on one of the following ….
•Gender (Men or Women)
•Age
•Ethnicity
•National Identity
•Regional Identity
•Issues
•Events

QUESTION 3:  (35 minutes per question)

•This is a general question requiring your own examples and you can use the stimulus media text too

•Again the focus will either be REPRESENTATION or AUDIENCE

AUDIENCE:

•How one text can attract many different audiences
•Defining different audiences (target and secondary audiences)
•How media texts construct and position audiences
•How different audiences can respond differently to the same text

REPRESENTATION:

•Recognising and analysing the representation in the stimulus material – use of visual, auditory and technical codes
•What representation is and its link to ideology
•To go beyond the representation – who constructed it? What purpose it? What effects it has or aims to have on the audience?
•Be aware of issues around representation – stereotypes (good/bad) how built? Mediation and ideology.

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MS2: COURSEWORK (50% of grade)

What does it involve?

—Three pieces of linked work:

• —A pre-production reflecting research and demonstrating planning techniques (20%)
• —A production piece, developed from the pre-production work (40%)
• —An evaluative report of 1200 – 1600 words (40%).

Assessment Objectives:

• Apply knowledge and understanding when analysing media products and processes, and when evaluating your own practical work, to show how meanings and responses are created.
• Demonstrate the ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research.

Pre-Production: (40 marks)

Must include:

• Research into your chosen product/industry
• Research into your target audience
• An artefact that demonstrates planning skills, as would be used in the media industry – minimum 2 pages, e.g.: storyboard, mock-up (very detailed draft), screenplay (script)…

Must demonstrate:

• Planning skills
• Technical and creative skills
• Written accuracy

Where to start...

• —Consider your own technical skills and set an achievable goal.
• —Gather lots of examples (style models) of the product and deconstruct them – identifying generic, narrative and technical codes.
• —Keep all of your notes!

Audience Research

• —Identify your target audience (consider demographic and psychographic factors – gender, age, VALs…)
• Consider how your text will be consumed (where will it ‘appear’?).
• —Undertake primary research: consider a questionnaire or a focus group.
• —Undertake secondary research – use the internet to research audiences.

Production (40% of marks)

—Must be linked to pre-production, may be:—Audio-visual – up to 3 minutes—Print – minimum of 2 pages of original material, including images—E-media – as ‘print’.

—A production should be a “fully realised media product that could exist in the market place.”

Success Criteria

Ability to construct media products using appropriate generic, narrative and technical codes
—Technical skills
—Creative skills
—Good written skills

Audio-visual work

—Before you start, come up with a list of ‘issues’ that you need to consider if you choose audio-visual work.
e.g.: Do I know how to use a camera?

Consider:
Shots/edits
Lighting/sound (diegetic & non-diegetic)
Setting (location)/costume/props
Actors
Script, storyboard, set design
Shooting schedule
Equipment: microphones, cameras, tripod, lights

Print work

Consider:

• Typeface
• Layout
• Language & register
• Mode of address
• Colour
• Images
• Style/design
• Industry elements (barcode, price, logo)
•  Brand image
• Narrative codes

Requirements

—You need to:—

• Produce a mock-up—
• Get feedback—
• Take your original images. 

Think about:

• Composition—
• Setting
• Lighting
• —Framing
• —Props
• —Model
• —Costume
• —Colour
• —Shot type

The Report (20 marks)

—This must include:

• —A discussion of the most significant research findings which informed the pre-production
• —A brief justification of the target audience for the production
• —An evaluation of the production which highlights its strengths and weaknesses, through comparison with existing media products

It can be:

• An illustrated report
• —An essay
• —A blog

Success Criteria

• —Demonstrating independent research skills; use of research to inform pre-production.
• Ability to apply knowledge and understanding in evaluating the product, with reference to comparable media products