Essential Media Technologies

Blogger- Useful for sharing resources between teachers, hosting lesson resources such as videos & presentations, setting work, having work stored for exam preparation, students' own blogs ensure teachers record their work/progress, allow them to upload multimedia files, engage them in their learning (www.blogger.com)

Prezi- cool and sexy presentation programme (www.prezi.com)

Wordle - useful for introducing concepts and recording key terms (www.wordle.com)

Scribd- website which allows you to upload documents to publish to blog sites (www.scribd.com)

YouTube- essential for all aspects of Media Studies teaching; examples of Media texts, presentations on different areas of the Media, information on New Technologies etc... (www.youtube.com)

Embedding documents- on the programme go to the 'SHARE' icon and click embed, you will then be given a code to copy, copy this and paste it in the 'EDIT HTML' section of your post

Mapping out Media Studies over a year

Mapping Out Media Teaching

(Seems to have dropped the letters F and G!)

Basic Photoshop Skills

Photoshop Skills

A2 Collective Identity (Applying Theories)

Applying Theories to Your Essay-A2

A2 Advanced Production (Preproduction Checklist)

Year 13 Music Videos Booklet Final

AS Audiences and Institutions SOW

Section B SOW

Ideologies PowerPoint

Ideologies

OCR A Level Spec

ocr_9646_kd_gce_spec

A2 Collective Identity SOW

A2 Media Studies Sow (2)

Stuart Hall- Media Reception Theory

Hall argues that the media appear to reflect reality whilst in fact they construct it. He also addressed theoretically the issue of how people make sense of media texts. In a key paper, 'Encoding/Decoding', Stuart Hall (1980), argued that the dominant ideology is typically inscribed as the 'preferred reading' in a media text, but that this is not automatically adopted by readers. The social situations of readers/viewers/listeners may lead them to adopt different stances. 'Dominant' readings are produced by those whose social situation favours the preferred reading; 'negotiated' readings are produced by those who inflect the preferred reading to take account of their social position; and 'oppositional' readings are produced by those whose social position puts them into direct conflict with the preferred reading Hall insists that there remain limits to interpretation: meaning cannot be simply 'private' and 'individual'.

Levi-Strauss - Binary Oppositions Theory

BINARY OPPOSITION
This is a sophisticated but important idea that will help you understand how ideas and meanings are being shaped, created or reinforced in a text. It is 'a theory of meaning' and an idea that can be applied to all texts; it is especially useful when analysing poetry where meaning has been 'compressed' into a very few words.
In the mid-20th century, two major European academic thinkers, Claude Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes, had the important insight that the way we understand certain words depends not so much on any meaning they themselves directly contain, but much more by our understanding of the difference between the word and its 'opposite' or, as they called it 'binary opposite'. They realised that words merely act as symbols for society's ideas and that the meaning of words, therefore, was a relationship rather than a fixed thing: a relationship between opposing ideas.
For example, our understanding of the word 'coward' surely depends on the difference between that word and its opposing idea, that of a 'hero'.

Other oppositions that should help you understand the idea are the youth/age binary, the masculinity/femininity, the good/evil binary, and so on. Barthes and Levi-Strauss noticed another important feature of these 'binary opposites': that one side of the binary pair is always seen by a particular society or culture as more valued over the other.

When studying any kind of text, it is worth looking for the ways in which layers of meaning are being created, shaped or reinforced by this sense of 'binary opposition'.

Key Concepts

Audience - all those who consume or interact with media products. A target audience may be identified as either mass (or mainstream) or niche and the product may be marketed to reach that audience; alternatively an audience may be constructed (e.g. a BBC 2 Comedy Zone audience, a Guardian reader, an American indie-film fan). Various demographic models exist, either by social or economic status (ABC1 etc. or the more recent 1a, b, c etc.), by lifestyle ("aspirer", "seeker" etc.) or media consumption references.Students should also be encouraged to examine the audience's complex and dynamic relationship with media products, rather than seeing the audience as a passive and homogeneous entity. They should also have explored the "pleasures", or uses and gratifications, the audience has from a text and the various functions it performs for them, as well as its effectiveness or impact (emotional, visual, ideological etc.). Particular audiences might have their own dominant/hegemonic, negotiated or oppositional readings. They might not accept the producer's preferred meaning. The nature of the meanings, interpretations and functions of a particular text in relationship to different audiences should be examined.

Key theories to explore include Blumier and Katz, Richard Dyer, Abraham Maslow and Stuart Hall


Ideology - often referred to as the system of ideas, values and beliefs which an individual, group or society holds to be true or important; these are shared by a culture or society about how that society should function. That which is seen to be shared, or perpetuated, by the most influential social agents (the churches, the law, education, government, the media etc.) may be described as dominant ideology. For example, ideas about such topics as work ("It is important to have a job"), money ("It is important to save money, buy insurance or a pension"), relationships ("Children should have parents, a man and a woman, who are married"), gender ("Women are naturally better at raising children") are all ideological viewpoints and correspond to a particular power relationship, political perspective or agenda that has developed over time. A common focus for ideological debate is the ways in which people are represented. However, study should focus on other less tangible or obvious values behind the images, such as materialism, celebrity, consumerism and patriotism, for example, which may be indirectly expressed. Ideas that are different from these may be called, oppositional, alternative, subversive, subordinate or counter to dominant ideology. The process by which dominant ideology is maintained is called hegemony. There are various schools of ideological theory, however, the most important point for you to grasp and explore (rather than quote academics without understanding) is that all media texts, and audiences, bear evidence of ideologies of one kind or another, whether directly or indirectly.

Key theories to explore include Marxism/Frankfurt school (the Effects Model), Feminist theory (Laura Mulvey) and Stuart Hall


Representation - the process of making meaning in still or moving images and words/sounds. In its simplest form, it means to present/show someone or something. However, as a concept for debate, it is used to describe the process by which an image etc. may be used to represent/stand for someone or something, for example a place or an idea. Inherent in this second definition is the notion that there may be a responsibility on the part of the producer for any representation, with regard to accuracy, "truth" and the viewpoints and opinions that such a representation may perpetuate. Therefore, debates commonly focus on the nature, positive or negative, radical or reactionary, of representation of minorities (according to race, sexuality, disability) and how they might not be beneficially served, politically or ideologically, by stereotypes/archetypes. These minorities may also be referred to as belonging to social groups (to include gender, social class, nationality, regionality, age, sexuality etc.). The concept of representation is not, however, exclusively related to that of social or cultural minorities. Study of the concept of representation should be linked to ideology and should examine the history of the construction of particular stereotypes and its purposes, the processes of representation and its effects. The concept is a complex and dynamic one and you should avoid simplistic and stereotypical responses, which solely see representation as a negative process.

Key theories to explore include Daniel Chandler's CAGE theory, Barthes and Strauss's Semiology (and the others above!)

Daniel Chandler's Representation Theory

Media Representation
(Daniel Chandler)

Representation refers to the construction of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, cultural identities and other abstract concepts.
The term representation refers to the processes involved as well as to its products. For instance, in relation to the key markers of identity - Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity (the 'cage' of identity) - representation involves not only how identities are represented (or rather constructed) within the text but also how they are constructed in the processes of production and reception by people whose identities are also differentially marked in relation to such demographic factors.

A key in the study of representation concern is with the way in which representations are made to seem ‘natural’. Systems of representation are the means by which the concerns of ideologies are framed; such systems ‘position’ their subjects.


· All texts, however 'realistic' they may seem to be, are constructed representations rather than simply transparent 'reflections', recordings, transcriptions or reproductions of a pre-existing reality.
· Representations which become familiar through constant re-use come to feel 'natural' and unmediated.
· Representation is unavoidably selective, foregrounding some things and backgrounding others.
· Every representation is motivated and historically contingent.

Reality is always represented - what we treat as 'direct' experience is 'mediated' by perceptual codes. Representation always involves 'the construction of reality'. Discuss this statement referring to at least three contemporary British TV programmes.

The Mass Media and the Frankfurt School (Media Theory)

The Mass Media and the Frankfurt School

The Frankfurt school refers to a group of academics including Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse, whose neo-Marxists views regard audiences as passive consumers of media texts. These theorists have tried to understand how mass audiences are both affected by and can affect the massive, corporatized media establishment that we see in countries like the U.S.
Early theorists such as these claimed that the Media industry was founded on mass deception and that the average consumer was a cultural dupe being inculcated into the values of the ruling classes without realizing it.
Many critics of this school feel that this represented a reintroduction of Marx’s ideas about mediation, or media as purveyors of a dominant ideology that destroyed the possibility that audiences for mass media were able to work against these ruling ideas.

(For more information click on these links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism08.html)

Hegemony (Media Theory)

Ideologies and Hegemony
A key area of Media Studies is examining the issue of how the Media affects society. It is clear to see that we live in a media saturated world; we use the media to inform us, entertain us and connect us with others. Theorists have argued that the impact of the Media on our society is paramount; how can it not be when it encompasses our everyday lives?

In order to understand the potential impact of the Media you first have to understand the notion of Hegemony. Within society there is a ruling class- a group of people who govern the way we live our lives. The values and beliefs of this group is known as hegemony- the dominant ideologies in a society.

Links to further detail on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemony
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism10.html

Due to the potential power of the Media various theorists have explored the relationship between the Media and social hegemony (and the ruling classes who create this).

One of the most famous and influential theorists is Karl Marx (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx). Marx, who is credited as the founder of modern communism, argued that the Media served to promote the views of the ruling classes thus in the western world promote a capitalist society.

So how does this link in with the Media? Well, in order to understand media texts, it is necessary to understand why they are being constructed in the first place, who is constructing it and why is it being constructed in that particular way?

Film Terms Glossary

Film Terms

AS Film Opening (A Grade)

AS Film Opening (A Grade)

A2 Music Video (A Grade)

A2 Music Video (A Grade)

Teaching Theory at A Level

Aims of A Level Media Studies

The A Level MS course should enhance the students' enjoyment and appreciation of the media, whilst developing an understanding of its role in shaping the world in which we live. Specifically students should;

• Develop a critical understanding of the media through engagement with media products and concepts, and through the creative application of practical skills;

• Explore production processes and new Media technologies through planning and producing their own professional Media texts;

• Become independent through developing their own research skills and applying these to their studies

• And most importantly enjoy the course!

A Level Media Studies

The Media Studies course revolves around the four key principles of the Media:

• Audiences
• Institutions
• Representation
• Forms and Conventions (inc Media Language)

In addition to these students will also study:

• New Media Technologies
• Textual Analysis of various Media Texts

AQA Controlled Assignment Guidance (2012- TV Crime Drama)

Controlled Assignment 2012

Media Studies GCSE Level Ladder

Media Level Ladder

GCSE Mark Schemes

Mark Schemes

GCSE Production Work: Magazines (B/C Grade)

GCSE Production Work: Magazines (A*/A Grade)

GCSE Production Work: Magazines (C/D Grade)

GCSE Production Work -Film Poster

GCSE Production Work- Advertising

GCSE Coursework

Coursework at GCSE
There is no denying that the coursework element is the ‘sexy’ part of Media Studies; students (generally) happily engage with the production element of the coursework and often achieve the higher grade in the coursework element of the course. There are some general principles to keep in mind when managing the coursework element:
· Students should always have access to an abundance of professional media texts in the area in which they are working, i.e. if they are producing magazines, film posters, adverts etc… they should have four or five ones in front of them when they are designing and producing theirs and always keep referring back to them

· Students should have access to digital technology to enable them to produce their own media texts- the standard student work across the country gets better and better each year, so they have to produce articles which look professional (for print they should ideally be working in Photoshop or something similar)

· Students should be monitored at all times when producing production work (this is a requirement of the controlled assessment- research may be carried out independently as homework tasks). It is tempting to have lessons where students just get on with the work, however in order to get the best out of students they need to have clear structure in their lessons and have specific foci discussed at the start of lessons to ensure they are focussed on producing a professional looking text.

· And finally remember this is not English coursework- students will need large chunks of time to draft/draw/design get frustrated throw all their work away and start all over again. They should not be writing in exercise books each lesson. Also analysis can be done in a range of ways and ideally students should steer clear from formal English style analytical essays when it comes to this aspect of the coursework.


Coursework Assessment
Students are assessed on the following areas for their coursework pieces:
Media Language
Analysis
Communication
Genre & Conventions
Institutions
Representation
Production and Planning Skills

Introduction to the Media unit (GCSE)

Introductory Unit

Teaching GCSE Media Studies

Why study the Media?

The aims of the GCSE course are to enable students to:

· Develop enquiry, critical thinking and decision making skills through consideration of issues that are important, real and relevant to them and to the world in which they live

· Develop their appreciation and critical understanding of the media and its role in their daily lives

· Develop their practical production skills through opportunities for personal engagement and creativity

Key Concepts

Underpinning the GCSE course are the four major concepts of:

· Media Language (forms and conventions)
· Institutions
· Audiences
· Representation

Through studying these concepts students are encouraged to become independent analytical learners who question and challenge the shaping of dominant ideologies in our society. Alongside this their creative skills are developed through accessing the latest media technologies to produce their own media products.

Introductory Unit: Introduction to the Media

We live in a Media saturated world, in which the technological landscape is constantly changing and evolving, offering people more opportunities to both consume and create media products. As teachers of the Media it is essential that we have a working knowledge of contemporary media issues alongside a secure understanding of new media technologies.

Overview of GCSE Media Studies

GCSE Media Studies (AQA Specification)
Overview

Unit 1- Examination Unit; topic changes each year (40%)
Unit 2- Coursework; comprising of three units (60%)

Exam Unit
Unit 1: Investigating the Media


Written Paper (1hour 30mins) 40%.
Based on a pre-released topic with guidance and stimulus.
Task 1: Knowledge and Understanding.
Task 2: Research, Planning and Presentation; Production and Evaluation.
Exam taken at a date specified by AQA in June

Topics:
2012- TV Crime Drama
2013- The Music Press: Print and Online
2014- Promotion and Marketing of Computer Games
2015- Television News

Coursework Units

Unit 2: Understanding the media
Unit Learning Outcomes

Assessment Objectives, students will be expected to:
AO2 Analyse and respond to media texts/topics using media key concepts and appropriate terminology
AO3 Demonstrate research, planning and presentation skills
AO4 Construct and evaluate their own products using creative and technical skills

The aim of the coursework unit is for students to develop an understanding of how and why media texts are produced as they are. In Unit 2 students will produce one introductory assignment, one assignment that requires students to look closely at cross-media platforms which more closely reflects the media industry today and one Practical Production and Evaluation, each chosen from a different bank of assignments (set by AQA). The assignments must cover three discrete media forms/platforms, and no work submitted for Controlled Assessments in Unit 2 may cover the External Assessment topic for Unit 1 for that year.

Coursework Assignments
Assignment 1- Advertising and Marketing (Analyse two print advertisements. How effective are they in selling their products? Design your own advertisement for a product targeted at a specific audience. You should design the advertisement itself.)

Assignment 2- Film Promotion (Compare the impact and effectiveness of two promotional methods used by one film eg – poster; cinema, television or viral trailer; web page; magazine article; television interview. Print or web-based/new media – mock-up design for a poster, magazine article, DVD case, internet home page, or other promotional material for a film. Audio-visual media – devise a storyboard for a trailer or a script for a television or radio interview promoting the same film.)

Assignment 3- Print Magazine Production (Four pages, including the front cover or front page, for a magazine or newspaper aimed at a specific audience. No more than two candidates producing four pages each.)

Controlled Assessment

This unit is assessed under controlled conditions.
Each task is specified by AQA. For each assignment students must complete one assignment from Assignment Bank 1, one from Bank 2 and one from Bank 3. The supervision of students must ensure that they complete tasks themselves. Research may be undertaken with limited supervision. Students need not be under the direct supervision of staff at all times. However students are required to complete all of the work other than research under informal supervision. This means that the centre must ensure that:
• plagiarism does not take place
• the sources used by students are clearly recorded
• each student’s preparation for the final production of the work is his/her own.

Teachers may provide guidance and feedback to students, feedback may evaluate progress to date and propose suggested broad areas for improvement but the detailed correction or annotation of work for feedback purposes is not allowed.

The work of individual students may be informed by working with others, for example in undertaking research, but students must provide an individual response as part of the task outcome. For Assignments 1 and 2 all work submitted for assessment will be the student’s own. For Assignment 3, groups of students, as explained below, may collaborate in the construction of the media product but their evaluative responses must be their own and their individual contribution clearly identified.



(For the full spec/detailed guidelines see http://www.aqa.org.uk/qualifications/gcse/english-and-media/media-studies.php)