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| Year 13 has already started, so make sure you hit the ground running! |
Welcome back to all Media Studies students! Congratulations on your hard work during your first year exams. At this stage, you (hopefully!) will be feeling a lot more relaxed than you were this time last month. On the other hand, you may well have questions about what it is you are actually doing back here. Put simply, you have now started on your second year, and you will be thrown into the deep end on a challenging but rewarding research essay. The details for this essay shall be explained by your teacher, and through a few accompanying blog posts.
Here are a few ways in which A2 Media is fundamentally different to AS Media, and this is a perfect time to get to grips with the changes. Most of them are pretty exciting!
Wider reading becomes essential
If you have, for some reason not been reading around the subject so far, you will find it becomes essential now. It is an expectation of both the college and the course that you do as much work out of lessons as you do in them. This isn't nearly as intimidating as it sounds. examples of wider reading can include reading and watching
- Academic texts
- Journals
- Magazines
- Dedicated websites
- Films
- Documentaries
- TV programmes
- Textbooks
- Revision guides
Wider reading is not something you should just complete a few weeks before your exam. It is also not something you should just do before your research investigation and then never again. Wider reading should be completed each and every day. It's not like you need to read a super hard academic essay every day. Reading film reviews and newspapers counts and is invaluable. Media Studies is a broad, exciting, and constantly changing field, so enjoy your wider reading!
You must analyse not only the text, but the context
Previously you got your marks through close textual analysis, considering how cinematography, editing, sound, mise-en-scene and the general construction of the text created meaning. Now, you not only have to refer to the text, but the surrounding context in which it can be understood. Why is the text made in this way? Who has made it, and for what purpose? Can it be compared to other media texts? Is it similar to other texts the producer has made?
The coursework is more straightforward than first year
Opinions are divided on this one, but in general, second year students are likely to agree that A2, if not easier than AS is more straightforward than AS. The reason for this is structure. The coursework is of a similar structure, but an in depth research investigation now takes the place of your storyboard from last year. The tricky report of first year has now been replaced with a very short evaluation. What is really important to remember is that your production (a music video) must refer back to the representation, genre or narrative discoveries that you made in your research investigation. This is a little confusing, but your teacher will explain exactly what you have to do, and when you have to do it.
The exam is definitely more straightforward than first year
The AS Media exam is pretty broad. Even after narrowing things down, pretty much anything can come up, thanks to the unseen texts that you are presented with. The A2 exam does not have this. Instead, you will study in detail nine texts throughout the year, three films, three tv programmes and three musical artists (at the time of writing. Things can still change!). You will need to study these texts in significantly more detail, but the payoff is we can tell you pretty much what you are going to be covering in the exam right from the outset.
So if you felt that the most stressful part of the AS exam was how unpredictable it was, the A2 exam has the potential to be a lot more straightforward. And although the depth you must go in to is significantly more than before, you will take it in your stride. It's arguably a lot more rewarding to study just nine texts in significant detail than many more texts in brief detail!