Make sure you read this comprehensive post on exam structure before attending any revision sessions or workshops!
Here's a big old list of revision resources that covers literally everything and anything!
Check out this post on the 'industry context' question that WILL come up in component one section b
This schedule is a work in progress, and is subject to change
For the final six weeks, A-level media studies will switch to full revision. Each session will focus on structuring an exam, including presenting an argument, effectively using examples, appropriately applying theory, and presenting a clear conclusion. We will also be looking at the precise content needed to secure the higher grades, a fact which should reassure those who missed out case studies, set texts and explicit examples from your recent KA6 mock.
In order to achieve this, each session will focus on a single question. Each class will tackle a different question. Every response will be posted to the blog. This means, should everything run smoothly, the plans for fifty-four potential questions will be posted to the blog. In terms of revision resources, you cannot ask for anything more effective. This has been tried and tested by your teachers to deliver excellent results. Yes, it's a little dull. But we have to compromise.
In order to make this work, we need you to make the following commitments:
- You will not miss a single lesson, unless there is a spectacularly good reason
- You will make excellent comments and suggestions in class when prompted
- You will make rigorous and detailed notes when other students and the teacher makes suggestions
- You will revise each and every day, completing past paper questions where appropriate to submit to your teacher for marking and brief feedback
- You will use the resources on the blog, making use of the label and search functions
Lesson by lesson revision plan and revision index
Week one - Advertising and film
1 – Advertising – Component one a – representation and media language
- How do these adverts reflect the sociohistorical context of the time they were made?
- In what ways do these adverts utilise intertextuality to create meaning?
- Explore the ways in which these adverts use representation to position audiences
2 – Advertising – Component one b - Audience
- Explore how advertisements target their audiences
- How do the adverts you have studied appeal to a range of specialised and generalised audiences?
- Explore how audiences can use or interact with the advertisements you have studied
3 – Film industry – Component one b - Industry
- "Distribution is the key to success for any media industry": how have digital technologies affected the ways in which films are produced and distributed?
- How have the films you have studied been shaped by financial factors?
- How effective is the regulation of the film industry?
Week two - Newspapers
1 – Newspapers – Component one a – Media language and representation – set texts
- How do these products make use of intertextuality and genre conventions in order to reflect the ideology of the producer?
- Explore how audiences are positioned by the use of media language in these newspapers
- To what extent do representations in these newspapers make claims about realism?
- Compare the ideologies conveyed through the representations in these newspapers
2 – Newspapers – Component one b – industry – general study
- Explain how ownership shapes media products. Refer to The Daily Mirror to support your points
- How do specific processes of production, distribution and circulation shape The Times and The Mirror?
3 – Newspapers – Component one b – audience – general study
- How do The Daily Mirror and The Times construct their audiences?
- How does this product attract/target its audiences? How does it construct an audience?
- How do The Times and The Daily Mirror attract and maintain their audiences both locally and globally?
Week three - Music videos, videogames and radio
1 – Music videos - Component 1 section a – media language and representation
- How do the representations in Formation by Beyonce and 뚜두뚜두 by Blackpink show the values, attitudes and beliefs of the producer?
- Explore how intertextuality creates meaning in the videos to Riptide by Vance Joy and 7 Rings by Ariana Grande
- Explore how the representation of America has been constructed in the video to This Is America by Childish Gambino and Formation by Beyonce
2 – Videogames – Component 2 section b – Industry and audience
- Explore the ways in which audiences can use and take pleasure from video games. Make explicit reference to Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
- Explore how ownership has shaped Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
3 – Radio - Component 2 section b – Industry and audience
- Explore how emergent digital technologies have shaped Late Night Women's Hour
- Explore how Late Night Woman's Hour appeals to both core and secondary audiences
- WHO OWNS THIS MEDIA PRODUCT? ARE THEY A PART OF A CONGLOMERATE, AND/OR VERTICALLY INTEGRATED?
Week four - TV
1 – TV - Component 2 a – media language and representation
- "All genres exist and function through a process of repetition and difference" - use Steve Neale's genre theory to explore this notion in Humans and Les Revenants
- Liesbet Van-Zoonen argues that media language encodes how male and female characters act in media products. Explore how representations position the audience in Humans and Les Revenants
- BONUS: Les Revs key scene analysis
2 – TV - Component 2 a – Industry
- In what ways are Humans and Les Revenants shaped by specialised forms of production, distribution and circulation?
- Explore how Humans and Les Revenants uses marketing and promotional campaigns to maintain both local and global audiences
3 – TV - Component 2 a – Audience
- Explore how audiences are positioned by the representation of social issues in Humans and Les Revenants
- David Gauntlet explores how audiences can use TV shows to define their own identities. To what extent can the audiences of Humans and Les Revenants use these shows to construct their identity?
Week five - Magazines
1 – Magazines - Component 2 b – media language and representation
- Explore how the set editions of Woman and Adbusters reflect the historical context of which they were made
- Stuart Hall argues that not only do representations reflect the ideology of the producer, they also reflect the historical context in which they were made. Analyse this theory with explicit reference to the set editions of Woman and Adbusters
2 – Magazines - Component 2 b – industry
- Explore how Adbusters utilises digital convergence to facilitate production [15]
- "All media products are purely created to ensure financial success". To what extent do you support this statement? Make reference to the set editions of Woman and Adbusters
3 – Magazines - Component 2 b – Audience
- Explore how the set edition of Woman magazine constructs it's target audience [15]
- Explore how the set editions of Woman and Adbusters appeal to their target audiences
Week six - Online media
1 – Online - Component 2 c – media language and representation
- Jean Baudrillard suggested that “We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” Evaluate the extent to which this postmodernist statement applies to Zoella and Attitude
- Explore the extent to which emergent digitally convergent technology has allowed producers to communicate complex meanings. Make reference to Zoella and Attitude
- To what extent do the representations in Attitude make claims about realism? [15]
2 – Online - Component 2 c – Industry and audience
- Clay Shirky states “The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'Why publish this?' to 'Why not?”. To what extent is this concept of 'amateurization' applicable to Zoella and Attitude, and to what extent can audiences meaningfully interact with these products?
- How significant is the role of individual producers in online media industries? Make reference to Zoella to support your argument [15]
Additional revision sessions (provisional)
In addition to the revision lessons, there will also be revision workshops run during plus time. These are targeted and entirely optional. Please talk to your teacher for more information.
There will be two revision workshops a week. They both have different themes, and it is highly unlikely that you will benefit from attending both.
Tuesday - achieving an A grade - discussing advanced media theory, terminology and essay structure to obtain the very top marks.
Wednesday - Ensuring a C grade - Working on the basics, for example media language, textual analysis and key facts, these sessions focus on how to ensure a 'C' grade in the final exams.
Provisional timetable:
'Achieving an A grade' - Tuesdays, 14:40
2/4/19 - Structuralist approaches
23/4/19 - Postmodernism
30/ 4/19 - Hegemony
Beyond patriarchal hegemony etc.
7/5/19 - Gender performativity
14/5/19 - Intertextuality
21/5/19 Presenting a strong argument
Incorporating a ‘voice’ etc.
'Ensuring a C grade' - Wednesdays, 14:40
3/4/19 - PEA
24/4/19 - Language and Terminology
1/5/19 - Analytical not descriptive
Developing analysis from description
8/5/19 - Industry
Regulation, ownership – how to incorporate
15/5/19 - Representation -
Key concepts, theories etc.
22/5/19 - Audience -
Key concepts, theories etc.