Thin Book (Q block countercultural magazine project)

MOCK RESULTS - marks and feedback

Information for both years

This year, you will get feedback in four ways:

1) Your mark and grade will tell you exactly what level you currently are. Remember, if you are annoyed with your grade, you still have plenty of time to deal with it!

2) The bits of the essay where you are actually getting marks will be circled. This is called positive marking, and will allow you to instantly see where you are getting marks, and where you have been treading water. Where you have a circle, it will link to an assessment objective. See below for what this means.

3) You will receive one general area for improvement, which will be linked to a roman numeral (eg i, ii, iii etc) that you can find below

4) You will get verbal feedback from your teacher as to how you can improve.

Assessment objectives

First year

Component 1 (30 marks)

"Apply knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media to:

• analyse media products, including in relation to their contexts and through the use of academic theories
• make judgements and draw conclusions"

Component 2 (30 marks)

1 - Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of contexts of media and their influence on media products and processes (maximum 10 marks)

2 - Apply knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media to evaluate academic theories (maximum 20 marks)

Second year 

MS4 (30 marks)

1 - Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates (maximum 20 marks)

2 - Apply knowledge and understanding when analysing media products and processes (maximum 10 marks)

Feedback legend 

i - Consistently refer to you argument or point of view throughout

ii - Make full reference to media language, terms which you can find on the textual analysis toolkit

iii - Make reference to the social and political implications of your examples, making reference to hegemony

iv - Discuss the ideological implications of the examples you give, and how they might affect the target audience

v - Don't save all the good stuff for the conclusion!

vi - Do not overuse certain words and concepts, for example 'stereotyping'. Remember, stereotyping, as "a widely held belief about a certain people, place, or issue" needs to be used pretty specifically. 

vii - When applying your argument or opinion, try not to include simple arguments about whether or not you enjoyed the text/media product, but instead link to the audience and their possible negotiation (Hall)

viii - Use theory to analyse key scenes/adverts/pages. Don't lead the paragraph with theory!

ix - Avoid colloquialisms like the plague   full stop

x - Introduce your key examples appropriately. "The homeless woman" or "the woman in the bath" are just too vague. Try: "In Adbusters, a double page spread presents a binary between an androgenous model and a homeless woman on a New York street corner. The use of a high angled long shot emphasises her..." etc etc!

A-level media studies case studies

This page is currently very much out of date! Use the industries tab instead! 

Here you will find links to the case studies we have done so far, and which frameworks and theories you will need to know for each. Remember: knowledge of the case studies and how they relate to the textual analysis toolkit is the single most important aspect of media studies!

Component one - media products, audiences and industries

Advertising - Tide print advert, Wateraid audiovisual spot advert, Kiss of the Vampire theatrical poster

A) Media language (Barthes and Levi-Strauss)

A) Representation (Hall, Gauntlett, Van Zoonen, hooks, Gilroy)

B) Audience (Gerbner, Hall)

Music video - Formation, Beyonce (2016), Riptide, Vance Joy (2013)

A) Media language (Barthes and Levi-Strauss)

A) Representation (Hall, Gauntlett, Van Zoonen, hooks, Gilroy)

Newspapers - The Daily Mirror and The Times (13/03/2019)

A) Media Language (Barthes, Levi-Strauss)

A) Representation (Hall)

B) Audience (Gerbner, Hall, Shirky)

B) Industry (Curran & Seaton, Livingstone & Lunt, Hesmondhalgh)

Film Industry - Black Panther (2018) and I, Daniel Blake (2016) 

B) Industry (Curran & Seaton, Livingstone & Lunt, Hesmondhalgh)

Radio

B) Industry (Curran & Seaton, Livingstone & Lunt)

B) Audience (Hall, Shirky, Jenkins)

Videogames

B) Industry (Curran & Seaton, Livingstone & Lunt, Hesmondhalgh)

B) Audience (Banduras, Hall, Shirky, Jenkins)

Component two - media products in depth 

Television in the global age

Coming soon...

Magazines: mainstream and alternative - Woman (1964) and Adbusters (2016)

Media language (Barthes and Levi-Strauss)

Representation (Hall, Gauntlett, Van Zoonen, hooks, Gilroy)

Industry (Curran & Seaton, Livingstone & Lunt, Hesmondhalgh)

Audience (Gerbner, Hall)

Online media in an online age

Coming soon...

Jack's cover work - adbusters research

Researching brand identity

Task: Read this article and answer the questions below: https://goo.gl/PzdXnb (just google ‘Adbusters Mags with No Ads Huck magazine’)
(advisory warning – some swearing LOL)

• What is the ideology/ethos of Adbusters?
• How does Adbusters subvert traditional magazine conventions, especially in relation to
advertising?
• How does the magazine interact with its audience?

Researching Adbuster's online presence

Go to Adbusters.org

How does the website reinforce the brand identity of the magazine?
Is there a clear ‘house style’ that is evident across the magazine and the website?
What does the website offer that is different from the content of the magazine?
How does the website extend the brand (e.g. through videos, merchandise etc.)?
How does your magazine use social media (e.g. to market the latest edition or offer additional content)?
How can readers interact with the magazine through the website and social media?
Write TWO paragraphs explaining why it is important for print magazine publishers to have an online presence, giving specific examples from your Adbusters.

Research Task: ideology in practice and how adbusters interacts with its audience

Access the following websites: https://www.adbusters.org/bnd/, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/business/adbusters-war-against-too-much-of-everything.html Summarise key points about the following:

• The campaigns (e.g. Occupy Wall Street and Buy Nothing Day) that the Adbusters

Foundation runs.

• The controversies and criticisms of Adbusters.

• Other products that extend the Adbusters brand.

The Selfish Giant - character profiles