Your December mock exam is a great opportunity to practice a full 90-minute exam and revise some of the CSPs we have studied so far.
Your December exam will be one full Paper 2 (Television and Online, Social and Participatory Media). Below is a full guide to what you need to revise for each section of the exam.
Know your exam
One of the most important aspects of preparing for examinations is knowing exactly what topics could come up and where. For your December exam, this is what will come up:
December mock exam - Wednesday 13 December
Section A: Television
Short extract from either Doctor Who – An Unearthly Child (1963) or His Dark Materials – The City of Magpies (2020).
The extract will be shown twice and you can make notes. There will then be three questions on the extract (2 marks, 8 marks, 12 marks).
The final question is a 20-mark essay on BOTH of your TV Close-Study Products.
Your real Paper 2 may have questions on Newspapers in Section B. However, these will not appear in your December mock exam as we have not studied the topic yet.
How to revise
Revision is a very personal thing and everyone has different techniques. Personally, I strongly recommend using flash cards (they are often called record cards if you are trying to buy them online or in WHSmiths). The simple act of distilling topics into a few key words or phrases to put on the card will seriously help in remembering the key information in the final exams. I have spare flash cards in DF07 if you'd like some. Media students in the past have created three sets of revision cards:
Media terminology
Media theory
CSPs
Good luck with your revision and give this mock exam your best shot!
Our OSP CSP is the online presence of Manchester Utd and England footballer Marcus Rashford.
This is an in-depth CSP so we need to study all four areas of the theoretical framework: Language, Representation, Audience and Industry. This first case study will focus on Language and Representation.
Introduction
Marcus Rashford is a Manchester Utd and England footballer who has used social media and the internet to create a strong brand. He has been praised for his high-profile campaigns on food poverty (putting pressure on the government to provide free school meals in holidays during Covid-19) as well as homelessness and books for children.
We need to study his website, social media and how he has created his Marcus Rashford brand.
Language analysis
GLOW glossary words
Convergence: When two or more media forms can be accessed in one place or one device e.g Marcus Rashford’s website also links to his books, social media feeds and video content.
Online engagement/dialogue: Communication online e.g between a celebrity and a fan.
Endorsement: When a celebrity or influential figure recommends something to the public.
Website conventions
Website key conventions include:
Logo/brand identity
Navigation – menus
Central image
Multimedia features – e.g. video
Social media links / integration
Social media conventions
Social media key conventions include:
Logo/brand identity
Bio (personal details/information)
Profile image
Background/banner image
Images and video
Online engagement/audience interaction
Genre and narrative
Marcus Rashford has created a strong personal brand that merges different genres – footballer, campaigner / activist, influencer and celebrity.
His online presence – particularly video content – emphasises his working class background, how hard his mum worked as a single parent and his own positive attitude towards hard work. This creates a narrative of success against the odds. He then uses this to drive his campaigning work on food poverty and reading as well as his commercial endorsements.
Representations
Marcus Rashford’s online presence offers a real mix of representations – some reinforcing stereotypes of masculinity, footballers and race/ethnicity but at other points subverting them.
He also looks to challenge stereotypes regarding poverty, age, people receiving benefits and social class.
Use Daniel Chandler’s representation theory of CAGE to analyse Marcus Rashford’s online presence:
C – Class (social class – working class people)
A – Age (youth)
G – Gender (masculinity)
E – Ethnicity (black British)
Audience
Target audience: demographics and psychographics
What is Marcus Rashford’s target audience:
Demographics: CAGE?
Psychographics?
Audience engagement
Instagram engagement rate is a measure of how much audiences engage with posts (e.g. likes, comments). An engagement rate of 1-3% is considered good and anything 6%+ is extremely high.
Marcus Rashford’s power as an influencer is shown by his engagement rate of 6%.
What is the appeal of Marcus Rashford to his audience? Think about his campaigns, use of social media and his website. Also, consider his appeal to different audiences.
Use Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory:
Diversion
Personal Identity
Personal Relationships
Surveillance/information
Industry
Marcus Rashford net worth
Marcus Rashford’s net worth has been estimated at around £16m (source: Sunday Times rich list). This includes:
£200,000 per week from Manchester United (£10.4m a year)
£2m endorsement deal with Nike
Additional deals with Burberry, BT Sport (now TNT Sport), Coca-Cola and others
He is also the youngest person to top the Sunday Times Giving List for raising £20m for good causes.
Marcus Rashford commercial partners
Watch the following promotional videos from brands featuring Marcus Rashford.
What do the companies get from an association with Rashford?
Thinking about media language, how do these adverts create an emotional connection between the brand and audience using Marcus Rashford?
How do the clips help Marcus Rashford control or build his own brand?
Industries: ownership, control and regulation
Marcus Rashford’s online presence is partly driven by his excellent use of social media.
But who owns Twitter? Who owns Instagram? How much money do they make? How are they regulated?
These are key questions for GCSE Media students.
Twitter
Twitter was started by Jack Dorsey in 2006. It now has over 200 million active users worldwide.
Twitter’s 2020 revenue was $3.72 billion.
Twitter makes most of its money through advertising – promoted tweets or ‘trend takeovers’.
Marcus Rashford has over 5m Twitter followers.
Instagram
Instagram is an image and video sharing site launched in 2010.
In 2012 it was bought by Facebook for $1 billion. Facebook and Instagram’s parent company is now called Meta – a global conglomerate.
Instagram has over a billion active users worldwide and more than 25 million users in the UK alone.
Instagram revenue in 2020 was $24 BILLION.
Marcus Rashford has over 12m Instagram followers.
Instagram: a danger to teenagers?
Over 40% of Instagram users are aged under 23.
Research suggests that Instagram is damaging to mental health – particularly for teenage girls.
Facebook’s own research suggested this – but they allegedly kept this secret.
The research suggested one in three girls felt bad about their bodies and Instagram made this worse. It is also linked to increased anxiety and depression.
Media regulation: how do you regulate the internet and social media?
The government put forward the Online Safety bill in 2022 to change the law and add regulation of the internet to Ofcom’s role as media regulator. This includes:
Sending threatening posts being punishable by jail sentences.
Platforms like Twitter and Instagram having to actively prevent users seeing harmful material – or risk being fined by Ofcom.
Platforms paying Ofcom to regulate their content.
Critics of the law have suggested social media is impossible to regulate – there is too much content – or users’ freedom of speech will be compromised.
Internet regulation: key questions
The internet is very difficult to regulate because it is global but governments are national. Also, corporations like Amazon or Facebook are now more powerful than some governments.
Media theorist Clay Shirky describes the change with digital media as going from: “Filter then publish to publish then filter”.
Anyone can publish almost anything instantly and the audience then has to filter the content they engage with.
Here's Clay Shirky talking about how the internet is changing communication - watch the first three minutes:
Finally, here is Marcus Rashford talking to Sky Sports News about what should be done about online abuse:
Blog tasks: Marcus Rashford CSP
Work through the following tasks to cover our Marcus Rashford CSP:
Language
1) Make two lists - one of website conventions used on Marcus Rashford's official website and one of social media conventions found on Rashford's Twitter or Instagram pages.
2) How does his website promote the Marcus Rashford brand?
3) What connotations can be be found in the homepage for Marcus Rashford's website (you can mention either the old or new homepage)?
4) How does Marcus Rashford use his social media profiles to promote his brand and campaigns? Give at least three examples of different posts / images / design from his social media.
5) How does Marcus Rashford's online presence use the narrative of his childhood upbringing to create a positive brand identity?
Representations
1) How does Rashford use different aspects of mise-en-scene (e.g. clothes/costume) to create very different representations of himself on his own website?
2) What representations of football or footballers can you find in Marcus Rashford's online presence? Does it reinforce or subvert traditional stereotypes of footballers?
3) What examples can you find of website pages, social media posts or aspects of the brand that create a positive representation of Marcus Rashford? You may wish to comment on his discussion of family or his campaigns - his page on the FareShare campaign website may help with this question.
4) What representations of masculinity can you find in Marcus Rashford's online presence? Does this reinforce or challenge traditional gender stereotypes?
5) What representations of race/ethnicity can you find in his website or social media? Does this reinforce or challenge media stereotypes?
Audience
1) Who are the potential target audiences for Marcus Rashford's online content? Try and cover both demographics and psychographics.
2) Marcus Rashford’s online presence is partly driven by his excellent use of social media. How does he use social media to engage with his fans and make them feel part of his brand?
3) What is Marcus Rashford's Instagram engagement rate and what does this tell us?
4) Go to Marcus Rashford's Twitter or Instagram account. Find and screenshot/link three tweets/posts that show the different aspects of his brand e.g. Relatable person (normal, down to earth), Campaigner (interested in politics), Celebrity footballer (e.g. awards ceremony or fashion).
6) Applying Stuart Hall's Reception theory, what would a preferred and oppositional reading of Marcus Rashford's online presence be?
Preferred reading (people who support Marcus Rashford):
Oppositional reading (people who criticise Marcus Rashford):
Industry
1) What is Marcus Rashford's net worth and how does his online presence help him to make money?
2) What charities and companies/brands is Marcus Rashford associated with? Why might they want to be linked to the Rashford brand?
3) Research Twitter and Instagram. Who owns the companies, how do they make money and how much profit did they make last year?
4) What are the worries about Instagram’s negative effects?
5) How do social media platforms manage online abuse on their platforms and why has Marcus Rashford drawn attention to this? How might this change in the future?
6) What happened by law in 2022 that changed the way the internet is regulated? Write three changes that this new law may bring in and explain why it is difficult to regulate the internet.
Due date: on Google Classroom
Grade 8/9 extension tasks
Look at this Marcus Rashford tweet. How does this help Rashford create a positive representation of himself and also control the media narrative?
Our new topic is Online, Social and Participatory Media - or OSP for short.
There's just one CSP to study here - Marcus Rashford and his online presence. This is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four elements of the Theoretical Framework (Language, Representation, Industries, Audience) and all relevant contexts.
But before we study Marcus Rashford in detail, we need to look at the rise of social media influencers and the impact this has had on media, society and culture.
The rise of influencers
The rise of influencers is a major change in media and culture due to technology, the internet and social media. Influencers give brands a new and powerful way to reach audiences but critics think that social media stars are taking advantage of their relationship with their followers.
User-generated content
Influencers exist because of changes in technology and the internet. This created social media sites like YouTube and Facebook and led to the rise in user-generated content.
User-generated content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands.
UGC means audiences can be producers as well as consumers – we create and share media as well as viewing it.
How do influencers make money?
YouTuber Zoella (Zoe Sugg) started a blog at home and within a few years gained millions of followers and turned her online presence into a major financial opportunity.
It is estimated at one point Zoella made £15,000 a month from YouTube pre-roll advertising, up to £20,000 each for promotional videos or Instagram posts plus money from books and a beauty product range with Superdrug.
Influencers and their impact on media and culture
Are influencers having a positive or negative impact on society, media and culture? You need to be able to form your own opinion on this question. To help you, watch the following video from the BBC on how influencers make money and see if it changes your views:
Here's the extended 28-minute Panorama if you'd like to see more:
Extension - Bad Influencer: Belle Gibson & The Great Insta Con
The danger with user-generated content is whether we can trust what we see on social media. Belle Gibson was one of the first lifestyle influencers but ended up in a controversy over faking cancer diagnoses to promote her posts. This is a preview of a BBC3 documentary on Belle Gibson and the Great Insta Con:
1) What years did YouTube, Twitter and Instagram launch?
2) What is the definition of an influencer?
3) Give an example of an influencer and how many followers they have. Try and add some additional information, brand associations or other statistics if you can.
4) How big is the influencer industry according to the article?
5) What are the problems associated with being an influencer?
6) Why is it suggested that audiences actually like being sold products by influencers?
7) What representation of beauty is often found on Instagram or other influencer sites?
8) What is YOUR opinion on influencers? Are they a positive or negative influence on our society and culture? Why?
The Paper 1 assessment was a great opportunity to revise some of the content from last year and develop our exam technique. Every time we do a paper like this it helps us to learn how the questions are structured, how to answer social and cultural context questions and how to manage our time.
We now need to complete a learner response to the assessment to help reflect on what we are learning and how we can improve our exam technique. You may find reading the mark scheme useful for reflecting on these exams - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access these documents:
Year 11 Paper 1 assessment: Learner Response Create a blogpost called 'Paper 1 assessment learner response'.
1) Type up your feedback in full (you do not need to write mark/grade if you do not wish to).
2) Look at the mark scheme for this assessment. For Question 2 (12 mark unseen) use the indicative content in the mark scheme to identify three points that you could have referred to in your answer.
3) For Question 3 (Galaxy - narrative features) use the mark scheme to write down the main narrative theories and how we can link them to the Galaxy advert CSP.
4) Now look at Question 4 - Tatler and social/cultural contexts. Use the mark scheme to identify three points you could have made in your answer here.
5) On Section B, focus on Question 7 - film industry and Black Widow. Use the mark scheme to identify three ways Black Widow was marketed to its audience.
6) Finally, write down three things you are going to work on before your next mock exam in December (e.g. time management; revising CSPs etc.)
If you don't finish this LR in the lesson your papers are returned, complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.
The first 10 marks of our coursework are for a written Statement of Intent.
This is simply a Word or Google Document in which we write what we are planning to make for our coursework. Your completed summer project will give you most of the information you need for this - particularly the planning section - but you may have changed or developed your idea since the summer. Your preliminary exercise learner response may also help you consider what you plan to create for your real video production coursework.
Another tip is that you can use subheadings and bullet points in your Statement of Intent - it doesn't need to all be in paragraphs. In fact, bullet points are very useful for keeping the word count down.
All subjects have to run a Year 11 assessment before the next set of interims. As we're focused on coursework currently, we are going to give you a mini-Paper 1 assessment to help revise content from last year.
Your assessment will be similar to the exam you did at the end of last year but this time will focus on Paper 1. Your exact date will depend on the timetable as these assessments are in-class. Your Media teacher will be able to tell you when your assessment will run.
Below is a full guide to what you need to revise for this assessment.
Know your exams
One of the most important aspects of preparing for examinations is knowing exactly what topics could come up in each exam. For your Paper 1 assessment, this is what might come up:
Paper 1
Paper 1 Section A: Language and Representation
Unseen text: advert, social media screengrab or music promotion of some kind. Multiple choice questions plus media language analysis (12 marks).
Your real Paper 1 exam will also contain a 20-mark essay on either Film, Radio, Music Video, Newspapers or Videogames/Online, Social and Participatory Media but this will not be part of this assessment.
Paper 2
You will not be taking Paper 2 as part of this assessment but we will take on a full 90-minute Paper 2 as part of the December mock exams. More details on that nearer the time!
How to revise
Revision is a very personal thing and everyone has different techniques. Personally, I strongly recommend using flash cards (they are often called record cards if you are trying to buy them online or in WHSmiths). The simple act of distilling topics into a few key words or phrases to put on the card will seriously help in remembering the key information in the final exams. We recommend having three sections to your revision cards:
Media terminology and key words
Media theories
CSPs
I have spare flash cards in DF07 if you'd like some.
Good luck with your revision and give this assessment your best shot!
The preliminary exercise is a brilliant opportunity to learn the basics of filmmaking before creating your actual coursework project.
After the screening of the preliminary exercises in class, you need to create a blogpost called 'Preliminary exercise learner response' and complete the following tasks as your feedback and learner response: 1) Type up your teacher's feedback in full plus a summary of the comments you received from other students in the class. If you've received your feedback via email, you can simply cut and paste it from the email into your blog. 2) Using a combination of your own reflection on the preliminary exercise and the feedback you were given, write three WWW bullet points (What Went Well) and three EBI bullet points (Even Better If) for your preliminary exercise. 3) What have you learned from the preliminary exercise that will help you in the actual coursework project? List three things you have learned or will do differently as a result of this exercise. You may want to comment on organisation, actors, filming, editing or something else entirely but be specific. Deadline on Google Classroom.
Pre-production tasks are vital - this is where you plan all the key details that make your video coursework successful. Over the next two weeks we will be finalising our pre-production and starting our filming. Here's a great video on low-budget filmmaking from our friend D4Darius on YouTube:
Pre-production: blog tasks
Create a blogpost called 'Pre-production' and work through the following tasks.
1) Script
You need to write a complete script for your two-minute extract and format it like a real TV script (see picture on the right).
There is lots of help out there for top-quality screenwriting. A good place to start is the BBC Writers' Room which has top tips, a whole script library of real examples (like the Doctor Who script pictured) and more ideas for turning your concept into a real TV script.
Make sure you include both stage directions and dialogue - and as you can see from the example, often the stage directions are much more detailed than the dialogue. Try and make your script look like a professional example in terms of layout - either in your blogpost or on a linked Google Doc.
2) Shot list
Once you have a full script you are happy with, you can turn it into a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for your TV drama AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. You'll know from your preliminary exercise that missing a shot, continuity errors or not having enough material makes editing much more difficult. A good shot list will help you avoid this. In particular, make sure you plan lots of extra shots that you may not need but can help you with editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Google Docs to set out your shot list - you can find an example here for a student film shot list. It makes sense to write your shot list by scene or location (like in the example linked) rather than a huge list of every shot in the extract in chronological order. 3) Mise-en-scene
What iconography or mise-en-scene are you including to ensure your audience understands your drama as fantasy? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or on a Google Doc - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. Remember the mise-en-scene mnemonic: CLAMPS.
Costume:
Lighting / time of day:
Actors - casting, placement, movement:
Make-up and hair:
Props:
Setting:
Important note: You CANNOT film anything involving anything that could be mistaken for a weapon in any public place. Media students from a school in North London were arrested by armed police after filming a scene with a replica gun in a public place. Remember this when planning your coursework! 4) Shooting schedule
Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the next two weeks. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Google Docs or Sheets or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it!
The first aspect of your GCSE Media Studies coursework is a preliminary exercise that introduces the basics of narrative filmmaking. This is a brilliant opportunity to get to know the basics of planning, filming and editing. You may even film a scene that you can end up using in your actual coursework production! Preliminary exercise: The chase Your preliminary exercise involves filming and editing a chase scene between two characters that ends in a short conversation that reveals a disruption in the narrative. This simply means a problem, conflict or development that will need to be fixed later in the episode. The chase scene, narrative and conversation needs to be appropriate to the fantasy genre and a family audience - so similar to a show like His Dark Materials.
The scene must include cross-cutting between the two characters, match-on-action editing and at least three different shot types (e.g. establishing shot, close-up, over-the-shoulder shot) and two types of camera movement (e.g. pan, handheld camera, zoom).
Here's an example of a chase scene some American film school students produced:
And here's a compilation of classic foot-chase sequences from films:
Finally, here's a great masterclass from a professional director on how to shoot a chase scene:
Key skills
Watch this great introduction to filmmaking - it covers the basics of the creative process: Match-on-action Match on action (or cutting on action) is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot showing the same action of the subject in the first shot. This creates the impression of continuity - the action creates a 'visual bridge' which is easy for the audience to follow. Look at this YouTube clip for a basic match on action example:
Fantasy genre examples
The fantasy genre can be a difficult genre to work with but it also gives you brilliant creative possibilities. Have a look at these example scenes if you need some inspiration:
Class: Trapped in a Confession Prison
This is a fantastic example of a narrative disruption - the characters are trapped in a type of prison with a mysterious object that makes them tell the truth.
Doctor Who: Love and Monsters
This is a good example of a chase-style opening scene to engage the audience.
Doctor Who: Crane chase
This is another classic chase scene although it's more in the science-fiction genre. There are some great angles and close-ups in this scene.
Preliminary exercise tasks: The chase
Task: Create a chase scene between two characters that ends in a short conversation that reveals a disruption in the narrative. The narrative and conversation needs to be appropriate to the fantasy genre and a family audience. Length: approximately 30-60 seconds. Equipment: Smart phone or a school camcorder (limited numbers available). Note: you may need to bring in the cable to capture the videos from your phone or use data to upload to Google Drive / iCloud. Groups: None. You MUST work individually. However, other people can act in your scene or operate equipment (e.g. camera, sound) as long as they are directed by the candidate submitting the work. You may want to get into groups of two or three to help each other complete this task. What your TV drama scene needs to include Content: Your scene must include match-on-action editing as explained in the clip above. It must also include a narrative disruption - a problem, conflict or development that will need to be fixed later in the episode. Camerawork: You must include at least three different shot types but you will hopefully include much more (e.g. long shot, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up, over-the-shoulder shot and either a high or low angle shot. You also must include both fixed camera shots and camera movement (e.g. handheld, tracking, pan etc.) Editing: You must include match-on-action continuity editing and edit to clearly show the progress of the chase. Sound: You must include diegetic sound (from within the world of the TV show) which will be dialogue and any background sound. You can also include non-diegetic sound (e.g. music) to help establish the atmosphere and genre if you wish. Deadlines Planning and filming: This week's lessons. Editing and final deadline: Next week.
Specific deadlines: see Google Classroom. Initial tasks: planning
Before creating anything in Media you need to plan out exactly what you are going to do. You need to complete the following planning tasks on your blog before you can film anything:
Create a blogpost called 'Coursework preliminary exercise' and produce the following.
1) Write a 100 word statement of intent explaining what you are going to make for your preliminary exercise. Statement of intent: 100 words explaining what you plan to make.
Example statement of intent [133 words]:
I plan to make a 45-second TV drama scene for a show called Connection. This is a fantasy drama about a young school student, Alex, who has mysterious powers. This scene will be the moment the student is chased by the show's other main character, Ryan, before Alex admits she has these powers and the dangers that they are facing.
Both characters will be dressed casually as London students and the chase will take place in Fresh Mill Lane alongside school. I will film the whole chase several times and use a variety of camera shots and movements - particularly wide shots and low-angle medium shots - so I can create a fast-paced, dramatic chase when editing. There will be a low, tense non-diegetic soundtrack playing behind the conversation to add atmosphere to the scene. [133 words]
2) Write a script for your preliminary exercise on your blog. This needs to include stage directions AND dialogue. To see how a TV drama script is presented, and to look at professional examples, check out the BBC Writers' Room and click on Script Library.
3) Casting: Who will be in your preliminary exercise scene? 4) Plan your locations: Where you will film your preliminary exercise? (You can film off-site if you wish to do this for homework - this is what we would strongly recommend). Important note: You CANNOT take any students out of any other lessons OR disturb any other lessons in the school. If you wish to film in-school then you will need to film with Mr Harrison supervising or after school with a Media teacher present. 5) Write your shot list: every shot you plan to film. This needs to be far MORE shots than you will actually use in the final edited version - plan extra angles, close-ups, long shots and more. You can find an example shot list here. Extension task - Storyboard: Draw a 5-frame storyboard mapping out your key shots. Storyboard sheets are available in DF07. Your planning needs to be completed this week. Good luck!
The summer project is a fantastic opportunity to start planning your TV drama coursework. Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching TV drama extracts, coming up with a new fantasy TV drama concept and then writing a Statement of Intent first draft. However, if you wish to plan and film your production over the summer while you have time available we would fully support you in this approach.
Summer project tasks Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your Media blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning': 1) Research: Fantasy TV drama extracts Watch the following fantasy TV drama clips and write an NCIS analysis of each one.
Clip 1: His Dark Materials
Narrative and genre:What is the story here? How is the narrative communicated to the audience? How does this fit the fantasy genre?
Technical codes:What camera shots do you notice and what do they communicate to the audience? How is sound used to create atmosphere? What aspects of mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) help to communicate meaning to the audience?
Representations: What representations can you find in this clip - does it reinforce or subvert stereotypes? How?
Clip 2: Charmed
Narrative and genre:What is the story here? How is the narrative communicated to the audience? How does this fit the fantasy genre?
Technical codes: What camera shots do you notice and what do they communicate to the audience? How is sound used to create atmosphere? What aspects of mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) help to communicate meaning to the audience?
Representations: What representations can you find in this clip - does it reinforce or subvert stereotypes? How?
Clip 3: Shadow and Bone
Narrative and genre:What is the story here? How is the narrative communicated to the audience? How does this fit the fantasy genre?
Technical codes: What camera shots do you notice and what do they communicate to the audience? How is sound used to create atmosphere? What aspects of mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) help to communicate meaning to the audience?
Representations: What representations can you find in this clip - does it reinforce or subvert stereotypes? How?
Additional research: optional extension Depending on your coursework plan and the type of TV drama sequence you wish to create, you may want to research additional TV drama extracts. Focus on the fantasy genre of TV drama - this article on the best 10 fantasy TV shows may be useful.
Whatever you watch, make sure you write some additional notes or bullet points about these fantasy TV dramas on your blog so you are documenting your research. 2) TV drama planning
Plan out the title and narrative for your new, original fantasy TV drama so you know how your extract will fit into the overall series.
Complete this TV drama pitch document with your NEW original idea for a fantasy TV drama aimed at a family audience. Copy and paste the questions from the Google doc into your blog.
3) Statement of Intent
On the same Summer Project blogpost, write the rough first draft of your genuine 300-word Statement of Intent for the two-minute sequence you plan to create. The final draft of this document will be submitted to the exam board alongside your fantasy TV drama extract and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available. Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent suggested content document too.
Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in the second lesson back in September.
This is your new blog home for Year 2 of GCSE Media Studies - welcome! This is where you'll find everything you need for coursework and exam preparation for this crucial second year of the GCSE Media course. Good luck and let's earn those top grades!
The nominations are in for the Media Awards 2023! We now have a date for the ceremony: Tuesday 19 September 2023. We've had an incredibly difficult job finalising the nominations - the quality level at both GCSE and A Level is excellent and there has been a lot of good work that hasn't made the cut.
If you haven't been before, the Media Awards is our Oscars-style ceremony where we award trophies for the best Media coursework at GCSE and A Level. It's a major event in the Greenford calendar and tickets have completely sold out whenever we have run the event in the past. The details for this year's awards: Date: Tuesday 19 September Time: 5.30pm - 7.30pm Tickets: £5 Tickets will go on sale when we're back at school after the summer break - keep an eye for on-sale dates then. There will be an exclusive pre-sale window for Media students before general sale to any Greenford student in Year 10 or above. Remember - you need to be quick. The event has sold out in just four days in previous years!
A Level nominations
BEST A LEVEL SOUND DESIGN
Wasif – Throne
Scarlett – Pink Music
Thomas – TRB
BEST A LEVEL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Rish – Sharu
Krissie – Chimes
Saad – Young Abz
BEST A LEVEL PRODUCTION DESIGN
Kanye – Ambiguous
Nikhil – Witold
Ashleen – Beelzebub
BEST A LEVEL EDITING
Tarliyah – Ciel
Lemmy – Poki
Sade – Mars
BEST A LEVEL MUSIC PROMO CONCEPT
Zayna – Reign
Haaris - Brain
Jadesola – Yomi
BEST A LEVEL POST-PRODUCTION
Isra – NVU
Sade – Mars
Ismail – Rocky
GCSE nominations
BEST GCSE MUSIC VIDEO CINEMATOGRAPHY
Krrish – Something In The Way
Kriti – Youth
Mohammed – Stand By Me
Sally – Ghosting
BEST GCSE MUSIC VIDEO CONCEPT
Malak – Happier Than Ever
Waleed – Eye Of The Tiger
Amariah – She’s All I Wanna Be
Mamdouh – Till I Collapse
BEST GCSE MUSIC VIDEO EDITING
Sally – Ghosting
Diako – Sticky Situations
Rishi – It Was A Good Day
Greta – Hide ‘n’ Seek
Best Actress and Actor
BEST ACTOR 2023
Khalid
Abayomi
Thomas
Haaris
BEST ACTRESS 2023
Amariah
Scarlett
Zayna
Ashleen
Congratulations to all our nominees and we look forward to seeing you at the Media Awards on Tuesday 19 September!
Here's everything you need to know for your revision and preparation for the final exams.
The final weeks and days before the final exams are a good opportunity to go over what you know and test yourself against the kind of questions that AQA like the use.
Media Paper 1
Media Paper 1 is on Tuesday 16 May in the afternoon.
Section A: Media Language, Representations and Contexts
Unseen text analysis
Unseen text analysis - look at previous assessment LRs and revise mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) and other key media language from your GLoW Media glossary.
Use your paper copies of the ZigZag practice papers and mark schemes for Paper 1 and Paper 2. This is particularly good to prepare for the unusual or left-field questions that AQA like to put in their exams sometimes. Remember, if you know the terminology, the theories and the CSPs you can't go far wrong.
If you don't have a copy of the practice papers then you can collect them from DF07.
Revision is the key
It's important that you really put the time into your revision to make sure you know these CSPs inside out. If you would like revision cards to revise with feel free to pop in to DF07 and I'll happily provide you with them for free - you need create revision cards for all the exam CSPs and also for media terminology and theory (e.g. Mise-en-scene, Reception theory, Uses & Gratifications theory etc.)
The better you know the terminology, theory and CSPs, the better you'll do in the final exams. Good luck!
