Coursework: Statement of Intent

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 coursework production.

Our coursework brief for 2025 can be found here - remember you need to choose either video or print adverts.

The Statement of Intent word count is 300 words - you can go slightly above this if you want to but you need to keep it close to 300.

This Statement of Intent guidance will help you if you're not sure what to write - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access it. The most important thing is that you cover media language, representations and the target audience in your Statement of Intent.

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. 

Finally, here is an example statement of intent from a previous year - note this was a different brief but the layout and use of media terminology and theory may help you. 

Here's the Statement of Intent mark scheme: 

Statement of Intent: task

1) Write your Statement of Intent on a Word or Google Doc - word count 300 words. Use this Statement of Intent guidance document to help you.

Submit your Statement of Intent to your teacher by emailing them the Word or Google Document. 

Due date: on Google Classroom

Preliminary exercise feedback and learner response

The preliminary exercise is a brilliant opportunity to learn the basics of filmmaking before creating your actual coursework project.

You now 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. 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 two WWW bullet points (What Went Well) and two 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.

4) Complete any learner response tasks or questions from your teacher. 

Deadline on Google Classroom.

Year 11 Paper 1 assessment: Learner response

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 assessment - Paper 1 mark scheme

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.

Year 11 Media assessment: revision and preparation

Year 11 assessment week is coming up 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). 
• Advertising & Marketing: OMO advert, Galaxy Audrey Hepburn advert and the NHS Represent blood donation campaign. 
• Magazines: Tatler and Heat.

Paper 1 Section B: Audience and Industry

• Media Industries / Audience questions - media terminology / theory / regulation etc. (2 marks).
• Film Industry: Black Widow and I, Daniel Blake. 
• Music Video: BLACKPINK - How You Like That and Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.
• Radio: Launch of BBC Radio 1 - Tony Blackburn, Kiss FM Breakfast with Jordan and Perri.

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 as it is only half the full exam. 

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:

1. Media terminology and key words
2. Media theories
3. 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!

Coursework: Pre-production

Pre-production tasks are vital - this is where you plan all the key details that make your coursework successful.

Over the next two weeks we will be both finalising our pre-production and creating our actual productions.

Note: this is the point we will be making our decision of which aspect of the brief to complete - two video adverts OR three print adverts.

Video adverts pre-production: blog tasks

Watch this great video on low-budget filmmaking from our friend D4Darius on YouTube - it's more aimed at narrative filmmaking but we can still learn from these tips for filming an advert:

Create a blogpost called 'Video adverts pre-production'. You may want to look over the original AQA brief here to check the minimum requirements. 

Work through the following four tasks:

1) Create TWO scripts for your two different adverts

You need to write two complete scripts for your adverts and format it like a real TV script (see picture on the right).

There is lots of help out there for top-quality script writing. 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). Although these are TV dramas and not adverts it is still very useful to learn how to write a good 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 two full scripts you are happy with, you can turn them into a shot list (or shot lists) containing EVERY shot you plan to film for your adverts 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. In particular, make sure you get lots of additional shots of the product as these will be vital in your adverts. 

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 adverts in chronological order. 

3) Mise-en-scene

What iconography or mise-en-scene are you including to ensure your audience understands your adverts and the message you are communicating? 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: 

4) Shooting schedule 

Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the next week. 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!

Print advert pre-production: blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Print adverts pre-production'. You may want to look over the original AQA brief here to check the minimum requirements. 

Work through the following four tasks:

1) Plan your advertising campaign

Plan out your THREE adverts in the same way you did for your summer project. Plan the following:

1) What brand of health drink are you going to use? You can use an existing drink.

2) New slogan for the health drink (MUST be original - cannot be existing slogan): 

3) Main character(s) that will appear in your adverts: 

4) Main image 1: What will your first advert look like? 

5) Main image 2: What will your second advert look like? 

6) Main image 3: What will your third advert look like? Remember, they all need to be different images but part of the same campaign for the same health drink.

7) What will you use for the secondary image in each advert? This may be a product shot or similar. Remember, this needs to be three different images just like the main images. 

8) Who will be in your adverts?

9) Write the 70 words that will appear on each advert - this may be information about the product or the benefits that it will bring to the audience.

10) How will your adverts appeal to your 15-30 year old target audience? 

 

2) Sketch out your THREE adverts

Draw THREE sketches on plain A4 paper. Make sure you include all the minimum requirements of the brief - e.g. two images, 70 words of text etc.

 

3) Plan your photoshoot and mise-en-scene

What iconography or mise-en-scene are you including to ensure your audience understands your advert and the message you are trying to communicate? Plan your model, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. Will you take your photos in class using a studio set up (lighting and backdrop) or use a location outside of school?

This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. Remember the mise-en-scene mnemonic: CLAMPS.

4) Write your shooting schedule 

Plan a shooting schedule for your photos and advert design 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 Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it!

Deadline: on Google Classroom

Coursework: Preliminary exercise 2024

The first aspect of your GCSE Media Studies coursework is a preliminary exercise that introduces the basics of filming and editing.

This is a brilliant opportunity to get to know the technical skills you will need to excel in your coursework. You may even film a production that you can end up using as part of your actual coursework!

Preliminary exercise: Health drink advert

Your preliminary exercise involves filming and editing a 30-40 second health drink advert - similar to your coursework. The advert needs to be appropriate to the advertising brief we have been given in terms of content and target audience. 

The advert must include the product (a 'pack shot' or the product being consumed), a main character, 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 etc.) It also must include a logo and slogan at the end of the advert.

Key filming and editing 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: 

Health drink advert examples

Here's a reminder of some health drink adverts you can use as inspiration for your preliminary exercise:

Lucozade (this is an energy drink not a health drink but the advert is great):

 

Boost energy (note: this is another energy drink, not a health drink, but it's a great, well-edited advert): 

Vitamin Water: 

Huel: 

Preliminary exercise tasks: Health drink advert

Task: Create a a 30-40 second health drink advert - similar to your coursework. The advert needs to be appropriate to the advertising brief we have been given in terms of content and target audience. 

Length: approximately 30-40 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 advert needs to include

Content: The advert must include the product (a 'pack shot' or the product being consumed), a main character, 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 etc.) It also must include a logo and slogan at the end of the advert.

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 communicate the meaning of your advert.

Sound: You must include diegetic sound (from within the world of the TV advert) which will be dialogue and any background sound. You also need to include non-diegetic sound (e.g. music or voiceover) to help communicate your key messages about the product. 

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 [147 words]: 

I plan to make a 30 second advert about a student struggling in school due to tiredness and behaviour issues who is helped by their rehydrating health drink. The beginning of the advert will have a montage editing sequence of different issues that the student is having with a soundtrack that fits a negative overall mood. My character will be in school uniform that is deliberately messed up to help communicate the struggles the student is experiencing.

The middle of the advert will involve the character discovering the product with close-up shots of the product (pack shot) and also the character drinking the product. The advert will then end with the character alert, in perfect uniform and answering a question in class and being successful. The final seconds will have a logo and slogan of the health drink with a voiceover saying the product name and slogan. [147 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. These will not be advert scripts but the layout will be the same.

3) Casting: Who will be in your preliminary exercise advert?

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 Ray 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. This is for a narrative film but the layout will be the same. 

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! 

Re-cap: Summer Project 2024 tasks

The summer project is a fantastic opportunity to start planning your Media Studies coursework.

Coursework is 30% of your overall GCSE so it can make a huge difference to your final grade. It's also a chance for us to develop and demonstrate our creativity and technical ability. 

Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching TV adverts, choosing a health drink and coming up with a concept for their adverts 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.

You can find your coursework brief for 2025 here. 

Summer project tasks

Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your Media blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning':

1) Research: health drink TV adverts

Watch the following adverts and answer the questions below.

Innocent Drinks

Watch the following adverts for Innocent drinks (these are from different campaigns).

Innocent example 1: 

Innocent example 2:

Innocent example 3: 

Answer the following questions:

1) What is the unique selling point of the product? 

2) What audience do you think this is aimed at? Add as much detail as possible (e.g. demographics, psychographics) and explain why.

3) What do you notice about the technical construction of the advert? Pick out one thing you like about the advert from camerawork, editing, sound or mise-en-scene. You may want to focus on TV advert conventions such as voiceover for example. 

4) What representations can you find in the advert? This may be representations of people or groups or perhaps the brand itself.

Extension: What narrative is offered by the adverts? Try and apply narrative theory here.

Lucozade

Note: Lucozade isn't a health drink so we can't use it as our chosen brand but is a great example of drink advertising to our target audience of 15-30 year olds. Lucozade adverts are also great for lifestyle elements.

Lucozade example 1: 

Lucozade example 2:

 

Answer the following questions:

1) What is the unique selling point of the product? 

2) What audience do you think this is aimed at? Add as much detail as possible (e.g. demographics, psychographics) and explain why.

3) What do you notice about the technical construction of the advert? Pick out one thing you like about the advert from camerawork, editing, sound or mise-en-scene. You may want to focus on TV advert conventions such as voiceover for example. 

4) What representations can you find in the advert? This may be representations of people or groups or perhaps the brand itself.

Extension: What narrative is offered by the adverts? Try and apply narrative theory here.

Other health drink adverts

Watch these additional health drink adverts and see which will inspire your coursework idea.

Boost energy (note: this is another energy drink, not a health drink, but it's a great, well-edited advert): 

Vitamin Water: 

Huel: 

O'cean one8 Active Water: 

Choose one of the above adverts and answer the following questions: 

1) What is the unique selling point of the product? 

2) What audience do you think this is aimed at? Add as much detail as possible (e.g. demographics, psychographics) and explain why.

3) What do you notice about the technical construction of the advert? Pick out one thing you like about the advert from camerawork, editing, sound or mise-en-scene. You may want to focus on TV advert conventions such as voiceover for example. 

4) What representations can you find in the advert? This may be representations of people or groups or perhaps the brand itself.

Extension: What narrative is offered by the adverts? Try and apply narrative theory here.

Additional research: optional extension
Depending on your coursework plan and the type of advert you wish to create, you may want to research additional TV adverts (either for health drinks or more generally). You may want to simply research particularly creative adverts - this article on the best adverts of all time could be useful. 

Whatever you watch, make sure you write some additional notes or bullet points about these adverts on your blog so you are documenting your research.


2) TV advert planning 

Plan out the brand of health drink you are going to use along with the narrative and character for your two adverts. You also need to plan elements like the slogan, settings, music and more.

Answer the following TV advert pitch questions with your original idea for health drink TV adverts aimed at teenagers and young adults:

1) What brand of health drink are you going to use? You can use an existing drink.

2) New slogan for the health drink (MUST be original - cannot be existing slogan): 

3) Main character(s) that will appear in your adverts: 

4) Narrative: What will happen in your first advert? 

5) Narrative: What will happen in your second advert? 

6) Where will you film your adverts? You need a different location for each advert.

7) Who will be in your adverts? 

8) What music will you use for your adverts? What voiceover will you use and who will you use to record the voiceover? Note: for music you can use existing music tracks.

9) How will your adverts appeal to your 15-30 year old target audience? 

10) What TV channel and programme would your advert appear during and why? Remember the brief states a mainstream TV channel or streaming service. 

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 adverts you plan to create. The final draft of this document will be submitted to the exam board alongside your TV adverts and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet. 

We have also produced a Statement of Intent suggested content document to help you too. You'll need your Greenford Google login to open these documents. 


Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in the second lesson back in September.


Summer project: optional extensions

Pre-production tasks
Some students have already expressed an interest in filming their TV adverts over the summer break. This makes a huge amount of sense - far more availability of actors, much more time to schedule filming etc. However, if you want to do this, you need to complete the following aspects of pre-production and make sure you have parental permission to do this:

Script
Write scripts for your TV adverts. You can find guidance on writing an advert script here. You can also find guidance and professional examples of what TV scripts look like on the BBC Writers' Room website but note this focuses more on film or TV drama. 

Shot list
Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for the adverts AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word 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 rather than a huge list of every shot in chronological order. 

Mise-en-scene
What iconography or mise-en-scene are you including to ensure your audience understands the message of your adverts? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. 

Shooting schedule 
Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the summer. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Google Docs / Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it!

Non-assessed participants
You will need to provide a written record of all non-assessed participants in your production work. Keep a record of everyone involved - actors, camerawork, sound etc. You will also need a keep a record of any non-original sound you used and note it on the Candidate Record Form. Keep these on your blog for easy reference when submitting your work later this year.

Production: Filming 
Once you have completed your pre-production tasks, you can film as planned. If you are unable to film over the summer, we will have time to film this production in September.

Good luck!

Welcome to GCSE Media Year 2!

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! 

Media Awards 2024: The Nominations

The nominations are in for the Media Awards 2024!

We now have a date for the ceremony: Tuesday 17 September 2024. 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 17 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.

Year 13 students who are leaving Greenford will be on the guest list and can buy additional tickets for friends by emailing Mr Halsey and arranging a time to pop in and buy them.

Remember - you need to be quick. The event has sold out in just a few days in previous years!

A Level nominations

BEST A LEVEL SOUND DESIGN

Bradley - Shadowed Intentions

Shreyam - Silent Vengeance 

Arkin - In Lines Of Lament

BEST A LEVEL CINEMATOGRAPHY

Omari - Urban Shadows 

Leila - The Lurking Crow

Amari - Stitches Of Deceit

BEST A LEVEL PRODUCTION DESIGN

Seerat - The Killer Beside Me 

Lara - Money Motivated

Sopiga - Intuition

BEST A LEVEL EDITING

Enzo – Hip Hop Heist 

Julia - Family Lines 

Tanish – Mercenary 

BEST A LEVEL TV DRAMA SCREENPLAY 

Viraj – Intentions 

Laith - The Vigilante

Kaya - King Of The 6 

BEST A LEVEL TV DRAMA ORIGINAL CONCEPT 

Riya - Without A Trace

Frankly – Diamond Is Unbreakable

Tanisha – Drown The Past

GCSE nominations

BEST GCSE TV DRAMA CINEMATOGRAPHY

Steven - Competence

Janice-Cianna - Cacophony

Dyari - Like a Paladin

Huda - The Murderous Ink 

BEST GCSE TV DRAMA ORIGINAL CONCEPT

Tulika - Bloom

Jessica – Heard 

Wajiha - The Debt of Time

Cyrine - Foresight

BEST GCSE TV DRAMA EDITING

Raagni - Manipulating Time

Remy - Dark Deception

Sanila - Wanted

Sunmeet - Into the Abyss  

Best Actress and Actor

MEDIA AWARDS BEST ACTOR 2024

Remy

Frankly

Enzo

Dyari

MEDIA AWARDS BEST ACTRESS 2024

Riya 

Sanila 

Julia 

Huda

Congratulations to all our nominees and we look forward to seeing you at the Media Awards on Tuesday 17 September! 

Final exam preparation and revision links

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 Monday 13 May in the afternoon. 

You can find our pre-exam presentation preparing for Paper 1 here - it's got a mix of terminology, theory and CSP reminders.  

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.

Magazines: 

• CSPs: Tatler & Heat
• Magazines index here  
• You can find the original lesson slides here in our GCSE lesson slides folder on Google Drive.

Advertising & Marketing: 

• CSPs: OMO, Galaxy Audrey Hepburn Chauffeur advert, NHS Represent campaign
• Advertising index here
• You can find the original lesson slides here. 

Note: It's important to remember that either Newspapers or OSP & Videogames will come up in Paper 1 and it can be either Section A or Section B. Whichever comes up in Paper 1 usually means the other topic will come up in Paper 2 so we'll be watching carefully. If it comes up in Section A, it will focus on issues of Language or Representation so think about design, meanings, representations of certain groups or issues etc.

Newspapers: 

• CSPs: The Daily Mirror and The Times
• The Newspapers index is here
• You can find the lesson slides here.

OSP/Videogames: 

• CSPs: Lara Croft Go, Kim Kardashian Hollywood and Marcus Rashford
• Lara Croft Go - original blog notes here 
• Kim Kardashian Hollywood - original blog notes here 
• Marcus Rashford - original blog notes here
• You can find all the lesson slides here.

Section B: Media Industries and Audiences

Music Video: 

• CSPs: BLACKPINK: How You Like That and Arctic Monkeys: I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
• Music Video index is here
• You can find the Music Video lesson slides here.

Radio:

• CSPs: Launch of BBC Radio 1 Tony Blackburn show in 1967 and Kiss FM Breakfast show with Jordan and Perri
• Launch of Radio 1 in 1967 / Tony Blackburn breakfast show - original blog notes here
• Kiss FM Breakfast show with Jordan and Perri - original blog notes here
• You can find the Radio lesson slides here.

Film Industry: 

• CSPs: Black Widow & I, Daniel Blake
• Film Industry index here
• You can find the Film Industry lesson slides here.

Remember, one of Newspapers or OSP/Videogames will come up in Paper 1 at some point. If it comes up in Section B, it will focus on the Industries or Audience elements of Newspapers or OSP/Videogames so think about the companies, financial elements, audience pleasures or similar.

Newspapers: 

• CSPs: The Daily Mirror and The Times
• The Newspapers index is here
• You can find the lesson slides here.

OSP/Videogames: 

• CSPs: Lara Croft Go, Kim Kardashian Hollywood and Marcus Rashford
• Lara Croft Go - original blog notes here 
• Kim Kardashian Hollywood - original blog notes here 
• Marcus Rashford - original blog notes here
• You can find all the lesson slides here.

Media Paper 2

Media Paper 2 is on Monday 20 May in the afternoon.

Section A: Television

Television: 

• Clip from CSPs: Doctor Who OR His Dark Materials - Google Drive folder with CSP videos here
• TV index to original blog tasks here 
• You can find the original lesson slides here 

Section B: Newspapers OR Online, Social and Participatory Media/Videogames

Two 20 mark essays on one of the following topics: 

Newspapers: 

• CSPs: The Daily Mirror and The Times
• The Newspapers index is here
• You can find the lesson slides here 

OSP/Videogames: 

• CSPs: Lara Croft Go, Kim Kardashian Hollywood and Marcus Rashford
• Lara Croft Go - original blog notes here 
• Kim Kardashian Hollywood - original blog notes here 
• Marcus Rashford - original blog notes here
• You can find all the lesson slides here.

Links and revision resources to help you

We have a range of resources to help you prepare for your final exams.

Exemplar questions and answers

You can find a document of exemplar questions and answers from previous lessons here. This google doc will be updated as we look at more questions and sample answers in revision lessons before the exams. Note: some of the CSPs may have changed over time so don't worry if you see a CSP you don't recognise! All the correct CSPs are listed further up in this blogpost.

Media terminology glossary

You can find AQA's full subject glossary on their website here. Note that we won't have covered every word of this in lessons - there are too many terms and not enough time. Some of these have been covered in grade 8/9 blog extension tasks and others in additional notes on blogposts. 

CSP Knowledge Organisers

Ms Fowler has put together a brilliant set of Knowledge Organisers to revise the CSPs. Look through these and then create your own to test your knowledge!

ZigZag practice papers and mark schemes

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.)

To help, here's a short blog on what makes a good flashcard - always useful to get top tips on effective revision techniques.

The better you know the terminology, theory and CSPs, the better you'll do in the final exams. Good luck!

March mock exams - Learner response

With your mock results day just before Easter, we haven't had a chance to work through the last set of mock exams. Now we can kick off our revision by analysing both mock papers and working out what we need to revise. 

The most important aspect of any mock exam is making mistakes and learning from them. With this in mind, after completing this learner response on the mock exams we will take on an in-class Walk-and-Talk Paper 1 mock exam to put it all into practice and develop our exam timing and technique.

Mock exams learner response: blog tasks

Today, we need to closely analyse our performance across both papers and identity specific ways we will improve for the real exams on Monday 13 and Monday 20 May. Complete the following learner response tasks in a new blogpost on your Media blog called 'March mock exams learner response':

1) Type up any comments you can find in your papers - these may be on individual questions or at the end of the paper. In addition, write something you've learned from going through the two papers in class. 

2) Which paper did you do better in?

3) Why do you think you did better in that paper?

4) Focusing on Paper 1, write down three things you need to improve on before the real exams. This may be a particular section or type of question (e.g. unseen analysis, 20 mark essay) or a particular type of media or CSP (e.g. advertising or NHS Represent).

5) Now look at Paper 2. Write down three things you need to improve on for Paper 2 before the real exams. Again, this might be a topic, type of question or specific skill. 

Extension task: take some revision cards and start revising the six things you have identified above. 

The lesson will be a walkthrough of the exam papers so you may need to complete this learner response for your homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Easter revision and exam preparation

Here's everything you need to know for your revision and preparation for the final exams.

We have now finished ALL the content - well done! In this blogpost you'll find a range of resources for you to work with to ensure you are best prepared for Paper 1 and Paper 2. This week is all about getting our coursework submitted at the highest quality possible and then all our attention will turn to the two exams.

Media coursework

Your first priority is making sure your Media coursework is complete and to the highest standard possible. The coursework deadline is in the first week after Easter - exact date confirmed by your Media teacher. A reminder that your Statement of Intent cannot be updated after 1 April so you need to make sure you have emailed that to your teacher. 

Media Paper 1

Media Paper 1 is on Monday 13 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.

Magazines: 

• CSPs: Tatler & Heat
• Magazines index here  
• You can find the original lesson slides here in our GCSE lesson slides folder on Google Drive.

Advertising & Marketing: 

• CSPs: OMO, Galaxy Audrey Hepburn Chauffeur advert, NHS Represent campaign
• Advertising index here
• You can find the original lesson slides here. 

Section B: Media Industries and Audiences

Note: It's important to remember that either Newspapers or OSP & Videogames will come up in Paper 1 Section B. Whichever comes up in Paper 1 usually means the other topic will come up in Paper 2 so we'll be watching carefully. 

Newspapers: 

• CSPs: The Daily Mirror and The Times
• The Newspapers index is here
• You can find the lesson slides here.

OSP/Videogames: 

• CSPs: Lara Croft Go, Kim Kardashian Hollywood and Marcus Rashford
• Lara Croft Go - original blog notes here 
• Kim Kardashian Hollywood - original blog notes here 
• Marcus Rashford - original blog notes here
• You can find all the lesson slides here.

Music Video: 

• CSPs: BLACKPINK: How You Like That and Arctic Monkeys: I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
• Music Video index is here
• You can find the Music Video lesson slides here.

Radio:

• CSPs: Launch of BBC Radio 1 Tony Blackburn show in 1967 and Kiss FM Breakfast show with Jordan and Perri
• Launch of Radio 1 in 1967 / Tony Blackburn breakfast show - original blog notes here
• Kiss FM Breakfast show with Jordan and Perri - original blog notes here
• You can find the Radio lesson slides here.

Film Industry: 

• CSPs: Black Widow & I, Daniel Blake
• Film Industry index here
• You can find the Film Industry lesson slides here.

Media Paper 2

Media Paper 2 is on Monday 20 May in the afternoon.

Section A: Television

Television: 

• Clip from CSPs: Doctor Who OR His Dark Materials - Google Drive folder with CSP videos here
• TV index to original blog tasks here 
• You can find the original lesson slides here 

Section B: Newspapers OR Online, Social and Participatory Media/Videogames

Two 20 mark essays on one of the following topics: 

Newspapers: 

• CSPs: The Daily Mirror and The Times
• The Newspapers index is here
• You can find the lesson slides here 

OSP/Videogames: 

• CSPs: Lara Croft Go, Kim Kardashian Hollywood and Marcus Rashford
• Lara Croft Go - original blog notes here 
• Kim Kardashian Hollywood - original blog notes here 
• Marcus Rashford - original blog notes here
• You can find all the lesson slides here.

Exemplar questions and answers

You can find a document of exemplar questions and answers from previous years here. This google doc will be updated as we look at more questions and sample answers in revision lessons before the exams.

CSP Knowledge Organisers

Miss Fowler has put together a brilliant set of Knowledge Organisers to revise the CSPs. Look through these and then create your own to test your knowledge!

 

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.) Aim to have three separate categories of revision cards:

• Media terminology
• Media theory
• CSPs

Don't forget there are other great resources out there - for example, Mrs Fisher's YouTube channel is great for videos on CSPs, theories and terminology. Here's Mrs Fisher's playlist of AQA CSPs:

The better you know the terminology, theory and CSPs, the better you'll do in the final exams. Good luck!