Resources for AQA A Level Media Studies on MediaEdu

This page should provide you with an index to the information we have on MediaEdu which relates directly to AQA A Level Media Studies.

This page also contains external links to support materials on the AQA site.

AS Schemes

• AQA AS MEST1 Scheme

• AQA AS MEST2 Scheme

A2 Schemes

• AQA A2 MEST3 Scheme

• AQA A2 MEST4 Scheme

Guides

• AQA AS Media Studies | How To Get The Top Grades

• AQA A2 Media Studies...

The catch word for the digital world of new media is convergence. Convergence is the coming together of everything digital.

Definition

Any digital media can be transmitted by any suitable digital medium, such as a wifi broadband connection or mobile phone, so that all communications, text, audio, graphics, video, and broadcasting can be accessed instantly.

The iPhone, Blackberry or computer becomes a two-way communications module with access...

We Study Media by Rob McMinn

The Student Room & Media Studies

Setting up a Radio Station on Mediaed.org.uk

Modern Mechanix: examples of vintage advertising

Technorati on Ideology

Ideology for Kids: Decoding the Kremlin’s Website

The End of Cyberspace

Kinoeye on Media Studies

Bluegrass Film Society

Kids Gobble Up Interactive Junk Food Marketing

Continental Philosophy: Key Notes on Theorists

Dr. Mabuse’s Kaledio-scope: Four Models of...

Television and film crime/cop drama is very popular with a wide audience. Crime dramas seek to anchor the representations of all types of police officers, criminals and victims as ‘believable’ characters, with ‘realistic’ plot lines, set in urban locations.The genre has been taken up in the US under the heading of American Quality Televsion (AQT) - see under heading AQT.

Codes and conventions

Crime dramas:

• are constructed realities
...

2008 Onwards

Unit 1 Investigating Media

• 50% of AS, 25% of A Level
• 2 hour written examination
• 80 marks

Two Sections: A & B

Section A

Four compulsory short answer questions

Section B

A choice of one from two essays

Available January and June

Click on this hyperlink to find out more about Unit 1

Unit 2 Creating Media

• 50% of AS, 25% of A Level
• Practical unit, internally assessed and externally moderated
• 80 marks
• Externally set...

Associated Resources

MEST2 Coursework Overview 2011-12.ppt

All teacher-assessed marks to be returned to AQA by 10 January 2012 or 15 May 2012

Link: AQA MEST2 Briefs

Brief Two | Regional Newspapers

A regional newspaper is about to run a month long campaign promoting local sports. The newspaper has an online presence and is keen to use its website as a focus for information, as well as featuring a range of sports related features in its print...

Denotation and Connotation

These are two important words concerned with the way an audience understands the meaning of a media text. These can also be called the signs and signified meaning, or the micro and macro features.

Denotation / sign / micro feature is the basic, literal meaning of what is in the picture or scene.

Connotation / signified meaning / macro feature means different interpretations suggested by the text, often associated...

How do I get my students to reach the top grades? This is a question which we all ask.

Examiners and moderators often see work by students who aren’t perhaps in the top ability bands yet manage to reach the higher mark bands because they REALLY understand what is required of them.

Below are some ideas and strategies which have been proven to help raise achievement in both exams and coursework modules.  These are focused on the AQA Media...

AS Case Study Example

Film / broadcast fiction over three platforms, moving image, print and emedia

• Students will do significantly better if they use their own, rather than teacher-taught material.

• A case study is not just one product. The case study is an investigation of the area you have chosen to study (sport / music / lifestyle) and will include a wide range of products from the three platforms, moving image, print and emedia.

• Questions...

Associated Resources

• JAN10 Question Paper.pdf
• MEST1 Jan 2010 Blu Ray Exemplars.doc

This advice is based on my experience as a teacher and moderator, and is intended to help colleagues when supporting their students for MEST2.

Of course, the AQA specification has details which you and your students will need to be familiar with; the briefs themselves are fairly detailed and there is additional information in the Teachers’ Resource Banks for this unit.  Each centre also has its own coursework advisor, (details available from...

• We can organise half-day or full day courses on any aspect of Media Studies at your school or college.

• We can also provide keynote speakers for conferences and training events.

Contact MediaEdu

Programme Details

• We come to you.

• Where possible assessors from leading awarding bodies lead our courses.

• Each revision course is 3 hours in length and is delivered in both whole group and seminar-style workshops. We can run a full-day course, if...

Introduction

All three A Level Media Studies exam specifications emphasise the study of the representation of difference.

AQA suggests:

A case study of refugees in British newspapers for example, would involve research into, and documentation of, the treatment of refugees in a variety of British newspapers (or possibly just one) to pinpoint the political and social reasons for the construction of such media representations and the possible...

There are a few scenarios under which you may find yourself using the film Tsotsi in an examination or assessment. You, or your teacher may perhaps choose the film when given an open ended assignment in a GCSE film assignment for media studies but the most likely circumstance under which you will be using the film is for the WJEC GCSE Film Studies Paper 2, titled ‘Films From Outside Hollywood’ where the film is currently one of the focus...

Functions of the Title Sequence

The functions of the title sequence in a film may seem to be fairly obvious. They are designed to tell the audience the names of the people and organisations involved with the making of the film and in this respect they do the job well.

Irrespective of the genre, there is a conventional way of presenting this information in the credit sequence. This information and the order in which it is presented follows a...

Click on the link below to download a PDF booklet you can print out.

Film Genre - Thrillers.pdf

Unit 2 Creating Media

This is the course work unit and here we are looking at just one of the three briefs. It is the new brief for students to complete by May 2011. All teacher-assessed marks to be returned to AQA by 10 January 2011 or 15 May 2011

MediaEdu pages that will help with this module:

• Popular Music Promotion
• Understanding Advertising
• CD Cover Design & Analysis
• Production Zone – Video
• Music Video Pre-Production
• Digital Cameras and...

Click on the link below to download a frame for analysing the opening of the film ‘Children of Men’.

Film-Opening-Children-Of-Men.doc

‘It’s just an idea for group work deconstructing an interesting text (especially because, unusually, this one starts in the middle of the disequilibrium, rather than establishing an equilibrium first of all, so is good for narrative theory.  Also, our “hero” is rather unheroic (he doesn’t return to the...

MediaEdu provides access to the following resources:

A Level Media Studies

• Schemes of work for AS and A2
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

GCSE Media Studies

• Schemes of work for GCSE
• Mock Exams
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

Key Concepts & Skills

• Skills Tutorials
• Production Zone
• Key Concept Guides
• Media Language Glossary

Other Resources

• YouTube Playlist

Support Community

• Our colleagues are always...

AS MEST1 - Term 1

A Suggested Scheme of Work

This scheme of work is not in any way prescriptive, it is simply offered as a possible way in. It should be adapted and moulded to fit particular teachers, students and resources.

This is what the spec says:

Unit 1 – MEST1 Investigating Media

The basics are : It is 50% of AS, 25% of A Level.

There is a 2 hour written
examination worth 80 marks.

Two sections:

Section A – four compulsory...

AS MEST2 - Terms 2 and 3

A Suggested Scheme of Work

This scheme of work is not in any way prescriptive, it is simply offered as a possible way in. It should be adapted and moulded to fit particular teachers, students and resources.

TERM 2: Jan- Mar (Approx 12 weeks)

MEST 2 Creating Media Briefs for 2009

AQA Instructions say that each Brief has three separate tasks, each requiring students to work in the three different media platforms –...

A typical A Level exam production task is to create a trailer for a film.

This is the type of task you will be asked to do:

Make a 3 minute trailer for a 15 rated film in a genre of your choice suitable for a teenage audience with a budget of about £10 million (the approximate budget for Slumdog Millionaire).

Before making your trailer you need to fully understand what a film trailer is, how it works and what it aims to do.

Definition

A...

• We can organise half-day or full day courses on any aspect of Media Studies at your school or college.

• We can also provide keynote speakers for conferences and training events.

Contact MediaEdu

Programme Details

• We come to you.

• Where possible assessors from leading awarding bodies lead our courses.

• Each revision course is 3 hours in length and is delivered in both whole group and seminar-style...

Click on the link below to download a frame for analysing the opening of the film ‘Children of Men’.

Film-Opening-Children-Of-Men.doc

‘It’s just an idea for group work deconstructing an interesting text (especially because, unusually, this one starts in the middle of the disequilibrium, rather than establishing an equilibrium first of all, so is good for narrative theory.  Also, our “hero” is rather...

MediaEdu provides access to the following resources:

A Level Media Studies

• Schemes of work for AS and A2
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

GCSE Media Studies

• Schemes of work for GCSE
• Mock Exams
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

Key Concepts & Skills

• Skills Tutorials
• Production Zone
• Key Concept Guides
• Media Language Glossary

Other Resources

• YouTube Playlist

Support...

AS MEST1 - Term 1

A Suggested Scheme of Work

This scheme of work is not in any way prescriptive, it is simply offered as a possible way in. It should be adapted and moulded to fit particular teachers, students and resources.

This is what the spec says:

Unit 1 – MEST1 Investigating Media

The basics are : It is 50% of AS, 25% of A Level.

There is a 2 hour written
examination worth 80 marks.

Two...