AQA says that candidates for AS and A2 Media Studies should study the historical, social, political and economic dimensions of representation.
Definition

Representation is the process by which the media presents the ‘real world’ to an audience.

Media texts construct meanings about the world – a picture, a film, a television programme or a newspaper article re-presents the world to help audiences make sense of it.

A popular...

Media Studies isn’t easy to describe. It’s a living concept that continues to change just as technology and our experience with technology change. The purpose of Media Studies is to provide audiences with access to information no matter how it is experienced and allow people to adopt diverse critical positions.

Media Studies is desirable because its curriculum is inclusive; it recognises that the form of delivery as well as the content to be...

Studying media is about watching, reading, discussing and evaluating media texts such as films, television and radio programmes, newspapers and magazines, and advertisements.

An important aspect of Media Studies is evaluating (this is called ‘reading’) a media text to find out what it is trying to say to the audience, and how that message is being communicated. The first AS module is usually known as ‘Reading the media’.

In the course...

Trollied is a Situation Comedy set in a fictional supermarket, Valco in the north-west, specifically Warrington in Cheshire. It is broadcast on a Monday night at 9pm and more unusually it is on Sky 1 (it is rare for Sky 1 to commission programmes from the Sitcom genre). Trollied is repeated immediately after on Sky 2 at 10pm. In its classic 30 minute format it follows some genre conventions but offers post watershed representations.

The...

We had an enquiry recently about Postmodernism which led to some productive responses. Ellen Grundy’s approach involved:

(L)ooking at representation and postcolonialism (as follows):

A research task on Gurinder Chadha and her films. How do her life and the themes of her films suggest a post colonial identity? For example Bend it like Beckham as a coming together of different ethnicities / cultures.

The classic clip of going for an ‘English’...

Men’s Magazines, in their printed form developed in terms of publication and circulation in the 1980s. Many reasons were offered for this, particularly in light of the fact that Women’s Magazines have been around for hundreds of years. A manifest, obvious reason could explore changing cultural representations in reference to how masculinity was perceived and that the 1980s was just about the right time for men to finally embrace a magazine...

MEST3 Critical Perspectives

MEST4 Research and Production

2012 Section B Topics: Representation and New Digital Media (3 Media Platforms) - 30 Week Scheme of Work

Overview

• AQA A Level Media Studies Overview

Scheme

• 2012 AQA A2 Media Studies SOW.doc

Concepts

• Analysing Text, Stimulus Material - Audiences
• Regulation and Censorship
• Critical Investigation - Viral Marketing
• Skills Development - Planning and Production
• Representation of Masculinity...[ read full article ] »
  

G324 Advanced Portfolio in Media

G325 Critical Perspectives in Media

Critical Perspectives = Contemporary Media Regulation ~ Media and Collective Identity (30 Week Scheme of Work)

Overview

• OCR A Level Media Studies Overview

Scheme

• OCR A2 Media Studies SOW 2012-2014.doc

Concepts

• Regulation within the Media Industry
• Researching Film Magazines and Film Posters
• Skills Development - Planning and Production
• Evaluating and Linking Coursework to...

H140

• G321 Foundation Portfolio in Media (50%) and G322 Key Media Concepts (50%)
• G322 Section A: TV Drama (52%) and Section B: Film Industry (50%) - 32 Week Scheme of Work

Overview

• OCR A Level Media Studies Overview

Scheme

• OCR AS Media Studies SOW 2011-2014.doc

Concepts

• Media Language, Forms and Conventions (Media Language, Representation, Genre, Narrative)
• Film Industry Institution
• TV Drama and Representation
• Research, Planning and...

Associated Resources

• Representation Theory Simplified Handout.doc

The media literally re-presents the world to us. Dominant and oppositional arguments conflict e.g. on one hand the media is showing us how things actually are, on the other hand they are telling us how things should be (dictating representations, not just reflecting society).

The main representations we study in the media are:

• Masculinity
• Femininity
• Social Class
• Sexuality
...

Outnumbered is a successful British Situation Comedy (Sitcom) named so simply because the two parental central protagonists, ‘Sue’ and ‘Pete’ are outnumbered by their three children. It is set in West London and although on the surface offers pluralistic representations in the guise of their unruly children who often intellectually challenge their parents it very much follows a standard genre template established by family based...

Change continually affects the way we teach representation. Technological advancement would be the most obvious change, try telling your students they are in the middle of the fastest paced technological revolution the world has ever seen and they will look at you with a blank face because they are living it – this continually evolving form of change for many has been ‘normalised’. Web 1.0 to 2.0 and now Web 3.0 are generic terms banded...

Gender is a sociological / cultural concept that arose out of the feminist movement and is concerned with ideas of both femininity and masculinity.

David Gauntlett in Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction argues that:

‘Femininity is not typically a core value for women today. Instead, being ‘feminine’ is just one of the performances that women choose to employ in everyday life – perhaps for pleasure, or to achieve a particular...

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...

The rights to broadcast this years showpiece sporting tournament is in the hands of two national mainstream television channels: BBC and ITV.

The Football World Cup in South Africa 2010 will command many hours from both BBC and ITV primetime television slots from 11th of June – 11th of July. Games will be shown at 12.30, 17.00 and 19.30.

Programs will no doubt contain many hours of build up, the game itself, half time replays of highlights...

These quizzes are best viewed in Firefox.

Firefox is an excellent alternative to Internet Explorer which is available free for both PCs and Macs.

Representation | Ugly Betty.doc

Vampires don’t exist, unless they’re bats. However they are potent monsters that have been recently finding favour with audiences: the new independent-Hollywood Twilight franchise (2008-), based on Stephanie Meyer’s novels; the Swedish horror film Let the Right One In (2008), from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel; series one of the BBC3 genre hybrid series Being Human (2009). Genres need to evolve in order to remain fresh so it’s...

The Sex Pistols John Lydon and Blondie’s Deborah Harry have defied ageism and carried on their careers into middle age, but does this detract from their legacy? It all rather depends says Bijon Fenner.  However, both bands are on tour in 2009…

In this article I intend to explore the relationship between past and present forms of youth culture with reference to Seventies punk rock. This will take the form of an analysis of the late...

Educating for Justice Films presents SWEAT

Englishbiz on Semiotics and Representation

Genderads.com Good for researching the representation of gender in advertising

Hatads.org.uk Gender & Advertising - History of Advertising Trust

Justthink.org A closer look at media representations of social issues including democracy, health, violence, racism, role models and self-esteem.

Mediaed.org on Magazine Advertising and Gender

MIGS Mediterranean...

The Citizenship Foundation is an independent charity which aims to empower individuals to engage in the wider community through education about the law, democracy and society

Media Studies isn’t easy to describe. It’s a living concept that continues to change just as technology and our experience with technology change. The purpose of Media Studies is to provide audiences with access to information no matter how it is experienced and allow people to adopt diverse critical positions.

Media Studies is desirable because its curriculum is inclusive; it recognises that the form of...