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 short answer questions
Section B – choose one from a choice of two essay topics.
This MEST 1 requires candidates to carry out a cross-media study for an unseen examination. The study will then also be used to inform their work on Unit 2.
Unit 2 – MEST2 Creating Media
The basics are: It is 50% of AS, 25% of A Level
This is the practical unit, is internally assessed and externally moderated, and worth 80 marks.
It is important to know that the production briefs are externally set:
- two linked production pieces taken from two of the three media platforms studied in Unit 1
- plus 1500 word evaluation.
The content of both units is underpinned by a set of key media concepts and media platforms e.g.:
Media Concepts
- Media Forms
- Media Representations
- Media Institutions
- Media Audiences
Media Platforms
- Broadcasting
- Digital/web-based media (e-media)
TERM 1: Sept-Dec (15 weeks approx)
Week 1 Class Work
Introduction to the course. The first unit is MEST1 ‘Investigating Media’ – teacher led. Overview/structure of whole AS course. (MEST2 production work is next term). Icebreakers using students’ prior knowledge.
Activity One
Start with still images. Analyses of advertisements, film posters, DVD covers. In groups ask students to look particularly at
meanings and audiences.
See Key Concepts - Audiences.
Activity Two
Discussions of students’ media consumption, and place emphasis on media platforms, which is the most consumed? Broadcast, Print, E-Media?
Students to do in-class research on hours spent per day (then work out annually) involved in some way with each platform.
Week 2 Class Work
Topic 1
Introduction to Key Concepts: Media Language, Representations, Institutions, Audience, Genre & Narrative and Ideology. See Key Concepts.
Activity One
For students new to Media, it is a good idea to do codes and conventions / signs and signifiers, etc. here using the PowerPoints on this website. This introduces basic conventions of “reading” media texts.
Activity Two
Students to write or storyboard the opening of a film from any typical genre - horror is too easy without telling what the genre is – their colleagues have to work it out from the codes and conventions used.
Leads to discussion of the close links between genre and narrative.
Topic 2
Introduction to the three main platforms: Broadcasting, Print, Digital / Online.
Again, exercises to ascertain what students already know and understand.
Activity
Analyses of cross-media texts: one from each platform – e.g. a film or soap opening, a newspaper, CD cover or magazine front page, and a website home page.
Caroline Bagshaw suggests:
2I would choose one text to analyse cross-media rather than different ones for each media. Perhaps one teacher-led then students to work in groups on their own one, with a week to produce a presentation to class, including 1 sheet A4 handout.
Eg. Coronation Street: Broadcasting: show itself – if time, show one whole episode looking at how many narrative strands and how there are different strands aimed at different audiences.
Also analysis of advert break items will give information on target audiences. Also, any on-the-couch interviews such as on GMTV / Richard and Judy etc.;
Print: eg. Heat / The Sun and even Girl Talk, (again, range of audiences being targeted) for storylines and also info about the ‘stars’; New Technology: official website plus unofficial fan sites and any opportunities to download episodes / additional features / have storyline updates sent to your mobile.
This way, they are thinking multi-platform from the very beginning. Other choices could include BBC News; a film promotion; Dr Who, etc.’
Homework
Students to write a 500 word analysis of a text of their choice from one of the three platforms.
Week 3 Class Work
Topic 1
Introduction to Media Forms – Codes and Conventions. Media Language, Semiotics, Mise-en-scene.
Introduction to basic semiotics: Denotation/Connotation. Signifier/signified. Iconic, Indexical and Symbolic signs. Mostly teacher led, lectures with examples.
Activity One
Group presentations to class. In small groups, analyse a range of texts, across three media platforms in terms of media language learned so far. Students to do presentations to class.
Activity Two
Opening sequence of a TV Show – analyse mise-en-scene, touching on genre.
Topic 2
Teacher led session on other media language: Intertexuality, anchoring, parody, pastiche with many cross-media textual examples.
Homework
Revise media forms and key concepts for an in-class test at the end of the week.
Week 4 Class Work
Introduce technical codes: camera angles, camera position, framing, editing, shot size, POV, pull focus, crash zoom, difference between tracking and panning shots, Steadycam, multi screen, etc.
Activity One
Practical video session where students do a basic filming exercise with in-camera editing to make a 3 – 5 minute video.
Give them a topic they can film on the premises such as ‘the journey’ or ‘this week’s fashion statement’ and let them write a script create a stick man storyboard and then film it.
Play back to group with explanations/justifications of shots, angles etc.
Important to introduce this early so they get a flavour of coursework.
Activity Two
David Allison, from Allisonmedia.net, suggests:
‘Get students in groups to film someone walking down a corridor, entering classroom and sitting down before giving them any lessons on camera work / storyboarding etc. Watch/ discuss the students’ work (Afl).
Then teach info re: successful shooting techniques (eg. 180 degree line / where eye-level should be / continuity etc.).
Then get them to storyboard their corridor to classroom again, using the new knowledge.
Hopefully will produce better second time around! The advantage is that this also gets them analysing their own media texts – which will be required for MEST 2.
Homework
Create quick and simple Print and Web-based products using digital camera or mobile phone camera – no editing just use free basic picture manipulation software such as Picassa 2 – maybe add graphics or some text – this is a quick exercise to get students used to thinking up ideas and developing them within a time span.
Bring in cameras to class – compare and contrast.
Week 5 Class Work
Introduction to Representation.
Teacher led lecture.
Social groups and places to be looked at
e.g. ‘youth’, ‘gay men’, ‘New York’.
Examples across platforms, analyses and discussion.
Activity
Each student to write stereotypical profiles for each group/place, as if they were casting directors looking for particular characters and locations for a film of TV series.
Each casting director student to present profiles to class.
Homework
Students to research a group or place, and choose texts from several media examples that clearly show representational issues and bring in to present to class.
Week 6 Class Work
Continue Representation. Look at some theory e.g. Tessa Perkins, Richard Dyer, possibly Marxism/Hegemony, Post-modernism.
Activity One
Students to do the presentations they researched for homework to class making sure they use cross media examples.
Activity Two
Discuss how you would present yourself to a documentary film maker – which of your characteristics would you like the film maker to concentrate on – include leisure activities, musical abilities, etc.
Present your self-representation to the class. No sniggering allowed. Debate the issue of ‘realism’.
Week 7 Class Work
Introduction to Genre and Narrative, teacher led – see this website - Key Concepts. Exercises from Film Education booklet on the BFI Film Ed website.
Film genre: case study ‘Gangster’ or ‘Horror’ or ‘Sci-Fi’– teacher led. Students to bring pre-existing knowledge.
Television genre: case study ‘Soap’ or ‘Sit-com’ or ‘Police drama’ – teacher led. Students to bring pre-existing knowledge.
Magazine genre: case study ‘life-style’ or ‘fashion’ or ‘gossip’ or ‘hobby’ – teacher led. Students to bring pre-existing knowledge.
Websites: case study ‘newspaper’ or ‘television’ or ‘dating’ or ‘music’ – teacher led. Students to bring pre-existing knowledge.
Some genre theory, may have to be hand-outs or research.
Narrative: mostly teacher led – Todorov, Propp, Binary opposites, open and closed narratives, codes of action/codes of enigma. Lots of examples across platforms.
Homework
Essay - students research their own specific examples from three different genres from different media, and write about the codes and conventions of each genre with illustrations.
Week 8 Class Work
Introduction to Institutions. Some teacher led discussion, possibly a case study focusing on Rupert Murdoch (News Corp).
Activity
Students to research in groups ownership and control of other institutions – e.g. AOL Time Warner, Sony, Vivendi, Bertelsman, Viacom, Walt Disney etc.
Homework
Students to prepare a presentations to class on one of these topics:
- Regulation/censorship – BBFC, OFCOM
- PSB vs Commercial
- Dumbing down debate
- Convergence.
Week 9 Class Work
Introduction to Audience –see Key Concepts Audience. Teacher led.
Introduce some theory, Active/Passive debate. Effects debate. Hypodermic needle model, Uses and Gratifications, Two-step flow, Reception theory, Morley.
Caution!
Important to teach theory very carefully so that students can apply it sensibly and with full understanding, and not just quote from some theoretician whom they do not fully understand. Too many quote Hypodermic needle model or even Bobo doll experiment without bringing audience theory up to date.
Introduce target audiences, niche audiences, psychographics, demographics.
Activity
Students to do some audience research into their own families media consumption incorporating theoretical knowledge gained so far, creating simple graphs.
Week 10 Class Work
A case study across platforms.
Regulation, the work of the ASA. Re-cap of key concepts.
Activity
Mock exam on Section A of MEST1. 4 short compulsory questions. Using AQA mark scheme, students to mark each other’s papers. Discussion of how it was, where improvements can be made, and areas of weakness.
Week 11 Class Work
Introduction to the Cross Media Study – teacher led. Look at criteria from Spec and exemplar exam paper and mark scheme. Discussion and ideas gathering.
Teacher led – focus on one cross media topic (two can be taught, or more but only one is necessary).
Focus on a text from any topic area (advice from AQA has to be sought if decision is taken to go outside of the suggested topic areas in the spec), and teach across the three platforms, looking at all of the key concepts.
Activity
Students to research possible examples of cross media texts. Examples might be drawn from film, and how a film is presented across the media – e.g. ‘Cloverfield’, ‘I am Legend’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Wall-E’, ‘Dark Knight’ etc.
Week 12 Class Work
Continuation of previous week researching cross-media examples, focusing on Representation, Audience, Genre and Institution.
Week 13
Student Work
Students to work in groups on a case study, focusing on another text and looking across platforms. All to do research, and apply the concepts.
Weeks 14 and 15 Class Work
Individual case study work, with each student focusing on another text, that will give all of them a total of three texts which is what they need. Again they look across platforms and cover all concepts.
Activity
In the last but one session, students must complete a Mock Exam on a case study question, with students marking each other’s papers using the mark scheme.
Discussion of how it was, where improvements can be made, areas of weakness.
Unit 1 - Investigating Media
Introduction [text from specification]
The aim of this unit is to enable candidates to investigate the media by applying media concepts to a range of media products in order to reach an understanding of how meanings and responses are created. Candidates should be encouraged to investigate the contemporary media landscape and the changing contexts within which media texts are produced and consumed.
Candidates will investigate the processes of meaning-making in media production and reception:
- at the micro level within individual products (also termed texts)
- and at a macro level in terms of technologies (also termed platforms).
In this specification the media platforms are referred to as broadcasting, e-media and print, to include linear broadcasting (audio-visual) and cinema, print media, digital/web-based and emerging media.
Candidates will firstly investigate a wide range of media texts to familiarise themselves with media languageand media codes and conventions and then embark upon a cross-media study.
The investigations into media concepts, processes and products will link with and inform the research into Unit 2: Creating Media, where candidates are required to produce media artefacts taken from
twoof the three media platforms.
Assessment Objectives
AO1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts (and critical debates)
AO2 Apply knowledge and understanding when analysing media products and processes (and evaluating their own practical work) to show how meanings and responses are created.
Content
Texts, concepts and contexts
Candidates should start this unit by investigating a wide range of media texts taken from the three media platforms to enable them to understand the media languages and the codes and conventions of moving image and print texts applicable to broadcasting (audio-visual) and cinema, digital/web-based media (e-media) and newspapers and magazines.
Centres should choose media texts that enable candidates to identify and evaluate the ways in which the media languages are used (media forms) and which also allow investigation and exploration of the additional concepts of:
The study of media forms gives candidates an understanding of media language, including narrative and genre. Appreciating how media representations are constructed provides insight into the values and ideologies underpinning the media. This is also apparent in the study of media institutions and media audiences. Study of these areas also provides candidates with an understanding of the profound changes taking place in the production and reception of the media, and some of the implications of these changes.
Candidates will also gain a basic understanding of the role of marketing and the advertising industry in financing and promoting media through the investigation of a range of advertising texts and strategies present within and across the media platforms.
Semiotics, narrative structures, reception theories and ideas and information relevant to the study of media texts and media platforms should be taught insofar as they serve to help candidates understandhow meanings and responses are created in media products. However the understanding and application of media concepts is more important than the reproduction of theories or information.
Texts should be chosen to allow candidates access to cross-cultural factors where appropriate. Candidates are expected to use appropriate media terminology in their responses to the examination questions and this should be taught from the start of the course.
The media platforms
Candidates will undertake a study of one or more of the cross-media topic areas (see below) across at least three different media taken from the following media platforms:
Broadcasting
Suggested texts: television and radio programmes both factual and fictional; films; advertisements; trailers and other audio/visual promotional material. It is advised that at least one from each type of text should be studied.
E-media
Suggested texts: websites; blogs/wikis; podcasts; advertising and promotional materials; radio; television; music or film downloads; games and emerging forms. It is advised that at least one from each type of text should be studied.
Suggested texts: newspapers; magazines; marketing and the advertising industry and marketing texts including promotional materials. It is advised that at least one from each type of text should be studied.
The cross-media study
The knowledge and understanding of media concepts and contexts gained through the investigation and comparison of individual mediatexts will then be developed by making a detailed case study chosen from a range of topics.
Centres should choose a topic area that communicates with audiences across the media platforms; a topic which includes media products that can be classified, perhaps loosely, as a genre.
By making a detailed investigation of the texts themselves, their similarities and differences and the processes and technologies used to create them within different media, candidates will gain a deeperand broader understanding of the contexts of their production and reception.
They will develop their understanding of how meanings and responses are created and received and how these meanings and responses can vary or stay the same across different media platforms.
This approach ensures that the fluidity, flexibility and changing nature of media production and reception is investigated and prepares candidates for the other units in the course.
Centres may wish to teach two cross-media topic areas but there is no obligation to do so.
Suggested cross-media topic areas include:
Broadcast or film fiction
Candidates should investigate how (audio-visual) broadcast or film fiction is presented across the media, primarily in broadcasting and cinema platforms, but also in newspapers and magazines, the internet and portable electronic devices. They should study the production and reception of broadcast or film fiction products including the ways in which audiences may select, consume and respond to broadcast or film fiction and its coverage.
Documentary and hybrid forms
Candidates should investigate how documentaries are presented across the media, primarily in (audio-visual) broadcasting and cinema platforms, but also the treatment of these in newspapers and magazines, the internet and portable electronic devices. They should study the production and reception of documentary products including the ways in which audiences may consume, participate and respond to documentaries and their coverage.
Lifestyle
Candidates should investigate how lifestyle, ie: make-over, information and advice products (such as buying and decorating property, cooking, slimming, bringing up children, improving a relationship, fashion tips etc), are presented across the media, for example in (audio-visual) broadcasting, the internet, newspapers and magazines. They should study the production and reception of suchtexts including the ways in which audiences may participate and respond to lifestyle products.
Music
Candidates should investigate how music is presented across the media, for example, in (audiovisual) broadcasting, internet and portable electronic devices, newspapers and specialist magazines. They should study the production and reception of this coverage including the ways in which audiences may select, consume and respond to music products.
News
Candidates should investigate how news is presented across the media, for example in (audiovisual) broadcasting, newspapers including on line newspapers, the internet and portable electronic devices. They should study the production and reception of news, including the ways in which audiences may select, produce, respond to and contribute to news.
Sport
Candidates should investigate how sport is presented across the media, for example in (audiovisual) broadcasting, the internet and portable electronic devices, newspapers and magazines. They should study the production and reception of sport including the ways in which audiences may select, consume and respond to the coverage of sport (and sports products).
This list is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive and centres may wish to select other topics. Advice on the suitability of a topic can be obtained from AQA.
The media texts in some topics may be predominantly moving-image, audio, print or digital/web based and may appear largely on one of the three media platforms. Nevertheless, candidates are required to examine the presence, production and reception of texts within their chosen topic area across the three media platforms.
For example, a broadcast fiction product such as a new drama series for TV or radio might be received on a linear broadcast platform with extracts available on the internet, perhaps, before the actual broadcast date; the website might give extra information andpossibly opportunities for interaction and downloads; newspapers and magazines might promote and comment on the product, actors, writers etc, while others involved might appear on other media platforms.
The texts within the cross-media topic should be examined by applying the knowledge and understanding gained through the study of the media concepts introduced during the investigation of mediaplatforms. These include:
- audiences and how they receive and respond to (and create) texts
- institutional contexts including the relationship with the advertising industry, the level of independence/corporateness and how these contexts may influence the production and content of texts
- representations available within the texts and how these are constructed and construed
- semiotic, narrative and generic codes and conventions within the individual texts and across the topic, accounting for similarities and differences in codes and conventions across the media
- features and issues such as synergy, intertextuality, cross-media promotion, public service remit and other obligations, censorship and control, news and entertainment values, the technologies used in the production and reception process – as relevant to the topic chosen.
Candidates will be expected to use appropriate media terminology in their responses to the examination questions and this should be taught from the start of the course.
The Examination for Unit 1: Investigating Media
The examination for Unit 1 will take the form of a two hour two-part examination paper. It will be marked out of 80. Section A tests AO1 and Section B tests AO2. Quality of Written Communication will be assessed in Section B.
Section A (1 hour 15 minutes including 15 minutes reading/viewing time) will consist of four short answer questions, all compulsory, relating to a piece of unseen stimulus material. The unseen material will take the form of one of the following: moving image, audio, e-media or print.
Questions will require candidates to focus on: media forms, codes and conventions; media representations; media institutions, audiences and values and ideologies, and candidates will be required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of these media concepts and the contexts in which they appear.
48 marks
Section B (45 minutes) will require a sustained response to one of a choice of two questions which will give the candidates the opportunity to write about their cross-media study. Questions will not be topic-specific but designed to allow candidates to show what they know and understand about media products and processes by applying their knowledge and understanding of media concepts and contexts.
32 marks
GCE Media Studies Specification 2570
© AQA 2008
