Course Overview - AS Media

The course introduces students to Media through a mixture of theoretical study and practical work
The department follows the OCR specification. A link to the sylabus can be found here
Coursework (50%): Unit G321 – Students will produce a piece of practical work consisting of a new Music Magazine. Student will display all work on personal blogs and will evaluate their work using a range of multi-media methods.
Exam: Unit (50%) G322 – Students will be required to analyse a moving image text (TV Drama) as well as a question based on the study of the film industry.

TV DRAMA

In the exam, students will view an ‘unseen’ moving image extract of a TV dramawith one compulsory question dealing with textual analysis of various technical aspects of the languages and conventions of moving image media. Candidates will be asked to link this analysis with a discussion of some aspect of representation within the sequence.
In this section of the course, student will be taught about how TV dramas communicate meaning to their audiences and will be introduced to the concept of SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS.  Students are required to demonstrate textual analysis of all of the following technical areas of moving image language and conventions in relation to the unseen extract:

• Camera Angle, Shot, Movement and Composition
• Mise-en-Scène
• Editing
• Sound

The issues students are required to discuss include: Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Sexuality Class and status, Physical ability/disability, Regional identity

FILM INDUSTRY
Candidates will be taught to  understand and discuss the processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange in relation to the FILM INDUSTRY. In addition, candidates should be familiar with:

• the issues raised by media ownership in the film industry;
• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

This unit is taught through a series of recent case studies from both Hollywood and UK cienma as well as through student guided independant research. 

MUSIC MAGAZINES
The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills; secondly to assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created; and finally to assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research. The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity for development of skills in these technologies. These technologies include BLOGS, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP, ADOBE INDESIGN and ADOBE PREMIERE.
Students follow the print option and are required to produce the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine.
All images and text used must be original, produced by the candidate