This document outlines the course requirements for a BTEC Level One/Two Tech Award in Creative Media Production unit on film studies. Students will complete three tasks analyzing film posters and scenes from Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), exploring how technical elements construct meaning and audience relationships. Deadlines are provided for submitting each task. Guidelines are given on equipment use, backing up work, and contacting the teacher. Recommended reading materials are also listed.

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BTEC Level One / Two
Tech Award in
Creative Media Production
Unit 1:
Film Studies
Name: .................................................................................................
Form: ....................................... Deadline: .......................................

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THE COURSE
Welcome to the BTEC Tech Award in Creative Media Production. You will find this a practical,
work-related course where you will learn by completing projects and assignments based on
realistic workplace situations, activities and demands.
We aim to help you to develop your creative and technical skills, as well as helping you to
gain an understanding of the underlying theory of digital media production. In addition to
learning about the employment area you have chosen, you will develop the skills needed to
start a career in the media industry.
To do this, you will be required to produce a portfolio of practical productions supported by
paperwork and theoretical research. To be successful in doing this, you will have to work
both independently and within groups in a professional manner, showing yourself to be
organised, resourceful, reliable, committed and being capable of meeting strict deadlines.
We hope that you will benefit from this challenging, yet rewarding course and that it will lead
to you continuing your studies or eventually finding a job in the media industry.
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YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
• You are expected to treat all equipment and accommodation with care.
• You are NOT allowed to bring food, drink or chewing gum into work areas.
• You may NOT use mobile phones while you are working, unless otherwise instructed.
• NEVER allow other students or friends to use equipment that is booked out to you, and
do not leave equipment unattended at any time. If it is damaged, lost or stolen, it is
YOUR responsibility. You will need to sign an agreement of responsibility prior to using
the department’s equipment.
If you experience any problems with equipment, ask for help from your teacher. Do not try
to repair the equipment yourself.
Please remember
It is your responsibility to back up your work onto a memory stick and / or Google Drive at the end of
every lesson. You are responsible for saving your work to the hard drive of the computer and the
safekeeping of your original material. Please remember to take your memory stick at the end of every
session, and only use the memory stick to transport work. All work should be backed-up on computer
hard drives. You must provide a folder for each unit and bring it to every session. You will also be
introduced to a referencing system to allow you to produce comprehensive bibliographies of the
materials you have used in your study.
How to contact your teacher…
Telephone: 020 8498 1300
Blog: https://zcmediastudies.wordpress.com
E-Mail: zchristodoulou.317@kkshs.uk
Twitter: @ZCMediaStudies
YouTube: ZCMediaStudies
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Component 1: Exploring Media Products
Introduction
Up until now, your experiences related to film have solely been on the level of audience.
YOU have been the audience that the film-makers have been targeting.
Now, it is necessary to adopt a slightly different take on films and film-making; you need to
look at the techniques that have been employed to ensure that a film meets the needs of
its target audience.
You will come to understand that films do not exist in a vacuum, nor do they simply appear
like flowers in the spring. Rather, they are created by a range of determinants and
influences. These include, amongst others, the culture and politics of the country where
they are produced, the finance that enables their production, the technology of film
production, distribution and exhibition and the nature and structure of the industry that
produces them.
In addition, you will explore the often complex relationship between audiences and films
and will be able to understand how and why audiences watch and make sense of films in
particular ways.
There are opportunities in the unit to develop and apply research techniques through the
completion of a piece of practical audience research.
Learning Aims
In this unit, you will:
1. Be able to apply different analytical approaches to films.
2. Understand the relationship between films and their production contexts.
3. Understand the relationship between audiences and films.
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Assessment Criteria for
Unit 1: Film Studies
P1 Apply approaches to
analysing films with some
appropriate use of subject
terminology.
M1 Apply approaches to
analysing films coherently
with reference to detailed
illustrative examples and
generally correct use of
subject terminology.
D1 Apply approaches to
analysing films critically,
supporting points with
arguments and elucidated
examples and consistently
using subject terminology
correctly.
P2 Describe the relationship
between producers and film
audiences with some
appropriate use of subject
terminology.
M2 Explain the relationship
between producers and film
audiences with reference to
detailed illustrative examples
and generally correct use of
subject terminology.
D2 Comprehensively explain
the relationship between
producers and film audiences
with elucidated examples and
consistently using subject
terminology correctly.
P3 Describe the relationship
between audiences and films
with some appropriate use of
subject terminology.
M3 Explain the relationship
between audiences and films
with reference to detailed
illustrative examples and
generally correct use of
subject terminology.
D3 Comprehensively explain
the relationship between
audiences and films with
elucidated examples and
consistently using subject
terminology correctly.
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TASKS
Your given media products:
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
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TASK ONE
(Unit 1 = P2, M2, D2; P3, M3, D3)
You will need to analyse the posters for Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man: Homecoming
(2017) and explain…
(a) What each poster suggests about the film.
(b) How each poster uses mise-en-scene to ‘sell’ the film.
Remember that there is never any blank space in film posters – everything is there for a
specific reason.
Things to consider:
Characters (body language, facial expressions, emotions); fonts; settings / locations;
costumes; props; décor; lighting; colour scheme.
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TASK TWO
(Unit 1 = P2, M2, D2)
Create an illustrative essay that explores how camerawork, mise-en-scène and sound
construct meaning for the audience in [a five-minute extract of] Spider-Man (2002).
Things to consider:
Camerawork; mise-en-scene; sound; Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications
theory (1974).
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TASK THREE
(Unit 1 = P3, M3, D3)
Create an illustrated report that analyses and evaluates the representation of the
protagonists (Peter Parker / Spider-Man) in Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man:
Homecoming (2017).
Things to consider:
1. How is Peter Parker presented – what kind of a person is he?
2. What is his relationship with MJ like?
3. What differences are there in Peter’s family life?
4. How are the main antagonists presented? What are their jobs? What are their
motivations? What is their relationship like with Peter Parker?
5. What differences are there in the way
that the films are presented? Think
about the use of the camerawork,
mise-en-scene and sound.
6. What do you think are the final
messages of the films?
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Task Deadlines
Task 1 Friday 11th
December 2020
Task 2 Friday 29th
January 2021
Task 3 Friday 26th
February 2021
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RECOMMENDED READING
Key:
Author (year), Title (edition), Publisher.
International Standard Book Number
Branston G and Stafford R (2010), The Media Student’s Book (fifth edition), Routledge.
ISBN: 978-0-415-55842-6
Connell B (2010), Exploring the Media: Text, Industry, Audience (second edition), Auteur.
ISBN: 978-1-906733-47-6
Long P and Wall T (2009) Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context, Pearson Education.
ISBN: 978-1-4058-5847-2
Turow J (2016), Media Today (sixth edition), Routledge.
ISBN: 978-1-138-92846-6
The Internet Movie Database – www.imdb.com
The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media – www.creativeskillset.org
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NOTES