4. Course Outline
• Unit 1 - Investigating the Media
1 hr 30 minute examination
(2015 - Television News)
• Unit 2 - Understanding the Media
Two coursework assignments
1. Moving Images
2. Cross Promotion: Magazines
3. Advertising & Marketing
6. Why Media Studies?
Write a paragraph or two on the following:
•Why you chose to take Media Studies
GCSE.
•What sort of things you expect to do
during the course?
•What you hope to gain from it.
7. Key Concepts
• The key concepts provide the
foundation for Media Studies. You will
be using them throughout the course. It
is essential that you understand what
they are and how to use them to
analyse media texts.
8. Key Concepts
Media Language is the techniques you by media producers to communicate with the
audience. The words, visual images and sounds used to convey meaning in a media in a
media text.
Audience is the people who experience the product. E.g. Mass (large) and Niche (small
but important).
The actual audience may differ from the target audience.
Institution is companies and businesses that produce the products/media or make
regulations. E.g. BBC public services or News International (The Sun, Fox, Sky, MySpace,
The Times).
Representation is how a certain group of people or a place is portrayed. The way in
which the media constructs its own version of reality. The way in which people, places,
issues etc are shown in the media. E.g. gender, race, age, class
9. Why Study the Media?
Media Studies and
other Mickey Mouse
degrees
Daily Mail, 12 September 2007
Media Studies and
other Mickey Mouse
degrees
Daily Mail, 12 September 2007
Students too dim
for Media Studies
Daily Mail, 18 January
2007
Students too dim
for Media Studies
Daily Mail, 18 January
2007
It’s just watching
films
It’s just watching
films
You just sit on
computers
You just sit on
computers
Media studies isn’t a
real subject!
Media studies isn’t a
real subject!
10. • With media studies getting so much
publicity, it is important to ask the
question, ‘Why study the media?’
Below is a list of possible answers. Do
you agree with these reasons?
11. Reasons to study the media
1. The mass media is very powerful. Advertisers and politicians use it to influence
society. To be media literate is part of being an educated citizen.
2. Education has traditionally concentrated on literacy. In today’s society, the
visual image is as important as the printed word. Students of media studies
learn to read and construct visual images.
3. The ability to design, construct and edit media products are relevant modern,
practical skills. Skilled media studies students are employable.
4. The media is an expanding industry. GCSE media studies can help start
students on the road to careers in the media.
5. GCSE media studies develop critical thinking, analytical skills and creativity.
6. GCSE media studies develop group work skills.
7. We spend a large proportion of our time exposed to the media. GCSE media
studies help us examine the impact the media has on our lives.
8. Because the media studies us!
12. Discussion Activity
1. Discuss the eight points and consider:
a. How important is it to study the
media?
b. How does the media study us?
13. What are the media?
• The media are a means of mass
communication. This means that they have
the ability to reach lots of people at the same
time.
• Each individual type of media is called a
medium. They cover publishing, gaming,
filmmaking, photography, music,
broadcasting and the internet. The list is
growing all the time and many new media
combine lots of different types in one.
14. Look at the images below. Which media do
they represent? Fill in your answers in the
boxes.
15.
16. Task
In order to understand the media, we can start by examining our own
use of it. Create your own 'timeline' - choose a day - weekend,
holiday, school day, whatever - and note all the uses of media you
have that day.
That's the first part. The second part is to decide how to present this
information.. You can use whatever you want. Prezi is popular. You
could even present it as a vlog, made using MovieMaker or iMovie or
Final Cut Pro. Really ambitious people could make a Flash animation.
It could be print based - a diagram created in Illustrator or
Photoshop. I don't particularly want to see Word docs or PowerPoint!
Media students need to think and care about presentation - this is
your first chance.
And finally, it needs to go on your Media website. One of the pages is
called 'My Portfolio' - embed it in the most appropriate section
(probably 'Web.')
