Thursday, 27 September 2018

The Theorists and their Theories


When we talk about media language we might talk about:

Semiotics - Roland Barthes 

  • the idea that texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification 
  • the idea that signs can function at the level of denotation, which involves the ‘literal’ or common-sense meaning of the sign, and at the level of connotation, which involves the meanings associated with or suggested by the sign 
  • the idea that constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident, achieving the status of myth through a process of naturalisation. 


Narratology - Tzvetan Todorov

  • the idea that all narratives share a basic structure that involves a movement from one state of equilibrium to another 
  • the idea that these two states of equilibrium are separated by a period of imbalance or disequilibrium the idea that the way in which narratives are resolved can have particular ideological significance. 


Genre theory - Steve Neale

  • the idea that genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change 
  • the idea that genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another  
  • the idea that genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts. 


Structuralism - Claude Lévi-Strauss


  • the idea that texts can best be understood through an examination of their underlying structure 
  • the idea that meaning is dependent upon (and produced through) pairs of oppositions 
  • the idea that the way in which these binary oppositions are resolved can have particular ideological significance. 

Postmodernism - Jean Baudrillard 

  • the idea that in postmodern culture the boundaries between the ‘real’ world and the world of the media have collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish between reality and simulation  the idea that in a postmodern age of simulacra we are immersed in a world of images which no longer refer to anything ‘real’ 
  • the idea that media images have come to seem more ‘real’ than the reality they supposedly represent 

Wednesday, 6 June 2018

Coursework Mark Scheme




A Level Media Studies Scheme of Work (Year 1 & 2)




Autumn Term 1 (7 weeks)
Weeks
Texts
Component 1 Section A – Analysing Media Language and Representation
Component 1 – Section A Music Video



Component 1 – Section A Advertising
1 – 4



5 - 7
Beyoncé – ‘Formation’ or
(Dizzee Rascal  - ‘Dream’)
Vance Joy – ‘Rip Tide’

Tide print advertisement (1950s)
Autumn Term 2 (8 weeks)


Component 1 – Section A Advertising




Component 1 – Section A Newspapers

8 – 10


11 – 13

13 - 15
Water Aid audio visual advertisement (2106)

Kiss of the Vampire film poster (1963)

The Daily Mirror November 10, 2016 front cover and article on US Election

The Times November 10 2016 front and back pages
Spring Term 1 (6 weeks)


Component 1 Section B – Understanding Media Industries and Audiences
Component 1 – Section B Video Games

Component 1 – Section B Radio

1 – 3

4 - 6
Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation 2012

Late Night Women’s Hour: Home 28 October, 2016
Spring Term 2 (6 weeks)


Component 1 – Section B Film Marketing

Component 1 – Section B  Safety

7 - 9


10 - 12
Straight Outta Compton (2015), I, Daniel Blake (2016)


Summer 1 (6 weeks)


Component 1 – Section B Re-cap


Component 1 – Section A Re-cap

1 – 3


4 - 6
Media Industries and Audiences (key questions).

Analysing Media Language and Representation (key questions)
Summer 2 (6 weeks)


Component 3 - Coursework
1 - 6


Autumn Term 1 (7 weeks)
Weeks
Texts
Component 3  - Cross media production
& Component 2: Media Forms and Products In Depth
Component 3 – Cross Media Production

Component 2 – Television in a Global Age
1 – 4


5 - 7
Post-production phase, plus ‘Statement of aims and intentions’

The Returned’ – Media Language and representation
Autumn Term 2 (8 weeks)


Component 2 – Television in a Global Age




8 – 10

11 – 13


13 - 15
The Returned’ – Industry and Audience

Re-cap ‘Humans’ Media Language and representation

Re-cap ‘Humans’ Industry and Audience & comparison exam focus

Spring Term 1 (6 weeks)


Component 2: Media Forms and Products In Depth
Component 2 – Section B Magazines



Component 2 – Section C Online

1 – 3



4 - 6
Comparison of products (historical product and non-mainstream product) exam focus


PointlessBlog: Media Language and Representation.

PointlessBlog: Industry and Audience
Spring Term 2 (6 weeks)


Component 2: Media Forms and Products In Depth & Component 3  - Cross media production
Component 1 – Section C Online




Component 3 –  Safety

7 - 9




10 - 12
DesiMag: Media Language and Representation.

DesiMag: Industry and Audience

Re-visit coursework for final post-production work.

Summer 1 (6 weeks)


Revision/ exam practise
1 – 6


Summer 2 (6 weeks)