Media/Film/Tv Studies

Course summary

Component 1 Students will study towards a 2-hour 15-minute exam that will test them on how media texts use media language, construction of representations, audience readings and responses, institutional influences and the contexts of texts. Students will cover the semiotic construction of and key representation issues in advertising, music videos, newspapers, and film marketing, as well as understanding key institutional and audience issues from advertising, film marketing, newspapers, computer games and radio. Students will also be tested on their analytical and evaluative skills based on an unseen text in the exam. Component 2 Students will learn about three areas of the media in depth; TV in the global Age, Magazines (Mainstream vs. alternative) and Media in the Online Age. They will be required to study two texts in depth and comparatively, which are set by the exam board. The exam is 2 hours 30 minutes long in which students need to write 3 extended answers. Both exams are sat at the end of the 2-year course. Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) Individually, students will need to respond to a brief set by the board. They will need to produce a cross-media response. For example, the brief may ask students to produce a sequence of 2½–3 minutes from a new TV programme as well as producing accompanying print media (such as pages from a magazine, or poster/DVVD cover) or digital media such as a fully functioning website. Students will also have full access to our facilities: Film/TV studio, industry standard cameras (moving image and DSLRs) and Apple Macs with Adobe Premier Pro and Photoshop.