The Media Department
Our Vision:
Media Studies has never held greater global relevance, making its study both exciting and widely applicable to contemporary culture. The media, as a whole, affects every person in one way or another. Through our study of media, we develop a student’s understanding of how people become informed – or misinformed – by media products, and how the ideologies that govern our lives are created and sustained.
We want our A Level students to understand the influence of the media and how media industries make conscious choices about media language in order to create representations and target specific audiences. We aim to arm our learners with the ability to make informed judgements about these representations and to challenge them by exploring their own view of the truth and how the media chooses to represent it.
Our Aim:
For our Media Studies students:
• To explore and analyse a wide range of media products; ranging from TV, Radio, Magazines, Video Games, Online and Participatory Media, Advertising and Marketing, the Music Industry, Newspaper and Film.
• To become discerning consumers of a range of media products by understanding how representations of gender, age, ethnicity, national and regional identity, and social issues are constructed.
• To have a clear understanding of the media theoretical framework which includes: Media Language, Audience, Representation and Industry.
• To develop their ability to confidently apply media terminology and theories to a range of texts.
• To extend their study of the media beyond the classroom, maintaining a wider interest in current and changing narratives in the media.
• To complete the course as empowered individuals with the ability to apply skills of enquiry, critical thinking, decision-making and analysis, providing transferable skills to support them as global citizens beyond their time at Presdales.
GCSE Media Studies
The OCR GCSE Media Studies course is an exciting introduction to analysing media at a theoretical level. It focuses on understanding how the media operates and how information and entertainment are communicated to audiences. Over the two year course, you will analyse and deconstruct a range of media products through the theoretical framework of media language, representation, audiences, and industries.
You will also develop practical skills in media technology, including the use of digital devices, software for image creation and manipulation, and professional cameras and editing tools to produce your own moving image projects. Media Studies at Presdales is supported by dedicated classrooms, a professional production studio, and a number of Apple MacBooks available for students to create their media projects.
Course Content
This course is assessed through two written examinations, comprising both short-answer and essay-style questions (70%), and a coursework component (30%) that involves producing either a magazine or a music video.
How Am I Assessed?
70% of the final grade is assessed through two written examinations taken at the end of the course. The remaining 30% is achieved through Non-Examined Assessment.
Component 1: Television & Promoting Media
Section A: Television – Vigil and The Avengers
Section B: Promoting Media – The Lego Movie
Component 2: Music & News
Section A: Music Videos (Harry Styles – Adore You and Arlo Parks – Hope), Radio 1 Live Lounge and MOJO Magazine.
Section B: News and Online (The Observer and The Guardian)
Component 3: Creating Media (30%)
30% of the final grade is achieved through Non-Examined Assessment (coursework). A new brief is released each year. You will either create a music video or a magazine in response to a brief set by the exam board.
Please email or speak to Mr Soltysik for further information.
