MIGRAIN: Representation - an introduction

Representation is a crucial key concept in A Level Media. Here we explore how the media represents different people, social groups, places and events - and discuss the impact on society and individuals.

The key notes on representation:

• Representation is the process by which the media presents the ‘real world’ to an audience.
• Media texts are artificial, constructed versions of reality
• Even factual media – such as news – goes through processes of selection, organisation and editing that shapes its content
• How are particular people and groups represented in the media? How and why are stereotypes created?
• Why are certain social groups – in both a national and global context – under-represented or misrepresented?

Mediation

Media texts are a construction of reality, and play an important role in the way we view the world. 

Reality is therefore subject to mediation which is the process that takes place when a media text’s meaning is created.

When mediation takes place, an institution, individual or even technology comes between the actual event and the audience.

Stereotypes

Media messages have to be communicated quickly which often means relying on stereotypes. Stereotypes work as a kind of shorthand where a word, image or sound will stand for a lot more.

A stereotype is a standardised, usually oversimplified mental picture or attitude towards a person, group, place or event.

Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their gender, class, ethnicity or race, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.

Representation: dominant or alternative?

A representation in the media will either reinforce or challenge the stereotype.

If it reinforces the stereotype, it is a dominant representation.

If it challenges the stereotype, it is an alternative representation.

Representation: Blog task

Watch the trailer for Taken and complete the following tasks:

Create a new blogpost called 'Introduction to Representation' and embed the Taken trailer in the post.

1) List the different people/groups represented in the trailer (men/women/Americans etc.)

2) For each group you identify, decide whether the representation is a dominant or alternative portrayal. Explain why you think this.

3) What stereotypes can you identify in the trailer? 

4) Why might the Taken trailer offend or alienate certain groups?

5) Why do mainstream film and television texts such as Taken so often use stereotypes?

Complete for homework if you don't complete it in the lesson - due next lesson.

Film & TV Language: Editing video feedback and learner response

Your short editing videos should contain crucial techniques for narrative film and television.

The ability to use cutting on action, shot-reverse shot and adhering to the 180 degree rule will be vital to your success in coursework later this year. Once we've screened the videos in class, you need to complete the following tasks on your blog:

Editing video feedback/learner response

Create a new blogpost called 'Editing video feedback and learner response'. Make sure your video is on YouTube and embedded in this blogpost. 

1) Type up your feedback/comments from your teacher.

2) Type up your feedback from fellow students.

3) Now reflect on your video. Did you meet the brief and successfully include the three key editing aspects we have learned?

4) What were the strengths and weaknesses of your final film? Write a detailed analysis picking out specific shots, edits and any other aspect of film language you think is relevant.

5) Learner response: what aspect of editing did you find most difficult? What have you learned from this process that will help you when you start the actual coursework later this year?

Complete this for homework if you don't get it done in the lesson - due date specified by your coursework teacher. Don't forget the additional film analysis task for Editing too!

MIGRAIN index and January assessment revision

As we reach the end of the Autumn term, you need to update your MIGRAIN index and start revising for your January assessment.

The index, as you know, is a critical way of making sure you are keeping on top of the workload and not missing any crucial topics or concepts. Your December index should have the following work in it:

1) Introduction to Media: 10 questions
2) Media consumption audit
3) Language: Reading an image - advert analyses
4) Reception theory
5) Semiotics: icons, indexes and symbols
6) Genre: Factsheets and genre study questions
7) Narrative: Factsheet questions
8) Audience: classification - psychographics presentation notes
9) October assessment learner response
10) Audience theory 1 - Hypodermic needle/Two-step flow/U&G
11) Audience theory 2 - Bandura and Cohen - moral panic
12) Audience theory: Media Effects factsheet
13) Industries: Ownership and Control
14) Industries: Hesmondhalgh - The Cultural Industries
15) Industries: Public Service Broadcasting
16) Industries: Regulation

17) Industries: Brand Values and Lines of Appeal

Remember, your index needs to link to YOUR blogpost for each piece of work. If you've missed anything, catch up with it this weekend and make sure the index is complete for Monday.

January assessment details

This assessment will be in the first week back and will be similar in format to your October assessment. Revise everything from your two indexes - MIGRAIN Introduction to Media and Film & TV Language. In addition, look over your learner response for the assessment in October. That feedback will be important in identifying how you will improve in the upcoming assessment.

Christmas homework: revise for January assessment

Your Christmas homework is simple: revise everything you've learned so far in Media this year for your January assessment.

In addition, there are plenty of resources out there to further help you prepare for your January assessment. For example, we strongly recommend you get hold of the two A Level Media textbooks endorsed by AQA which cover all the key concepts and many of the Close-Study Products. 

You will obviously be looking over your MIGRAIN index as outlined above. However, there is plenty more out there. Anything you read in our Media Magazine archive will help to give you a wider perspective on media debates and every issue has several articles which focus on interesting examples, theories and debates that will help you in a Media exam. You'll find our Media Magazine archive here. 

Remember: these resources are all for you - the more you use them, the better you will do!

Film & TV Language: end of unit index

We have completed our first major A Level Media unit: Film & TV Language. We now need to update our index to ensure we haven't missed any vital notes or skills.  

Keeping an index of all your work is extremely good practice from a revision perspective. Not only does this keep the concepts and media terminology fresh in your mind but it will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips. 

Film & TV Language index

Your final Film & TV Language index should include the following:

1) Film poster analysis
2) Mise-en-scene blog tasks
3) Star persona: video feedback and learner response
4) Lighting blog tasks
5) Sound blog tasks

6) Sound: parallel and contrapuntal video feedback and learner response

7) Cinematography blog tasks
8) Cinematography video task and learner response
9) Cinematography additional clip analysis
10) Editing video task and learner response
11) Editing blog task - 750 word analysis

For your index, it needs to link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each key concept quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can now catch up with the work/notes and won't underperform in future assessments/exams due to gaps in your knowledge.

Important: your index needs to be completed during the lesson. Any missing work MUST be caught up over the holidays.

Film & TV Language: Editing blog tasks

Editing is the last aspect of our Film & TV Language unit - but absolutely crucial to the way meanings are created and communicated to the audience. 

Editing can completely change the audience’s understanding of narrative and character. Charlie Brooker deconstructed the editing in the reality TV genre:

Editing notes

Key terminology for editing:

• Transitions
• Continuity editing
• Montage
• Pace
• Juxtaposition

Continuity editing

Most editing of narrative film is continuity editing.  This is when shots are placed logically so that one event follows on from the next.  We, as the audience, automatically try to make sense of one shot joining the next one.  For example, if we see an exterior shot of a school and the following shot is a classroom, we assume that the classroom is inside the school building we saw in the previous shot.  

Transitions

• A straight cut is the most common method and the audience are so accustomed to seeing these that we rarely notice them when they occur.
• A fade out – the screen fades to black.
• A dissolve - one image blurs into the next.
• A wipe – one part of the screen wipes across the other.
• A jump cut – an unexpected edit where the audience’s attention is forced to focus on something very suddenly.  

Pace

The speed at which the film cuts from one shot to the next makes a huge difference to the experience for the audience.

Generally, slow-paced cuts build tension while fast cuts suggest action and excitement.

Juxtaposition
The word juxtaposition literally means ‘the act of placing together side by side’.

In film, two shots may be placed together to create meaning for the audience. E.g. A shot of the hero may be followed by a shot of his love interest to link these in the audience’s mind. This may also take the form of an eyeline match where a character looks in a certain direction and the next shot cuts to whatever they are looking at.

Montage

A montage sequence involves shots being placed next to each other that do not necessarily convey a linear narrative.  Instead, the shots tend to convey a message, provide an overall impression or shorten a story that takes place over a much longer period time.  For example, a sequence that included consecutive shots of a school building, classrooms, students playing football and teachers in the staffroom may be aiming to give an overall impression of school life.    

Editing: blog task

There are some truly fantastic clips for the Editing part of the Film & TV Language unit. 

Your blog task is to find a film or television clip on YouTube that you feel has been edited in a distinctive way and write a 750 word analysis of the clip.

Use as much media language as you can - and remember to highlight it. Try and use the key words we've learned for editing and any other aspects of film language you can apply.

If you're not sure what clip to pick, you will find plenty of lists online if you search for 'great film editing sequences' or similar. One example that comes up when you do this is something like the shootout scene from Michael Mann's Heat (3mins - 6mins particularly, but it's all brilliant):

Complete this for homework - due date next Wednesday.

MIGRAIN: Industries - Brand values

One aspect of the Industries key concept you need to understand and appreciate is branding.

According to Gillian Dyer (Advertising as Communication, 1988) advertisers use, among other techniques, lines of appeal to create brand identities and attract their target audience.

Media companies use these images, references or suggestions to tap into our desires and make us ‘feel part’ of the brand. Dyer suggested lines of appeal could be classified into 13 groups:

• Happy families - everyone wants to belong 
• Rich, luxurious lifestyles - aspirational 
• Dreams and fantasy 
• Successful romance and love 
• Elite people or experts 
• Glamorous places 
• Successful careers 
• Art, culture & history
• Nature & the natural world 
• Beautiful women - men AND women like looking at beautiful women, so the thinking goes: men admire them, women admire what makes the men admire them. 
• Self-importance & pride 
• Comedy & humour 
• Childhood - can appeal to either nostalgia or to nurturing instincts 

Brand values task 100-10-1

Choose THREE brands. For EACH brand:

1) Sum up the brand values in 100 words, making reference to Dyer’s lines of appeal.

2) Distil the brand values into one sentence of no more than 10 words. 

3) Sum up the brand in ONE word.

Example: Starbucks

1) The Starbucks brand is clever because it comes across as a friendly, local-style company when it is in fact a massive global business. Its brand values would be about quality, lifestyle and a personal touch.  Starbucks could fit into several of Dyer’s lines of appeal: Happy families - everyone wants to belong, hence Starbucks asking your name when you order. It could also fit into Successful careers – Starbucks is for hard-working, successful people who want to enjoy life. Finally, Self-importance and pride links to Starbucks taking coffee seriously and its employees and customers having genuine passion for the brand. (100 words)

2) The Starbucks brand is about quality with a personal touch. (10 words)

3) Starbucks in one word: Passion.

Complete for homework. Deadline: Friday.

Extension task:

Research Innocent drinks

What brand values would you associate with Innocent? Why might their takeover by Coca Cola threaten those brand values?

Does your opinion of the brand change once you know they are owned by Coca Cola? Why?

MIGRAIN: Industries - Regulation

Like most industries, the media is regulated - overseen by government to make sure the market is fair and the content appropriate for the audience.

As A Level Media students, we need to understand how the media is regulated and form opinions on whether we think that regulation is effective and appropriate. Complete the blog task below to demonstrate you understand the basics of media regulation.

Media regulation: blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 128: Contemporary Media Regulation. Our Media Factsheet archive can be found at M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) What is regulation and why do media industries need to be regulated?

2) What is OFCOM responsible for?

3) Look at the section on the OFCOM broadcasting code. Which do you think are the three most important sections of the broadcasting code and why?

4) Do you agree with OFCOM that Channel 4 was wrong to broadcast 'Wolverine' at 6.55pm on a Sunday evening? Why?

5) List five of the sections in the old Press Complaints Commission's Code of Practice. 

6) Why was the Press Complaints Commission criticised?

7) What was the Leveson enquiry and why was it set up?

8) What was the PCC replaced with in 2014?

9) What is your opinion on press regulation? Is a free press an important part of living in a democracy or should newspapers face statutory regulation like TV and radio?

10) Why is the internet so difficult to regulate?

Complete this for homework - due next Friday.

MIGRAIN: Industries - Public service broadcasting

The British television industry is largely driven by public service broadcasting - the traditional TV channels that still account for the majority of TV viewing in this country.

These channels are regulated by Ofcom and have to deliver a certain amount of specific content in order to fulfil the terms of their license.


Public service broadcasting: notes

Public service broadcasting refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve commercial interests.

The media regulator Ofcom requires certain TV and radio broadcasters to fulfil certain requirements as part of their license to broadcast.

All of the BBC's television and radio stations have a public service remit.

The history of the BBC

The BBC was created in 1922 in response to new technology – the radio (or wireless as it was called then).

The BBC was set up to “inform, educate and entertain” – which is still its mission statement to this day. 

The BBC funding model: license fee

All BBC content (and some of Channel 4’s funding) comes from the License Fee, which costs £150.50 a year. 

You need a TV Licence to:

- watch or record live TV programmes on any channel

- download or watch any BBC programmes on iPlayer – live, catch up or on demand.

Some politicians want to scrap the license fee and change the BBC’s funding model.

Channel 4

Channel 4 is an important part of UK public service broadcasting. Read full details of Channel 4's remit here - there is plenty of important information regarding the channel's commitment to public service broadcasting and its unique funding model.

"Channel 4 is a publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service broadcaster, with a statutory remit to deliver high-quality, innovative, alternative content that challenges the status quo.

Channel 4 reinvests all profits back into programmes, at zero cost to the taxpayer. A ‘Robin Hood’ model of cross-funding means programmes that make money pay for others that are part of the PSB remit but that are loss-making e.g. News and Current Affairs." 

Opposition to public service broadcasting

Many people in Britain see public service broadcasting as a good thing – but not rival commercial broadcasters.  

James Murdoch, son of Rupert, has criticised BBC news. He says that free news on the BBC made it “incredibly difficult” for private news organisations to ask people to pay for their news.

Some politicians have argued that the BBC should not produce programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing so commercial broadcasters such as ITV or Sky can attract larger audiences in primetime.

Public service broadcasting: blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Public service broadcasting' and complete the following tasks:

Ofcom report

Read the first few pages of this Ofcom report into Public Service Broadcasting in 2017.

1) How does the report suggest that TV viewing is changing?

2) What differences are highlighted between younger and older viewers?

3) Does the report suggest audiences are satisfied with public service broadcasting TV channels?

4) Public service broadcasting channels are a major aspect of the UK cultural industries. How much money did PSB channels spend on UK-originated content in 2016? 



Goldsmiths report

Read this report from Goldsmiths University - A future for public service television: content and platforms in a digital world.

1) What does the report state has changed in the UK television market in the last 20 years?

2) Look at page 4. What are the principles that the report suggests need to be embedded in regulation of public service broadcasting in future?

3) What does the report say about the BBC?

4) According to the report, how should the BBC be funded in future?

5) What does the report say about Channel 4?

6) How should Channel 4 operate in future?

7) Look at page 10 - new kids on the block. What does the report say about new digital content providers and their link to public service broadcasting?



Final questions - your opinion on public service broadcasting

1) Should the BBC retain its position as the UK’s public service broadcaster?

2) Is there a role for the BBC in the 21st century digital world?

3) Should the BBC funding model (license fee) change? How?

Complete for homework - due next Monday 10 December.

Film & TV Language: Editing video

Your final Film & TV Language practical task is an editing video that introduces the basics of narrative filmmaking.


This is a another great opportunity to develop our filming and editing skills prior to starting our coursework later in the year.

Editing video: Continuity task

Your Editing video involves filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. 

This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. 



Key skills

The following clips and links should help you with the key skills you need to demonstrate in your preliminary exercise.

Match on action


Match on action (or cutting on action) is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot showing the same action of the subject in the first shot.


This creates the impression of continuity - the action creates a 'visual bridge' which is easy for the audience to follow.

Look at this YouTube clip for match on action - the cuts you want to look at in particular are at 2 seconds, then again at 18 seconds:

Note: if video does not embed, click on this link to open in YouTube.

Shot/reverse shot

Shot/reverse shot uses over-the-shoulder shots to show a conversation between two characters. Look at this example from the Hunger Games movie - specifically between 0.50 and 1.30.

Note: if video does not embed, click on this link to open in YouTube.

With shot/reverse shot, you need to observe the 180 degree rule. 

180 degree rule

The 180-degree rule of shooting and editing keeps the camera on one side of the action. This keeps characters grounded compositionally on a particular side of the screen or frame, and keeps them looking at one another when only one character is seen onscreen at a time. 


It is referred to as a rule because the camera, when shooting two actors, must not cross over the axis of action; if it does, it risks giving the impression that the actors' positions in the scene have been reversed. [source: Columbia Film Language Glossary]

In other words, draw an imaginary line between the two characters facing each other and then make sure the camera never crosses that line during the filming of that scene. This video is a brilliant explanation of the rule:

Note: if video does not embed, click on this link to open in YouTube.


Task list: planning


1) Decide who you will work with. Remember, the filming can be in pairs/groups but you MUST edit individually. 

2) Discuss what your preliminary exercise will involve – location, sequence of events, who will act etc.

3) Write a short script for the preliminary exercise. Remember, scripts outline movement and shots as well as dialogue. The BBC Writer's Room is a brilliant resource for tips and examples of TV scriptwriting. Here's a genuine TV script example from Luther to check you are formatting your script correctly.

4) Write a shot list of every possible shot (and a few extra) you will need for this preliminary exercise. An example shot list is here.

5) Draw a complete storyboard for the sequence you plan to shoot - every shot should be in there. Storyboard sheets are available on the top of the filing cabinet in the corner of DF07.

6) Upload your completed planning to your blog then book out a camera and start shooting and editing your film.

Deadline: Wednesday 12 December

Film & TV Language: Cinematography clip analysis

We have watched some excellent, creative videos showcasing your work on camera shots, angles and movement.

However, due to recent trips we have not managed to analyse all of the clips for cinematography. Complete the tasks below to finish this aspect of the course:

Cinematography: final blog tasks

Create a new blogpost on your Media 2 coursework blog called 'Cinematography final blog tasks'. Then, while logged in to a school computer, go to the Media Shared drive > A Level > Resources > Film and TV Language and watch the clips in the Cinematography folder.

1) Using your printed booklet (an electronic copy is available in the folder above) watch any of the clips you haven't seen in class for Cinematography. Complete the tasks in the booklet in full paragraphs for each clip.

Due: Wednesday 5 December

MIGRAIN: The Cultural Industries

One of the most important aspects of the Industries key concept is how the cultural industries are structured and the influence they have in society.

Academic and media theorist David Hesmondhalgh has written extensively about the Cultural Industries and A Level Media students need to develop an understanding of his work.

Cultural Industries: notes

Hesmondhalgh discusses the way the cultural industries operate and explores their effect on audiences: “Of one thing there can be no doubt: the media do have influence.”

He points out that societies with profitable cultural industries (e.g. USA, UK) tend to be dominated by large companies, have minimal government regulation and significant inequality between rich and poor.

Do cultural industries reinforce these conditions?

The cultural industries: a risky business

Hesmondhalgh acknowledges that media companies are operating a risky business. There is no guarantee a creative product will be a success.

They offset this risk both creatively and through business structure. In terms of media products, they use stars, sequels and well-known genres.

In terms of business, they use vertical integration and diversification to spread their risk and maximise profit.

Commodification

Hesmondhalgh discusses commodification in the cultural industries (turning everything into something that can be bought or sold).

He suggests this creates problems on both the consumption and production side. For the production side, he points to certain areas of the cultural industries where people are not fairly rewarded.

Hesmondhalgh: diversity in the media

Hesmondhalgh has explored whether the cultural industries truly reflect the diversity of people and society.

Hesmondhalgh references Mosco (1996): “There is a difference between multiplicity – a large number of voices – and diversity – whether or not these voices are actually offering different things from each other.”

Despite their size, are the cultural industries dominated by a narrow range of values and ideologies?

Cultural Industries: blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 168: David Hesmondhalgh’s ‘The Cultural Industries’. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) What does the term 'Cultural Industries' actually refer to?

2) What does Hesmondhalgh identify regarding the societies in which the cultural industries are highly profitable?

3) Why do some media products offer ideologies that challenge capitalism or inequalities in society?

4) Look at page 2 of the factsheet. What are the problems that Hesmondhalgh identifies with regards to the cultural industries?

5) Why are so many cultural industries a 'risky business' for the companies involved?

6) What is your opinion on the creativity v commerce debate? Should the media be all about profit or are media products a form of artistic expression that play an important role in society?

7) How do cultural industry companies minimise their risks and maximise their profits? (Clue: your work on Industries - Ownership and control will help here) 

8) Do you agree that the way the cultural industries operate reflects the inequalities and injustices of wider society? Should the content creators, the creative minds behind media products, be better rewarded for their work?

9) Listen and read the transcript to the opening 9 minutes of the Freakonomics podcast - No Hollywood Ending for the Visual-Effects Industry. Why has the visual effects industry suffered despite the huge budgets for most Hollywood movies?

10) What is commodification? 

11) Do you agree with the argument that while there are a huge number of media texts created, they fail to reflect the diversity of people or opinion in wider society?

12) How does Hesmondhalgh suggest the cultural industries have changed? Identify the three most significant developments and explain why you think they are the most important.

Complete for homework - due Friday.

Film & TV Language: Cinematography feedback and learner response

Your one-minute cinematography videos are a great way to make sure we have learned our camera shots, angles and movement.

Once we've screened the videos in class, you need to complete the following tasks on your blog:

Cinematography video feedback/learner response

Create a new blogpost called 'Cinematography video feedback and learner response'. 

1) Make sure your video is on YouTube and embedded on your blog. 

2) Type up your feedback/comments from your teacher.

3) Type up your feedback from fellow students.

4) Now reflect on your work and write your own comments. Add three WWWs and three EBIs underneath the rest of your feedback.

5) Learner response: think about what you learned making the video and also watching others. What will you do differently when you start the coursework in the summer? What tips or tricks have you learned from others that you can use next time? Are there any specific aspects of camerawork that you need to revise or practice?

Complete this for homework if you don't get it done in the lesson - due date specified by your coursework teacher. Don't forget the additional blog tasks for Cinematography too!

MIGRAIN: Audience theory - Effects debate factsheet

The media effects debate is a crucial aspect of A Level Media Studies.

Do media texts have a negative effect or influence on their audience? Should we be worried by violent videogames or movies? Do we need to give audiences more credit for their ability to distinguish between fiction and reality? Now we've learned a range of key audience theories to help us explore these questions we need to revise the main aspects and develop our own opinions on these issues.

The effects debate - blog tasks

Firstly, make sure you have completed all the blog tasks from your MIGRAIN: Audience theory 1 lesson as well as the tasks on Audience theory 2 - Cultivation theory, social learning theory, moral panic and the influence of the internet. These posts also contain the key notes if you missed either lesson for any reason.

Then, complete the following tasks using the Media Factsheet available on the Media Shared drive. 

You'll find them in our Media Factsheet archive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets. Remember, you can't access these at home so make sure you save the factsheet to a USB or email it to yourself if you need to complete any work at home.

Read Media Factsheet 030 - Media and Audiences -The Effects Debate and answer the following questions:

1) Complete the questions in the first activity box (beginning with 'Do you play violent games? Are you violent in real life?')

2) What are the four categories for different effects theories?

3) What are the examples provided for the hypodermic needle theory - where media texts have been blamed for certain events? 

4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.

5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?

6) What does Gerbner's Cultivation theory suggest?

7) How does this front page of the Daily Mail (from this week - Wednesday 16 November) link to Cultivation theory? The Mail Online version of the story is here.




8) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?

9) What criticisms of direct effect theories are suggested in the factsheet?

10) Why might the 1970s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour be considered so controversial today? What does this tell us about Reception theory and how audiences create meanings?

11) What examples are provided for Hall's theory of preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings?

12) Which audience theory do you think is most convincing? Why? It is important that you develop critical autonomy in judging the arguments for and against different theories and form your own opinion on these issues.

Finish for homework if you don't complete it in the lesson: due next Friday.

Lecture opportunity and textbooks

If you are applying to university (or thinking of doing so next year) then there are plenty of extra-curricular activities that will elevate your application above other students.

One of these is attending free lectures at London universities on topics related to your subjects or potential degree. The other is reading academic books related to your subjects to demonstrate that you read around the subject.

Gresham College lecture: Has the Internet Changed News for Better or Worse?

Gresham College is running a FREE lecture aimed at media and journalism students on how the internet has changed news. Year 13 students have just studied this topic (and continue to study online, social and participatory media) and Year 12 students will be covering this later in the course.



The lecture is free to attend - you simply need to turn up to the venue, Barnard's Inn Hall, 30 minutes before the start. You can find directions here. Remember you'll be in a professional, academic environment and need to act accordingly. It appears that it will also be broadcast live over YouTube from the link above so that's another way to engage with the lecture.

Reading around the subject

Reading books by some of our media theorists is a great way to expanding your knowledge across A Level Media. The books on the bookshelf in DF07 will give you an introduction to the type of books you could read - something like Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody is accessible and relevant - but you'll need to get your own copy as we unfortunately can't lend out the media copies of the books. The library has some of these books available to borrow and the librarians can point you in the direction of the Media and Film section.

A Level Media Textbooks

As previously advertised, there are now two textbooks available for the new specification AQA A Level Media Studies course. We would strongly recommend you buy both textbooks as collectively they cover the whole course in terms of subject content and also feature many of the CSPs that will come up in the exams. We now have copies of these books in school so you can see what they're like.

The details:

AQA MEDIA STUDIES FOR A LEVEL YR 1 & AS: STUDENT BOOK

• NEW SPEC: AQA Media Studies for A Level Yr 1 & AS: Student Book 
• AUTHOR(S): Stephanie Hendry, Elspeth Stevenson 
• AWARDING BODY: AQA 
• LEVEL: A Level Year 1 & AS 
• ISBN: 978-1-911208-03-7 
• SUBJECT: Media Studies 
• PAGES: 272pp 

AQA MEDIA STUDIES FOR A LEVEL YEAR 2: STUDENT BOOK

• AQA Media Studies for A Level Year 2: Student Book 
• AUTHOR(S): Stephanie Hendry, Elspeth Stevenson 
• AWARDING BODY: AQA 
• LEVEL: A Level Year 2 
• ISBN: 978-1-911208-09-9 
• SUBJECT: Media Studies 

BFI filmmaking residentials


Applications are now open for the BFI's residentials - an opportunity for young filmmakers to work with industry talent and develop skills and contacts for a future career in film or television. You can find the full details here.