Collingham Media Studies courses are lively and stimulating, combining rigorous analysis with practical experience that will be extremely useful for anyone contemplating a career in the media.
Media Studies at A level
This is an enjoyable but demanding subject, which provides students with a conceptual understanding of media products, institutions and audiences and the practices which lead to media production. Students explore the important debates of contemporary media and gain critical understanding of the processes involved by creating their own media artefacts.
They must have a lively interest in news-papers, radio, music, advertising, television and film, as the demands of the course and level of professionalism required mean that students must accept the discipline of deadlines. However, no prior qualification in the subject is required.
The Course
Two modules are taken each year. One is a coursework unit, involving the production of two linked media texts from a specific medium.Examples of Media texts created at Collingham include magazines, adverts, trailers, short films and music videos. The other module is a written exam, involving the assessment of both analytical technique and theoretical knowledge. The specification content for the subject is arranged around four key conceptual areas:.
- Media forms and conventions: students will study the languages used by audio-visual,print and ICT-based media to produce meaning, and the categories and conventions used to organise and structure them.
- Media institutions: students will study the participants of Media Production, and their roles in the production process, the institutions they represent and the processes of media production.
- Media audiences: this involves researching the relationship between the media and audiences, comprising individuals and social groups involved in the consumption of media texts and their responses.
- Media representations: the relationship between people, places, events, ideas, values, beliefs and their representation in the media is examined, together with the issues and debates arising from the dynamic relationship.
Preferred Board: OCR