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Here are two typical activities we might cover in a lesson.

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The Media Insider is a really good educational you tube channel.

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Media Studies - why EVERYONE should study it!

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Task 1. I would like you to watch and take notes on the attached video on shot types. Over the summer I would like you to create a video diary using as many of these shot types as possible. You should write a short commentary when you have finished it, documenting why you used the shots you did. It could be a 'second a day' type of activity but paying particular attention to the shot types.
Task 2. I would like you to follow the blog, link here and read it throughout the summer. I would like you to try and set up your own blog and start posting articles and links to topics you are interested in and that may be related to the specification.

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Ultimate Guide to Camera Shots: Every Shot Size Explained [The Shot List, Ep 1]

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Many students choose Media Studies because they are excited at the 30% weighting for practical work. Indeed this enthusiasm goes some way to explaining our great results. Have a look at some of the best work over the last couple of years. Music video 'Pink Lemonade'. 'The Scene' magazine. 'Sincerity' music video. 'Its Just Banter' radio show. 'Icon' magazine. 'I'm not sorry' music video

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This powerpoint outlines our fantastic results, some of the exciting destinations of our recent students and the opportunities presented by our alumni.

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Don't just take it from me. Listen to the testimonials from current Year 13s

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Welcome to Media Studies A level.

We are the only grammar school in the area to offer this exciting, contemporary and multi-faceted subject.

We are amongst the highest achieving centres for Media Studies in the country and achieve fantastic results. In 2019 58% of our students gained A* or A grades, 25% were A*

Our department is well resourced with mac computers all of which run the latest version of Adobe Creative suite. Students are encouraged to access top of the range prosumer equipment and each key stage begins their studies with a photography workshop, often supported by ex students.  We are ably assisted by our media technician Mrs Arnold. She will help you choose the right equipment for your needs, she is a whizz at Adobe Creative suite and can support you if you get stuck using Photoshop or After Effects, she is the backbone of the department and can always remember who had the camera charger last!

Please look at the resources on this Padlet for more information on the course content, destinations of our leavers, testimonies from Year 13, sample lesson material, a summer challenge and extra reading/watching material.

Check out our transition blog here.

Current Year 12 blog here.

If you have any questions please get in touch via vcasson@shsg.org

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Have a look at this document to understand the different topics that we will cover.

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Do I need to have studied Media at GCSE?

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Do I need to have studied Media at GCSE?

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The answer is 'not necessarily' but you must have a keen interest in the media. Follow this link for more information on making that transition effectively.

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Welcome to the site for making the transition from GCSE to Alevel Media Studies.

There are lots of links on this so click on words with different colour font to follow and explore a little more. If you follow this blog you will get a notification of when I post more content. I will post reading and watching links on here every few days but don't want to bombard you with everything at once.

So what will be different?

Well to start with you will have 9 hours of contact time a fortnight rather than the 5 you are used to at GCSE. So this means lots more time to really go in depth into the topics- there are actually less texts than at GCSE! This means there are loads of opportunities for reading around the subject and to develop your practical skills. You can get more involved in the BBC School News report. Media Captains are busy- you have to earn the badge! They run the junior film club but they also take a key role in documenting school productions and activities and are often called on to photograph and film in and around school. This year they set up a marketing team to promote the school production of Legally Blond. They also assist at Open House and can help with coursework and revision and of course they are in charge of decorating the media theorist Christmas tree!

We study the OCR course link here

There are three aspects to the qualification.
Two exams with the themes of Media Messages and Evolving Media and one non examined assessment (NEA/coursework), this is worth 30%.
The research for NEA is started at the end of Year 12 and completed by the Christmas of Year 13.

The biggest topics are the UK newspaper industry (in print and online)for Media Messages and Television Drama for Evolving Media. We focus on Stranger Things and Deutschland 83 in our study for this.

These topics will definitely come up and we can prepare very thoroughly for these. They will have some questions that expect you to apply a named theory.

There are several other topics that we study in similar ways but are worth far less in terms of marks and may or may not come up.

Media Messages
Print advertising
The Big Issue magazine

Music Videos (we look at Radiohead's Burn the Witch and Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy).

The clue for the focus on these texts is in the unit title- 'media messages', we look at how the messages of these products is created and consumed- so for instance, the techniques of the advertising industry, how The Big Issue reflects society and how artists and bands are represented in their promotional material.

for Evolving Media
Again the clue is in the title, we look at how these industries have evolved over time and how digital technology has affected them. So for instance for the biggest unit, TV drama we look at how video on demand services with massive budgets like Netflix have influenced the TV industry and how binge watching multiple episodes is a way of audience consumption.

The smaller units explore the following;
The Jungle Book 1967 and 2016- here we look at how Disney have evolved in their film making, they have gone from a personality (Walt Disney) dominated company to a global conglomerate that constantly innovates and expands- (Disney +, Vault, live action remakes etc).
We study how radio has had to evolve in the digital age and in particular how younger audiences don't tend to engage with radio as much. To do this effectively we focus on the Radio 1 breakfast show- it was particularly interesting a couple of years ago in terms of evolution when Greg James replaced Nick Grimshaw as the the presenter half way through the course- but this is of course the exciting and interesting aspect of the media- the fact that it is always evolving and changing and why it is such a vibrant subject to study.

The final topic is video games and we focus on Minecraft. This again is a really good choice as they have completely changed the old 'top down' way of how video games used to be produced as it evolved in the bedroom of a software developer- thus reflecting the evolution of the industry.

You might want to purchase these books to help you get started.
The OCR endorsed revision book that we refer to almost constantly

and the Media Theory book by Mark Dixon. There are 18 set theorists that you must know and this book explains the theories in quite an accessible way (although don't be intimidated by it as it does go into more detail than you actually need but that won't do you any harm!).

To be notified by email when I have added new content simply click on the three horizontal lines top right then add your email address. See images below.

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Moving from GCSE to A level Media Studies

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Welcome to the site for making the transition from GCSE to Alevel Media Studies. There are lots of links on this so click on words with different colour font to follow and explore a little more. If you follow this blog you will get a notification of when I post more content.

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Charlene was a fantastic Media Captain and did a great job leading the BBC Young Reporters club. Charlene is going to Bath to study management and marketing.

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Shanai explains how studying media gave her a creative outlet and led to exciting opportunities in radio.

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Millie didn't take Media at GCSE but it didn't take her long to catch up with her classmates.

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Joanna is going on to study broadcasting and media production at university.

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An exciting apprenticeship in social and digital marketing awaits Rosie who will be based in the Shard building in London.

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Maisie has been shortlisted by the BFI for her 'Pink Lemonade' music video. She explains how studying Media A level changed her career ambitions.

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Follow this link on the SHSG Media Department blog for up to date links on extra reading material

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Because of the nature of Media studies it is good to keep up with changes in the media industry.
The Media Magazine that we have a subscription to is excellent, it is wide ranging and contemporary but also exam focused. It is a good idea to find some examples of articles in here that you could potentially discuss in a university interview of in your UCAS statement.

It always covers topical issues and has clear, accessible explanations of theory. You can see the latest issue here and also access old copies.

You can access it here

Check your school email for login and password

Another brilliant resource is The Media Show on BBC Sounds. This is a radio broadcast that covers loads of really relevant topics. For instance this week there is an interview with the editor of The Guardian, Katherine Viner.

Just listening to this weeks episode gave us a brilliant quote from the editor;

I think the politics the Guardian are really interesting because and often very disappointing for lots of people on the left because we are not a Labour paper in fact if we have ever been attached to any political parties to the Liberal Party as was what we are as laid out by CP Scott an nearly 100 years ago.
We are a news organisation that has a kind of broad range of perspectives from the kind of soft right to the left and it's incredibly important according to our mandate.

We have a range of perspectives that people disagree with each other so we had pro corbyn and anti corbyn columnists, we will have pro Starmer economists and anti.

All of them speaking with their own voice and that pluralism is the key to the Guardian we don't line up behind parties or individuals we line up behind ideas and policies

The Media section of The Guardian is also excellent for keeping up with developments.

In addition, if you prefer good old print have a look at these texts to deepen your understanding.

If you haven't already this one, Mark Dixons Essential theory

is really good

You can also get student guides that complement the revision book here

Obviously all of these sources will help you reinforce your understanding of media for the exam, for UCAS, for further study and also for general interest and to make you a more interesting human being!

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Because of the nature of Media studies it is good to keep up with changes in the media industry. The Media Magazine that we have a subscription to is excellent, it is wide ranging and contemporary but also exam focused.

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There are loads of opportunities to get more involved in the media department, to improve your practical skills and add to your CV. We always have four media captains as their skills are in high demand to photograph and film school events. Captains run the famous junior film club on a Friday lunchtime which is where many students interest in Media is first sparked.  They also lead the highly prestigious BBC Young Reporters club. This has taken many different forms over the years and enables students to pursue their own interests in journalism on both sides of the camera. Media Captains run their own instagram to publicise events and to share the annual event of decorating our Media theorists Christmas tree! This year Media students formed a Publicity and Marketing team to promote the school production of Legally Blond, a great way to perfect their practical skills and a unique opportunity to work independently (and a great thing to put on a UCAS statement!). We always take a trip to the BFI on the Southbank in London for their fascinating media and film study days.

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In addition to the set texts of Stranger Things, Deutschland 83, The Jungle Book and music videos you can find a whole host of classic recommended films by following this link.

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Dear students,

Here is a link to a free subscription to the BFI film site.
Here you can expand your 'cultural competency' and try out classic and foreign films. We have spoken in the past about the lack of diverse films available in mainstream cinema, now you have the opportunity to expand your awareness.
Remember to keep to age ratings!

https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription?utm_source=facebookbfi&utm_medium=promotedpost&utm_campaign=player_svod_20200313_conversion_dynamic&utm_content=dynamic_mar&fbclid=IwAR3eR_kqZK1K7IGh04J9LFZFyyMBez3XAWvtXut6aZ97RpqKBqg9CT8Jxmg

This is a link to Curzon home cinema- these films need to be paid for but they have more recent films such as Parasite- which recently swept the board at the Oscars.

https://www.curzonhomecinema.com/

You might like to look at this list of classic films to give you some inspiration.https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/20/drama-arthouse-25
Or look at the classic films available on Netflix

If you are a real film fan then try and get hold of the classic text 'Film Art' by Bordwell and Thompson- this is the classic film studies bible. You could plough your way through their suggestions and read their commentary at the same time.

You could even start a blog and post your observations on the films that you watch? If you do please send me a link- I would love to see what you have been watching.

Some of my personal favourite films are:

Withnail and I
A Room With a View (good for Eng Lit students)
Of Time and the City
Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight- a lovely trilogy of films spanning 20 years in real time
The Matrix (great for Baudrillard)
The Godfather
Apocalypse Now (loosely based on Heart of Darkness)
A bout de souffle (French version of Breathless- really stylish)
Distant Voices Still Lives
Lost In Translation (great soundtrack)
Secrets and Lies (Ken Loach)
Vicky, Christina, Barcelona (any Woody Allen film in fact, Annie Hall, Manhattan, lots to choose from)

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Dear students, Here is a link to a free subscription to the BFI film site. Here you can expand your 'cultural competency' and try out classic and foreign films. We have spoken in the past about the lack of diverse films available in mainstream cinema, now you have the opportunity to expand your awareness.