Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations: Media Studies
Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced GCE Specifications
This is a new Department, well resourced with IT facilities and appropriate technology. The course employs a range of software: Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere and Dreamweaver, complemented by textbooks on the history and theory of film and the media. Shortly we will be running a weekly Classic Film Club using the new theatre.
Other subjects which would go well with Media Studies are English Language, English Literature, Theatre Studies, Sociology, Art and Design and Design. With a qualification in Media Studies students could go on to Higher Education or work in the media or a related field. There are over 1118 courses in Media Studies on the UCAS web site!
This subject is made up of 6 units.
To be awarded a certificate for Advanced Subsidiary GCE, students will need to have studied for and attempted three AS units of assessment.
To be awarded a certificate for Advanced GCE, students will need to have studied for and attempted three AS units, together with three A2 units.
The units available at AS are:
Unit 2730 Coursework: Foundation Production
Each student will make one media production – the options are print, web design and film - accompanied by an individual Production Log. Students will need to plan, construct and evaluate the work with regard to the form and style of the production and its intended audience. This will be marked by staff and externally moderated by OCR. We do print at AS and this involves designing and making three pages of a new teenage magazine using 'Photoshop' and 'InDesign'.
Unit 2731: Textual Analysis
Here we look at the history of the moving image and then study the genre of Action/Adventure films in detail. In this unit students will answer one compulsory question dealing with textual analysis of the five technical aspects of the moving image medium. We also look at the origins and evolution of situation comedy from radio to TV then look at more contemporary American and British texts. The two hour exam consists of one compulsory question on a comparative study of two texts from the British/US Sit-com genre, e.g. 'I Love Lucy', 'Fawlty Towers', 'Vicar of Dibley', 'Friends, Roseanne', 'Ab-Fab' 'Men Behaving Badly' etc.
Unit 2732: Case Study: Audiences and Institutions
This exam for this unit assesses students' knowledge and understanding of New Media Technology. We look at recent social and cultural history e.g. starting with 'old' technology – black and white TV sets, cinema, newspapers, the radio and big black telephones. We study the death of analogue and the advent of digital, interactive technology into people's homes. Using the internet as a research tool, we study the technologies involved and related issues concerning audience consumption and reception. Students make a case study of 2 pieces of technology looking at both the products and the company behind them e.g. iPod/Apple, Walkman phones/Sony. There is a one hour exam to assess their knowledge.
The units students will study for A2 are:
Unit 2733: Advanced Production
In this unit, students will make one media production demonstrating advanced creative and practical skills. Again, the options are from print, web design and film but it must be made in a different media to the AS project. We tend to do print at AS and film at A2.
Students will need to plan, construct and evaluate the work with regard to the form and style of the production and its intended audience. This will be marked by staff and externally moderated by OCR. We make a film trailer or a pop video from start to finish.
Unit 2734: Critical Research Study
This is a student-led unit in which students will carry out independent and sustained research on a topic from a set list produced by OCR, such as Women and Film, Sport and the Media, etc. The research will involve detailed and comparative textual analysis, investigating academic and critical perspectives and carrying out primary and secondary research into media industries and audiences. This will be independent work, supervised by staff. This unit will be assessed by a two hour exam.
Unit 2735: Media Issues and Debates
In preparing for this unit students will study issues and debates arising from the media in society, broken down into three areas – broadcasting, film, and print.
We chose two of these. We will study 'Music Programmes on Television' (broadcasting) and Censorship and Film (film). This unit brings together students' understanding of textual analysis, institutions, representation and audiences. This unit will be assessed by a two hour exam focusing on issues and debates around media in society.