OUR EXAM BOARD IS EDUQAS:
http://www.eduqas.co.uk/qualifications/media-studies/as-a-level/
Start by reading and watching what follows... There is a lot to learn from it!
Looking forward to the year ahead! :)
NOTE: Create a blog (Blogger or Wordpress). Do not choose a 'dynamic' layout but a plain one. Once you've launched your induction blog, send me the URL straight away to allow me to link it from here.
Use labels straight away to tag your posts.
My email is h.o_shea@parkhighstanmore.org.uk
PART 1
1. START AN INDUCTION BLOG (preferably Blogger but you can choose to use Wordpress instead or even create a Wix website).
Call it 'Name - A Level Media Studies' Take the time to experiment or familiarise yourselves with the functions.
Email me your blog's URL as soon as you have created it. You can add more content later.
2. NOW START HERE:
Media Studies is a mixture of practice and theory, each informing your understanding of the other. Understanding the concept of MEDIA LANGUAGE is essential to allow you to deconstruct and analyse media texts.
a/ Watch the fantastic film made by a film student to teach you all you need to know. Flawless editing. Watch and learn, particularly the terminology.
b/ Watch further videos to start looking at the shots used and how they are edited together.
You can start here:
And watch Part 2 and 3.
And this:
Finally, this:
LEARNING FROM ROBERT RODRIGUEZ (director)
You can learn an awful lot about making a film on a tight budget from Robert Rodriguez, director of El Mariachi. You can also find more of his videos on YouTube as well as extracts from his films.
And here is the trailer for El Mariachi (1992).
3. Now watch these to consolidate your new knowledge.
Back to Basics: CAMERAWORK
Easy to follow guide to learn the basics of the trade! Click here.
These videos from OCR are also useful.
Ocrmediaas_basics of Video Editing
Ocrmediaas_making Your Video
Stretch your knowledge! Go through these wonderful presentations then make some notes on your blog about what new terms you have learnt. You may wish to illustrate with screenshots from films and videos.
Two epic resources by Andy Wallis, Media teacher:
OUTCOME 1: ON YOUR BLOG, WRITE A POST ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT FROM WATCHING ALL THIS. It may be screenshots from all your watching, with a few comments; it may be that you want to embed these videos or others you have found into your blog (you will need to copy the 'embed' HTML code).
PART 2:
1. Take an interesting photo of one or two characters and explain your mise-en-scene choices, including camera shot and angle (see the example below which is a student's work from a different centre). Upload your picture to your blog.
EXEMPLAR:*This is a high angle MS of a white teenage male.
* He is wearing a grey hoody-the hood nearly covering his eyes so it casts shadows across his face, signifying that he may have things to hide.
*He sits against a brick wall in the dark with a spotlight shining on him which creates an interrogation-style effect.
*As one eye is covered a sense of mystery is connoted, as well as darkness which could represent that the character is evil.
*The actor is giving direct address to the camera, which seems chilling and gives a sense of horror.
* The photo is in colour, but the actor is wearing dark clothing which makes him seem evil, as he is central in the photo and we are drawn to the darkness.
*We had to turn off the lights in the hallway so that there was darkness surrounding the actor and the only light came from the police, as if to signify that the character is bad and the police interrogating are good, which plays upon opposites which are a common feature in horror films.
*Furthermore, the actor looks like a 'deer in the headlights', which is great we achieved a feeling that he was not expecting to be caught.
*The shot was achieved using a teenage male sitting against a wall, with someone holding a pag light (without filters) in front of the male.
*I also put dark makeup underneath the teenager's eyes so that he looked more devious.
2. Keep practising different types of shots and angles and publish some of your photos on your blog.
3. You can experiment with video as well. Many apps can be used to edit, such as iMovie.
Part 3: Semiotics
Go through the Powerpoint below and complete the tasks on your blog. You can save / copy / paste the pictures / posters.
Push your learning further by watching the following presentation on semiotics (a bit more advanced):
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Part 4: Key concept: Representation
Representation is a key concept in Media Studies. in the next section of your work, you will engage with Gender representation in the media. A good way of getting an overview of the issues is to go through the following presentation:
Women in Advertising from Elina Pavlidis
Take your time over this and take the time to investigate new terminology.
You will find many more presentations on gender representation online. Read as widely as you can around the subject.
OUTCOME 2: Using the next few slides as a stimulus, write between 700-1000 words responding to the question, and referring to at least 3 different media texts (could be an advert, a film, a music video, a video game etc...). You can post your work on your blog or opt to email me your essay.
QUESTION TO ANSWER: TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE WITH BERGER THAT:
“A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another....
One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object -- and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.”
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
Take your time over this and take the time to investigate new terminology.
You will find many more presentations on gender representation online. Read as widely as you can around the subject.
OUTCOME 2: Using the next few slides as a stimulus, write between 700-1000 words responding to the question, and referring to at least 3 different media texts (could be an advert, a film, a music video, a video game etc...). You can post your work on your blog or opt to email me your essay.
QUESTION TO ANSWER: TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE WITH BERGER THAT:
“A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another....
One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object -- and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.”
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
WE LOOK FORWARD TO READING YOUR WORK. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, EMAIL.
