Media Studies
Head of Department: Mr J Hurley
Media is an optional subject at GCSE. Students will be expected to develop a critical understanding of a range of media texts (film, TV, games, websites, advertisements, magazines, graphic novels, news material) and the ways in which they are understood by different audiences.
The course will develop a critical awareness of media representations of individual groups and issues and discuss/ debate the role of the media in today's society. The course will enable students to use a wide range of technical terminology and create their own media texts (for example: DVD covers, storyboards, print adverts, scripts, film treatments and cinematic images) using software such as Photoshop.
The non-exam assessment means students will use cameras and software to create products such as advertisements, film sequences, TV show openings, radio shows, game designs and film promotion material. The course is made up of three elements:
Paper 1 & 2: Media Contexts, Audiences & Representations: The two written papers are 1 hour 30 mins each. Each exam is worth 35% of the course. These are externally assessed.
Non exam assessment: Creating a Media Product: Students will choose to make Media products from a choice of topics set by Eduqas. The NEA is worth 30% of the course and is assessed by Mr Hurley and the Eduqas moderator.
Course Plan
Year 9
Practical production skills: using cameras, Photoshop & Adobe/Sony film-making packages.
Exploration of a variety of media texts using the concepts of Representation, Audience, Institutions, & Genre. Media production project in summer term.
Year 10
Exploration of a wide variety of media texts created for a variety of audiences. The focus will be on the key concepts of Audiences, Institutions, Representations, Genres, Ideologies, Narratives. Research & Planning for the NEA productions.
Year 11
Completion and assessment of NEA productions.
Consolidation of the key concepts of the GCSE course. Exam preparation with focus on use of Media language & Media theories through a wide variety of contemporary media texts.
There are currently seven GCSE Media groups at Diss High School. We have very high expectations of the students and consequently our results have been consistently outstanding over the past ten years. In 2018, the Media Studies Department gained excellent GCSE results: 92% of students gained grades A* - C. The national average for the subject is 64%, meaning the Diss High School results are almost 30% higher than the national average for the subject.
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