Media

In Year 10, students will learn a range of knowledge and skills, which form the core basis for the rest of the course. 

Students learn how key elements of the theoretical framework work together to create meaning within the set media texts. They study a range of camera work, sounds types, editing techniques and mise-en-scene, together with other key concepts such as genre, narrative and specialist vocabulary and media theories as they analyse scenes from a contemporary and historical TV dramas.

Students learn the workings of the film industry as they study The Lego Movie (set text). They re-use all the key terminology learnt in the TV section to analyse sections of The Lego Movie video game and analysing the Lego Movie set posters and UK TV trailer. Students also learn new terminology linked to print product analysis (film poster) and gaming.

Students get to apply media theories to The Lego Movie set advertising texts and learn new industry specific terminology (such as convergence and synergy, box office, tent pole movie, etc).

Students learn to use Canva and iMovie as part of developing their design and video editing skills in preparation for their NEA productions. 

Students get taught research skills and preproduction techniques as they recall and re-use all the media key vocabulary learnt whilst studying the set texts for component 01.

Students continue to use the media specific vocabulary throughout the production of their chosen NEA as a way to continue embedding the theoretical framework and at the same time becoming analytical of own work.

In Year 11, students continue their learning journey as they study other media texts set by OCR.   

Students learn the contents of the set texts (Mojo magazine, music videos and Radio 1 Live Lounge).

Students revisit the elements of the theoretical framework needed for moving image analysis applicable to music videos, paying particular focus to representation construction and genre conventions.

Students continue to utilise the key terminology and analytical approaches learnt in component 01 when analysing the posters of the Lego movie to help with their study of Mojo magazine, once again developing their application of how representation is constructed in Mojo magazine and how it appears to target audiences.

Students also learn new terminology when studying the Live Lounge together with recalling existing knowledge of key industry terms and applying it to the BBC as an institution.

Students learn new terminology associated with the press industry together with recalling print terminology used in component 01 and component 02 so far.

Students revisit the concept of representation and target audience as they analyse front covers of The Guardian and The Observer online, together with learning new vocabulary for analysing websites such as paywall and above/below the fold.

Students also get to apply industry terminology to The Guardian Media Group such as synergy, convergence and funding. 

In Year 12, students will progress into A Level as they study another set of texts set by OCR.  These must be studied in greater depth using current, new knowledge, using inference and opinions based on educated facts. 

Students learn all the media language necessary to enable them to undertake an in-depth study of The Daily Mail and The Guardian, together with their online counterparts. They use this media language and other areas of the theoretical framework to explore how these are evolving and their relationship between online and offline news. Students also explore and identify how representations are constructed based on political sidings and audience needs/demands.

Students also investigate how institutional elements and conditions are affected by social, cultural and economic contexts and how media theories are applied to influence the construction of news.

Students explore how media language and social and cultural contexts are used to construct representations within magazines, advertising and music videos. As well as recalling how to analyse print media texts using media language they also learn how to identify how institutions manipulate these to construct relevant and appealing messages and representations to a range of audience.

Students learn to use adobe Photoshop and Premier as part of their practical skills development, preparing them to undertake their chosen NEA brief.

Students get taught research skills and preproduction techniques as they recall and re-use all the media key vocabulary learnt whilst studying the set texts for component 01 and component 02. 

Students continue to use the media specific vocabulary throughout the production of their chosen NEA as a way to continue embedding the theoretical framework and at the same time becoming analytical of own work and the work of others. 

In Year 13, students continue their media education as they explore the world of media industries and TV episodic dramas. 

Students will explore the relationship between industries and audiences whilst studying the Radio industry, video games industry and the film industry. Students will have to recall the key terms linked to institutions such as synergy, convergence, funding, and all relevant contexts. Students also learn and apply further relevant media theories.

As well as recalling the elements of the theoretical framework for analysing audio/visual texts from the last section, students will also engage in an in-depth study of television as an evolving and global media form. Students will be required to recall and use all of the elements of the course in order to produce their own educational resource as they analyse the content and institutions behind Netflix’s Stranger Things and Deutschland 83.