Sunday 4 May 2014

Coursework!

Reminder that final drafts of coursework for Year 12, Year 13 and resit were due in on Thursday or Friday. However, if you did not do this you MUST email work to me TODAY! I will still then at least be able to mark it before Tuesday.  Thank you to all those who submitted work on time, much appreciated! Have a nice bank holiday all and I will see you Tuesday. 

Monday 28 April 2014

MS1 Exam Revision Sessions

As mentioned during the half term session on MS1 (to those who were there!) I run additional revision sessions  weekly on the lead up to the exam. Although I thought I would run these from next week, I can actually start this week!

So this week, afterschool in T1 until 4pm I will run a revision session. Also reminding Year 13 Resit candidates that we have an additional revision lesson that is compulsory Tuesday's lesson 2- Year 12's are also welcome.

Reminder that you guys should be following our department on Twitter for useful tweets relating to your exams!
@MediaStAlbans

Friday 11 April 2014

Media Department Twitter Account

Hi all, I have set up a twitter account for the department to keep you guys up to date, let you know about any key information, blog updates etc and hopefully share some interesting media related stuff! 

Please follow us on @MediaStAlbans and feel free to check out some of the people we follow as they are media related too! 

Hoping to use this to help support revision so please get involved! 

Cheers, Mrs McCarthy

Sunday 16 February 2014

BAFTA's

Tune into BBC 1 NOW for the BAFTA Film Awards...I wonder who will get Best Actor, Actress and Film??? Who do you think will walk away with awards tonight? 

Saturday 25 January 2014

Movies at Welsh Castles!!!

Brilliant scheme being run next month where pop up cinemas will be at Castell Coch and Caerphilly castle! 

Follow the link for details!

Wednesday 8 January 2014

RESIT candidates!!!

Wishing you all the very best for your exam tomorrow, praying that the stuff we've focused on comes up and that you all apply the knowledge and don't forget to plan your answers! Also remember to have breakfast, drink water (bring some to your exam!) and get some sleep!



Good news is you've all studied so do your very best!!!

See you in the morning, 
Mrs M

Monday 6 January 2014

Year 13 Task

Tuesday's lesson you will be in my room. Those resitting the exam on Thursday will be doing a past paper and revision session. 

The rest of the class still MUST attend. Your task is below and should be completed for Thursday. You may use Wednesday's lesson to complete this also I will not be in first thing due to a Hospital appointment with my son. 

Task- You are to write 2 short essay's both with the same title but one will be focused on GTA 4 and the other on the Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle advertising campaign. 

Essay question: How stereotypical are the representations in your chosen texts? (Please write as two separate short essays) 

This is a sample exam question and should be relatively straight forward as the focus of last year's work was  representation. You will probably need to remind yourselves of the information on GTA 4, if you don't have your handouts then see the common for notes and PPT's


Friday 3 January 2014

MS1 RESIT- Example Texts

I know that you are finishing off your little revision booklets and I thought I would share some interesting print texts as most people seemed to be lacking print examples. I would like to see the booklets again but fully complete on Monday along with your mock answers (see post on MOCK EXAM).

The texts below have been selected for a variety of reasons from interesting representations, target audiences or audience responses and some for all of the above. 

I would like to highlight a few...

• GQ received HUGE amounts of backlash via Twitter from the 1 Directioners as a fan base regarding their representation of the band on their special editions covers (there was one for each member) particularly Harry's as they felt he was misrepresented- it is worth noting that they (fans) are not actually the target audience for GQ!

• Pain and Gain could be used for  National and Regional Identities (as the DVD cover is very much americanised), Issues for representation of Crime as this was based on true events and gender. Also the victim has written an article explaining his version and complaining about the misrepresentation of the events and his character in the film.

• TIME, The Guardian and Rolling Stone all feature very different representations of the Boston bombing (event). Rolling Stone were heavily criticised for their cover of one of the bombers as it was claimed that they had glamourised and glorified him. 

• I particularly like the representation of Prince Charles on the Daily Mail, a lovely one to use for both events and age!

• The Impossible (2004 Tsunami) and Zero Dark Thirty (Hunt for Osama Bin Laden) are both based on true stories of real life events and could be used in an interesting way to discuss events. Their marketing also uses this to specifically target their audience

I also like the rest but feel they quite self explanatory. Hope this helps! 

















Thursday 2 January 2014

EXTRA REVISION SESSIONS MS1

Hey guys,

I am sorting a few things to hopefully provide a few more sessions during the days so we may also have sessions Lesson 2 Monday and Lesson 1 Tuesday when I should have Year 11 who are doing their mocks. Will have to let you know first thing on Monday.

Sessions that WILL be happening:

• Monday lesson 1
• Monday lesson 6 (you could bring your lunch)
• Monday after school (this means no FILMCLUB)
• Tuesday lessons 2 (as normal) & 3
• Wednesday after school 

Also Mrs Davies and I are swapping lessons on Tuesday so you'll be with me lessons 5 & 7 where we will do some revision tasks and the rest of the class will be working on corrections for their Research Investigations

Can I please stress that if you have timetabled lessons when I am running a revision session you must attend your timetabled lesson! As a result the after school revision sessions, Tuesday lesson 2 and Tuesday lessons 5 & 7 are vital that you attend. The other sessions will be for you to all bring your individual concerns questions etc and to have a space to revise and complete mock questions etc. 

Any problems or questions let me know.
Cheers, Mrs M



Wednesday 1 January 2014

RESIT: MS1 Audio-Visual Revision Material

So I have put my thinking hat on, trying to get my head around what audio-visual material may come up and so far here are my thoughts...

TV material has been used frequently:
- Great Expectations means that historical drama would probably be ruled out for film too

- Rugby last year means that anything sports related is likely to be ignored

- News has been used a few years ago so may not come up.


Soooo I am hoping that this means either a film trailers, adverts, film or game extracts or music video. I would be surprised if music video comes up as there is not much coverage of the music industry within the course. It's been a big year for both the film and gaming industry so in an ideal world we would see a film trailer or advert for a game, which would play to your strengths having started studying gaming and advertising industry for Year 13 and focusing on the Film industry for coursework for Year 12 and 13.

As we know none of this is set in stone but it helps to be extra prepared in areas that are likely to come up whilst making sure you are prepared for all potential topics. 

I am posting links for some material that I hope is along the lines of potential exam material for you to practice question 1 textual analysis and make notes on the representations within the texts as well as  audiences, targeting and responses for questions 2 and 3. Please remember that extracts or the openings could come up rather than the trailers/adverts. 

• The Great Gatsby Film Trailer

• Bioshock Infinite Game Advert 

• Gravity Trailer

• Tomb Raider Survivor Advert

• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer

• Sims 4 Advert

Hope this is helpful! Will post again tomorrow with some more revision tips and support! 

By the way, Happy New Year! 

MS1 Resit Candidates- MOCK EXAM

Please complete the mock exam below BY MONDAY 6TH JANUARY to ensure that I can mark it Monday and return it to you for Tuesday. Please stick to the suggested times as this will give you a better chance of seeing how prepared you are. On Tuesday we will go over the A grade response to this exam paper.


WJEC AS MEDIA STUDIES MS1

Media Representations and Responses

 
Sample Exam
2 ½ hours

 

Answer all three questions.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

·         The number of marks is given in brackets at the end of each question or part-question.

·         You are reminded that assessment will take into account the quality of written communication used in your answers.

·         No certificate will be awarded to a candidate detected in any unfair practice.

 

You have two minutes to study the questions before the following:

Study the two Film Trailers for Sherlock Holmes (2010) and Nowhere Boy (2010) - 


EACH TRAILER WILL BE PLAYED 6 TIMES: FOR THE FIRST TWO PLAYS OF EACH TRAILER JUST WATCH. YOU ARE ADVISED TO TAKE NOTES FOR THE REMAINING 4 PLAYS.

 

THERE WILL BE A GAP OF 10 MINUTES WHEN YOU ARE ADVISED TO TAKE FURTHER NOTES.

 

BOTH TRAILERS WILL THEN BE PLAYED FOUR TIMES AGAIN WHEN YOU ARE AS BEFORE, ADVISED TO TAKE NOTES.

 



 
1.
Analyse how narrative and audio-visual codes are used to construct the trailers.                 (40)

                                                                                                                                                                  

2.
(a) Choose one of the film trailers.  Suggest two different audiences and give brief reasons for your choice.        (6)

(b) Explore how the trailer you have chosen in 2a attempts to target audiences.             (9)

(c) In what ways do different audiences respond differently to the same media text? Refer to your own detailed examples.                 (15)

 

3.
With reference to your own detailed examples, explore the different representations of masculinity in the media today.                 (30)