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Media Studies at GCSEIf you like films, watch TV, listen to the radio, read magazines or newspapers, then you have all the qualifications you need to take Media GCSE in Key Stage 4!
The practical side of the course teaches you HOW to make different types of media text. From writing, filming and advertising your own film to designing a marketing campaign for a new band on the internet, you will learn production techniques, and ways of evaluating your own work. You will have a chance to work on your own or in small groups, and will have to demonstrate understanding, creativity and flair.
The theoretical side of the course gives you a basic grounding in understanding what happens ‘behind the scenes’. In ‘Understanding Audience’ you will explore what techniques media institutions use to catch and keep the right audience for their product. In ‘Understanding Institutions’ you will learn what rules institutions have to follow, how big businesses make their money and who really decides what and how we consume media products.
Here are some of the comments students have made about the course;
‘We got to do lots of our own design work and used the computer. I also understand some of the tricks that companies use to get me to buy their stuff. I’ve really enjoyed studying it’
‘It was fun but there’s a lot of writing too. I think I know a lot more about the things I watch on TV now’
‘I didn’t realise so much effort went into making a film! I just thought a few actors got together with a camera. It’s been amazing finding out what really happens’
At Key Stage 5, we currently offer AS and A2 courses. These deal in depth with some of the issues touched upon in KS4, but also offer a chance to explore more challenging media debates. Current topics include the role of women in Hollywood films, social stereotyping in Eastenders, and the presentation of gender in magazines. The course also continues to cultivate the creativity of the students, and has a compulsory practical element.
It is an intellectually challenging course, highly regarded by Universities and the media profession, and can equip you with many transferable skills.
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