A-Level Media Studies

Negotiating your grade Negotiation in media studies refers to how the audience uses their own background and experience to interpret the ideology of the producer. In this little analogy, I am the producer. Your grade is the ‘product’. Ad you must negotiate how you feel about it, and what you do with it. First things first: from a pedagogical perspective, giving out grades is a terrible idea. If i…

Revision:  theories of representation bell hooks – Feminism is for everybody. Feminism can benefit all genders by removing stereotypical assumptions. Intersectional feminism: working class, gay disabled women have a different experience to other women. It is complex and political. Race class, gender, ability etc can determine how we are discriminated against, not just our sex! Intersectional femi…

To what extent have economic factors influenced these shows? Economic factors have influenced these shows to a large extent. However, for both shows, a more complex approach has been taken to minimise risk and to maximise profit. Rather than targeting a mass, mainstream audience, both shows actively target and engage a niche and cult audience, to construct an audience who will obsessively engage …

How have these TV shows used media language to deliberately limit the harm and offence caused to audiences? While the regulations presented by OFCOM are broad and lack bite, with organisations such as CANAL + and Netflix lying outside their jurisdiction, producers deliberately self-regulate in order to ensure to minimise potential risk and to maximise potential profit. We see perfect examples of …

Summary - what is the focus of this interview? What is this interview about? The interview focuses on Alfred Hitchcock, a noted film director and celebrated auteur. Hitchcock. Examples of Hitchcock's famous films include Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds, Rear Window and so on.  The article, however, focuses on his process of casting hegemonically attractive leading women. Instead of hearing about Hitch…

The article provides audiences with inside information on the lives of men. Yet even here, it reinforces the same patriarchal and negative values. This provides audiences with the straightforward sexist message that they should not be heard or seen. The ‘give aways for guys’ is a selection of present ideas for husbands, including function items like road tax licences and ties, but also a light-he…

How has the perception of women and women’s rights evolved over the last century? In the early 20th century, women obtained the right to vote. The women’s suffrage movement fought for the vote using direct action. Other institutions that were challenged included marriage, an idea challenged by the woman’s liberation movement. This conservative ideology limited women’s opportunities. Marriage was …

How does the front cover to the August 1964 edition of Woman encode audience appeal? The aesthetic of the model is pleasant. Her makeup and teeth construct hyperreal version of femininity which is more approachable than a ‘real’ woman A direct mode of address positions the middle aged female audience in a friendly position The model conforms to hegemonic female norms, which will appeal to a conse…

What are some issues with studying Zoe Sugg/Zoella in 2026 on an academic course? Is she cancelled? She made offensive tweets when she was a child. As an adult, she released a rip off advent calnander… and has been accused of exploiting her fans She is ridiculously outdated! Online media moves fast! Developments such as social media including Tiktok, AI, and the diminishing popularity of youtube …

The Madonna/whore complex A Freudian concept, the Madonna/whore complex demonstrates a patriarchal desire for women to simultaneously be virginal, pure, and yet sexually available. It presents an impossible expectation of women Interpellation and how media subjectifies us The Marxist theorist Louis Althusser argued that media/culture/society doesn’t simply address us, it shapes us. This idea is a…

The kitchen suggestions in this article very much reflect the style of the 1960s, and therefore very much reflects the time in which it was released. For a contemporary audience, these kitchens would be bland, stereotypical and hegemonically acceptable. It lacks any features such as conversation pits or fashionable architecture like floating worktops that would be associated with richer audiences…

media language Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of semiotic approaches to television analysis. Refer to Roland Barthes ’ theory of semiotics and the set editions of Black Mirror and The Returned in your response. [30] Knee jerk reaction - Barthes theory is generally extremely useful to the analysis of TV, though there are some alternatives that help analysis Barthes’s theory:  a deep dive Co…

This post is a hodgepodge mix of different concepts and ideas! Dig in and remember that the component 2 exam is synoptic, which means discussing audience in a representation question for example is very desirable! Also, please remember the Attitude is an evolving, constantly changing text, with new articles every week. It is absolutely essential that you support your response with examples from t…

Media language b) Explore how the set edition of Adbusters conveys viewpoints and ideologies . [15] Knee jerk  - Adbusters challenges hegemonic view[pints and ideologies, presenting a deliberately challenging mode of address for an activist, active target audience Woman and Adbusters are DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED. Woman is CONVENTIONAL. Adbusters is UNCONVENTIONAL. Woman is conventional Adbusters is …

Revision resource 2026 The above is a link to a LIVE document that is being updated lesson by lesson with up to date information, strategies, facts and indicative content for the component one and component 2 exams for the EDUQAS A-level media studies specification. When it's finished, it would be great to spend some printer credit printing it out and covering it with notes! It should be used in …

The following information is for students completing their NEA (non exam assessment, AKA coursework) for submission in 2027. This information will NOT be correct for any other student group. Please use the blog to find the correct information for your year. Brief A cross-media production for a new artist or band in a popular genre (or sub-genre/hybrid) of your choice. Create an original music vid…

Tzvetan Todorov - narrative equilibrium Narratives work by moving from a state of equilibrium to a state of disequilibrium. At the end of the narrative, the equilibrium is restored. In Disney’s Tangled (2011) an equilibrium is established where Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower. Suddenly, a charming rogue infiltrates the tower, and Rapunzel kidnaps him, signalling the disequilibrium. The partial …

Judith Butler and theories of gender performativity. Gender performance refers to the rituals and routines that we carry out to construct our gender. Butler argues that sex and gender are separate concepts. Gender is fluid, and we can shape our gender performance through our actions. Gender performativity refers to how our performance of gender affects the world around us. For Butler, gender perf…

Jean Baudrillard kept returning to the motif of the hypermarket in his writing. A sort of huge, French supermarket, for Baudrillard it presented a microcosm of consumerism, and of capitalism as the predominant logic of postmodern existence. Hyper means to go beyond , and this prefix is used in much of Baudrillard's writing, most notably in the concept of hyperreality. This suggests a world beyond…

Prompt: construct a step by step written tutorial for using adobe InDesign. The tutorial should cover how to start a project, how place text and images within a project, and finally how to export this project. Here’s a step-by-step written tutorial for using Adobe InDesign . This guide walks you through: Starting a new project Placing text and images Exporting your finished document 🖥️ Part 1: St…