End of Year 1: Learner response

With your exams returned, you have reached the end of the first year of GCSE Media. Well done!

Your Paper 1, Paper 2 and overall result may or may not be something you're happy with but the main thing is that we learn from the process and make sure we improve further next year.

We'll work through these papers question-by-question next year to help prepare you for the next set of mock exams. For now, as a final blog task, work through the following tasks to complete a learner response on your first year on GCSE Media:

GCSE Media Studies Year 1: Learner Response

1) Are you happy with your End of Year 1 exam results?

2) Why? Explain how you felt the exams went and your reaction to the results.

3) What do you feel are your strongest and weakest topic areas from what we've studied so far (e.g. Magazines, TV, Advertising etc.) Explain why.

4) What will you do differently for the next set of mock exams in November/December?

5) What grade do you hope to achieve in GCSE Media Studies this time next year?


Coursework and summer project

Once you've completed this short learner response, you can return to your coursework summer project - researching and planning the production work we'll be creating in September.

Good luck!

Coursework: Summer Project 2019

The summer project is a fantastic opportunity to start planning your TV advert.

Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching TV adverts for body spray brands, creating a new TV advert idea and then writing a Statement of Intent first draft. However, if you wish to plan and film your production over the summer while you have time and actors available we would fully support you in this approach.

Summer project tasks

Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your Media blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning':

1) Research: lifestyle TV adverts

Watch the following TV adverts that use narrative and media language to create an aspirational lifestyle and brand. Answer the questions for each advert:

Nike: Nothing Beats a Londoner




Narrative: What is the story of the advert?

Audience: What does the advert suggest about the lifestyle of someone who uses this product or brand?

Representations: What representations of young people can you find in this advert?


Publix: Graduation



Narrative: What is the story of the advert?

Audience: What does the advert suggest about the lifestyle of someone who uses this product or brand?

Representations: What representations of young people can you find in this advert?


Lynx: Is it OK for guys...


Narrative: What is the story of the advert?

Audience: What does the advert suggest about the lifestyle of someone who uses this product or brand?

Representations: What representations of young people can you find in this advert?


Additional research: optional extension
Depending on your coursework plan and the type of advert you wish to create, you may want to research additional TV adverts. You can make optional additional notes on other TV adverts here.


2) TV advert planning and Statement of Intent

Plan out the brand of body spray you will advertise and the narrative for your new, original TV advert. Next, write the first draft of your genuine 300-word Statement of Intent. The final draft of this will be submitted to the exam board alongside your TV advert and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent suggested content document too.


Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in first week back in September



Summer project: optional extensions

Pre-production tasks
Some students have already expressed an interest in filming their TV adverts over the summer break. This makes a huge amount of sense - far more availability of actors, much more time to schedule filming etc. However, if you want to do this, you need to complete the following aspects of pre-production:

Script
Write a script for your TV advert. You'll find guidance for writing a script for a TV advert... .

Shot list
Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for your advert AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here for a student film shot list. It makes sense to write your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the extract in chronological order. 

Mise-en-scene
What iconography or mise-en-scene are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre, lifestyle and setting of your advert? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. 

Shooting schedule 
Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the summer. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it!

Non-assessed participants
You will need to provide a written record of all non-assessed participants in your production work. Keep a record of everyone involved - actors, camerawork, sound etc. You will also need a keep a record of any non-original sound you used and note it on the Candidate Record Form. Keep these on your blog for easy reference when submitting your work later this year.

Production: Filming 
Once you have completed your pre-production tasks, you can film as planned. If you are unable to film over the summer, we will have time to film this production in September.

Good luck!

Coursework: TV advert brief

The coursework briefs have been released and we can now turn our attention to the most creative side of the course.

The coursework unit is worth 30% of your GCSE so it's a brilliant opportunity to put marks in the bank before the final exams at the end of next year.

Coursework brief: TV advert

The brief we have selected is Brief 5: TV advert. The requirements are:

Create one television advert for a body spray. The moving image advert should convey aspirations and a successful lifestyle, which is then attached by implication to the product.

The advert must be between 60 and 80 seconds in length.

The advert should be aimed at teenagers, who are 14 to 18 years of age.

This advert should not focus on the qualities of the product. It should focus on the type of people the potential consumers aspire to be. 

You need to submit a 300-word Statement of Intent and a 60-80 second completed video production to finish this coursework.

Full details are available in the AQA NEA Student Booklet.

We will have the first eight weeks of next year to complete the work.

The first part of this project is a summer project which will allow you to research TV adverts and start planning your own coursework production. 


Introduction to TV advertising

TV advertising has come a long way since it first appeared in the 1950s. Adverts in the modern age tend to focus on lifestyle and brand rather the qualities of the actual product. There are many incredible, creative examples of adverts that have become viral sensations and we now need to come up with an original idea to attract the hard-to-reach 14-18 teenage audience demographic.

TV advert conventions: narrative / lifestyle

The key conventions of lifestyle TV advertising include:

• Characters that appeal to the target audience
• Narrative
• Sound: music / dialogue / voiceover
• Fast-paced editing
• Stereotypes (to communicate information to audience quickly)
• Pack shot of product
• Text on screen
• Logo / slogan
• 'Call to action' / social media details

TV advert examples

Watch these example adverts and identify at least three of the conventions of TV advertising for each:

Rightmove - Life's steps



Sure - #nevermoresure Eden Hazard



Taco Bell - Web of Fries



Use these clips as inspiration for your coursework production. Good luck!