AS Media Studies, 3rd Edition

AS Media Studies, 3rd Edition

by Peter Wall, Philip Rayner
Released December 2016
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781135867355

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Book description

AS Media Studies: The Essential Introduction for AQA is fully revised for the current specification with full colour throughout, over 100 images, new case studies and examples. The authors introduce students step-by-step to the skills of reading media texts, and address key concepts such as genre, representation, media institutions and media audiences as well as taking students through the tasks expected of them to pass the AQA AS Media Studies exam. The book is supplemented with a companion website at www.asmediastudies.co.uk featuring additional activities and resources, further new case studies such as music and sport, clear instructions on producing different media, quizzes and tests.

Areas covered include:

  • an introduction to studying the media
  • the key concepts across print, broadcast and e-media
  • media institutions
  • audiences and the media
  • case studies such as Heroes, Nuts, and The Daily Mail
  • guided textual analysis of real media on the website and within the book
  • research and how to do it
  • preparing for exams
  • a production guide and how to respond to a brief.

AS Media Studies: The Essential Introduction for AQA clearly guides students through the course and gives them the tips they need to become proficient media producers as well as media analysts.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. List of figures
  7. How to use this book
  8. Introduction
    1. Faster! Faster! More! More!
    2. What do we mean by ‘the media’?
    3. Why are the media important?
    4. Postmodernism
    5. Conclusion
  9. Part 1: Key Concepts
    1. 1. Image analysis
      1. What is a media ‘text’?
      2. Semiotics
      3. Signs
      4. Codes
      5. Denotation and connotation
      6. The process model of communication
      7. Criticisms of semiotics
      8. Worksheet for analysing advertisements
    2. 2. Narrative
      1. Narrative construction
      2. Mode of address
      3. Relationship between narrative and genre
    3. 3. Genre
      1. The function of genre
      2. Iconography
      3. Genre and audiences
      4. Genre and producers
      5. Genre as a critical tool
      6. Limitations of genre
    4. 4. Representation
      1. Media representation of the world at large
      2. How accurate?
      3. Stereotyping
    5. 5. Media intertextuality
      1. Mimicry
      2. Parody, pastiche and homage
      3. Marketing of media texts
      4. Reviews
      5. Media performers in different media forms
    6. 6. Media ideology
      1. Belief systems
      2. Big Brother
      3. Ideology and gender
    7. 7. Media audiences
      1. Different types of audience
      2. Why are audiences important?
      3. How have audiences changed?
      4. ‘Martini media’
      5. How is audience consumption patterned and determined?
      6. Who is the audience?
      7. ‘Television doesn’t make programmes, it creates audiences’ (Jean-Luc Godard)
      8. Gendered consumption
      9. The ‘effects’ debate and moral panics
      10. The effects of advertising
      11. Audience participation
      12. And finally …
    8. 8. Media institutions
      1. Ownership: commercial media institutions
      2. Types of ownership: horizontal and vertical integration; convergence
      3. Public Service Broadcasting (PSB)
      4. Alternative media
      5. Manufacturing consent: Noam Chomsky
      6. Regulation of the media
      7. Self-regulation and the press: the Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
      8. The cinema: the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
      9. Regulation and advertising
      10. Media imperialism
      11. Globalisation
      12. The internet
      13. Conclusion
  10. Part 2: Investigating Media
    1. 9. Broadcast fiction: Heroes
      1. Codes and conventions
      2. Representation
      3. Institution
      4. Audience
      5. And finally …
    2. 10. Documentary and its hybrid forms
      1. Different types of realism
      2. Continuity editing
      3. Documentary film-making
      4. The docu-soap and beyond
      5. Reality television
    3. 11. Lifestyle magazines and television
      1. ‘Lifestyle’ magazines
      2. ‘The most fun a girl can have with her clothes on!’: teenage magazines
      3. ‘She’s a woman with responsibility … and a hangover’: women’s lifestyle magazines
      4. Nuts: grab yours every week
      5. ‘Vol-au-vents like Fanny’s’: lifestyle television
      6. Conclusion
    4. 12. News production
      1. Newsroom roles
      2. Construction of a news story
      3. Television news presentation
      4. Case study: the Daily Mail
      5. Press regulation
      6. Ownership
  11. Part 3: Creating Media
    1. 13. Production
      1. Why practical production?
      2. Getting an inside view of the production process
      3. Creating media – MEST2
      4. Getting started
      5. A closer look at the AQA specification
      6. Evaluation commentary
      7. Case study: film and broadcast fiction
    2. 14. Planning/organising your studies
      1. How to look at media products
      2. How to plan and get the best from your own media consumption
      3. Using textbooks
      4. The bibliography
      5. Using the world wide web
      6. Other sources of information
      7. And finally …
  12. Glossary
  13. Bibliography
  14. Figure acknowledgements
  15. Index

Product information

  • Title: AS Media Studies, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Peter Wall, Philip Rayner
  • Release date: December 2016
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781135867355