A-Level Media
Induction Questionnaire:
Why have you chosen to study media and what do you hope to get from the subject? What does the term ‘Media’ actually mean to you? What areas of the media interest you the most? What was the last media product you bought ‘new’? Do you prefer to psychically buy a film or CD or do you prefer to download from the Internet? Do you have a twitter account and if so what was the last thing you tweeted about? What was the last media product you stole? (Illegal downloads that is, I don’t mean walked into HMV and stuck Harry Potter up your jumper.) Have you ever uploaded anything you have made to you tube? In your opinion what are the positives of social media? In your opinion what are the negatives of social media? Do you read newspapers or magazines on a regular basis? Where do you get your information of what is happening in the world from? Do you take an interest in politics? In the box below, summarise what you are hoping to gain from spending the next two years studying the media.
A-Level MEDIA:
Media Diary
I would like you to record a diary of your media usage over the next seven days. You need to try and record the media products you use, play, watch, read, etc. etc. It is important that you record your usage as accurately as possible as you will be writing a report on your findings. The report will be in response to a set of questions that you will be given once your diary is complete. You do not need to be exact in terms of programmes watched, games played or web sites visited. But try and be as accurate as possible in terms of products used and time spent. A typical day can be recorded as shown below. There are two reasons for this request. Firstly, for you see how much media you access and come into contact with during an average week. The second is to see how much you use and come into contact with the products and areas of the media we cover on the course such as video games, radio and newspapers to name a few.
THURSDAY Watched T.V
1hr (morning)
Watched T.V
½ hr (evening)
Sent 10,000 texts to my mates Went on Internet
2hrs (evening)
Played computer games 1hr (evening)
For the next lesson each student needs to bring with them three media products from three different areas of the media.
A-Level MEDIA:
Main Focus:
Target Audience Small group activity: In your groups, you should now have a selection of different media products on your table. The focus of this task is to consider the target audience of each product on the table and to work as a team to put the products in different piles based on the criteria below. When examining the products, consider, colour, design, fonts, images.
Task 1: Can you arrange your products into three separate piles based on age. Younger audience Middle aged audience Older audience
Task 2: Can you arrange your products into three separate piles based on gender Male Female Both
Task 3: Can you arrange your products into three separate piles based on class Working Class Middle Class Upper Class
TASK 4 (individual) On a separate sheet, you need to choose three items from your table and write an analysis for each one in relation to the target audience. Consider the things that we have discussed. Each analysis must be approximately 100 words. Submit your sheet once completed.
A-Level Media Advertising & The Target Audience (magazines) In a moment I will reveal the name of five different magazine publications. Your task for each magazine is to write down who you believe to be the intended Target Audience and based on your understanding of the target audience give a brief description of how you think the front cover would look. You need to consider colours, images and possible fonts.
Magazine No 1 Title: Target Audience:
Description of Cover:
Magazine No 2 Title: Target Audience:
Description of Cover:
Magazine No 3 Title: Target Audience:
Description of Cover:
Magazine No 4 Title: Target Audience:
Description of Cover:
Magazine No 5 Title: Target Audience:
Description of Cover:
A-Level Media Advertising & The Target Audience Task 1: ` Can you think of any television programmes and the products/companies that have in the past or are currently sponsoring them?
TELEVISION PROGRAMME
SPONSORS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Choose three from your list and say why you think the product / company have chosen to sponsor that particular programme
A-Level Media:
TV schedules and US
T.V Schedules Task: In groups of three log on to a computer and follow the link below: This will take you to the TV schedule that is on the screen at the front of the class. https://www.freeview.co.uk/tv-guide Once there I would like you to start at 6am and only take note of the channel I have asked you to look at. Then in your groups attempt to answer the questions listed below.
Part A (Soap Opera) Do you have any soap operas on your channel?
What are they and at what time of day are they broadcast?
Why do you think they are broadcast at that time?
Who do you believe is the main target audience?
Part B (News) How many news programmes are broadcast throughout the day on your chosen channel?
At what times of the day are they broadcast?
Why do you think they are broadcast at these times?
Who do you believe to be the target audience?
Part C (General Observations) Can you spot any programmes that you feel are on at the wrong time of day and why do you think this is?
Do you notice any shifts in the type of programmes that are on? This is known as blocking, can you identify the different blocks during the day?
Who do you think the audience is during different times of the day?
Who do you think is the main audience for your particular channel and why?
A-Level Media Audiences and media theories: To conclude our investigation into the media and the target audience we need to focus upon the media theories that are linked to audiences and our relationship with the media. We will look at a slideshare presentation, which discusses three different theories. Once we have examined these. I will send you the link so you can read through it again. You will then need to summarise each theory in your own words in the space provided.
Theory 1:
Effects Theory (Hyperdermic Syringe)
Theory 2:
Uses & Gratifications Theory
Theory 3:
Reception Theory
Induction assessment task 1 You now need to pull together and discuss what you have learnt about the media and how it targets the audience. You also need to discuss the relationship between the two and how you think it works (consider the theories we have just looked at). You can approach this any way you wish in terms of where you begin and what you discuss but your analysis must be between 400 and 500 words. Complete on a separate piece of paper with your name on it and submit when finished.