Key term
Eduqas A-Level Media Studies A680QS
Media Language
Topic overviewThe language of media analysis: signs, codes and modesDenotation and connotationBarthes, signification and mythCamerawork, framing and editingMise-en-scène, colour and lightingSound and music as media languageLayout, typography and print designCodes and conventions of genreNeale on repetition, difference and genre changeNarrative structure and TodorovNarrative devices: enigma, character and point of viewLévi-Strauss, structuralism and binary oppositionsBaudrillard, simulation and hyperrealityIntertextuality, parody and pasticheMedia language, ideology and developing technology
Media Representations
Topic overviewRepresentation, selection and constructionHall and representation as the production of meaningCodes, concepts and shared conceptual mapsHall on stereotyping, power and otheringPositive and negative uses of stereotypesUnder-representation, misrepresentation and symbolic annihilationRealism, verisimilitude and claims about realitySocial, cultural and historical context in representationGauntlett, identity and pick-and-mix media resourcesvan Zoonen, gender as discourse and the body as spectaclebell hooks: feminism, race and classButler and gender performativityGilroy, race, civilisationism and postcolonial theoryRepresentations of sexuality, class and disabilityDiscourse, ideology and audience readings of representations
Media Industries
Topic overviewProduction, distribution and circulationOwnership models and patterns of controlConglomerates, vertical and horizontal integrationCurran and Seaton on power and media ownershipHesmondhalgh and the cultural industriesFunding: commercial, subscription and public moneyPublic service broadcasting and the BBCRegulation and the UK regulatorsLivingstone and Lunt on citizens and consumersRegulation in a global and digital ageConvergence, digital technology and distributionMarketing, promotion and maintaining audiencesIndividual producers and the independent sectorGlobalisation and the international media market
Media Audiences
Topic overviewHow audiences are grouped and categorisedPsychographics, lifestyle and cultural capitalTargeting mass and specialised audiencesAttracting, reaching and constructing audiencesMode of address and audience positioningPassive audience models and the effects debateBandura and social learning theoryGerbner and cultivation theoryActive audiences and uses and gratificationsHall and reception theoryJenkins, fandom and participatory cultureShirky and the end of the audienceConsumption, technology and audience measurementAudience interpretation, identity and social context
Contexts of Media
Topic overviewWhat media contexts are and why they matterSocial contexts: values, attitudes and beliefsCultural contexts and cultural changeRepresenting minority groups and products made by themEconomic contexts: ownership and fundingProduction outside the commercial mainstreamPolitical contexts: ideology and powerRegulation and the stateHistorical contexts: genre conventions as historically relativeHistorical change in representationTechnological change, production, distribution and circulationGlobal contexts and non-English-language media
Newspapers
Topic overviewNewspaper front pages: masthead, splash and layoutTabloid and quality press: codes, conventions and registerSemiotics, structuralism and ideology in newspaper languageNews values, selection and the construction of realityRepresentation of events, individuals and social groups in newspapersThe Daily Mirror as an evolving productThe Times as an evolving productNewspaper ownership, conglomerates and controlFunding, paywalls and the decline of print circulationPress regulation, IPSO and the Leveson aftermathNewspapers online: convergence and digital distributionNewspaper audiences: categorisation, targeting and addressAudience responses, reception theory and the end of audience
Advertising and Marketing
Topic overviewAdvertising media language: codes and conventionsSemiotics and structuralism in advertisingIntertextuality, genre and persuasion in advertisingThe Tide print advertisement (1950s)Gender representation in 1950s advertisingThe Kiss of the Vampire film poster (1963)Representation and gender in the Kiss of the Vampire posterSuper. Human. and the language of the Paralympic filmDisability representation in Super. Human.Historical contexts: sixty years of advertising changeAdvertising audiences: grouping, targeting and addressAudience interpretation and reception in advertisingMarketing, branding and cross-media campaigns
Music Video
Topic overviewMusic video as a form: conventions, functions and developmentCamerawork, editing and mise-en-scène in music videoNarrative, intertextuality and postmodernism in music videoSemiotics, myth and ideology in music videoRepresentation, stereotyping and identity in music videoGender, objectification and performativity in music videoEthnicity, race and postcolonial readings in music videoFormation, Beyoncé (2016)Turntables, Janelle Monáe (2020)Underdog, Alicia Keys (2020)Riptide, Vance Joy (2013)Seventeen Going Under, Sam Fender (2021)Little Bit of Love, Tom Grennan (2021)
Radio
Topic overviewRadio as a form: its history, formats and the listening experiencePublic service broadcasting and the BBC's missionFunding radio: the licence fee, advertising and sponsorshipRegulating radio: Ofcom, the BBC Charter and impartialityOwnership and concentration in the commercial radio industryPodcasting and the on-demand audio economyDigital technology, convergence and BBC SoundsRadio audiences: reach, targeting and measurementAudience theory applied to radioWoman's HourHave You Heard George's Podcast (BBC Sounds)
Video Games
Topic overviewVideo games as a media formThe Assassin's Creed franchiseUbisoft: ownership, structure and global productionMaking a major game: budgets, teams and working conditionsDistribution, platforms and monetisationMarketing, regulation and the debate about effectsGame audiences: who plays and how they are reachedGames and historical context: representing the pastGlobal markets, localisation and cultural adaptationConvergence and the franchise across mediaHardware cycles, technology and accessGames, society and contemporary debate
Film Industries and Marketing
Topic overviewProduction in the film industryDistribution and release strategiesExhibition, box office and the cinema audienceFilm funding, budgets and public subsidyConglomerate ownership, integration and diversificationThe independent and specialised film sectorFilm marketing across convergent platformsRegulation, classification and the film industryBlack Panther: production and the Marvel blockbuster modelMarketing and distributing Black PantherI, Daniel Blake: independent production and fundingMarketing and distributing I, Daniel Blake
Television in the Global Age
Topic overviewTelevision in the global age: transnational production and co-productionPublic service broadcasting in a global marketplaceStreaming services and the changing distribution of televisionOwnership, funding and the economics of television dramaRegulation of television in the UK and across bordersMarketing television drama and targeting audiences nationally and globallyFandom, niche audiences and how audiences interpret television dramaGenre, narrative and media language in television dramaRepresentation, identity and ideology in television dramaPeaky Blinders (BBC Two, 2013)The Bridge (Denmark/Sweden, 2015)Black Mirror: 'San Junipero' (Netflix, 2016)The Returned (France, 2012)Killing Eve (BBC America/BBC Three, 2018)Tehran (Israel, 2020)
Magazines: Mainstream and Alternative
Topic overviewMagazine cover codes, layout and designSemiotics, structuralism and ideology in magazine languageGenre conventions and the historically relative magazineGender representation in magazines and feminist theoryStereotyping, ideology and under-represented groupsMagazine industries: ownership, funding and circulationMagazine audiences: targeting, niche and specialised readersAudience reception, interpretation and cultivationWoman (23–29 August 1964)Adbusters (May/June 2016)Woman's Realm (7–13 February 1965)Huck (February/March 2016)Vogue (July 1965)The Big Issue (17–23 October 2016)
Media in the Online Age
Topic overviewMedia language of the home page and the YouTube channelConvergence, participatory culture and user-generated contentSelf-representation and identity onlineRepresenting under-represented groups onlineOnline media industries: production, distribution and circulationInfluencers, monetisation and the economics of vloggingAlgorithms, curation and the attention economyRegulating online contentOnline audiences: fandom, niche reach and the end of audienceZoe Sugg's YouTube channelJJ Olatunji (KSI) and his YouTube channelThiiird online magazineAttitude magazine and website
Media Representations
- 15 subtopics
- 45 things to know
- Components 1 and 2
What Media Representations covers
Media Representations is examined in both written papers — the theoretical framework and the media contexts run through every section of the course and are applied to whichever set products a centre has chosen. It covers representation, selection and construction, Hall and representation as the production of meaning, codes, concepts and shared conceptual maps, Hall on stereotyping, power and othering, positive and negative uses of stereotypes, under-representation, misrepresentation and symbolic annihilation, realism, verisimilitude and claims about reality, social, cultural and historical context in representation, Gauntlett, identity and pick-and-mix media resources, van Zoonen, gender as discourse and the body as spectacle, bell hooks: feminism, race and class, Butler and gender performativity, Gilroy, race, civilisationism and postcolonial theory, representations of sexuality, class and disability and discourse, ideology and audience readings of representations.
Where it is assessed
Components 1 and 2
The framework and the media contexts run through both written papers.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 15 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Representation, selection and constructionSelection in representation, construction in the context of representation and how cropping a photograph changes its meaning.Open →
- Hall and representation as the production of meaningHall's first proposition about representation, constructionist approach to representation and intentional approach to meaning.Open →
- Codes, concepts and shared conceptual mapsHall's proposition about concepts and signs, colour code and its cultural limits and negotiated reading.Open →
- Hall on stereotyping, power and otheringOperations Hall says stereotyping performs, hall's proposition about stereotyping and power and symbolic power in relation to representation.Open →
- Positive and negative uses of stereotypesCountertype in advertising, danger of a countertype and inspiration porn and why is the term criticised.Open →
- Under-representation, misrepresentation and symbolic annihilationSymbolic annihilation and male gaze.Open →
- Realism, verisimilitude and claims about realityRealism in media studies, three techniques that signal realism in television drama and constructed reality format.Open →
- Social, cultural and historical context in representationWhy a portrayal must be read against the moment that made it: 1950s gender roles, changing attitudes to disability, national difference, and what a dated product reveals.Open →
- Gauntlett, identity and pick-and-mix media resourcesGauntlett's first proposition and gauntlett's argument about how media messages have changed.Open →
- van Zoonen, gender as discourse and the body as spectacleVan Zoonen's proposition about the cultural variability of gender and van Zoonen's third proposition about male and female bodies.Open →
- bell hooks: feminism, race and classFeminism as a political struggle rather than a lifestyle, the ideology of domination, overlapping oppressions, the lower-case name, and how the position reads music video and magazines.Open →
- Butler and gender performativityButler's first proposition on identity and butler's third proposition.Open →
- Gilroy, race, civilisationism and postcolonial theoryGilroy's first proposition, gilroy's proposition about civilisationism and postcolonialism as used in media analysis.Open →
- Representations of sexuality, class and disabilityPink pound in relation to representation, poverty porn and why is the label used and two common stereotypes of disability in media representation.Open →
- Discourse, ideology and audience readings of representationsDiscourse in media analysis, hall's three reading positions and oppositional reading of an advertisement.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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Where does Hall say stereotyping arises, what is the other, and what does ethnocentrism mean?
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Explain Butler's claim about repetition, and distinguish performativity from a performance.
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Which theorist defined representation as the production of meaning through language?
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State Hall's proposition about concepts and signs.
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How can a stereotype be used positively?
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What is under-representation?
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Define realism in media studies.
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Why must a representation be read in its historical context?
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Which theorist argues that the media give us tools for constructing identity?
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Which theorist argues that gender is constructed through discourse?
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How does bell hooks define feminism?
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Which theorist argues that colonial discourse persists in contemporary attitudes to race?
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What is meant by heteronormativity?
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What is ideology?
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Define representation.
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What does Hall mean by language in his definition of representation?
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Why is the link between a sign and a concept described as arbitrary?
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How does Hall define stereotyping?
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Why is a positive stereotype still a stereotype?
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Define misrepresentation.
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What is verisimilitude?
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What does the Tide advertisement reveal about 1950s gender roles?
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State Gauntlett's first proposition.
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State van Zoonen's proposition about the cultural variability of gender.
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Why does bell hooks insist that feminism is not a lifestyle choice?
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Which theorist argues that gender is performatively constructed?
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State Gilroy's first proposition.
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How have mainstream representations of gay men changed?
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How does hegemony help explain why a stereotype persists?
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Why is representation described as re-presentation?
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State Hall's first proposition about representation.
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What does a code do in Hall's account?
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Name the operations Hall says stereotyping performs.
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What is a countertype?
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What is symbolic annihilation?
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Distinguish cultural from generic verisimilitude.
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How does the historical context of Kiss of the Vampire show in its poster?
Evaluation
State Gauntlett's argument about how media messages have changed.
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What does van Zoonen say about the exhibition of women's bodies?
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State bell hooks' proposition about race and class.
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State Butler's first proposition on identity.
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State Gilroy's proposition about civilisationism.
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What is queerbaiting?
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How do representations reinforce a dominant ideology?
Take Media Representations further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Stereotype vs Countertype
Stereotype: a reduction of a group to a few fixed traits. Countertype: A representation that deliberately reverses an established set of fixed traits.
Under-representation vs Misrepresentation
Under-representation: the appearance of a group far less often than its share of the population. Misrepresentation: The appearance of a group in a distorted or inaccurate form.
Encoding vs Decoding
Encoding: the producer building meaning into a media product. Decoding: The audience interpreting the meaning of a media product.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Define representation.
Model answer
Representation is the process by which the media construct versions of reality. Every representation is a re-presentation rather than a reflection.
- 2
Why is representation described as re-presentation?
Model answer
A media product presents an already mediated version of an event or group. Selection and framing happen before any audience sees the product.
- 3
What is meant by selection in representation?
Model answer
Selection is the choice of what to include and what to omit. Omission shapes meaning as powerfully as inclusion.
- 4
Explain construction in the context of representation.
Model answer
Construction is the assembly of the selected elements into a coherent version. The editing, framing and language decide the final impression.
- 5
Give an example of how cropping a photograph changes its meaning.
Model answer
A crop can remove a crowd and leave a protester looking isolated. The same image can be cropped to suggest either violence or calm.
- 6
What is meant by mediation?
Model answer
Mediation is the process by which an event is filtered through a medium. Every event reaches an audience through that filter.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Media Representations revision questions
- What does Media Representations cover in Eduqas A-Level Media Studies?
- 15 subtopics: representation, selection and construction, hall and representation as the production of meaning, codes, concepts and shared conceptual maps, hall on stereotyping, power and othering, positive and negative uses of stereotypes, under-representation, misrepresentation and symbolic annihilation, realism, verisimilitude and claims about reality, social, cultural and historical context in representation, gauntlett, identity and pick-and-mix media resources, van zoonen, gender as discourse and the body as spectacle, bell hooks: feminism, race and class, butler and gender performativity, gilroy, race, civilisationism and postcolonial theory, representations of sexuality, class and disability and discourse, ideology and audience readings of representations. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Media Representations organised?
- By the Eduqas A680QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Media Representations, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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