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
Music Video
- 13 subtopics
- 39 things to know
- Component 1
What Music Video covers
Music Video is examined in Component 1, Media Products, Industries and Audiences. It covers music video as a form: conventions, functions and development, camerawork, editing and mise-en-scène in music video, narrative, intertextuality and postmodernism in music video, semiotics, myth and ideology in music video, representation, stereotyping and identity in music video, gender, objectification and performativity in music video, ethnicity, race and postcolonial readings in music video, Formation, Beyoncé (2016), Turntables, Janelle Monáe (2020), underdog, Alicia Keys (2020), Riptide, Vance Joy (2013), Seventeen Going Under, Sam Fender (2021) and little Bit of Love, Tom Grennan (2021).
Where it is assessed
Component 1
Media Products, Industries and Audiences.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 13 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Music video as a form: conventions, functions and developmentPrimary commercial function of a music video, term promotional video as it applies to popular music and performance-based music video.Open →
- Camerawork, editing and mise-en-scène in music videoEffect of shooting an artist in a single unbroken take, editing to the beat and how costume works as a signifier in music video.Open →
- Narrative, intertextuality and postmodernism in music videoAndrew Goodwin's three possible relationships between image and lyric, what Goodwin meant by amplification in music video and disjuncture between sound and image.Open →
- Semiotics, myth and ideology in music videoSignification in Barthes's semiotics, what Barthes meant by myth and anchor in semiotic analysis.Open →
- Representation, stereotyping and identity in music videoRole of selection and combination in constructing a representation, david Gauntlett and one criticism of Gauntlett's position.Open →
- Gender, objectification and performativity in music videoHow camerawork can objectify a performer, male gaze and how a music video might offer a countertype of femininity.Open →
- Ethnicity, race and postcolonial readings in music videoPostcolonial melancholia in Gilroy's writing, cultural appropriation and concept of the Black Atlantic.Open →
- Formation, Beyoncé (2016)Significance of the sinking police car image and how Hall's reception theory produces different readings of Formation.Open →
- Turntables, Janelle Monáe (2020)Effect of the video's rapid montage editing, effect of mixing black-and-white archive with colour footage and monáe's characteristic styling and what it signifies.Open →
- Underdog, Alicia Keys (2020)Visual structure of the Underdog video, one criticism that could be made of Underdog's representations and aspirational representation.Open →
- Riptide, Vance Joy (2013)Unusual about the artist's presence in the Riptide video, visual aesthetic of the Riptide video and counter-argument to a straightforwardly critical reading of Riptide.Open →
- Seventeen Going Under, Sam Fender (2021)A song about class, family and male mental health, its social-realist visual style, the masculinity it represents, and the political context behind it.Open →
- Little Bit of Love, Tom Grennan (2021)Two brothers, aggression and tenderness: a narrative about male emotion, the convention its director avoided, and the theories of gender and narrative that read it.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What do the close-up, the low-angle shot and the unbroken take contribute to a music video?
Numbers
Give the release date, the director and the setting of Formation.
Key term
Summarise Todorov's model of narrative structure.
Key term
What is signification in Barthes's semiotics?
Key term
Why is a music video a representation of an artist rather than a record of one?
Evaluation
Summarise van Zoonen's argument about gender and discourse.
Evaluation
Summarise Paul Gilroy's argument about colonial discourse.
Numbers
For which documentary was Turntables written?
Numbers
From which album does Underdog come?
Numbers
Who is the artist behind Riptide, and where is he from?
Key term
Where is Sam Fender from, and why does that matter to the song?
Numbers
Who directed the video for Little Bit of Love, and when was it released?
Key term
What is the primary commercial function of a music video?
Key term
Why is the close-up the dominant shot type in most music videos?
Key term
Why do many music videos resist Todorov's model?
Key term
Why does a music video rely on connotation more than on denotation?
Key term
What does Hall say governs the relationship between concepts and signs?
Key term
What does van Zoonen identify as a core element of western patriarchal culture?
Key term
What does Gilroy mean by civilisationism?
Numbers
When was the video for Formation released, and what followed the next day?
Key term
What does the title Turntables refer to?
Key term
Who is the underdog the song addresses?
Key term
Who directed the video for Riptide?
Key term
What is the subject of Seventeen Going Under?
Numbers
Which album does Little Bit of Love come from?
Key term
Define the term promotional video as it applies to popular music.
Key term
What does a low-angle shot of a performer usually connote?
Key term
What did Todorov claim about the way a narrative is resolved?
Key term
Explain what Barthes meant by myth.
Who and when
According to Hall, what does stereotyping do to people?
Key term
How does van Zoonen say the coding of the male body differs from the female?
Key term
How does Gilroy connect otherness to binary opposition?
Key term
Who directed the video for Formation?
Numbers
Which election provides the immediate political context for the video?
Key term
Describe the visual structure of the Underdog video.
Key term
What is unusual about the artist's presence in the Riptide video?
Key term
Which family experience does the song draw on?
Key term
What relationship is at the centre of the video's narrative?
Take Music Video further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Objectification (van Zoonen) vs Performativity (Butler)
Objectification (van Zoonen): the presentation of a body as something to be looked at. Performativity (Butler): The making of a gender identity through repeated acts.
Civilisationism (Gilroy) vs Ethnocentrism (Hall)
Civilisationism (Gilroy): a ranking of whole cultures against one another, inherited from empire. Ethnocentrism (Hall): The habit of judging another culture by the norms of one's own.
Illustration vs Amplification
Illustration: showing on screen what the lyric describes. Amplification: adding meaning the lyric does not state.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the primary commercial function of a music video?
Model answer
A music video promotes a song and the artist who recorded it. The video works as advertising for the release it accompanies.
- 2
Define the term promotional video as it applies to popular music.
Model answer
A promotional video is a short film made to market a single release. The form sets recorded music against images chosen to sell it.
- 3
Name the three broad types of music video identified in most critical accounts.
Model answer
The three types are performance, narrative and concept. Many videos blend all three rather than using one alone.
- 4
What is a performance-based music video?
Model answer
A performance video shows the artist singing or playing, often on a stage or in a studio. Musicianship and the presence of the star are foregrounded.
- 5
What distinguishes a narrative music video from a performance one?
Model answer
A narrative video tells a story with characters and events across the track. Performance footage may be cut in, but the story carries the video.
- 6
Explain what is meant by a concept music video.
Model answer
A concept video is built around an idea, mood or visual motif rather than a plot. Abstract or surreal imagery replaces conventional storytelling.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Music Video revision questions
- What does Music Video cover in Eduqas A-Level Media Studies?
- 13 subtopics: music video as a form: conventions, functions and development, camerawork, editing and mise-en-scène in music video, narrative, intertextuality and postmodernism in music video, semiotics, myth and ideology in music video, representation, stereotyping and identity in music video, gender, objectification and performativity in music video, ethnicity, race and postcolonial readings in music video, formation, beyoncé (2016), turntables, janelle monáe (2020), underdog, alicia keys (2020), riptide, vance joy (2013), seventeen going under, sam fender (2021) and little bit of love, tom grennan (2021). Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Music Video organised?
- By the Eduqas A680QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Music Video, 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.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.