Key term
WJEC A-Level Media Studies 603-1976-8
Contexts of Media
Topic overviewThe conceptual framework and its four inter-related areasThe map of critical perspectives across the frameworkOwnership, funding and regulation as industry contextIndustry context, messages and ideologiesHistorical context and its effect on representationsThe time a product is made in and the time it is set inSocial and cultural contexts and the discourses of a productCultural influences: genres, styles, movements and other producersWhy the same product is read differently in different placesWales as a media context: social, economic and industry factorsS4C and Welsh-language broadcastingThe global dimension and media beyond the US and UK
Media Language
Topic overviewWhat media language isTechnical, visual and audio codesPrint design and layout conventionsCamerawork and mise-en-scèneEditing and soundOnline media language and design conventionsMode of addressSemiotics and Roland BarthesNarrative and Tzvetan TodorovGenre theory and Steve NealeStructuralism and Claude Lévi-StraussPostmodernism and Jean BaudrillardIntertextuality and hybridityViewpoints, values and ideology in media languageHow developing technologies change media language
Media Representations
Topic overviewWhat representation meansStereotypes and their usesRepresentations of genderRepresentations of ethnicity and Stuart HallRepresentations of ageRepresentations of place, region and nationRepresentations of Wales and Welsh identityRepresentations of issues and eventsIdentity and David GauntlettPositioning the audienceContext and its effect on representationAnalysing and evaluating representationsRepresentations of social classRepresentation and the global mediaReinforcement of representations across productsConstructing a representation in your own production
Media Industries
Topic overviewWhat a media industry isOwnership and controlFunding modelsRegulation of the mediaPublic service broadcastingProduction, commissioning and financeDistribution, marketing and exhibitionTechnological change and convergenceGlobalisation of the media industriesThe media industries in WalesNews industries and their economicsBrands, intellectual property and franchisesEntering and working in the media industriesIndustry context and its effect on contentAnalysing a product's industry
Media Audiences
Topic overviewWhat an audience isGrouping and categorising audiencesTargeting, attracting and reaching an audienceMedia effects and Albert BanduraCultivation theory and George GerbnerReception theory and Stuart HallThe end of audience and Clay ShirkyFandom and Henry JenkinsUses and gratificationsInteraction, participation and specialised audiencesRegulation, protection and audience harmResearching and measuring audiencesAudience positioning and preferred readingsAudiences and social and cultural circumstanceAudiences and media technologyAnalysing an audience for a product
Advertising, Marketing and Music Video
Topic overviewPrint advertising: layout, typography and design codesAudio-visual advertising: camerawork, editing and soundOnline advertising and its design conventionsCharity and public information campaignsCommercial advertising for consumer goodsHistorical advertising before 1980Barthes, semiotics and the meanings of an advertisementRepresentations of gender in advertising and music videoRepresentations of ethnicity and age, and Stuart Hall on representationGauntlett, identity and the audience as pick-and-mixMusic video: performance, narrative and conceptMusic video before 2000 and the changing formMarketing, audience categories and targetingAudience response, reception theory and media effects
News in the Online Age
Topic overviewDesign and language conventions of print and online newsThe Guardian in print and onlineThe Daily Mirror in print and onlineThe Times in print and onlineBBC News Online and public service newsThe Huffington Post and digital-native newsWales Online and news for a Welsh audienceRadio news conventions and Today on BBC Radio 4Radio Wales Drive and Post PrynhawnNews values and the construction of a news eventRepresentation, ideology and re-presenting reality in newsOwnership, control and public service in newsTechnology, convergence and the circulation of newsNews audiences, citizen journalism and the end of audience
Film Industries: From Wales to Hollywood
Topic overviewFilm language: camerawork, mise-en-scène, editing and soundGenre codes, iconography and Neale's repertoire of elementsNarrative construction and Todorov's equilibriumFilm production and funding in WalesCo-productions, festivals and national cinemaHollywood ownership, vertical integration and diversificationDistribution, marketing and exhibition in a digital ageRegulation of film in the United Kingdom and the BBFCFilm audiences: targeting, positioning and receptionDon't Knock Twice and Drag Me To HellSubmarine and CluelessThe Machine and Blade RunnerY Llyfrgell/The Library Suicides and Shutter IslandYr Ymadawiad/The Passing and The Village
Television in the Global Age
Topic overviewGenre and the television crime dramaCamerawork, mise-en-scène, editing and sound in crime dramaNarrative structure and ideology in television crime dramaConstructing representations of crime, gender and placeThe global television industry: ownership, funding and regulationTelevision audiences in the global ageY Gwyll/Hinterland, S4C and Welsh-language televisionThe Bridge (2012), Denmark and SwedenThe Killing (2007), DenmarkThe Disappearance (2015), FranceArne Dahl (2015), SwedenPrime Suspect (1991), ITVTouching Evil (1997), ITVMorse: 'The Way Through the Woods' (1995), ITVCracker: 'To be a Somebody' (1994), ITV
Magazines: Changing Representations
Topic overviewMagazine media language: codes, conventions and designConstructing representations in magazinesThe magazine industry and its audiencesVogue, July 1965: the historical fashion magazineWoman, 23–29 August 1964Woman's Realm, 7–13 February 1965Cosmopolitan onlineHello! onlineMen's Health onlineVogue onlineAdbustersAttitudeHuckPride
Video Games in the Digital Age
Topic overviewMedia language and the codes of video gamesInteractivity, immersion and ludic qualitiesVideo game genres and intertextualityRepresentations of gender and ethnicity in video gamesThe global video games industry: ownership, synergy and economicsVideo game audiences, fandom and media effectsAssassin's CreedGrand Theft AutoMass EffectTomb RaiderWii SportsCooking MamaMinecraftThe Sims
Creating Media Productions
Topic overviewResearching the codes and conventions of a formAudience research and defining a target audienceAnalysing comparable products: genre and competitor researchInvestigative research and the development outlineTreatments, storyboards, scripts and flat plansSchedules, shot lists and risk assessmentProduction in audio-visual, print and online formWorking to a briefApplying media language to construct a representationOriginal material, copyright and ethicsIndependent, collaborative and cross-media productionReflective and critical analysis
Media Industries
- 15 subtopics
- 45 things to know
- AS Unit 1 and A2 Unit 3
What Media Industries covers
Media Industries is assessed in Sections B and C of Unit 1 at AS, on news and on film, but not in Section A on advertising and music video. In Unit 3 at A2 each section assesses a different area of the conceptual framework. It covers what a media industry is, ownership and control, funding models, regulation of the media, public service broadcasting, production, commissioning and finance, distribution, marketing and exhibition, technological change and convergence, globalisation of the media industries, the media industries in Wales, news industries and their economics, brands, intellectual property and franchises, entering and working in the media industries, industry context and its effect on content and analysing a product's industry.
Where it is assessed
AS Unit 1 and A2 Unit 3
The conceptual framework, applied in every section of both written units.
Check the WJEC specification ↗The 15 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- What a media industry isThree stages of the industry process the specification identifies, production, in this sense and media conglomerate.Open →
- Ownership and controlConcentration of ownership, horizontal integration and vertical integration.Open →
- Funding modelsFour ways a media product can be funded, audience being the product in an advertising model and freemium model.Open →
- Regulation of the mediaMedia regulation, broadcasting licence and statutory regulation.Open →
- Public service broadcastingPublic service broadcasting, classic statement of its purpose and four obligations a public service broadcaster typically carries.Open →
- Production, commissioning and financeStages of a typical production process, tax credit or production incentive and freelance nature of media production.Open →
- Distribution, marketing and exhibitionDistribution in the media industries, release window and wide release compared with a limited one.Open →
- Technological change and convergenceTechnological convergence, digitally convergent media platforms and economic convergence.Open →
- Globalisation of the media industriesGlobalisation of the media, three drivers of media globalisation and transnational media corporation.Open →
- The media industries in WalesSignificance of Pobol y Cwm to Welsh-language broadcasting, bilingual production and balanced conclusion about the media industries in Wales.Open →
- News industries and their economicsNews aggregator, news desert and non-profit or foundation-funded journalism.Open →
- Brands, intellectual property and franchisesIntellectual property, in the media industries, media brand and fair dealing.Open →
- Entering and working in the media industriesFour kinds of role in a media production, above the line and below the line and training scheme or an apprenticeship for, in this context.Open →
- Industry context and its effect on contentIndustry context of a media product, economic constraint on representation and industry context shaping a representation.Open →
- Analysing a product's industryFirst question in analysing a product's industry context, second question and third question.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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What is age classification, why is it harder for games, and why has online regulation moved to the platforms?
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What does a format sale offer both parties, and what does a global platform commissioning locally give and take?
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What does the media industries area of the framework study?
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Why does ownership matter to the study of media?
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How does advertising funding shape a product?
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Name four obligations a public service broadcaster typically carries.
Process
What are the stages of a typical production process?
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What is technological convergence?
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Why is the Welsh media industry a distinct subject of study on this specification?
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Why did online advertising not replace print advertising revenue?
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Why is intellectual property described as the real asset of a media company?
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Name four kinds of role in a media production.
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What is meant by the industry context of a media product?
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In analysing a product's industry, what is the second question to ask?
Process
Name the three stages of the industry process the specification identifies.
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What is concentration of ownership?
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What is meant by the audience being the product in an advertising model?
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What is media regulation?
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How has streaming altered the case for public service broadcasting?
Process
What happens at the development stage?
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What is distribution in the media industries?
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Give an example of technological convergence.
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What is meant by the globalisation of the media?
Numbers
What is S4C?
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What is a paywall?
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What is a franchise?
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What is meant by above the line and below the line?
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How does ownership show in a product's content?
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In analysing a product's industry, what is the third question to ask?
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What is production, in this sense?
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Give one danger of concentrated ownership.
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How does subscription funding shape a product?
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Why is broadcasting regulated more tightly than print?
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Why is public service broadcasting important to Wales?
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What is a pitch?
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What is exhibition?
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What is meant by digitally convergent media platforms?
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Name three drivers of media globalisation.
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What is the significance of Pobol y Cwm to Welsh-language broadcasting?
Evaluation
Give one argument for paywalls.
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Why do studios and publishers favour franchises?
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Why is much media work freelance?
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How does funding show in a product's content?
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Where in a product itself can its industry context be read?
Take Media Industries further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Distribution vs Exhibition
Distribution: the business of getting a product to where audiences can reach it. Exhibition: the point at which the audience actually receives it.
Synergy vs Diversification
Synergy: products promoting each other across one company's holdings. Diversification: spreading activity across sectors so a loss in one is offset.
A licence fee vs A subscription
A licence fee: a compulsory public charge funding obligations to everyone. A subscription: a voluntary payment for access by those who choose it.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What does the media industries area of the framework study?
Model answer
The processes of production, distribution and circulation, and the economic and regulatory conditions that shape what gets made.
- 2
Name the three stages of the industry process the specification identifies.
Model answer
Production, distribution and circulation.
- 3
What is production, in this sense?
Model answer
The making of the media product, from commissioning and financing through to a finished item.
- 4
What is distribution?
Model answer
Getting the finished product to where audiences can reach it, whether by broadcast, physical copies, cinema release or a platform.
- 5
What is circulation?
Model answer
The onward movement of a product and of talk about it, including marketing, reviews, social sharing and reuse by other media.
- 6
Why is distribution often more powerful than production?
Model answer
A product nobody can reach earns nothing, so whoever controls access to audiences can dictate terms to whoever makes the content.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Media Industries revision questions
- What does Media Industries cover in WJEC A-Level Media Studies?
- 15 subtopics: what a media industry is, ownership and control, funding models, regulation of the media, public service broadcasting, production, commissioning and finance, distribution, marketing and exhibition, technological change and convergence, globalisation of the media industries, the media industries in wales, news industries and their economics, brands, intellectual property and franchises, entering and working in the media industries, industry context and its effect on content and analysing a product's industry. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Media Industries organised?
- By the WJEC 603-1976-8 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Media Industries, 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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