Page 1
Haggerston School, 2013
Visit http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk for more info and help!
Year 11 GCSE Media Studies FINAL REVISION GUIDE
NAME:
REMEMBER TO VISIT http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk if
you need any help! Leave a comment and Mr Sloan will get
back to you!
Contents:
1. Online Web pages
2. Technology
3. Terminology
4. Theory
5. Exam question help
Page 2
Haggerston School, 2013
Visit http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk for more info and help!
Can you label these web pages correctly?
Page 3
Haggerston School, 2013
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Page 4
Haggerston School, 2013
Visit http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk for more info and help!
Page 5
Haggerston School, 2013
Visit http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk for more info and help!
NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES + SOCIAL MEDIA:
Advantages of
• Collectable
• Cheap ?
• Regular (fortnightly or monthly)
• Keeps you updated with the latest news.
• Makes you feel part of a group (of similar music fans).
• The reading can be shared easily amongst a group
• Posters and photos of your heroes !
• Portable (carry it with you anywhere)
• Free CDs / tangible (you can hold it!)
• Good quality (printing and also the journalism )
Advantages of
•
• Updated more frequently
• Free / cheaper (both for consumers and producers)
• Can be linked to your social networks.
• More interactive (can comment instantly)
• Videos and audio visual media content
• More attractive and appealing generally ?
• Can be accessed globally
• Users (and new bands) can upload to the magazine quickly (WEB 2.0)
There must be more! What else can you think of?
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Haggerston School, 2013
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What are the advantages or how could your magazine take
advantage of these new technologies? What will they allow
you to do?
Ipads/ iphones /tablets
Youtube + Tumblr
ANY OTHERS?
Page 7
Haggerston School, 2013
Visit http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk for more info and help!
USING MEDIA TERMINOLOGY:
To get a C or above you must show the examiner that you can use Media words regularly and
accurately in your exam. You can use them as often as you like and you can try and mention them as
much as possible in every question.
mass market
niche market
Demographic
Target Audience
consumer
Page 8
Haggerston School, 2013
Visit http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk for more info and help!
Practice using these words in a sentence with something to do with the music press:
INTERACTIVITY:
NICHE MARKET
INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER
UNCONVNTIONAL ELEMENTS
STEREOTYPICAL REPRESENTATION
DIRECT MODE OF ADDRESS
CONVERGENCE
SYNERGY
HOUSESTYLE
Page 9
Haggerston School, 2013
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MEDIA THEORY Examiners are impressed if you can use some media theory but don’t feel you have to use it
(if you need to refresh your memory or knowledge of these look on the blog or in your books!)
DYERS’ STAR THEORY:
1. Star as construction
2. Star as commodity
3. Star as ideology:
You could work this into your exam by explaining in Question 1 the appeals of stars to the audience
and in Question 2 when you are explaining how you will use star’s to appeal to your audiences.
MULVEYS’ MALE GAZE THEORY / GOFFMANS THEORY OF THE
OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN
Although these theories were first used in relation to film and advertising they still hold relevance to
the way women are represented in print and online publishing today.
You could use this in Question 2 when explaining your own ideas for a magazine and how it will
offer better representations of women (and possibly men). You might be able to work it into
question 1 as well.
WEB 2.0 : (yeah I know its not really a theory but a trend / buzzword, but it will do!)
This basically refers to how the internet nowadays is way different to the old version. Now we can
upload and contribute our own productions to the net and this allows us all to feel good about
ourselves and feel that we are part of a big happy family.. well sort of!
Talk about this in q2 (when explaining all your ideas for audiences to get involved) and possibly in q4
if it’s about new technologies.
USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY: Audiences use the media in 4 key ways
ENTERTAINMENT
INFORMATION
PERSONAL IDENTITY
SOCIAL INTERACTION
In what ways do magazines offer all of these 4 things to
their audiences ?
How will your magazine give these things to its audience?
Page 10
Haggerston School, 2013
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Here write down everything you know about that is to do with the music press within the 4 key
areas of Media Studies:
Page 11
Haggerston School, 2013
Visit http://musicpressexam.blogspot.co.uk for more info and help!
RESPOND IN ROLE - In the exam you are working for a media company and you need to
sound like it. “Having looked at the brief we have decided to create a new page called…”
RESPOND AND QUOTE THE BRIEF: - say things like “ I noticed that in your brief you asked “
how can we connect with the audience” so we have designed a new app for the ipad that
enables the audience to do this.”
USE MEDIA TERMINOLOGY: I cannot stress this enough!! If you don’t use media terminology
you are just someone who hasn’t studied the media. In all your other subjects you use words
that are specific to that course. Media is the same! At the very least Genre / Conventions /
target audience / Connotations / Stereotype… but you should aim for at least 5 terms per
question
SPEND THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME ON EACH QUESTION: Don’t spend ages colouring the
web page in and then forget to answer q4 !! They are all worth the same so even though you
enjoy drawing more don’t spend more time on it !
PRACTICE WRITING YOUR ANSWERS WITHOUT NOTES BEFORE THE EXAM: You must
practice drawing your a3 design on paper in a 20 minute time limit otherwise its not going to
happen in the exam! The same goes for the other questions!
STATISTICS: Q1 will be something knowledge based. Get some easy to remember facts (3
max) and write them down !!! This way the examiner knows you have done some research !
EXAMPLES EXAMPLES EXAMPLES !! The examiner does not want to hear what you have just
come up with off the top of your head they want to know what you have found out from
research over the last few months. Especially in questions 1 and 4 you must quote examples
of actual magazines and websites that show the thing you are talking about:
E.G “From my research I have seen that the NME uses a direct mode of address and catchy
headlines to appeal to its audience. For example the headline “Yeesus is back” referring to
Kanye Wests new album.”
SELL YOUR IDEAS AND EXPLAIN WHAT EFFECT THEY WILL HAVE ON THE AUDIENCE
GIVE A DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE:
Not just this is aimed at everyone! Or this is aimed at men and women who like music. Look
at examples of Target Audience Profiles and create one like that ! Practice!
Page 12
Haggerston School, 2013
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What are the questions going to be??????
These are our best guesses -Generally speaking they will probably be:
Q1: KNOWLEDGE OF MAGAZINES print +online (recent trends and examples of
existing magazines: why do they appeal what have they done to get a larger
readership?)
Terminology:
Theory:
Q2: YOUR OWN PITCH (sell you ideas! / how will you meet the requirements of
the brief)
Terminology:
Theory:
Q3: THE WEB PAGE DESIGN ( drawing of full page with some colour)
Terminology:
Theory:
Q4: IDEAS FOR ONLINE MARKETING OR INDEPENDENT VS MAJOR PUBLISHING
HOUSE:
Terminology:
Theory: