UNIT CONTENT

UNIT 1 Media Representations : overview

Learners will consider how different media representations are constructed by media producers to create meaning, messages and values. 

In this unit, you will study a range of media from different sectors, such as music videos, short film extracts, animation, news programmes, websites, digital games and print adverts in order to explore how meaning, messages and values are constructed through formal and stylistic elements. 

All media express messages through representations that shape perceptions and beliefs about what is valued and undervalued in society. Interrogating media representations through a critical framework will expose underlying values inherent in those representations and lead to an understanding of how audiences can resist preferred readings and negotiate their own meanings. 

This unit is assessed through an examination onscreen set and marked by Pearson. The examination will last two hours and will consist of short- and long-answer questions. It will be taken under supervised conditions. Learners will have access to the unseen media product(s) or extracts during the examination and will be able to engage independently with onscreen material. Learners will use an electronic template to input their written responses. The number of marks for the paper is 80.