WJEC Eduqas Media Studies for A Level Year 1 & AS sample

Media Studies for A level Year 1 & AS When you are studying your set products, it is very important that you develop your knowledge and understanding of the relevant contexts in which the products were created. You will be required to analyse how individual products may reflect their respective social, cultural, historical, political and economic contexts. You will also be required to show your understanding of how specific contexts influence representations and audience responses. These contexts are as follows. Historical Context • How the themes, attitudes, beliefs, values and representations that are encoded in a media product relate to and reflect the time in which it was made. Individual products, for example film posters, will reflect the representations of the time, which may be very different from the representations evident today. Historical media products document social change and as such are important to our understanding of specific time periods. • How the representations encoded in the media product are affected by the historical context. For example, many of the advertisements from the 1950s and 1960s reflect the domestic role of women at the time and represent men as dominant, in control and as the main wage earners. Social and Cultural Context • The effect on media products of the values and attitudes related to the society in which people live at different times. • How the values and attitudes related to how different people live may influence their responses to media products. • How the representations, the mes, values, attitudes and beliefs contained within the media pr oduct relate to the social and cultural context in which it was made. • How media products are shaped and informed by particular cultural influences such as genres and styles. For example, how different genres may become popular at different times to reflect sociological changes. For example, the explanation for the rise in popularity of programmes such as The Great British Bake Off ( GGBO ) and the falling ratings for the X Factor, is that in times of austerity and hardship the GGBO offered a warm, nostalgic view of Britain, and baking is relatively cheap and accessible to all. This is a contrast to the celebrity culture of the X Factor , which is out of the reach of most people. In the 1960s a woman’s place was in the kitchen. How does the advertisement below for the Kenwood Chef reflect the ideas and beliefs of the time in which it was made? Quickfire 1.37 You will be advised which context is relevant for the different set products you will study during your course. Make sure that you can show your knowledge and understanding of these contexts in an examination response. Not all of the contexts will need to be applied to all of the products. Tip GBBO offers a warm nostalgia. Contexts The aspects of the environment that surround a product at the time of its creation, distribution, circulation or reception and that may affect its meaning. Key Term 44