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BTEC Level One / Two

Tech Award in

Creative Media Production

Unit 1:

Film Studies

Name: .................................................................................................

Form: ....................................... Deadline: .......................................

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THE COURSE

Welcome to the BTEC Tech Award in Creative Media Production. You will find this a practical,

work-related course where you will learn by completing projects and assignments based on

realistic workplace situations, activities and demands.

We aim to help you to develop your creative and technical skills, as well as helping you to

gain an understanding of the underlying theory of digital media production. In addition to

learning about the employment area you have chosen, you will develop the skills needed to

start a career in the media industry.

To do this, you will be required to produce a portfolio of practical productions supported by

paperwork and theoretical research. To be successful in doing this, you will have to work

both independently and within groups in a professional manner, showing yourself to be

organised, resourceful, reliable, committed and being capable of meeting strict deadlines.

We hope that you will benefit from this challenging, yet rewarding course and that it will lead

to you continuing your studies or eventually finding a job in the media industry.

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YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

• You are expected to treat all equipment and accommodation with care.

• You are NOT allowed to bring food, drink or chewing gum into work areas.

• You may NOT use mobile phones while you are working, unless otherwise instructed.

• NEVER allow other students or friends to use equipment that is booked out to you, and

do not leave equipment unattended at any time. If it is damaged, lost or stolen, it is

YOUR responsibility. You will need to sign an agreement of responsibility prior to using

the department’s equipment.

If you experience any problems with equipment, ask for help from your teacher. Do not try

to repair the equipment yourself.

Please remember

It is your responsibility to back up your work onto a memory stick and / or Google Drive at the end of

every lesson. You are responsible for saving your work to the hard drive of the computer and the

safekeeping of your original material. Please remember to take your memory stick at the end of every

session, and only use the memory stick to transport work. All work should be backed-up on computer

hard drives. You must provide a folder for each unit and bring it to every session. You will also be

introduced to a referencing system to allow you to produce comprehensive bibliographies of the

materials you have used in your study.

How to contact your teacher…

Telephone: 020 8498 1300

Blog: https://zcmediastudies.wordpress.com

E-Mail: zchristodoulou.317@kkshs.uk

Twitter: @ZCMediaStudies

YouTube: ZCMediaStudies

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Component 1: Exploring Media Products

Introduction

Up until now, your experiences related to film have solely been on the level of audience.

YOU have been the audience that the film-makers have been targeting.

Now, it is necessary to adopt a slightly different take on films and film-making; you need to

look at the techniques that have been employed to ensure that a film meets the needs of

its target audience.

You will come to understand that films do not exist in a vacuum, nor do they simply appear

like flowers in the spring. Rather, they are created by a range of determinants and

influences. These include, amongst others, the culture and politics of the country where

they are produced, the finance that enables their production, the technology of film

production, distribution and exhibition and the nature and structure of the industry that

produces them.

In addition, you will explore the often complex relationship between audiences and films

and will be able to understand how and why audiences watch and make sense of films in

particular ways.

There are opportunities in the unit to develop and apply research techniques through the

completion of a piece of practical audience research.

Learning Aims

In this unit, you will:

1. Be able to apply different analytical approaches to films.

2. Understand the relationship between films and their production contexts.

3. Understand the relationship between audiences and films.

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Assessment Criteria for

Unit 1: Film Studies

P1 Apply approaches to

analysing films with some

appropriate use of subject

terminology.

M1 Apply approaches to

analysing films coherently

with reference to detailed

illustrative examples and

generally correct use of

subject terminology.

D1 Apply approaches to

analysing films critically,

supporting points with

arguments and elucidated

examples and consistently

using subject terminology

correctly.

P2 Describe the relationship

between producers and film

audiences with some

appropriate use of subject

terminology.

M2 Explain the relationship

between producers and film

audiences with reference to

detailed illustrative examples

and generally correct use of

subject terminology.

D2 Comprehensively explain

the relationship between

producers and film audiences

with elucidated examples and

consistently using subject

terminology correctly.

P3 Describe the relationship

between audiences and films

with some appropriate use of

subject terminology.

M3 Explain the relationship

between audiences and films

with reference to detailed

illustrative examples and

generally correct use of

subject terminology.

D3 Comprehensively explain

the relationship between

audiences and films with

elucidated examples and

consistently using subject

terminology correctly.

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TASKS

Your given media products:

Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

TASK ONE

(Unit 1 = P2, M2, D2; P3, M3, D3)

You will need to analyse the posters for Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man: Homecoming

(2017) and explain…

(a) What each poster suggests about the film.

(b) How each poster uses mise-en-scene to ‘sell’ the film.

Remember that there is never any blank space in film posters – everything is there for a

specific reason.

Things to consider:

Characters (body language, facial expressions, emotions); fonts; settings / locations;

costumes; props; décor; lighting; colour scheme.

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TASK TWO

(Unit 1 = P2, M2, D2)

Create an illustrative essay that explores how camerawork, mise-en-scène and sound

construct meaning for the audience in [a five-minute extract of] Spider-Man (2002).

Things to consider:

Camerawork; mise-en-scene; sound; Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications

theory (1974).

TASK THREE

(Unit 1 = P3, M3, D3)

Create an illustrated report that analyses and evaluates the representation of the

protagonists (Peter Parker / Spider-Man) in Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man:

Homecoming (2017).

Things to consider:

1. How is Peter Parker presented – what kind of a person is he?

2. What is his relationship with MJ like?

3. What differences are there in Peter’s family life?

4. How are the main antagonists presented? What are their jobs? What are their

motivations? What is their relationship like with Peter Parker?

5. What differences are there in the way

that the films are presented? Think

about the use of the camerawork,

mise-en-scene and sound.

6. What do you think are the final

messages of the films?

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Task Deadlines

Task 1 Friday 11th December 2020

Task 2 Friday 29th January 2021

Task 3 Friday 26th February 2021

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RECOMMENDED READING

Key:

Author (year), Title (edition), Publisher.

International Standard Book Number

Branston G and Stafford R (2010), The Media Student’s Book (fifth edition), Routledge.

ISBN: 978-0-415-55842-6

Connell B (2010), Exploring the Media: Text, Industry, Audience (second edition), Auteur.

ISBN: 978-1-906733-47-6

Long P and Wall T (2009) Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context, Pearson Education.

ISBN: 978-1-4058-5847-2

Turow J (2016), Media Today (sixth edition), Routledge.

ISBN: 978-1-138-92846-6

The Internet Movie Database – www.imdb.com

The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media – www.creativeskillset.org

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NOTES