AS Media Studies Review

AS Media Studies Course Review

It was a new year and a fresh start as I began to embark on my AS Media sstudies in sixth form.

At the beginning of the year media studies was my fourth option, an option which I had never previously encountered, therefore for me I had to learn the basics and it was an unfamiliar subject to the others I had done in GCSE. If I had to be honest Media Studies was the option that I was most probably going to drop at the start of the year because I simply did not know what to expect. However throughout the year I learned that Media was a wonderful subject and I gradually grew a strong dedication to my work, realising I had a love for the subject.

It all began by getting introduced and getting used to software like Adobe Photoshop and Sony Vegas. Obviously it was not an immediate success using these software’s as I had never used them before. The first thing I ever created in Photoshop was a quick mock-up of a magazine front cover, and of course it was not great, but it was a starter and a learning experience. I started to experiment with Photoshop and see if results were successful. After a while I suddenly realised that I had become good at using Photoshop, knowing most of the tools and conventions on the software, making it a lot easier for me to complete pieces of work.

I first came upon Sony Vegas when doing an evaluation of all my coursework which eventually led to a final piece of work; that being my magazine front cover, double paged spread and contents page.

I had to prepare a video of myself evaluating my coursework, and then edit the video and also add in transitions to make my evaluation professional but also enjoyable. Like Photoshop I had not previously used Sony Vegas and therefore I was inexperienced and did not know what to do. There was also a lot of pressure on the amount of time I had and I became relatively anxious with completing my work before the deadline and also having good standard of work.

After all of my course work was complete, it was time to move onto the theory side of the course. I had to learn about representations of gender, sexuality, age, and ethnicity in TV crime dramas, as well as learn about institutions in the film industry. There was a lot of work revision and pressure that came with doing this, but it was also interesting to learn about conglomerate and independent film companies.  

Throughout the year I have truly developed from a student who did not even know the basics or in fact what media was all about, and have now become a student who has a passion for media and now knows how to use various software’s and how to analyse videos.

Throughout the year I have also learned other skills such as using a green screen, how to make lighting represent something as well as becomming a better photographer.

My quality of photographs and videos have proliferated with the help of the green screen and lighting, and by doing this I also became good at working with a team as we had one person on lighting, another taking the photographs, and of course there was a variety of models to direct.

All of this work has made me become a proficient media studies student and I am now prepared for the year ahead doing my A2 work.