What are the AQA media forms and Close Study Products, and how do you apply the framework to them?
The Close Study Products and media forms: the nine forms studied, how CSPs are set by AQA, applying the whole theoretical framework to set products, and the role of contexts.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Media Studies set products, covering the nine media forms studied, how Close Study Products are set by AQA, applying the whole theoretical framework to set products, and the role of social, cultural and historical contexts.
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What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to know which media forms and Close Study Products you study, how the theoretical framework applies to them, and how social, cultural and historical contexts shape them. This is the area where the four frameworks come together on real products, so integration is the key skill.
The nine media forms
AQA's A-Level covers nine media forms: advertising and marketing; music video; newspapers; magazines; film (studied through industries only at A-Level); radio; video games; and online, social and participatory media. These forms are studied across the two exam papers and the non-exam assessment (the coursework production). Knowing which forms are studied through which framework matters: film, for instance, is examined chiefly through industries, while video games and online media are studied across all four areas, so the depth and angle of study differs by form.
Close Study Products
A Close Study Product (CSP) is a specific text set by AQA that you study in detail using the framework. CSPs are chosen to be rich enough for analysis of media language, representation, industry context and audience, and they are deliberately varied (mainstream and independent, British and international, contemporary and historical) so that you can compare across contexts. Because the set list is updated periodically, you must always work from the current AQA specification rather than older lists, and you should know your CSPs in enough depth to cite specific features under exam pressure.
Applying the whole framework
The skill in this area is integration: applying all four frameworks to a single product rather than treating them separately. For one CSP you might analyse its media language (codes and conventions and the meaning they construct), its representations (and whose interests they serve), its industry context (ownership, funding, regulation, distribution) and its audience (targeting, positioning and the readings audiences might take). The highest marks come from showing how these connect: how the industry context shapes the media language, how that constructs representations, and how audiences are positioned to respond.
The role of contexts
AQA requires you to place products in their contexts: social, cultural, political, economic and historical. A product made in one period or place encodes the values and conditions of that context, so a historical advert reveals the gender attitudes of its era and a CSP's production model reflects the technology and economics available at the time. Understanding the context deepens analysis of meaning and representation, and contextual points are explicitly rewarded, so context is required rather than optional.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 202010 marksExplain how the social, cultural and historical contexts of a Close Study Product shape its meaning. Refer to one CSP you have studied.Show worked answer →
A Paper 2 style question weighting AO1 and AO2. Markers reward connecting context to specific features of a CSP.
Name the CSP and its context (the period, place and conditions of production). Then show how the context shapes the product: the values, attitudes and technology of the time are encoded in its media language, representations and industry model.
A strong answer gives concrete examples (a representation that reflects the attitudes of its era, a production model shaped by the technology available) and reaches a judgement about how far context determines meaning.
AQA 20214 marksExplain what is meant by a Close Study Product.Show worked answer →
A short AO1 response. Define a Close Study Product as a specific media text prescribed by AQA for in-depth study using the theoretical framework.
Add that CSPs are chosen to be rich enough for analysis of media language, representation, industry context and audience, and that the set list is updated periodically, so students must work from the current specification. For four marks, note that CSPs are studied across the papers and underpin many exam questions.
AQA 20189 marksExplain how the four areas of the theoretical framework can be applied together to one Close Study Product.Show worked answer →
A Paper 2 style question weighting AO1 and AO2. Markers reward integrating the frameworks on a single product.
Take one CSP and apply each area: media language (codes and conventions), representation (and whose interests it serves), industries (ownership, funding, regulation) and audiences (targeting, positioning, possible readings).
A strong answer shows how the areas connect, for example how the industry context shapes the media language, which constructs representations, which position the audience, rather than treating them as four separate paragraphs.
Related dot points
- Advertising and marketing as a media form: persuasive techniques, brand identity, representation and stereotyping in adverts, audience targeting, and the historical and social context of advertising.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Media Studies form of advertising and marketing, covering persuasive techniques, brand identity, representation and stereotyping in adverts, audience targeting, and the historical and social context of advertising.
- Music video and radio as media forms: the conventions of music video, representation and intertextuality in music video, radio as a public service and commercial form, and their industry and audience contexts.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Media Studies forms of music video and radio, covering the conventions of music video, representation and intertextuality, radio as a public service and commercial form, and their industry and audience contexts.
- Newspapers and magazines as media forms: layout and print media language, news values and selection, representation and bias, ownership and regulation, and audience and the decline of print.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Media Studies forms of newspapers and magazines, covering print media language and layout, news values and selection, representation and bias, ownership and regulation, and audience and the decline of print.
- Film and video games as media forms: film studied through its industry context, the global film industry and regulation, video game media language and representation, and audience interactivity and participation.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Media Studies forms of film and video games, covering film studied through its industry context, the global film industry and regulation, video game media language and representation, and audience interactivity and participation.
- Online, social and participatory media as a media form: user-generated content and the prosumer, convergence and the blurring of producer and audience, representation and identity online, and the challenges of regulating online media.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Media Studies form of online, social and participatory media, covering user-generated content and the prosumer, convergence and the blurring of producer and audience, representation and identity online, and the challenges of regulating online media.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Media Studies (7572) specification — AQA (2017)