Watching me, Watching You

I asked my Year 12 students to write me a 250 word review of their favourite TV show or film. The aim was twofold. Firstly, I wanted to see where their interests and passions lie. Secondly, I was keen to see how they would tackle this assignment. Some of them have designed reviews that look like they've been ripped from the pages of Time Out, while others have deconstructed different aspects of their chosen media text into its component parts. It's made for fascinating reading.

I find it encouraging that many of the students already have a keen sense of how to analyse a media text, even though none of them have studied the subject before. They'll need to acquire the right terminology to give more finesse to their critical thinking, but this looks like a good intake.

This week I'll be focusing on Audiences and Institutions, while Laura tackles Forms & Conventions and Representation. After that, I'll start training the students to make their preliminary film task, while Laura will begin Textual Analysis of British TV Drama.

So, what did they like? Choices range from Disney's Aladdin to Long Way Round, Friends, Shaun of the Dead, Tears of the Sun, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Better, and Ghost Whisperer.

I wonder if their choices will be the same after a year of doing Media Studies?