Media or Film Studies / 4 AS Levels or 5?

Ok so I've read a few threads about media and film studies so..

Before you all jump ahead saying "you shouldn't do either of them becuase they are both easy pointless subjects that are disregarded by universities"...

I think I might want to study media/film at university - so I DO need these !

I'm already set on 3 of my subjects: Psychology, Health & Social Care and Business.

I also think I might want to study psychology at university - hence why I'm doing it as well as media/film.

I think media is my best choice of the two really, but then I got to thinking: what if I did both?

When discussions about a levels were happening in school the idea of taking 5 subjects wasn't mentioned at all. It was as if they didn't think we could achieve it.

So I'm completely uneducated on how much work 5 AS levels would consist of!

It's the summer holidays and I cant speak to a teacher about this until enrollment day which is 2 days before college starts and I'd like to have made a decision before then so any advice you could give me would be so so helpful!

Some other questions I have are:

- How much % of film studies is coursework and how much is exams?
- How much % of media is ............................................... blahblahblah?
- If you took 5 AS levels, how much free time did you have?
- Will taking both media and film studies help me get into a university to study media/film?

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

Hello! I did both Film and Media for AS and A2 and hopefully off to study Film at uni in September so I'll give you as much advice as possible!

Firstly, the five subjects thing... Quite a few of my friends took five AS subject and it's fair to say that a lot of them struggled, it's a huge (and quite frankly, unnecessary) workload that most uis aren't that excited about. The reason why most people do four AS subjects is because that's enough and that's what unis expect. I would strongly advise to stick to four subjects and do well in them rather than do five subjects and maybe stuggle to cover all of the content. That having been said, a lot of my friends managed perfectly fine with five AS subjects and perhaps it helped their UCAS applications, but who knows.

So, presuming your school does WJEC Film and Media A Levels (as most schools do), here's a little bit about the courses:

AS Film Studies

40% coursework
15% - 1500 word analysis of a film extract
20% - creative project i.e. practical work (short film or film sequence)
5% - reflective analysis of the practical work

60% exam
2 and a half hours long, three sections, one essay in each section, each section/essay worth 40 marks
Section A - responding to unseen material on producers and audiences
Section B - prepared material on British film (we did British horror)
Section C - prepared material on British vs. American film comparison (we did Gangster film)

AS Media Studies

50% coursework
Coursework can be based on any media industry but normally the school decides for you so everyone's on the same lines. We did magazine production but other options include short films, music videos, TV programmes, CD/DVD covers, film posters etc.
10% - pre-production (almost like a rehearsal/introduction for your production)
20% - production (stemming from your pre-production research/practice)
20% - report analysing your production work

50% exam
2 and a half hours long, three sections, 100 marks in total
Section A - 40 marks - analysing unseen material (get told beforehand whether it's print or audio/visual)
Section B - 30 marks broken up into three questions ranging in length - based on either audiences OR representation
Section C - 30 mark essay based on either audiences OR representation (whichever one wasn't covered in section B)

In terms of which you should go for, Media is much easier in my opinion because a lot of it is down to personal analysis with a little bit of theoretical underpinning. Film, on the other hand, is basically English Lit but with films instead of books (honestly, it's quite hard and not what people expect). Media is MUCH more compatible with Psychology and Sociology so perhaps that's your best route, and also it covers a wide range of media (including film) rather than just film, so your options at and after uni are kept open.

Speaking of uni, you don't really need Media or Film to study Media or Film at uni, as silly as it sounds. In my interviews for Film/TV they mentioned that they were looking for a wide range of candidates, from people with Media BTECs to people with four 'hard' A Levels (not to say Media and BTECs aren't hard, but generally this is how they're perceived). I think Media is better for you but speak to your teachers and ask them more about the courses, or ask me, or look at the specifications/past papers online and see which you think sounds more interesting.

In summary (as I can see I've waffled quite a bit):
- Media is similar to Psychology and easier in my opinion
- Film is similar to English Lit and is harder in my opinion
- Five AS subjects will be a challenge and I think that it's unnecessary, better to get four good grades than five average ones

Hope this helps and feel free to ask me any more questions about A Levels or my uni course! Good luck for your results