Year 7 Media Arts · Responding — Analyse and Evaluate · 8m read

What Are Media Arts?

Films, photos, games, podcasts and TikToks are all media arts. This subject teaches you to make them and think critically about them.

Learning objective: Identify media arts forms and the key concepts of media.

By the end of this lesson you can:

• I can name media forms.
• I can explain audience, purpose and representation.
• I can describe how media is constructed.

Media arts is a bento box. A bento box holds rice, vegetables, fish and fruit in neat compartments — all one meal. Media arts holds film, photography, animation, audio, games and social media — all ways of telling stories with technology.

Media all around us

MEDIA FORMS:
• Film and video, photography, animation, radio and podcasts, games, websites, social media, advertising.

KEY CONCEPTS:
• AUDIENCE — who the media is for.
• PURPOSE — inform, entertain, persuade.
• REPRESENTATION — how people, places and ideas are shown.
• CONSTRUCTION — media is made from choices, not reality itself.
• INSTITUTIONS — who makes and distributes it.

| Media form | Example | Key tools |
|---|---|---|
| Film/video | Short film, vlog | Camera, editing software |
| Photography | Portrait, photo essay | Camera, composition |
| Animation | Stop motion, 2D | Frames, apps |
| Audio | Podcast, soundscape | Microphone, audio editor |
| Interactive | Game, website | Code, design tools |
| Social media | Reels, posts | Phone, captions |

Key ideas at a glance

• Every media text has a purpose: Inform, entertain, persuade.
• Every text has an audience: Who is it for?
• Media is constructed: Choices shape meaning.
• Technology is a tool: Story comes first.

Worked example (Easy)

Identify the audience and purpose of a cereal ad during kids' TV.

1. Audience. Children (and parents).
2. Purpose. Persuade them to want the cereal.

Answer: Children; persuasion.

Worked example (Medium)

Identify the purpose and audience of a cereal ad.

1. Purpose. Persuade people to buy the cereal.
2. Audience. Children (bright colours, cartoon mascot) and parents ("healthy whole grains").
3. Techniques. Catchy jingle, happy family.

Answer: Persuasive, targeting children and parents.

Common mistakes

• Thinking media shows "reality" All media is constructed. Fix: Ask who made it and why.
• Thinking media just "shows reality" Misses construction. Fix: Ask who made it and what they chose.

Media is everywhere

The average teenager spends many hours a day with screens — streaming, gaming, scrolling.

Media arts helps you become a creator, not just a consumer, and to think critically about what you see: who made it, why, and what they want you to believe.

Practice questions

1. Media made to convince you to buy something has the purpose to:

   1. Inform
   2. Persuade
   3. Entertain only
   4. Archive

   (1 marks)

2. Name three media forms.

   (2 marks)

3. Which is NOT a typical purpose of media?

   1. Inform
   2. Entertain
   3. Persuade
   4. Digest food

   (1 marks)

4. "Media is constructed" means:

   1. Media is built from deliberate choices
   2. Media is always true
   3. Media is made of bricks
   4. Media has no creators

   (1 marks)

5. Choose a media text and describe its purpose and audience.

   (2 marks)

Summary

• Many media forms.
• Audience, purpose, representation.
• Media is constructed.
• Every media text has a purpose and audience.