3. Hints and Tips

Welcome to our page of hints and tips to help you with your Media Club. There are two main areas of advice: How to Talk About TV and How to Watch TV. Click on the links below for information on each topic.

How to Talk About TV

Before you can talk about TV programmes you need to understand how to talk about TV - what happens behind the scenes, what is it that you are watching and what does it all mean? Click on each of the sections below for an explanation of the complex stuff that goes on both behind the scenes and in front of your eyes

Behind the scenes- understanding TV production - [PDF]

Understanding genre - [PDF]

Who does what in TV - [PDF]

What does it all mean - understanding media terminology - [PDF]

How to Watch TV

Sounds like a strange idea, doesn't it? After all, we are always watching television and we certainly know how to switch our TV on. But how do we go about watching television so that we really appreciate the skill of the scriptwriters? Or watching TV so that we realise when we are being made to feel emotional or react in a specific way? Click on each section below for helpful explanations and potential starting points for thinking and talking about the programmes you watch, as well as some activities that your Media Club might want to try

Watching soaps and dramas - [PDF]

Watching news - [PDF]

Watching reality TV - [PDF]

Watching documentaries / factual content - [PDF]

Watching lifestyle shows - [PDF]

Discussion prompts: what should we talk about? - [PDF]

Ice-breakers and other suggestions for your media club - [PDF]

More about Media Clubs: